"This play better be good" Eos said as she folded her arms, enjoying watching Thepsis and Aristophanes argue... Something about the mask Thepsis had to wear not bringing out his good side... Though, a mask of Kleons face was never going to bring out anyone's good side, which she was sure Sokrates would have made a point of had he been there.
"Eos", she turned to look at Kass who was walking over, Alkibiades following behind the Misthios as if he was some sort of lost, blonde puppy.
"Kassandra" Eos replied,
"And Alkibiades" Alli added in. Kassandra rolled her eyes and Eos sighed, smiling a little.
"Alli, Sokrates was looking for you" Eos told him, "Needed your help with something",
"Oh was he now. Perhaps..." he walked off before they could hear what he said, probably for the best they both thought. Kassandra mouthed a thank you as they heard him call out for him.
Kassandra was fond of the man but, sometimes, even she could not deal with the amount of attention he gave her.
"Do you still think Kleon will go to Mytilene" Eos asked - the argument over their shoulder was now on whether or not fresh or rotten fruit should be thrown as the politician fell from the peoples graces - "even if this play does make him look the fool" she gestured to the fools behind them.
"It's Kleon. Nothing would surprise me" Kassandra said. She picked up the mask Thepsis would be adorning - as soon as the two of them stopped arguing. Something about the lines now.
"Ugh... Its kind of creepy how alike it is to him, isn't it" Eos said,
"Do you think my brother would talk to me if I put it on" Kassandra held it over her face as she sat down on steps that led to the back of the stage.
"Probably more likely to punch you" Eos said.
Kassandra muffled a laugh.
The conversation at the prison had left Kassandra with some that Deimos now realised what it was the cult had done, that it was them that had led to him being thrown from that mountain...
His voice, his face, when she'd told him that Myrine had gone after him, it was almost as if something clicked, as if he realised how wanted he was... but, he'd still left, leaving her to Kleons 'mercy' - more opposing to Kleon but, from the looks of things, that had been brewing already.
Although now, despite that, she knew herself that there was a chance, a real chance. It wasn't just Eos' words anymore. She'd seen his want for the truth, the need for it.
"Your brother needs to come to you Kass" Eos told her as she leaned back, "He did it once already".
"Yes but..." and there was always a but. Always. Because, even if Deimos was doubting the cult, it didn't mean that he wanted out of the world he was in - even if Eos was proof that he could feel an emotion other than the violence and chaos that consumed him - it didn't mean he'd give up on something he'd been told he was destined to be his whole life... Perhaps he had been destined to bring order and the cult... the cult took that destiny away when he was thrown from Mount Taygheto.
Perhaps there would be nothing left for him once this was done... Once the war was finished... Eos could help, Kassandra was already convinced that they were in love with each other, no matter how much they fought it, but love... love didn't always keep you alive... purpose did...
Its what had kept Eos alive all this time - and the lycaon - but once that purpose was complete, what more did she have. Unless she found another. Perhaps living, despite the odds stacked against you, was purpose enough...
Perhaps some peoples only purpose in life was to live it.
But, Eos was right, Deimos had to make that move. He had to decide what path he wanted to take. Perhaps he'd never be able to live with himself - with what he'd done...
But then, if Eos could... perhaps he could too.
Eos hadn't told Kassandra that Deimos had given her the evidence to convict Kleon. It wasn't the hope Kass wanted when, all it was, was a game between him and the politician... A game for power.
"You know what I've realised..." Eos pushed away from the wall she was leant on,
Kass looked up at her,
"We're not fighting for the same person. Not really",
"What?" Kass asked,
"You're fighting for a brother you lost on a mountain, a baby..." Eos snorted, shaking her head. It was not a gesture to how futile Kass' fight was but, of how very, very different their expectations were. "I'm fighting for someone whose done terrible things and... may not actually be worth saving...",
Kassandra sighed, she was right. Kassandra had to understand that Deimos wasn't Alexios, he wasn't the same baby she used to cuddle at night or rock to sleep, he was something completely different.
