"Sailing on a boat, far away at sea, a beautiful summer dream"
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"It looks fine, we should try it in the water today"
Irene is right. Their boat looks okay. Mainly because it's built out of parts from their old boat, the one that was partly destroyed when Isaac arrived at the island a few days before Irene. He showed his sister where he had come and they spent their entire first day dragging the bigger parts to the Green Bay. Wooden splinters in their hands and hunger in their stomachs didn't bother. Isaac has completely given up on going back too, finally working again after a whole month has reminded him of real life, and he knows it's better not to fall for traps like fake luxury at a fake island with fake people.
Or maybe not, he is constantly asking Irene if she could reconsider, but that doesn't matter.
It's better to work through life, it's better that way because they can trust the people at home.
The boat looks amazing, Isaac thinks. Their old boat was rusty but they have spent the last three days restoring it and building it together again. It should hold, it should be good enough to take them home. Nobody will come after them, Irene knows that. She knows that nobody has left this island for thousands of years, and that she and Isaac will be the first and last ones in a very long time. Nobody will come after them, and if that saddens her, she doesn't think about it.
This boat will take them far, but Irene isn't stupid. She doesn't want to die trying to escape, so they have to be sure. That's why they are trying the boat in the water today, just to make sure that it works. That it doesn't leak. That the sails can take them far enough despite being smaller than they were before. Both of them are hungry, barely any food has been gathered during these days but it's enough too keep them going at least. With a little water, a little food and a lot of determination, Irene is sure that they will make it home. Make it home alive. She's sure.
If only they could leave faster. Every day she feels anxious that the girls from the city will find her, will find them. Surely someone must be looking for her, right? Irene doesn't know whether to be happy or sad about that. Happy that they are coming to save her or sad that she might be found and stopped from leaving.
Isaac's eyes shut close tightly as they push the boat over the sand. It glides a bit harshly but eventually they reach the water. A little cold, salty water splashes up and stains their clothes further. Irene ignores the icy feeling on the bottom of her feet, as Isaac and her have to struggle even more to push the boat away from land. Surely it will float, but if it leaks? The sooner they can leave the better, so if there's anything wrong with the boat, it would be terrible. Isaac groans when his finger slips and scratches his already bruised hand further. It's not their first time restoring and transporting a boat, but it's been awhile since they did anything physical like this.
Finally they have gotten so far that the boat starts floating, and while Isaac catches his breath Irene checks for any leaking. She is careful not to touch too much, afraid of getting splinters from the ruined wood. Lungs burning, Isaac quickly spits into the water to get rid of the bad taste, acid and blood creeping up his throat. He leans over the edge of the boat, feet still in the water and sweat running down his forehead. The storm from a few nights ago is forgotten, replaced by a terrible heat, similar to the one that existed when they first arrived.
"I think is fine, as long as we can actually manage to sail past that storm again"
Irene's voice is mumbled, not that concerned, but more realistic. Isaac gulps anyway. Vague and lost memories from the night he arrived at the island come back to him. The storm was terrible, sending him flying from one part of the boat to the other. He was forced to take down the sails as quickly as possible, and hold on for dear life. Isaac remembers his head hitting the walls of the boat, his fingers scratching up and bleeding terribly from his harsh hold on the wood around him. But he was lucky, the storm lead him to an island. Getting out of the storm could be different though.
Both he and Irene had their boats ripped to pieces upon arriving here. If that happens after the storm again, they won't be finding refuge at an island, they'll be at the open sea instead. What could save them there, if they're passed out laying over nothing but broken pieces of a boat. They could drown while being completely out of it, why hadn't they thought of this before? Although, Irene is positive. She knows that controlling a boat is much harder alone, and that they might be able to do it safely together. Sure they will.
"If we leave, we aren't coming back, are we?"
Irene nods absentmindedly, smile increasing as the second pass without a leak or problem in sight. Isaac sighs, finally calming down from his struggled breathing but still sweating terribly under the harsh sun.
"Then if we die while trying to escape, will it be worth it?"
Isaac's wavering, unsure, negative voice rings hesitantly through the air. He is insecure about saying this, both because he doesn't want Irene to be mad, and because he is genuinely afraid of dying at sea now. Maybe Irene's negative reaction would be worse. They have already had multiple conversations about this, and every time Irene gets more and more annoyed at him bringing it up. While restoring the boat, Isaac has asked every day if she would reconsider, constantly proving to Irene that her brother is still against the idea of leaving the island, still stuck on these lying people and their lying ways. She gets more and more mad. Of course they should try to leave! This is no better than hell.
"We don't belong here Isaac, I've already told you this. We don't have a place in their society and they will, sooner or later, hate us for it.
