Nýchta awoke with a yawn.

She opened her eyes to find her sister sitting silently next to her on a marble bench with a Papyrus scroll in hand.

Her neck long brown hair seemingly glowed as the warm light of the afternoon sun bathed her one hundred and eighty centimetre tall frame. Her eyes keenly darted back and forth as she read through the scroll all while biting her thumb.

Nýchta glanced at the long white silk tunic her sister wore. It had a few stains here and there but Nýchta’s gaze found itself returning to the one thing that always caught her attention. Her sister’s forehead.

It was so wide and tall that Nýchta could almost see the thoughts as they formed in her sister’s mind.

She couldn’t help but chuckle each time she looked at its shiny, sweaty surface. An effect that was only emphasized whenever her sister was deep in thought.

Her sister heard this and, with a worried expression, she asked.

“What?”

“Oh- it’s nothing, dear Stheno.” Nýchta yawned while stretching her arms.

She then turned her bright hazel eyes back to the scroll.

“What are you reading and where is Euryale? I could have sworn she promised to sing to me, even after I fell asleep.” Nýchta hummed.

“This is a message father received from the coast. Apparently things are getting quite bad. It is a risk on its own to sent ships out into open waters but the fact that some are now coming back empty does not bode very well.” Stheno sighed making Nýchta’s eyes narrow.

“And Euryale?”

“She said that she was going back home to help mother with something.”

Nýchta nodded before glancing to her right just as a group of children ran by.

She and her sister were seated in a garden in the centre of the city, a place that was usually serene and silent.

Nýchta’s brow furrowed slightly as the still air was filled with grating giggles and grating yells.

“Nýchta, if you continue to frown like that, your beauty will be tarnished. Or so mother says.”

Nýchta dragged her gaze to Stheno.

“Do you honestly believe that?” She sang making her sister shake her head.

“O-of course not! I just... Don’t enjoy seeing you unhappy.” Stheno said.

“Ah... But I am not unhappy at all. Try not to assume too much, alright?” Nýchta instructed as she stood up, allowing her knee length white silk tunic to unfold.

This revealed intricate golden embroidery that went along its edges.

Her neck long, curly, nearly white blond hair bounced slightly with each movement she made.

“Alright?”

“Yes, Nýchta.”

“Good. Now, let us return home.”

Stheno nodded before following Nýchta towards the garden’s exit which was about a fifteen meters downhill.

Paving the downward path were short, neatly trimmed bushes, tall trees and a brilliant assortment of flowers.

Nýchta took it all in she walked but her enjoyment of the moment was once again ruined as the children from before ran by.

One of them bumped into her, staining her tunic with dirt which lined the little boys hands.

“Oh- sorry ma’am.” The boy apologized as Nýchta lowered her eyes to meet his.

The boy’s eyes were wide and wandered, even when trying to focus on the woman in front of him.

“It would be best if you watched where you were going, boy. Especially in a garden such as this. Or do you want to feel the wrath of the gods once they realized that it was you who ultimately ruined the sanctity of this place, the very foot of Olympus?” Nýchta asked with a faint smile.

The boy, who looked no older than six years old, tilted his head while sticking his index finger in his mouth.

“What’s a sanctity?” He asked making Nýchta roll her eyes.

“Just go.” She sighed.

The boy happily nodded before running to his friends who were huddled by the corner of a nearby building while giggling incessantly.

Nýchta turned her half closed eyes to Stheno who wore a smile.

“What?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just wondering if you truly believed that the simple silliness of a child could provoke the wrath of the gods.”

Nýchta’s brow knotted further.

She then scoffed before leading Stheno down the stone paved streets of Katoikía Ton Andrón, the city at the foot of Mount Olympus and the capital of Greece.

Nýchta and her sister were in the upper district, a place filled with large marble temples, numerous stone buildings and the idle chatter of people who couldn’t help but comment as Nýchta walked by from their balconies and doorsteps.

They all whispered to each other, while avoiding her gaze, about her beautiful hair, eyes and skin.

Nýchta simply raised her nose as she led her sister to the part of the city which was designated for larger houses which had their own yards.

It was one kilometre south of the garden and was slightly emptier and quieter.

Nýchta’s home was one of the first houses to the right and it’s positioning allowed her to see the vastness of Greece below.