"But that's okay" Eos smiled, "because I'm also fighting for the one the Greek world doesn't know...". It always warmed Eos' heart when she saw how attentive Kassandra became when it came to her brother, about the part of him she hadn't seen yet. Eos hoped he had seen some of that at the prison - at the love Kassandra had for him. A love he'd always been so desperate for. "The one who dragged me up when I was down, the one who showed me that the world wasn't just all... pain..." Kass looked down at the mask, wondering if Eos had done that for her brother once... "That you could laugh when the monsters were right there in front of you... That you could stand the pain that little bit longer to get through. Even if it was all for nothing in the end... The only person I knew I could trust... every single time... ".
There was so much more she could say; like the way he made her whole body shudder with this feeling she couldn't explain, just from a glance; the way he said her name, so gently, when the chaos tried to embrace them; that little shiny glint in his eye that he got on occasion; the small sarcy remarks he made that had her rolling her eyes.
Kassandra sighed, "You make him sound like such a good person. I think I'd like to meet him one day". Eos snorted, ruining the tender moment they were having,
"He's still a sadistic arrogant arse who may kill you if you look at him wrong" Eos assured her,
"I think it runs in the family" Kassandra said smiling. "And I don't mean mine", Eos shook her head,
"Nice to know you think so highly of me". Kassandra sat back, still holding the mask of Kleons face.
"Thinking of you. I've had a letter from my friend, the Persian, Darius" Kassandra said,
"The grumpy old man" Eos asked, Kass smiled, if they were to ever meet, she hoped Eos would keep the nickname to herself.
"I asked him about you, about Laelaps, about that letter I found",
"And",
"Nothing" Kassandra shrugged, "whatever you were, whoever you are to them, you were after his time in Persia",
"We Kassandra" Eos reminded her, "me and Helios",
"That doesn't make any sense" Kassandra said,
"Unless they have the wrong person" Eos suggested, "unless they do mean Asphodel and she's... gone...",
"Why would Melaina-",
"If the Order are as bad as you say they are, perhaps Melaina can't be trusted" Eos said. That girl had never not been odd - Eos had no clue what side she was on... Maybe she was on one all on her own.
"Perhaps...",
Eos sighed, "nothing about Laelaps",
"Nothing",
"You said the last you saw of the Order, they were in Makadonia right" Eos said, she shrugged, "well, after Mytilene, we could-"
"No Eos" Kassandra shook her head, averting her eyes back to the mask,
"What",
"You're not coming to Makadonia, or Mytilene",
"Yes. I am",
"No, not yet. I can't chance that - not on a battlefield. Not after how easily the cult took Laelaps." it was decided. Eos would stay here until it was done. Kassandra could not risk such a thing.
"You have got to be-",
"Eos, you can't... fight... your left arm isn't strong enough to hold a sword" it sounded better in her head,
"Is that the only excuse you can come up with",
"Eos... You don't understand what their like... The Order, their ruthless, manipulative, they'll do anything to get their own way..."
Eos shook her head - the thing was, she did, much more than Kassandra.
"You say that if I've no experience with those sorts of things" Eos threw her hands up in the air. "Kassandra, I was one of those people. A ruthless, manipulative murderer that would stab you in the back if it got what I needed". Kass had hesitated but, not long enough for Eos to go on,
"Then you know how dangerous they are. I'm only asking you to sit this one out Eos" Kassandra said, she looked to her, the hurt in her eyes, it broke Kassandra's heart. "Once Kleon is dead, we will find Laelaps, we will destroy the cult, destroy the Order and... bring my brother home".
"I can't just sit here and do nothing" Eos swallowed back a lump in her throat, she shook her head,
"I know that Eos but, we need you, he needs you... alive... safe",
"Are you telling me that Laelaps doesn't" Eos asked, Kassandra closed her eyes, she couldn't deal with the look on Eos' face. "That his life is worth less". Kassandra looked back to the mask, to the dents she'd made in to the clay.
"No Eos... I'm saying your life is worth more... and I think Laelaps would agree".
*****
"This play will show the people what a pig Kleon really is" Aristophanes announced quietly to the small group of rebels who had gathered just behind the amphitheatre. Him and Thepsis had finally stopped arguing, the crowds were pouring in and, it looked as if even Kleon was going to witness his theatrical defeat in front of the people.
"Or, it'll get you killed for slander. Both of which I'd find very entertaining" Eos patted him on the back, watching the man pale.
"Your obsession with death is futile Eos" Sokrates said as they made their way around to the front.
