The man before him was dirty and a bit bloody. He must have hidden there in the engine room ever since they left land, three days ago. And Aeron did not let many people enter this place except from him. Unsual for a captain, but he liked overseeing the mechanical functions of his ship by himself.
“And who, pray tell, are you?”
Even as he asked that question, Aeron recognized the man. He did see him practice a rather impressive surgery, back when they were on land. But he wanted to see how the man would introduce himself.
“I'm the doctor. Your captain sent for me.” Achilles answered, with a deep confidence. Aeron had to restrain a smirk to keep a neutral face.
“Oh, did he?”
“Yes. About the disease that is killing your men one by one. Your captain went looking for a doctor three days ago, did he not? I remember your face in my operating room.”
“He did, and he found a doctor who told him there was nothing he could do against that disease. That the men would simply die.”
“Well, that is because my colleague is not very bright. He sent me to help your captain because I am a better doctor.”
“So, did my captain sent for you, or did your colleague sent you there?”
Aeron fought hard to keep a neutral face as he watched Achilles pause and struggle for his next lie, that still came smoothly out of his mouth. “Both... It was a mutual decision. Now, will you lead me to the patients, or are we going to keep talking there until everyone dies?”
The corner or Aeron's mouth curved up slightly. “By all means, doctor, follow me. You have a lot of work to do, let's see if you're indeed better than your colleague. But first, a question. What were you doing in the engine room?”
“I got lost.” Achilles lied. “This ship is a maze. Shall we?”
The truth is, Achilles did not have much time to think before he got on the boat. The inspector's men were after him and this time he definitely faced the gallows, and if not by the inspector, the debt collectors were coming for his hands after a lost bet. So he hid in the first ship leaving port that he saw. It was a miracle that it turned out to be a ship full of dying men, it allowed him to lie about his reason to be there with such ease.
Aeron found that fascinating. Not only the lie, but the easiness that came with it. He had always been fascinated by lies, and by good liars and con-men even more. For now though he kept his interest to himself and led the doctor to his dying men.
In truth, the problem was more serious that he let on. A third of his crew was dead now, and the rest would surely follow if nothing was done. Aeron wasn't so touched about that. He knew he planned to replace most of his crew at some point, disease or not, but until he found worthy remplacement, having so many men die was inconvenient.
He watched as Achilles tried to tend to the men, and to explain their illness. There was something about him, an energy that most mortals did not possess. It was barely visible but Aeron's dust made him more perceptible than the rest of his kind.
“How are you not infected?” Achilles asked, taking Aeron back from his thoughts.
“I'm resilient.”
“Well then make yourself useful, outside of starring at me while I work. This is unsettling.”
Aeron grinned. He tried to keep the amusement out of his voice. “And how am I to do that, doctor?”
Achilles was cut by another crew member who stormed the place. “Captain! The marines are onto us, I think they're about to attack. What do we do?”
Now Aeron smiled. He was itching for a good fight. “Gather all the men still able to fight. It is time we teach those marines a lesson.”
The man went up as Aeron turned to look at Achilles. “Oh...” the doctor said. “You're the captain.”
“It would appear so, yes. And I am looking for a good reason to keep you on my ship and not throw you to the sharks, so please doctor, show me how better than you colleague you are.” He smiled while drawing his sword, before leaving the room, eager to win a fight.
