Stories For the Damned

Hippokrates' Apprentice: The Beginning 3 (ACO)

"She is nice, yes?"

Hippokrates was currently asking you about Kassandra whom you had been dying to spend time with. He stayed as you stood in front of the front door awaiting her arrival. You tried not to laugh as he basically drilled you on her behavior and if she was courting you in a proper way.

He was like a concerned father.

"She is." you said, smoothing out a ripple in your chiton, a short skirt one. It was nice out and you wanted to stay cool while you and Kassandra went for a walk. "She is very...observant."

"That is good! She is a misthios after all, thank the gods she's a good one."

"I have not seen her fight but-"

"Her sword...it is well made, expensive, perhaps custom."

You quirked an eyebrow at Hippokrates. "How do you know so much about swords?"

"That is just general knowledge!" he laughed, "You should make it a point to learn about her interest. Ask her about the sword today and I'm sure that she'll be more than happy to go on about it."

"Hm."

"Do not be a....stick in the mud. Be nice, she is a good woman."

"I am not a stick in the mud!"

He chuckled, "You can be."

You sighed and felt your heartbeat a little faster as you thought about the last time you had seen her. She had shown up at the clinic whilst you were working. An apple in hand, she grinned and asked you if you would go on an evening walk with her the next day.

And, of course, you had agreed.

Now there was a knock at the front door to which you and Hippokrates looked at each other. He just shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

You tried not to look to-to nervous as you opened the door to see the misthios that you were infatuated with standing in front of you, a flower in hand.

A coral rose.

She cleared her throat and held it out. "Hi." she said with a smile. Kassandra was dressed in her usual armor, clean and shiny.

"Hello, Misthios." you smiled back, taking the gift. It was a light pink color swirled with a pristine white, a true marvel of a flower. You snapped a bit of the stem off before pinning the bud in your hair.

"You are very pretty." she grinned, offering a hand. And you took it, closing the door behind you.

Before she could start walking you leaned in, placing your free hand on her right cheek as you kissed her left one, letting your lips linger for a second before pulling away to see her face covered in a light blush.

Kassandra cleared her throat, face red as a tomato, exhaling before speaking; "Shall we?" She gestured to the road ahead.

You nodded with a smile.

Kassandra claimed to have found a nice trail for you two to walk that evening, something that she had discovered while she had been out on a run as she apparently did often. That prompted you to ask about her day to day life and she answered with stories of people that she had encountered while out working or exploring.

As you two walked, she spoke of her brother's boat and how he had turned her onto mercenary work. Her words were kind and for some reason grateful as she talked about him, though you could not discern why. Did he save her life?

"I'm guessing that you two were close growing up. You speak as if he's your best friend." you said, noting how she only glanced at you, her hold on your hand going a little slack. And you glanced at her inturn seeing her head turned to the side. Your heart dropped in your chest as you feared that you had done something wrong.

But before you could say her name or ask her what happened, she spoke.

"I did not grow up with him. Nor was I raised by my mater or pater."

Her words were solemn and you realized that she was opening up to you, something that she probably had never done with anyone else. Kassandra looked at you before looking forward as she continued on. "I was condemned to die when I was just an infant by the pythia in Sparta....Held over Mount Taygetos, I fell." She sighed, "I was taken from my family and raised as...Deimos."

"Deimos?" you said quietly.

"Yes, a name that I was given to signify the power that they believed that I possessed. A pseudonym."

You thought for a moment, taking in what she was saying. "They? And when...when did you know that your name- or- you were Kassandra?"

"When I was young." she said, "I suppose the cult thought it'd be easier if I knew who I was so that they could simply tell me that they had saved me."

"Cult..?"

"Yes, the Cult of Kosmos..."

"Huh...." You were utterly dumbfounded at her confession. You stopped walking and just looked at her as you struggled to really swallow what she was saying. She had been a part of a cult? She had another name? It dawned upon you that you were currently holding hands with probably the most complex person you had ever met in your life.

And she just looked back at you, her eyebrows slightly quirked as if she was wondering if...if you would rip your hand from hers or call her crazy.

Instead you looked her in the eyes, tilted your head, tried to understand it a bit more before giving up...for now. "You'll tell me more, later?" you said, walking once more. Despite what she may have feared, you found it incredibly intriguing.

She was silent for a second as she continued with you, possibly surprised by your calm reaction. "Yes....yes, if you want." You saw how she kept glancing at you as you two made your way into a slightly populated area, a path to an altar. You two walked it.

"That's how you got your sword then? The armor as well?"

"Wha-? Oh, yes," She looked down at her side. "It was built for me, I guess..."