#spudwrites

*i groan, rubbing my head as the world around me feels like it's spinning. Eventually, i was able to stand up and take a look at my surroundings, it looked like a forest*

W-where am i?

*i was about to explore my new surroundings, but then i saw something approach me from the woods. It was some cat thing with rings on its ears. It looked strangely familiar, but i couldn't remember why*

Welcome, i am kyubey

Wait- this seems oddly familiar-

I am capable of granting you one wish, anything you desire

Wait a minute-

But in return, you will become a magical boy and use your powers to fight witches

WAIT A DAMN MINUTE-

*i start to freak out, realising just who this is*

OH HELL NO, I AIN'T RISKING MYSELF AND BECOMING A WITCH. BACK YOU DEMON!

*i yell at it, picking up a random stick on the ground and pointing it at it*

*"kyubey" starts laughing and falls on the ground*

Hahahaha! I'm just kidding!

*it transforms into something else, something with a more human appearance but the ears and tail were still there. They stand up and walk towards me, putting their hands up to show they weren't there to hurt me*

Chill, I'm not gonna do anything bad

*i lower the stick*

Then who are you, where am i and what the heck is going on?

Well, first my name isn't important but you can just call me kyu. Second you are in America, well, America in another world. And third basically you died and are now being subjected to a similar fate as most shonen isekai anime protagonists

Wait.... WHAT!? THAT CAN ACTUALLY HAPPEN!?

*i was very shocked after what i was just told. I died... and was now in another world like in those isekai animes*

You good? Had enough time to get it together yet?

It's been barely 2 minutes... THAT IS NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH TIME FOR ME TO GET IT TOGETHER AFTER LEARNING I JUST DIED AND AM NOW IN ANOTHER WORLD!

Well get it together already, there's still a lot we need to get through before i can leave

What?

Well i cant just leave you in this new world without having any knowledge about this place and unable to live by yourself, i am legally not allowed to. Since unlike most of those isekai tropes where people get sent to worlds in more medieval times and you can just start your life without people questioning who you are and where you came from, this world is just as modern as your previous one, and since you don't originally belong to this world you wont have things like your birth certificate, school files, personal files, proof of existence, etc...

Wait.... so then how am i supposed to live here if i basically don't exist?

*they chuckle and snap their fingers, multiple documents appear around us*

That's what I'm here for, I'm in charge of your transfer to this world and with some magic i made some of these documents and files that will serve as your identity and proof of existence in this world, stuff like your birth certificate and things i mentioned previously, these will become apart of this worlds databank making it as if you were always part of it. I kept your information identical to your original one except for the fact that now it would be as if you were already an American citizen, instead of living in (insert country), your data would be stated that you moved to America just recently with the purpose of studying

But what about where I'll live? How am i supposed to get money or a job? And studying, how could i afford tuitions?

I'm getting there, jeez, be a little patient won't you? You'll be provided with a small house for yourself, as for school stuff, you'll find documents inside said house for your school, since I've already enrolled you. And as for money and job, well, that's where the fun stuff starts

*they were grinning after saying that which worried me a bit for what they meant by that*

What are you talking about?

Well, remember what i said earlier? I wasn't kidding about that turning you into a magical boy part, but before you panic, no it's not like madoka magica. You will be a using powers and stuff to fight bad guys and get paid by the government for saving people, sounds fun right?

What kind of powers? And is there some kind of catch? Cuz a free house, powers, and a job sounds too good to be true...

The only catch is college, you'll have to balance fighting bad guys with attending school while not failing. And as you probably now from all the shows you've watched with similar tropes, that isn't an easy task, but one thing you won't have to worry about is hiding your identity

Is it because magical girls/boys outfits have magic that make people as blind as a bat when it comes to their identities, regardless of how identical they look?

What? No, not like miraculous ladybug blindness, it's more like the powerpuff girls

Ah, ok then. So....what powers do i get? Are they cool powers?

Eh, I'm too lazy to come up with powers, here just pick which ones you want

*they hand over a screen displaying multiple characters fictional characters*

Wait, aren't these characters from works of fiction? Won't they exist in fiction in this world too?

Well yeah, some fictional works from your world exist here too, just like how things like nintendo exist here too. But don't worry, all the characters in that screen are characters that don't exist in this world, as to avoid copyright infringement. So just take your pick and I'll give you those powers.

This isn't an easy decision to make, can't i just pick later? How about you show me where ill be living first?

Fiiinnnneeee..... but I'll only wait until tomorrow, so make up your mind by then ok?

*kyu snaps their fingers and then we suddenly appear in a bedroom, me falling into a bed*

This is your new home, information about your house, school, and city are all in those documents beside you on your bed, and just use google maps for getting to your school. You'll also have food in the fridge and some money if you look in your drawer. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon so have a decision by then ok?

*kyu then disappears, leaving me alone in my new house, in a new world, in my new life. I plop myself properly down on the bed, looking at the ceiling and thinking of everything that just happened during the last hour or so*

Holy shit.... i think i just became an shonen protagonist.... ew

*thinking back to what kyu said, i needed to think of what powers i want*

Eh, I'll figure it out tomorrow morning, i need to sleep after all this shit

End of part 1

Hi everyone!

These notes might be long buT PLEASE STAY WITH ME.

This is the first time I've posted anything on this app in like, 10 years. Started as an idea for a completely different fandom and then... got away from me because NaLu has my heart always, and I couldn't find an Ancient Greek AU for them. Assassin's Creed Odyssey was the initial catalyst and then it spiraled. I was also inspired by Bloodlines by @onlyottermadness. Came for the romance, stayed for the adventure, ya know? The story was so well thought out and the characterizations were some of the best I've seen in FT fics (and I've been AROUND A LONG TIME). I haven't had the motivation for story telling in a long time, but this one changed that. Go read it, and its sequel!!!!

If you want to read this, and want to see it continue, please be patient with me. I'm writing this in the little to no free time I have (I am in a very intense program where I'm in class like 40 hours a week and I have an exam every 2 weeks and-) It's also the first thing I've written in a while, so I'm rusty. Lets get some things out of the way before you hop into this journey with me <3

HISTORICAL ACCURACY: Its there when it can be and not when it can't. I tried my best, but it got to a point where the research was more than the writing. Some information is also differing and unclear or difficult to find, so on and so forth, so I take liberties where they make sense and stay true to the time period when it's possible. I mean cmon, I wasn't going to marry Lucy off at 14 years old and give her children. Also took some liberties with the treatment of women here because obviously they deserved better. So don't be the guy who gets on me about accuracy because I WILL point and laugh.

CHARACTERIZATION: I'll try my best to keep these guys as in character as possible WITHIN this context. I've aged most of them up a little (early 20s ish at the youngest) and am aiming for a mature story. So yeah they might be a little OOC but like... wouldn't you be? I'll try my best tho.

AI: I stand ten toes down here. Using Generative AI for writing is an abomination, and I will not stand to be accused of it either. I have been writing from my own brain since before some of ya'll on here were even born. If you think for even a second I might have used it, consider that I'm an intelligent and educated person and remember that people like me (writers) are what ChatGPeePee or whatever STOLE from. Not the other way around.

So yeah. I'm also SORT of writing as I go?? But I do have a plan?? Feel free to interact with me (please do). Community is the best place for inspiration and I want to experience this adventure with you.

Tags and warnings will be updated/added as we go. Slow going at first, but enjoy nuggets!!!

PROLOGUE

She swears the wall gets taller and taller by the day.

She knows, of course, that can't really be true. She's sure she would have seen the scaffolding even from her distance. Perhaps somebody would have mentioned it, if they were working on increasing the cities fortifications even further. She knows it's not growing, and yet it looms in the distance and she's sure she can see it breathe like an ox heaving before it's haul.

Alive, unyielding, and protective.

It's a beast up close. She knows that. Purposefully slapped together on top of remnants from era's long ago, the cap of a desecrate column here, the stone of a long gone district there. But it's been a long while since she's ventured that far, and even longer since she's stepped through the gates to the other side.

Her eyes scan along it's sprawl and at the highlands beyond, a vast and unfamiliar plain lying beneath those far away hills. Sometimes she can see black smoke billowing into the sky, venomous clouds that could never be produced by the cooking fires of the outer villages. Once, on a day where the wind slept, she swore she could hear the shouting and clashing of metal travel over that endless rampart and through the city. But just barely, if she hadn't imagined it altogether.

But it's all far away from her. Separated by that damn wall. A whole world away.

She sighs. How could she really be mad at it, when it's just doing it's duty, fulfilling its obligation?

The evening breeze is cool, kissing at the back of her neck like it has secrets exclusively for her ears and her ears alone. The summer sun is just tucking below the horizon and the stars are twinkling above her as she stands in the solace of her upper terrace.

The stars glimmer for her. That she's certain of.

She stretches her arms before leaning carefully against the wall. This was her routine.

When the home was taken care of, when the sun was setting and the city around her settling for the night, the stars waking, she moves up to the tallest floor and into the fresh air. To breathe. To exist without demand. To envision. To expand the bars around her soul so it can stretch it's restless limbs.

Her eyes meet the distant wall again. She thinks it definitely grew this time.

Maybe I'm just smaller, she muses.