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“ Are you mad at me because I said we should save her instead of you? ” – Molly to Victoire After Amelia's birth
❝ Angry at you? ❞ Victoire slowly shook her head. How could she be angry at her cousin? Molly only did exactly what Victoire wanted, and was the only one who agreed with her decision. The only one who seemed to understand. ❝ If anything, I’m grateful. No one else agreed with my decision. ❞ Victoire had been afraid, of course. Everything was still a bit blurry. The blood, the pain, the doctor saying they might not make it. Her decision was taken quickly: Amelia was the one who had to be saved, no matter the cost. It could seem foolish, considering how young Victoire was, but she didn’t care. All her life, she had been told how selfish she could be. For once, she decided not to be, because this baby meant everything to her, even when she hadn’t seen her face yet. ❝ You and I on the same side, who would have thought? ❞ Victoire managed a weak smile as she leaned forward, placing a hand over Molly’s. She was careful with her gesture, knowing perfectly well her cousin did not like to be touched. Victoire’s hand did not linger as she laid back on the hospital’s bed, a sigh leaving her lips. ❝ You’re going to be a great godmother, you know. Would you like to feed her later? She’s with the nurses for a check-up right now, but it shouldn’t be long. ❞
Aw, well thank you, lovely! 🌸 Also, Ariel is one of my favorite princesses and I love Sebastian so much, he’s probably the kindest man alive, and the sweetest, and the nicest and 😭💖, I just love him.
“ Akil is nice, he always bring some food with him. I know he steals it but I pretend I don't know it. ” – Malina to Anastasia
Anastasia smiled softly while still examining the little girl. Achilles had brought her here to help her cope about being kicked out of the Academy, and if she could at least help that little girl, it would be worth it. “Yes, he is very nice isn’t he?”
“He is. I love him a lot.” she coughed again, and Anastasia held her through the pain. “Do you know what I have, miss?”
“I do. And I will fix you up in no time, do not worry.”
“Will you have to open me up?”
Anastasia chuckled. “No. There is more to medecine than surgery. Here, drink this.”
She gave her a remedy she just made with the ingredients she brought. She had quickly diagnosed Malina with a pneumopathy that got inflected, probably because of that constant humidity and coldness she lived in. The truth is, the disease was not too serious, but Malina's conditions made it so. Especially her being so underfed. She was way too skinny and short for her age (5 years, she had said proudly). And so Anastasia gave Michael — who had come here after Anastasia refused to follow him when he asked — a lot of money and sent him bring them food. She insisted to move the girl to a hotter and drier place. Everyone had been annoyed but she could be quite bossy when she wanted to.
Now, she gave Malina medecine and food, making sure her body could hold it down. She would need to keep eating and taking the medecine over the next few days, and Anastasia was determined to stay here to make sure she healed properly.
“Malina, sweetheart. Where are your parents?” She was afraid to ask, but she had to know.
“My mother died when she had me, miss. I don’t know who my dad is, he won't claim me.”
This angered Anastasia deeply, but she kept a soft smile to not unsettle the little girl. “Well, I will take care of you now, do not worry. Come, now it's time to get you to bed. Rest is the most important part of recovery.”
She helped the girl go to her bed. She had already planned to go buy her clean and warmer clothes, but Malina held her hand. “Can you please stay miss? The dark is scary...”
Refusing was not even an option in Anastasia's mind. She sat next to the girl, making sure she was covered, and let her rest her little head on her. She immediately hugged her back. Malina fell asleep pretty quickly but Anastasia didn’t let her go.
She was filled with rage. Not only at knowing that Achilles had to grow in these conditions — and that fact alone broke her heart — but knowing that all the kids here were children of the gods. Where were their parents? Why didn’t they do anything to help them? This was outrageous!
“How is she?” Achilles’ voice brought her back to reality. She looked up and smiled seeing him back from the Academy.
“She's better.” Anastasia whispered to not wake her up. “Just a few more days of good rest, the right medecine and enough food and she will be okay.”
“Thanks to you. If you weren’t there she would probably be dead by now.”
She knew he was trying to make her feel better about leaving the Academy. “This place is outrageous. Why don’t the gods do anything?”
Achilles sighed. “Most gods don’t really care about their kids who do not have a grand destiny or succeed to a quest. And the ones that do... Well, I don’t think they realize what hunger is.”
“This is —”
“Shhhh. Let’s not start cursing the gods alright? Some of them are pretty susceptible.” He came to sit next to her, holding her just like she was holding the little girl. Anastasia rested her head in the crook of his neck, immediately calmed down by the proximity.
