Chapter Text
Six hundred.
That was the number of people Lenore brought with her to war, and it was the number of people that were now setting sail to return to Ithaca.
She was queen of a small island, much less influential than the other kings and queens, but she still took a great deal of pride in the fact that she was able to keep every soldier she brought with her alive throughout the ten-year war.
Now, Lenore leaned on her forearms against the side of the boat, facing away from the land behind her–the land that was scarred and held memories of all the deaths that had occurred throughout their time fighting.
No, now, she was looking out at the sparkling sea before her. Somewhere across that sea was her home and family.
Annabel.
Lenore fought back tears at the thought of her wife, who she’d not seen for ten excruciating years. She blinked her watering eyes and forced a smile. This pain would be over soon. They were finally leaving Troy, and only a short distance separated her from her love.
A week’s journey. After all this time waiting, Lenore could surely handle that. In a week’s time, she would be with her wife again, she reassured herself, before standing up straighter.
She was here with six hundred men and women under her command–with only one goal in mind: Make it back alive to their homeland.
The problem of their journey was not the distance–that in itself was manageable–but it was what lied in between. Monsters, gods, and dangers of the open sea all posed as threats on their way back home.
But Ithaca’s waiting. Her kingdom is waiting. Annabel’s waiting.
“Full speed ahead!” Lenore shouts to her crew, and the rowers pick up the oars and begin their journey. Soon after her ship, the others under her command followed.
They were finally going back to Ithaca.
“Capitaine!”
A familiar accented voice called from behind her.
Lenore twisted around with a smile, and found herself face-to-face with her best friend and second-in-command, Duke.
“How are you liking the open sea, mon amie?” He asks, settling comfortably aside from her.
“Very much,” Lenore smiles, closing her eyes and leaning back. A light breeze brushes by and she lets out an exhale of relief. “I definitely prefer this over the tents and battlegrounds.”
Duke follows up with a grimace, “Yes, but a bad thing about these ships are the limited supplies. After the war, our food stores depleted.”
Lenore sighs and scrunches her nose in annoyance. “Already?”
“Well, we have some pretty big mouths to feed with six hundred crewmates.” Duke shrugged apologetically. “So what’s the plan?”
Lenore looks out to the ocean thoughtfully, before glancing up and noticing a flock of birds passing by their ship. “Watch where the birds fly, and they’ll lead us to land. We’ll hunt for food there.”
“Aye, aye capitaine.” Duke winks with a salute before skipping off to relay the message.
Lenore watches amusedly, then opts to go to a lower part of the ship and into her study. A few hours later, when she emerges, she sees Morella and Duke in the same place she was earlier, the former pointing somewhere in the distance.
“Captain!” Morella exclaims with a bright smile when she notices Lenore’s presence. The shorter girl grabs her arm and directs Lenore’s sight to an island. “Look! There in the distance, I see an island and a light that faintly glows. Maybe they’re people lighting a fire! Maybe they’ll share some food–who knows?”
But something felt off about the island. It felt dangerous, like they shouldn’t be going there. Then, Lenore noticed it. “I see the fire, but there’s no smoke.”
Duke shrugged, disregarding her observation. “I say we strike first. We don’t have to wait, so let’s raid the place and–”
“No.” Lenore interrupted. For all her time she’d spent at the Trojan War, she was growing tired of violence and fighting. If she could find a way to deal with this peacefully, she would. “Morella, you and I’ll go ahead. We should try and find a way that no one ends up dead.”
“But mon amie, we don’t know what’s ahead.” Duke warns, looking warily at the island.
“Give me ‘til sunrise, and if we don’t return by then, you and the crew can make this whole place burn, for all I care. Okay?” Lenore asks, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Duke sighs, but relents. “Stay safe, you two.”
Morella claps her hands together and jumps up excitedly. “This will be so fun!”
Lenore and Morella stepped off of the boat as soon as it docked on the island. The fire was somewhere towards the middle of the island, so they still had quite a walk to go.
Glancing around the island, it was rather beautiful. Lush greenery all around, tall trees that would surely provide the perfect amount of shade during the day, and colorful flowers blooming beneath their feet.