"Because I have no obsession with death" Eos assured him, "I obviously have an obsession for risking death. There is a difference.",
"She's almost died a lot more than any person should" Kass said, "And survived a lot more than any normal person could". Eos hadn't spoken to her since the argument that morning and, even if Eos had smiled a little at the words, Kassandra knew the space between them was still sour.
"But, considering the circumstances" he gestured to the crowd as they made their way up the stairs and to their seats, "would you rather risk death all of the time or embrace the lfe you've been given." Sokrates asked,
"Sokrates, I am not (she was never) in the mood for one of your philosophical teachings today... Besides I risk death just by living. Its not like I have much of a choice" - Eos regretted having carrying on the conversation almost immediately.
She liked Sokrates but, sometimes, he just didn't understand when a conversation was over.
Hell, she'd watched him and Aristophanes argue the same point for over an hour - which had merely been interrupted by Barnabas having vomited all over the men's sandals, after he'd taken the wrong vial from Hippokrates stash to help with an irritatingly sore elbow. Seems the vial he chose was for those who'd ate something dangerous and needed to release it a much faster way than the usual.
"We all have a choice" Sokrates insisted. Eos had the want to bang her head against the stairs, if only to hope that she could get away from the man's words for a little while. "Each and every one of us. It all lies in what choice we make when the paths are open to us.",
"So. I chose to be raised and tortured by the cult of Kosmos so they could turn me in to one of their little...pets" Eos asked... "or die" she added quietly as they took their seats at the back, a view of Athens in the backdrop.
"You chose to continue that path",
"Of course I did" Eos told him, "I also chose to get-",
"Eos" Kassandra said. Eos stopped and sat back - as pissed as she was at Kassandra, she was right, telling Sokrates about what had driven her away from the cult in the end was something she'd rather keep from this philosophical madman. "Sokrates. Sometimes the right choices are not on either of the paths we can take. If a child is raised in poverty, is that not the only world they know until they have a peice of wealth?" Kassandra questioned,
"But they would know of wealth and attempt to procur it",
"Are you essentially saying I was too lazy to be a good person" Eos asked, "not to mention the things that happened to me once I decided to take the 'right' path. You wouldn't have made it out alive". Eos did not think that until Sokrates had experienced the level of manipulation and pain she'd been through, he couldn't really have any sort of opinion on it, philosophical or not.
"And how do you know that" Sokrates asked,
"Because I don't think your mind could haul you out of a fiery volcano" Eos said; or be ripped open and then dragged by a lycaon to Hippokrates, who was sitting quietly next to him, seemingly enjoying the play which had finally begun.
"Perhaps I would not find myself in a fiery volcano" Sokrates said,
"No Sokrates, because I'm me and your you" Eos waved her hands in the air, "and you didn't get raised by a cult who taught you that love could only bring pain, that glory and peace were the only thing that mattered, that to bring order to a chaotic world, you had to kill people, to wage war",
"And you didn't see a problem with that" Sokrates asked,
"it's all I knew... and... the power, the knowledge that brings you towards this order... their order... it can make even the best of men fall..." Eos sat back even more, wondering if she'd fall in to an abyss and be free of the infuriating man. "Sometimes Sokrates, to do the right thing, you have to sacrifice innocent people... family",
Kassandra wasn't sure if Eos meant Lagos or herself... Maybe both...
"And if you can look me in the eye and tell me you are willing to do that then... Then we can talk about making the 'right' choices when everything else is making you make the 'wrong' ones".
"There's a lesson in that" Sokrates mused, "Perhaps even-"
"Sokrates. I may only have one full hand but, I will strangle you with it quite easily if you do not shut up and listen to this damn masterpiece Aristophanes has made for us".
The play was a hit, jokes were made and, as the crowd cheered from the beginning to the end, Kleon had scuttled off, hiding his head.
"And killing him now wouldn't be justifiable" Eos asked as she nodded towards him.
"No, we must remember that, despite everything, he is still a man, he still has supp-",
"He's no man Sokrates. I thought you smart enough to know that at least".
*****
Kassandra and Barnabas had arrived back after readying their ship, about to ride off to Mytilene, after Kleon. Seems he thought that it would help him pull back the support he'd lost in Athens in the last few days.
It also seemed that Brasidas had made his way there too, to fight with the rebels.
