A/N: First of all, I humbly apologize for the delay. There have been exams,
a week away and having my account blocked because of someone who decided to
delete my 'Guide to the X Mary Sues' for (and I quote) 'Reason: 0'. Now, if
someone could explain?
Thanks for the cookie! (is very happy) And thanks for the reviews! Yes, indeed... Achilles comes into the picture now. Let's say that this chapter is the one where things start falling in place. (smile) Lots of love to all, and please leave all trash in the bin on your way out.
- - - - -
''This will be the worst hangover ever.'' Briseis muttered as the group eyed the younger prince. He seemed to be peacefully dozing in his bed. ''He was a bit green a moment ago, but now he'll be ok.''
''He just needs some sleep. And let's hope that he's not the first one to try luck in the tournament.'' Pentesilea said. ''I don't think he'll be ready to crawl off the bed until midday.''
''Let him sleep, then.'' Hector said. ''The first thing he'll hear tomorrow when he wakes up will be me lecturing him on how you DON'T mess with amazons and alcohol.''
The others just gazed at him for a moment and finally decided that he was right. Pentesilea happily dragged Briseis along with her, saying that there was a guy she knew that she'd like. His name was something like 'Anichillator'. Briseis just knew he was something close to the ultimate killing machine. So she soon gave up in remembering his name.
Cassandra looked back at Andromache and Hector as she left the room. Hector was sitting on his brother's bed cursing in his mind. She knew that for sure. And the girl... the girl was looking out the window as if nothing happened. In girl language, that meant that she liked him and wouldn't want to let him know.
''Say something.'' Cassandra nudged her brother lightly along with her whisper.
''Like what?'' He hissed back, and Cas knew that he was starting to panic a little. ''I bet that when I open my mouth I'll start ranting.''
Andromache turned to look at them now, and the two of them just grinned. She expected them to say something. Like that she could go, or that they needed her for something. Cassandra looked at her brother, who was completely off. She kicked him hard in the shin and he flinched.
''He'll be fine, don't worry.'' He said with a smile, trying to swallow the 'OWWWWW!' that he was about to mouth. He sent Cassandra a hurt glare, and she decided to head to the door with a smile.
''I'll leave you here for a moment. I bet Paris needs someone to take care of him for a while now. Maybe he'll wake up again... I'll try to find something to nurse him back to health.'' She grinned. ''Don't move, ok?'' She said, and closed the room's door behind her.
Oh, yes. I'm so clever. She mused, proud of herself. And now let's hope that she's not as shy as he is...
But of curse, there was one mistake in Cassandra's plan. Something that at the time had seemed so minimal, so insignificant and tiny that she hadn't even bothered to check: if Paris would really remain asleep at all. But it was worse. Paris was not only awake...
Andromache had smiled. She sat by Hector and they started the typical and silly chatter that every teen/young person does when they want to keep their mind clear and their mouth shut (in case something inappropriate slipped). It was so cliché... 'Where do you come from?' 'Do you like it in here?' 'How are you getting along with everyone?' 'Are you in the competition?' ... And a long list of useless and meaningless etcetera.
But of course as things started getting better between the two and there was barely any tension left... Paris became greener. (If that was possible.) He opened his eyes, and of course didn't notice that his brother and the love if his life where there. He rarely noticed a thing, though. That was just him.
He stood sitting on the bed for a moment. Silence between the three. He opened his mouth as if to say something, and then...
BLEARGH!
Total throw up.
- - - - -
Briseis was bored. Pentesilea had tried to introduce her to some people who where in theory the most worthy heroes of all time... but she got sick of them in matter of minutes. In her wanderings, she found a couple of interesting things to tell her cousins and friends the next time she saw them.
Like that a guy called Narcissus had been staring at his reflection in the swimming pool and had somehow tripped and fallen into the water. He'd been saved by Perseus and his girlfriend, a nice girl called... how was it again? Oh, yeah. Andromeda. Or that she'd tried to recover her hood and had stumbled upon Odysseus and Penelope making out in the closet. Actually, that had been rather funny. (The Nile was not just a river in Egypt.)
But apart from those funny incidents, she felt lost. As if this was room for someone else, but she didn't belong in there. She hadn't showed up here to compete for Toy. She wasn't even interested in anyone in the room, except maybe for her relatives and friends (but they were busy now anyway). So she just sighed and tried to see if someone else in the party could provide some sort of entertainment. Unluckily for her, nobody seemed about to do something crazy.
Apart from her redheaded newfound friend, of course.
