Divinity Absconding

She would move on.

He found his mouth in the blinding light. "Tell me your love is not fleeting."

"Never, Cy of Athens," she whispered in turn.

Her words ignited the flames inside him, flames he realized he had always possessed. A spark of the divine mended his broken heart and offered it all to her. He could feel when she accepted it. She shuddered with joy and closed over him, finishing them both.

Their cries intermingled with the cheers.

Cy's cheeks burned at the attention, but it was her he focused on as the lights faded, and his flesh became the sun-soaked tawny once more. She was over him, still breathing hard with her eyes closed. Light broke through the slits like burning coals, but soon even they faded.

Soft golden eyes fell on him.

She smiled, blushing as she stroked his lips, ignoring the rising celebrations around them. "What is left to say?"

Cy caught her hand and pressed his cheek into it, reveling in her touch. "Say I'll see you again, beautiful Teletê."

"You'll see me again," she said easily.

"That is all I want." His heart burned to open again. "Can you say when?"

A high flute trilled in time with wooden clappers as hooved beat the earth. She rubbed his nose against his, casting her gaze down to his lips. "When Selene drives her chariot over the horizon, and her load weighs heavy, I will be here, waiting for you."

"Then, I will be here too," he swore, and meant it. "Will you go home?"

A smile found her. "I think it's time I did."

She slid off him and they lay in the grass together, his head pressed to the swell of her breasts as he clutched her waist. "I will miss you."

"We won't be so very far apart." Her breath tickled the hair on his head. "Not at all, in fact."

He looked up at her, memorizing her fair features, though he knew they would come effortlessly to his recall. "Olympus is a long way from here."

Teletê grinned. "Not so long as it lives here," she said, putting a finger to his chest. "The place your priests describe is only rock and snow. Olympus is in the hearts of mortals that believe, whether or not they've witnessed us."

He kissed the tip of that finger, then the next one, and the next. "Then, I will carry Olympus with me wherever I go, so that you will never be without a home."

She dipped her head to kiss him. "I am honored, Cy of Olympus."

*

Cy's family welcomed him with the most profound relief, and he accepted their embraces. They saw the change in him, how he slowed to consider mundane miracles, and noted it aloud.

"You have chosen," came his father's warming voice. There was no question.

Cy only nodded.

Maple eyes set in a weathered face looked him over, though nothing outward had changed in Cy's appearance. "My son has chosen a patron god," he said again, catching his shoulders and shaking him. "What a miracle it must have been, to make you a believer!"

"What a miracle," Cy said in turn, his gaze drifting to the waning moon.

"You must tell us about your adventure." His father ignored his dreamlike state and led him into the dining hall, where the servants had already prepared a feast. "Leave out not a detail."

A smile found him. "I will, father. But first-

"Bring out the best wine in our stocks. I'm afraid you won't believe me without it."

*

On nights like this, Cy set to wander.

His feet knew where to take him without him ever having to look up. The full moon's rays led the way through the densest shadows with ease, and soon, he found himself in the grotto. It was the singing that drew him to the waterfall, and a splash beyond.

When he reached the water's edge, the singing stopped.

The air had gone quite still, though he thought there was a trail of dark hair beneath the rippling surface. He sat and waited, though he ached to know if it was his goddess.

A dark shape cut through the waterfall, and for a brief moment, he thought it could be one of the sea monsters the priests prattled on about. But when wet hair parted, and Teletê's beautiful face emerged, tranquil and welcoming, he breathed easy.

"Cy," she said, opening her arms to him. "My beloved Cy.

"Welcome home."