ᴇᴜɴᴏɪᴀ| pjo × hp

1| Addie

   There was a day where I thought, even for just that day and no more, that living meant being strong. Where a beating heart was the strongest you could get.

   I didn't believe that anymore. I didn't even know what strength was outside of its physical form.

   Maybe it was fighting back illness, going one step further than you were used too. Maybe it was getting up and taking a shower first thing in the morning.

   But the most convincing to me was that it was the ability to make yourself do something.

   That logic meant I was weak. Really, really weak.

~

   Addie laid on her back in her bed. It was almost 10 am. She didn't feel like moving.

   Her dad was busy at work and she was old enough to be left alone at home. So no one was there to motivate her when she didn't have the will. To be honest, she didn't normally have the will.

   Her phone beside her rang and she tiredly picked it up. Her heart dropped the slighest when she saw it was her dad.

   "Hey," she greeted him. She could hear his sigh when he realized she was still in bed.

   "Addie..." he said, "just, get some coffee or something?"

   "Yeah, I will," she agreeded. She wanted this conversation to end. Now.

   "Okay, have a good day then..." he mumbled and hung up before she said goodbye.

  She stayed in bed for another 5 minutes.

~

   With an iced coffee in hand, she sat on the couch of her living room. She drank it like it was water, but she felt queasy in her stomach.

  "Something's wrong!" her instincts screamed at her. She didn't feel like listening right then.

   But god, did she wish she just did.

~

   She was certain she had been running for 3 days at that point. Those creatures- whatever they were- had been chasing her since her house was destroyed and tried to grab her. She had no idea where her dad was.

   She had tried to tell people, but they paid her no mind. Could they even see her? She felt like falling down and sob until she couldn't move an inch and her breath became labored and she would die.

   But she didn't, every time she fell down she would suddenly become overcome with the urge to move again. And so she repeated this torture. The weather grew colder and windier every day. She wondered if she was going up north.

   She probably was. Even though she knew there was no possible way she could travel from the south to the northeast in only a few days. It was also impossible that she wasn't dead so she could believe that she was in, like, Massachusetts or somewhere now. She didn't pay attention in school.

   She was trying to climb up a tree to look around better when a man approached her. He looked like a model- but she didn't feel the same flusteredness she normally felt when looking at pretty people. Instead, she felt like she should crawl down from the tree and follow him. He was someone to trust. But that's what made her terrified. He was a stranger.

   "Adrienne?" the man called, a smile coming from his lips as he talked.

   She wanted to get down from that tree, but she didn't. She held onto it as if it was anchoring her to the world.

   "Or do you want me to call you what... what's his name, Mark? Your dad calls you? Addie?"

   She first wanted to correct him- her dad's name was Dominic. How did this stranger get that confused? Then she felt an overwhelming feeling of loneliness and anger and so many other feelings. Addie was a name exclusively for her and her dad.

   But she stayed quiet. Why? Because she was shocked at how the feelings bubbled from deep down and almost came out. She had gone so long with feeling... numb? But not numb. Just... out-of-it, that she didn't know how to process everything. She slipped from the tree.

   'So much for an anchor,' she thought, almost sarcastically. She heard a loud "thump!" and then she could feel every part of her head burning in its pain. She was thankful for the darkness that followed. It whisked her away

-

Acropolis of Athens- It was created in the 5th century BC. It was the home to religious events and much more.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/topics/ancient-greece/acropolis