Pentesilea was talking to some guys and gestured for Briseis to come listen. As she started making out their topic of conversation, she started to show interest. Briseis had just dared some heroes to do some odd sort of camping out in the woods. It wouldn't take them too long to get there with the horses. She also said something about going in couples so that in case that someone got lost they'd notice earlier and no one would be left alone.
''I'm in.'' Briseis said, once Pentesilea had finished explaining.
''Ok. You go with him.'' The red quickly added, pointing at the blond bomb who Briseis had noticed earlier. Achilles. She wasn't sure if she should feel panic or relief. So she just started blankly (and a bit dumbly) at him for a second.
During the second of panic she was about to ask 'WHY ME???' but she decided against it and decided, with the part of her mind that was rational, that it was good chance too meet someone else and become friends. The fact that he was drop dead gorgeous never crossed her mind. Or so she tried to tell herself.
''Ok ,then.'' Pen continued. ''Briseis will go with Achilles, Andromeda and Perseus, Narcissus and Cassandra, Penelope and Odysseus –let's pretend that none of us saw what we say in that wardrobe – '' That got her a glare from the couple. ''... and that leaves me and Helen. So, we are set then. Helen, come with me to get the food we need. The rest of you pack your things and get going.''
She set up everyone as if she were directing a battle. Come to think of it, Briseis had heard that Pentesilea would come to be a good fighter and leader. She started believing it now. As her friend and the blonde planned to do a kitchen raid, the rest of them gathered some blankets and readied themselves to go. Briseis rushed to get her things and soon found that everything was ready. When the two girls came back with some bi packets of food, the march started. (Even if Pentesilea protested because they'd waited for them to come back instead of heading off without them.- She found it an insult to her camping skills.)
Briseis laughed along with the others as the red ranted. She ogled Achilles beside her in his horse and wandered: What would happen if somehow they ended up lost and alone?
- - - - -
As they headed out of the room, Hector tried his best not to laugh. It had been a miracle that his brother's belch hadn't gotten to any of them. Andromache had a blank stare in her face, between surprised, dumbstruck and maybe angered. But Hector... He was just dying to laugh at the first chance he had.
''Sorry about that.'' He said, biting his lower lip.
''Unless your alter ego is your brother's stomach, there's nothing to be sorry about. Besides, my dress came out unharmed.''
Well, at least she takes it with some sense of humor, Hector thought.
Being lost in thought for a moment as the two of them walked back to the party, Hector didn't even notice his surroundings. Everything about Andromache seemed so soft, so natural. There wasn't a trace of those forced smiles that princesses were often meant to have plastered on their faces all day long. He watched her walk, move. Live, in a nutshell. So lost in thought...
...That he didn't see where he was going and fell head first into the pool.
When he came back to breathe he noticed that Andromache had stopped walking and eyed him oddly for a moment. And then she started laughing. A soft, almost musical laugh. Her warm eyes scanned him there, looking like a drowned rat. Then she held out her hand for him to climb back out of the pool. But as he had suspected, she was way too fragile to be able to pull him out... and she ended falling in too.
This time, when she emerged, it was Hector who was laughing. She splashed some water on him and sent him a mock offended glare. A girl called Megara rushed up to them and looked at them. Surprisingly, none of them were drowning.
''The second rescue of the night?'' She asked.
''Huh?'' The couple said, obviously unaware of the mess Narcissus had made.
''Dah, forget it.'' She said and shrugged, and turned to keep chatting with a hue guy called Hercules.
In a few minutes, the two had managed to get out of the water with considerable amount of effort... and looking indeed like drowned rats. Hector decided it was better not to fix his look on her while they went back into their rooms. Just in case se had a big brother that decided to smack him.
''Rather an odd night.'' She said, as they rounded a corner as they neared her room, both of them leaving a trail of water from the pool to the building.
''I've seen even odder. With my family it's usual to have things happening to you.'' He shrugged. Andromache laughed. There was something about her, something so ethereal and beautiful in her dark eyes. Fire burned behind those eyes.
''I see.'' She answered. ''Maybe tomorrow I could keep discovering what it means to be part of the family.''
If you only meant that, he thought.
''I hope so.'' They were in front of her room, and she opened the door. She squeezed his hand lightly and closed the door softly, looking at him until she disappeared behind the door. Hector turned around... and became tomato red.
''Goodnight.'' She'd said. Maybe it was just the typical thing to say. Right. After falling into a pool and almost getting belched over. If she still hadn't rushed running in the opposite direction, there was a chance she would be able to live with the remaining family members.