“I'm staying here for a few days. To make sure she gets better. And then I'm taking her get new clothes. No wonder she's sick with so little in an harsh winter.”
“I figured you would.” He smiled.
“Why is she so underfed?” Anastasia asked, not able to shake the anger off her. “I guess everyone here is underfed, but her case is worse..”
“Well... Here, you have to gain your money by participating in the circus activities. Malina hasn't yet found what talent she can bring to the table.”
“She's only five!”
“I'm not saying it is just, I'm telling you how it works. Julius is the worst and to him if you're not useful you're not worth feeding. I try to give her food when I am here, though.”
“Yes, she mentionned...”
They stayed silent for a long time. Anastasia knew it wasn’t really her place to be this angry, after all she had not lived in those conditions. And yet she was outraged. She held the girl a little stronger and only calmed down a little when Achilles killed the top of her head.
“You're sure you still want to know who your godly parent is?” he teased.
She laughed. “Yes, but only because I am too curious for my own good.”
He smiled and then stayed like that for a long moment, both watching over the little girl that was safe and warm for the first time in a long, long time.
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“ Ouch.. Well you're the one walking on my feet! ” – Achilles to Anastasia
“Only because you are terrible!”
“Hey! Blame the teacher.” This made Anastasia laugh and Achilles soon followed. “Okay maybe I am bad, but toff dances are so unnecessary complicated.”
“They are. And they are not meant to be practiced in a closet. We need more space.”
Achilles frowned at that and brought her closer to him. “Yes but I don’t want to go back. I'm more comfortable here. Aren’t you?”
Anastasia's eyes softened. She put her head on his shoulder. “I am. But, Ash, we couldn’t go back if we wanted. We've been here for hours. It must be around 2 a.m. Everyone is probably asleep.”
“Really?” Time always flew when they were just the two of them.
“Yes, and we should do the same.”
“Mh... You go ahead, I will join you.I need to look at the stars for a bit.”
Anastasia nodded before leaving, knowing how he loved those stargazing moments. She enjoyed joining him sometimes, but she had to admit she was exhausted. That night had been strange enough, and jealousy was draining. Especially since the girl was not accustomed to the feeling. Never before had she met someone she wanted to be as close with as Achilles. That level of friendship was unknown to her and it was deeply unsettling.
She could have kept pondering on that fact on her way to her room but she heard a strange noise. The corridors were dark, dimly lit by the few candlelight and the full moon outside, and they were empty. Anastasia blamed her tiredness, when someone – something really – spoke.
“Oh you will make a fine meal, sweet demigod.”
Anastasia raised her gaze and her heart almost stopped. On the balustrade, a winged-something was looking at her. What was this? Nothing she ever saw before. She screamed just at the moment that thing jumped on her, digging her claws in her shoulder.
The pain was terrible, but the instinct kicked in and she pushed the creature with more force that she thought she had. She started to run, but the thing was faster and pinned her to the ground before she could escape.
“Hey you ugly thing!”
She immediately recognized Achilles' voice and her panic heightened. “Ash, run!” she screamed, but he ran to her, getting the attention of the creature.
“It’s 2 a.m, don't you monsters know how to read a clock? That’s rude!”
Anastasia wanted to scream at him to run again but she couldn’t comprehend what she saw: suddenly, Achilles had a sword in hand — where did that sword come from? — and when the creature lunged at him, he started to fight it. Anastasia was petrified, her brain trying to figure out what was happening. But the explanation didn’t matter: Achilles was in danger and that was the only information she needed. She got up, ready to jump on the beast to help Achilles, when another person held her back. She punched him before realizing it was just Michael, the weird student that arrived two weeks ago. “Calm down, he got this.”
She wanted to protest, but she was paralyzed by how surreal this scene was. And as Michael said, the next moment Achilles ran his sword through the creature's abdomen, making it disappear in a cloud of dust.
