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Everything was terrible.

Everything.

First, there was no sign of his darling, his beloved, his Yukiko. At the party, she had not shown at all. They were not able to take their place of honour that his mother had given him -- above Eros, no less! -- because she had not come to sit beside him. She was missing. It was almost like she did not even care about the most important day of their lives, the day that they would be honoured once more on Venus' Day --

And then, the worst had happened.

His mother.

Like his Yukiko, his mother, too, was missing. Gone. She was gone from the same night, no less! She was nowhere to be found, nowhere to be seen, nowhere to even be heard of, and it was hard to miss that laugh of hers if she had even given it once. He heard no laughter, no cheer, and those damned naga, those terrible naga and their awful scales, they had taken their most scared Temple of Venus from them, and they were tainting it with their awful bodies and their wicked plots and oh, no one could even come to him with their troubles!

Not easily, at least.

His mother, gone. His Yukiko, not even there. Anteros didn't know what to do. What could he do? Everything was falling apart around him, just when it had been going so well, and there was nowhere to turn to. How would he find his mother?

There was one he knew how to find, though, if she still remained in the same location. He needed her now -- both for comfort from his mother's disappearance, and answers. Where had she gone? Why didn't she come?

Was she even at her house, or was she gone to the same place his mother had gone to?

What if they had both been paenapped, or worse --

No, no, that was not an acceptable or possible alternative. His mother would never let that happen to herself. She was too strong, too proud, too Venusian and full of love.

But Yukiko--

Oh, how his blood boiled, and oh, how his heart hurt. He had to check. He had to. Perhaps she had made her way back? Maybe she could tell him where his mother was. Perhaps she could explain herself and he could make sure she was okay and he could figure out why she would possibly be missing on the most important day of Anteros' life, the day where his mother finally prioritized him over Eros --

This brooding introspection was eventually what brought him to the front door of Yukiko's abode, gaze hard as he tried to figure out if he should simply enter or attempt to see if she was inside. For a moment, his butterfly-like wings fluttered, before he lifted a hand. He'd knock. He'd try that first, before he went looking for any clues.

With three taps, he put his hand down.

It was quiet. She hwasn't there, was she? Was he going to have to break in? Search for clues for the monster that would steal his Yukiko away from him, on the most important day of his life? That monster, how could they! Yukiko was just an innocent mortal with the wings of an angel and the eyes of blue sapphires. She did not --

Oh.

She... she was there.

Anteros wanted to ask her so many questions. Where had she been? Why hadn't she come to the ball on Venus' Day? Why had she not attempted to make contact? Was she okay? Did she know where his mother was? Had she seen his mother? Had she been in the same vicinity as his mother? What was so important that she had to not come to Venus' Day even though they had been looking forward to that for months, or so he thought. Was she mad at him? Did he do something wrong? Was he somehow being a bad deity?

But yet, no matter how many questions he wanted to ask, none of them came out. None of them could come out.

Yukiko's tears broke his heart, and suddenly, little else mattered but pulling her in and petting her hair affectionately.

"Shh, shh..."

All attempts to interrogate Yukiko had gone out to the sea, at least for the moment. Her broken up voice in her sobs had his heart weeping. As upset as he was for Yukiko for not being there, at the same time, Yukiko was upset.

Anteros was not very good at this 'Bad Cop' thing.

"It's okay," murmured Anteros, even if he wasn't totally positive that it was, in fact, okay. But she was so upset, and she murmured that she didn't want to miss the party -- that meant she wanted to be there with him? To share his moment--their moment--in the sunlight, where Venus would notice him? So she had not left on purpose. That much he could tell right away, at the very least. Knowing that admittedly assuaged him, even if just a little.

He stroked her hair. "Shh..."

Assuming he would be allowed in, Anteros backed her into the house, removing a hand from her to push the door closed. Then, he backed away slightly, glancing down into her eyes. Her face was flushed. Her eyes were puffy. He could tell she was upset. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Admittedly, he hoped she would. Maybe she knew something...

"Don't apologise," offered Anteros, simply, to her sorry.

She was upset. Honestly, in some way, seeing her so upset was comforting. She had never intended to leave him, he could think. She had never intended to not attend the party.

Why else would she be bawling in the way she did?

But what was her reason? What was the cause? Where had she gone? When had she come back? He had seen Adelphos at the party, his adult son, so he knew that the reason why she did not attend was not related to him. So what was it related to? Was she snatched away? Did she disappear briefly, and then come back? Did she know anything of his mother, and why she was missing? Was she related to the reason why his mother was missing?

Anteros was stressed, and it showed on his face for a moment, mouth twisting into an expression of frustration before he realized that Yukiko was talking to him again. He blinked, shaking himself out of it. "Sorry." Now it was his turn to apologize.

"Tea sounds good."

Tea would be good for focus.