If she had the eyes of a hawk she knows she would see the men she knows are traipsing along the rampart. Observing. Waiting. Guarding. Dedicated to the security of the grand polis below.

Do they truly want to be there? Do they look out at the plains, past the derelict villages and burning farmland, and yearn for something greater? Do they wish to drop their weapons and wander the wilderness, visit other city states?

Maybe.

Or perhaps, most likely, their focus is entirely doing their duty. Fulfilling their obligation. As far as she's concerned, Athenian soldiers are vehemently loyal.

"Lady Regulus."

A timid but familiar voice interrupts her sanctuary.

She turns and meets the wise, dark eyes of her nurse. She holds a basket on her hip, filled with herbs and a few flowers she can't identify under the moonlight.

"Spetto. How are we doing for preparations?" She asks kindly.

The old woman gives a smile. "Everything will be in order for the coming days." She reassures. "The General should return tomorrow evening, as he said."

The General.

The young woman's gut twists, but only a little. The word still feels so abnormal to her.

"Wonderful."

Spetto steps forward, glancing over the young woman's attire with a furrow in her brow. "Lady Regulus-"

A hand. "Please, call me Lucy. Like you used to, okay? I don't see why that has to change now that I'm married."

A nod. "Lucy, are you not catching a chill?"

On queue, a gentle wind blows across the upper story.

"Never." Lucy says, and decides she can't have more of Spetto's fretting for the evening. She's had 20 years of it, and as grateful as she was for it, she could see the woman was tired. "It's our warmest season. If there's a chill, perhaps its just you."

Spetto can only roll her eyes and give a light smile at the teasing.

"Here, let me." The blonde steps forward and takes the basket from her nurse's arm. "Go rest for the night. I'll need you for the coming week."

Spetto starts to protest, but decides against it. With a gentle squeeze of Lucy's arm, the woman shuffles away, down the stairs and into the shadows.

Lucy stands there, holding the basket and scanning the space around her. No broken pots. No wilted plants. Pergola intact. Every flower in bloom. Unsurprisingly, nothing is amiss, despite the constant tugging in her gut that something always is.

She spares the stars, the wall, a final glance before steeling herself to march down the stairs. It's an easy task, yet the weight of the basket is almost unbearable on her hip. She assumes she's merely exhausted from the day under the summer sun.

Down the stairs. Through the courtyard. Into the kitchens where she places the basket down carefully next to some bread. Back through the courtyard. Up the stairs. Into the master bedroom.

She doesn't hesitate. Doesn't look around her even bother to undress.

She stares at the ceiling for a while. Feeling so much yet nothing at all. Climbing the stairs had felt like an agonizing task, and now her body is restless. Unable to decide what it feels.

She thinks of the wall again. She thinks of the guards on the wall.

It doesn't stop.

That barrier between her and the rest of the world has been calling her, teasing her day in and day out. It wants her to creep through its gates and onto the plains and never look back. It wants her out, yet keeps her in.

Yeah. It's just the wall.

Eventually, Lucy lulls herself into a restless, dreamless sleep.

________________________________________________________________

The morning starts like all others.

She wakes up with the sun. There is already movement down stairs and in the streets outside.

She longs to stay there, wrapped up and isolated, but she can't. The General is coming back, and that anticipation spurs her up.

Down the stairs. Across the courtyard. A young woman waits for her in the bathing quarters, with a louterion full of water just for Lucy. Dismiss her. Wash quickly and efficiently.

Its after she is draped on her peplos, one of her more expensive ones — deep blue with golden motifs and a mantle to match — does her routine change.

"Lucy?"

The blonde looks up from her stool, a pin for her hair poised in the air. "Virgo. Is everything okay?"

The young girl steps into the room, and without hesitation, steals the pin away and takes the long, golden tresses into her hands with a vigor that's almost inappropriate. "My brother is back today, right?"

Lucy adjusts her posture and lets the girl work without a peep of protest. She knows immediately that something is on her mind. Pink hair frames her cherub cheeks, and her eyes are focused and still so full of life and wonder. She's young still. A strangely intense yet comforting presence in Lucy's life that she's glad she got to take under her wing. Virgo was truly the closest thing she had to a wedding gift, and she wouldn't change it for the world.

"He's supposed to be." She answers. Through the foggy mirror she watches Virgo twist and pull, concentrating. "You haven't done my hair for me in a while. Is everything okay?"

Virgo starts to nod, then hesitates. "I had a bad dream, about him. Last night."

Lucy listens intently with open ears. Doesn't push.

"I feel like the older I get, the more I worry about him." The teenager confesses. "I hear that the Spartans are cruel and brutal and really strong. What are we to do if something happens to him?"

"Direct combat with those beasts has been very rare." Lucy reassures. Another twist, another pin. "He's strong and smart. He will be fine."

"But what if he isn't? What if he makes a mistake, or makes the wrong call? He's always been my big, invincible brother but with everything going on-"

The older of the two reaches up to carefully grasp Virgo's hand in hers. halting her work. She stands, steady and present so the girl has something to lean on.

"Virgo, he's not a General for nothing." Her voice is sure. "You don't need to make yourself sick with worry about something that likely won't happen. He's strong. He's a fighter." A hand brushes a strand of pink hair away from wide eyes. "Besides, you know his job is mostly administrative in the safety of the city. Honestly it's the politics that might get him in the end, not some Spartan monster."

It was an attempt to lighten the mood, to decrease Virgo's concerns, but the young girl's brow remains furrowed.

"I know but not this time. What if he doesn't come home?"

"He will."

"He told me he was going outside the walls, what if he doesn't?"

"He wanted to scout the outer wall and the damage to farmland for himself. Nothing more. He will be back."

They stand in silence for a long time, one could almost hear Virgo's anxiety clashing with her logic. The logic, or maybe Lucy's stubborn words, seem to win the battle this time.

"I know, you're right Lucy." She replies, her shoulders visibly depressing. "I'm sure Pericles causes him more stress than anything."

At the mention of the name, they giggle together, and Lucy sits back down so Virgo can finish up with her hair.

It's nice. For a brief moment in time, Lucy is relaxed, and nothing else matters beyond the threshold of that precious bathing room. Despite the age gap, Virgo felt like the closest friend she could have. She admired her attitude, her curiosity, her vitality. She kept the black hole that slithered within Lucy's shadow at bay.

Lucy knew that in any other world, had Virgo been born into a family with far less coin to go around, she could thrive on charm alone.

"Thank you."

Virgo steps back to briefly admire her work, smiling wide at the sophisticated twists and perfectly placed pins. "Could you do mine tomorrow?" She asks.

Lucy nods. "Of course I can." She responds enthusiastically. As Virgo turns to leave, Lucy reaches across the table to a handful of glass and ceramic flasks, all intricately designed and brightly coloured. "Rose or saffron today?"

From the threshold, "My brother prefers the saffron."

Lucy's finger tips hesitantly freeze over the rose scented perfume, and with a settling of reality back onto her shoulders, grabs the glass bottle with the saffron oil. A dab on the chest, the neck, her wrists. Expense be damned.

She hovers in the room for a while longer. Her body aches. She already feels like the day has been done a dozen times over.

Perhaps she could lie — say she's feeling feverish and needs to lie down — but she's an honest woman, with too much to do, so she decides against it.

Push through. Like always.

Into the courtyard. Sip from the cistern. Acknowledge Zeus Herkios at his altar. Inspect the house. Decide to cook in the courtyard today.

Duty and obligation.

Luckily, the morning went quickly, and it was just as the sun was passing its highest point when a burst of energy came through the home, like one of the wind gods had just strolled on in.

Lucy was on the terrace again, sitting in the shade of a floral covered pergola, gracefully sewing a delicate pattern into the old fabric of a long unworn peplos. It was nothing fancy, not like the golden paint on what currently draped her body. Her stitching was softer, more subtle.

Which went against everything she had ever been told about how she was to dress. It didn't matter to her in that moment.

She heard the hustle and bustle of downstairs and Virgo's cheerful cry, and that was her signal. The General was home again, and an air of calm washed over her knowing he was safe. She worried about him just as much as his little sister did, though that was something she would keep to herself. Virgo's comfort and reassurance was far more important than whatever addled her own mind.

But she made no effort to move, instead remaining focused on her stitches. There was already a meal ready for him and she wasn't feeling particularly hungry yet. She knew he would be up in her quarters eventually. He always sought her out, never once expressing any expectations that she do the seeking instead.

It was an unspoken kindness he willingly gave her.

Her eyes wandered to the horizon again, hands slowing until they stopped completely.

Her thoughts were the same as usual. Visions of what lay beyond, of the world she could see if she wasn't tied up in the city, if there wasn't a war, if she didn't have responsibilities.

She had been passed the city limits, long ago, when life had been simpler. She wondered how much had changed in 20 years, aside from the Spartan destruction and the scars on the outlying villages. What was left of them, anyway.

"Lucy."

Shaken from her thoughts, the young woman falls from wherever she was and back into her dulled reality. Her eyes look up to meet his. Always wise, always kind, with a softness reserved for her and Virgo alone.

"Leo. You're home." She smiles. "I was worried."