"I think I might just go take a bath" Eos said as Kassandra joined her and Alli for the last time,
"Oh, I can show you if you'd-",
"No Alli, I want some peace and quiet",
"I can give you a little peice of satisfaction, don't know about the quiet part though",
"I'll be fine",
Alkibiades sighed, ever so dramatically, as if his heart had been torn in to pieces. "There is a perfectly good bath here though" Alkibiades promised her, he looked over at Kassandra "And we can't let you go on your way without a good wash either".
Eos was even more sure now that she wanted to be alone.
"No, no, I need the air..." Eos told him,
"The air will most likely be full of wine-drunk beggars" Alkibaides informed her, "You may need someone to help shoo them away",
"I'll kill them instead" Eos promised him, making Alli go a little shade lighter.
Kassandra knew she was joking, "don't stay too long" Kassandra said - Athens was the last place they'd come, Kassandra was sure of it but, still...
"I'm thinking that if I stay until I look like an old lady, you won't notice me coming aboard the Adrestia" Eos said,
Kass looked away, "I'm sorry Eos but... I'd rather see you as a real old lady".
Eos smiled, it was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.
"I think there's a compliment in there somewhere" Eos sighed, there was no point in being angry with her - Kassandra wanted what was best for her - even if it did benefit her quest to reunite her family - Eos knew that Kassandra would fight for her just as much as she would anyone else and... that was something she'd only had with two other people, well a lycaon. "Just try not to kill your brother, okay" Eos told her,
Kass smiled, "I'll try my best not to",
"Ohh no, I need to at least experience him once before Hades takes him..." Alli said,
"And then Hades will take you too..." Eos assured him. Alli sighed dramatically, whimpered a little and then left, calling out to Kassandra that he would get her bath ready for her. Eos was about to tell her to enjoy it when Kassandra grabbed her hands,
"Thank you" Kassandra said, "I'll be back soon. We'll find Laelaps. I promise", Eos sighed, smiling,
"We will. For now, just focus on giving that Malakas Kleon what's coming to him",
"I will",
"And please don't take too long. There's only so much time we have until I end up killing the scholar" Eos told her, "and maybe even him" she added quietly, nodding after Alkibaides.
*****
Eos found the baths, overlooked by two stone Athenians and a stone eagle. The wine-drunk beggars were nowhere to be found and, apart from a patrol of Athenian guards, who had been going in the other direction, it looked as if that peace she sought would be doable.
Because, after having this soak, maybe even a good nights rest, she would start her own enquiries on the morrow.
Pulling her robe off and sinking in to the bath, the clad peices of cloth that Alli had let her borrowed to bathe in left far too little to be desired for but, considering the distinct lack of wine-drunk beggars, Eos could have bathed naked had she have the nerve.
Eos laid her head back, letting the thoughts run through her mind, letting schemes take shape and dreams float by, just enough to see but, always too far to touch.
With Kleon gone, the cults control over the people would slip dramatically. There would be odds and ends left here and there but, they would not have so much of a hold.
And Deimos.
Deimos would find himself in a position where he'd either fall in to the chaos further or, finally see the light... He already doubted them - even if he wasn't ready to admit it.
Eos said a lot of things but, he was never going to ruin that hope for her until one of them drew their last breaths... Or, until that hope became truth...
Right now, with everything that had happened, that's all she had...
And a lycaon to find...
The things of which she would do to him when she did were unspeakable... The trouble, the ache, the pain, the worry. Laelaps thought only he could hold a grudge... Eos would show him what a grudge really looked like... One that would annoy him so much, he would wish Hades really had taken him.
Unless Hades already had...
The thought of which ruined Eos' soak before it had even set in... and convinced herself further that staying in the baths until she looked like a prune was not going to help any of them.
What she was sure of though, was that she needed him... Now more than ever... She always would... No matter the times she cursed him... She needed her best friend back...
She could not just sit idly and wait for Kassandra to return but, she also understood that Athens, as a city, would keep her far safer from the Order than a mountain pass, a cave or even a secret encampment in the forest.
The next morning, she'd already decided that she would haul Sokrates and the others back in to that little room and start making some enquiries of her own.
They were the most resourceful group of men she'd ever met and, if they could not get her news on cooked meat being stolen from someone's fire or plate - because Laelaps would always rather steal food off someone else then catch his own - and, whether anyone had felt an earie presence - then no one could.
