Up until now, Melaina had been the one to support and cheer Hadronia up, she'd been the one to teach her new things and introduce her to foreign topics and people. No matter how sad or angry Hadronia was, Melaina was always capable of putting a smile to her face. Now she's the one to wash that smile away. The mere expression on her face was enough to weight Hadronia's shoulders down.
"What is it?" Hadronia asked carefully and tried to read her.
"I can't have you say the words." Melaina gulped and grazed her fingers from her lips down to her neck. "It's not fair to you."
"So you forbidding me from loving you?" Hadronia laughed humorlessly and pushed her eyebrows closer. "How is that fair?"
"There's two reasons why we can't... The first one is because of who you are. You're meant for great things. Greece was just a temporary home for you to settle in so you could grow. You're immortal, Roni. You're going to live forever while I might be dead in thirty or fourty years. I can't ask you to endure that. You're an amazon with plans to make the world a better place and you can't do that while taking care of me." Melaina explained and wiped away a tear that rolled down Hadronia's cheek.
"What's the other reason?" Hadronia turned her head to the side and bit her tongue.
"My parents want me to get married." Melaina sighed and scratched her upper arm. "They've found someone who they think I'll like and asked if he could visit in three days."
"And you said yes?" Hadronia scoffed and got up so she could pace around instead of sitting still. With her thumbnail between her teeth, the urge to yell got stronger but she didn't. She stayed composed and groaned as her hair changed into a darker shade.
"I'm so sorry."
"I believe you." She nodded and folded her arms together instead. "And you're right. If I stay, I'll have to watch you die someday and I'm not strong enough to do that. Plus, you deserve a family. A real one."
"You're... Okay with this?" Melaina frowned deeply as she too stood up and took a few steps closer to her.
"Of course I'm not okay with it but I understand it. I've always known you'd have to marry someone at some point. I just didn't think it'd be so soon." Hadronia dropped one arm beside her body and that's when she noticed her palm symbols were visible and glowing in black. She clenched her hand.
"You know I love you, right? You stumbling into my shop was the best thing that's ever happened to me." Melaina said severely and seized her hand in hers. "I will always love you."
"I love you too." Hadronia said hastily before she could stop her and then snapped her fingers in victory with a cheesy smile on her face. Melaina laughed with her gaze at the floor and tucked some hair behind her ear. "Ha, too slow."
"Dammit." Melaina whispered and licked her bottom lip inside her mouth. Hadronia offered a genuinely soft smile and blinked away a few tears. "But... I think I know who it is and if it is, then he's very open minded and he'll understand if you want to use the flames of the underworld to burst him alive."
"Good to know." Hadronia chuckled.
"Plus, we still have time to just go on the way we are. Nothing has to change right now." She trailed off and intertwined their hands smoothly.
"Mel..."
"I know, it won't make it any easier."
"Let me finish." She laughed and cupped her face. "Mel... I would like that very much."
"Good." Melaina grinned before pressing their lips together, her hands falling down to her waist. Hadronia embraced all of the feelings that came with their kisses and the warmth that Melaina's touches radiated considering she didn't have much time left for it.
Three days passed way too quickly. During those days, the women had barely left the bedroom, let alone the house, and when they did it was to train or shop. Hadronia had grown very fond of her sage blades and found ways to use them while Melaina liked the bow and arrows. She almost shot straighter than Hadronia at this point.
"Keep your legs a little more separated." Hadronia taught as she placed herself behind Melaina so she could use her foot to create more space between her legs. Then she put her hands under her elbows and lifted them a little. "Now lift and shoot."
Melaina did as instructed and hit the target in the middle, right where she was supposed to. She made a sound of victory and Hadronia placed a few kisses on Melaina's neck until she giggled and tried to push her away.
"Hey, that tickles!" Melaina laughed and put the bow down on the floor. Hadronia wiggled her eyebrows but her excitement dozed off when she could her footsteps near the house approaching. Melaina quickly noticed her change of attitude and fidgeted. "Is he here?"