She stands to her feet to greet him. He'd already changed, his chiton old and plain, one she had patched for him just recently. She embraces him, guarded but not cautious. Practiced and familiar. He's as warm as the summer sun.

His arms, strong and sure, wrap around her tighter than she would have ever deemed appropriate just months ago, but she doesn't resist.

He was still her Leo, her friend before all else.

"I'm home." He says against her hair. "But what's the worry for? I was only gone a few days."

She pulls away now but his hands stay firmly on her elbows, like he wasn't ready to let go. She takes him in; there's a fresh bruise on his cheek, just yellowing at the edges, and a shallow gash on the side of his neck. Fear immediately boils up from her gut and into her chest. He shouldn't look like that.

"You ask me what the worry is for looking like that!" She scolds him, "You were just going for a scout. What happened?"Her hands reach up to touch at his brow, his cheek, his neck, wanting to fix something even if the damage was superficial. She feels almost angry, but only almost.

"It was just a couple bandits, nothing more." He grasps her wrists and pulls her wandering hands away from his face. "Stop stressing. They just caught us by surprise, that's all."

Lucy gives him a huff and pulls away, her legs weak, so the immediately goes to sit back on her cushions in the shade. She feels his eyes never leave her. "It's bad enough when you go out to fight."

He laughs in a poor attempt to soothe her. He follows, quickly taking his own seat on the cushion and courteously extending a hand to help her sit as well.

This was the routine. Everyday the same. He would return home and join her on the terrace, where she always would be if she wasn't tending to the household.

"It wouldn't be right if I stayed within the polis." He responds after they've made themselves comfortable. Lucy, returning to her stitching, and him, leaning back against the stone. He looks younger this way, casual and serene, she thinks. "I need to lead by example. If I want to tell the army to risk their lives, I have to be willing to do the same, and the least I can do is see for my own eyes the damage the Spartan's have caused."

There he is, brave and noble. Lucy sighs. "I understand. I know how difficult it is. I know how hard you fight. I know you wouldn't want your men facing those beasts alone."

Her husband nods. "The Spartan's are… they're tough. I don't even think they're human." He admits. "They're really testing us. I'll be honest, my bride, they've done a lot of damage. They're violent yes, but not stupid. They're not just sitting out there waiting for some poor Athenian hoplite to drop his guard."

Lucy frowns, worry etching into her otherwise soft features.

He notices, and quickly places a calloused hand on her shoulder. "It's alright my darling. They've invaded Attica before remember? We just have to hold off until they run out of resources and need to retreat. That's why the outskirts are basically abandoned now. Everyone is safe in Athens' walls."

Lucy does remember.

"Nothing is going to hurt you here," He assures. "Athena protects us."

She looks up at him. She feels tired, conflicted, and she hides it well. But one thing she is certain of is his safety, and his promise to keep her and Virgo out of harms way.

She pretends that that's all she could ever ask for.

"You look beautiful today." He smiles, reaching to brush his thumb across her soft cheek.

"Do I not look beautiful every day?"

"Stop it, of course you do." He grins. "And think about it. If I didn't have my position, you wouldn't have this home, or these robes."

He's right. She smiles. It's easy, for a moment.

But her mind, always wandering, thinks again to the outside. She should be grateful for her goddess's protection, grateful for the safety, grateful for her comfort and her husband's wealth. So many would kill to be where she is, housed, always fed, never close to danger.

So why did it all feel wrong?

Leo interrupts her thoughts once more, this time with a nose in her neck and his lips grazing her collarbone. "You're wearing the perfume I love."

His hands reach for her, carefully taking the cloth and her needle and placing it to the side somewhere. She's easily pulled to her feet where he grasps at her waist and pulls her close.

"Leo..." She knows him. His touch, the look in his eyes. Too well.

"What?" He whispers, and doesn't hesitate to pepper gentle kisses along the column of her neck. She lets him.

She doesn't have a reply, so he pulls away and takes her hand in his. Without a word, he starts leading her back towards their quarters and she willingly follows. Movements steady and rehearsed. This, too was the routine.

As he presses her down, her dress lifting from her thighs, she lets the weight of him seal away her internal musings, her longing, and she can just be there with him. Her husband. Her friend.

This is what she could be grateful for. Out of anyone it could have been, at least it was him. This, they could share.

________________________________________________________________

Her father's funeral processions felt like they had barely concluded when Spetto was sent to fetch her.

"Lucy," She starts, tentative, almost unwilling to continue. "Your uncle is here. He would like to speak with you."

The blonde grimaced. She knew what it was going to be about. She had been dreading it since her father passed, and even long before then. She just expected a little more time to mourn.

She followed her trusted nurse downstairs. The household was dim and quiet in the early evening. She brushed her robes and adjusted the laurel on her head as she reached the ground floor, where her tall and gloomy uncle stood in the open courtyard with his hands held behind his back.

She'd interacted with him very little growing up, but she knew he was the spitting image of her father in both scowl and bitterness. And now he was the only close family she had left, and she knew he would be getting straight to the point.

"Lucy." He greeted her with a brief nod of his head. "Have you met General Regulus?"

Its then, and she didn't know how her vision had narrowed so much that she missed him, she saw another tall figure move away from the wall with hair the colour of the sunset and a familiar face. Her blood ran hot, or cold, she couldn't tell. She just knew it burned and it burned fast.

"Leo." She whispered with only a fraction of the surprise she was really feeling. She was completely caught off guard. Alarmed. She hadn't been expecting her old friend to be there, at a time like that, with her wet sack of an uncle, in her home.

"Hello, Lady Heartfilia." He smiled. Cordial, pleasant. A smile she saw so many times in their childhood now worn on a grown up face with sharpened features. "It's a pleasure."

She hadn't seen him since before she'd heard he'd stepped into his title.

Her eyes glanced back and forth between the two men; two people she would never have expected to see in the same room.

Her uncle stepped forward and broke the bubble of their reunion, of which he was clearly unaware was such. "Lucy, I know your father's funeral processions have only just clued up and you're in mourning, but as your current guardian I must insist that we handle this as efficiently as possible."

She tilted her head to the side in question, but the cogs were turning and she was putting the pieces together already. Perhaps she would have figured it out sooner had she not been in so bewildered.

"Without a son, as your father's only child it is your responsibility to marry as soon as possible to secure his estate. " He told her with growing stress in his eyes. "Though this may be… an improper way to go about it, you should be pleased to know I have arranged for you to marry General Regulus."

Lucy's big brown eyes snapped back to Leo, whose expression remained soft but otherwise indifferent. His gaze didn't leave her as her grouchy uncle continued on about duty and responsibilities and something or other about rank, but she didn't hear him well. She just stared at the young man in his fancy chiton and he stared back. Her ears felt clogged and her chest felt suffocated.

"Sir, if I may." Suddenly Leo's hand reached out to politely land on her babbling uncle's shoulder. "Your niece is clearly overwhelmed. Allow me to escort her upstairs for some air. We will continue this discussion another time."

He didn't give her uncle the time to properly respond before he was encouraging her back up the stairs with a palm firmly on her back as a means to steady her. If her uncle had been any ounce of caring or responsible he surely would have said something about the impropriety of her being alone with him, but alas he was too stunted and she was too shocked to think twice about it.

Finally, up on the terrace again with the evening breeze on her face, Lucy came back to earth in what felt like a unbounded wave sent by Poseidon himself. Her hands gripped the stone edge like a lifeline as she breathed in the fresh air and attempted to steady herself.

"I know this is a lot for you to take in." Leo kept his distance. He wanted to give her the opportunity to process it all. Always so chivalrous.

"You think?" Lucy snapped back, not with malice, just with a deluge of confusion and frustration. He didn't mind.

"I'm here to answer your questions and ease your concerns." He reassured her with a forgiving smile.

Lucy turned to him then, but her hips lean back against the ledge for support. Her hands ran across her face like she wanted to peel away her outer layer and start anew. The General remained patient and unwavering in his attention.

"I didn't catch… most of what he said." She admitted to him, and her hands finally settled at her sides. "My father died a week ago. I am his sole survivor. I had to take care of everything, and suddenly you come back into my life and I'm to marry you."

Leo frowned, unable to imagine the whirlwind her heart was experiencing, and knowing that his arrival was poorly timed. "Well, yes."

"Tell me everything." She demanded, gaze sure. "I would have figured my uncle would have handed me off to one of his sons. That's the protocol. That's what was supposed to happen."

"Indeed. He did say that this route was improper." Finally feeling like the air was safe enough he moved to lean against the mantle beside her. There was a weight on his shoulders too. She could feel it merging with her own, an understanding yet to be met.

"It certainly is. Not that I have a choice in the matter."

"I know." He responded. She needed the explanation, so he started without further delay. "I was at a gathering when I over heard that Jude Heartfilia had passed away."

"You heard that over the wine?" Lucy tried to tease, but the punch wasn't there. She didn't have the strength.

He chuckled. "I thought of you immediately. I wondered what had become of you. So of course I sought out who had been talking about it, and it was your uncle."

"Drunk, I'm sure."

"Very." He affirmed. "He was quick to spew nonsense about how with his brother gone, he had a new 'ward' to manage in his niece, and he was determined to marry you off to his son as soon as possible to continue the family line."

