《The Deviant Path to Olympus》2.2
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Gaiana always had a love hate relationship with the night. On one hand, the stars were beautiful. They were specs of dust trapped in the air, shining down on the world like they were competing for attention within the darkness. On the other hand, she was homebound. Everyone was. Going out at night was illegal in the city, largely out of fear of stragglers trying to mug citizens at night. The Scythian guardsman of the night were most vigilant during this time, intent of capturing any night goers and catching them as thieves.
Gaiana's cowl was bleak, identical to the shrouds at the edges of buildings. The dark moon helped keep her hidden within the shadows of the darkness, hiding her figure despite it being a star-filled night.
She sprinted from street to street, hiding beneath the night cover before reaching the docks. She knew how to sail a ship. Er, sort of. She'd seen so many people do it before, she was confident she could do it herself.
There was a small sail ship at the edges of the port side. Not sturdy enough to go deep into the thrashing seas, but fast enough for her to sail to the nearest island and take refuge there. From there, she could figure out her options for where to go next. Gaiana let out a sigh of grief, "nowhere in Greece is good for a non-greek slave girl..."
Between her recognizable tattoo and gender, freedom wasn't possible for someone like her. She began wondering if she could live better in Egypt than she could in Greece. Too bad I don't speak other languages.
Gaiana turned around, only to a see a mutt staring up at her with eyes of curiosity. The dog was heavy, with droopy skin, but only wagged its tail and breathed heavy upon looking at her. She blinked at the creature, "shoo."
Gaiana walked forward, and the mutt followed her. She looked back at the dog and squinted, "away vile creature!"
She whispered it while raising her arms in defiance. The dog only tilted its head, and looked at Gaiana in intrigue. "Listen," Gaiana whispered, "I'm running away, and I don't have enough to feed a dog. Please, go away and leave me alone."
The dog barked at her. Gaiana jolted up, and walked back onto a tall man's stomach. He stared down at her. The man in the darkness grabbed her by the hand with a hard voice and grip, "thief!"
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Gaiana froze in her place. It was a Scythian guard looking down at her with hard eyes full of anger. "Good job Brutus," the guard tossed a piece of food at the dog, to which it caught mid-air and began chewing down in glee.
The guard looked down Gaiana with his same hard grip around her wrist. "Planning on stealing cargo, wretch?"
"I-"
"A girl?" Another guard said stepping behind him. "Thieves aren't what they used to be, are they?"
The guard that grabbed her by the arm lifted it up. He was large, and Gaiana was small. It was easy for him to display his power to her, "where's your family, girl? Or are you some tart looking for a bad time?"
"Not at this hour," the guard behind him said. The second guard from behind was thin, which only emphasized the larger ones' already robust figure. Their armors were cheap, but as Athenian guards, it was sufficient enough to make them seem more powerful than the average citizen. "Girl this late had to be here to steal something."
Gaiana tried to speak, but her voice was caught in her own throat. They were right. She was there for exactly what they expected. She should've known that the docks would've been the most secure place in the city during the night.
The one grabbing her said, "listen here, if you're looking to rob someone, you've come to the wrong place. If you're looking to sell yourself, you've also come to the wrong place. So either you tell us where you come from, or we're going to do some classic Athenian justice on you."
The guard put his palm on the hilt of his sword. Gaiana simply froze, with an unquenching fear overtaking her body. "I-" she still couldn't speak. Completely overpowered, she didn't know what to do. She only stared at them in a heavy quiet as she wondered what fate they'd bring to her.
"Gone quiet now?" The smaller one said. "Well have it your way then, let's-"
"What's that?" A women's voice from behind called out. The two guards turned over to her. It was a dark out, but the two men stiffened from the sound of her voice. "Captain," the one holding Gaiana said, "We just caught this thief sneaking around the docks. No doubt trying to steal some of the merchant's cargo."
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The guard finally put Gaiana's arm down, confident she'd stay still. Gaiana stayed frozen in fear. The captain looked down at Gaiana's face and said, "Gaiana?"
It was Mimoza. Guarding the docks like a noble mercenary would. "What are you doing here?" Mimoza asked. Her voice wasn't at all stern or angry, it was the sound of a person genuinely concerned for someone else's well being.
Gaiana simply stayed quiet. The skinny guard asked, "Oiy, you know her?"
"Both of you go back to your patrols," Mimoza ordered. "I know her family, I can take her home."
The larger brutish guard tilted his head in their direction. He put two and two together. "Aye then, she's a runaway slave then, ain't she?"