She entered the yard, which was guarded by a small wooden fence to find a group of men seated by the porch and she winced upon smelling the wine on their breath, even from several meters away.

“Oh- behold, gentlemen! My fair daughters have returned!”

One of the men, a short, fat, aging man with short greying blond hair and beard bellowed.

His arms were lined with several gold and silver bracelets that loudly jingled with his every move.

He also had so many golden earrings that his ears drooped a little.

He wore a dark blue toga which barely managed to cover his large frame.

The men seated around him, some of whom wore leather armour and held spears in their hands, turned to face Nýchta and Stheno but while her sister walked up to and hugged her father, Nýchta simply walked straight into the house.

“Haha! Why must you be so cold, my dearest?” Her father asked as Nýchta removed her sandals by the door way.

This meant her soft feet had to touch the floor and although it had been recently cleaned, she hated it whenever her feet got too dirty as that could dirty her sheets.

“You would think one who shined as brightly as her would be more sociable, huh Phorcys?” One of her father’s friends asked as Nýchta walked towards her room which was the second one to the left.

“Bah! She’s friendly enough, she most likely doesn’t want to age by a few years by being in the presence of you idiots, bahahaha!” Her father boomed prompting him and his friends to break into loud laughter.

Nýchta entered her room, a clean and relatively empty space, and she sat on her bed.

She then grabbed a palm sized polished silver mirror from the bedside table and proceeded to look at her reflection.

Her father had gotten it for her when she was very young and so, as she grew, she always knew what she looked like and what she saw was agreeably beautiful.

That said, Nýchta wondered if there was more to her than that.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the smell of roasted meats and baking breads.

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She heard the sounds of footsteps but ignored them while looking into her eyes which seemingly glowed as the last of the setting sun’s light entered them.

“Dinner will be ready soon.” Stheno said without stepping into Nýchta’s room.

Nýchta did not respond.

Instead her gaze rose to the ceiling as she wondered what she would do for the rest of her life.

She did not want to be a merchant or sailor, like her father and she did not want to be a housewife or housekeeper, like her mother And sister.

She also did not want to stress herself like Stheno did by keeping track of their father’s dealings and she did not find plays and poems interesting enough to want to be a part of.

Nýchta sighed.

She could not think of anything she found particularly interesting and this left her feeling almost immobilized as her thoughts raced.

“Nýchta?”

A sweet voice called.

One that dispelled most of the unease that swarmed Nýchta’s mind.

She looked down and saw a woman standing by the door.

A woman so beautiful, that Nýchta’s chest felt a sweet ache.

She had long, greying brown hair which hung over her shoulder and above her left breast.

Her eyes, like Nýchta’s, were a bright hazel and her high cheeks emphasized her warm smile. Her skin was tanned, attesting to many days spent beneath the hot sun and the sides of her eyes each had four wrinkles were made more prominent by her smile.

She wore a long blue silk tunic which was covered in soup stains and her arms, although small, looked somewhat rough with her forearms being far more muscular than those of the average woman. Her hands were also visibly calloused, something that was clear even in the dimness of Nýchta’s room.

“Yes?”

“Dinner is almost ready.” The woman said. Her voice lovingly filled the room, making the air feel a little lighter.

“Alright, tell Euryale to bring my food.”

The woman’s brows furrowed a little.

“Will you not be dining with us tonight as well?”

“No unless you have a particularly interesting story to tell. Although I do not know how that would be possible since you stay in the house all day.” Nýchta sighed.

The woman’s brows curled upwards for a moment but she proceeded to sigh while turning to leave.

Nýchta scoffed at the reaction she had received before laying down on her bed and resting her head.

She tried figuring out why her preference for solitude and tranquillity was frowned upon.

What was there to be gained in hearing her father bellow on and on about his many supposed adventures or the mundane lives of her mother and sisters.

“Nýchta.”

Someone called front the doorway.

Nýchta looked at it to find a certain fat man leaning against the doorframe.

His face was red and, even from her bed, Nýchta could smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Yes?”

“You... You won’t be joining us tonight?” He burped making Nýchta’s face twist.

This seemingly sobered him up a little and so he forced himself to stand upright, even though that itself was a struggle.