"Yeah. We should get going before he gets impatient and leaves." Hadronia answered in a monotonic voice as she started walking back to the house. They entered from the backdoor and Melaina hurried to the front one, opening it with a partly fake smile.
"Hi." A male voice greeted, to which Melaina did the same. Hadronia rolled her eyes and sat down by the kitchen table, her head in her hands.
For the first time, she could feel her parents qualities flow through her. The more they spoke by the door, the deeped her fingers pressed against her hair. She'd been happy so far and even if what was about to happen was inevitable, she could her a female whisper in her mind about how she's been wronged, about how jealous she was and that chaos was the only answer. Her mother, no doubt. A goddess shouldn't stand by and watch something of hers be taken away, her mother taunted. She couldn't decide if her mother was actually telling her these things or if she was going crazy. Both options seemed equally as horrifying.
"... And I'd like you to meet Roni, my... roommate." Melaina said as she entered the kitchen with a man, almost jumping when she saw the physical change Hadronia had gone through in the matter of minutes. "You okay?"
"Huh?" Hadronia snapped back to reality and looked up. In front of her stood a dark man with black hair, a stubble and defined jawline. His brown eyes seemed gentle and soft even if his physique would intimidate. He was very attractive and she could see why Melaina's parents thought they'd be a good fit. "Hi."
"Good day. I'm Marcos." He introduced himself, extending his hand. She was about to shake it but Melaina quickly put herself between them and faked a grin to him.
"Good, now you know each other. Roni, would you please get me something from the bathroom? It's urgent." Melaina laughed nervously.
"What exactly?" Hadronia frowned but pursed her lips together when Melaina elbowed her stomach.
"You'll know when you see it." Melaina said and gave her a quick look.
With big eyes, Hadronia left them to enter the bathroom. At first, she did look around for any item that she could've spoken about but froze when her eyes landed on the mirror. Her now raven hair had grown longer and was resting on one side. Her usually blue eyes were almost entirely black and they were slowly covering the white area as well. Then she diverted her gaze down to her hands and gasped when the cerberus symbol was spreading across her hands and arms like a tree root. Just looking at the markings filled her with so much rage.
"Poor child." A wicked voice laughed, echoing in the room. Hadronia quickly looked up and backed away until she bumped into the wall as another reflection was shown in the mirror. It reminded of her but this woman was more mature, had more sharp features and bigger hair that almost floated in the air. "Your first heartbreak."
"Who the hell are you?" Hadronia exhaled in fear and searched for something that could be used as a weapon with her hand.
"Isn't it obvious? The resemblence is scary, don't you think?" She lifted her hand and examined her own fingernails. Then her smile turned into an eerie frown. "That wretched queen of Themyscira! She had no right–" She then lashed out, punching the mirror with her fist so that it cracked before regaining her calm.
"Eris?" Hadronia whispered and swallowed a lump in her throat. "I'm going mad, definitely going mad."
"Ugh, that should be mom to you, shouldn't it? If it weren't for that stupid Zeus and his ridiculous amazon lover. They robbed me of your childhood. Well, well. At least I'm here now. So how does it feel, hm? To have your heart broken? To be so... human." She said the last word with so much disgust and her entire town made Hadronia's stomach twist uncomfortably. She spoke without empathy and as if she took joy in seeing her in pain. "Nevertheless, I am your mother after all and this is as close as I can get to you for the moment. I don't have long either. I could easily remove the problem if you'd like me to. So could you, but I get the feeling you're too kind to do that."
"You're not my mother!" Hadronia yelled and threw the toilet paper at the mirror. "You left me! You didn't want me! You have no right to just show up whenever you want to and expect me to accept your help! I don't want nor need it so leave!"
Eris eyes darkened and she once again raised her fist, aiming to break the mirror entirely but before she could smash it her reflection vanished and Hadronia fell to her knees with her arms hugging her stomach. Sobbing, she stayed in that position despite Melaina and Marcos rushing in to see if she was okay. Her arms burned and her cheeks stung but she didn't care. She hoped she was going crazy.
