491BC: Athens

"This is a melon."

"Yes, yes, buy?"

Gaiana stared down at the round hot plump object. She shook it next to her ear, "it whooshes."

"Whooshing is good."

Gaiana's emerald colored eyes furrowed. Despite her anger, she wasn't taken seriously due to her miniature frame and short cut red-brown hair. "I want to sample it."

"Sample it?" The merchant's eyebrow rose. He seriously questioned why he even bothered to try his hand at fruit sales in the first place.

"Yes, just a small bite," she said casually.

The merchant groaned, "no, you either buy it, or leave it. Stop wasting my time."

He waved his hand at her like she was a fly in his way. Gaiana's fluffy eyebrows furrowed at him. Even the light freckles across her cheeks seemed offended, "you're the one selling us rotten fruit, the least you can do is let me sample it."

Gaiana spoke high enough to be heard by the people around her. Several heads turned her way as they heard the words 'selling rotten fruit', at the marketplace.

"Oiy," the much older man said, "I'm trying to do business here. If you don't like my business, then go."

"No," Gaiana growled with a smile, "how dare you sell rotten fruit and expect equal price for it. I demand I sample these for the well being of my city!"

"Listen girl," the man put a hand at his dagger for her to see, "if you don't quit your tramp yammering mouth I swear I'll-"

"You'll do what now?" Another voice from behind said.

The merchant stared behind to see a woman staring down at him. Her arms were crossed, with a half smile and furrowed grey-colored eyes that showed she was suspicious of him. She was towering above him, a full head over him despite him being twice the woman's age. The red-haired woman had leather warrior wears and sword that showed she was a far more formidable warrior than he could ever be.

She had tied back fiery hair, like she was trying to emulate Athenian class despite being born a foreigner. The merchant pointed at Gaiana, "this wench is trying to drive away my business."

The guard woman stared at Gaiana, Gaiana put on a half smile and said, "hi Mimoza."

"Hi Gaiana," Mimoza replied.

The merchant blinked at the guard, and then at Gaiana. "Do all foreigners know each other?"

"Of course," Gaiana and Mimoza said in unison.

Gaiana, despite being fifteen, had the fury of a grown warrior. She was well known by the guards of the city, causing mischief by trying to enforce laws she had no authority to carry out. It was like she was a self-proclaimed public servant, doing her best to catch scammers at the market for the sake of the city.

If only she weren't so naive.

Gaiana pointed at the melons, "he's selling the citizens of Athens rotten fruit. Like his produce, he's going to corrupt our people and spread deadly disease across the populace until the gods strike us down for our negligence of not stopping it in time."

"Bah," the merchant waved her off, "mad girl. A tramp. Take her away, chop her tongue off if you have to."

Mimoza rolled her eyes, she took a melon and shook it at her ear. "These melons are bad, and you can get in serious trouble for trying to sell these."

The merchant puffed, "what do you know about produce? I bought them fair and square. If I say they're good, I know they are. Leave me alone and take the tramp with you."

Mimoza thrusted her sword into the merchant's fruit, causing the gross slime to leak out. "These fruit are bad, and if they'll make people sick, you'd be responsible for their murder if it killed someone. So either you pack your things and stop selling for the day, or I'll go downtown and prepare and assembly trial for you. See if the citizens are happy with you selling them shit that will get them killed."

The merchant's face paled. The guard was being serious. Selling bad produce was a serious offense, and he could face serious penalties for it. Without saying another word, he packed up his bags and headed away from the market. "Damn scythian," he muttered beneath his breathe.

Mimoza rolled her eyes. "Come on kid, you've caused enough trouble for today.

"It was his fault," Gaiana said casually as they walked away, "I was just trying to save the city."

"You're a melodramatic little thing, did you know that?"

"If I weren't, life would be too dull."

Minoza snickered, "next time, please let us guardsman do our jobs, and don't try to start a riot in the middle of the marketplace again."

"That only happened twice," Gaiana grumbled, "and one of them deserved it."

"You know, most masters by now would sell off their slaves for being as rambunctious as you are."

"Oh hush Puff," Gaiana pouted, "Archos couldn't sell me off if he tried. I'm the only reason his lazy bum even gets up in the morning. I swear that drunkard would die without me."