“No, father because I know exactly how dinner will go. My sisters, mother and I will eat in silence while you loudly recount the glory days of yourself, Phorcys the Great... Again. I’ve beard all your stories multiple times over. The time you and your old crew encountered the Lernaean Hydra itself or your encounters with dark monsters on distant islands.” Nýchta said while sitting upright.

“Father, are you not tired from saying and doing the same things over and over and over again?” Nýchta asked making Phorcys’s eyes lower a little.

He then chuckled to himself before returning his gaze to Nýchta who’s body was almost hidden in the darkness brought about by the now sunken sun.

“I guess I could ask you the same thing, dearest daughter of mine. Are you still so marred by that day that you refuse to step out of that cyclical path you take every day? Your sisters tell me that, in all the time since then, all you’ve ever done is go to that garden and bask in the sun’s light until it begins to set. Are you not tired from saying and doing the same things over and over? And are you content with continuing as you are for another nineteen summers?”

Nýchta’s frown deepened.

She bit her teeth as stared into her fathers eyes. Eyes which, although half closed, radiated a warmth that Nýchta couldn’t, or at least didn’t want to accept and so she lowered her head just as a short woman walked up to her father’s side with a terracotta plate in hand.

She had short and blond hair like her Phorcys and Nýchta but she was more like the former in the sense that she was fat- no. Chubby was a more accurate term.

Her round body was covered in a long white silk tunic which was covered in stains here and there.

“Ah- hello again, father!”

“Hello, Euryale. I’m guessing that is for your sister?” Phorcys asked while turning to leave.

“Yes, father.” Euryale said with a bright smile that made her round cheeks light up.

“I see.” Phorcys said with a wave.

Euryale nodded before turning to Nýchta who sighed.

“Enter.” She beckoned allowing her sister to enter her room.

Euryale walked up to Nýchta’s Ned and placed the plate on the bedside table.

Nýchta gave her sister a wave, prompting her to leave the room.

Nýchta then proceeded to eat her dinner which consisted of a large piece of bread, a lump of cheese and some olives.

She had long since made it clear to her family that he had grown to distaste the taste of fish and so they stopped serving it to her.

Nýchta eventually finished eating and her sister returned with a water filled bowl allowing Nýchta to wash her hands.

Euryale then took the plate her sister had used and turned to leave but before she could, Nýchta called out her name.

“Yes?”

“You promised me you would sing to me, even in sleep but when I awoke earlier today you weren’t there.”

Euryale’s face twisted as though it were in pain.

“I’m so very sorry. It’s just that mother needed help preparing dinner so... I... Came to help.” She said, although the last words came as whispers.

“That is completely fine just try not to make promises you cannot keep, alright?” Nýchta asked with a weak smile.

“Alright.” Euryale whimpered.

“You have a beautiful voice. It helps me sleep with ease. I guess it was my fault for not taking into consideration that you had other, far more important things to do.” Nýchta sighed while laying down to rest her head.

“No! I- I mean... I could always sing for you tomorrow, right?”

“Perhaps but be sure to take care of all of your other responsibilities first, alright?” Nýchta asked.

“Yes!” Euryale said with a determined frown.

“Good. You can go now.”

Euryale nodded before promptly leaving the room.

Nýchta let out a final sigh before closing her eye and attempting to sleep.

.

..

Nýchta awoke the next day with a jolt.

Her eyes open only for the bright light of the morning sun to torment her.

She quickly sat up and moved some of her tunic’s skirt to the side, revealing a circular set of fading bite marks that lined her inner right thigh.

She had awoken so suddenly because she felt as though the scars were pulsating with pain but that was not the case and so she let out a sigh.

Nýchta stood up and left her room to find her two sister cleaning up the house.

“Good morning.” The greeted simultaneously.

“Morning.” Nýchta yawned while stepping outside to find an old and short city guard standing outside.

He had a head full of thinning hair and darkly tanned skin that was covered in wrinkles and large scars, some of which had a strange black hue to them.

He wore simple brown leather armour above his tunic and held in his hands a long spear and a bronze helmet.

The armour was a basic leather vest which covered his chest and a helmet which was covered in dents and scratches.

“Good morning, Nýchta.” The man greeted with a slight bow.

“Good morning, uncle Atrómitos. Are you here for my father?”

“Why, yes. Unfortunately your sisters said that the old sack of pig’s fat is still sleeping. So I’ll have to wait until he wakes.” Atrómitos sighed with crossed arms.

