Ren walked aimlessly, his shadow stretching long and lonely against the pavement. The world felt quiet, drained of the color it had only twenty-four hours ago.
"Hey, Ren!"
A familiar figure waved from the sidewalk. Kaito jogged over, holding a bag of chips. "You look depressed. What happened?"
"Nothing serious," Ren said, his voice flat.
"Really? Because you look as if you had a heartbreak."
Ren flinched. "How did you..."
"Means I was correct." Kaito fell into step beside him. "Hey, don't blame yourself. I don't know the reason, but I can definitely say that it's not your fault. Just think of it like... “Maybe she’s just not worth stressing over.”
Ren snapped his head toward him, his eyes flashing. "Don’t say those things about her."
"Ren, don't mind her," Kaito continued, trying to sound supportive. "She is just a waste of time to even think about."
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING MORE!" Ren yelled, stopping in his tracks. "You don’t even know her name, so don't be so mean."
Kaito raised his hands, looking surprised. "I didn't mean to—"
"Leave me alone for a moment," Ren muttered, turning and running away.
Kaito watched him go, sighing as he leaned against a lamp post. "So, he’s so much attached, huh?”
Ren’s footsteps faded into the distance, but the storm he carried refused to settle.
Far away, in a quiet apartment filled with ink and silence… someone else was fighting a battle just as brutal.
In the apartment, the air was thick with the smell of old ink and ozone. Elowen was hunched over the final scrolls, her movements mechanical. In the hallway, Arian sat on the floor, stacking completed reports. He worked in silence, terrified of disturbing his Master’s focus.
Elowen suddenly set her pen down. "I will just see him... one last time," she whispered to the empty room.
She stood up and walked toward the door. Arian looked up, startled. "Master?"
"I’m going to get some fresh air," Elowen said, her voice sounding thin. "I only have one hour of work left. Arian, please send these reports by Divine Mail. I’ll finish the rest myself. You can leave."
"Okay, Master..." Arian murmured, looking down at the stacks of paper with a heavy heart.
On her way out, Elowen ran into her Landlady near the stairs.
"Hey, Elowen! Where are you going in such a rush?" the woman asked, then paused, peering at her face. "Dear... have you not been sleeping lately?"
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“It’s nothing,” Elowen said quietly, forcing her voice to stay steady. "I wanted to say... I’m leaving the house in a few days."
The Landlady gasped. "What? But why?"
"It’s personal. I hope you understand." Elowen didn't wait for an answer. She brushed past the woman and headed for Ren’s house.
She reached his building and checked the perimeter. Seeing no one, her white wings erupted from her back with a soft whoosh. She flew to his window, peering through the glass with desperate hope—but the room was empty.
Her wings vanished as she landed back on the pavement. "It's okay," she lied to herself, forcing a smile that didn't reach her bloodshot eyes. "I just came for the air anyway."
A car sped by, belching a cloud of black exhaust. Elowen coughed, her shoulders slumping. "This world isn't meant for me. I want to stay here forever... it was just a bad idea."
While Elowen searched for him with fading strength, fate moved quietly in the opposite direction.
Ren was walking toward the park when the Landlady passed him. He stopped, recognizing her immediately. "Wait! Aren't you Elowen’s landlady?"
The woman squinted at him. "Who are you? Ah... Ren! One of her close friends. Do you know why Elowen is leaving her apartment?"
Ren’s world stopped. "Elowen is... leaving?"
"Yeah, she told me it was personal. I thought she would have told you."
"She didn't," Ren said, his voice breaking.
"Oh... well, anyway, have a nice day."
Ren didn't move for a long time. He eventually found himself at the park, sitting on the same bench where they had first met. He pulled out his phone, scrolling through pictures of her, trying to find the girl who had screamed "Dummy!" at him.
The world around him remained unaware of his turmoil.
But not everything watching him belonged to that world.
He didn't notice the two tiny figures hovering inches from his face.
One was a toddler with golden curls and fluttering white wings—Eros. The other, Philo, looked identical but wore a permanent, serious scowl.
"PHILOOOO!" Eros shouted.
"What is it?" Philo drifted down, deadpan.
Eros pointed at Ren’s slumped shoulders. "Go find this girl. The love-threads between them are fraying. It’s a mess!"
Philo vanished in a blur of feathers. He scoured the city until he found the second-story window of Elowen’s apartment. Eros caught up a second later, panting.
"Did you find her? What is she doing?"
Philo stared through the glass. "I don't know, but she looks like a panda with those dark circles."
Inside, Elowen looked skeletal. Her eyes were bloodshot as she hunched over the glowing parchment.
"We need to do something!" Eros said. "She looks like she needs a hug—or a nap."
Philo pulled a pink-tipped arrow from his quiver. He aimed and fired. The "Heart-Stinger" passed through the glass and struck Elowen square in the chest.
Elowen bolted upright, her eyes snapping into sharp focus. "What am I doing?! Can anyone else even make him smile?!"
She reached for her phone, her thumb trembling over Ren’s name. But then, her gaze fell on the final reports. She shook her head violently, her teeth clenched in a snarl. The pink light of the arrow literally shattered against her skin and faded away.
"No, no, no! Don't be stupid! You already made your mind up!"
Outside, the Cupids' jaws hit the ledge.
"T-That’s impossible," Philo stammered. "She just rejected a Heart-Stinger... and I can still feel her love-strings vibrating! She loves him, but she’s fighting it with pure logic."
"What is this human?!" Eros screamed.
"I’m going in."
Philo slipped inside to inspect her desk while Eros flew back to Ren to "stabilize" the boy. Eros found Ren still on the bench and fired a Comfort Bolt.
Ren blinked. A wave of calm washed over him—but instead of relaxing, his eyes locked onto a target. He stood up and began running towards his house.
"I... guess it worked?" Eros panicked. "I don't have time for this!"
He flew back to the apartment at Mach-1, finding Philo drenched in sweat and gasping for air.
"What happened?!"
"I shot three—THREE—arrows at her!" Philo gasped. "And she rejects them like they’re plastic! She’s obsessed with this... scientific literature!"
"Scientific literature?"
"She’s writing a five-thousand-word thesis on how 'buying cotton candy at a festival pumps oxytocin into the mortal body.' She’s analyzing her own date like a lab report!"
"She is weird... BUT ENOUGH!" Eros reached into his golden quiver and pulled out a Grand Solar Arrow, glowing with the heat of a thousand first kisses.
Philo’s eyes went wide. He lunged forward, grabbing Eros’s sash with all his might. "No, Eros! Wait! We don't know anything about her! We don't even know her name or what's going on!"
Eros didn't even look back. He wrenched himself free with a determined scowl. "I don't care!"
He notched the arrow, drew the string to his ear, and fired point-blank.
The arrow hit. Elowen froze. Her pen clattered to the floor.
"It’s working!" Philo whispered. "Look, she’s standing up!"
Elowen stood. Her shadow stretched across the room like a dark titan. Slowly, she lifted her fist and slammed it into the center of her heavy oak desk with the force of a falling star.
CRACK-BOOM!
The desk split in half. The shockwave sent the two Cupids tumbling backward through the air. Elowen stood over the wreckage, her chest heaving, her eyes burning with terrifying intensity.
"Focus... just... focus..." she gasped, her voice raspy. "Only ten... thousand... words... left..."
Eros and Philo huddled together in the corner of the ceiling, hugging each other and shaking with pure terror.
"Philo..." Eros whispered in a tiny, shaky voice. "What does she eat?"
"She’s scary," Philo replied, his eyes wide. "Eros... she’s really, really scary.”