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— THE DECISION TO TAKE THE TRAIN HAD NOT BEEN AN EASY ONE. it seemed like the smartest way to disappear into a crowd at the station instead of renting a car and leaving a trail that could be followed. then again, when hera had paid extra for a private compartment, blending in was a little harder but dio wasn’t complaining. it would be much harder to discuss tactics with inescapable eavesdroppers. settling into their seats, dio rearranged the scarf that she’d tied over her dark wig, the yellow one that aphrodite had given her on the first night. it had come in handy sooner than dio had anticipated. the color was a stark contrast to the dark brown wig she had chosen back at the villa, her natural blonde locks hidden away.
as soon as the compartment door slid open and neither one had called for anything, dio knew their plan was diverting - not a good sign so early on. but they couldn’t afford to let it get to them or show anything was wrong. dio widened her eyes in hera’s direction before acquiescing and moving to take the seat next to her and leaving the now vacant bench available to their guests. “of course.” she smiled sweetly in their direction before covering the papers on the table with her hands and pulling them towards herself. “i didn’t realize more people were joining us, how short-sighted of me.”
Hera wasn’t a woman easily spooked by mere deterrents, especially when stranger things have happened in her line of work. Besides, she was a quick thinker and while she didn’t plan three steps ahead like Zeus, she was good at thinking on her feet. A feat she was about to prove right now, however unwillingly. The other occupants settled in, their mumbled French mixing in with accents that Hera couldn’t quite catch. Her French was getting better, but she still wasn’t up there, and not knowing what was being said made her sweaty. “It happens, my dear. Mix ups happen everyday.” And she waited for the other occupants to react, or look at them fishy.
Assured that none of them understood English, (or did a good job of pretending they didn’t), Hera sat back in her seat, and moved her hair back. This was going to be a long trip, and regardless of circumstances, she needed to get comfortable and she needed to make sure that Dio didn’t freak out, because Hera was panicking. “Are you excited about meeting uncle Ivan? I know you’ve never met him before, but he’s got a nice little house by the cliffs. And he’s always got some amazing toys that he makes, all by himself. He used to own a toystore, before business got bad and he couldn’t make ends meet.” Hera patted the young woman’s knee, her eyes imploring Dio to read between the lines. The man they were meeting was called Ivan; his toymaking business was his weapons deals and the cliff by the sea their meet up. The lie had slipped out from Hera’s lips just like that.
“You know what I think he’ll say? He’ll definitely say something how we’ve changed. He saw you as a wee little baby, after all. And I was...gosh, I was a kid myself.” This part was alluding to their disguises. They still had the chance to take these ridiculous wigs off once they got to the station if they weren’t feeling it, but Hera was...being extra careful with their every move.














