The Children // ASSASSINS CREED ODYSSEY // DEIMOS

C10: The Flower

Chrysis had lit so many candles, Eos was surprised it hadn't gone up in flames, and the child, Pyros, three with some memories of the world he'd left behind, screaming for his mater to save him from the fire. Any sane person would have said she was torturing him.

"Akin, a warrior, she called to the Gods to make him brutal, make him vicious, make him strong. And they answered" Eos shrugged, Kassandra was having a little trouble keeping up with both the walking and talking as Eos didn't stop, "Except, the vicious bit never seemed to come to fruition because he's a god given human teddy-bear",

"Teddy-bear" Kassandra asked,

"Don't get me wrong, if he needs to kill you, he will. His strength matches Deimos' - he may be even stronger but, your brothers more tactical. Akin has brute force and not much else".

He'd also had Asphodel.

"Melaina" Eos sighed, "Probably asked the Gods to keep her mind nice and clear so they could fill it with whatever shit they wanted and, Asphodel, of course Chrysis had to ask the Gods to forgive her for her bloodline having failed them and the Greek world".

"Her bloodline" Kassandra asked,

"Yes. The flower is a Persian" Eos told her, "A grand-daughter of some Persian King we were told".

Kassandra wondered if her blind Persian King had anything to do with that.

"The last time I was at that temple Eos. Chrysis set it alight. I do not know if there will be much left there". Kassandra hadn't chosen to wait and see.

"We'll find out" Eos said.

After a few more minutes of walking, they both saw the blackened ruins of the still-standing temple of Hera beyond the trees.

"Maybe we should set it alight ourselves when we leave... just to make sure" Eos said quietly.

"You think Asphodel is in there" Kassandra asked, she'd stopped, eyeing the temple suspiciously with her hands on her hips,

"Well, it is the last place we know she was if she's not" Eos shrugged, and, right now, that was all they had.

Eos stepped over the door which had fallen in to ruin and looked around, it did not help that it had already started to get dark out. That, along with the marble having been blackened, if it hadn't been for Kassandra's eye spotting the dark mass in the corner, Eos might have missed it.

"Eos" Kassandra said quietly, her voice echoed off the walls, Eos turned to her,

"Huh" Eos asked, only to find where Kassandra looked to. Eos stopped.

Huddled in the corner of the temple, there was a dark mass, dirty, skinny and human, a hood covering their face as they hugged the wall, their fingers like spindly strands as it held the darkened marble.

"No" Eos said quietly. Eos took a step towards it, her arm outstretched. Kassandra took a small step back, her hand clenched around her spear, ready.

Eos touched what she thought could be a shoulder, felt the bones jut out of the ragged robes they wore, felt the warmness of life.

Eos took another step closer and knelt in front of them,

"Be careful Eos" Kassandra said from behind her, she had a bad feeling about this. Eos reached out again, slower this time, pulling down the persons hood. She still wasn't sure if it is was a man or woman yet. Pulling the hood down revealed a bald head, a man?

"Are you ok" Eos asked quietly.

The body shook and Eos fell back just as it lunged for her, falling off to the side of her as their arms collapsed beneath them. Kassandra pulled Eos back and she scrambled on to her feet.