Lucy felt nauseous but remained as calm as she could. Of course her uncle thought little of her, that was to be expected. She was but a young and eligible woman, and nothing more. Not somebody he wanted to be liable for. Marrying her off and handling Jude's estate was his only concern. It was the only expectation laid upon her from the moment she was born.

"So he was going to marry me off to a cousin." She confirmed, sick at the thought of one of her incongruous and spineless male cousins taking her in, laying hands on her, demanding things of her. "So, what, you charmed your way into his good graces?"

"Lucy, the son he intended for you was there as well." Leo stands tall and turns to face her entirely. More serious than she had ever seen him. There is resolve deep in his eyes that never left her. "I couldn't let you be married off to that pathetic, impotent whelp."

His language was alarming. She met his eyes once more. There is something in his tone, a desperation perhaps, that grabbed her attention and held it taught like a bowstring.

"It took some work," he continued, "But with a bit more wine and yes, a little bit of charm, I convinced him to hand you off to me. My title is stronger. My name has more influence. He didn't have a single argument I couldn't counter."

"Leo, why?" She touched him for the first time since he came crashing back into her bubble, grasping at the mantle across his chest. Her blood was zinging like lightning and her brain was struggling to clear the fog. "It is not your place to fight for me. What you've done is crazy and ridiculous and goes against everything this city stands for." Her eyes were burning and her head ached. Her boundary was crumbling with the weight of everything forced upon her those last few days. She clung to him, desperately. "With my father dead, I don't even think he has left a dowry in place, and I-"

"Lucy, listen." He tried to bring her back. He large hands took hers and haphazardly peeled her fingers from the fabric. "That's what really won him over, Lucy. I told him I didn't need a dowry."

An almost inhuman sound escaped passed Lucy's lips as she pulled herself away from him and out of his grip. She felt completely blindsided and discombobulated, grief and exhaustion crashing into her all at once. Feelings she couldn't discern clawed at her chest and tried to peel back the ventricles of her heart.

"Why?" Was all she could muster. Nothing felt clear. A few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry this is a lot." He was urgent, unsure how to reel her back in after such a sudden outburst. "Please, understand Lucy. I promised when we were kids that I would protect you, don't you remember?"

She did remember. But that couldn't be all, could it? If that was his only reason to blindside her that way, then there was more to it than she would ever be willing to unearth.

He hesitated for another moment, seeing the distress overtaking her, steeling the bite in his chest. "I made that promise, and I meant it."

"We were just children." She exhaled. "We were silly children playing make believe before we knew what was coming for us."

"I still meant it, and I fully intended to keep it when I made it, I just didn't know how I could do that." He reached for her and she falteringly accepted the gesture. "I think this is how I can keep it."

Lucy remained quiet but her internal storm was slowly dying down. He was always so honest. She believed him back then, when he had no reason not to be so sincere. Could she believe him, trust him, now?

"I haven't seen you in years." She stated, like it would mean anything. "I'm not convinced Zeus himself hasn't possessed you."

"Look." He started again. "I need this too. A man of my status and position should be a married one. Its only a matter of time before I lose the respect of the public if I remain without a wife, and I can't risk that with the Spartans raging war against us. We need each other."

She understood. That part made sense, and felt like the final piece to the puzzle.

Leo curled his fingers around hers, an action a little more intimate than she was expecting, but she didn't have the strength to recoil. "I've never been the most traditional man. I know that normally you wouldn't have a choice her, but I am not without honour, so I am giving you one."

Lucy looked up at him again. Her eyes seemed unfocused and her face was tear stained. She was vulnerable, maybe a little broken, but her ears pricked at his words.

"You don't have to be my bride if it distresses you so much." He told her. "No matter what I think. I know this has been sprung on you at a very delicate time. If you would rather let your uncle decide on somebody else, then I will tell him that I withdraw my offer." A squeeze to her hand. She knew that's not what he wanted to do, as brave as he would be to do it, and do it willingly. "Your soul has always been too big for what your family had in mind for you. But I have space for it."

She peered into his eyes for a long time, taking it all in. All the grief. All the shock.

Then she considered it more. Could she do it? Would she be willing to take the Regulus name, to run his household, to bear his children? Would she be happiest that way? Would she be willing to come second to his job, especially now, when he was needed most? Was she willing to put her life in his hands, more than before?

She imagines her cousins, no matter which one her uncle had in mind, and the answer was clear.

All the pain, all the turmoil she had been feeling suddenly wiped away and was replaced with pure certainty. Something she had rarely ever had the luxury of feeling until that moment. It felt like borrowing Pegasus' wings.

Leo grunted as she throws her body into his in a tight embrace. There was nothing else she could have possibly done in that moment to express the song her soul was singing. Her arms wrapped around his torso and he gently returned the hold. Together they felt like kids again, with no duties and responsibilities.

"Thank you." She whispered into his chest. "You're still an idiot, but thank you."

Leo laughed, bright and charming, and reluctantly pulled away to look at her face. "Is that your decision?"

Lucy nodded, brain fog clearing to make room for the tall ray of sunshine that stood in front of her like a beacon of hope. "I'd rather my long lost friend over my, what was it, pathetic and impotent whelp of a cousin?" She smiled, really smiled, for the first time in a long time. "And you need a wife."

"Then its a deal."

They stood there on the terrace, holding each other for a long time, letting the breeze fan over them and the sun warm their skin. Their minds whirling. Its not the life Lucy ever would have wanted for herself, but at least she had a friend to live it with, no matter the circumstances. There certainly could have been far worse outcomes.

The city wakes with the sun.

The moment the sky turns serene shades of powder blue and lavender, the streets that never truly settle start to writhe with life. Livestock eagerly call for their feed. Doors start to swing open like welcoming arms. The sacred temples that spread throughout the polis, though always open, light up with activity, eagerly awaiting their devoted pilgrims. People move about like the city's pumping blood. The Regulus household is no different.

"Why don't you and Virgo go to the Agora today?"

Lucy had been pressing dough in the kitchen when Leo appeared in the threshold, partially blocking the sunlight from the courtyard behind him and disrupting her usual routine. The morning had otherwise been peaceful and quaint, with the promise of grand festivities approaching the following day. She hadn't expected her husband to appear and and suggest she shift her focus.

"What?"

Leo steps inside the kitchen and keeps his eyes locked on her. "It's such a nice day, and I overheard my sister mention she wanted some new earrings for the Panathenaea. Why don't you take her?"

Lucy looks over her shoulder through the small window behind her. It was, indeed, a lovely day, with a nice breeze and the sun deciding to spare the people from too much heat, at least for now. But the thought of leaving, with such a busy week ahead, riddled her with anxiety. Her responsibility was the house, not more gold or jewels, and she had more than enough food and wine already. It didn't matter how painfully she wanted to get out.

"I don't think so, not today." She replies sweetly, returning to her kneading as the bracelets on her wrist jingle like bells at her ministrations. "I have too much to do."

She hears her husband approaching, stepping further into the room than he has for a long while.

"Tell me one thing you have left to do." She can hear the mischief. "Just one."

Lucy pauses her work again and blows a stray strand of hair out of her face. She's met with a sly and knowing grin, and she opens her mouth to retaliate. But nothing comes out, because in that moment, she actually can't think of anything she really has left to do, not quickly enough to shut him down.

"I have to finish the bread." Is all she manages. She grips the dough and wags it halfheartedly in the air to prove her point.

"That's not a problem." He argues. "It's only morning. You have the whole day ahead of you. You can leave this afternoon."

One step ahead, as always.

"Go, my bride. It will be good for you both." He tells her. It wasn't a command, never a command, but it wasn't entirely suggestion either.

Lucy can do nothing but give in then, and her lips curl into a giddy smile. She would never admit out loud how badly she really wanted to go, and this felt like a gate being unlatched. "Alright, I'll take her."

Leo studies her for a moment, suddenly recalling the conversation from the day before, when he saw the uneasiness take over her features and wring her muscles taught. He couldn't let his wife feel like that. "Shall I send a guard with you?"

"No." Lucy answered quickly, her eyes meeting his again, wide and twinkling. "We'll be fine. Straight to the Agora and back." She reassures him. They didn't need the protection. She didn't want the supervision.

He crosses his arms, thinking, studying, and admiring how the light from the window behind her illuminated her in gold like Helios was taking her into his godly embrace, and Leo didn't mind the affair. There was flour on her cheek.

"If you're sure."

Lucy chooses to ignore the flicker of relief she feels when he leaves.

"Actually," He returns suddenly, barely out of the room in the first place. "I'll come with you."

She stops.

"Don't worry," He chuckles, "I'll leave you two to your own accord."

"Alright." Lucy replies softly. "Tell Virgo I'll fetch her when I'm ready, please."

Leo nods an affirmative, and the kitchen slowly illuminates once more as his tall figure disappears into the inner courtyard.

As she continues to work, her excitement grows. She always loved being away from the home. The city was always full of life and energy, the Agora especially. She rarely got to go even when she was young and unmarried. She had too many things to attend to, too big of a house to manage, and people usually preferred a General's wife remain unseen on most days. She usually sent somebody else to fetch whatever was needed.

Perhaps she was worried she'd eventually be unable to trust herself out there.

She finishes up in the kitchens as quickly as she can, anticipation palpable.