All of this nature seemed untouched by humans, and there were no other ships around when they’d docked. This led Lenore to the conclusion that there hasn't been any people around here in a long time, if at all. Additionally, it added to her worry. If there were no people, where did the fire come from?
The possibility of some divine being occupying this island made her even more wary–but what other option was there?
Her attention was drawn to a patch of pale blue flowers growing near a large palm tree. Annabel would love these, Lenore’s mind supplied before she could stop it. Stars, she missed her wife, but she needed to focus on the matter at hand. Then, she would be able to see her again soon.
Lenore gripped her sword in reassurance, still feeling wary about this place.
“You can relax, Lenore.” Morella’s voice appeared from behind her, and Lenore, startled, instinctively pulled out her sword.
“Huh?” Lenore questioned, confused at what her friend was trying to get at.
“I can tell you’re getting nervous, so do yourself a service and try to relax.” Morella added, skipping around her.
“I’m fine, Morella.” Lenore sighed as she lowered her sword, still maintaining a firm grip on it. Her friend had always been an optimist, looking on the bright side of everything. Most of the time it was nice–a ray of light in the darkness and despair of war–but sometimes, like right now, Lenore found herself too tired to attempt a good mood.
“Think of all that we have been through. We’ll survive what we get into here, no problem!” Morella moved forward and grabbed her captain’s hand that wasn’t holding the sword in both of hers.
“I know that you’re tired of the war and bloodshed. Tell me, is this how we’re supposed to live?” Morella continues, gesturing to her sword. “Look at how you grip your sword–enough said. Why should we take when we can give?”
Suddenly, Morella was moving her hand and grabbing Lenore’s sword. While Lenore was too shocked and confused to catch up, Morella tossed it into the water of a shallow lake nearby.
“You can show a person that you trust them when you stop and lower your guard. Here we have a chance for some adjustment.” Morella smiled as she gestured around the island, then pulled Lenore deeper into the island with her. “Give it a try, it’s not that hard! I’m telling you–this life is amazing when you greet it with open arms.”
She finally let go of Lenore and threw her arms open wide. The ravenette hurriedly went fishing through the water for her sword while Morella danced around the island. “Whatever we face, we’ll be fine if we’re leading from the heart! No matter the place, we can light up the world–here’s how to start: Greet the world with open arms!”
Too late, Lenore realized how close they’d gotten towards the mysterious light.
“Welcome!” An echo of voices greeted them.
“Stay back!” Lenore yelled, running to protect Morella and waving her sword threateningly at the creatures who had spoken.
The creatures themselves didn’t look dangerous–in fact, they looked the exact opposite. They were tiny, fluffy bear-looking critters, looking curiously at the two of them. Still, something about them made Lenore uneasy.
“Stay back, stay back.” The creatures muttered to themselves.
“Lenore, greet the world with open arms.” Morella said to her in a low voice.
Of course, Lenore didn’t really want to fight these creatures after all her hope of a peaceful solution, but she still couldn’t trust these tiny beasts nor the island they lived on. “We’re only here for food.”
“Food.” More mutterings went across the crowd.
“Six hundred friends are waiting for us to show our faces.” Lenore added, and a small group of the creatures started moving towards them. She waved her sword in their direction, and they backed up again. “Stay back, I’m warning you. If we don’t get back safely, my crew will turn this place into blazes–”
“Here you go!” The voices echoed, and many of the creatures held out a fruit of some sort. It looked familiar to Lenore, but she couldn’t quite place it.
“See?” Morella’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “They’re not here to hurt us, they’re helping! This is what happens when you greet the world with open arms!”
The shorter girl went to pet some of the creatures, and as she reached for the fruit one of them held out to her, it hit Lenore. As quickly as she could, the ravenette lunged for Morella and pulled away the fruit.
“Morella, I wish that I could say that I agree with you, but look at the way this fruit and its seeds are glowing.” Lenore motioned towards the fruit when she had her friend’s attention. “It took me a while to notice just what kind of fruit they eat. But I realized, it’s a lotus, and if you eat it, it will take control of your mind and you will never want to leave!”
Morella gasped, and looked in shock at the lotus eaters around her.
“That’s what we’d get with open arms.” Lenore added in a low voice.
