running with my enemy

chapter I

(148 B.C.)
sebastian pov—>

   It was a rainy day, and I was feeling reckless.
I had just had another fight with my father, which had became a daily thing at this point.
"Lazy", "useless" and "a disgrace to the Philos last name that you carry around" where some of the things that had been thrown at me.
   I was used to it. Any other time, I would have carried on without minding anything my father had said, or taken whatever punishment my father had thought fit.
    But this time was different. This time, whether it was the rain or the fact that it was my birthday and my father hadn't remembered, I had had enough of it. This time, I knew.
I was going to leave.

***

leonidas pov—>

   Twelve times. I had won the olive branch crown twelve times. I kept staring at the gold medals hung on my wall.
   For the past month, I had considered running at the Olympics again. It could mean even greater fame and praise, but it could also mean the opposite, in the scenario in which I lost even one race. That was the problem with fame, though. The more famous you got, the more people expected from you. And people expected a lot from me, at this point.
The same debate had went on in my head every four years since the first time I participated in the Olympics. And each time, I risked more and more by participating again. But I won. Every single time. My father had once told me that I must have been born with the blessing of Zeus. I had thought it sounded stupid, at the time. But now, after so many medals won, it seemed almost impossible to lose this year, right?
I sighed, and made my decision.
What was life without risking your whole reputation, anyway?

***

sebastian pov—>

   I hadn't thought this through.
   My toga was drenched, and my normally curly hair was now plastered to my head.
   I stood outside in the pouring rain with only a leather bag packed with food and water, a spare toga, a lyre and some of the papyruses that my dead mother gave me, so so long ago...
    Where was I going to go? What was I going to do? I barely had 20 drachmas in my pocket (which I stole from my father).
   We were never that rich, and we could never afford all the fancy things that the other boys in Thebes had. That had often made me an outcast. But my mother had always tried to make up for it. When we didn't have money to go to a very popular theatre play, for example, she had reinterpreted the play and tried to put it on for me and my older brother, Alexander. We had laughed, that night.
Of course, that was before Alexander went on to join the greek army, and before my mother died, and before I was left alone with my father. Those were the good days.
Now, I was standing by myself in the rain with only my dearest memories crammed into one leather bag. And I had no idea what to do.
There was no way my father would let me come back, once he discovered I had ran away. Well, most probably he wouldn't even notice.
So it was just me and my lonely soul.
But that was only until I heard the galloping of hooves, and a feminine voice yelling at what I assumed where the horses tied to a chariot.
And, as I had guessed, a chariot stopped in front of me a minute later, pulled by two horses and driven by a young girl, about my age, who had dark curly hair and a pair of the most strange blue eyes I had ever seen.
It was a very peculiar thing, having blue eyes at that time in Greece. Personally, I thought them to be beautiful, but I had heard stories of people who had been killed at birth for having blue eyes.
"D'you need a ride or are you waiting for Zeus to come and save you?" the girl asked, in casual greek, as if she had known me forever and we were the bestest of friends.
"Um... uh, yes, a ride would be wonderful, if you'd be so kind," I said, awkwardly.
She nodded for me to get in the chariot. I did, and once I was comfortably seated, the girl started the chariot.
"So, where to?" she asked.
"No idea. Wherever you're going, I suppose," I answered.
"I'm headed for the Olympic games. I don't suppose you're planning to participate?"
By saying so, she looked me up and down, subtly pointing out my scrawny figure and weak bones.
But I was used to it. What was one more subtly put insult?
"No, I'm not planning to participate."
She nodded. I nodded too. We stood in silence for a few moments.
"Why did you stop to give me a ride?" I finally asked.
"You looked pitiful. I help people who look pitiful."
"Why?"
"I was once just like you. Standing, lonely, in the rain and feeling sorry for myself. But then someone helped me. A girl. The most wonderful girl I had ever met..." she said, staring in the distance, desperately longing for a way to open up.
I could only stand and watch as her blue eyes searched for a lost soul. I wondered what that girl had actually meant to her. Her stare was beautiful.
And, just like that, it was broken. She turned back to me and asked, "But what about you? What were you doing there?"
"I ran away from home," I said, sincerely.
    "Why...?"
    "I'm not sure I want to talk about it yet... It's just... my vlákas father..."
"Oh... Yeah, I get it... My father wasn't around a lot, either..."
Silence, again. But this time, it was more... friendly, for lack of a better word.
"So, how are you planning to watch the Olympics?
I mean, you're a woman, I don't think they'll let you... Personally, I think that's malakía, but..."
If not for her tough exterior, I would have thought she was actually blushing.
"I have my ways," she answered, acting tough again.
"Which are...?"
She sighed. "I plan on pretending to be Koroibos' lover... Despite someone's disapproval of the idea," that last thing she muttered under her breath, so I almost didn't hear it... But I understood-more or less-what she felt... I had felt like that, too, at one point... I think... I wasn't sure of what I had felt in the past, at this point... It's like it all had turned to grief the moment I ran away, like all the memories had passed away; the good ones and the bad ones.
    All I know is that the person who made me feel that way wasn't who I thought them to be.
    The girl snapped me back into reality when she suddenly stopped the chariot.
    We were standing in front of a small, worn down inn. It looked as if it had stood against many rainy nights.
    I looked around, confused. What were we doing here? The place looked suspicious, and I wondered if I should really trust this girl. Come to think of it, I didn't even know her name. She kind of looked like an Alexandra... One of those who goes by Alex... But I shouldn't make any speculations.
    "Okay, so," she sighed, "before you start to think I'm kidnapping you, just know we're here because i want to visit somebody really quick. Plus, I haven't eaten in a long time."
    "Alright," I said, still slightly suspicious...
    And so we went in.