"There's so many people around!"

As planned, Virgo had bounded into Lucy's room the second her name was called, and had barely given the blonde enough time to finish pinning her peplos at her shoulder before she grabbed her arm and nearly sprinted them back downstairs. Leo had been waiting for them just passed the main door, dressed in an intricately painted chiton that declared his status and power. He looked handsome in the sun, and had given them a polite smile before he began leading the way with his confident stride.

Virgo was right, Lucy noted. There was lots of people around. But it was to be expected on a day like today. The energy in the streets was electric with anticipation for the festival. "You're right, there is."

Arm in arm the girls followed their General down the street: taking in the air, the sunlight, the chatting of strangers and passerby's, the essence of it all.

"I haven't been to the Agora in so long." Virgo huffs, outwardly looked the way Lucy felt. The teenager was beaming ear to ear and showing off her charming dimples.

"Me as well." Lucy responds. Her eyes briefly track to her husband and his broad shoulders and magnetic energy. He moved through the street like he had laid every stone himself, and people made way for him. His impeccable confidence and vitality played a part in his lightning fast climb up the ranks and into his position after all.

"I hope it is as wonderful as you remember." He calls back over his shoulder. "The war hasn't been easy on those who provide for us."

"I'm sure it will be lovely." Lucy calls back to him.

From the street level, she can't see the outer wall. While it still calls to her, teases her with all the lives she could have lived, its far more nagging when she's home, alone, on the upper story. She steels herself to not think about it today. Today has to be a good day. Today, she can stretch her legs and smell the street food and see new faces. Today she is with a cherished friend. Today she decides she doesn't need to think of the plains on the other side.

The Agora reaches the other senses before its in sight: the smells, the voices, the liveliness. It's there as they round the corner, bright and colourful and full of an intensity Lucy can never experience in the confines of her household. She feels Virgo begin to tug at her arm a little more, trying to move faster as if the shaded stalls full of food and goods could get up and run away faster than their legs could carry them.

"Relax Virgo, we have all afternoon." Lucy laughs as they get closer and closer to its official border. Stoas teaming with men line the edges and side streets, and overlooking the marketplace, just on the hill like a loyal guard, stands the Temple of Hephaestus, bright and effervescent.

"Alright." Leo stops and turns to them, handing them a small leather pouch fat with coin. "Be careful and watch out for each other alright?"

"Wait, where are you going?" Virgo chirps curiously at her big brother.

"My job never truly ends, especially at a time like this." He chuckles. "I'll come find you when it's time to go home." He boldly moves to place an affectionate kiss on Lucy's cheek and the impulse she has to recoil at the attention, so blatantly out in the open, grips her tight. He vanishes into the crowd before she can even respond.

"Hmph." Virgo crosses her arms, grumpy. "Never one for specifics, is he."

Lucy laughs with a hint of anxiety, gripping the coin pouch tightly. "I know it's easy for us to forget his position. Every interaction he has the moment he leaves home carries weight. We don't get to know the details."

"But-"

"Come on!" The blonde takes the Virgo's hand quickly. "Lets go get you some new earrings."

The girls start making their way into the crowd, finding shade under the colourful canopies. They stop at almost every merchant, no matter what they were selling. The Agora was about more than shopping for themselves and the household: it was also a limited opportunity for more human interaction, and they had to revel in it when they had the chance.

Lucy lets Virgo lead the way. She moves quick but Lucy has no problem keeping up with her. She keeps quiet but attentive the whole afternoon, her eyes never leaving the young girl for very long. She's there for the environment and the change of scenery anyway, not what the merchants are selling.

Finally, with Virgo's new earrings in hand as well as a small basket of ripe figs, they had managed to make their way around the entire Agora with no sign of Leo by the time they felt they were finished.

"Shall we go up to the temple while we're here?" Lucy suggests, basket in hand.

Virgo is quick to agree with her, so they move through the crowd once more and start heading down the path to the Temple of Hephaestus. The route is busy, which isn't a big surprise, and they move through the maze with ease. Draw little attention.

"My brother really cares for you." Virgo suddenly says after a few moments of quiet, plain and simple like she was just noting the weather.

Lucy's heart squeezes, and there's a abrupt fracture in her walls that she is quick to try to soothe over and mask. She switches her basket of figs from one arm to the other. "Of course he does." She says, "I'm his wife."

Virgo kicks a stone lying in the street. "No, I mean… Actually cares for you."

Lucy can only wait for her to continue. If she's lucky she can steer the teenager into talking about something else entirely. Something that won't punch at her invisible facade too hard.

"I over hear the men, when we host symposia." She finally continues. She kicks the stone again. "If they even bring up their wives at all, they don't always speak very kindly."

"Virgo!" Lucy exclaims and grips her arm, stopping her in her tracks. She stares into her big wide eyes. "You know we are not supposed to be around symposia. Those are for Leo and the men only. What are you thinking?" She panics inside. She tries to remain firm but not angry, though it's hard. She couldn't imagine how Leo's reputation would precede him if some drunkard in fancy robes saw the women of the house even peek their heads through the door.

"Relax." Virgo tries to shake off her grip. "They never see me, I just have really good hearing and hide down the hall."

"Don't do it ever again, do you understand?" Lucy tells her, releasing her arm but not her glare. She has to set an example when she can for such a spitfire. "I know you're curious, and I admire that about you, but you know the rules we have to abide by. There are boundaries we cannot cross."

"I'm just saying." Virgo speaks with a shrug of her shoulders. "When my brother mentions you, he's always very kind, like you built the Acropolis with your bare hands." The stubborn girl goes back to kicking her stone. She seems unfazed by Lucy's intensity. "I won't do it again, okay? I promise."

Lucy pace slows behind Virgo then, mind wandering as they keep making their way to the temple. Why does it not seem to get any closer? It makes her feel itchy. The basket of figs shifts arms once again.

"Your brother was my friend before he was my husband. He is my best friend even now." Is the response she musters up, and it comes from a sincere cavern in her heart. "I am very fortunate that he sees me as that before anything else."

She feels like her breathing is limited, but she pushes on. Virgo doesn't respond. She just keeps kicking the stone like a child, and Lucy can only watch and hope that's the end of it.

"I'm sure Leo will find you a husband who speaks just as kindly about you." Lucy smiles. She senses Virgo's mind is distracted now. "When you're old enough, if that's what you're thinking about."

The teenager lifts her head quickly. "No, that's not what I-"

Lucy doesn't hear the rest of her sentence as she's suddenly enveloped by warmth and the wind is knocked out of her as somebody smacks into her shoulder, nearly sending her tumbling.

"My apologies." A man's voice sounds, but he is gone as quickly as he came as she fumbles to regain her footing after such a haphazard clash.

"Gods…" Lucy grumbles and rubs the shoulder the stranger had so graciously bumped into with little regard. There was a dull ache, but nothing serious, and it was in her best interest not to make a scene about it. He had long since disappeared into the swarm.

"Are you okay Lucy?" Virgo approaches with concern. "I didn't think he hit you that hard."

"I'm alright." The blonde reassures her, brushing her dress and adjusting her hair as if she had really fallen. Nothing could be out of place. "He probably had too much wine and didn't see where he was going."

Virgo steps to her, abandoning the stone she was kicking, and locks her arm with Lucy's once more in support. "Probably. He looked weird anyway."

The journey to the temple continues, but not for much longer before Virgo brings them to a sudden stop again just as they reach the bottom of the steep staircase up to the temple. She stares down at the basket in Lucy's arm, suspiciously emptier than it had been before. "Lucy?"

"Yes?"

"How many figs did you buy today?"

The blonde looks down at the basket too and realizes the teenager is right. The basket was shallow and she had only bought a handful or two, and she was not one to miss small details, including a couple missing figs. Her eyebrows furrow, and her head snaps back down the street where they came. Surely they had fallen out during her stumble, but she couldn't see them on the ground. Perhaps they had been picked up already.

She sighs. Whatever. A few figs is just that for them: a few figs. She's tired now. "You know what, Leo might already been searching for us. We'll go to the temple another time, okay?"

She could see the sun crawling lower across the sky as they made their way back the way they came. Her energy was sapped. Perhaps from the excitement of the day, perhaps from the shoulder check. She didn't know, but her bed was surely calling. Her feet shuffled a little as Virgo pulled her along, eyelids heavy, and they met Leo once more right where they had parted ways hours prior. She doesn't pay attention the on the journey home.

She can't sleep. It's far too loud downstairs.

Her husband, bright eyed and bushy tailed, insisted on having a last minute gathering that evening to ring in the festival the moment they reunited with him. He, therefore, quickly squashed Lucy's plan to have a quick late afternoon nap, and the rest of her day consisted of preparing more wine and food for her husbands symposium with an aching sense of urgency. She had even helped him wash up and make himself even more presentable than he already was, and when the first boisterous guest with a balding head and already reeking of wine meandered through the courtyard, Lucy was quick to move upstairs for the rest of the night.

Despite the exhaustion stroking through her mind and muscles with gooey fingers, sleep evaded her.