It's human nature to hate the thing that is unfamiliar. The people of Athens voted the person they hated the most to be thrown out of the city, every single year in Ancient Greece. Well these people are Greek, these people are practically ancient and frankly we are the people they hate the most. It's better we leave before they force us out themselves"
Isaac's shoulders slump, just like they do every time Irene rejects his offer to stay here. Some people might have rebelled, he could've left his sister, it's not like she could've stopped him. But Isaac and Irene will never part, not again. They have been each other's only family for many years, and that's not going to change. Not to mention, Isaac could never let his sister leave alone, and he could never force her to stay here either, considering how badly they seem to have treated her. He's torn between sticking together, finding comfort and not having his sister be hurt and scared for the rest of her life.
The boat floats. What can he do?
Penelope rolls her eyes.
There's a reason she finds the people of the Gods annoying, and that's literally because they are so annoying. This man, Eros, named after the god Eros, and his friend Niko are the representatives from the Gods side. Eros, he's the annoying one. His hair is so black it's almost blue, and he shines so brightly just like his sparkling black eyes. Seriously, he shines a lot. Like his entire face is the sun. Constantly smiling, always giving compliments and totally over the top.
He wouldn't be annoying to anyone else, but Penelope is not the type to like sunshine people. The only sunshine person she likes, is Agape, and Agape isn't even that sunshine-y. She's just Agape, a beautiful, wonderful girl that Penelope is head over heels for. Thankfully for the girl from Athena's temple, Agape is here right now. She and Penelope and Nadya, the red haired one from Artemis' temple, are the representatives from the goddesses city. While Nadya is also more of a sunshine person, she is nowhere near as energetic as Eros is. Nadya can also be serious, which she is right now, because of course the situation is quite serious.
Niko on the other hand, is the polar opposite. He's really just like Penelope, but maybe even worse. A complete serious, dull and sour guy. His hair is a more brown black and so are his eyes, and they definitely don't sparkle. It's funny, because despite being the more serious guy he is way shorter and smaller than Eros. Eros, obviously, uses that to his advantage. He manages to sneak hugs and run away with ease from Niko's angry yells and fists while he enjoys himself with a simple laugh and smile on his face. It's not like Niko is abnormally short, Eros just happens to be one of the more lanky guys.
Penelope doesn't like them. She prefers women, everyone prefers women. Agape and Nadya are like real people, their personalities make sense and they are never over the top. These men, at least Eros and Niko, have animated personalities that make their lives into theatrical performances and Penelope doesn't appreciate that. She never did like theater.
But whether she likes them or not isn't what's important. What's really awkward is the two leaders that are suddenly with them. Why are they here? Penelope doesn't dare to guess. She frowns every time she remembers that they are here. Ariadne and Thea have been leading them to the vault ever since they left the city. Nobody knows why they wanted to come with, Penelope guesses that one of them suggested it and the other wanted to join her just to compete. The mood is very sour, both because Eros keeps annoying Niko and because Ariadne and Thea are glaring at each other and staining the air around them.
It's been three day since they started planning this, four days since Irene disappeared. In that short time rumors from the Gods people have reached the city of women, since the two cities have been more connected than ever because of the emergency that is going on currently. Plans had to be made and keys had to be found, but now they are finally on their way.
They are only a few minutes away from the Green Bay beaches, a place that holds the old Poseidon temple and thereby the old books. To open the vault one needs representatives from both cities, and one leader. Only one leader. And yet they have two with them. Two that are so intimidating when angry that nobody dared to refuse them when they suggested to come, when they both suggested to come. It's very awkward. Every now and then Nadya glances at Penelope and Agape with a grimace.
Penelope doesn't dare to say anything to her leader Thea, in case the taller might blow up on her from the tension. Agape is the same way, but she's been like that for days. Ariadne, unlike Thea, has been on edge ever since this whole thing started, and she's a bit more aggressive when emotional than Thea. Nadya though, doesn't have a personal relationship with either of the two leaders, her leader is Thelena, and therefore she feels extra awkward.
"Uhm... we are nearing the Green Bay leader, I can see the sea from here"
Thea nods wordlessly to Penelope, not even bothering to glance in the direction she is pointing at. The rest make awkward eye contact with each other. But Penelope is right, the Green Bay beaches are only a minutes walk from where they are. The smell of the sea is extra strong and the blue glittering water can be seen behind the trees. Nobody has visited the vault in twenty years, not since they last tried to retrieve it. It's inside an old temple that lays in ruins, and it's overgrown and not taken care of and definitely not protected.
It's just that, nobody cares about the old books anymore since they are unreadable. They realized, maybe a tad bit too late, that they should've cared more.
