"Is being popular tough?"
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⚠️ mentions of sexual activities, bruises ⚠️
Her muscles flex as she draws her sword to the side, and with one mighty push manages to make her opponent fall. A deep chuckle rumbles from her chest, and she quickly helps the girl who has fallen to her feet. The sun shines down upon them, and as it is late morning, it's already very hot outside. Her skin is glistening with sweat and she drags a rough hand through her black hair.
"Leader, we should head back to the temple. You have promised to visit the little February festival later today"
Thea grunts out a hum of acknowledgement, sticking her sword back in her belt. Her opponent bows down to her, but Thea immediately sends her a glare. During practice she is equal in rank to her opponents, otherwise it is not fair. The smaller girl apologizes half heartedly, like she always does. Many of the girls she practices with like to bow down and speak to her with respect regardless of what Thea has told them. It just seems more right.
The leader of Athena's temple stretches her arms and sighs. She and ten others have been out on the practice fields, up in the hills, all morning. It's colder up here than down in the city, and fewer people roam about. She does this almost every morning, whenever she gets a chance to do so. No matter how skilled she is, Thea believes that practice is essential to keep herself in shape, and continue to grow stronger. The others would disagree. Thea is already the strongest out of them all, by far.
They begin to head down the hill, Thea first in line, and the rest following her. The few people working at the farms bow down when she passes, and she gives a small smile in return. Thea doesn't like to smile and be affectionate that much, but she isn't disrespectful. If someone goes out of their way to bow down to her, she'll show some respect back. It's been about five years since she attained the position as leader of Athena's temple, and still Thea hasn't gotten used to it. It's all quite a big change. Going from being just one among the crowd to being the one everyone looks up to, it's hard, it's challenging, but Thea has always been up for a challenge.
When they left the temple at seven in the morning, only a few women were out and about. Now the whole city seems busy, the main street packed with people. Some are selling things outside of their shops, others are trying to bargain for a smaller price. The sellers tend to be stingy during rush hour, and Thea can tell by the sour faces of the ones trying to buy things for a low price. A few guards walk around, keeping order, and they all bow down when Thea passes. She gives them a serious nod, something along the lines of, "keep up the good work".
The people along the streets always clear the way for a leader to pass through. Thea hasn't had a problem with walking around anywhere for five years now. Sometimes it's annoying to be the center of attention, have everyone come looking for your approval and your opinion. But often it doesn't bother her that much. Thea likes to be in control. She likes to take charge, and she likes when people do as she says. And with her intimidating face and body, nobody has dared to defy her orders for years.
Athena's temple is far to the west side, and normally they'd be headed directly that way. But their training fields are all the way on the east side this time, and the group of women are forced to walk right across the city. They haven't even gotten far before they are walking along the streets near Aphrodites temple. On the southeast side of the city Aphrodites girls take up the biggest portion of the population. The northeast is for Artemis' temple, which is where a lot of Artemis girls choose to live as well. In that sense, Athena's temple girls mostly gather around the southwest, and the northwest is for Demeter's temple girls. Usually they don't like to segregate like this, but it's just a natural phenomenon based on the fact that the girls want to live near their designated temples.
So as they pass through the Aphrodite area, Thea spots someone that catches her off guard. A short, black haired girl, which she immediately recognizes as the outsider thanks to her sharp eye. Her expression goes cold. She stops for a moment, and the girls behind her stop as well, confused. They are walking along a narrow street, so as they try to look behind Thea to see why she stopped, only three of them manage to spot the outsider.
Thea is quite angry. She distinctly remembers what she said that day, when the outsider was brought to their meeting.
"Temple of Athena in favor, with the condition that she is guarded and stays within those walls, unless brought somewhere"
Yes, that was her only condition to allow Ariadne to keep the outsider inside her temple. She only asked for one f*cking thing. And yet look at that, the outsider, standing all alone, in the middle of one of the many narrow streets inside the city. She squints to see better, noticing that the shorter girl looks quite lost and confused. Perhaps she is trying to escape, or then she has mistakenly gotten out. Either way Thea doesn't blame her, it's impossible, she can't understand her, no she blames Ariadne. For all she knows that vixen planned this to make her mad, so she'll come f*ck her later. And as far as Thea knows, she'll probably fall for it too, tonight. The leader facepalms and groans.
"Wait here"
Her order is short and simple, but harsh like always. It sends shivers down the girls spines, as they notice that their leader sounds angry. Angrier than usual at least. They stay standing there, as Thea walks forwards and reaches Irene in no time. The girl in question hasn't even noticed the leaders presence yet, looking the other way. So she startles and flinches quite harshly when Thea taps her shoulder, maybe a bit more aggressively than she should've.