Mimoza shook her head, "Gaiana, I'd like to remind you that at the end of the day, you're still just a slave. You can be sold off or taken at a moment's notice, and I can't always be here to protect you."

Gaiana puckered her mouth. In a quieter tone she murmured, "you're a slave too..."

"I'm a state slave, which means I enforce the law. You, on the other hand, are property. Which means a day might come where you're sold away for causing more trouble than your worth."

Gaiana's mouth settled into a frown. Mimoza was right, as much as she hated to admit. Despite growing up with her master's family, she was still technically property in the eyes of the state.

An albino colored bat flew onto Gaiana's shoulder. It licked Gaiana's cheek putting a tender smile on her lips. The bat had a coin between its teeth, and dropped it at Gaiana's palm when she opened it in front of it.

Mimoza blinked at her, "did... you teach Nikki to steal for you?"

"Not steal, find." Gaiana's petted the pet bat. "Not my crime if one of nature's creatures gives me someone else's lost coin."

Mimoza let out a laugh. "You really take bypassing the law to a whole new level, you know that?"

Gaiana shrugged, "I think slaves like me have to, wouldn't you agree?"

They walked passed the temple of Ares, the Greek God of War. It stood tall in a perfect rectangular shape, omitting a heavy shadow in front of the building's marble infrastructure. Ahead of the shadow, an old man was heard laughing aloud to himself. He had gone mad long ago, was abandoned by his family and now relied on the charity of passerbyers that fed him out of pity or sympathy. He was balding, all his teeth were missing, and his thin bones showed that he was already on the road to dying.

Mimoza said, "you have a good family, Gaiana. They take care of you, they love you. Do you have any idea how lucky you are to have that as a slave?"

Gaiana tried not to make eye contact with the insane old man. Ignoring him like he didn't exist. Gaiana said quietly, "yeah... I just hate it when people say I only have it good when compared to other slaves..."

Mimoza fell quiet at that. Gaiana had grown up a slave. She was once a naive, untamed child, growing up with other Athenian children not realizing that she could never be counted as equals amongst them.

Now, she was a blossoming young woman. On the cusp of womanhood, if she were a citizen she'd be considered perfectly suited for marriage. But as a slave, she could have neither a husband or children for the rest of her life.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Mimoza thought carefully about what to say next, knowing full well that she needed to make Gaiana's dim outlook to become more positive. Mimoza asked, "Have you ever heard of the story of Atalanta?"

Gaiana shook her head.

"Atalanta a legendary hero, daughter of the Titan goddess Clymene... As the story went, when Atalanta was first born, her father was so angry that she wasn't a boy, he left her on a mountain to die by the elements of nature."

"Like me?"

Mimoza nodded, "fortunately for her, either by luck of the gods or by the gods looking the other way, a family of bears found her in her place. They raised her, protected her, and nurtured her as their own since she had no family to speak of." Mimoza poked at Gaiana's shoulder, "could you imagine if bears found you instead of Archos? You'd be harder to control than you already are."

"Impossible!"

"That might actually be right."

Gaiana finally laughed, Mimoza continued.

"Atalanta, grew up to become a world renowned hunter. Using her knowledge of the wilds, Artemis bestowed her blessing onto hers, and she eventually married a man blessed by another god's affection. Only after proved his worth to her in her trial."

"He proved his worth to her?"

Mimoza chuckled, "That's actually whole other story. The point I'm trying to make, is that even a woman abandoned by a God made something of herself. Fate is just funny that way, we're often never raised in the circumstances we yearn for. So while it's true you couldn't be born a free greek like everyone else in this city, your own life is still valuable by itself. Because who knows, maybe the gods still have something valuable in store for you."

Gaiana smiled at the thought of that. Underneath Gaiana's short auburn cut hair, a tattoo was stamped behind her shoulder blade. It was a circular tattoo, with several semicircle marks extended in and outside of each other. Dots scattered around the circles, like a stellar constellation trying to reveal something.

Gaiana was found with that tattoo. No one could translate it, most Athenians simply assumed it was some sort of slave brand they'd never seen before. Gaiana stared up at Mimoza's crystal necklace. It was a beautiful piece of jewelry, and she was always encapsulated by its faint lifelike glow that it had to it.

Gaiana said, "I had another dream last night.... I think the gods are trying to tell me something."

