The rain beat against the ground like the bullets of war.

It had been a clear sky a minute ago, but it seemed even the elements were against me.
I tightened my coat and lowered my hood, blinking away drops of cold water. The moon hung low in the sky, watching the world with morbid curiosity. Stars twinkled above, dim in the enveloping cloud of smog.

I placed my hands in my pockets, searching for some kind of solace and sat down on the rusty bench tucked underneath a shabby shelter.

Another sleepless night. I shut my eyes and tried to focus on the heartbeat of the rain, but all

I could hear my father's yelling, layered beneath a thick cloud of bourbon. The pop of a liquor bottle. The untwisting of a cap. The screaming of a married couple. The pleading of a child.

A symphony with no composer, only an audience of one and a thousand hecklers.

I blink away tears, taking a deep breath of the bitter night air.

"Aren't you cold?" A voice comes from the side of me.

I turn my head and see a dimly lit temple maid I'd seen in passing a few times before. She held an umbrella above her and shivered against the wind.

"What are you doing out here?" I say, standing up and trying to force a chipper voice and swallow the tumor sized lump in my throat.

She shrugs, "I saw the light of your lantern and wanted to ask you the same question."

I sit back down and turn away from her, eyes fixed on a single spot on the ground."I couldn't sleep. Lots on my mind." I mutter.

"Like what?" She asks.

I turn to her. "You know we're not supposed to talk about life Before."

"I know."

I don't even know this girl. How am I supposed to tell her my life story. She stays standing there, still holding the umbrella, staring off into the distance. Drops cascade from the rim of the umbrella, falling to the ground and I catch myself staring at the little waterfall forming because of it.

"Alright, sit down." I sigh and scoot over on the bench.

She smiles and folds up her umbrella, lowering her head to join me under the shelter.

It didn't take long for me to delve into a bit of my past, happy to have someone to speak to other than my own fragmented thoughts.

It went like that for a few weeks. We would meet at the bench every other night, rain or shine and just talk. Most nights I'd be the one talking, but she seemed content to just listen and other nights she would interject her own story.

The first rule of the temple was to forget the past. We came here under the pretense that any pain or heartbreak had to be left cowering in your shoes at the door. Poseidon was all that mattered, all that should matter.

The temple found me at one of my lowest points, sipping stolen whiskey on a park bench in the middle of the night. Not dad's brand, I made sure of that. They offered me a place to stay, warm food to eat and something to wake up for. They spoke with such assurance, such genuine concern. The temple maid tells me a similar story of her circumstances.

I left the bottle of whiskey slumped over on the bunch and put on my temple garbs, beginning my task to keep the temple presentable. Sweeping, washing, welcoming guests, and cleaning the pond behind the temple were just a few jobs I had. The only friends I had were the family of squirrels at the pond and the god Poseidon, staring down upon me in the form of a great bronze statue in the center of the otherwise barren temple with a bit of bird shit on his shoulder. 

The maid had different duties than I.

"I pledged to be a virgin bride to Poseidon." She said one night, dropping the words as if they didn't stab into my heart with each passing syllable.

"You, what?" I said, eyes wide, and mind struggling to come to terms with what was said.

"They offered me a place here as long as long as I maintained my virginity so I may be Poseidon's bride if he ever so desires. Gods like "pure" women is what they said."

I opened my mouth, but no words came. I now understood why Keepers were forbidden from speaking with the maids.

"Zack, he won't pick me. He won't pick anyone. It's been a millennium since he's taken a mortal bride."

Zack. It's my name, but it sounds alien and coarse as it comes from between her lips. I told her my name the second week we began to meet. We're not supposed to say our titles from Before. We are named by our duties. Temple Maid. Temple Keeper.

"Tell me your name." I say, releasing the question that had been building for weeks on end.

"Everly." 

Everly. Beautiful. Soft, yet Alien, but so are goddesses.

"Everly." I bounce my tongue to the word, flicking the letters.

She giggles, and scoots closer.

"I think I love you, Zack."

"I know I love you, Everly." I said it without hesitation, and stared into her big brown eyes, losing every trauma I'd faced in their grasp.

In that split second before we touched, every nerve in my body and brain was electrified. It's the anticipation of being together in a way that's more than words, in a way that's so completely tangible. We kissed, and then kissed again. And I strummed my fingers through her hair and could feel her heartbeat dancing against my chest.

