"From the beginning of our days to the end of our time"
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⚠️ blood, dead bodies, weapons, war, death, murder, violence, near death experiences, dangerous activities (do not attempt?!), mentions of death and murder ⚠️
The wind swishes under her left foot.
Irene takes a sharp intake of air. Could she really do this? The long way down makes her dizzy, head rolling from side to side. She has a death grip on the corner between the balcony railing and the temple wall, one foot on the balcony railing and one hanging right outside of it, deciding weather or not she is going to be stupid enough to actually do this.
Irene gulps. She looks down and concludes that falling would probably mean death. Ariadne would blame herself for that death, since she's the one who locked Irene in their bedroom. But on the same time it would all be Irene's fault. She's the one who is deciding to do this. She feels her hands shake. It would not be fun to die here today, a suicide like death. Maybe she should just stay home?
The thought of her brother out there, all alone, in some stupid dungeon...
No, she has to do this.
She is holding tightly onto a colorful rope, made from twenty three pieces of Thea's clothing. She's going to have to apologize for that later. Or not. Maybe she will be too angry with them to say anything, they deserve it for locking her away, they drove her to do this. Irene huffs. And she won't die here, of course she won't. It just doesn't make sense. She was brought here for a reason, to this island for a reason, and she won't die just because of a bad decision.
So with rage in mind, Irene takes the first step. There is a small part of the wall sticking out of the rest, one that she can walk on. But it's risky. She can only take one step, and hope that she doesn't wobble towards the ground. That would mean death, as previously mentioned, so that's not an option. No, she needs to place her left foot on the small part sticking out from the wall, then stretch her right foot to the balcony next to the one she is standing on right now. The super easy, extremely scary plan that she came up with within a span of ten minutes while tying together the clothes.
Irene holds her breath. With a harsh grip around the corner of the wall and her balcony, she stretches her left foot and places it against the wall. Her right foot is still on the balcony railing. Underneath her is nothing but air. Irene breathes out. Steady. Then, she lets go of her right foot, jumping through the air with support from her left foot, letting go of the corner and turning her body around. If she doesn't make the jump, she dies. God, how many times has she told herself that already?
Irene screams. She just can't help it. She floats through the air for just a fraction of a second. The jump is just enough.
She lands with her right foot directly on the other balcony railing. To avoid falling backwards she immediately flings herself forwards and onto the balcony itself, even if she falls down harshly onto the marble floor. Irene feels great relief in her body once she realizes that she has made the jump, and is laying safely on the floor. The pain from the fall spreads through her body little by little. Then it disappears, only some of it staying to ache in her bones.
Irene breathes out. Then she laughs. God that was the riskiest thing she has done since that time she went out on the open sea, all the way through a storm to save her brother. She can feel the adrenaline start to die down, but her pulse is still loud in her ears. Irene gets up from the floor with a groan, hand gripping tightly to the rope that she has. It's a dark room that she comes to, Thea's office. Irene navigates through the office, double checking her pockets to make sure that nothing fell out during her jump. She feels the same pocket knife as before. Irene doesn't know how to use a sword, but if she is forced to use one she could probably steal one from someone else instead.
She runs through the familiar office of her wife, ignoring every speck of dust inside. Just as she had hoped, the door isn't locked. Irene smiles. Her hand pulls down the handle and the heavy door opens with a small squeak. Irene peeks her head outside, looking from the left and the right to see if anyone is still wandering around in the corridors. It's silent and pitch black, the only source of light coming from the window at the end of the hallway, where she is headed. With a quick intake of air the black haired girl runs along the hallway, leaving behind both her bedroom and Thea's office.
Thea and Ariadne are in for the surprise of their lives once they open that door. Unless they see her out on the fields of course, which isn't really her intention.
