The Children // ASSASSINS CREED ODYSSEY // DEIMOS

C50: The Children

"I'm so glad you look more like me now" Eos had told Iris as she'd chewed on her fist. For the first couple of months, she'd looked so much like Alexios, Eos wondered if the child had got anything from her but, her skin had got a little darker and, her features had softened. There was no mistaking she was Alexios daughter, the eyes gave it away but, Eos could let them have that.

It seemed such a silly, mundane thing to think about but, with Iris, the babe had no real idea of what was going on around her and, it was nice to think about something other than the chaos surrounding them.

It was then Eos decided Iris' fist had been chewed at enough and she passed her an apple instead. The baby shoved it in her mouth. Her teeth were starting to come through and, it seemed the only way the discomfort stopped was her to chew on something. It had made the last few nights hell and, Eos felt as if they were all teetering over the edge, sometimes even just Alexios' voice made her mad.

"Should I feel insulted" Alexios had asked, his voice almost a little timid but, he'd seen Eos smile as he sat on the floor next to them, holding one of Iris' wooden bull in his hand. Iris had dropped the apple quickly, holding her hand out for the bull - Alexios almost gave it to her when-

"You will if you you give that to her". It would be fine if the child didn't have this incessant need to put everything in her mouth.

Grimacing, Alexios had pulled back the bull and offered her back the apple instead. Iris' bottom lip had quivered just a little and Alexios had looked back at Eos - she rolled her eyes. The girl was five months old but, she already had the most feared man in Greece wrapped around her finger...

"If she gets splinters-" Eos told him,

"She won't" he insisted.

"Uh huh" Eos stood up, Iris stopping her yearning for the bull to look up with her. Alexios put the apple in her hand then, and it fell in to her lap. He was sure the baby gave him some annoyed side-eye.

"It's not that time yet" Alexios said, leaning back a little, Iris looked at him now, those little eyes of her all wide and intrigued.

"It is" Eos told him, both hearing and feeling the loud, very annoyed sigh that she was sure Alexios did for Iris' benefit more than hers - who seemed to know what it meant, the small unimpressed baby scowl coming across her face making Eos smile more than it should have.

And, in turn' only seemed to make Iris do the face more often - sometimes Eos wondered if she really had any idea what she was doing.

"Just be careful" Alexios said, he put his hand on her thigh and Eos nodded,

"I won't be long" she promised, "you make sure he's good" Eos said, Iris threw her arms in the air and gurgled, seemingly taking the edge off the moment and making Alexios smile as he looked back at his daughter.

Trying to stop her would only lead to more arguments and, they'd had enough of those lately.

Eos had put her hood up, more so to keep the wind out of her face than to hide, as she'd stepped in to what had once been Lagos' compound. Since the archon had left, he'd done good on his offer, turning the compound in to a small village for any refugees of the war, bringing back some normality for the citizens that had lost their homes.

It gave them safety, as well as routine. It made this nightly walk just that, a moment for her to escape the tedious work that came with a baby and, the tailor had nodded at her as she went in to her own home next door. Eos had returned the gesture.

The people here were nice. Normal.

Even if they did give Alexios a wide birth sometimes, it never attracted enough attention for them to worry about it.