Laelaps wouldn't have left her with nothing. Perhaps he had left a trail. Not enough to follow but, enough to know that he was okay.
And, considering the Order had been in Makedonia, it seemed only smart to start near there. The Order were a group of people Eos was sure Laelaps had never come across so, he perhaps would have started there too.
Eos stretched out and put her hands behind her head.
Closing her eyes, she'd imagined the lycaon surrounded by cooked pig and cow and enjoyed the water sitting idly over her, feeling the wind flutter against her bare skin as she made herself stay, just for a moment.
Moments, perhaps minutes, had passed before Eos realised she wasn't alone. The pull of sandals on the ground was a giveaway.
"Leave me alone or I will kill you" she said, hoping that whoever it was would get the message, and, as the peace and silence returned, she thought they had. They'd moved away ever so quietly but... she was sure they were gone.
Then, she felt the ripple in the water, heard the sound of someone sit opposite her,
"Alli, if that's you, I will..." Eos opened her eyes.
It wasn't Alkibiades.
"What are you" Eos grabbed at her robes for no reason at all. This man had seen enough of her naked to know every single part.
"Really" Deimos asked as he leant his head back, chuckling to himself as he stretched out in the water. Eos slung the robes back on the floor and sat up.
The moonlight shone over him as if he really was some God who'd been gifted to the earth to tempt those he favoured in to death. Except, she did not think a God would be so battle scarred.
Those sores, those scars all over his chest... The stroke of a whip or a chain where a mother had brought unbearable pain until the son was broken, able to mold him in to something else.
There were other wounds too, from training, the battles he'd thought, the wars he'd been a part of. Some deep, some only for decoration. Proof of the warrior he was. Of the Champion he'd become.
"Why aren't you at Mytilene" Eos asked,
"I will be" Deimos said quietly, he still hadn't looked at her yet, enjoying the brisk air on his eyelids, letting the water wash over and relax him.
"You're fighting for Kleon...",
"I fight for myself" Deimos spat, he opened his eyes - a part of him wanted to undermine her, make her feel small and just...
But he couldn't... He knew there was a reason why he'd tried not to look at her....
Unlike him, the bruises Eos wore were the proof of her downfall... and, every time he saw the jagged lines of arrows or daggers, or swords, or bruises; those little speckles of red on her from the fire, the scar over her belly where they'd cut the... Deimos stopped...
"Not the cult" Eos asked quietly,
"You need to stop" Deimos warned as he he stood up and waded over. This triumphant smirk on his face as he noticed Eos looking him over. He had not left anything to be desired for... The God's could see him in all their glory... Just like they liked them... But so could the rest of Athens if they were to walk around a corner...
"I do" Eos agreed, she put her head back. She also should have just left the moment he turned up - Deimos had a lot of courage and bravery but, she did not think him courageous enough to run after her naked...
Deimos hesitated for just a moment...
He had something he had to do - for his own sanity - for what would come if...
But right now, he could have her.
He knelt down, running his hand along her leg, up on to her breast, feeling the little shivers she gave her as he did.
She had so much control - even if it would seem to others that he did.
And he had none. She could resist the urges much more than he could and, he'd never understand how...
She would falter... But, she was quick to fix it -too quick he'd thought sometimes...
He trusted her... Trusted her more than some whore Kleon offered him, more Than Diona, more than anyone but, it was something he couldn't give her... It was too much...
Deimos grabbed her hand as his lips found her neck, felt her grab his shoulder before letting go. He grabbed her other hand and she let him, feeling the heave in her chest as she tried to control it, felt the quiver in her legs as their skin touched.
The thing was... He let that control him... That fear... The only fear he couldn't deal with... But he could for her, he could right now...
He had to prove that he could. Prove that he wasn't afraid. To see whether the want she had for him was real or, just something she did to get his attention - to try and draw out that chaos the cult accused her of so many times.
He raised her hand, his fingers threading through the fingers and stumps that were left... He let go of her other and pulled her up as he sat back. He lay her hand on his shoulder and for just a moment, she grasped it as he lifted her atop of him but, it slipped away, he grabbed it again,
"What are you scared of" he asked quietly. Eos looked to him,
"I'm not" she breathed - but he was... Scared of how it might make him feel, scared of the pain it could cause if he did.