Without thinking about it, he ran to her and shoved Michael, who was still holding her back. He embraced her into a fierce hug and she fell in his arms, trembling.
“Are you okay?!” “What was that thing?!!” They spoke at the same time. Achilles touched her everywhere to make sure she was unharmed and she mostly was, aside for the wound on her shoulder that wasn’t so bad. But he was bleeding more intensely. She couldn't see the wound since it was under his shirt.
“I guess she is the other demigod.” Michael spoke and Anastasia realized she had already forgotten his presence.
“You think?” Achilles replied, both sarcastic and angry.
“What are you both talking about?! What happened? What was this thing?”
“We'll explain everything.” Michael said. “But first we need to leave. People are coming.”
“You won’t explain anything. I will explain everything and you will leave. Now.”
He was about to protest but Achilles took Anastasia's hand who was still trembling and made her follow him to their shared room. Her brain was still working too fast and yet she couldn’t understand anything. When their door was closed, he looked at her with concern.
“I promise I will explain, but first let me look at your wounds.” Of course she let him. “It’s just a scratch. A few stitches and you will be fine. I will do it.”
“Uh-huh, no way. Take off your shirt.” When he raised an eyebrow in confusion, she explained. “You're bleeding. I need to see where you are hurt. Take of your shirt now.”
He knew better than to refuse her when she was this bossy, so he did as he was told and she could see how hurt he was just by his wincing when he took his shirt off. The wound was not life-threatening, but it was definitely profound.
Anastasia took a deep breathe to steady her hand, then she went to their first aids kit. She didn’t understand what happened, but she at least knew what to do about Achilles wounds. “Sit here.” He did, and she started to clean the wound.
“I will fix you up, but then you have to tell me everything. From the beginning. No more lies or omission this time. Do you understand?”
“ I'm really good at cards games and gambles. ” – Achilles to Anastasia who asked him how he got the money to enroll
Anastasia perked up at this. “How good?”
“Do you want me to show you?” Achilles smirked.
“Obviously yes.”
He got up from his bed to go pick up a deck of cards from his desk before coming to sit on Anastasia's bed, where the girl was already seated, intrigued. He gave her the deck.
“Shuffle it and then pick a card, but don’t let me see it. And then put it back in.” She did as was told and watched him practice all sort of quick sleight of hands, until he found his card in a strange and complicated manner that, despite her best efforts, she was not able to follow.
“How?!”
He smiled at her bewilderment, and her heart swelled when she saw him being so proud of himself. “Magic.”
“Show me again.”
They spent the next hour or so like that: Achilles showing his skills and Anastasia trying her best to understand how they worked, and failing. But she didn’t mind. She would keep going until she understood, and in the meantime she looked at every trick with wonder. Her favorite was how he could easily make the coin disappear and then reappear behind her ear.
After a while, Achilles returned the question. By then, they were both lying down in her bed, not even thinking of it, their mind clouded with tiredness.
“How did you get the money? I imagine it doesn’t come from your father, and surely your mother doesn’t make that kind of money in an Opera.”
Anastasia realized with amazement how opened she had been with Achilles. She had not revealed anything about her private life to the other students. Yet, one night after a long studying session, she had opened up to him about the real relationship between her parents, in a way she had never spoken to anyone else. She had not given names in case he was too curious, but she had said all the rest.
“None of them knows I am there. This is why I sometimes go away on some weekends. As to how I got the money, I am very good at figuring odds. I cheated at a fighting bet.”
Achilles’ brow rised up. “Aren’t you full of surprises, milady?”
“Don’t call me like that!” She pushed him, which made him laugh.
“You know, I thought you were balding.”
“What?! Why?”
“Because you keep that weird cap on your hair all the time. All the boys found it strange, so we all thought you had very early baldness. But I see now that you just didn’t want to cut your hair.”