He was smarter than he looked. Despite seeming like a brutish monstrous type, the man predicted everything Gaiana had planned out perfectly. The skinny one said, "quite stupid then, slaves got nowhere to run to. Might as well run to an early death, all the same."
Gaiana's mouth scrunched beneath the darkness. They were right. She had nowhere to go, and leaving without money or food was akin to a death sentence.
"Granit, Astrin, go do your duties. I'll take it from here." Without asking, Mimoza took Gaiana by the hand, and walked her to the direction she'd run away from.
They left the others behind and walked together in silence. Mimoza held her hand tightly as they crossed the city Gaiana tried to escape from. It was the only city she'd ever known, with quirks and nuances that only lifelong residents such as herself could understand. It was a city she wanted to escape from. Not because she wanted to, but because not knowing the future was too much to bear.
The two of them passed by the temple steps of the Athena Citadel, and Gaiana finally stopped her feet in place. Mimoza didn't push her further, and only stopped alongside her. "Are you gonna ask what I was doing?" Gaiana said.
"Only if you want to tell me."
Gaiana glanced over at the building next to them. The building was beautiful, an epitome of Greek innovation art and design. She loved walking by it, seeing the sculpted painting of Goddess Athena raising a spear to the sky. It always made her dream, dream of being a goddess living high above the people of Athens.
Gaiana's voice began to shake, "Archos is going to sell me." Nothing she wanted was going right. With the gesture of another man, her life was nothing more than a commodity for others. "And I don't know what's going to happen to me."
Gaiana finally bursted out crying. Mimoza leaned in closely to hug her tightly. Gaiana whaled out in emotion as Mimoza held her, repeating the words 'I'm scared' as Mimoza held her tightly.
"Gaiana," Mimoza said loudly, "listen to me, this new fate that's in store for you, this is your winter, I promise you that your spring will come."
Gaiana shook her head, "how do you know? You don't know that for sure!"
Mimoza touched the tears on her cheek. "This world is more than just the fates we are born with. The Gods do not look down on people like you and condemn them to damnation. You are beauty, you are full of hope, you are a light to this world and the people around you. This is not an ending to your life. The Goddess Persephone does not let the plants wither and die for the sake of bringing them pain, she does it so that spring blossoms can create life anew. So that the old wither away, and new colors are expressed to the world."
Gaiana clenched at her chest, "I feel like I'm drowning, except instead of being in Poseidon's embrace, I'm just losing the breath in me, again and again."
"This pain you feel, this fear you have. It will pass. Your future cannot be bleak, fate would never will it."
Gaiana shook her head, "my parents left me to die when I was born, why would fate be good to me now?"
"Because fate has always been good to you." Mimoza said in a lower whisper, "fate gave you a family, it gave you a second chance at life. The Gods won't abandon you that easily now. You just need to be strong, strong enough to endure whatever future that lies in store for you."
Gaiana's head fell into Mimoza's chest. Mimoza held her as she teared for the rest of the night.
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[HIATUS] Re:Turn, The Legend of the 4 Swords
Hiatus Note: Currently on planned hiatus while I finish planning the next section of the story to make sure I know where it's going. Chapter 10 will release soon, and 11 and beyond are ""Part 2"" of the story. In the meantime, check out "Clockwork" my other slice of life LN that I will update regularly. Cryo is an average 18 year old, just graduated high school and is transitioning into college. One notable factor about him is he is incredibly unlucky. Over the summer gets extremely invested in a gacha game known as “Ultima Online” and plays it every single day with his real life friends Gig, Yuso, and Shigeto. Cryo becomes a well-known member of the community because he uploads videos online and livestreams and is especially well-known because he almost never pulls good units from the gacha due to his terrible luck, which makes his anger fun to watch. One day, Admin (Administrators/Developers of the gacha game) send him an email inviting him to their facilities to tour them as a thank-you for making content for the game. On his way to the facilities Cryo stops at a gas station to get some snacks and the gas station is stuck-up by a robber. The robber takes a cute girl hostage and threatens to kill her, so Cryo steps in and bodyslams the robber, causing the robber to aimlessly shoot a bullet which bounces off a rubber tire, just when Cryo thinks he saved the day, the bullet hits him in the head with a lot of force, but not enough to kill him, putting him into a coma. Cryo is then transported to purgatory where a cute goddess decides his fate to be transported to a realm that needed help, promising Cryo if he found 4 legendary swords in this world he would gain re-admittance to the life he once lived. Before being transported to the world that needed assistance the goddess tells him that he can maximize any of his traits, procuring thought into whether Cryo should choose looks, strength, or another trait. After being reminded of his terrible luck in which a flashback to his family dying in a house fire is shown, he decides maximizing his luck trait should be the best choice. He is then transported into this new world, which turns out to be the world of his gacha game, Ultima Online. He meets friends and foes and is tasked with collecting 4 swords that appear as lolis to Cryo. Using the gacha system, he creates a party of strong allies to aid him on his quest to return.