"What was the dream?"

"Thunder," Gaiana said. "This time I could see below the night sky. A rooftop of a temple of worship."

"Temple for whom?"

Gaiana tapped her forehead, "urgh, all temples look the same."

"That seems like an important detail. As in, it could literally be a prophecy but you forgot which temple it is."

Gaiana rubbed at her forehead harder, "I don't remember. Dammit, I'll dream again tonight and ask someone when I'm there."

Mimezo smiled, "I guess that's the best course of action." The sun began to set, and Gaiana's home came into view.

The house was small, made up from wood with a clay foundation. It said a lot about Archos himself. He had a lot of land and a lot of space, all given to him through a stroke of luck. And yet, he had nothing more to show for it. No extended family to live in it, no workers to rent the space. It was only the three of them. Gaiana, her master, and her master's son.

At that moment, Nikki the bat hopped from Gaiana's shoulder and landed on Mimoza's shoulder. Neither of them knew where the bat came from, and neither of them questioned it. It simply began following them one day, and rotated between them as though it was taking turns with which master it wanted. Nikki was the name they agreed to give it, because Gaiana's name suggestions were too ridiculous for Mimoza to accept.

Gaiana waved goodbye to Mimoza before entering her home. Mimoza was an admirable woman, both as a warrior and as a woman. Gaiana had no mother so to speak, but she liked to think of Mimoza as a distant mother. Despite only knowing each other for a year, Mimoza treated Gaiana with a sort of tutorship that she'd never experienced before. It was a bit odd, having a warrior slave a role model.

Looking inside, she already found her master and his son laid against the fireplace with copper cups of wine in their hands. They were passed out. A drunken father and son who didn't know how to control their own appetites for drinking.

She looked around the household, there were several other men passed out there, which meant it was her job to clean up after all of them. Gaiana walked towards her master's son first. "Get up Sophus."

Gaiana kicked him on the head. "Ouch," he said in surprise, "do you mind? I was napping quite well."

"Good for you," Gaiana said with her hands clasped, "mind telling your extended family to go away so that I can start cleaning?"

Sophus looked around the room. There were almost a dozen men who had all drank themselves unconscious. "Yes, we all do look like family now, don't we?"

"Yes. Now be a good family man, and tell them to get the fuck out of our home."

"That's impolite language, my darling."

Gaiana placed a foot on his stomach, "call me darling again, and I'll crush your balls again."

"You know that's my fetish."

Gaiana stomped at his crotch. Sophus screamed in pain as he stood up from the ground cupping beneath the waist, "alright, alright! I'll get them to leave!" He walked off in pain as he breathed heavily.

Gaiana looked around at the folks in the cottage. It was a nice home, weathered by constant partying from an irresponsible father and son. She missed having Sophus' sisters around, because at the very least they could escape together from these parties, and talk the days away to forget about Archo's drinking problems.

Sophus caught his breathe again as he jogged in place, "okay, um. I'll get rid of them now. Do you... Mind?"

Gaiana nodded, she left the main room and went to hide into her own room. Sophus didn't like it when she was around the other men, they always looked at her strangely like she was a prostitute they could pay for.

After Sophus managed to get the other men out of the house, Sophus and Gaiana carried Archos to his room and laid him on the bed, opting not to wake him up for the night. They both went to cleanup the mess left together, and then cooked a vegetable stew supper after finishing.

"So what was the occasion?" Gaiana said, chewing with her mouth open as she leaned on a cheek to speak with him.

Sophus was eighteen. Tall, healthy, with none of the negative traits his father had. Sure, he drank too much occasionally, but that was strictly in the presence of others and never for the sake of self-indulgence.

He was handsome too. With an athlete's body, Sophius' was taller than his father, with lustrous black hair and wide dark colored eyes. Before his mom died, Sophus' mom referred to him as 'your father before he became wicked', but Gaiana often wondered if they were really related in the first place.

Sophus' smile was always constant. Moderate and humble, he was like a tiny light in the presence of other people.

"He said he could pay off a chunk of his debt tomorrow." Sophus waved his hand at her, "probably another get rich quick scheme, you know how father is."

"You know you're the only one that can stop him, right? You're his only son, he has to listen to you."

"Ironically enough, I know he listens to you more than he does to me."

"What? Why?"

