Julien

“It's not noses and lips that make a monster. Just because you have a mouth doesn't mean you will choose to use it as Father does.”
I nodded, even though I didn't understand. Hestia sensed my confusion and kissed my cheek as proof of her point. “I used my lips to kiss you and give you love. See?”
I lifted my head and kissed her in return. “Me too.”
― Ioanna Papadopoulou

“With every step, I sucked back all the life I had given in the soil. This time it was not pain I couldn't control, nor lack of care. It was a clear decision that was sharply made. If my daughter was not to enjoy this world, to see it bright, colourful and blooming, then no one was going to.”
― Ioanna Papadopoulou

“You will have agriculture,” he declared. “Making flowers and trees grow pretty, making seeds turn into plants for me to smell and trees to bear fruits for me to eat. You will have the laborious work of harvest, hard and tiring.”
I smiled at him. He was so arrogant. He missed completely that he indirectly made me the Goddess of Food, one of the most vital elements of life.”
― Ioanna Papadopoulou

“I protect myself,” Despoina said, reminding me so much of myself when I was as young as her, right at the cusp of womanhood.
“So did I,” I said to her. “And still, this world broke me and changed me. I had to lose the best parts of me to take back what was mine. And even though I am reunited with my daughter, I will never get back the child that was stolen from me. Persephone might be happy with her position, happy with her husband, and the change that happened, but my Kore is gone. I never got her back. I am learning to accept that, but the pain isn't going to disappear.”
― Ioanna Papadopoulou