“I can’t, my mother would have a heart attack. And also, I love my hair thank you very much.”
He smiled, but in a way that showed how tired he was. His eyes fluttered close and she realized how, now that he knew her secret, she had no problem with him staying in her bed. She still had a question that had tortured her mind for hours, since he found out the truth and didn’t say a thing. So instead of biting her tongue, she asked: “Why don’t you care that I'm a girl.”
“Mh?” He answered, half asleep already, not opening his eyes.
“People care. If any man here had found out, not only would I be expelled already, but they would not look at me the same way. You don’t seem to care though.”
“Because I don’t. Boy or girl, you look the same to me. Handsome. Beautiful. And my best friend.”
Anastasia was speechless for a moment, deeply touched by his words. “Your best friend?”
“Well, we spent all our times together and there is no one's opinion I value more than yours. So yes, it would appear so.”
He barely finished his sentence, his eyes still closed, but Anastasia looked at him until sleep evened his breathe and she finally answered in a whisper before falling asleep as well: “You're my best friend too.”
“ Hey, slow down, are you all right? ” – Achilles to Anastasia who's having trouble with her heart
“Mh-hm.” Anastasia nodded, not able to form words.
The pain was terrible, probably worse than it had been for a while. It prevented her to breathe, and now matter how hard she tried to calm down, she couldn’t help but panic.
Those few months at the Academy almost made her forget her condition. Sure, she had a few episodes, but not as bad as this one. Each time Achilles worried and wanted to examine her. She had managed to stop him from doing so. But seeing the look on his face right now, she doubted she would convince him this time.
“That's it, if you won't let me examine you I will take you to the infirmary and someone will do it.”
“No.” she croaked, holding his arm. “I just need... to rest.”
His look was disapproving but he must have sensed the urgency in her voice and decided to take her to their shared room. He was practically carrying her, but when they got there, the pain became even worse, and her labored breathe was a testament to the pain.
“Don’t be stupid, Alexei. Let me examine you!”
The thing is, Anastasia knew she had no choice. She felt like passing out, and if she did, Achilles would call for another doctor and her secret would be out. But could she trust Achilles? They had grown close, very close even. They spent most days together, studying, bickering, challenging each other to be better doctors than the day before. She had to admit that the boy went from her rival to her favorite person in this place, and she spent her time either with him or wishing he was here. But would he keep her secret? Would he still treat her as an equal if he found out she was a girl? The sheer panic of it all made tears prickle in her eyes, but she still nodded.
Achilles wasted no time and grabbed his stethoscope before pulling up Anastasia's shirt.
“What is that?” He asked when confronted to Anastasia's binder, that she used to hide her breast. “Why is it so tight? No wonder you can’t breathe.”
He removed it, and she could feel herself breathing easier. She had to make it really tight to conceal everything, which made her bruise a lot, but it was worth it.
There was no point in trying to hide. She could hear Achilles' breathe catching when he finally realized why she had been so prudish with him those past months.
“You...” He started, but she coughed and he remembered the situation.
While holding her waist to make sure she didn’t fall, he started listening to her heart. She could feel herself calming, the pain becoming less and less unbearable.
“Breathe with me.” Achilles' voice brought her back to the present moment. “In. and out. Again. In, and out. Okay, now the front. In, and out.” His steady rythm relaxed her. She knew that if he kept listening though, he would figure out what she truly had. So she turned around and looked him in the eyes, making him draw back his stethoscope.
“Please don’t tell anyone.”
“You....” He hesitated, clearly confused. “But you have a beard.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “I'm good with disguises.” That was one perk of growing up in a theater. “Look, I know I lied to you. But if you tell them the truth, they will kick me out.”
“But... why?”
It would be easy to tell him the real reason. That she was dying and she wanted to save herself. But it was too soon for that, so she just said the other truth: “Because I am brillant and I want to become the first female surgeon. Will you keep my secret?”
