Page 2 of The Don's Deadly Assassin

"Come on then, show me what you've got!" Cupid challenges, his focus still on the mirror as he preens his large white feathered wings dipped in gold. His chest is broad, his face youthful with pink lips and perfect cheekbones, and he is handsome. By the gods, I know he’s aware of just how charming he is.

"Very well," the companion replies, grinning wickedly. "But don't say I didn't warn you!"

"Warn me? Ha!" Cupid scoffs. "There's nothing you can do that I haven't seen before!"

"Really now?" the companion muses, their voice dripping with intrigue. "Well, we shall see about that."

As they lunge toward one another, I seize my chance. My hand wraps around the smooth shaft of a single arrow, its latent power pulsating through my very being. The sensation is unlike anything I've ever experienced, a heady mixture of exhilaration and trepidation flooding my senses.

I can't help but shudder at the thought of the chaos this weapon could unleash, its potential for destruction both terrifying and alluring.

"Got you!" Cupid cries out triumphantly, his laughter mingling with the sound of his companion's feigned protests.

"Alright, alright," the companion concedes, still chuckling. "You win this round."

"Of course I do," Cupid boasts, fluttering his wings proudly as he rises a foot above the ground and looks down at his companion. "I am the god of love, after all."

As they remain busy, I make my hasty retreat, tightly clutching the stolen arrow. I hide it inside my robes and make way to my next stop - the mortal realm.

The memory of my mother's untimely death floods my mind as I descend down to the earth, and I’m transported to that fateful day when the gods cruelly snatched her away from me.

While my mother had lain dying in her bed in our home along the Tyrrhenian coast, I had ventured out to the cliff, salty tears burning my cheeks.

"Father, Neptune, I beseech thee!" I had called out over the seemingly indifferent abyss while salt-laden air whipped through my hair. "Hear my cry, and come to me in my time of need!"

In response to my anguished prayer, the seas below had churned and frothed as if stirred into life by an unseen force. From the tempestuous waves had emerged the god himself, a colossal figure hovering well over a hundred feet tall.

His hair had lashed around his face, and his arrow rested in the clutch of his hand, glowing a bright white like the stars in the night sky above.

His robes had looked dry and bellowed in the wind even though water was cascading off his divine form like a torrential downpour, his stormy blue eyes had locked with mine; those of his desperate offspring.

"Neptune," I had implored, voice cracking under the weight of my emotions. "I beg you, save my mother's life! Save the mortal woman you once loved!"

The immortal one had studied me for a long moment and I had felt the undeniable pull of our shared bloodline throughout my entire being, while his countenance remained unreadable.

I was supposed to be better, stronger, and above mortal whims and fancies.

"Son," when Neptune spoke, his voice sounded deep and powerful, like the ocean itself, "I cannot interfere with the divine will of the other gods. Pluto alone holds power over life and death. It is not my place to meddle in such affairs. Besides, entering into a war with him at this point would be foolish."

y heart sank at my father's words. Anger had raged within me, like stormy waves, for I too am of the ocean. "And what purpose does being a demigod serve, if I cannot even save my own mother?" I had shouted into the storm; each syllable dripping with bitterness.

"Your path is your own, Pelagios," my father replied, his eyes had not wavered once from my distraught ones. "You are forged from both mortal and divine blood, and you must find your own way in this world despite what you are.”

“And what am I, father, if not lost? You’ve waged wars with Pluto before. Do it again.”

“It upsets the balance of life,” Neptune had answered. “I say it for the last time, Pelagios: I won’t waver.”

“But you loved her!” I bellowed, yet all I received as an answer was his figure receding, white robes fading into the churning waters below, leaving only foam on the surface.

He left me to return home, only to find my mother had passed away alone.

Her sweet laughter still echoes in my ears, her loving embrace lingers upon my skin with warmth. The anguish I feel grows and festers within me, compelling me to forge ahead with my plan for revenge.

"Nothing can bring her back," I tell myself through gritted teeth, "but at least I can make them pay. Let them all feel the sting of my wrath," I think, my eyes gleaming with cruel intent.

"Every demigod woman shall fall in love with me, only to have their hearts shattered by my hand. Their divine parent would be forced to watch, to feel as helpless as they made me feel."

"First, I must visit the healer, Hygieia," I whisper to myself, staring at the horizon with steely determination. "Her father, Aesculapius, could have saved my mother but chose not to. She will be the first to experience the agony I now bear."

---