Irene's eyes widen when she spots Thea. But after what she has seen in the morning, she can't help but think sinful things the moment her mind recognizes the leader. The moment she sees her big build and intimidating expression. But she also grows scared, like really scared, and cowers down. Too scared to look her in the eye, but too scared to run away as well, practically frozen still. Thea rolls her eyes, but she too sees the sudden appeal in the shorter girl. She looks so innocent, so lost. The leader licks her lips.
"Why are you out here?"
Her words are mumbled rather than loud and commanding, because she knows that the outsider can't understand a single sound that leaves her lips. She grabs the girl's arm and pulls her a little closer, almost smiling at the small, scared sound that comes out of Irene's mouth. Of course, Thea's grip is strong, and she can't even feel whether or not Irene is fighting back. But that's none of her concern at the moment. She starts pulling the shorter girl towards the rest.
"Let's get you back where you belong"
In fact, Irene is actually fighting back against the taller's grip. But after several seconds of no reaction from Thea, Irene ends up giving in. The other women standing further along the road look at the outsider curiously. They recognize the rule that Thea gave out, stating that the outsider must be kept inside Aphrodites temple walls. They also can't help but wonder why she is here, without a chaperone. But it's not their place to ask, especially since Thea is just about to explain it to them.
"Let's take a short stop at Aphrodites temple before we head back, I think they have someone special missing from their worship"
The rest understand quickly and follow the leader without a word. Irene ends up being more scared of the new girls behind her than the taller girl that she has seen before, so she walks closer to Thea and tries to ignore the rest. She guesses that Thea is bringing her back to the temple, but of course she could be wrong. Whatever she does, Irene probably won't like it. She sighs quietly. All she wanted was to run away and continue searching for Isaac, or maybe she just wanted to get away from that stupid worship festival. But whatever, she'll just have to endure everything all over again. Irene frowns, which doesn't go unnoticed by the leader of Athena's temple.
"You're oddly cute"
Thea mutters under her breath, a small scowl still over her face.
"But not cute enough for me to let my guard down"
Ariadne studies the face beneath her.
Long strands of golden hair. Big green eyes that shine in the most emerald-like color. Nose quite tall and defined, jawline slightly hidden but still narrow. Small ears with a slight cut at the top. Pink lips with almost vampire like teeth showing underneath. Smooth skin, but just a few hidden freckles over her cheeks and nose. A long neck with very defined collarbones. Purple, blue and red marks all over her skin.
This one is very popular.
Korinna.
Ariadne runs her fingers across the girl's skin slowly, thinking about everything and nothing. It must be tough to be popular during the worship festivals. Despite knowing that Korinna enjoys the attention, she also knows that she is absolutely exhausted already. It's only noon, yet the girl looks ready to fall asleep under the leaders gentle touch. She has hickeys and small bruises here and there, probably from activities she has partaken in, in the morning. Her lips are bruised, some parts even bleeding, but they still manage to look inviting. People would be surprised at how many girls here are actually into tasting blood when they kiss.
At the temple most girls like to play with certain roles. One would submit to the other. Most of the girls here submit to those who are more dominant by nature than them, and dominate those who are more submissive by nature. Others just like to have fun without pushing these roles in, of course. But Korinna is one of those girls who are the most submissive at the temple, the one who plays the submissive role more than anyone else. With that in mind, Ariadne guesses that it's not tough to be popular, just tough to be popular and usually submissive during the unholy activities that they partake in. Korinna is absolutely spent.
Usually the leader is seated outside, by the pools during the festival. That way they can watch over as many girls as possible, and be very present and active. The girls like the presence of their leader during worship. Makes them feel like Aphrodite really is looking over them. So as usual, Ariadne is by the pools today, whenever she's not needed for something special concerning the banquet. Over the day she has picked a few girls to be with, all of them of course very busy now after getting the approval of their leader. But this month something just feels different.
Ariadne can't help but think that it has something to do with the outsider. Irene.
Sometimes she finds herself thinking about the special girl, wondering what she is doing, if she's fitting in well. Thinking about her big doe eyes, and how they stare at her with wonder, maybe fear, admiration. She isn't quite sure. Unable to read her expressions, and unable to understand her, Ariadne finds Irene very confusing. And maybe that's what makes her special. She's a mystery. She's someone Ariadne hasn't really managed to figure out yet. So she can't really bring herself to do anything to Korinna, and maybe that's for the best. She looks tired anyway.
Their calm atmosphere and fun times are interrupted by a certain loud voice. Ariadne immediately recognizes it.
"Ariadne!"
