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Unknown Chapter 14 - The Way Back

Eurydite felt safe and warm in Ares' embrace, no matter how much she had tried to avoid him in the past. He had broken down her defenses little by little, just by talking to her in the beginning, but now they were totally gone when he was around. It was clear that he would do anything for her should she ask of him. The question remained on her mind of whether he would remain with the Olympians, but she didn't care at this point. He was with her. Not with Zeus and not with her father.

She liked the way he smelled, it gave her comfort and she had faught with these feelings for a good while she realized. She just didn't understand what they were. Attraction? Possibly. Lust? Maybe so, but she did not care for intercourse nor felt the need for it. She was still very much untainted by a man and to be honest, she also didnt think a man could handle her.

"I should go. I have to find a way off this island." She didnt want to leave the warmth of his embrace, but she had to. He reluctantly let his arms fall from around her body as she stood back. "I have decided to stay with Circe for a time."

"She has much to teach you." He understood her decision to stay with the witch, but it also meant that she would be in one place for a time where she would be hidden from the prying eyes of Olympus. There were very few gods willing to pay any attention to the witch and even fewer were welcome on her island.

"Her craft is powerful, Ares, and I also need a place that I can be myself for a while. Not some pawn in a game or a tool. Just me doing what I need to do for myself." Was he disappointed in that answer, she didn't know and it was possibly because he was attached to her in a way. She wanted him. She knew that for sure. "Will you still come to me?" She asked him with sincerity.

"Always." He gave her a small smile and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I will see you on Circe's island" He told her before leaving her and disappearing back to Olympus.

Eurydite let out a sigh and pulled her hood up once again before turning back to the direction of where they had made camp. The moonlight lit up everything around her like daytime and she was glad for it. She could see the dying embers of the fire ahead of her as she walked quietly and slowly to it. Instead of going to sleep she stood outside watching the stars. She had always been awestruck with the cosmos. Part of her felt that she belonged in the cosmos, but that was the half of her that was divine. The half that was Godly.

The stars blinked and twinkled as she gazed up. She wondered if they had names or if they had stories behind them. Perhaps there were other worlds out there.

"Can't sleep, My Lady?" She heard Solon speak, but didnt turn to look at him. He was aware of her leaving she supposed.

"No. The night makes me restless." He came to stand next to her after she spoke. She turned her gaze to the moon and how bright it was. "I was never able to sleep well at night or sleep in general. I suppose it has to do with my blood."

"I've heard the Gods never sleep so it wouldn't be a surprise that you wouldnt sleep much either." Solon spoke up as he wanted to understand who she really was despite saying he didnt care earlier.

"They have no need for it, but some do." It amazed her she knew so much without even trying to find answers. Wisdom was something she had been born with and it held useful qualities. "Some have no need for food either. They get their strength from prayer and if man suddenly stopped praying, they would all be weakend."

"You know what our King plans to do then?" Solon had his suspicions, but until now they were unfounded. Eurydite herself kept things close to the chest, but now she was being more open.

"It's not just Acrisius. It's a power struggle between three great forces. Olympus, Man, and Hades." She explained as Solon looked at his feet and sighed. He understood now that there was more to this than was perceived.

"What side are you on, My Lady?" He picked his question carefully because no matter the answer he would still follow her to the edge of the world.

"There is no side for me to chose from, Solon. By blood I am obligated to one side and my heart wants another choice. I hate the Olympians, most of them. There are two I do trust, but the rest wish me dead." She gave no hint as to who or why, but Solon was sure to guess. "Even the lesser gods here in the realm of men and the demigods despise the Olympians."

"You belong to a lesser god then?" She looked to him and smiled at him in the moonlight. Solon was handsome and attractive, but he was smart. Clever even.

"No. My father is Hades." She said and Solon inhaled sharply at the news. She had never been open about her parentage. Now he understood why.

"How is this possible? He despises all of us." She shook her head at his disbelief and put a hand on his forearm as he turned away.

"You misunderstand." She stopped him and turned to her. Looking into his eyes, he softend the hardened look he had on his face. "What do you know of my father?" It was a simple question and most would answer that Hades was an evil god.

"Only what preists and prophets tell us as children. That he is unforgiving and evil." She sighed as that was the answer she had heard often. Preists woshiped the Olympians and there were dozens of temples for them, but none for Hades. Mortals feared him.

"He is vengeful, angry, and cold, but he is also wise, just, and he knows the hearts of mortals better than any of the gods. When I first stepped foot into Argos, I saw a rotten city where all its weath were in its guilded halls and not in the people. Before the end, he will destroy Argos if a just ruler does not come and fix its problems." She said honestly and carefully to Solon whoes eyes widened at the prospect of his home being destroyed. "I can not stop him, I am merely a pawn in the game just like everyone else. Keep in mind that my being here is exactly what my father wants." She said softly to Solon and he understood what she was saying. She let go of him and allowed him to walk off back to the fire.

Eurydite stood where shebwas until the first rays of dawn began to come up over the mountians on the island. It was time to get away from here and go away for a time.

She began to walk east and didnt stop until she came to a small cove where a small ship rested in the water. It was a fishermans ship, but it would do.

"You are a hard woman to keep up with." Solon said breathlessly as she stood overlooking the cove where the ship lied.

"Is that what we are getting off this rock with?" Draco asked running up with Nisse in tow. He had grabbed everything and ran off when he woke to see Eurydite leaving. "It doesnt look even remotely like it could sail."

