Daughter of the Moon

VII. Arrival

Fire.

That's all that Anastasia can see as she travels alone through a battlefield, full of her friends and family. Her sisters and father lay together, burns covering their bodies. Did she do this to them? Who else could?

She can't tell if this is real or not. She can't tell what's real anymore. Is it a dream? A premonition? A nightmare? 

The sky is red and smoke is all she can see on the horizon. The smell of burnt and rotting flesh fills her nostrils. Tears stream down her face as she sees dragons and griffins soaring through the sky, chaos surrounding her.

"Anastasia?"

She looks down to see Andreas, reaching up to her.

"Andreas." She drops down to her knees beside him, her hand moving to caress his face.

"Anastasia."

"Anastasia," Andreas calls out, careful not to spook her. She's writhing in her sleep, sweat dripping down her forehead. Slowly, he reaches out to her, his hand touching her shoulder.

As soon as he makes contact with her, she bolts awake, sitting upright and looking around frantically. Her eyes land on his and she pulls him into an embrace, not caring that her sisters and Leon are surrounding her.

"Andreas, thank the gods you're okay," she says breathily, sobs racking her body. "I thought- I saw-"

"Ana, I'm okay. I'm right here," he says to her, his hands rubbing up and down her back as she cries. 

She pulls away from him, her eyes wild as she places her hands on each side of his face. 

"I thought I'd lost you," she chokes out. "Where are my sisters? My father?"

"Ana," Alexandria says almost softly to her sister, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "We're here, Ana. Father is still at home, safe."

Anastasia turns to her sisters, gathering them both for hugs. "I saw you both so clearly. I thought it was real. I thought it was all real."

Anastasia's still sobbing, and Alexandria looks at Andreas fearfully. Her sister is losing her mind, and she knows it's no coincidence. She was always calm and collected, but since the harpies surrounded her, she's either been completely silent, asleep, or insane.

"Ana, come here," Andreas calls to her, nodding to Alex before smiling warmly at Anastasia. "There's a hidden path up here. We can ride out to see it before we all start on our journey again."

Anastasia nodded, looking back at her sisters before following Andreas. When they reached the horses, Anastasia hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Andreas asks her as he's saddling Odysseus. 

"Nothing, I'm fine," she insists, offering him a weak smile. "Just tired." 

Andreas smiles at her before saddling Achilles for her, helping her mount him and then mounting his own horse.

"How'd you find out about this path?" She asks him, riding beside him.

"When I was a boy, my mother would sometimes accompany us visiting the other villages," Andreas began, a nostalgic smile on his face. "She showed me this, hidden in the trees, one day. I think I was seventeen. It was my first official visit where I'd be dealing with business, and not just be watching my father. I was really nervous and she brought me here. It was the last time we got to do something really special together."

"Do you have a good relationship with your mother?" Anastasia asked him, smiling.

"I did. We were really close."

"Oh, Andreas, I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."

"It's alright, Ana," Andreas insisted, but he looked over and saw how deep in thought she looked as she stared ahead. "What's on your mind?"

"I just realized we don't know anything about each other," she said with a sigh, glancing towards him before resuming her stare ahead of them. "That's my fault, obviously. I was so stubborn when everything happened. I don't know why. I expected you to be arrogant and insufferable. But you're kind, and gentle. You care for me."

Andreas smiles, unable to look towards her as she glances toward him, her face devoid of anything but seriousness. "I care for you, too, Andreas. I want you to know that. But I'm not very good at caring for people."

"Neither am I," he tells her honestly, meeting her eyes. "But I want to try."

Anastasia smiles, a blush creeping onto her face. "We should head back. I don't fancy sleeping in the woods again," she told him with a small laugh, but he could tell that she didn't feel safe out here in unfamiliar territory. And it was true; she felt constantly on edge. And while she had never visited the Ville of Artemis, she knew it would be safe, because it was Andreas' home. And even though she knew she could take care of herself no matter where she was, she felt protected when he was near.

____

As the group arrived at the Ville of Artemis, townspeople greeted their Chief with adoration, and Leon spoke to his friends. Anastasia had fallen back to ride near her sisters, and they shared looks as they saw people whispering about them. Few of them had ever seen real Luna Warriors, much less a Daughter of Artemis. Only the official warriors and leaders knew of their arrival, and the villagers were in awe of the women.

"You would think we were an exhibit in a gallery, the way their eyes are ogling us," Alexandria nearly growled out, her displeasure apparent on her face.

"Oh, Al, don't be so hostile. They've all heard the legend of the Luna Warriors, they probably expected some ugly, brawny trolls," Allera stated with a giggle, a smile on her face. She loved the attention.

"Don't mind them, no matter why they're talking. We have other things to worry about," Anastasia scolded, rolling her eyes. "There are dark times ahead of us. They'd best worry about themselves, too."

After they'd put away the horses and unloaded their wagon, the sisters were shown to their rooms. Coincidentally, Anastasia's was right beside Andreas'.

After she'd unloaded her pack and put her things away, she went over to Andreas' room, leaning herself against the door frame.

"Do you have to have your eyes on me at all times, Chief?" She teased, raising an eyebrow. "You couldn't have put me with my sisters?"

Andreas smiled at her as he unpacked, motioning for her to come in.

"I figured you'd rather be up here, away from everyone else. My people didn't know the Luna Warriors were arriving, but a Daughter of Artemis? They wouldn't know what to do with themselves."

Anastasia laughed, sitting on the edge of his bed, tilting her head at him. "Thank you, really. I don't think I need more stress than I've had lately."

Andreas sat down beside her, looking out his window at the people on the ground.

"They'll love you, really. We just don't have much excitement around here. We wake up, do our jobs, eat our meals, go to bed. It's very routine here," he says matter-of-factly, but Anastasia can tell something's wrong.

"Talk to me," she tells him quietly, hesitantly placing her hand on his knee. He instantly relaxes, sighing slightly before looking towards her.

"I guess meeting you, and what happened on our way here, has just changed my perspective. We've got war ahead of us. What is the point of living if it's boring and I'm not satisfied? Why have I been taking advantage of it?"

Anastasia smiled at him, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

"What would you do, right now, if you had the chance?" She asks him. It's a while before he answers, but he seems sure of himself.

"I'd travel to the sea. The Mediterranean. I've never been, but they say the air smells of salt and the breeze is cool even as the sun beats down on you," he says happily, his eyes now closed as he imagines it. "And I'd take you with me, and we'd escape our destinies together. Just you and me."

"Just you and me," Anastasia repeats, seeing it in her mind. It's a pleasant vision, so different from the destruction that's been living in her head. "That sounds nice."