The ginger narrowed her eyes for a few seconds, then stood up and faced the crowd. “Lotus-eaters, I’d like to show my friend that kindness is brave. Could you tell me where there’s other food to eat?”
“The cave!” A few lotus-eaters echoed, but the two girls didn’t catch the one closer to the back that muttered “Scary cave.”
“A cave!” Morella turned around excitedly to Lenore, smiling triumphantly. She quickly turned back to address the lotus-eaters. “You’re saying there’s a cave where we could feast? And where do we find this food-filled cave?”
“East!” The lotus-eaters chanted together.
Morella grinned, then leaned down to pet one of the lotus-eater’s heads. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome!” They answered back in unison.
Lenore’s heart panged at the sweet interaction. Had she really grown so distrustful that even these adorable creatures became a threat in her eyes?
The ginger turned back to the ravenette with a soft smile. “I see in your face, there is so much guilt inside your heart.” Lenore looked at the ground, ashamed. “So why not replace it and light up the world? Here’s how to start.”
Lenore glanced back up, chuckling softly. “Greet the world with open arms?”
Morella beamed. “You can relax, Lenore. We’re safe.”
And for the first time in a while, Lenore felt like she believed it.
Before she could so much as blink, the world around Lenore stopped. She could feel her before she actually saw her, and turned in the goddess’ direction when she heard her voice. “Have you forgotten the lessons I taught you?”
“Poppet!” Lenore exclaimed. Her mentor, the goddess of wisdom and master of war, was in front of her, a disapproving frown on her face.
“I see you changing from how I’ve designed you. Have you forgotten your purpose? Let me remind you.” Poppet waved her hand, and suddenly they were in a different scenery. In Ithaca, Lenore realized–they were looking at a memory.
“My life has one mission: create the greatest warrior.” Poppet glances at the ravenette as she says this, resentment fading into something a bit softer. “I created a challenge to test the skills of many young warriors–a magic boar who only the best could kill. Then, one day a girl came for the thrill–a girl whose mind rivaled the boar’s own will.”
Lenore remembers–how could she not? She has the scar on her left thigh to always remind her. Out of all the greatest warriors in Greece, she, a mere child, was the only one who managed to kill the boar. It made her Poppet’s champion from a young age, and she had been trained to be the great warrior the goddess wished for soon after.
“I thought, maybe one day she’ll follow me, and we’ll make a greater tomorrow. Then they’ll all see I know she can change the world.” Poppet looks fondly at Lenore and holds the side of her face in her hand. “I built your skills as I taught you. Now, if there’s a problem, you will have the answer.”
Lenore looked around her memory’s setting, seeing how she tricked the boar and pierced its shoulder. Poppet stood beside her and watched with her, then turned to her, smiling.
“You are a warrior of the mind.”
Before the ravenette can get any words in, Poppet changes the memory to one later on, after her injury had healed. She was walking around the forest in Ithaca, and she remembered the feeling of being watched. Bravely, her younger self called out.
Show yourself. I know you’re watching me. I can see you.
How can you see through my spell?
Haha! I was lying, and you fell for my bluff.
Looking back at it, it probably wasn’t the smartest move Lenore made–goading a goddess. However, things ended up well for her in the end, with the look of Poppet’s amused smirk.
Well done. Enlighten me, what’s your name?
You first, and maybe I’ll do the same.
Nice try, but two can play this game.
Nah, don’t be modest. I know you’re a goddess, so let’s be honest–you are the goddess of wisdom! Badass in the arena! Unmatched, witty, and queen of the best strategies we’ve seen!
If you’re looking for a mentor, I’ll make sure your time’s well spent.
Sounds like a plan, goddess and I, bestest of friends!
We’ll see where it ends
Lenore was smiling at the memory–she was so young and joyful back then. Suddenly, the scenery changed again, and she was back in the frozen present. Poppet was no longer smiling, but rather sending a warning look her way.
“I still intend to make sure you don’t fall behind. You should not forget that you’re a warrior of a very special kind–you are a warrior of the mind!” Poppet narrowed her eyes before finishing. “Don’t disappoint me.”
With a blink, the goddess was gone, and time unfroze. Lenore was left with a sinking feeling of dread. She didn’t know if she could live up to Poppet’s expectations.
Even worse, she didn’t know if she wanted to.