The men laughing and cackling below seem louder than she had ever heard. There were far more guests than she was expecting but Leo had assured her that whatever wine and food she had laid out would be enough for the night, although by the sound of it they were speeding through it all without a care in the world. She felt her skin crawl with how uncomfortable she was, and when she heard a particularly joyous laugh from her husband, her bare feet hit the tile.

"God's damn…" She grumbled to herself. Up the stairs and to the terrace she goes. To find peace, some semblance of escape, or a lullaby from the moon.

The stars are out and brighter than ever, gleaming as she looks up at them. A wave of calm washes over her. The noise is father away now, muffled by the extra floor between her and them. It's just her and the shimmering cornucopia in the sky.

She moves with practiced grace to the ledge and leans as much of her upper body weight on it as she can. Every part of her feels painful but the night sky can only dull the pinch in her soul, not the twinging of her muscles and the burning in her eyes. She just wants to sleep. To rest. To be prepared for the festivities she has to commit to.

A deep breath of air, right into her belly, and she raises her head and her eyes land on the wall in the distance. Just like always.

How many guards would be posted on the city's great barricade starting tomorrow? Would her leaders decrease the number of eyes overlooking the plains for the entire week, to honour their great Goddess? Surely even the soldiers were permitted to celebrate her even in times of war. Especially in times of war, when they needed her most.

Would anyone be there to stop a General's wife?

Her curiosities are quickly squashed when she hears a couple unfamiliar voices from the garden below, and without reason, she lowers herself, just a little, as two men she doesn't recognize stumble out of the main house and into the isolated yard below. Probably some pretentious philosophers, or low level politicians, both somebody who is surely more important than she would ever be.

She listens as one keels over and starts throwing the contents — mostly wine — of his stomach up and into a random bush. Her face twists at the wretched sound.

"Oi oi, keep it together." The other slurs, backing away from the line of fire. "Don't get any of that on me."

"I'm trying."

"You don't got that… that cursed disease do you?"

"Relax…" The sickly one heaves, coughing. He stands and wipes his mouth. "Too much wine, not enough bread. Just needed some air." He leans back against the wall, wiping his brow. Lucy leans over the edge a little, just to watch them. Its the balding one from earlier, she finally realizes. "That sickness is just wiping out the poor and all the… extra countrymen that have come in. I'm fine." He reassures his friend.

"But haven't you heard?" The taller, less inebriated one of the two pipes up. "Its gotten to the infantry… it's got to have wiped out at least a couple ships worth of men already. That's what I heard."

"Ah, that's probably bullshit."

"The city has lost thousands I'm certain of it, and they're trying to hide it. Probably. General Regulus might even have it, since he's spending all his time with the hoplites instead."

"Why should I care?"

"It could get ya before you know it. If it wipes out too many of us, those ugly Spartans are sure to get the upper hand eventually. It's pretty bad. You been around the outer city lately?"

"No, why would I go somewhere so wretched?"

Lucy doesn't stay to hear the rest of the conversation and moves in a flash back to the bedroom, fear and despair gnawing at her gut.

Its late by the time the party dies down and Leo finally stumbles up the stairs.

Lucy is still awake, sitting as stiff as a statue, having been waiting for him since she overheard the men in the garden. Trying to remain calm and composed. Trying not to worry too much. Trying. Failing.

"My bride…" Her husband slurs, lighting up at the sight of her there, casual and glowing in his eyes. He moves towards her like he's made of goo.

"Leo." She stands. Her hands are clenched at her sides. She feels a whole lot, yet so little, all at once. An impossible mix that almost leaves her numb. She doesn't feel in control. She always feels in control.

"Why are you still awake?" He asks, completely bypassing her and flopping down onto the pile of woolen blankets. His eyes stay on her, and he reaches out a hand, beckoning her to join him. "C'mere."

"Leo, I'm-" She takes a breath. Surely, she's being dramatic. "Leo, I'm worried."

His hand stays in the air for a few seconds until he realizes she won't come down. His eyebrows wrinkle. "Why? Lucy, I told you yesterday that you have nothing to worry about. You are safe here."

Another deep breath. She feels like a tiny arrow has been shot through her. She musters all the strength she can to understand why he would not be honest. "That's not true. I'm not, we're not, not really." The quaking in her voice seems to sober him up enough to sit up and rest his gaze intently on her. He doesn't speak. He listens.

Lucy tries to relax her fists. Be a lady, not a child.

"I overheard some gentlemen in the garden. I just needed some air." She keeps her voice as steady as possible. Surely this is nothing. "The… the sickness. I didn't know it was as bad as it is."

He's quick to respond. "It's not, I assure you."

"Is it hundreds?" Her demeanor slips, just a little. "Thousands, Leo? That's not some minor illness. That's… That's whole communities. That's civilization."

Its his turn now to catch a steadying breath, and his fingers come up to rub at his temples.

She's too exhausted to concern herself with the fact that she maybe should have waited for morning.

"Lucy." He says. Calm. Controlled. "The ports and the outer polis is overcrowded with everyone coming inside for safety. It will not get to you, I swear —"

"They said soldiers are dead." She interrupts. Sinful of her. "Soldiers are dead. Your soldiers. Our defenses against the Spartans. We can't put all our hope on that wall, something is going to give isn't it?"

"Lucy-"

"I just don't understand why you couldn't tell me honestly how things are actually going-"

"Because if I told you everything, it would suck the life out of you."

The woman frowns. She feels like she's been smacked. "I have a right to know what's happening in my city, to the people."

"I told you people were sick. Thats all you need to know." He's on his feet now, toe to toe with her. He's not angry, no, but a shield is up. "Your job is to maintain our home and our family. That's your responsibility. You don't need to know the details. You don't need to know the risks. Thats my job, to protect my family and my city."

Her eyes are burning. She feels so crushed. She understands her place, she does. So why does this news, about the exact extent of the plague she's only heard of in passing, feel so painful?

Seeing the tears in her eyes, Leo softens. He sighs heavily, takes hold of her shoulders and bends his neck to better meet her gaze. "You worry too much."

"I know." She admits. Does she?

"I can't lose my wife to her worries." He says gently. "I'm sorry if I mislead you, but I promise it was out of concern for you and nothing more. Your heart is so big, it'll weigh you down until you can't carry anything else."

She backs down, reluctantly, and wraps her arms around his solid torso. To try to ground herself more than anything. Maybe he was right; maybe she cared too much, and she wasn't strong enough to carry the weight. The lock to her cage tightens. "I'm sorry."

He happily embraces her and buries his nose in her golden hair with a sigh. "No, I'm sorry." He whispers. "I will be more open about it from now on, I promise. But you will be okay. We will not let the Spartans win because of it. Athens is stronger than that."

She nods into his chest and forces her worries away, her frustration, her disappointment. She felt confused, and like she wasn't truly herself in that moment. She felt like somebody had pushed their hand down through her skull and stirred.

Lucy separates from him. "I know you mean well."

"I swear I do." He tries to pull her back into his space. "Lucy, I swear it."

She chews on her bottom lip for a moment. "I don't need to know everything that goes on out there, with your work, with the war." She wants to. "You're right, I would worry myself to death. But please, Leo, don't hide this from me. I know I will never face a Spartan. I know that you are strong. But such a disease is a real threat I deserve to know about should it ever, and it might, come too close."

Her husband nods in agreement. "You have my word."

She can see the remorse swimming in his eyes and she wishes she had never caused such a scene. She wants to throw herself down the Acropolis for doubting his intentions for even a moment. He wasn't a perfect man, but he really, truly, was an honest one, with a heart made of gold.

"Rest, now." She swallows, and gently pushes him down onto the bed, wood creaking under the weight. "Busy week ahead."

She watches as his body melts and remembers he is still full of wine. He smoothly tugs her down toward him and this time she doesn't resist. Despite the summer warmth he wants her close, always does when he's been drinking, and he's sound asleep in moment. But Lucy can't say the same for herself.

Lucy wakes to the feeling of the bed dipping, her husband crawling quietly in beside her. She can tell how careful he's trying to be, the way he tries to be silent so as not to disturb her, but she's strung too high and her spine is too taut for her to sleep deep enough for him to succeed.

Leo wasn't seen again for the rest of that day. His sudden absence following their rash conversation had left Lucy in an even stranger headspace than the one she had woken up in. She'd floated through the day on a storm cloud and nobody, not Spetto, not Virgo, not anyone, could have brought her down from it.

She bathed. She dressed. She ate, though her stomach disagreed with every bite. She scrubbed every tile in the courtyard against her body's wishes. She tended to the flowers she kept in every corner. She scouted every floor, every empty room, a dozen times or more. She tried to make bread, but burned it when her mind strayed too far elsewhere. She cleared debris from the garden. She did as much as she could until her body forced her into bed when the moon started creeping in.

She turns over to lie on her back and stares up. She can't pick out the ceiling above her, it just looks like an endless abyss, but the rest of her senses are honed in on the sound of his breathing as he settles in beside her. They lie there without words for a long time. She knows that he knows she's awake, and her him. A mere few months of marriage wasn't enough for a lot, but it was enough for them to know the patterns of breath between sleep and wakefulness.

She wants to ask him where he had gone, beg him to explain why he had left them with a single guard outside the door when he had been so worried about their protection. She wants to push him. She wants to bombard him with questions, claw into his mind, grip him by his shoulders and shake. But she won't. She can't.

