[h1]Greece[/h1] [b]Ioannina, Southern Epirus[/b] "Girls, I ask you to please hurry! We're going to be late if we keep at this pace," There was some charm left to Ioannina, some remnant of the city that once stood before Athens decide that it must be expanded and brought into the new millennium. The old town stood out like a colored core in a ring of brutal gray, the Greco-Ottoman look slowly being overtaken by that which prioritized function over aesthetic. Ioannina had certainly grown, but not into anything that could be called beautiful. Within a small restaurant, one would find a hoard of young girls and women, ranging from 12-16, practically invading and occupying the place in their own right. Ioanna was host to an outing for a girls-only outing organized by a branch of Komen, the national Greek communist youth organization, to Epirus. The goal was to have them journey to Argyrokastro and then to Korytsa, to better get an understanding of the status of Epirus, and have the girls participate in local volunteer work to make them feel like they were contributing to the liberation of Northern Epirus from Albanian control. The train had stopped on its journey from Athens in Ioannina, with the final leg of the journey being made in the early morning. Amid the chatter of the girls, a dark haired child nibbled quietly on a piece of baklava, only stopping to return the greeting of another girl. Athena Metaxas was 13 years old, and it was her first time so far away from Athens. Athena was fully aware of the baggage that came with her ancestry, how her great-grandfather had taken over the Country in the past, and how a depressed one-night stand between her grandmother, Ioannis' third daughter Sophia, and a nameless communist soldier lead to her father's existence. She never could fully escape that lineage, but she constantly told herself that with hard work maybe she could make it, in spite of the odds being against her from before she was even born. Athena tore her baklava in half to share with her friend, Lydia, who had just come to meet her from across the table. Lydia was an Epirot by birth, though she had left as an infant. This would be the first time she would return since then. "I wonder if I'll get the chance to see the building we used to live in," Lydia said between bites of the shared baklava Athena nodded, smiling at her friend, "I've never been this far away from home, I have no idea what to expect!" "Mom and Dad always said that it was nice over there," Lydia flashed a smile, "but I hear Athens is still better, so I hope you won't be disappointed." The morning came slowly for Athena, who spend most of the night awake before being funneled onto an armored train, passing the military checkpoint that marked the start of Northern Epirus. The short tour around Argyrokastro left much to be desired by the two girls. The group was lead around like a leashed dog through the streets of the city. The guide made claims of security, due to Albanian terrorist activity in the area, and yet Lydia was visibly craving to freely walk around. Shortly after the lackluster outing, the girls were huddled over to several buildings that had been defaced, and were tasked with cleaning and painting over the graffiti. "We barely saw anything," grumbled Lydia under her breath, Athena standing to her right as usual. Athena sighed, "I'm sorry, Lydia. But hey, maybe it's not lost yet" "What do you mean?" Athena smiled wide, "Well, we're spending the night here. You and I are sleeping in the same place, so why don't we slip out and take a look around Arygrokastro ourselves?" "Athena!" Lydia's eyes widened at the suggestion, her gaze quickly shifting to her feet, to her sides, and finally over to her companion. "You know what they'll do to us if they find out we snuck out at night?" "So we don't get caught" "It's crazy, just insane" Lydia replied, her voice breathy with anxiety. The girl anxiously started painting again, sloppy, rushed brush strokes spattering paint all over herself. "Don't you want to see your home city?" "Yes, but I don't want to get in trouble!" "It won't be trouble, just trust me!" Lydia ceased painting "You do trust me, right? When have I been wrong before" "Okay...we can go out tonight, but we come back as soon as I say, okay?" "It's a deal" [b]11:23 PM, Argyrokastro, Northern Epirus Autonomous Region[/b] Lydia Panagakos had been friends with Athena Metaxas since she was 6 years old. It was days like this that made her wonder if she made the right choice sometimes. It was a cold night, and Lydia wrapped her jacket around herself while Athena made her way out of the inn. "Ready to go look around?" Athena extended a hand as she lead Lydia down the street Occupation was not kind to Argyrokastro, and it became painfully apparent beyond the central city. Armed men stood at every corner, amidst burnt out shells of buildings, decay setting in amidst administrative neglect. "This...this isn't what I imagined" She was unsure if it was the night or the constant presence of armed me, and lurid quips towards them from the various disheveled looking men who seemingly lined every inch of the streets, but Athena was shaking uncontrollably. "Maybe there was a reason they didn't take us here...maybe we should just go back" "Yeah, mayb-" Lydia started before she was cut off by a harsh shouting and the sight of two men leading a third, restrained and shuffling about pained, up to a wall. The two girls quickly backed into an alley, peaking out behind the wall at the goings-on. The taller of the two men, clearly a soldier along with his partner, laughed as the other pushed the older man against the wall. "Another Shiptar causing trouble, huh" The man could only grunt, struggling with his hands restrained behind his back, his mouth bound shut "Sick of all this nationalist shit going on nowdays; glad they're letting us just take care of you on the spot now." said the other soldier as he placed a gun up against the man and fired, the loud shot obscuring the cries coming from the alley as Athena quickly grabbed Lydia and pulled her back into the alley, holding her tight and placing her hand over her mouth to muffle the cries as she looked over to see if the soldiers were still there. Nothing, just the body of a would-be rebel laying dead on the street. Athena sighed, falling back and letting her and Lydia slide down the walls of the alley, still clinging to her friend, who was lost in a hysterical fit of crying and screaming, her face buried into Athena's chest as the other simply stared at the blank wall ahead of her. "Lets...lets...just go back" she said monotonously, waiting for Lydia to become stable enough, taking her by the hand and making their way back to the main roads of Argyrokastro. The girls slipped back into the inn as easily as they had slipped out, with Lydia quickly insisting she sleep with Athena in the same bed this night. Athena accepted, but little sleep was had, as she simply stared into the ceiling for the remainder of the night.