Elysian Tragedy

Ενα-𝕺𝖓𝖊

Greece, Santorini
'Armonia hurry along we're going to be late' said my annoyingly punctual father.

It is currently summer in Greece and the sun is scorching hot, perfect opportunity for wind sailing right? I think not. The thing is, that when you are born in a Greek family, particularly one that is into the shipping industry, things like that are inevitable.

'Mpampa I told you I don't want to go, besides I have gym training, can't Athena or Nikolas come instead?' The moment I uttered those words my grandfather came in view, to my utter disdain.

'Armonia what is this that I hear? You know how important it is for the firm, besides we are going to the taverna after and Apollon is going to be there too!'

Great!  'Pa, I have training please let me skip'

'There we go again with this nonsense, my dear you are Greek you should spend your time by the sea with the Andreadis' boys instead of focusing on skating'

If you haven't guessed it by now I am a figure skater, have been actually since the age of three. I fell in love with it during an overseas trip to Russia. I haven't been able to stop ever since. It is a particularly hard sport, combining ballet, agility, strength, stamina and so many more. I loved it for the discipline and artistry, however my Pa doesn't share the sentiments. He wanted me to become something different and that's where he came in conflict with my father.

'You can go to the gym but afterwards you are coming to have lunch with us and the Andeadis family, Apollon has missed you a great deal!'

As soon as my father said that I rushed to the door. Finally some time away. We usually spend the summer in Santorini, in our family house. My father works for the infamous Andreadis, a family of renowned shipowners. I grew up with the boys, so we were close as families even though my father was his CEO. My grandpa always wished for me to become a captain and travel overseas, however my father argued that it would be dangerous and "not fit for me". Honestly I was offended at first, however seeing as figure skating ,in a country like Greece, was extremely expensive, and he funded my efforts, I payed no mind.

What I didn't appreciate though, was my father's obsession over Dimos' Andreadis sons. The thing is that I knew exactly were this was going. He intended for me to marry Apollon, who was an heir to his fathers firm, and essentially unite our families and make ours more powerful. I found this ridiculous on so Many levels. To be honest it is a Greek stereotype, for women to marry and be housewives instead of investing themselves in a career, and the man was responsible for making money. 

I hated that prospect. I had a goal set for me, the Olympics, children were a hassle and men an even bigger one. Anyone who wants to be successful has to make sacrifices, and I was willing to do anything it took to rise to the top. I mean the drive to the central gym was about an hour and it was 42 degrees Celsius, if that doesn't scream dedication I don't know what does!

After 3 hours of intense training I finally decided to stop procrastinating and go to lunch. Besides god knows what would happen if I skipped, I would have to face my grandma's wrath and that was more terrifying than being held at gunpoint.

Both of our families were present, since we both had roots from this island. That meant grandparents, and Greek ones were restless, to put it lightly. I had just stepped my foot into the taverna

'Armonia at last welcome where have you been? You look starved come eat eat!'

'Armonia we were just talking about you and Apollon what a lovely couple you would make! We are in dire need of grandchildren we won't live forever you know!'

Already getting worked up, I tried to breathe and went to the far end to
A friendly face.  Antoni Andreadis, was this face. Despite the fact that he was practically stinking rich, he was the most humble person I knew and before you get any ideas, homosexual. I was so proud of him for the fact that he was brave when exposing his sexuality. Never was he ashamed or embarrassed to publicly address it. Unfortunately for me that meant that I was constantly being paired up with the eldest Andreadis. Words could not describe how low I though of him. Though strikingly handsome, he was rotten to the core, fiending on power and money. He thought that just because he was rich he could control anyone, though his incompetence reeked from a mile away. It was obvious he could care less for the firm. Why would that bother my though ? Well my older brother adored anything regarding the sea, and despite his ambitions, my father insisted he worked for the Andreadis. I could not put it through my head that he would inherit a million dollar firm while he did nothing, and my brother would have to settle for second best despite of his love for the profession. It didn't help that he tried to flirt with me any chance he got, pathetically that is.

'Armonia we missed you at the toast, keeping that body smoking I presume?'

'Apollon, not keeping that mouth shut I presume?'

'Damn brother' Antoni joked, the tension thick. Fortunately Nikolas came to the rescue with business talk, as always.

Sitting there I felt like I wanted to devour everything on the table, however our yearly summer camp was coming up and I had to be in the best shape possible.

"Hey fattie why don't you have some tzatziki with that salad, looks kinda plain don't you think"

"Antoni stop being a brat ,it's not my fault you love garlic breath  stinkhead"

"That was a Low blow, are you even Greek you haven't touched a piece of feta, are you on a diet or a suicide mission?"

Our bickering got cut short by a loud banging noise.

Heyy everyone😇 I hope you are all doing amazing! First update and i am super excited! Pls comment and like if you enjoy the story love to hear feedback❤️ Just to let you know all chapters are going to be around 1000 words or more since I enjoy longer descriptive chapters but let me know how you like it❤️