Athenian Arrow

Chapter XV

Zoi indicated she wanted to talk to the rest of the group about the plan away from the house for more privacy. They all agreed and Zoi guided them to an area with stone benches and an architectural fountain that was more secluded this late at night. The Athenian siblings appreciated the marble artwork it displayed as water flowed through bronze pipes that emerged from the exquisite statues representing a moment in time. The sound of the water pouring out the top of the marble structure became background noise as Zoi explained the plan, "Vasilis is located in a cave."

"We're aware of that," Andreas interrupts her with attitude. He looks eager to get to the point of this conversation.

"Instead of interrupting, you could allow me to continue before you think you know it all." Zoi pauses with a threatening smile before continuing, "We like to call him a bear as he hides in his hibernation cave most of the time. He can do so because of the cave he chooses to hibernate in. People who try to seek him never end up truly finding him as the cave is unpredictable. Most Spartans think he's hiding deep in a cave where Apollo's light could never shine. When in actuality, it's the opposite. He's in plain daylight so it acts as his camouflage. Staying hidden was always his strength as it had to be, being the most feared man in Sparta after all."

Hidden in plain sight? Andreas looked to see the siblings confused as well as him. Andreas needed answers now. "Will you finally tell us where he is hiding in this day and age?"

Alexi wanted to laugh at how impatient Andreas was getting. He bites his bottom lip to resist.

"Patience beast. You'll have your treat once I'm done." Zoi had a strange way of getting her messages across, Andreas thought. "His cave is not deep at all. It's located at the back of a mountain that faces the sea. His front door is the beach. It's relatively small and sometimes filled with the people who work for him who occasionally visit the hibernating beast. Only people who have been there, know exactly where it is. The cave is surrounded by mountains and sea. There is not a single path that leads there. I will have to guide you."

Andreas nods with understanding. 

Zoi pauses to choose her next words, "And why do you three need to see the almighty Vasilis if I may ask?" Zoi was well aware that it was not her business but she took joy in taunting the rugged Spartan.

"That is none of your concern!" Andreas snaps. "You take us to Vasilis, we give you the drachma, and you disappear with your Metic. That is as simple as our exchange goes." Andreas' voice never once sounded playful like the Cretan's. He wanted her to know that now was the time to drop the act she so tremendously played. Andreas assumed she received the message as her jaw tightened due to intimidation.

"Understood. I will guide you when morning comes," the discussion of the plan ended at that. 

They decided to retire in a cave for the night. Zoi and Habib lay close together by the fire. Andreas, Alexi, and Anastasia were on opposite sides of the fire as the couple slept. Andreas soon sleeps and Alexi follows. 

After an hour passed, Alexi felt a presence somewhere which caused him to wake up. He looked to his left to see Andreas fast asleep. When he looked over to his right, he realized his sister was missing. A dark silhouette at the cave's entrance catches the boy's eye. His sister was currently sitting on the cave's floor, looking up at the moonlit sky that Artemis so graciously supplied them with. He decides to join her in stargazing. 

Anastasia realizes that Alexi has come to sit beside her but her eyes remain fixated on the moon. 

Alexi enjoys the night sky by staring at the stars and moon for a long while with Anastasia before questioning her, "Could you not sleep?"