Ashes of Love and War - TodoMomo

||Chapter 10 - Part 1||

Momo's breath caught in her throat, and her eyes widened as his lips brushed against hers — soft, gentle. He kissed her like he really did care for her, as if he meant what he said.

'You hold some significance to him.'

Momo's toes curled. Warmth spread within her stomach. She closed her eyes as his fingers cupped her jaw, lifting her head to deepen the kiss.

It felt nice. It wasn't supposed to feel nice, but it did.

Her heart was pounding in her chest. Her hands twitched, and she lifted them hesitantly, unsure what to do with them or whether she wanted to pull him closer or push him away.

Momo hadn't realized that she could be affected like this.

Affected by him.

He was a Spartan. An enemy of Troy. He had helped burn her city to the ground, loot their temples, enslave her people. And yet, he had been nothing but civil — if not even decent — to her and Tokoyami.

He treated them like people. He answered her questions. He never raised his voice at her or hit her. He talked to her. A moment before, he had even been trying to make her feel better.

Was he really as bad as Tokoyami said?

Todoroki's mouth moved against hers for a moment longer before he pulled back, and he looked down at her. His red and white bangs brushed against her forehead, and she could feel the warmth of his breath against her lips. His expression was softer than Momo had ever seen, and it made her heart ache painfully.

Could he really care for her?

'He's only acting kind to make you compliant.'

That's right. There was no way he could like her in any significant way. They hardly knew each other. She trembled, her stomach clenching painfully as another unwanted thought came to her.

'Don't forget. He only sees us as tools. To him, significance equates to 'value,' and a person only has value when they are useful for his purposes.'

"You're lying."

It was a whisper against his lips.

Todoroki's expression instantly shuttered. He withdrew his hand and took a step back.

The warm night air suddenly felt chilled.

Momo froze, and her eyes widened as, with dawning horror, she remembered her station in their contract. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth as her mind registered what she had just said out loud. She had sold herself to Todoroki, she wasn't supposed to defy him.

She had to make this right.

She felt sick. "Todoroki! I –"

"I don't lie," he cut her off. His expression was frigid; Momo could see his jaw clench. "I don't need to. If I say something, it's my word."

Momo stepped back as he stared at her. His eyes were cold. She tried to swallow over a tight throat but couldn't. Her stomach twisted so painfully she thought she'd throw up. He was her master. What slave spoke like that to the person who owned them?

She had no idea where this rebellious side of her had come from. It seemed that whenever she was with him, all she ever did was challenge him. She was never like this at the temple. Where had this sudden bout of stupidity come from?

She stumbled backwards. Then, before she could process her actions, she was running. If he called after her, cursed at her, Momo had no idea. She bolted up the stairs and down the hallway to her room. Her heart was pounding so ferociously in her chest, it wouldn't have been surprising if it completely stopped.

She shut the door and collapsed onto the floor, shaking with terror.

Stupid. So stupid, Momo berated herself as she tried to listen for Todoroki's footsteps following her. But it was impossible to hear anything over her racing heart. Momo's fingers trembled against her legs.

What had she been thinking? After all the countless times that Tokoyami had warned her to stay away from Todoroki, told her that he was cunning and dangerous, she had gone and walked right into his arms, like a fly into a spider's web.

All it took was a few kind words to sway her.

Momo slumped further against the door and dropped her face into the crook of her elbow. She was a fool.

Her parents had given her to the wrong god. They should have given her to Koalemos, the god of stupidity and foolishness, not Apollo. At least there she would have fit in.

If it wasn't the middle of the night she'd scream.

Momo buried her face in her hands. It hadn't even been more than a few hours since Tokoyami had reminded her to stay away from Todoroki.

Dangerous. Manipulative. Cunning. That was how Tokoyami had described Todoroki as he reprimanded her for blushing and acting weak in front of the Spartan earlier in the evening. He'd also said that he was done warning her to be careful. It was up to her to monitor her own actions from now on – and look where that had gotten her...

Momo pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. Perhaps, if she hadn't been feeling useless and upset over Tokoyami acting like she was incapable of accurately judging a person's character herself, she would have made a wiser decision than to stand there like a fool and let Todoroki kiss her.

She groaned. The worst part of it all was that part of her had liked it. The kiss had been so different from their first one. It had made her heart beat faster, and warmth to flow through her. And part of her mind had even wondered what it would be like to kiss him back.

She felt her face warm, and pushed the thought away furiously.

Be who she wanted to be? Momo scoffed. What Todoroki had offered her was too ideal. No man would ever offer his wife — much less his slave — such liberties. And she had almost believed him too. Her stomach rolled.

The only positive that had come out of the whole encounter was that now she had finally realized that Tokoyami was right; Aphrodite had clearly clouded her vision and weakened her heart.

Momo sighed, and dropped her head back onto her knees. She needed to come up with a plan, an operation to prove to herself that these feelings beginning to grow in her chest for her master were a weed, not a flower.

She stood up, and made her way to her bed. Her recent bout of terror and anxiety had left her exhausted. She crawled onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Thinking about it realistically, even if she didn't do anything, Todoroki would likely reveal his true nature sooner rather than later anyway.

Men hated being challenged. Even now, Todoroki was probably thinking of ways to get back at her, contemplating the best ways to punish her for her disobedience.

Honestly, she made the most impertinent, opinionated slave. Couldn't she have just kept her thoughts to herself?

Momo closed her eyes and draped her arm over her face. Worst case scenario, Todoroki would renege on his promise to free Tokoyami. Before that could happen, she needed to appease him. She had nothing left to trade, she had already given herself to Todoroki as a slave to be allowed to heal Tokoyami, all she could do now was apologize and pray to Clementia that he'd accept that.

Momo turned on her side and curled into a ball. She felt sick. Her head was throbbing. She closed her eyes and lay there trying to think of ways to properly apologize to Todoroki as she waited for someone to come get her for her shift.

No one ever came and she fell asleep.