It was precisely because people rarely came here that Elysia tended to visit the temple once a week. There was an ideal hiding spot at the back of the temple, hidden amongst vines. The expanse of wall was nothing special at first glance, with its peeling curls of faded blue paint. Portions of the walls were completely devoid of any color at all, leaving them stark and white and sad. Vines curled along the ceiling, clinging to columns, forming a natural, living, breathing roof. Gentle wisps of green the vines inched down the back walls, obscuring the missing bricks and loose bricks in an inconspicuous curtain that could be swept aside.

Elysia stood at the wall’s far right corner, using two fingers to ease the leaves away from the brick she sought. Thunder crashed outside and the entire temple flickered in white light and shadows as lightning arced across the sky. She paused, looking up, a sigh escaping through her nose as the telltale signs of pit, pit, patter, pit, patter, pit plinked against the ancient roof tiles. It was in times like these that she wished she was a little more like her cousin, Iris. Iris would have had the sense to look at the weather and ride a horse to the temple. Iris wouldn’t have come on foot and brought a picnic basket with her that was now going to have sodden food in it by the time she returned home. If she chose to walk back in the storm, that was, but who knew how long it would last? She did not want to be here all day.

Working the familiar loose brick free, she smiled to herself as she saw the folded note. This she took and stowed in the folds of her gown before replacing the brick. Once she removed her hand, the vines sifted back to where they had been, acting as though they’d never been moved. Satisfied, she bent to retrieve her basket but actually screamed a little when a clash of thunder bolted over the temple so loudly that the roof rattled and dust rained down.

“I hate storms,” she whispered under her breath, coming out of the back rooms where the priests used to live, and passing the altar. It was then that she stopped, eyeing the flower offering. It was silly, but her pulse quickened a little and her eyes darted to the entrance and, there, was a horse. The fine hairs at the base of her neck prickled and she felt, just for a moment, that she’d been caught. But that passed just as quickly as the feeling came. If someone had been in the room with her, she’d have heard them. The scuffing of feet over the floor as they leaned around the shadowed doorframe to peek? She’d know...So who, then, was this? This unknown person who, in all likelihood, did not know she was here?

Her first instinct was to remain hidden because she could now clearly see a young woman twirling beneath the heavens and it reminded Elysia so much of Iris, that for a moment, she thought it might be her. But stepping closer, she saw the form was slimmer, the face younger, the features smaller. No, she knew who this was by sight, though they hadn’t conversed much more than ‘hello’ and ‘good day’ before now. What an opportune time for that to change…

“My lady?” she called, keeping her voice soft and ideally not too shocking, though as soon as she spoke, another harsh rumble of thunder broke across the heavens and cast Elysia in shadow whilst fully illuminating Sofia in all her glory. Elysia stepped as near to the edge of the torrent of rain as she dared, keeping the lavender fabric of her skirt away from the wet stone at her feet. “Is it not dangerous to dance beneath lightning?”

There were taller things around them; the temple, for one thing, and a ring of ancient trees for another. Sofia was, perhaps, not in as much danger as Elysia felt her to be but she would prefer Sofia to be safe beneath a stone roof. Even if dust did curl into the air with each successive blast of thunder rocketing across the sky.

Elysia shifted her stance from one foot to the other, smiling as a chastened Sofia came towards the temple. Her eyes traveled over the young woman. She could see that Sofia was uncomfortable but it never entered Elysia’s head that the source of the discomfort had to do with the girl’s appearance. After all, Sofia’s cheekbones were goddess worthy and her hair hung in wild tendrils that gave her a carefree air. The rain dripping off the clothes clinging to her form only accentuated her loveliness.

“Perhaps, but without a little danger, would there be any fun?” Lady Sofia mused as she wrung out her hair.

“Of course,” Elysia dipped into a curtsey and cleared her throat in a fashionably delicate way. With an image to maintain, Elysia did not often stop to do anything so whimsical as dance in rain storms. Sometimes she indulged in a fancy from time to time but she did admire people like Sofia and Iris who did not seem to mind doing something with such reckless abandon. Elysia liked to know something was going to work out or that she was in some sort of control of it. Perhaps the lady was right and that dancing in the rain was exceptionally divine. That might be true enough, but she’d spotted the goosebumps across Sofia’s arms and from that, extracted that the other girl might be cold. Elysia did not fancy walking home shivering and coming up to her own door looking like a drowned rat.

Elysia stepped aside, eyebrows raised, as Sofia strode straight past her and over to the horse. Clearly a lady of highborn quality, Sofia displayed all the haughtiness of her station and Elysia bore no grudge over it. She frequently did the same to people. It was, after all, almost a burden to be the daughter of a god - to be so perfect. She truly felt Sofia’s pain.

What she’d never quite understood was people’s affinity for their horses. Elysia turned her head delicately, studying the ivy growing up one of the columns while she waited for Lady Sofia to decide that she was worth her time. Wandering close to the column, she flicked her finger against one of the ivy leaves, listening to the dull whap, whap of her nail against the waxy leaf. Maybe she was missing some sort of necessary spiritual part of herself that could develop a close friendship with an animal. But she doubted it. Horses were useful and they were gorgeous but she didn’t want horse hair on her dress, she did not want to come into the house smelling like horse, and she didn’t want to get dirty. This fabric was expensive. Obviously Lady Sofia could afford to have dress after dress made but Elysia was on a budget. Of course she looked extravagantly lovely, as she was supposed to, but if this dress ripped, there wasn’t an easy replacement at home.