Thea leads the way, pushing back leaves and stomping over roots and rocks. They reach the old temple of Poseidon quickly after that.
A beautiful, gray stone temple that is the height of two people. A statue of Poseidon is on one side of the opening, and a statue of a dolphin on the other. Poseidon's head has fallen off and the stone looks broken all around. It used to be wrapped in gold, beautiful decorations and statues all around. Nowadays they have built a bigger temple for the god of the sea on the men's side, where it's more practical to have it. This one has been used as a vault for the old books for hundreds of years since then, otherwise abandoned and left to the plants and animals of the island. It's the only abandoned temple that they have.
Still deeply faithful and respectful, trying to be as pleasing as possible to the god in these times of crisis, they have decided to be as respectful as possible. They stand in formation, Thea on one side with the two boys behind her, and Ariadne on the other side with the girls. The bow down, very silent, and lay three offerings. One with flowers from the sea, one with fish, and one with gold. At each offering they bow down again. If they want the gods to help them, they better make sure to beg. There's no way they'll end up like Pompeii or any other fallen civilization.
After the offers they go to open up the gates. It's easy, almost scary, as the whole thing is slowly falling apart and they don't want to break it. It's dark inside, extremely dark, as there are no windows. The old books are not very protected, just laying there for anyone to steal. But that's the thing, not many people know about the books and they have no value, so nobody would bother to steal them anyway. The stone walls make it cold and wet inside, Eros frowning and shuddering like the dramatic person that he is, while Niko rolls his eyes.
"Let's just fetch the book and head back, it should be the red one right there"
Penelope dutifully gathers the big, heavy red book into her arms, upon Thea's order. They have decided to let the other books be for awhile. Poseidon watches over them like he has for hundreds of years, it would be disrespectful to disturb that. Just as fast as they went inside, they have left. It's better to leave the temple to the animals and plants. In the sunlight, the book is just as beautiful as it was described in some newer texts. A shining, red book with golden decorations formed as animals and people, houses and diamonds. It's the book of life after all.
Thea and Ariadne barley throw a glance at it, while the rest stare with awe. Maybe they are too busy glaring at each other, or maybe the gray dullness that Irene has left behind is still holding them down in its clutches. Penelope is sure that if they don't find Irene, and she ends up being gone forever, Thea and Ariadne will never be the same. They'll somehow get over it on the outside, but once anyone mentions her name or anything related to her, they'll fall into a dark depression for days or lash out angrily. Penelope only shudders at the thought.
"Hurry up, the more time we waste the further these outsiders come to reaching our island"
Ariadne rolls her eyes at Thea's remark, but they walk off anyway. She can't help but mumble out something vague though.
"Of course you'd be the one to say that"
Thea squints, still not looking at her fellow leader.
"And what's that supposed to mean"
"You know exactly what I mean"
The tension is suddenly hard to breathe in, Penelope and the rest squirm uncomfortably and try to ignore the situation in front of them. Even Niko and Eros have stopped squabbling for one second to awkwardly make through the situation.
"None of this would've happened if-"
"Isaac hurry up, my feet are freezing here!"
They all freeze. Mostly because, there's not supposed to be people out here, and because that's not a language that they understand. That's a tone that Ariadne and Thea definitely recognize, and a language they all recognize as something they don't know. That's, them. The people they have been trying to find for four or five days now. The people they thought had died or left already. The people that have been causing the biggest tension, arguments and sorrow for what feels like forever now. Thea can't believe her ears, she was already blaming herself for Irene's death. She was sure that she had died in a ditch or mountain slide somewhere.
"I can't find our hammer rock! I need it to fix the nail!"
A deeper voice, sounds like gibberish to their ears. That must be Isaac. The younger brothers voice snaps Ariadne and Thea back to reality. They forget their argument and immediately start running towards the beach. The rest follow, a bit more hesitantly, but still very curiously. The last few trees and bushes fly past them, Ariadne's eyes blown wide and ready to face the person she has missed for so many days. Too many days. Way too many. Thea would feel insecure about facing Irene again, but right now she can only think about how much she misses her.
And there they are. The last tree gets out of the way, the glittering blue sea coming in front of them. It looks absolutely beautiful here. And there, even more beautifully, stands Irene. She is holding onto a boat that moves along with the waves, legs partially in the water and eyes serious. Her gaze is set on Isaac, a black haired short boy with big innocent eyes, searching around for something by a shelter they have built. At first, they feel happiness, but then, the realization dawns on them.
Irene is standing in the water, with a boat. A fixed boat. A boat that is ready to leave.
Irene and Isaac weren't planning to leave today, but they don't know that of course.
"F*ck! Irene!"
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