And she broke her vow. Again, and again. And the night ended and I cleaned the leaves out of the pond like everyday and said a prayer to Poseidon like everyday.

The next night we chastised one another for breaking such a sacred act, but the longer we spoke, the more we wanted it again. It went on for weeks.

Until, news came. Trumpets sounded and the choirs sang to Olympus, exuding a radiant joy. Both maids, and keepers were given the day off to worship.We shambled to the bench that night instead of running.

"He's what?"

"He's coming tomorrow morning. To pick a bride."

My heart sank. "Th-there's so many other maids right? Surely, he'll pick a different girl?"

The words left my tongue and I immediately regretted the coarseness of the statement. Why would he ever pick anyone other than Everly?

She didn't get offended, but I saw a tear trail down her cheek.

"There are no other maids. None of them made the cut. I'm the only one who passed their stupid tests and satisfied them during their measurements." Another tear fell, and I went back to the night she first came into my life and could see the dripping umbrella again. A time filled with so much hope for the future. My once endless horizon shuddered against the weight of the circumstances.

I would have screamed were we anywhere other than the bloody temple. I stood up from the bench and paced, trying to listen to the distant call of an owl rather than my own racing heart.

"What if we tried to run? I know it sounds crazy, but I know people have done it."

She pointed to her ear, and the small black mark on the lobe. I grabbed my own lobe by instinct.

"What if we cut them out, what if we put them on a bird or something, I mean come on. We're not just gonna let him take you." I grabbed Everly's limp wrist, pleading.

"No, Zack. I'm sure they've thought of that."

I released her wrist and watched it collide with her side, sending small ripples across her tight blue dress. A diamond sitting on an old bench, about to be taken away.

"I don't care." I said, turning away and staring at the full moon facing the world, acting as a marker in the sky, a goal, a place far away I'd never reach.

I ran. My teeth grit against one another as I stormed away, clenching my shaking fists and fighting against my own tears. "Zack!" She called, but I kept running, wanting nothing besides the warm embrace of my sheets against my shivering form. It was not a retreat, it was a preparation for battle.

The next day I did not hear any wedding bells, but could hear Everly's crying from the deepest corner of my heart. I spent seven hours sweeping the corners I never got to, wiping down the crevices and cracks in the walls I'd long neglected, and removing any evidence of anything other than water being inside the pond outside. It all had to be perfect. He was coming.

The other temple keepers and I were told to stay in our quarters during the ceremony. A couple of the keepers complained about it to each other on their bunks, but a few others were happy to be free of the potential wrath of a literal god. I stayed quiet. No one said anything about my visit to the kitchen or the missing knife on the counter.

The clock struck six. The ceremony was about to begin. The keepers chatted amongst themselves , wondering if Poesidon would be staying long. I waited until they left the entry way and burst into a full-sprint out the door, straight to the temple. My mind buzzed with a thousand possibilities and my legs shook and buckled, begging to stay. Terror grabbed my throat and stole my breath, whispering a thousand terrible thoughts into my mind, but I fought against them, knowing love conquered all.

We read about it in the Iliad, how a god was wounded in battle on Earth. It could happen again. I knew it could. No matter what I was going to find out.

There weren't nearly as many guards as I expected, but I guess a god doesn't need mortal protection. I snuck in through the back, and could see Everly's long black hair neatly tucked against her back and peeking down her leg. I passed by the pond, and peeked through the window, watching a giant man with black saber curls walk down the aisle, grinning ear to ear. Poseidon. My god.

I shoved down my fears and burst in, quickly snatching the butcher knife from the waistband of my pants, clutching it with shaky, sweaty hands. Poseidon's eyes grew wide, but only for a moment. Everly screamed behind me, begging me to stop, screaming my name. I continued running towards him, ready to slam the edge of the blade against his iridescent flesh and learn if gods bled.

He stood still, crossing his arms. He wouldn't stay cocky for long. An image Everly and I running away from the temple together flashed in my mind, and a vision of a future free of the pain of the past.

I stopped in place, trapped in my current position. It felt as if an invisible wall had been built between Poseidon and I. My hand couldn't go any further, trapped in the air as if a thousand tiny hands were pulling me back, clawing at my tendons. My arms and fingers shook, begging to be let go.