As politely as possible, Elysia tried not to listen to the private mutterings between horse owner and horse. People were so peculiar with their animals. Being as allergic to cats as she was, Elysia didn’t own one and she certainly didn’t want a dog in the house. They were fine outside in the courtyard and she could look at a dog and love it from afar.

“Were you simply unlucky enough to be caught out in the storm?”

“Hmm?” Elysia glanced over her shoulder and found that Lady Sofia was addressing her again, apparently done with the horse. “Oh, yes. Storm.” She nodded and gestured at the rain. “I thought I might have a nice picnic out there but that was utterly ruined. Would you like something?”

She thought to set the basket on the floor but rivulets of water were snaking across the floor like the fingers of a shiny, wet hand. Dry leaves skittered about with every gust of wind and Elysia decided that perhaps a dusty pedestal would be better than nothing. There was one nearer to Sofia’s horse than she’d have liked but she set the basket there anyway. From the basket’s depths, she withdrew a tart green apple.

“I only have the one,” she said and tossed it to Sofia without looking to see if the girl was going to catch it or not. While the apple sailed through the air, Elysia withdrew a roll of flatbread and soft goat cheese. “I was going to have quite the feast,” she said conversationally, entirely leaving out the note she’d put in the wall.

Lightning arced through the heavens at that moment and a horrendous boom made Elysia jump. A short, embarrassing shriek later saw her clearing her throat again, leaning her chin on her fingers after rubbing her neck a moment, and giving Sofia a look of utter innocence. “So, what made you ride up here alone?”

Her gaze hovered politely on Lady Sofia as the other enjoyed the apple. It was a fairly predictable answer. A safe one. One that indicated she might be vaguely uncomfortable about the entire situation and Elysia didn’t blame her, of course. They weren’t close enough to call each other friend and at the moment they were barely acquaintances. She didn’t expect the lady to spill her deepest, darkest secrets to her upon first meeting...unfortunately. How delicious that might be, wouldn’t it? As it stood, though, all Elysia was going to be able to enter into her journal that night was something like:

Went to Naos of Themes. Saw Lady Sofia and her horse. Horse is large. Lady was wet. Weather was inhospitable. Lady Sofia likes apples.

Riveting stuff.

Elysia glanced out at the curtains of rain, ignoring the skittish horse. She absently took out a handful of berries and popped one into her mouth. The fruit burst over her tongue with a pleasant tangy sweetness and she savored it for the moment, her gaze wandering the surrounding gardens of the naos. This place had once been a thriving temple with acolytes and paving stones and worshipers traipsing in and out at all hours. Now it was nearly an overgrown jungle and was all the more beautiful for it-

“What’s that?” she asked suddenly. A berry dropped from her hand, bouncing off her foot and rolling out into the rain. Elysia pointed towards a copse of trees where a bent figure moved gracefully about. Because of the shadows and the mist, it was hard to tell exactly what she was looking at, except that lightning chose to rake across the sky at precisely that moment. Goat legs. She clearly saw goat legs!

“It’s a satyr!” she stared wide eyed at Sofia. And then there was a tall, lithe figure that rose up beside the hunched one. A nymph! It had to be! Long, waving arms wound around the hunched figure in something that looked very much like a dance. It was too much for Elysia to say no to. She dropped all pretense of formality, took Sofia by the hand, and dragged her back out into the rain.

Between the temple and the copse Elysia wanted to get to was a huge swath of overgrown green. In past years, it would have been a nicely cut lane of grassy path. Now it was hedged with brush and overgrown with hip length grass. Perfect for hiding in. But while it would hide them, it would also prevent them from moving quickly.

“There’s a nymph, too!” she breathed, blinking at the rain falling into her lashes. “Come on!” Her dress stuck to her body, hiding absolutely nothing as she pulled Lady Sofia with her, willing or not. Water filled her sandals, squishing out as she trying to navigate through the grass. Somewhere along the way, she lost hold of Sofia. Elysia crouched down, nearly at a crawl, not wanting to frighten off the creatures. What if they saw them mating!? Oh how marvelous that would be….

She glanced around for Sofia, trying to make sure she hadn’t lost the woman but definitely not going to wait for her if she was going to stay in the temple. If Sofia wasn’t brave enough to search for the divine, then Elysia didn’t think she’d make a great friend anyway. Besides! To see a nymph? How glorious.

Raindrops clinked against Elysia’s earrings as she tilted her head this way and that, trying to maneuver through the undergrowth to get closer to where she could clearly see a goat butt now. A large goat, at that, though she couldn’t see the top of the goat man. She stopped right there, not wanting to interrupt a divine interlude. Sitting down straight on her butt in the grass, she drew her knees up to her chest to wait for a little while, not minding the rivulets of rain snaking their way down her chest and back and arms.