"It will sail. Come on!" Nisse said grabbing Draco's hand and dragging him down to the beach where the crystal clear waters waited for them. Eurydite looked to Solon apologetically and began to make her way down herself with him following close behind. Her hair whiped around as the west wind picked up and suddenly she knew she had help. "Quickly! Zephyrus is lending us aid to leave!" Nisse looked up as she saw the shape of a white horse running in the gust of wind. She held out a hand and the ghostly horse allowed her to touch him before running around the ship.

Once aboard, Solon ran to pull up the anchor and pull the sails loose from the binds. Once this was done Zephyrus ran at the sail and disappeared as he hit it causing the ship to lurch forward and out to see where the wind caught it again and pushed the boat forward. Solon took up the charge of guiding the ship with his minimal experience. Nisse stood with him giving him instructions like it was second nature.

Eurydite stood on the bow of the ship as it gained speed. Looking below she saw dolphins playing in the wake of the ship as the wind got stronger. She closed her eyes and whispered a thanks to the lesser wind god who offered his help. She removed her hood and let her hair tumble free, the long strands fell like dark silk down her back and the breeze played with it like fingers running through her hair. The image of him running his hands through her hair made a shot of pleasure run through her, specifically low in her belly. She put a hand on her abdomen to quiet the feeling but it made her gasp in plessure and annoyance.

Their luck was better this time as the ship sailed through the day and into the night. Nisse held her hand up to the sky looking through the gaps in her fingers to see where she was and then nodded before running back to Solon and telling him where to go.

"Go slightly south." Nisse told the man who turned the rudder slightly to line up with what Nisse said. Eurydite sat watching the whole thing as Draco began to widdle at a stick he found somewhere on the deck. Nisse stuck her hand back up into the air again and did the same thing. "We are going the right way."

"Nisse?" Eurydite caught the girls attention and she made sure Solon stayed on course. She waved the girl over to come sit with her. "Did your granfather show you how to navigate?" She held an arm open for the girl to come sit closer to her.

"Oh yes. He taught me when I was very little and my sisters taught me as well." Eurydite adored the girl too much and she wished someday that she could have a daughter like Nisse. "My sisters also taught me to sing like them, but my voice has no power."

"I have never tried to sing." The woman said to Nisse with a sad tone in her voice. "I'm sure I can, but no one has ever taught me."

"I can teach you when we make it bavk to my mother!" Nisse said excitedly and stood up and began to sing. Her voice although a childs, was very beautiful and stirred joy in Eurydite's heart. The dark haired woman smiled as Nisse sang and spun around.

"I hear something in the distance!" Solon said as Nisse stopped spinning and realized it was her sisters responding her her voice. "Its beautiful."

"Solon, follow it!" Nisse said excitedly and he did as he was told and turned the ship towards the song that only he could hear. Circe's daughters were guiding them to her. "My sisters are guiding us now."

"Yes. You have wonderful sisters, Nisse." To most men that would be a lie, Circe's daughters had caused the deaths of many men over the ages, but from Nisse's point of view that was not true. Her sisters protected her and cared for her. "I have a sister who cares for me as well."

"Yes, Melinoe. I have met her before. She is kind and patient." Eurydite smiled as the girl came to sit with her again, the moonlight shining off the girls pale hair and Eurydite couldnt resist the urge to comb her fingers through it to tame it.

"I think I will name you my honorary sister, Nisse." She smiled at the girl who she had come to care about as though she were a little sister or perhaps a daughter.

"I would like that!" The girl threw her arms around Eurydite and the demigoddess was caught off guard by the act but slowly relaxed and embraced the girl with a smile.

"Get some rest, you will be back with your mother in no time." Eurydite let go of Nisse and allowed the girl to lay her head on her lap. "You too, Draco. I will make sure Solon stays awake." She smiled at the boy who had stopped with his widdling to put his knife away.

"I can't imagine you will be returning with us to Argos." He sighed laying down on his back to look up at the stars.

"No, I must do something before I can return, but I will return. You have my word on that, Little Brother." Eurydite told the dark haired boy as she played with Nisse's hair. "I promise."

"If you don't come back in ten years, I'll come find you myself." She heard him say as he rolled over and turned his back to her in mock anger.

"I would expect nothing less, Draco." She said to him quietly while looking back to the stars.

When morning came she could barely make out the shape of Circe's island in the distance, but that was it. Solon had taken them straight to it by hearing the sisters. She was thankfull to them and to Circe as they approached the island. The closer they got the more exhausted Solon became because the sisters had stopped singing and soon he would collapse.

"Draco, help him!" She yelled to the boy as she began to see the young man lose his balance. Draco ran to Solon and grabbed him before he could fall backwards. Eurydite went up to the two and grabbed onto Solon to help Draco set him down. "Rest for a while Solon. You did well." Before she could say anything she found Nisse at the rudder taking control. The girl was determind to get them to the island and she had no problems with the rudder.

Eurydite sat at Solon's side as Draco and Nisse steered the fishing boat to the island. She moved his hair from his face and looked at him with admiration of his strength. He had lost some of his spunk and she hoped he would get it back soon. She was nearly a hundred years old now and she should be dead or a retched old woman, but she wasnt. Sometimes she wished she was, but as her time in her mental limbo suggested, she was an old woman inside a young body. She dearly hoped her brothers would live to be a ripe old age with many children.

She turned to gaze ahead of the boat as it glided through the water. It wouldnt be long before they hit the shore so she stood to get all of her things together.

I know it seems rushed but thats because Im ready to get on to the juicy parts. When I mean juicy, I mean Love and War.

Fact: Aeolus the god of Wind had four steeds each representing the four winds. Zephyrus the West Wind, Notus The South Wind, Eurus The East Wind, and Boreas The North Wind. They were known as lesser gods.