“Welcome,” A girl behind the counter said as cheery customers strolled into the store. One of the men tipped their hats in greeting as he muttered a small “bonjour”. He was quite flustered to see an Asian girl greet them.

“The pastries and bread are straight out of the oven,” The girl advertised.

The group of men picked out a variety of loaves. They walked up to the girl, who punched in numbers to her cash register, all while wrapping the bread and putting them in bags.

“Thank you,” The girl smiled delicately. “Please, stop by again.”

The girl let out a sigh, as no one was around to witness her weariness. The door opened and a blonde girl walked in apologizing.

“I’m so sorry! I got caught up with errands!” She said as she put on her uniform over her blouse. “I’ll make sure to compensate for the time.”

“Don’t worry about it,” The girl said. “There weren’t a lot of people who came by today anyway, so it wasn’t too hectic for me to get mad at you for being late.”

“Sorry,” The native girl said. “I’ll still repay you back. Want to get coffee one day? It’ll be on me.”

“You really don’t have to,” The girl replied. “Don’t worry about it.”

“No, I insist!” The blonde replied. “You’re always so nice, and plus, I just want to hang out with you. Think of this to be more of a bonding experience than payback, ok?”

“Well if you put it that way, I have no reason to decline. Ok.” The girl replied in defeat.

“Cool!” The other replied. “Now, move along, I don’t want to waste any more of your time!”

“Thanks, see you tomorrow!” The girl replied as walked into the back room to change out of her uniform. She grabbed her bag and walked out the back door. The sun was still out, but the girl could tell that the sun would soon hide under the Earth. She walked around before setting down her bag and sitting on the grass. She set up a sign stating “€5 for drawing”.

Not very appealing, but it’s better than nothing.

The girl took out her paintbrush and canvas paper. She took out various colors of paint and sorted them according to shade.

“Hello,” The girl heard a small voice.

She looked up and met eyes with a brunette. “I see that you are offering to draw something.”

“Oh yes!” The girl said eagerly. “May I ask what you request?”

“I was wondering if you could draw me,” the brunette said.

“Of course!” The artist smiled in delight.

She was happy to finally get a request, as people look at the low prices and doubt the quality. Quite ironic, as those same people probably complain about high prices.

“Now this is the annoying part, please just stay still for roughly 10 minutes. Then you’ll just need to wait about an hour after to pick up the final product.” The girl said.

The brunette nodded as she sat down in a comfortable pose.

The artist took one long look at the girl and then began to sketch. She occasionally looked up at the model before finishing the rough drawing of the girl.

“If you’d like, you can come back later to pick this up.” The artist suggested.

“Would it be rude to ask to watch?” The girl asked.

“No, but sadly I would prefer for the result to be a surprise. Of course, if you don’t trust that I’ll be here, I’ll gladly let you loiter around in front of me.” The artist said.

“Don’t worry, I trust you.” The girl said as she got up.

“Thank you, I promise I won’t let your expectations down.”

The girl continued to paint the small details in her drawing. She made sure that even the smallest feature was not ignored. After she finished, she looked at it and smiled in satisfaction. On cue, the customer came back.

“I have finished your request!” The artist said.

“Can’t wait to see it!” The girl replied.

“Ok! 1-2-3!” The artist revealed the vibrant portrait. “Ta-dah!”

“Oh my God!” The girl gasped. “This is beautiful!”

“Thank you, you flatter me.”

“No! Like I feel bad just giving you $5 dollars for this!” The girl took out her wallet and gave a $100 bill. “I feel bad for only giving you this, but this is all I have in cash right now!”

“You’re too kind!” The artist said. “Please, I just like doing this for fun. Your compliments are enough! Really! Money has numerical value, while reactions like yours are priceless!”

“I feel bad though! I mean this is too gorgeous!” The girl said.

“Don’t be! It was very nice to have a beautiful model to paint this morning.”

“You flatter too much,” The girl said. “What is your name?”

“My name is Heejin.” The artist replied. “May I ask for your name?”

“My name is Camille.” Camille took out her phone. “May I have your number! It would be a great honor to have you as an acquaintance.”

“Oh please, I’m no one special.” Heejin said. “If anything, I’d be happy to ask you to be my model from time to time.”

“Of course! I’d love to!” Camille beamed. “This may seem out of place to ask, but are your eyes naturally that color?”

“My eyes?” Heejin asked.

“Yes, I couldn’t help but notice that they are a wonderful shade of pink.” Camille said.

“Why thank you. And yes, they are naturally like this.” Heejin replied.

“Amazing!” Camille said. “I love it! Sorry, I just love colors and art.”

“Don’t worry, it’s nice to see someone react nicely to my eyes.” Heejin said.

“They are beautiful!” Camille said. “Sadly, I must cut this conversation short. I am sorry for that. Hopefully, we can talk again?”

“Of course! I’d love to!” Heejin exclaimed.

“Great! I’ll try texting you tonight!” Camille said as she waved.