"I'm sorry for this morning." She whispers into the darkness. Her chest stings. "I stepped completely out of line when you already had so much on your shoulders. That was unfair of me."

He doesn't answer right away, but she knows he's listening.

Slowly and carefully, hyper aware of every bump and bruise she's littered with, she turns to face him. Her arm reaches out and finds the solid surface of his chest. She feels his breath, his heart beat, the warmth of his skin, needing to be sure he's really there and she hadn't imagined him creeping in under a high moon. Gradually her eyes adjust to the faint glow seeping into the room, and she can see the outline of his form. Just enough to spur her into the script she had been practicing in her head, all day, in his absence.

"I was being unreasonable. It will never happen again." She continues in well hidden resignation. She rubs small circles over his heart with her palm like she could heal the stress she had caused with her touch. "I hope you can forgive me. I will make it up to you however I can. I will never ask for anything beyond my station ever again."

"Lucy, stop." Leo's hand reaches up to cover hers and squeezes. He turns his head to look towards her and she only catches a brief twinkle of his eyes. "I understand. You were hurt, and scared, and I acted inappropriately. You were attacked and I wasn't there to save you, and I can't bear the thought of what that must have felt like for you." His voice is soft and soothing in the dim and under her palm she can sense the strain in his heart.

She bites her lip and decides to try once more. "I still mean it."

"I know you do." He answers. "But you don't have to apologize for feeling afraid, and you don't have to feel obligated to do anything more than you already do for me. For us."

Her practiced apology is not what she was referring to, but she doesn't have the strength to correct him. She sinks down into the cushions, drained like a spider's prey. She's ready to pretend the day never happened in the first place, so she could go back to dragging her feet through her usual routine and seeking in the stars for a road she will never take.

She's tired.

"The whole city is on high alert right now, after the attack. It's all hands on deck." He continues, his thumb running over her knuckles to keep her hand there. "I'm needed out there, everywhere, until we can be sure we're safe again. That means I will be away a lot more until the problem is solved."

Lucy nods even though he can't see her. She knows this already. He'd made that very clear when he had stormed out that morning. She doesn't want to hear it again. It makes her brittle.

He sighs. "I know that you've had to deal with a lot, but I have to ask you now for forgiveness."

At those words, the blonde raises herself up on her elbow despite the pain it causes. Her eyebrows wrinkle in confusion as she stares at his moonlit face. A new spark lights up in her chest. "What do you mean?"

The General takes way too long to answer and it makes her stomach sink.

"The guards will be needed on patrol at the gates and for scouting within the city." He starts. "And any man serving our great Athens who can wield a weapon will be on duty however we see fit for the foreseeable future. That is why I have decided to hire someone from an outside source to protect you while I'm away."

She sits up. She considers. She tastes his words, twists them around in her mind until they settle deep in her gut like a sinking ship to the ocean floor. "Like… a mercenary." The word feels like stinging nettle on her tongue.

"Yes." He murmurs. "Look, I know that it's not favourable-"

"Indeed." She doesn't mean to interrupt, it just slips out of her mouth so easily by the distaste the very thought brings to her.

"Please, try to understand."

"I do understand." She tells him as the air shrivels out of her lungs. She means it, she really does. But it doesn't change how distressing it feels, how the very idea makes an anxious sweat form on her palms, on her neck. "Leo, I do. What I don't understand is why that's the solution you came up with. How could you possibly trust someone like that after everything?"

The bed shifts as he sits up, too. So much for sleep. "I didn't have a choice."

He did. But he had shut it down in the courtyard that morning.

"They are side effects of war with no loyalties. They come from who knows where. That's the risk you want to take?" Keeping her voice as calm as she can manage despite her worry, she tries to reach his eyes in the dark, but she can't quite get there. "Athena's sacred ground was desecrated. I was attacked. By strange people we know nothing about. You're asking me to trust a stranger, in our home, after all of that."

She feels his hand, warm and slightly calloused, cup her cheek. She wants to recoil from the touch — it's not as comforting as it once had been — but presses into it anyway. Her throat is tight from the effort of keeping tears at bay once more. On top of the potentially deadly risk his decision poses, would it not be shameful of him to leave a strange man at home with his wife and his unmarried sister? Would his reputation hang on that frayed, fragile line on top of everything else?

Would she truly be safe?

"I know. I'm sorry." His voice is so tender, so devoted that it makes her queasy. His thumb strokes the apple of her cheek. "Believe me, if there was another option, I would take it. But I can't leave my greatest treasures unguarded while I'm away. Not now. Not until I know for sure that there is no target on our backs."

No response. She's too tired. Too worn down from treasure-hood.

"Besides." He continues. "All mercenaries have one loyalty, and that's drachma. And I am going to pay this one more than he could ever ask for, and more again."

She pulls his hand away from her face now with shaking fingers. "Have you found one?"

Solemnly, he chuckles. "I've got a lead, yes. Why do you think I was gone for so long?"

"I thought maybe you'd gone to Delphi on a pilgrimage."

Her attempt to release the tension between them and change the subject seems to have worked, as he laughs into the darkened room. The bed creaks as he lies back down, and the relief she feels to just move on dulls the ache in her ribs.

"I don't think even the Pythia would have guidance for me now."

The room goes quiet and slowly Lucy inches herself down to his side. They speak no more of it, not that she imagines he would let her fight him on it any more than she has, balancing on the precipice of complete indignity. He didn't like being questioned too harshly when it came to his family, his job, his polis. He prided himself on his openness to her mind until he didn't like what she had to say. She had surrendered herself to that reality long ago.

It takes a very long time for her to catch the net of sleep again. Her imagination runs wild with the kind if images only a child could conjure up of who might be stalking her halls soon enough. Would it be a big burly giant, meant to scare off any potential threats by the sheer size of him? Would it be a dark, slinky character, meant to watch silently from the shadows?

She does trust him, could never not trust him, but like many things in her life she doesn't enjoy what she has no choice but to accept. She attempts to tell herself that it could be worse, that there is a logic to his decision, that there really was no other choice for him to make. But even within her own mind she remains stubborn. The disdain for her reality sinks deeper and deeper into her gut to eventually find roots in her soul.

The birds love to sing to her.

Sewing long forgotten, Lucy drifts in and out of sleep, curled up on her favourite rug surrounded by cushions under a pergola. She had tried to work but the pain in her body screamed at her not to, fingers unsteady and stitching needing redoing about a dozen times before she gave up. How could she work anyway, when it was pleasantly warm outside and the bird song was so soothing?

Leo had been gone when she woke up that morning; later than she had ever slept in a long time, and hurting more than the day before. In multiple ways. Spetto had encouraged her with an intensity she thought had been long left to her youth to take it easy for a while - the home would be handled. She didn't argue… too much.

That was yesterday.

But taking it easy means that keeping her mind occupied becomes more difficult than any of her usual tasks. She repeats the conversation they'd had in the darkness of their room over and over. Considers if it had been a dream that her anxiety had conjured up. Leo returned late again last night, riddled with a deep rooted panic over leaving them poorly protected that she didn't entertain for very long before rolling over and forcing herself to sleep.

It's not quite like her bed, but the decorative rug and pillows is all she needs now. She floats in and out, in and out, occasionally shifting to accommodate the discomfort that ebbs and flows. She'd had no way of knowing how much worse she would feel as time went on, how much more tender her bruises would be, how much sharper her ribs would poke her at her insides. Virgo had kindly offered to help her with her hair again, since her arms were so sore, and she had dressed in a old white peplos worn to perfect softness.

A prick at her neck.

Lucy shoots up in a panic, throwing the cushion she had been clutching. Her heart rate quickens and for a moment, the adrenaline numbs every ache. Her eyes dart around in search of a culprit that doesn't exist and the blazing source of the smoke she can't smell.

She is safe, and she is alone.

She sniffs and rubs her temples, her eyes, combs through loose strands of hair to calm herself down. There is no fire. There is no hooded man stinking of burning oil holding a blade to her throat. There is no arrow coming to save her. She's home. She's on her terrace in the afternoon sun and the birds are singing.

Deciding she can't rest any more, the picks up her sewing again. Moves slowly. Inches back to rest her spine against the wall so nothing and no one can come up from behind her. The shaded stone is cool underneath her. A leaf of ivy flutters down and kisses her shoulder.

"My brother is home."

Virgo's voice, cautious and borderline feeble in contrast to her usual demeanor, lights Lucy's nerves aflame. The tenderness that the young girl has approached her with since the attack throws her every time. She prefers her grit.

She places her sewing gently down on her lap and takes a deep, grounding breath, recalling the moment she had clocked the same thing when she heard her husband's voice downstairs. "Yes, he is. What's the issue with that? I thought you liked when he's home."

Virgo approaches quietly, eyebrows wrinkled and buried in thought. The ivy covered pergola sprinkles shadows over her cherub face, and Lucy sees some unfamiliar staining on her peplos. She sits and leans back against the wall beside her, finding comfort in the shade.

"I do like when he's home, that way I know he's safe and not out doing something stupid."

"Your brother is many things, but stupid is not one of them."

"That is a debatable claim that should be brought to assembly at the pnyx."