Hector smiled. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad idea to come to the games after all.
Thanks for the cookie! (is very happy) And thanks for the reviews! Yes, indeed... Achilles comes into the picture now. Let's say that this chapter is the one where things start falling in place. (smile) Lots of love to all, and please leave all trash in the bin on your way out.
- - - - -
''This will be the worst hangover ever.'' Briseis muttered as the group eyed the younger prince. He seemed to be peacefully dozing in his bed. ''He was a bit green a moment ago, but now he'll be ok.''
''He just needs some sleep. And let's hope that he's not the first one to try luck in the tournament.'' Pentesilea said. ''I don't think he'll be ready to crawl off the bed until midday.''
''Let him sleep, then.'' Hector said. ''The first thing he'll hear tomorrow when he wakes up will be me lecturing him on how you DON'T mess with amazons and alcohol.''
The others just gazed at him for a moment and finally decided that he was right. Pentesilea happily dragged Briseis along with her, saying that there was a guy she knew that she'd like. His name was something like 'Anichillator'. Briseis just knew he was something close to the ultimate killing machine. So she soon gave up in remembering his name.
Cassandra looked back at Andromache and Hector as she left the room. Hector was sitting on his brother's bed cursing in his mind. She knew that for sure. And the girl... the girl was looking out the window as if nothing happened. In girl language, that meant that she liked him and wouldn't want to let him know.
''Say something.'' Cassandra nudged her brother lightly along with her whisper.
''Like what?'' He hissed back, and Cas knew that he was starting to panic a little. ''I bet that when I open my mouth I'll start ranting.''
Andromache turned to look at them now, and the two of them just grinned. She expected them to say something. Like that she could go, or that they needed her for something. Cassandra looked at her brother, who was completely off. She kicked him hard in the shin and he flinched.
''He'll be fine, don't worry.'' He said with a smile, trying to swallow the 'OWWWWW!' that he was about to mouth. He sent Cassandra a hurt glare, and she decided to head to the door with a smile.
''I'll leave you here for a moment. I bet Paris needs someone to take care of him for a while now. Maybe he'll wake up again... I'll try to find something to nurse him back to health.'' She grinned. ''Don't move, ok?'' She said, and closed the room's door behind her.
Oh, yes. I'm so clever. She mused, proud of herself. And now let's hope that she's not as shy as he is...
But of curse, there was one mistake in Cassandra's plan. Something that at the time had seemed so minimal, so insignificant and tiny that she hadn't even bothered to check: if Paris would really remain asleep at all. But it was worse. Paris was not only awake...
Andromache had smiled. She sat by Hector and they started the typical and silly chatter that every teen/young person does when they want to keep their mind clear and their mouth shut (in case something inappropriate slipped). It was so cliché... 'Where do you come from?' 'Do you like it in here?' 'How are you getting along with everyone?' 'Are you in the competition?' ... And a long list of useless and meaningless etcetera.
But of course as things started getting better between the two and there was barely any tension left... Paris became greener. (If that was possible.) He opened his eyes, and of course didn't notice that his brother and the love if his life where there. He rarely noticed a thing, though. That was just him.
He stood sitting on the bed for a moment. Silence between the three. He opened his mouth as if to say something, and then...
BLEARGH!
Total throw up.
- - - - -
Briseis was bored. Pentesilea had tried to introduce her to some people who where in theory the most worthy heroes of all time... but she got sick of them in matter of minutes. In her wanderings, she found a couple of interesting things to tell her cousins and friends the next time she saw them.
Like that a guy called Narcissus had been staring at his reflection in the swimming pool and had somehow tripped and fallen into the water. He'd been saved by Perseus and his girlfriend, a nice girl called... how was it again? Oh, yeah. Andromeda. Or that she'd tried to recover her hood and had stumbled upon Odysseus and Penelope making out in the closet. Actually, that had been rather funny. (The Nile was not just a river in Egypt.)
But apart from those funny incidents, she felt lost. As if this was room for someone else, but she didn't belong in there. She hadn't showed up here to compete for Toy. She wasn't even interested in anyone in the room, except maybe for her relatives and friends (but they were busy now anyway). So she just sighed and tried to see if someone else in the party could provide some sort of entertainment. Unluckily for her, nobody seemed about to do something crazy.
Apart from her redheaded newfound friend, of course.
