The following day.

After Artemis went to confront Aphrodite.

Aphrodite fearing the worst got Nox to tell Cirrus to help for hooking him up with the punishment that he got. He accepted for that reason solely and also because he just felt bad leaving Aphrodite out to dry.

Tap!! Tap!! Tap!! Tap!!

Tap!! Tap!! Tap!! Tap!!

Tap!! Tap!! Tap!! Tap!!

Running through the woods with a goddess in his arms was Cirrus.

"Go!! Go!! Go!!" shouted Aphrodite. "Gyaa!!! Arrows incoming!!"

"Astraea dammit!!"

Cirrus maneuvered through the trees to block Artemis’s arrows.

Thud!! Thud!!

Thud!! Thud!!

Thud!! Thud!!

"Get back here, Aphrodite!!!!!!" Artemis shouted at the top of her lungs with a wild fury in her eyes. "Ai!! You have their scent down right!?" She shouted while on Ai’s shoulders.

"Hm! She won’t be escaping!!"

"Then keep going!! We stop when I put an arrow in her little ass!!!"

"I heard that!!!!" Aphrodite shouted a bit away. "My ass brings all the boys to the yard!!"

"Good!!!" Artemis notched her arrow and fired another shot. "Because their gonna need to help pull this arrow out!!!"

"Gyaaa!!!"

"Aphro, keep quiet!! She can hit us by sound alone!!’ Cirrus shouted as he throws in faints in where he is going.

"Cirrus!! Put her down!! I know she helped out, but what she did with the incense is unforgivable!!!" Artemis shouted as she learns Cirrus's patterns.

Before Artemis could find her, Aphrodite asked Nox if Cirrus could help her out by helping him with the punishment arrangement. As much as he was vehemently against the aphrodisiac, she did help him stay with Ai in the end.

‘First day as a fiancé and I’m already being hunted down by my soon-to-be wives. If this isn’t foreshadowing, then I don’t know what is.’

"Hahaha!! You should be thanking me oh former virgin goddess!! I bet riding on Ai’s shoulder must really be a pain from how sore your hips and ass are!!!"

"I’m going to throw you in a pig sty!!!" She notched a few more arrows and let them loose.

Fsh!!

An arrow clipped Aphrodite's hair.

"Gyaaa!! Stop it!! You hit my hair!!!"

While carrying Artemis on her shoulder's Ai looked a bit up at her fellow soon-to-be wife.

"Hey, Lady—"

"Call me Art, Ai," Artemis said warmly to Ai. "I figured we could have pet names like other couples?"

"Oh~," Ai said with a smirk. "Did you come up with one for Cirrus? Hm? Hm??" She said it even more smugly.

"M-maybe!" She said a bit embarrassed. "Okay, I tried, and quite frankly, Cirrus is not an easy name to shorten, and it’ll have a ring! Zephyr does like Zephy or Zep!"

"Hehe! Zep! Zep-Zep!"

"Pffft! I like that! That sounds much cuter! Oh, wait, stop here a second."

Ai came to a halt as Artemis notched her arrow.

"Alright, the hunt should be done. Fsh!"

She fires her arrow and as it hits its target, a trap, One could hear several sounds coming from up ahead.

Cling!

Clang!

Bang!

Clung!

Ting!

Vroom!

"What the actual fuck!?" both Cirrus and Aphrodite shouted.

"Gottem! Quickly, the tar can only hold Cirrus by my estimate of only 43 seconds!

"On it!!!"

Ai immediately kicked off the ground. Artemis held on tightly as Ai weaved through the woods to where the prey lay.

"Ugh! Astraea, dammit! It’s fucking everywhere!?" Cirrus said, getting out of the tar.

From the bottom of his feet to just below his chest, he was covered in tar.

"Ai hold him back!!" Artemis shouted, jumping off her shoulders and rolling into a sprint.

"Got it!!" Ai shouted as she grabbed a nearby tree and ripped it from the ground to swing at Cirrus.

