Chapter 73

I knew the exact moment Aphrodite remembered me and realized that I'd witnessed her humiliation. The whip swished back and her rage echoed around me as she let it fly. Even prepared, I couldn't stop my scream. Tears ran down my face, and I didn't care. I would've begged, I would've done anything she wanted, just to stop that whip from falling again, but she didn't give me a chance. She just kept wailing, kept pulling back the whip until I thought I would pass out. I hoped I would pass out.
As I weakened, I instinctively reached for strength from the earth, and when the power edged up my toes, I remembered. I saw the circle in my head and the Gods falling to their knees around me. Could I do it again? Could I weaken her until she couldn't wield the whip? It was sure worth a try.
I tried to clear my head, but it was difficult with the pain. My back was burning, and I wasn't sure if there was any flesh left on it at all. I could feel blood running down my legs in steady streams and my vest was hanging loosely at my sides. Since I couldn't escape it, I welcomed the pain. I drew it in and used it. Then I turned it around and pushed it into Aphrodite as I took power away from her. I saw the circuit in my head and felt the pulsing connection between us. Her magic for my pain. Fair trade, don't ya think?
I heard Aphrodite gasp as a sweet tingling began to fill me. It was soft and tentative at first but then it started to rush into me with the greatest pleasure I'd ever felt. Wave after wave of liquid sunlight flowed up my legs; licking at me like a lover. It caressed me from the inside out, touching me everywhere, and leaving me feeling more sexually aware of my body than I'd ever been.
I took a deep breath and tried to control the ecstasy but as soon as I did, it started to pull away. I heard Aphrodite choking behind me and knew I couldn't try to control it. I had to let it in completely. I had to welcome the magic and embrace it fully. So, I opened my metaphysical arms to it, and it flung itself back into my body. Magic rushed through me, and I screamed as I came; tremors shaking me from the tips of my fingers to the bottom of my toes. Aphrodite wasn't just a goddess of love, she was also a goddess of lust, and it was pure sex that rode me, filled me, and consumed me. I gasped for air while it settled into my bones and took root. It was mine. I wasn't borrowing this time; I was stealing.
I felt a moment's guilt before a light fluttering started to tickle my toes. I've had butterflies in my stomach before, but this was the first time I've had them fly throughout my whole body and roost. It started gently but then turned wild. A mad heady rush and then back to a steady pace. It was a roller coaster ride. It was the beat of a heart. No; the beat of two hearts together. It was a rhythm of tribal drums mixed with the soft notes of a harp. It was the place where poetry is born. A wide, endless sea of emotion that would never dry up. That could, in fact, quench the world's thirst and still be full. It was the greatest magic of all. The power that fed all others. It lifted me to happiness so great that I cried violently when it receded, even though it was receding into me.
I saw Thor's face; his soft smile and strong heart. I saw the greatness that love could bring out of him and also the anguish it could cause. I shivered as the magic showed me the other side of love. The ability to destroy completely and leave only despair in its wake. I saw how Aphrodite had twisted her magic and made a mockery of it. She had begun to glory more in the control that love could give her than in the love itself. Ol' Afro had slipped towards the dark side and her magic was more than happy to find a new mistress.
I shuddered and began to think it was over but then came an image of Blue. I frowned and tried to push it away but how do you deny something that's inside you; showing you only the truth? It laid him bare before me; his evil nature and his good. To my surprise, there was good in him, and I saw how it would grow under my care. I saw the man he could become under Love's influence. I shook my head and told myself that I wouldn't be the woman who thinks she can change a man. I didn't want the responsibility, and I didn't want his love.
So, it showed me the anger inside him, the hatred my rejection would bring, and I cried out in regret. He was pitiful in his withdrawal into rage. I saw him gorge himself on blood and slake himself on countless women in an attempt to burn the feelings away. I moaned and begged the magic to stop. I didn't want this; I didn't ask for him to love me. I refused to take responsibility for his downfall.
You did ask for this, something spoke inside me, and I knew it was the magic but not just the magic. It was blending with me, becoming me, and forcing me to be honest with myself. You drew me out and brought me here. Give me your life, and I will give you mine, but you must accept what I am and what we will be together. You will be held accountable but only to yourself. Aphrodite learned to be cruel to escape the pain of caring, but you can choose to be stronger than her. Accept that there will be heartache, that you will feel it and cause it, but that you will also be the cause of soaring happiness; bliss beyond belief. You will be responsible for both but Love, like the butterfly, tends towards lightness and if you're true to me, there will be much more joy than pain.
"So mote it be,"I whispered my weary consent and felt Love settle inside my chest. There was a lightness to it, and I smiled despite my exhaustion. But it wasn't over, a new facet of Aphrodite's magic rushed into me. Now what?
The clash of swords rang in my ears and the exhilaration of battle filled me. I suddenly remembered what else Aphrodite ruled; War and Victory. I felt them plow into me together, like brother soldiers. They strengthened my body; tightening muscles, hardening bones, enhancing organs, and sharpening reflexes. I knew I could fight at the head of armies and lead them to victory. I could stand on the field of battle and swing my sword over and over and never tire. I could make my enemies fall to their knees before me and beg for mercy. I could grant glory and fame to any who would follow me.
The magic was intoxicating. I finally saw why the Atlanteans proclaimed themselves to be Gods. It was hard not to believe it when you felt the force of that energy and knew what you were truly capable of. I had to remind myself of who I was; Vervain Lavine, human witch, not a goddess. I may hold god magic now, but that didn't make me one of them.
Did it?
War and Victory found their places beside Lust and Love, and I felt my body convulse violently and then fall to hang limply from the shackles. I forced my head around with supreme effort and saw Aphrodite on the ground behind me. She was beautiful again; peaceful as she laid sprawled across the stone floor. I knew immediately that she was dead. I had drained her of everything she had, all the magic that had been sustaining her, and she had simply laid down and drifted away. I reached deep and tried to feel some horror over her death, but I just couldn't. She was going to whip me to death; flay me open until my heart gave out. I had drained her, and she died like Sleeping freakin' Beauty. The bitch was lucky.
However, I was still chained to a wall, filled with a power which couldn't help me with those chains, and bleeding from my shredded back. The magic had taken most of the pain away but it wasn't a healing gift and my back was still bleeding. Just thinking about it brought back the pain. As if it had been sitting there, waiting for me to remember it. Or maybe now that Afro was dead, it had surged back to me from her. Whatever the case, my exhausted mind couldn't take any more. I closed my eyes and let myself fall into the void.