Irene looks outside the window. The same street still stands, the window going through the wall of the temple and the wall around the temple as well. Irene climbs up on the thick windowsill. She looks around for anything to tie her rope with. This was not apart of her plan, she realizes. Eventually she climbs down from the windowsill and opens the nearest door, tying the rope to its handle. She then climbs back up on the windowsill and grabs onto the rope. Irene takes a deep breath of air.
This is the last dangerous phase of her escape plan. All she needs to do is climb down this rope, as fast as possible but also as slowly as possible. If she can't hold her weight with her hands she slides down, and that will cause either burns on her hands or just her falling and dying. But Irene knows her strength. She is strong enough to do this. So she throws the other end of the rope down the window, seeing it fall almost to the ground. She tests the strength of the rope. It holds. It will hold.
Then, Irene starts climbing down.
She grits her teeth while holding onto the rope, legs moving along with the wall. The rope seems a bit unstable. It's only a bunch of tied together shirts after all. Irene is halfway down. From this height she wouldn't die falling, just break a leg or something. But Irene can't afford breaking a leg right now. So she doesn't let go. Instead she keeps going, even as her grip continues to slip and the self made rope starts getting loose. Someone walks by on the street, gasping at the sight of someone climbing down from a window. Irene glances behind her to see them.
"Hi"
Then she continues climbing down, not minding the small audience. Eventually she is close enough to the ground. Irene notices that the rope is going to break at any moment. So instead of letting herself fall down spontaneously, Irene jumps down on her own accord. She catches herself, legs bent. Looking up, the black haired girl sees the rope that she just climbed down moving with the slight wind. A smile spreads over her face. Irene smiles.
Then she runs.
Take that, Ariadne.
There are people everywhere.
So, so many people.
And blood spills to the perfectly polished marble floor. It's going to stain. It pools underneath those who lay on the floor, and it spills from every scratch and slash of their swords. The kind of blood that is easily forgotten once it disappears for those who caused it, but impossible to ever erase for those who do not wish to see it. For those who can only focus on it.
Isaac stares with wide eyes. He only has one thought in mind.
If the maid who cleaned the floors this morning knew that this would happen, would she still have done it? Would she have polished it as perfectly as always? Scrubbed the rock surface until it gleamed under the stark sun? Or would she have slacked off on her duties, knowing that there is no use in cleaning the floor that will soon flood with blood and rotting bodies.
Isaac feels nauseous at the thought.
Then he is hit with reality. Two women fighting stumble over to where he is standing, one of them threatening to wobble right over him, dangerously swinging their swords in his direction. One of them gets a slash in the arm and blood bursts out. Isaac avoids it with a small yelp. He thinks that if any of that red substance gets on him he'll surely puke. Honestly the boy never thought that he had any kind of fear for blood and weapons until this point. He has read enough novels to think that he would be fine with it. But he really isn't.
Isaac realizes that this is dangerous for real, not just a danger that exists only in a book. It's so dangerous that he could die. He gulps. He needs to get out of here.
Looking around, one could easily get confused. He is standing in some sort of hallway, at the end of it. There are doors on both sides, and a big opening on one side leading into some kind of important room. Dozens of women stand in the hallway fighting against each other, but it seems like this part isn't the main focus. There are more all around the palace, at least that's what Isaac imagines based on the sound he can hear. Isaac thinks about how to get away without finding himself at the edge of someone's sword. He comes to no answer.
No matter how hard he tries, the cold white marble palace looks endless from here. There will be thousands of soldiers fighting all around, filling every corner and every room. Isaac feels dread fill his stomach. This time there is no way out. This time he can't come up with a master plan that will miralesly solve everything. There is nothing in his head. Everything had been going so well up to this point, he was almost free. And then...
Isaac steps backwards to avoid the two women fighting in front of him.
He decides then and there, that if he can't escape he will at least try his best to stay alive. So he curls up into a ball on the floor, covering his head and hoping that the message will get across. He does not want any part of this. He just wants to stay alive. He just wants his happy life back. For the first time in what seems like forever, he just wants Anaxagoras by his side.
"Your majesty! Your majesty!"