"Really!? Thud!! Skrrrrt!!!" Cirrus dug his feet in, being pushed back a bit, grabbing the tree.

"Even a tree can be used as a sword!!! Raaaaa!!!!" She pulled the tree in. She used Cirrus, grabbing it to shave off the top of the tree. "Alright, Zep-Zep! Here I go!!"

"Who the fuck is Zep-zep!?"

 

Running as fast as she could, Aphrodite did not look back.

"Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!"

‘I got her laid and this is what I get!? How the hell did she even make a tar trap!? HOW!?!? God dammit—"

Thud!!

"Gyaa!!"

An arrow hits the tree in front of her.

"Aph!!"

She slowly looks behind her.

"Ro!!!"

She could see the wild fury of Artemis. Her eyes were as ferocious as a bear, her arms tense as a bull seeing red. 

"DITE!!!!! HERA WON’T SAVE YOU NOW!!!!!"

She tossed her bow and arrow away and charged at her.

"GYAAAA!!!! NO!!!!! WAIT!! WAAAAAAAAIT!!" She shouted as he just ran with her life on the line.

"NOTHING YOU SAY IS GONNA SAVE YOU FROM MY HANDS!!!!"

Artemis was gaining on her.

It was like a wolf hunting a deer on an open plain. Sure, a deer can outrun a wolf initially, but the wolf will always keep its steady pace and catch the prey that exhausted itself. But this deer (Aphrodite) never ran a day in her life in Gekai, so she was screwed the moment Cirrus no longer carried her.

"HERA ASKED ME TO HELP YOU!!!"

"I'M SURE SHE NEVER TOLD YOU TO USE AN APHRODISIAC!!!"

She was right behind her.

"GYAA!!!" Aphrodite ran even more; this was the fastest she had ever run. "SO WHAT!? I GAVE YOU A PUSH!!! DID YOU NOT LIKE HIS IMPRESSIVE—"

"RAAAA!!!! Grab!!!"

"Ah—"

Thud!! Thud!! Thud!!

Artemis had jumped and grabbed Aphrodite like a lion catching a gazelle.

"Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!" Artemis breathed heavily as she stared down at Aphrodite.

"M-mercy??" Aphrodite said with little hope in her voice.

"…I’ll think on it."

"Wait! Wait!! Wait!!! Wait—!!!!"

 

Waiting for their goddesses, the Artemis and Aphrodite Familia wait before the woods.

"Do you think Lady Aphrodite is fine?" asked Becklin, one of Aphrodite's favorite children.

"Uhh…" Rethusa looked uncertain. "Possibly?"

They waited a bit longer, and they could see them coming.

Cirrus was covered in tar with some dirt and branches stuck in the tar.

Ai was also covered in tar, partially, along with some boot-shaped marks.

Artemis was dragging Aphrodite with a rope.

Aphrodite, however, seemed to have been dunked in tar and treated like they were going to fry her like a chicken.

"Hic! Hic! My hair…" Aphrodite said, with tears streaming down her face.

"I’ll make a solution." Cirrus said. "Been a minute since I did some alchemy but it shouldn't take to long."

"Will it damage my hair!?" Aphrodite said with great concern.

"No, I’ll probably just sting a little."

"Well here." Artemis hands him the rope. "I will be taking a nice bath! Ai, do you wanna come?"

"Of course! That was a really fun hunt!"

They watched as Ai and Artemis went back home while Cirrus cuts Aphrodite free.

"Stay here, I’ll be back in a bit." He then walked back into the woods.

"Okay…"

Her familia quickly got to comfort her. They wanted to remove all the debris, but they feared it would pull some hair.

About 12 minutes later, Cirrus returned with the tar off of him.

"Alright." He said, with a large bottle of white liquid.

"H-how did you get such a large glass bottle!?" They asked.

"…None of your business now, Aphrodite. Put your arms out and close your eyes.

Cirrus poured it on Aphrodite, and as he said, it stung very much, but the tar washed off her like oil on water.