I could only move my eyes to scan at the crowd of priests and men looking at me in complete disbelief. A couple looked away in shame.

"A knife, really?" Poseidon chuckled, sending the crowd of onlookers into roarous laughter along with him.

I couldn't hear Everly's voice and I couldn't turn my head enough to see behind me.

"So, what wrong did I do this time? What crime against humanity have I committed? What in Zeus's name did you think you were doing, boy?" He rolled his eyes, teleporting in front of me shaking form, and grabbing the knife from my now limp grip.

"A lowly keeper thinks he can stand in my presence? On this most special day?" He placed his forehead against mine and bit the words at me. My mind was screaming to run, but I couldn't do anything other than cry.

He placed his thumb to my head, and shut his eyes, allowing a burst of light to rip from my skull and coalesse into his forehead. It felt as if fire were coursing through my veins and biting into my tendons until he finally opened his eyes and a sly grin slithered across his face.

"So," He shoved me with one hand, and sent me flying into the bronze statue of him, keeping me still frozen in place.

He walked behind me, away from my view and towards Everly. I could hear her crying and screaming, followed by Poseidon's low echoey laughter which shook the wall I stared at.

"Now, why would I ever marry a whore like you. Someone who passed up a god for a bloody pool boy."

"Lord Poseidon please forgive me. It was a l-lapse in judgement I wasn't thinking. I would never ever betray you." Her voice quivered, shaking against the wind rushing from the breath of Poseidon.

I felt my heart in my throat. Was that all I was? A lapse in judgement?

"Actually, it seems to me you've been doing a little too much thinking."

"Please!" She said, her voice muffled as if she had her head to the floor.

I continued to fight against my immaterial restraints, but I couldn't snap a single string keeping me tethered in place. My mouth wouldn't open to scream.

Everly screamed enough for both of us and it tore through me like a shard of glass. It sounded desperate, terrified, human. The blood drained from my face and filled in with a milky white as the screaming continued, and then transition to intelligible gurgling layered with his booming laughter.

And then silence. An ear piercing ring and a chorus of gasps and cries of anguish. Even the crowd of onlookers could no longer hide their fear and disgust. Footsteps sound behind me, ending a few inches away from my back. A large, rough hand lands on my shoulder blade. A bit of control returns to me and I tense from his touch, lifting my shoulders and try to calm my shaking fists and bite my tongue, hoping the pain will distract from his presence. I could've bit the thing off and I don't think it would have made a difference.

"Take this experience as a learning opportunity, pool boy. Now you've got something else to clean. Don't. Cross. The. Gods." He bit the words, taking a break between each dropped.

With that, he left, vanishing behind and relinquishing all control back to me. I grabbed at my throat, able to fully take a breath. My feet pounded against the polished wood of the temple floor as I ran towards the back end, looking for Everly.

A crowd of onlookers allowed me to pass, scooting away to make room. I scanned the room, searching for Everly, still able to hear her screaming ringing in my ears. I came to the spot she was last standing and froze, a shiver running down my spine and my sins crawling up my back. A small pool of water covered the spot where she once stood.

"Everly..." I fell to my knees and crawled towards it, my stomach lurching forward.

I placed my hands into the clear waters of the pond. A misshapen pool of water which cut through the polished wood floor. The water moved swiftly around my outstretched fingers, warmer than my hand. I place my hands to the bottom, allowing the water to envelop around my arms and drench my sleeves.

I sobbed into the still water. I begged for her to come back, unsure if she was even still there or if she could hear me. I pulled my arms out from the depths and swore I could still smell her strawberry hair from between my fingers. I could still feel her warmth, could still remember her body against mine.

I doubled over and placed my head against the cold floor, "Please, please come back... don't do this."

The eyes of the crowd stayed on me, looking at me with pity and lamenting my fate, and yet most of them probably felt I deserved this. Most of them probably felt she deserved this fate. The waters of the pond began to dance in the breeze and a single brown leaf from outside fluttered in through the window and landed, resting against the waves.

Using my shaking arms to pry myself up, I stood up, grabbed my net and fished it out, and there I waited, staying right next to her, protecting her, letting her know I was still here, could still hear her heartbeat and that I would never leave her.

Never.