Make himself comfortable, right. Maybe that was the trick to make his mind stop swirling.

Anteros murmured some sort of response to her, something around an 'okay' or a 'sure,' making his way over to the sofa that she was likely to set the tea in front of. The deity was never one to necessarily plop himself anywhere, but there seemed to be an exception here, his body making a heavy hit onto the sofa as he slumped back.

For a few moments too long, he stared up at the ceiling, hands sliding through his curls as he seemed to ponder the dots and grooves in the ceiling above. He took a deep breath in, and then let it out, repeating the actions a few times. Acting upset at Yukiko wasn't going to get him anywhere. It certainly would not get him any answers, and he wouldn't likely feel any better for it. Besides, she had been upset. Had something happened to her? Had she been traded for Venus? That was a sobering thought, the idea that Venus traded herself for someone--

But that seemed unlikely. Anteros was not Eros, and neither was Yukiko. He doubted that was the case.

The clink of the tray against the table was enough to shake Anteros out of his thoughts. Right. Tea. He needed to get his head together before he cracked. He was a deity.

"Thank you," offered Anteros, politely, reaching for one of the cups. Once he grabbed it and leaned back, he carefully indicated for Yukiko to sit herself next to him. There was a pause, before he cracked a small smile, offering, "It is your sofa."

That was his attempt at making humour out of the situation, but that was more of Eros' purview, not his own. Perhaps he should stick to the plain face. Would that work better? How was Yukiko feeling, anyway?

Awkward, apparently.

She was having a bit of trouble meeting his gaze, it seemed, keeping her eyes down on the tea. And her voice was low, even if it was kept fairly steady. Understandable. Yukiko had, after all, not even shown up to one of the most important days of his--err, their--lives, with no good explanation, so far as he was able to tell. Yet. Perhaps he should let her explain.

Carefully, Anteros leaned forward, before shifting in his seat in an attempt to look at her directly, to show all his attention was on her, even if she couldn't lift her eyes to do the same.

"Alright. I am all ears."

Hopefully she would have some answers. Perhaps about herself, and his oddly missing mother...

From your mother.

His mind nearly blanked on everything else she was saying. From his mother. She had heard from his mother. Did she know where she was?! Anteros practically wanted to interrupt her entire story to ask her right now where Venus was, because if Yukiko had talked to her at all, or seen correspondence from her, she might have been the last person to, and that could be a huge clue as to where his mother had disappeared to, and if they could find her, they could unite the Erotes and Graces as a front against the intruders to his mother's beautiful temple --

But Yukiko was still talking, and Anteros was nothing if he was not polite. And so, as much as his insides tumbled, wanting to know as much as she knew about Venus immediately, he held his tongue and at least attempted to wait for her to finish.

Quests, though? Why was Venus sending her on quests? It was strange, the timing, and the things she wanted her to look for, or to do. Find elderberries? Find aged spirits from a bar that had been washed away? Go to a strange island and count sands for a friend? What was the purpose of that? What was the purpose of any of this? Was Venus sending Yukiko to get these things for her because she knew she would be disappearing? No, that did not make sense; his mother was a partier but she was not stupid, and she would certainly fetch herself things more useful than elderberries, alcohol, and sand, right?

The sand caught his eyes, and he snapped out of his thoughts, looking down at the glistening crystalline substance with fascination. "These are quite pretty, Yukiko," murmured Anteros, before lifting a hand to push them back towards her. "Make sure to hang onto them."

There had to be a reason why his mother sent her there, right? Or was there no rhyme or reason to it at all? Had she just sent her to send her away? Why would she do that? Anteros was not Eros, certainly...

"Venus sent you on quests... I know you said it took you a few days and I cannot imagine you had quick access to time telling devices, but do you know when you received those letters?" For some reason, of all the things she mentioned, Anteros most desperately wanted to know when she last heard from Venus. Admittedly, it might seem a little bizarre...

The third sounded like it might have been sent on the day of the party. Did that mean Yukiko knew where--

She didn't know his mother was missing? He was jarred, for a moment, pausing in his worry to wonder how she didn't know of the disaster that befell the party, but then he remembered. She had just told him why she was not there. Of course she didn't know. He would have assumed the news would spread like wildfire, but perhaps she had not seen Adelphos yet, or he hadn't wanted to worry her. He was a sweet kid.

Anteros cleared his throat. "Uh." Clearly a hard subject for even the deity to talk about, he cleared his throat again before actually talking. "During the party, the Temple was overtaken by... snake creatures. It no longer belongs to us." Fidget, fidget. "And we haven't seen Ma since." He rushed it all out, because it was faster that way, but his eyes were tearing up. "I was hoping since you were missing too that maybe you saw her... or that you had heard from her... after she disappeared."

He was a mess. Anteros couldn't let anyone see him like this! Haphazardly, he attempted to get a hold of himself by clearing his throat a few times and shifting in his seat.