"Because you're a slave. Whenever I scold him, he thinks I'm just an ignorant son who doesn't know what he's talking about. But when you scold him, he feels stupid. Especially when you have a point. And since you only ever scold him in private, it gives him the chance to backtrack without fear of being ashamed."

Gaiana scrunched her lips, "you're eighteen now. You'll end up inheriting his debt if you don't set him on the right track."

"I know," Sophus waved his hand. "Truth is, I've made quite a lot of money through loans to merchants at the market. I don't have a lot now, but it'll seriously grow in a few more years. Now I'm just debating whether I should do what's right and pay off dad's debts, or leave him to squirm to face the consequences of his shitty mistakes."

Gaiana sipped her soup more slowly, "I'd leave him, if I were you."

Sophus frowned at her. But then he smiled, "no way am I leaving you with that bastard. Once I raise enough, I'll take you with me."

Sophus leaned close to pat her on the head. She smiled, not approving, but not objecting either.

They said goodnight to each other before going back to their own rooms. Gaiana stretched her arms before dropping to her bed. Most slaves didn't get their own room. She used to sleep with Archos' other daughters, but now the nights were becoming lonely as more nights passed by. At the very least, Gaiana could find sanctuary through the countless dreams she'd been having lately.

Her eyes closed, and she quickly drifted to sleep.

A warrior woman sprinted across the race line. Men and women cheered at the competitors running. As she dashed passed the man in an easy stride, she winked and smiled at the losing racer.

Gaiana watched down at the two racers as a ghost, like a spectator god watching to be entertained.

The man quickly threw an apple to his side. Atalanta saw a shiny golden tint from the object, and stopped in her place to reach for the object.

"Don't get distracted," Gaiana shouted. "He's cheating."

Atalanta turned back at her opponent. He was now much further along the race than her and she dashed back towards him with the apple in her hand. Upon reaching him, Hippomenes threw another apple in her direction. Atalanta almost ignored it, but then paused, and went back to reach for the second apple.

"You're being an idiot," Gaiana said, "he's doing it to distract you."

With a smile, Atalanta picked the golden apple up, and returned to her race again. This time she slowed down upon running next to him. They smiled at each other, and Hippomenes dropped the last apple right before reaching the finish line. Atalanta smiled as she ran backwards to catch a golden apple again.

Hippomenes finished the race line as Atalanta slowly picked the apple up, and then smiled forward at the finish line to the man who had beaten her.

Gaiana raised an eyebrow, "why... Would you let him win?"

The image clouded into another dream sequence, it was a wedding between Hippomenes and Atalanta.

"Oh," Gaiana said as her dream was ending, "you let him win, so that he could marry you."

Gaiana woke up in the middle of the night. A commotion had startled her. Sophus and Archos had returned later than usual, and they were both whispering loudly at each other.

"You can't do that," Sophus said with a shaky voice. "I grew up with her, we've done everything for her, how can... how can you get rid of her after all of that?"

"I'm sorry son," Archos said to his son, "The debt has grown. If I don't bring it down now, I'll lose everything. My house, my land, my freedom.... I have to remove the burden somehow, and Gaiana can be sold for a high price."

"She doesn't deserve that!" Sophus yelled, "you and your gambling ruined everything! Your goddamn lies screwed us over. You sold your own daughters into slavery, I'm not letting you do the same with Gaiana! She's not a fucking object, she's-"

Archos backhanded Sophus across the face. "Never speak to me like that," Archos said heavy. "Now listen, my mistakes are my own but Gaiana is the solution. She was born a slave and will always be a slave. Tomorrow she will be auctioned off to whoever pays most. Do you understand?"

Sophus' eyes widened, with a lump in his throat he said, "let me buy her... She could be freed, I want to marry her."

Gaiana's eyes watered at the sound of that. They'd grown up together, despite not sharing blood they were each other's only sanctuary through all the hardships Archos had put them through.

Archos said, "We both know you can't afford to buy her, or to provide for her. I'll auction her tomorrow, you can throw your own price if you'd like, but we both know they'll pay more than you can afford."

Gaiana and Sophus had tears filling their eyes. Each knew that Archos was right.

Gaiana covered her mouth and she quivered as she sat silently in her room. Mimoza was right. At the end of the day, Gaiana was nothing more than a slave to the world.