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As June walked through the bustling streets of Athens he found a library offering board for cheap.
She walked in and paid for her room. She walked upstairs to sleep off her travels.
Once she woke up she grabbed a scroll, she was not supposed to be in Athens but after she learnt how to warp miles away from her four walled prison with just a snap of her fingers she wanted to travel and see everything her father never wanted her to.
She wrote a few protection runes down on the scroll and hid it under her bed just in case her father noticed her absence before she was ready to leave this strange place.
June composed herself, glamouring herself to the best of her ability, her hair as stubborn as ever, but she decided to leave it and she quickly tied it into a pony tail before walking out of her room to the center of town where stalls were scattered selling all kinds of exotic and hand made goods. June looked around taking in the cool fresh air, she took in a long deep breath. As she walked through the streets the cacophony of thoughts quickly overwhelmed her and she decided to walk to the city's edge where there was a cliff overlooking the vast sea, she sat down letting her feet dangle over the edge while she looked out taking in the view.
“That hair is beautiful…”
an unfamiliar voice remarked and June jumped at the sound of the sudden thought.
“Careful don’t want you to fall, sorry i didn’t mean to spook you may i join you?”
June turned to see who the voice belonged to, she saw a tall man who had olive skin and deep brown eyes which matched his almost black hair.
“Please do,” she scooted over slightly after realizing she had stared for just slightly too long, the man sat next to her chuckling slightly. He offered June a hand shake
“Names Erik."
“J- Aionios, my name's Aionios” she shook Erik's hand.
“Everlasting what an interestingly beautiful name”
“Well it's nice to meet you Aionios, your parents have a funny sense of humor or something?” he laughed as they shook hands.
“Yeah something like that…” She trailed off looking back towards The ocean.
“Soooo Aionios, your hair…how did you get it that colour?” He asked, looking at her hair intently.
“Oh uh…I use uh ground Flower pigments…it's very common where I'm from.” She fumbled through her words to come up with a somewhat convincing lie, Erik though seemed to buy it and nodded before asking.
“And where is it you are from?”
“Oh uh far far…far away, my parents travelled a lot when I was younger so I'm from everywhere.” She laughed trying to hide her poor poker face.
“Uh what about you? Where are you from?”
“Oh I was born and raised here actually, been coming to this cliff since I could walk.” he looked out at the ocean as if remembering a fond memory as he spoke.
“Oh well apologies for intruding, I didn't know this cliff was yours.” She joked laughing at her own joke.
“Someone who is as lovely company as you is always welcome here.”
The two continued sitting on that cliff chatting for the rest of the day, and the day after that, and the week after that, for six months until one day they were sitting there together and Erik asked a rather unexpected question, except well it wasn't unexpected to June at least.
He cleared his throat ending the topic the two were on, as if preparing himself for something. But his thoughts were loud and June could hear them clearly.
“I like you, I like you, I like you.”
“Aiónóis, we've been meeting here for” he counted on his fingers.
“…six months now and well I was wondering if we'll I mean I li-” He went to continue sputtering through his sentence but was cut off by June grabbing his chin and kissing him, a kiss he quickly reciprocated, after what felt like a while she pulled back.
“Yes you idiot, I like you.” She squeezed his hand reassuringly.
“...you do? H-how long?”
“a while, I was just waiting for you to tell me you felt the same.” She smiled fondly as if she hadn't Just revealed all his anxieties from the past few weeks where for nothing
“This whole time and she still waited for me to ask first, she is too perfect”
“Not this whole time just a whi-” he quirked an eyebrow at her disconnected words.
“I didn't-”
“Oh uh no I just wanted to clarify um I'm not a ‘love at first sight’ kind of gal you know”
She laughed self-deprecatingly at her own to fast response, Erik laughed taking her hand and helping her up.
“Come on, let's go back into town. I say celebration is in order” she smiled as he helped her up letting him lead her towards town.
They went into town and celebrated, though many of Erik's friends teased him about taking this long to ask her out. But it barely mattered as the two drank and danced surrounded by friends and Erik's mother who cooked the most delicious roast lamb for them upon hearing that her son might not be single forever. After the celebrations they proceeded home to sleep off the wine and bad decisions in the sweet company of each other.
They spent the next two years together in bliss, they lived simple lives Erik would go and train with the soldiers whilst June stayed home with Erik's mother who would teach her to cook all those delicious recipes she wanted to teach a daughter she never had, and when Erik returned home they would eat exuberant amounts of food before collapsing In bed together erik whispering sweet nothing's to june as he stroked her hair.
One morning in late April the pair were abruptly woken by a frantic knocking on the door and the sound of sobbing down stairs.
Erik was the first to wake and receive the notice before gently nudging June and telling her.
“...there's a war, I have no choice, I have to go.” He frantically looked through the dresser before pulling out a small ring.
“Aiónóis wi-” he was cut off by Junes' hand covering his mouth.
“Save it, ask me when you return, promise me you will return.”
“I…I promise.”
“swear it swear it on the Styx.”
“I do, I swear it on the river Styx I will return to you Aiónóis.” They kissed quickly as if it was the last time they ever would, because maybe it was, but neither of them should think like that.
Weeks passed with no word of the battle, Erik's mother became sick with worry and became bed ridden with only June to tend to her. June's dark circles under her eyes began to darken. The stress was all too much. Only a week after Erik's deployment June found out she was with child; the morning sickness paired with Erik's mother deteriorating made June feel like she was drowning.
It all came to a head when the ship carrying injured soldiers came to Port.
June waited at the dock patiently waiting to see if Erik was there or anyone had any news, the last soldier to disembark was Erik's closest friend, Otus, June ran to him frantically asking where he was. He tried to sooth her, leading her to the cliff where June and Erik met.
“ Bastard asked me to tell you this here,” he sighed, fiddling with something in his pocket.
“Aiónóis, I am so sorry.” he breathed steadying himself.
“Erik died, a week ago a soldier got confused on the field and stabbed him by accident right through the heart.” June faltered, he was dead, he was really truly dead, she didn't know what to say or how to feel. She just felt rage, a hand was put reassuringly on her shoulder.
“I already killed him for his mistake, don't worry, but Erik asked me to give you this.” He pulled out the ring, the ring he was going to propose to her with. She took it with shaking hands.
“I'll leave you to it, I am truly sorry he was a great man.” She fell to her knees completely numb as blood pooled around her.
She screamed, she screamed so loud it shook the heavens and the ocean rose up battering the city and toppling ships, as every trace of Erik was ripped from this world. Ripped from her.
Then and there she made a vow, she vowed that no mother, son or child shall ever feel this pain again and she swore that on her life they'll be saved.
She felt herself falling and she let it happen she fell and fell until she teleported herself back to her lonely empty room for one, except there was someone else there.
“Hi”