"Oh gods." Melaina dropped to the floor and quickly wrapped her arms her, resting her cheek against her head. "Roni, talk to me, what's happening?"
"It hurts! Make it stop!" Hadronia cried out, referring to her arms. Instead of running away like any sane man would do, Marcos grabbed two towels and drowned them in cold water before he joined the two and wrapped each towel around each of Hadronia's arms.
"Keep talking to her, I'm gonna find something for her cheeks." Marcos instructed and then got up again.
"Look at me, you're going to be all right." Melaina grabbed Hadronia's face, forcing her to look at her. "Don't focus on the pain, focus on me. I'm right here. Tell me what happened."
"I don't know what's happening, it just hurts so much." Hadronia choked and tried to stop her hands from shaking.
"Is this because of me? Is this my fault? If it is, I am so sorry, I wish things were different, I really do." Melaina sniffed and squeezed the towels on her arms to make her arms cooler.
"No, it's Eris, she– she was in the mirror, taunting me and..." Hadronia put her hand against her mouth. "I just need to calm down."
"Here." Marcos crouched down and pressed another wet towel across her mouth and cheeks. She lightly glared at him for doing that and that's when he noticed her demonic-like eyes. "Woah."
"We can explain." Melaina sighed and looked at Marcos with pleading eyes, hoping he wouldn't scrawn away and tell the town about her. Then she returned her focus to Hadronia and leaned her forehead against hers. "Don't think about anything bad, just think about that day we had when we tried to fish. Remember? When we failed really big and you ended up with the hook–"
"I remember." Hadronia chuckled and caressed her cheek. "That was a horrible day."
"But it was pretty good afterwards, wasn't it?" Melaina countered and pursed her lips. Hadronia nodded and took a few deep breaths until her marks faded and the pain wasn't there anymore. Her mother's words didn't seem as significant anymore and being that jealous and angry was of no use so she pushed those feelings aside as well. A few moments later, she removed the towels and her eyes looked humanly almond. Her hair on the other hand was still pitch black.
"Thank you." She whispered and carefully stood up, as did the other two. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Marcos. I swear, I'm usually not that insane."
"I believe that." Marcos laughed and awkwardly looked down. "You don't need to explain or tell me anything, it's really none of my business. But if I am ruining something, tell me so I can stop doing that."
"You're not." Hadronia shook her head, taking Melaina by surprise. "Anyone would've ran away and called me a witch or something. You however chose to help me and I appreciate that. How I feel about Melaina doesn't matter because I'll have to leave Greece eventually for various reasons. It'd be pointless initiating something I can't properly end. It's not fair to either of you."
"Wow. I can see why Melaina loves you." Marcos smiled wryly and flickered with his gaze between them. Hadronia slowly turned her head to look at Melaina with big eyes and only received a lazy shrug in response. "She actually filled me in the other day about you two. We've known each other for a long time so she figured it was only fair of me to know what I got myself into."
"I wasn't going to lie to him about you." Melaina said as if that was evident.
"And you're okay with that?" Hadronia frowned and folded her arms together.
"It's really none of my business and of course. Love is love, who am I to interfere with that?" He shrugged and scratched his jaw. Hadronia almost blushed and switched her body weight from one foot to the other.
"You're... not like the men I've met here." She laughed and licked her lips. Melaina thought back to her first encounter with a man in the city and then smirked when she remembered how she scarred him for life.
"What kind of men have you met?" He asked curiously and tilted his head to the side.
"None who care on instant like you obviously do. They're nice but they always act and talk like they're so superior and as if they're teaching me something. I hate that." She answered and glanced to the side. "Well, except for the weapons seller. Although he treats me like a little sister which I prefer."
"Weapons seller? You know how to use weapons?" Marcos frowned and Hadronia swiftly picked up a sage blade that she had strapped around her thigh constantly, only so she could spin it effortlessly and raise her eyebrows at him. The sheer look of fear and somewhat arousal in his eyes made the situation ten times funnier. Melaina bit her bottom lip and dreamily looked at her. "Oh..."
