A GODDESSES PARADISE (girlxgirlxgirl)

36; Restricted or held

"Round and round and round we go, until our destination"

🌿

⚠️ physical violence, death, murder, blood, dead bodies, weapons, physical abuse, censored swearing ⚠️

What happened that day will forever haunt her memories.

Irene is running through the city. She is panting harshly, heart beating loudly in her chest and throat burning. Everything hurts, but she just can't stop running. She goes where her legs will take her, and the closer that she gets to the palace the more people there are. All she can think about is her brother, and how she needs to save him. He must be waiting there, all alone and scared. Unless he is dead already. Irene doesn't even want to think about it.

Have you ever heard about those who have seen gods?

Irene came to the palace faster than she expected. The entire market road is filled with people, everyone pushing each other to see what is going on. But nobody dares to go inside. They stay standing on the steps of the palace, knowing that inside of it the soldiers are fighting each other. Irene pushes through the crowd. Nasty looks are thrown her way. In their defense, Irene did have to push them quite hard to make them budge. Elbows in the face, knees in the stomach, Irene fights her way up the road and up the stairs.

Eventually she stands at the very edge of the crowd. None of them have dared to go any further, but are slowly being pushed forwards by the people behind. Irene is the only one who doesn't hesitate. She pushes away from them and runs inside the temple, despite the screams of shock and protests from the crowd, who hadn't expected it. Immediately there are soldiers everywhere, fighting left and right. Wounded women lie on the floor, there are bloodstains here and there, but overall the loud noises in the entrance hall of the palace drown out everything else. Swords clashing against swords are heard over screams and shouts.

It must be a painful sight for them. It's always heartbreaking to fight your own people to the death, to see your own friend fall by your sword. This will become an event that'll stay in their minds and hearts forever. A traumatic event.

Irene runs past them. From one hall to the other. She remembers this place all too well. It was the first place she ever visited. The first place she ever saw from the inside on this island. It was honestly destiny from the beginning. She should've seen it coming. Such a classic plot twist. Because this is what her life is like, isn't it? Irene thinks about it as she runs past hundreds of people with swords, falling to the ground while fighting and killing each other. To think that her life used to be so mundane, so normal. Day in and day out, work day after work day. She suffered like everyone else, didn't believe in powers beyond nature.

And look at her now. At the complete will of the Gods, inside some fairy tale unimaginable to anyone else.

And it was in that moment which she arrived. A big room, a hall. She took a wrong turn, behind some big door which everyone else was leaving alone. On both sides on the walls stand long tables, filled with every piece of offering one could imagine. Fruits, gold, jewelry, fabric, statues, pastries, flowers and valuable items. They decorate the halls making it look like a temple unlike any other. An offering paradise, seemingly endless. But it's not endless. Standing furthest inside, leaning against the wall, right opposite of her is Hera. The biggest statue of the goddess that Irene has ever seen.

Standing in a flattering position, Hera is covered in white marble. One of her arms is outreached to the sky, the other one is laying down. Her gaze is pointed right down, staring into the souls of those who stand below. Irene doesn't know what to say, or what to do. She should continue running, but she stands there, completely frozen. It's just a statue, she tells herself. It's just a huge statue of Hera that has stood there for centuries and centuries. But it stares at her, the statue. It's alive.