Gaiana always had a love hate relationship with the night. On one hand, the stars were beautiful. They were specs of dust trapped in the air, shining down on the world like they were competing for attention within the darkness. On the other hand, she was homebound. Everyone was. Going out at night was illegal in the city, largely out of fear of stragglers trying to mug citizens at night. The Scythian guardsman of the night were most vigilant during this time, intent of capturing any night goers and catching them as thieves.

Gaiana's cowl was bleak, identical to the shrouds at the edges of buildings. The dark moon helped keep her hidden within the shadows of the darkness, hiding her figure despite it being a star-filled night.

She sprinted from street to street, hiding beneath the night cover before reaching the docks. She knew how to sail a ship. Er, sort of. She'd seen so many people do it before, she was confident she could do it herself.

There was a small sail ship at the edges of the port side. Not sturdy enough to go deep into the thrashing seas, but fast enough for her to sail to the nearest island and take refuge there. From there, she could figure out her options for where to go next. Gaiana let out a sigh of grief, "nowhere in Greece is good for a non-greek slave girl..."

Between her recognizable tattoo and gender, freedom wasn't possible for someone like her. She began wondering if she could live better in Egypt than she could in Greece. Too bad I don't speak other languages.

Gaiana turned around, only to a see a mutt staring up at her with eyes of curiosity. The dog was heavy, with droopy skin, but only wagged its tail and breathed heavy upon looking at her. She blinked at the creature, "shoo."

Gaiana walked forward, and the mutt followed her. She looked back at the dog and squinted, "away vile creature!"

She whispered it while raising her arms in defiance. The dog only tilted its head, and looked at Gaiana in intrigue. "Listen," Gaiana whispered, "I'm running away, and I don't have enough to feed a dog. Please, go away and leave me alone."

The dog barked at her. Gaiana jolted up, and walked back onto a tall man's stomach. He stared down at her. The man in the darkness grabbed her by the hand with a hard voice and grip, "thief!"

Gaiana froze in her place. It was a Scythian guard looking down at her with hard eyes full of anger. "Good job Brutus," the guard tossed a piece of food at the dog, to which it caught mid-air and began chewing down in glee.

The guard looked down Gaiana with his same hard grip around her wrist. "Planning on stealing cargo, wretch?"

"I-"

"A girl?" Another guard said stepping behind him. "Thieves aren't what they used to be, are they?"

The guard that grabbed her by the arm lifted it up. He was large, and Gaiana was small. It was easy for him to display his power to her, "where's your family, girl? Or are you some tart looking for a bad time?"

"Not at this hour," the guard behind him said. The second guard from behind was thin, which only emphasized the larger ones' already robust figure. Their armors were cheap, but as Athenian guards, it was sufficient enough to make them seem more powerful than the average citizen. "Girl this late had to be here to steal something."

Gaiana tried to speak, but her voice was caught in her own throat. They were right. She was there for exactly what they expected. She should've known that the docks would've been the most secure place in the city during the night.

The one grabbing her said, "listen here, if you're looking to rob someone, you've come to the wrong place. If you're looking to sell yourself, you've also come to the wrong place. So either you tell us where you come from, or we're going to do some classic Athenian justice on you."

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The guard put his palm on the hilt of his sword. Gaiana simply froze, with an unquenching fear overtaking her body. "I-" she still couldn't speak. Completely overpowered, she didn't know what to do. She only stared at them in a heavy quiet as she wondered what fate they'd bring to her.

"Gone quiet now?" The smaller one said. "Well have it your way then, let's-"

"What's that?" A women's voice from behind called out. The two guards turned over to her. It was a dark out, but the two men stiffened from the sound of her voice. "Captain," the one holding Gaiana said, "We just caught this thief sneaking around the docks. No doubt trying to steal some of the merchant's cargo."

The guard finally put Gaiana's arm down, confident she'd stay still. Gaiana stayed frozen in fear. The captain looked down at Gaiana's face and said, "Gaiana?"

It was Mimoza. Guarding the docks like a noble mercenary would. "What are you doing here?" Mimoza asked. Her voice wasn't at all stern or angry, it was the sound of a person genuinely concerned for someone else's well being.

Gaiana simply stayed quiet. The skinny guard asked, "Oiy, you know her?"

"Both of you go back to your patrols," Mimoza ordered. "I know her family, I can take her home."

The larger brutish guard tilted his head in their direction. He put two and two together. "Aye then, she's a runaway slave then, ain't she?"

He was smarter than he looked. Despite seeming like a brutish monstrous type, the man predicted everything Gaiana had planned out perfectly. The skinny one said, "quite stupid then, slaves got nowhere to run to. Might as well run to an early death, all the same."

Gaiana's mouth scrunched beneath the darkness. They were right. She had nowhere to go, and leaving without money or food was akin to a death sentence.

"Granit, Astrin, go do your duties. I'll take it from here." Without asking, Mimoza took Gaiana by the hand, and walked her to the direction she'd run away from.

They left the others behind and walked together in silence. Mimoza held her hand tightly as they crossed the city Gaiana tried to escape from. It was the only city she'd ever known, with quirks and nuances that only lifelong residents such as herself could understand. It was a city she wanted to escape from. Not because she wanted to, but because not knowing the future was too much to bear.

The two of them passed by the temple steps of the Athena Citadel, and Gaiana finally stopped her feet in place. Mimoza didn't push her further, and only stopped alongside her. "Are you gonna ask what I was doing?" Gaiana said.

"Only if you want to tell me."

Gaiana glanced over at the building next to them. The building was beautiful, an epitome of Greek innovation art and design. She loved walking by it, seeing the sculpted painting of Goddess Athena raising a spear to the sky. It always made her dream, dream of being a goddess living high above the people of Athens.

Gaiana's voice began to shake, "Archos is going to sell me." Nothing she wanted was going right. With the gesture of another man, her life was nothing more than a commodity for others. "And I don't know what's going to happen to me."

Gaiana finally bursted out crying. Mimoza leaned in closely to hug her tightly. Gaiana whaled out in emotion as Mimoza held her, repeating the words 'I'm scared' as Mimoza held her tightly.

"Gaiana," Mimoza said loudly, "listen to me, this new fate that's in store for you, this is your winter, I promise you that your spring will come."

Gaiana shook her head, "how do you know? You don't know that for sure!"

Mimoza touched the tears on her cheek. "This world is more than just the fates we are born with. The Gods do not look down on people like you and condemn them to damnation. You are beauty, you are full of hope, you are a light to this world and the people around you. This is not an ending to your life. The Goddess Persephone does not let the plants wither and die for the sake of bringing them pain, she does it so that spring blossoms can create life anew. So that the old wither away, and new colors are expressed to the world."

Gaiana clenched at her chest, "I feel like I'm drowning, except instead of being in Poseidon's embrace, I'm just losing the breath in me, again and again."

"This pain you feel, this fear you have. It will pass. Your future cannot be bleak, fate would never will it."

Gaiana shook her head, "my parents left me to die when I was born, why would fate be good to me now?"

"Because fate has always been good to you." Mimoza said in a lower whisper, "fate gave you a family, it gave you a second chance at life. The Gods won't abandon you that easily now. You just need to be strong, strong enough to endure whatever future that lies in store for you."

Gaiana's head fell into Mimoza's chest. Mimoza held her as she teared for the rest of the night.