"I know, right?" Melaina agreed and then cleared her throat.
"You're lucky, Marcos. You might marry a woman who knows how to fight." Hadronia motioned to Melaina by nodding and put her blade back.
"You know how to fight as well?" Marcos gulped and pointed at Melaina. She cocked her head to the side and placed a hand against her hip. "I'm speechless."
Hadronia grinned but then gazed down at her palms, sighing. She clenched and unclenched them several times, uncomfortable with how the negative feelings lingered as if they were now imprinted in her flesh. It went against everything that Antiope had taught her: patience, dignity, maturity and how to be the bigger person. She'd be embarrassed if she knew that Hadronia had broken down in the bathroom and screamed like a maniac at a mirror.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Melaina sighed and caressed her arm softly.
"Yes, don't worry about it." Hadronia nodded and glanced at Marcos. "I should leave you two alone."
"You should." Marcos agreed which made her wince out of irritation. Then she smirked at her reaction. "But we don't want you to."
Somewhere in the distance, she could feel her mother clench her fists in part defeat. Hadronia looked at them with her big eyes and tried to hide her smile. Marcos was almost being eerily understanding. Melaina pursed her lips and kept her hand on Hadronia's arm.
"I do have one question." Marcos pointed a finger upwards and tilted his head to the side. "Your hair. How...?"
"I have no idea." She answered while shaking her head. "It just changes color as it wants. I should probably start using that wig we bought considering everyone in town knows me as a blonde."
"That'd be smart." Melaina chuckled and went to look for it. Hadronia pulled her fingers through her hair and then rested the front of her clenched hand against her lips in thought. She would have to leave Greece soon and to remember that pained her chest. If not for improving the world then it'd have to be because she wouldn't age like the citizens around her. Besides, there was a conflict going on about Macadonia and people had been whispering in fear of a world war.
"Those things on your arms." Marcos commented. The sparkle in his eyes revealed that he had a lot of questions to ask. "What are they?"
"How about I show you?" She wickedly smiled just as Melaina was returning with the wig in her hand. Her eyes instantly widened.
"Oh, no. No, Roni." She shook her head and handed her the material. "When you wanted to show me, you almost–"
"Wasn't that bad!" Hadronia countered and quickly put the wig on in the bathroom. Marcos rolled his thumbs and tapped with his foot impatiently — he had grown really interested in the span of a minute. "I'm better at it now, I swear!"
"Holy Pan, she's going to blow all the nature away." Melaina muttered and then motioned to the backdoor for Marcos. "All right, let's go."
The trio left the house and Hadronia excitedly hurried to the training spot. She crouched down by the trapdoor and held up her armour for show. Marcos dropped his jaw and Melaina smiled wryly. The sight of it always made her feel so many things. Plus, Hadronia was so attractive wearing it to her.
"Cool, isn't it? It's from home. Basically indestructible. Hephaestus really knew what he was doing." Hadronia squealed and then put it back, simultaneously picking up her gun and then throwing it to him. "Don't look so scared. Shoot me."
"Are you crazy? I'm not going to shoot you!"
"Just do it." Melaina sighed. "She'll convince you or annoy you until you do it anyway."
Marcos shook his head once before he aimed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. Hadronia quickly raised her arms and grinned when the bullet bounced off her bracelet sideways and into the archery target.
"I'm bullet proof but it's funnier to use these. I never take them off." Hadronia laughed and then backed away. "There's one more thing they can do. Watch this."
"Remember, you asked." Melaina reminded him before she pushed him back a little.
Turning to the open and empty field, Hadronia loaded her strength up until the electricity had traveled from her legs to her arms and she finally spread her arms and then with all her force slammed her bracelets together in a cross and released a wave of concussive force that spread toward the field and then slowly vanished.
"Oh wow." He whispered and tried to comprehend what he'd just seen.
"Welcome to my life." Melaina grinned and bit on her bottom lip when Hadronia flipped her hair and stretched her arms. "You're going to love it."