Heejin waved until the girl was out of sight. Humans were quite adorable. She was happy to have made a friend, but at the same time, it was meaningless. She was in a middle of a game, an elimination game. If she were to get eliminated, would Camille remember her? Would she forget her? All of it was meaningless.

Heejin smiled in the midst of these thoughts. It was still nice to know that some humans were kind.

“If I were a goddess living in Paris, where would I go?” Hyunjin thought to herself. “Personally, I’d like to go by the Eiffel tower. If a goddess were to be sent here, wouldn’t that mean that they have something for art? Love?”

Hyunjin walked down the busy streets, looking for someone with glowing eyes. “This is hard…”

Hyunjin walked around. She got distracted a couple ofgreek times and enjoyed some street performers. As she was looking at the stores for outfits to change into she suddenly got hit with a thought.

What if this goddess is strong?

Would I be able to hold my ground?

Hyunjin shook her head. She had a 50/50 chance with this. She’ll either be attacked or not. If she got attacked then that means that the goddess is confident in their strength. In short, they are cocky. If she doesn’t get attacked then that means that the other is being cautious are is also weak.

Hyunjin exited the shop. How could she avoid the first option? The second option can be easily manipulated and the last would be most favorable.

She looked up and saw the tower getting closer. She looked down in the flat field in front of it. Her eyes widened as she saw a girl with vibrant pink eyes in the close vicinity. Hyunjin quickly looked down and turned right, hoping that the other hadn’t noticed her. When she was far enough she looked up and began to observe the girl.

Hyunjin remembered the pink-eyed rabbit when they were first all called together. Her only lines of dialogue were really ambiguous. They weren’t really passive or aggressive… it was just in between. That just made everything more stressful.

Hyunjin looked at the girl. She was… drawing? That doesn’t make sense! There is no goddess of art. Just Apollo! Not even her hobby is helpful!

Is she trying to throw people off? Is she a less aggressive goddess? Or is she just bored?

Of course, if the other goddess were weak, it would be easier to attempt exploiting their true name. If they were strong, the tables would be easily turned. Could you torture another for their name? The thought of that was quite morbid.

Hyunjin hadn’t realized how long she had been wandering around the same area until she noticed the sun setting and the girl getting up. Hyunjin began to take a route around the girl to make herself less suspicious. The streets began to clear up and soon the girl stopped.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” The girl said in fluent Greek.

Hyunjin froze.

“Now, shall I immobilize you?” The girl said as she turned around.

Hyunjin paused and began to laugh. “Mere threats.”

“What are you talking about? Don’t you care about what I’ll do to you?”

“No,. because if you were going to do anything, you would’ve done it.” Hyunjin replied. “I must’ve been lucky to run into a weaker goddess.”

“Ok fine, you got me.” The girl sighed. “But now I can safely assume that you are no better than me.”

“True.” Hyunjin replied.

“Now what.” The girl said. “Two weak goddesses face-to-face. Seems almost impossible for one of us to find out the other’s true name, as we shall be more cautious now.”

“Seems like quite the predicament.” Hyunjin said. “How about a pact?”

“A pact?” The girl repeated.

“Yes, we can work together, put our heads together to find others. Two weak goddesses can equal one moderately strong one.”

“That math .” The girl laughed. Hyunjin noticed, quite adorably. “Well, what other choice do I have? Not like stalking you will get me anywhere.”

“Great,” Hyunjin stuck out her hand. “We shall shake on the River Styx. For whoever shall stay mortal, regardless if they win, until the other deems them forgiven of betrayal.”

The other girl stuck out her hand and shook Hyunjin’s.

“So if I figure out who you are and then betray you, even if I win, technically I won’t win until you are satisfied.” The girl said.

“Yes. If you win and break our promise, Gaia will just have to find another goddess to take Aphrodite’s place. If it does come down to that, I don’t think Gaia will be pleased with you wasting her time.” Hyunjin explained.

“You have a way with manipulation…” The girl sighed. “Might as well be a weaker Até.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Hyunjin said.

“Well, it isn’t.” The girl laughed.

“My name is Hyunjin, what’s yours?”

“My name’s Heejin,”

“Now, do you have a nice place to stay? I’m hoping you do, as you are an artist.” Hyunjin said.

“Who said you were staying with me?” Heejin replied.

“I did,” Hyunjin said. “Don’t be difficult.”

“I should be saying that to you!” Heejin said.

“Well, Heejin, let’s go, it’s late, and I bet your neighbors won’t like this ruckus.” Hyunjin said.

Heejin laughed, and Hyunjin couldn’t help but smile.

“Ok, let’s go.”

Second chapter finally done!

Sorry about the long wait and the mediocre chapter.

I don't know who will actually read this, but I hope to make an amazing announcement by next week! So maybe stick around?

Anyways, my computer has no space so I don't know when I can work on my next chapter! I'll try my best though!

As always! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed! Maybe try to guess what their true names are? That might be a little tough still.

Until next time!