A GODDESSES PARADISE (girlxgirlxgirl)

16; How does it keep getting better

"So complicated"

🌿

⚠️ mentions of sexual relations and kissing ⚠️

"Hey sweetheart"

Irene looks around in confusion. That's a voice she hasn't heard in a long while. A long while being three weeks, to be exact. The amount of time she has been here.

Over the week Irene has learned more and more new words, always asking people to explain a word when she doesn't know it. The girls around her have started speaking to her, instead of speaking about her as they knew that she couldn't understand before. Their words are always slow and simple, which Irene is thankful for. She has said the words "thank you" so many times, it come more naturally than her own language by now. They talk about everything from what to eat, what to do, and what happened to them the other day.

To be completely fair, Irene understands less than fifty percent of what they are saying throughout the day. But it's fine, because each day the percentage gets higher. Irene is no longer sad that she is here, at least not as sad as she was before. Here she gets food and a place to sleep, she gets education and a warm climate, a place to wash up and friendly people to be with. For the first time in nineteen years she gets to rest. The bags under her eyes have almost completely disappeared, the unhealthy paleness of her skin is wearing off and she no longer looks sickly skinny as she did when she arrived here. But of course, her eyes are still filled with that exhaustion and sadness, one that will probably never go away. It came when her parents died and can't be cured, the grayness and emptiness of her soul.

But there is one thing keeping her from being completely satisfied and convinced to stay here for the rest of her life. That is of course Isaac, who after three weeks is still missing. She has asked the girls here, after learning the right words. She asked if they had seen anyone like her before, if they had seen a boy here before, if they had seen her brother. But nobody could answer her. The only person that she knows that she hasn't asked in the temple is Ariadne, but the leader is still a little intimidating, and constantly busy, so Irene hasn't bothered yet.

Which is why she is now sitting in a quiet place in the garden, thinking about what to do and practicing her words. She is also painting while doing it, as she has found that painting is a huge stress reliever. Irene drags the different colors across the canvas, trying to create a similar tree to the one she is watching. The leaves rustle with the warm wind, and she is in awe of the beauty. When she is halfway through the picture, a low voice rumbles through the air. It catches her completely off guard.

"Hey sweetheart"

She hasn't heard that voice since her first day here. It's not similar to anyone's voice in this temple, and it has a certain accent to it that even Irene can hear it. The black headed girl recognizes the nickname, meaning "sweetheart", as Ariadne says it all the time. It's sweet when the leader does it, and even when Thea does it when she visits. But coming from this voice, Irene doesn't really like it as much. She turns around to find the girl belonging to the voice.

"Penelope"

Irene frowns. The last time she saw the girl from Athena's temple, it was when she and Nadya left her alone in the palace. A slight bitterness grows in her heart. They were the ones to take her here and not allow her to continue searching for Isaac. They were the ones to leave her alone, force her to fend for herself. They were the ones to made her trust them, only to leave and never be heard from again. Three weeks have passed and neither Nadya or Penelope, the two people she got to know before anyone else, have bothered to visit her. Irene turns back around stubbornly after regretfully acknowledging Penelope's presence.