Pentesilea was talking to some guys and gestured for Briseis to come listen. As she started making out their topic of conversation, she started to show interest. Briseis had just dared some heroes to do some odd sort of camping out in the woods. It wouldn't take them too long to get there with the horses. She also said something about going in couples so that in case that someone got lost they'd notice earlier and no one would be left alone.
''I'm in.'' Briseis said, once Pentesilea had finished explaining.
''Ok. You go with him.'' The red quickly added, pointing at the blond bomb who Briseis had noticed earlier. Achilles. She wasn't sure if she should feel panic or relief. So she just started blankly (and a bit dumbly) at him for a second.
During the second of panic she was about to ask 'WHY ME???' but she decided against it and decided, with the part of her mind that was rational, that it was good chance too meet someone else and become friends. The fact that he was drop dead gorgeous never crossed her mind. Or so she tried to tell herself.
''Ok ,then.'' Pen continued. ''Briseis will go with Achilles, Andromeda and Perseus, Narcissus and Cassandra, Penelope and Odysseus –let's pretend that none of us saw what we say in that wardrobe – '' That got her a glare from the couple. ''... and that leaves me and Helen. So, we are set then. Helen, come with me to get the food we need. The rest of you pack your things and get going.''
She set up everyone as if she were directing a battle. Come to think of it, Briseis had heard that Pentesilea would come to be a good fighter and leader. She started believing it now. As her friend and the blonde planned to do a kitchen raid, the rest of them gathered some blankets and readied themselves to go. Briseis rushed to get her things and soon found that everything was ready. When the two girls came back with some bi packets of food, the march started. (Even if Pentesilea protested because they'd waited for them to come back instead of heading off without them.- She found it an insult to her camping skills.)
Briseis laughed along with the others as the red ranted. She ogled Achilles beside her in his horse and wandered: What would happen if somehow they ended up lost and alone?
- - - - -
As they headed out of the room, Hector tried his best not to laugh. It had been a miracle that his brother's belch hadn't gotten to any of them. Andromache had a blank stare in her face, between surprised, dumbstruck and maybe angered. But Hector... He was just dying to laugh at the first chance he had.
''Sorry about that.'' He said, biting his lower lip.
''Unless your alter ego is your brother's stomach, there's nothing to be sorry about. Besides, my dress came out unharmed.''
Well, at least she takes it with some sense of humor, Hector thought.
Being lost in thought for a moment as the two of them walked back to the party, Hector didn't even notice his surroundings. Everything about Andromache seemed so soft, so natural. There wasn't a trace of those forced smiles that princesses were often meant to have plastered on their faces all day long. He watched her walk, move. Live, in a nutshell. So lost in thought...
...That he didn't see where he was going and fell head first into the pool.
When he came back to breathe he noticed that Andromache had stopped walking and eyed him oddly for a moment. And then she started laughing. A soft, almost musical laugh. Her warm eyes scanned him there, looking like a drowned rat. Then she held out her hand for him to climb back out of the pool. But as he had suspected, she was way too fragile to be able to pull him out... and she ended falling in too.
This time, when she emerged, it was Hector who was laughing. She splashed some water on him and sent him a mock offended glare. A girl called Megara rushed up to them and looked at them. Surprisingly, none of them were drowning.
''The second rescue of the night?'' She asked.
''Huh?'' The couple said, obviously unaware of the mess Narcissus had made.
''Dah, forget it.'' She said and shrugged, and turned to keep chatting with a hue guy called Hercules.
In a few minutes, the two had managed to get out of the water with considerable amount of effort... and looking indeed like drowned rats. Hector decided it was better not to fix his look on her while they went back into their rooms. Just in case se had a big brother that decided to smack him.
''Rather an odd night.'' She said, as they rounded a corner as they neared her room, both of them leaving a trail of water from the pool to the building.
''I've seen even odder. With my family it's usual to have things happening to you.'' He shrugged. Andromache laughed. There was something about her, something so ethereal and beautiful in her dark eyes. Fire burned behind those eyes.
''I see.'' She answered. ''Maybe tomorrow I could keep discovering what it means to be part of the family.''
If you only meant that, he thought.
''I hope so.'' They were in front of her room, and she opened the door. She squeezed his hand lightly and closed the door softly, looking at him until she disappeared behind the door. Hector turned around... and became tomato red.
''Goodnight.'' She'd said. Maybe it was just the typical thing to say. Right. After falling into a pool and almost getting belched over. If she still hadn't rushed running in the opposite direction, there was a chance she would be able to live with the remaining family members.
Hector smiled. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad idea to come to the games after all.