Provocatrix

Chapter five, Scared.

It is now 6 pm. Almost sundown, wich means almost battle time.

Alkestis and Astinos walk out of the forest hand-in-hand.
Dilios is the first one to notice. He walks up to them with a grin on his face.
"Does this mean you finally told her?" He asks Astinos.
"Yeah... I finally had the courage." Dilios gives them both a smile and then guides them to their seats.
Alkestis sits down and Astinos sits down next to her.
You have Leonidas, with on his left Alkestis, on her left Astinos, on his left Artemis, on his left Dilios, and on his left Stelios. All Spartans sit in circles, surrounding multiple fires.
"They're almost coming..." Alkestis knows what's coming next.
'The immortals', that's what they're called. Ancient legends. It is said that they serve the Persians for over a hundred years already. They are monsters, who cannot die. And they do everything in order to get what they need.
Alkestis is freaking out on the inside. They were lucky nobody died so far. But now, she is sure some are about to die.
Astinos sees her worried face and puts his arm around her shoulder.
Bad move.

The other four in their circle see it.
Dilios just continues eating, for he already knows.
Stelios has this big grin on his face, for he has been shipping them together for a long time.
Artemis has a shocked look on his face, but not in a bad way.
And Leonidas, Leonidas has a look with a thousand different emotions on his face. Anger, shocked, afraid, sad, happy, joyful, judging, loving, and many more.
"What is this?" Artemis asks, looking at his son.
"W-Well, Alkestis and I... We confessed?" Astinos kind of asks, looking between Artemis, Leonidas and Alkestis.
"When?" Leonidas asks, looking at Alkestis.
"About an hour ago..." Even Alkestis feels nervous. Even with a knife she couldn't cut the tension.
"Well, you have my blessings, just don't hurt her." Artemis says.
Alkestis and Astinos look somewhat relieved. At least he approved...
Astinos still had his arm around her shoulder, and he wasn't planning on removing it any time soon.
"Leo? Do you approve too? Please?" Alkestis asks, afraid to hear a certain word.
"Well, if it makes you happy, it makes me happy. I approve, but I swear, if anything happens to her, I'll kill you." Astinos nods and they all eat on, Stelios still having that grin on his face.

"Alkestis, I want you to sit this one out." Leonidas says after dinner.
"What!? But you'll need any manpower you can get! I am a skilled warrior, just as good as any of you!"
Alkestis never really liked his protective side. She knew that she was a good warrior.
"Look, Xerxes is sending the immortals, and I don't want to put you at risk." He tries to explain.
"But if I am not fighting, where will I be? Because if they see me, they'll kidnap me." Alkestis tries everything to convince her brother. "You will be staying with Daxos and his army. They will come from the goat path at my sign and you will fight with them. The most deaths have already happened by that time and you will be saver."
"I hope you're right..." She says, doubting his choice.

Alkestis and Astinos walk off together.
"Look, I want you to know if anything happens to me-" Alkestis starts but is cut off by Astinos.
"Hey. Don't say that. Please. Nothing will happen to you, I'm sure. You are not dying today, or tomorrow. I will make sure of that, okay?" She just nods, hoping he's right.
Alkestis doesn't want to die yet. Not because she is afraid, or selfish. She just knows that she can't die for her brother, her friends and Sparta. She has many more wars to fight, and many more duties to complete. She cannot die now, not this soon.
"But what if they get you? I wouldn't be able to live without you, without anyone!" Tears slowly start making their way down her face. Alkestis is worried her friends will die.
"Even if I die, you have to live on. You know we'll meet each other again." Astinos tries his best to cheer her up.
"You promise?" "I promise."
He then wraps her up in a hug. Alkestis wraps her arms around his waist and cries.
This might be the last time they can hold each other like that.
And they both know it...
"I love you, Astinos." Alkestis whispers in his chest.
"I love you too, Alkestis." He whispers back, cupping her face in his hands.
"No matter what happens, no matter who dies, promise me you'll stay alive." He says.
"I promise." And with that, he closes the gap between them.

Several minutes later they hear Artemis' voice booming through the camp.
"Spartans!! Prepare for battle!!" Alkestis and Astinos both walk back to the camp.
Alkestis quickly grabs her spear, sword and shield.
"I'll see you soon!" She yells to her friends and brother.
Alkestis runs up to Daxos. And together, they wait behind the goat path with his army.
She can see the battle through the trees. She doesn't see much, but enough to tell how horrible it is.
"Daxos, are you afraid?" She asks as she sees the sweating Daxos.
"These things aren't human! They are called immortals! Why does Leonidas think he can beat them!?"
"Daxos, there is one thing you need to know about Leo. He does not believe in such stories. He also doesn't believe the whole 'god-king' thing. Everyone and everything can die." She says, looking at what are called the immortals.
As a child, she was afraid of them. She would always look out of the window before sleeping to check if they weren't there. But now, she laughs at them.

Bare feet, greenish skin, black clothing, silver mask, immortals. They don't look scary, until you look beneath the mask.
One of the reasons why immortals almost always win, is because they are fast, they move like ninjas. Also, once their mask is off, they look like real monsters, and out of fear soldiers freeze. That makes them an easy prey.
But not for the Spartans. They do not fear, they are fast, and kill any enemy.

But then, Alkestis sees something that even scares her. In the midst of the fight, some immortals bring a gigantic beast to the battle field. It's very big, has a lot of scars, its teeth are sharp like knives. This was not good...
Alkestis wants to stand up and run towards her friends. She wants to warn them of the great danger coming their way. But Daxos stops her.
"Alkestis no! If you go out there now, they'll kill you! Or worse!" He whisper-yells.
"So? If I don't go out there, Spartans will die!" She whisper-yells back.
"They will die anyway! You know that! We can't go out unless Leonidas gives us a sign!" He yells back, grabbing her wrist tightly and yanking her back.

The battle goes on, and Alkestis has to watch some of her friends die while she can do nothing about it.
The monster is being released. She scans the battle field and looks for Leonidas.
Her eyes land upon him, who is helping Dilios getting back up. His back is facing the monster.
And because of his helmet, showing he is the king, the monster notices him.
Alkestis so badly wants to jump up and run to save her brother.
She's scared, for the first time she is really scared. And she knows she can't do anything about it.
That's what scares her the most...