Lucy laughs, a joyous sound that harmonizes with the chirping of the birds. Her shoulders relax knowing Virgo is still herself, in spite of what's bothering her now.

"I know you've known him since you were kids, but you didn't have to live at home with him and our brothers." Virgo continues and looks off into the distance in reminiscence. She shudders at whatever memory pops into her mind, and Lucy notes that she will have to ask about it later. Maybe it's a story she's yet to hear.

"You're not here to talk about the intelligence of our General, are you?"

Virgo shakes her head and bites her lip. "No. He's talking to some strange man.

The blonde nods. "Define strange."

"Well…" The teenager starts. "I don't recognize him. He's wearing armour but… it's not Athenian. He's not Athenian. He doesn't look like… anything, and his accent is different, and I feel… Well, I don't like it."

It's Lucy's turn to furrow her brow. It was obvious to her now that the girl was a little disturbed by the presence, and still reeling from the attack she hadn't even been around to experience first hand. She understands the apprehension.

"It's alright." She tells her.

"He has a sword, and daggers." Virgo continues. "I mean, do you really need both? A blade is a blade. It's just weird. And… I don't know how he could trust a stranger right now."

"I know." Lucy reassures her. "But you trust him, don't you?"

A nod.

"Then there is nothing to worry about."

Virgo remains quiet for a while, blue eyes distant, but eventually her body relaxes and she unfurls herself to peel away from the wall and sprawl over the cushions instead. "You're always right, Lucy."

"I try." The blonde smiles, and lifts her sewing from her lap to continue to work. As she pushes the needle through the linen, watching the sharp point push upwards towards her, it clicks, and really, it should have clicked sooner.

She knows who that stranger is. It's a devastating blow to realize in that moment that Virgo doesn't have a clue.

Muscles taut, she adjusts her legs and chews her lip to the point she's sure will bleed. Remain calm and collected.

"Actually…" She speaks, pointed and cool. Softly, so as not to alarm her more. "He told me he has hired someone to keep watch here in case we're attacked at home. I presume that is who he is talking to."

Virgo scrunches her nose at Lucy's words. Shockingly composed about the news compared to the emotional storm Lucy had experienced. "But we have guards for that."

"The guards are needed elsewhere right now." She answers, piercing the fabric in her hands over and over, hard enough it might rip if she isn't careful. "They work for Athens, not for us."

"But my brother is Ath-"

"I know, Virgo." Lucy grits through her teeth, before finally resigning herself to reality. "How about I go down and meet this stranger for myself." She says smoothly, attempting to keep the air around them from shrinking, difficult as it may be. She sets aside her sewing and stands slowly to her feet. "I should like to be a part of this."

Virgo watches her. "I think I'll stay up here for a while."

"Good idea." She points to her project and forces a grin. "How about you practice patching that up?"

Without looking back, Lucy in all her soreness and burning limbs, marches across the terrace with clenched fists.

Relax. She says to herself, but her disbelief is evident on her face to anyone who might see it. He had neglected to tell his sister about what he intended to do, and that was a disappointment no logic or reason could protect her from.

As she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she can hear Leo's voice traveling across the courtyard from his quarters. She has to pause. Her knees pinch from the impact of the steps and her jaw hurts from clenching her teeth too tight. Another voice in her head tells her she's being unreasonable, that she can't waltz in there looking for a fight she won't win, or make an impression so poor it will reflect on her husband. Elegance and grace is the only way to move forward, and she couldn't let herself lose any more of either.

One step at a time.

Under her bare feet she can feel every detail of the tile against her soles as she moves. She lets it ground her as a mantra of gibberish repeats in her head. Her eyes focus on the room across the way and the threshold that looms. She sees her husband through the door first, with his arms behind his back and his eyes forward. She feels like she's sinking under water and can't catch the words coming out of his mouth as she approaches. They're muffled beneath her pounding heart. She chooses, in that moment, to keep her gaze on him until she's calm enough that she won't shatter. She will see the mercenary when she's ready.

If she'll ever be ready.

Softly, she comes to a halt just in the doorway. Not daring to step any closer. Not willing to invade the discussion happening in front of her. She closes her eyes, leans her exasperated body against the stone, and waits. Impatiently.

"I know I am asking a great deal." Leo continues. "But you will be compensated accordingly. I'm sure you understand my concerns."

"Of course, General."

From the sound of his voice she can tell it's a young man. A little rugged maybe, but not in the way her father's voice graveled in his final days or the way an old man might recount years gone by. It's warm. It surprises her that whoever Leo roped into their home couldn't be any older than them. A young man not tasked as a soldier. It's strange, sure. But as far as she's concerned, anyone without loyalties for the sake of some drachma? Strange doesn't even begin to cover it. War leads people in peculiar and disheartening directions such as this.

She hears the quiet brush of metal and leather as the mercenary shifts. Oh how she wishes to be curled up on her terrace again.

"And as I said, just for the time being. Until I can be certain there is no longer a threat, then you will be dismissed. I can't promise when that will be."

"Understood."

The conversation sizzles out and Lucy can feel eyes landing on her. In that moment she wishes she had waited to be fetched instead of trudging down herself, but there is no turning back. She pushes her shoulder off of the frame and tucks her arms cordially behind her back. Her husband is already looking at her when she opens her eyes. Based on the way his breath holds, he obviously wasn't expecting her to be there.

And she wasn't expecting him to stoop to the hired help of an armed drifter, and yet here they are.

"My bride."

Lucy gives him a tight smile. Still focusing on him. She won't give in, won't acknowledge the stranger, not until she has to. Her silent rebellion.

Leo clears his throat and adjusts his footing. A hand brushes his hair away from his face as he searches for the words to say. He'd had a different plan in his head. He looks again to the mercenary, a hand gesturing towards her as he steps out from behind the cluttered table in the center of the room. "This is my wife, Lucy."

In her peripherals the strange man turns to look over his shoulder at her, silhouetted by the light coming in through the window. The gaze burns her.

He continues. "Lucy, this is — "

"A moment, General."

He hesitates at her words but she doesn't give him another second as she spins on her heels and steps back into the courtyard. Deep breaths, tight fists. She moves until she deems the distance just appropriate enough and waits for him. He stutters an apology to the unknown man, and follows her.

"Lucy…" He tries. Reaches for her across a chasm neither will recognize. "What's wrong, darling?"

"You never told Virgo."

His eyes go wide and his mouth drops open. An expression of realization, not of guilt, seeps onto his face, and Lucy feels her flame start to die faster than it sparked. Looses the torch in the abyss.

"Gods… I didn't." He looks like a teenager again, in the way he rubs and scratches at the back of his neck and the stubble on his chin. He looks around the open space and his shoulders sink. She watches as he is carried away in an emotional whirlpool of his own making. "Shit."

"Did you forget?" She asks with a bitterness she has to reach for, and though she wants to let the rage go while she still has a pinch of it left, she knows he's doesn't deserve aggression. Not right now, not ever again, not from her. "That's not fair."

"I… I didn't know how to tell her, at first." He answers earnestly. "She's been so stressed about you every time I've seen her, I didn't want to make it worse. I know it makes you nervous to have him here. I didn't know if she would react the same. And then…"

"You got so caught up that you forgot." She finishes. Her bottom lip catches in her teeth. A smart man he certainly was, but the exhaustion that embraces him now… well, maybe there was some truth behind Virgo's words earlier.

She secedes the more she looks at him, how open he is, how predictably truthful he's being. It's unfathomably frustrating to feel her flame die so easily. Snuffed by her own easy submission, her softness.

Despite her hesitance to do so she steps to him and takes his hand in hers. "She looks up to you, more than you know. You are her guardian. You can't push her aside like that."

He nods, and his eyes lower with guilt and regret. Even she can see how heavy his head feels on his shoulders. When they were younger, she'd have been more inclined to cradle it for a moment and run her fingers through his hair, give his muscles a break.

"She has the same right to know as I do."

"You're different." He whispers.

"No, I'm not." She squeezes his fingers. "She's not a kid anymore. You'd be wise to not forget that much, at least."

He nods again and returns the pressure of her palm. All the words she wanted to say die on her tongue as they stand there in the middle of their home, in the middle of paranoid Athens, trying to meet somewhere Lucy's heart just isn't willing to go.

She watches as the boy who swore to keep her safe tastes her words. Mulls over his mistake. Accepts it with dignity, like the honourable man she knows he is, always was, and hopes he always will be.

"Come on." He finally speaks and looks towards where the shadow of the mercenary moves across the floor.

Lucy nods. Gentle, sweetly, he pulls her back towards his office. She steels herself to face the armed stranger, currently unsupervised, standing in her home. She could contest it all she wants, but the fight in her to do so keeps withering away. This is a person she is going to have to look at eventually, speak to, get acquainted with to an extent just appropriate enough. As minimal as possible if she can help it. That part is on her terms and hers alone.

She has to trust her husband, and the stranger in turn. She has to trust herself too.

"Important family matters. My apologies." Leo says to the mercenary as they return, spine stiff once more as he leads her back into the room, stepping aside to make the appropriate space for her to join him.

"Don't worry about it." The man responds, and Lucy finally decides to look at him despite the reluctance that gnaws at her neck. She raises her gaze.

A bolt of lightning shoots up her spine.