Prologue
Aphrodite paced the ivory marble floors of Mount Olympus, her footsteps echoing around the room. A gold-wrought chalice three feet high stood before her. Its contents were as clear as glass, as they had been for over a millennium.
"Cursed mortals," Aphrodite muttered to herself, her steps becoming quicker and more urgent. "Not one is nearly as beautiful as me... not believably, at least..."
"It is true, mother," said Eros, from his place unnoticed in the corner of the room. He rose to his sandaled feet and came cautiously over to her. "Perhaps we should forsake this improbable task." He hesitated, rubbing the fine carved wood of his bow. "We may very well never find her."
Just as he finished speaking, the golden chalice began to glow. Its contents were lit with a pink light that grew to fill the hall.
Aphrodite hastened over to the chalice and peered inside. The luminescent water rippled as though someone had thrown a stone into it. Then as it calmed, the image of a beautiful girl swam upon its surface.
"It is her," Aphrodite murmured, her eyes never leaving the girl's face. "We have found her, my son."
Eros, too, was staring at the image in the chalice, but his expression was fearful. "I... I suppose we have, mother."
Aphrodite touched the smooth surface of the water, and the image remained clear as daybreak, like a prophecy set in stone. "Prepare yourself, Eros. The Psyche Trials are about to begin."
