Ashes of Love and War - TodoMomo

||Chapter 21 ~ Part 2||

A little early, but I'm having surgery Friday so here you go. :)

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Agreeing to Kendo's plan, Momo left the couple and headed towards the other end of Dicaea.

The entertainment section of Dicaea ran down to the western end of the harbor. Stone and limestone buildings with signs advertising sex and opium hung above statues of Dionysus or nymphs. The smell of perfume and alcohol seemed to leak from every direction.

Momo blushed and looked away as she passed a scantily-clad pornai. The woman's disheveled clothing slumped from her shoulders, showcasing her breasts. A sense of discomfort slid down the back of her neck, but Momo ignored the sensation as she continued down the street.

Entertainment districts existed in every city — Momo knew this. There were always men and women seeking pleasure or escape. Troy even had one until the end of the war, but as a priestess of Apollo, Momo had never visited it.

She wondered if Todoroki would really be here. A knot in Momo's stomach tightened. She found it hard to imagine, but still, she had to check. It was the only way for Momo to be able to relax.

Her hands clenched at her side as she pressed on. The number of people roaming the streets began to thin as Momo drew closer to the end of the harbor. Shops were slowly replaced by warehouses, and the strong scent of the pernai's perfume waned in favor of salty sea breeze.

Momo sighed. There was no point in going further. Todoroki wasn't here.

She was about to turn around when two large carts, led by a team of two heavy oxen each, abruptly pulled out onto the narrow street.

Momo looked up, and her eyes widened as she froze. Her insides shriveled in disgust.

The carts weren't wagons but cages. Inside one, women and children sat huddled in the cramped space. And in the other, a single person with pinkish skin and curly, rose-pink hair sat slumped over.

Momo gasped in shock.

A wood nymph.

What was a nymph doing in a cage? It was a crime against the gods for a mortal to touch one of the godly creatures.

Before Momo had a chance to process the situation further, a deep masculine voice called out from the front of the carts. "What the hell are you doing? Get those doors opened. We're going to be late."

Momo stepped sharply back. She ducked behind the nearest building and out of sight as five men jumped off the cart. There was a sound of hinges squeaking and a door opening.

Momo shifted and glanced around the corner.

The carts had stopped in front of a stone warehouse. Another group of about four or five men exited the building to meet the others. At their sides, each carried a sword and whip.

The men worked quickly, unlocking the cage with the women and children.

"Get out!" one of the slavers barked.

He uncurled his whip and cracked it against the ground. There was a sharp cry of alarm. The women and children flinched. He moved to strike his whip again when the prisoners began to slink out of the cage.

"Just push them if they aren't moving," one of the other slavers said, his voice full of annoyance as he struck the back of a child's head.

A couple of them whistled as a woman with a pretty face got off the wagon.

Momo wanted to skewer them all, but she curled her fingers into a fist and forced herself not to react. Her gaze drifted back to the biggest man, the one who appeared to be in charge.

It was too dark to decipher his features, but the man was tall with broad shoulders and muscular arms. An aura of danger seemed to cling to him, and the hair on Momo's arms and the back of her neck stood on end. She pressed her lips into a thin line. Something about him felt familiar.

Then it hit her. Her eyes widened. He was the slaver from the market, the leader of the men who had accosted Kendo.

The simmering anger that Momo was trying to control flared into hot rage. Her fingers twitched. Slowly, she reached up and unhooked her spear.

Momo glanced around the side of the building again. Counting the men, there were around eleven to twelve slavers in total. And that wasn't counting any additional men that could still be inside the warehouse. Her stomach dropped.

The odds weren't in her favor.

Momo's lips curled back. She drew in a harsh breath through her teeth, trying to calm herself. She needed to be patient. She couldn't act foolishly.

She was confident in her skills, but taking on so many armed men by herself, when she still didn't know the full situation, was risky and could easily result in failure. The only way for her to win was to fight individual bouts. However, those weren't winning odds either. Even if Momo were able to lead the slavers away and fight them one on one, she'd have to beat each in a matter of seconds in order not to be overwhelmed.

Her gaze drew back to the head slaver. Her stomach lurched. There was something about him that put her on edge. A nagging voice in the back of her mind told Momo to be cautious of him. She may have taken him by surprise in the market earlier, but now that he was armed and aware of her skills, the situation could turn out differently.

Momo gritted her teeth in frustration. The best option was to wait for the slavers to go back inside and then find Tetsu-Tetsu and Kendo. Perhaps, with all three of them — and Todoroki, if they'd found him — they could win. But could she leave and find her way back?

"Not that one, idiot. Trumpet wants that one with him," the gritty voice of the head slaver snapped, drawing Momo out of her thoughts.

She jerked her gaze back to the carts. One of the men had approached the nymph's cage. Inside the prison, the nymph appeared to be moving.

Momo's eyes narrowed. The nymph's movements were slow and jerky, as if she were drugged. Was that how they captured her?

Her gaze ran over the cage. It was a wooden structure similar to the other cage, but there was some sort of insignia carved into the wood. Momo narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher the inscription, but it was too dark to make out.

The head slaver turned and looked up and down the dark street. Satisfied, he turned back towards the men. "Alright. Get those last ones inside. I got to deal with Trumpet," he said, before jumping back onto the cart.

The other men worked quickly; they slammed the empty cage door shut and ushered the remaining women inside. Momo watched as two of the men returned to the warehouse, leaving two slavers outside.

The leader said something to them in a voice too soft for Momo to hear. There was a sharp crack of a whip then the cart departed down the street.

Momo's breath caught in anxiety.

They were moving the nymph.