Considering the fact that nobody except for the leaders call her Ariadne, and nobody except for Thea can sound so loud and intimidating at the same time, Ariadne immediately knows that it's the leader of Athena's temple that is barging in and causing a ruckus. She turns her head slowly, eyes moving from Korinna's exhausted but pretty face, to another pretty face. Thea.
Ariadne smirks. Thea looks angry.
The two have always had a love-hate relationship, ever since they first met as new leaders. Ariadne is the easy going type, who likes s*x and parties and love and happiness. The only thing she's ever truly serious about is leading her temple, and worshipping Aphrodite of course. She wears a lazy smirk over her face, doesn't really care what people call her or what they do, goes with the flow and shows her emotions whenever she sees fit.
Thea is so different. She's cold, unemotional. Likes fighting and training, keeping herself in good shape. She enjoys studying and reading, always knowing everything before everyone else. Whenever she speaks it sounds perfect. Whenever she fights there is not a single mistake. She takes everything seriously and has a hard time letting loose or having fun. She likes being in control, keeping check of everything, making lists and taking precautions. Never shows her true emotions unless it's absolutely necessary, and doesn't see parties or love or having fun as something important, unlike Ariadne. She is intimidating, and likes to be seen as intimidating. Shows off her muscles and well fit body to scare others off her back, doesn't like pretending to be anything.
The two are so different, they always end up arguing with each other because of it. But ultimately, Ariadne thrives of the arguments. It creates tension, and for her, tension is an opportunity to build something sexual. For Thea, tension is a problem that needs to be taken care of, and if s*x is the answer to that, then so be it. And after five years of arguing and then resolving it by f*cking each other, it has become somewhat of a routine. That is why Ariadne can't help but smile when she sees her fellow leader storming towards her, filled with rage.
But as Thea has reached her, it seems like she becomes aware of the attention on them. Every single person sitting in the open area have stopped doing whatever they are doing, and are instead focusing on the two leaders. So she clears her throat, still angry, a frown over her face, and lowers her voice.
"We need to talk"
Ariadne shrugs. She turns to Korinna, who has opened her eyes again, and smiles kindly at the girl.
"Why don't you take a nap somewhere quiet? You need more energy for tonight"
Not daring to defy her leader, Korinna nods her head. Ariadne gives her one last smile before standing up, following Thea through the hall. The other girls seem to hesitate before going back to their previous tasks. Ariadne wonders what could be wrong. But seeing her this mad, she guesses that it has something to do with the outsider. They haven't met after the meeting after all, so what else could it be? Thea leads her into one of the main hallways, until they have reached some of the girls from Athena's temple, holding onto a smaller black haired girl.
Of course, it's Irene. Ariadne sighs. She should've kept an eye on her, or at least told someone to keep an eye on her. But thinking back, she thought that the outsider who'd be too busy with all of the girls attentions on her, that she'd have no time to even think about escaping or leaving the temple. But apparently, that wasn't the case.
"You promised to keep her inside the temple walls! Why would you let her wander?! Do you know how dangerous this could've been?!"
Thea sounds really mad. Ariadne sighs for what seems like the one hundredth time.
"Oh yeah, she's terrifying Thea. Look at those small arms and legs! I think she's going to gobble us up!"
The girls from Athena's temple hold back their laughs behind masks of seriousness, as Ariadne mocks Thea while rolling her eyes. Thea is right, they need to be cautious and careful when it comes to outsiders or other things that they don't understand. But at some point it's going too far. Irene is way smaller than all of them, and after watching her for a few days, she hasn't proven herself to be very strong or extra fast or anything else concerning. And looking at her now, she just looks lost and scared, maybe a little tired and annoyed. If she really is dangerous, Ariadne will take the hit. And if she isn't, which she isn't, Ariadne will quite literally laugh in Thea's face.
Thea only gets more angry at Ariadne's words, as expected.
"So what? It doesn't change the fact that you broke your promise?! Keep her inside these f*cking walls or ill-"
Ariadne stops her in the middle of her sentence.
"Or you'll what? Beat me up? Kill me?"
She gets closer, so that only Thea can hear her following words.
"...f*ck me?"
There is a smirk on her face, clearly suggesting something. While Thea is stunned, she walks forwards and grabs Irene from one of the Athena girls, leading her further down the hallway.
"I'll see you at the banquet darling"
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Hi guys! This weekend is huvilakaudenpäättäjäiset, directly translating to like "summer time/summer house ending" or something, which is a Finnish festival where we celebrate the end of summer. I'll try my best to pre-write this week so that you'll get the chapters anyway, but just in case, I might miss Sunday's chapter.
The chances are low tho don't worry.
Anyway byeee