But, he had this want in his eye, just for a moment, and, staring in to them, Eos took her other hand and put it on his shoulder, felt him tense, felt him squeeze her thigh as he pulled her closer,
She kissed him then, if only to take his mind of it, and it worked, if only for a moment.
Deimos leant back a little more, the water brushing against his neck when he heard laughter. Eos hadn't, she didn't care but, he moved his mouth, only for her to find it again,
"Stop" he said, pushing himself on to her so he was leant over her, one hand holding him up and the other holding on to her. He looked over to the noise, saw her hand, the sun kissed skin still holding on to his,
"What are you-",
"Guards" he said quietly,
"And, they won't know me",
"But they'll know me",
"And as soon as they see the big scary Demi-God, they'll run away",
"Maybe" he said quietly, still watching.
He was afraid... Eos thought anyway... She let her hand slip off, down his chest, past the ripples of scars and he turned back and glared at her, she let go, putting her hands up.
"Come with me" he wasn't giving her a choice - even if he liked to think that he was,
"They're just guards. You know what Athenians are like" - they'd see them and run away, they wouldn't wait to see who any of them were.
"Perhaps I'd rather not share you with the world",
"Don't go all-", Deimos pulled her to her feet as he stood up.
"Please" - that word clung at her, clawing at her heart, trying to rip it out of her chest so he could have every ounce of control she had left.
"I hate you",
"You keep telling yourself that" Deimos told her.
Not giving her anytime to get her robes back over her head, he'd pulled her away from the water and around the corner, finding an open door and an empty room.
"Whose Alli" Deimos asked as he grabbed at her hands and held them behind her back, he'd glanced at the door one last time, sure they were well hidden and smirking,
"Alkibiades" Eos told him, he pushed himself up against her. Every other girl would have fallen at his feet but, other than those small little shivers and that pulsating in her chest - which ricocheted through the both of them - she stood up against it, her body as hard as his was.
"Another one of your desperate little attempts" he suggested as he let go of her hands, now smirking at the fact that they stayed in their exact place, he hoisted her up, his fingers digging in to her thighs as he pressed her to wrap her legs around him,
"Are you jealous" Eos asked, she let her hands come around with her, placing them on the wall as he stumbled back on to it,
"Of that skinny little Athenian" he mused,
"Well then, stop talking about other men and just",
And he did, letting his one hand push her head on to his and kissing her.
"Don't think you've won" he mumbled,
"I've come to the conclusion I never do" she mumbled back, "but second place isn't too bad".
*****
"Why do we do this for" Eos said as she sat up, "what's the point". She could feel him rolling his eyes next to her, as if the world was rolling its too..
"Why not" Deimos said, staring at the ceiling, he felt her shudder next to him, from the cold this time though, not him. He touched her back, traced the dark red scarred tissue where the fire had burned her, she shuddered again,
"Because we're not on the same side" she reminded him,
"Why do we have to be" he asked quietly,
"Because it's the only way it won't hurt",
"And you wouldn't..." Deimos stopped.
He knew she wouldn't... By falling back in with the cult, she could do what she was good at, killing people, order - she'd always been so good at it, keeping things in check, controlling herself, the others, controlling the rage inside of him; she was made for this, for a life of order .. But, the cult had done too much... They'd drove her in to chaos and... they'd done it to him too. To them all.
The one thing they were trying to stop, they created... This downfall of theirs was of their own making.
They didn't need the cult... They just...
Deimos pushed himself on to his side, brushed his lips against her skin, took a deep breath, felt that small little shiver as he closed his eyes,
"I'm sorry" he whispered,
"For what" Eos went to turn around, there were so many things, she'd kind of lost count but, before she could lock eyes with him and make him stop, Deimos grabbed her by the neck and pulled her in to him. Eos went for the dagger that wasn't there before she kicked her leg backwards, only making him roll over so she was on top of him, letting him get a better hold on her.
The small squeeze he gave her, Eos felt the breath she'd been desperately trying to hold fall out, felt his fingers dig in to the spot by her jaw, saw the black spots mask her vision as the temple ceiling started to fade.
"I have to" she heard him say as she passed out...
****
AN: Just want to say thank you all so much for reading! I love seeing your comments too and I appreciate them so much!!