<strong><em>Island of Crete, Antheia has she realized that her home is being pillaged by pirates.</em></strong><br/><hr/><hr/><br/>The forger was scared when the girl closed her eyes - Was she dead? - but breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed the girl's chest rise up and down rhythmically while she grimaced or whimpered in pain every now and then. Without a moment to hesitate, she hurried to her home and quickly climbed through the window to make getting in easier. Closing the window behind her, blotting it shut with the steel and iron bolts she placed herself, she went to her bed room to lay the girl on the bed while getting the kit.<br/><br/>With the girl on her bed, unconscious but alive, she checked on her vitals to see if there was anything she needed to do for the poor child. No was the relieving result. The girl was battered and a bit bruised but alright. It was mostly from shock and surprise from today's events and she couldn't blame the child for being so. The village was dying and she knew the only way for them to survive was to escape. The boats for Crete were most likely burning so that meant she actually had to steal. But how could she do that? She... of course. But could it? Will it? There was only one way to find out. She stood up and took her cloak with her as she rose up, determination set into her face.<br/><br/>Leaving the girl in her room, she got her clasp and walked up to a mirror. She had a plan for this situation but for it to work she had to know if her clasp really did grant on invisibility. Putting it on one end of her cloak that she now donned, she quickly tied it and closed her eyes just to prepare herself. If it didn't work, another plan can and will be hatched. Antheia hoped there would be no need for that. A moment passed... another... Funny. She didn't feel any different than usual. No ripples or shivers of power.<br/><br/>Curious, she opened her eyes carefully. She could still see, that was good. She then looked down and saw...<em>nothing</em>. Her hands, where she<em>knew</em>there were supposed to be, were gone! It worked! It worked! Her clasp of invisibility worked. She looked at the mirror at last and was shocked to see nothing there in the space where she occupied, besides the faint outlines of her eyes and blue irises for some reasons. It worried her, being able to see her eyes but she reasoned that no one else will unless they were actually looking for a pair of floating, faint eyeballs in the burning village. Very unlikely.<br/><br/>Without a second to spare, Antheia left her home but not before locking the doors from inside to protect the girl. If anything happened to her, she prayed to the Gods and Goddesses to at least protect an innocent lamb. The forgery/home was well supplied and had many weapons or items for the girl at her disposal. But a fortress was not what she needed. She needed a boat to escape and that was why she was heading to the village. If she could sneak past them all, she could steal a boat, drive it to where the coastal shore of where her home was and escape with the girl with others as well. The forger left a note besides the girl at her bed, instructing her to stay inside and to not open the door unless it was her no matter what. Antheia ran down the hill, hoping that the destruction that she would soon see would not be too heartbreaking.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_M3vSUeszLWY/RtRuB6jcJaI/AAAAAAAAAL8/jF9DSrD8C-A/nm_greece_fire1_070828_ssh.jpg)</div>The village was in chaos.<br/><br/>Antheia wanted to cry at the sight of the lush green valleys being burnt away or the sight of her fellow villages being caught and killed or raped or enslaved by these barbarians from other lands. Her heart ache but she moved forward, desperate to find some sort of transportation that could take her and the girl and anyone else she could round up out of there. But the sounds, the sights, and the sensations she felt as death and misery reigned was just too much for the forger.<br/><br/>The once tranquil village fell into quickly fell chaos as the pirates attacked and the few villagers who knew how to fight attacked back. Villagers, though valiant in their efforts, were outnumbered by the monsters and so quickly did they dwindle. Antheia noticed with morbid watchfulness that those who were still standing, wounds aside, were using her shields and swords that she guaranteed to them that will never break no matter what damage they took.<br/><br/>True to her word, the weapons were still in fighting condition. Even coated in blood and gore, she could see that they were in pristine condition.<br/><br/>The people who could not fight took the opportunity and noble sacrifices of the others to attempt to escape or help others escape. Women were running with items, clothing, elderly, invalid or children in their arms. Men were escorting their families, urging them to flee faster. Everyone was in all sorts of directions and paths as more pirates chased them like this was some sort of game to them. Fires were being set and extinguished. People were running, chasing and fleeing in all sorts of directions. Utter chaos.<br/><br/>Sometimes, too many times for Antheia's liking, a woman or a man was caught and... and... Those memories would always haunt Antheia, she knew it and why shouldn't it? These things that were being done to other people. It was inhumane. Just the epitome of cruelty and it filled her with such outrage that she wanted to do something. Her body was screaming for action and how she wanted to! Just walking past them.<br/><br/>It almost got her endangered as well. She was passing be one of them who was too...<em>preoccupied</em>with one of the women and the sight of this leering animal infuriated her. The girl, long dead from the loss of blood when he cut her throat, should at least have the dignity of respectful death but he couldn't even give her that! Antheia saw the sword that was poking out of his scabbard and her fingers twitched. Her feet moved just a bit to the monster's directions, her eyes on the sword and just imagining what it would be like if she could pull it from him and-<br/><br/><em>Reason</em>, a voice whispered in her ear. It sounded so much like her God. Could it...<em>Reason and rationality, Daughter of Crete. Do you truly think you can fight against this man even with the stealth of your cloak at your side?</em><br/><br/>She thought about it and, reluctantly, no. Even if she got the sword, even with all of her time in the forgery, she had little strength compared to those lumbering mass of muscles. There was no way that she could fight him, let alone any other of these barbarians if they noticed one of their own being attacked by a woman. Gritting her teeth, she took a step back and resumed her careful walk to the shores. Sneaking meant one had to be quiet, silent and ruthless. Nothing must stand between one and their goals. It meant she had to ignore many of them as she struggled to get to one of the boats. Even if they screamed and begged for mercies to anyone as the Gods and Goddesses knows what was happening to them, even if it was a shrill cry or a final gasp of life.<br/><br/>Tears formed in her eyes and she had to tell herself it was from the thick fumes and smoke of the fires, and that it was not the sight of her friends and fellow villagers being killed and taken away like cattle to other ships. She noticed another ship coming to the shore and she sourly thought more pirates but did nothing about it, eying one unoccupied or unguarded boat now. It was large enough to carry supplies and people well and seemed easy to steer. If she could get to it. Long as she stayed quiet, avoided bumping into people and such, she could get to the boat and sail off to the coastal shore without anyone knowing what was going on.<br/><br/>Logic, she always ruled herself with that and this was one of those dire times. Her head must be on her shoulders now. Antheia knew she had to first secure a surefire way of getting out of the Island before doing any rescuing. She hoped she won't be too late.