There are footsteps heard around the palace. A boy runs into the throne room completely unannounced. The officials stand up, offended. The emperor is sulky, his husband is gone and he is bored. So he doesn't care about the man running towards him. He only keeps seated and stares at them with a dull expression.
The boy catches his breath.
"News from the city of goddesses! The leaders are attempting a coup! The queen is being dethroned!"
Anaxagoras stands up.
Thea feels more powerful than she ever has before.
Adrenaline shoots through her veins like a drug. It is a drug. She has never felt this good. Her enemies fall by her feet. Her burdens drop dead, one by one. As every second passes her shoulders feel lighter than before. All those nights spent working for someone else, all those nights doing thankless tasks seem to disappear as she watches herself get revenge. As she watches herself make things right.
One night of blood, followed by a lifetime of happiness.
This is the moment she will finally stop her suffering.
Together with Ariadne, Thea bursts through the closed throne room doors. Only she and Ariadne have made it this far.
After infiltrating the palace and temple of Hera, together with forces from all leaders except Thelena, they have succeeded in making their way further into the palace. Thelena's forces, together with the queens own forces have tried to stop them. Thousands of people stand outside the palace, curious about what's going on. They have gathered on the streets and on the steps of the temple of Hera, waiting for an explanation. But the war is still in full swing. They were met with almost equal forces the moment they stepped near the palace. But their forces are better, bigger, stronger. They have managed to overpower the queen and Thelena, already at the door of her throne room. What's even better is that Thelena is slowly being convinced to join their side by Daphne. The queen will have nobody left. She is cornered and without allies.
Thea smirks.
A familiar light shines in front of her. This is the room she has walked into thousands of times before, every month, sometimes every week. This has been the center of her life for many years now. And yet, for the first time ever, she doesn't feel dread at the sight of the room. She doesn't feel any kind of resentment, anger or frustration. It's an unfamiliar feeling of happiness and fulfillment that she has been chasing since birth, that's what she feels.
Ariadne doesn't feel as strongly as she does, but she supports Thea. She always has. And she understands her side and trusts her with her life. So waking into this room she feels nothing but determination. Determination to end Thea's suffering, once and for all. And determination to finally free her people from the clutches of this incompetent leader that has been forced upon them.
Everything has been going perfectly so far. Irene is safely locked away in their bedroom. Their forces have infiltrated the palace and are slowly winning the war. Soon they will have the throne and the power away from the queen. How perfect is that? It's almost too perfect.
Inside the throne room, the queen sits on her throne. She is calm, but still so very unlike her. For the first time ever, she actually looks like a queen. Her head is held high, her posture is straight. She looks serious, eyes following their every move. But something is missing, something is not the same from what Thea imagined it would be. The queen isn't nervous, and she isn't tense. She looks too smug, too calm for this to be the moment that she is dethroned and killed. It doesn't make any sense. Thea feels her happiness falter. What is this woman planning?
"This is over, Isabella! You know it was over the moment I turned against you!"
It feels so foreign to say the queens name out loud. But the woman on the throne doesn't falter. Instead, she only smiles like a madman. What is she planning?! Thea falters on the inside but doesn't seem phased on the outside. She won't let the queen get to her. She has known her since birth, and they have always had a difference of opinion. Pretending to be friends, pretending to be close when they were always fighting and always against each other. Because of her higher standing, Isabella never held back from using Thea. This is the one moment, for the first time that Thea gets revenge. When she finally gets what she deserves. But why does it feel like something is wrong?
"Is that so, Thea? I believe you two have miscalculated something"
And there, coming from behind her throne, is a girl they had never thought they would see next to the queen. Her arm is held tightly by a guard, standing tall above her. She is struggling. There is a small bruise on her face and on her arm. The queen steps forwards, pointing a sword directly at the girl's throat.
Thea feels her world stop.
"Irene!"
"One more step forwards and she dies"
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It's almost like Irene made a mistake by leaving, except she didn't