“Are you off to retrieve more goods from the coast?” Nýchta asked making Atrómitos nod.

“Yes indeed. Although Epirus is a twisted nightmarish realm nowadays.” The aged man said with a barely noticeable shiver.

Nýchta did not particularly care and so she turned around to find that her sisters had finished cleaning.

Euryale walked up to her with a bowl of dried dates and two freshly cleaned tunics, one being a much brighter white than the other.

“Oh, be sure to enjoy those. My men fought long and hard to get them here. From the far East.” Atrómitos said with a raised nose.

“Any gratitude you are expecting should come from my father.” Nýchta said while picking up one of the thumb sized fruits.

“Hehe, sure.” Atrómitos chuckled while Nýchta walked past him with Euryale in tow.

“Stheno said she would take a bath later once she was done helping father with some of his work.”

“Oh?” Nýchta sounded, not sounding particularly interested.

“Yes.” Euryale said as she followed Nýchta up the road.

The two eventually reached a large building made of pale white stone.

They entered it to find the air within was humid.

Several naked people could also be seen walking from one point to another but all who stood in front of Nýchta stopped and allowed her passage.

She led her sister deeper into the bathhouse wherein several small occupied pools were built into the floor.

These pools were filled with mineral rich and salty water.

One of the pools was empty and had a wooden chair next to it.

Nýchta and Euryale walked towards it all while men and women alike stared at them.

Nýchta glanced at her sister to find that she walked shyly her head low and her gaze even lower.

Nýchta scoffed lightly while walking completely upright.

She then stopped by the pool and promptly took of her tunic while her sister placed their things on the chair.

This revealed her near flawlessly smooth skin which was shined brightly under the light of the morning sun.

Everyone watched as Nýchta removed her pure white strophic and perizoma, revealing her fair small breasts and toned figure.

Nýchta removed her sandals last and dipped her feet into the pool of cool water.

She let out a deep sigh before turning to her sister who made a conflicted expression as she slowly removed her tunic.

It’s here that Nýchta noticed that everyone was staring at her and her sister and so she glared at them, making them resume their previous activities.

Euryale quickly undressed and entered the pool alongside Nýchta.

“Dates, please.”

Euryale nodded before handing the fruit bowl to Nýchta who ate the sweet fruits while allowing her body to soak.

The centre of the bathhouse was fed light by the rectangular shaped opening in the roof that allowing Nýchta to see the clouds as they soared above.

She felt her thoughts drift along with the clouds but before her mind could truly relax, she heard the words, whispers and chuckles of several people making her brows furrow slightly.

“Sister?” Euryale called making Nýchta’s gaze lower to find that her sister had a concerned expression.

“What?”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes and worry not. I just wish I could find a nice and quiet place to spent the rest of my days.” Nýchta said making Euryale’s expression deepen.

“Anyway, let us finish up here.”

Euryale nodded and promptly joined her sister in bathing.

The two helped washed each others hair before eventually leaving the pools, drying up and getting changed.

The two then made their way to a certain garden in the centre of the city but Nýchta’s face twisted in disgust upon seeing a dirty man sleeping on her bench.

She could smell a nauseating combination of sweat and alcohol coming from his body.

He had long blue black, curly hair, a short curly beard and, beneath his dirty brown woollen clothes, Nýchta saw glimpses physique that she had not seen even in the strongest of soldiers.

She marched up to the man while taking care not to breath to deeply and cleared her throat.

“Ahem! Excuse me.” She said but the man continued sleeping.

“Sir, you are littering this most sacred of places with your presence.” She declared but again the man did not move.

Nýchta bit her teeth.

“Maybe we should inform uncle Atrómitos or his men.” Euryale suggested but Nýchta could not bear letting the man before her do as he pleaded and so she, using her foot, tried nudging him awake.

“Get up.” She hissed but the man simply waved his right arm while groaning as though he was swatting away a fly.

Nýchta’s eyes widened to their limits.

“Get up!” She said while lightly kicking his arm.

After seeing that none of her tactics were working she raised her foot above his head.

“GET UP!” She yelled but just as she lowered her foot to kick the man in the face, he suddenly awoke, revealing his bright, sea green eyes and grabbed Nýchta’s leg with a firm grip.

“What do you want?” He growled with a voice so deep that it was as though he was responsible for the distant thunder which filled the air.