8 89[PORTUGUESE] Saint Seiya: Kagutsuchi, o cavaleiro de Fornalha.
No mundo moderno, um ferreiro de 25 anos, trabalhava em sua fornalha forjando objetos que poderiam ser vendidos, apesar da escassa oferta, para os ferreiros antigos nos tempos atuais, com a tecnologia siderúrgica automática. Enquanto terminava o pedido raro de um cliente para a forja de uma espada Kataná japonesa, algo deu errado na fornalha e ela explodiu o matando. No ciclo de renascimento, o súdito do shinigami cometeu um erro, e em vez do céu, lançou a alma do ferreiro em outro mundo para renascer. Como algo imprevisto, a alma foi lançada no mundo e guiada por instintos, procurou um corpo adequado para renascer, e achou um corpo morto no fundo do penhasco, e entrou no corpo do anterior cavaleiro do fogo, treinado por Gigars. Como será a vida do novo cavaleiro do fogo, que finalmente se tornará um cavaleiro verdadeiro com uma armadura de bronze ordenada pela própria atena?
8 135Cocaine kisses
Once upon a time, we shared our wicked blisses. But in the end, they were nothing but cocaine kisses.Highest ranking: #42 in poetry
8 108ONLY YOURS (#2)
When does the hero himself becomes the villain of his story? When he feels that the most precious thing in his life is getting snatched away, for which he can take anyone's life. *****************************************" Shivaay please.. I don't even know whether she likes me or -"" Dare you ask her. " Shivaay cut him off by grabbing his collar and pushed away. " Shivaay listen to me. Everyone out there is not to hurt you. Some are with you to heal you. To make you happy. To take you to the places where all happiness belongs to you. To love you like there is no tomorrow. So please... Listen to me. Talk to her, sought out everything, every misunderstandings, clear out everything. Before....Before its too late. " Shravan said to his brother who was taking out his anger and frustration on the punching bag. Shivaay grabbed Shravan's collar and pinned him on the wall almost startling him. " SHUT UP..! Just shut up. Stop lecturing me. It's my life and I will fucking live it in my way. Don't tell me what to do and what not. And one more thing.. If you weren't my brother, I would have ripped your head the secound I spotted you with my girl. " Shivaay yelled at him and pushed him away. " Shivaay don't. You are on the wrong track. Don't turn your love into some kind of obsession and madness. You will only end up hurting her and loosing her forever. " Shravan shouted back. " Huh.! Love without obsession is a waste of time for me. And about madness, she has only seen Shivaay's limitless love. Now she will get to know, up-to which extend I can go for her. " " And one more thing. What's mine is mine. Keep it in your pretty little mind. "*****************************************There is no limit in love. It's just a passion.But it is not a matter of everyone's bass to have such love. Will Amaya be able to appreciate Shivaay's outspoken love or will choose the Simplicity of Shravan?Cover credits : Myself.! Aesthetics credits : @heyhurgun
8 75GULAKU | Yoongi X BTS | Namgi | JinGa | Sope | Minyoon | Taegi | KookGa
Berisi Oneshoot Yoongi dengan pairnya GAK JAMIN MANIS KEK GULAKU Namjoon x YoongiSeokjin x YoongiHoseok x YoongiJimin x YoongiTaehyung x YoongiJungkook x YoongiButtom YoongSeme BTS other
8 63You Give Me Problems (Van McCann)
Whoever you're mixing your drinks with, is dying to, go to town on you... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ He was wearing his usual uniform of black skinny jeans and a sweater, although the sweater he was wearing now was especially significant. It was the one I fell asleep on a few nights after we'd met. "Hi Van." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Carmen meets Ryan "Call me Van, it's more class" McCann at some seedy bar she gets dragged to by a new friend. To say things move fast is an understatement. But as fast as they move, as painfully slow they end. While Van and his mates get the band rising quicker and quicker, Carmen can't help her feelings as she sees her striped sweater wearing messy haired cockish boy become the rockstar he swore he would.
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