The Deviant Path to Olympus

Chapter 8

The air was calm, Gaiana and Sophus spent the rest of the day on a hilltops away from the city. The world had been calm all day, a gust of wind passed with sun's warmth to give them both a light sensation as they laid on the ground while staring at the clouds.

"I don't want to forget this feeling," Gaiana said with her eyes closed. She breathed in deep to the air above her. "The feeling, of being saved. Of being so hopeless, but then having a miracle come by."

Gaiana held Sophus' hand as they laid back on the tall grass. "Yeah," Sophus said calmly, "it's like, things have been dark for so long, and now it's finally over. The weight is lifted. This world feels... Lighter."

"This must be what the titan Atlas wants," Gaiana turned her head at him, "what are you gonna do about your dad? Me getting sold was going to release him from his debt, what now?"

Sophus shrugged, "honestly, I don't know. I was so afraid for you I focused on keeping you here, not about what to do after it was done." Sophus clenched his fist. "Honestly, I just want to see that man squirm. I lost my sisters thanks to him, I don't care if he ends up in prison or a slave for all that debt he owes."

"We're still his," Gaiana said, "anything that happens to him, we'll have to pay for it too."

Sophus let out a sigh, "I know. Honestly, me saving you probably means we're all going to end up slaves to some debt collector soon."

They both sighed together. Gaiana said, "you know I tried running away yesterday."

Sophus' raised an eyebrow, "you know, that's both shocking and unsurprising."

"How so?"

"It's shocking that you ran away from something instead of confronting it. And unsurprising that you did another thing that you weren't supposed to."

Gaiana grinned at that. With a frown she added, "it was a stupid plan. I would've died after a week of living on my own."

Sophus leaned on an arm and turned to Gaiana, "do you think we could do it? Run away from my father, and have a new beginning?"

Gaiana shook her head, "your dad saved my life when I was a baby, I still owe him for that."

"I think you owe me more than you owe him." Gaiana raised an eyebrow at that. Sophus said, "think about it, you've been a household slave your entire life, but when things finally went down under, you stopped becoming family and became a commodity."

"So?" Gaiana argued, "he fed me my whole life, that shouldn't go unappreciated."

"Buuut," Sophus leaned in, "if his problems are a consequence of his own actions, why should his family pay for it?"

"Because all we have is family. We'd both be nothing without those ties."

"But in this case, we're worse off for having those ties."

"Sophus," Gaiana grumbled, "he's your father. The least you owe him is your loyalty."

"I'm loyal to you, Gaiana. You deserve that more than he does."

"No I don't."

"See?" Sophus stroked at her autumn hair, "she's humble, too."

"Shut up, bastard."

"Gaiana, start a family with me."

Gaiana sat up, "what?"

"We both deserve lives better than what we have. I love you more than anything in this world. I want to leave him and start something new with you. I want a family worth being happy for."