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“For nine days I’ve stated wide awake”
The sun beat down mercilessly, the relentless glare making his bloodshot eyes ache. Odysseus ignored the hushed whispers of his crew, their words lost to the wind. Home loomed close—so close he could practically smell the olive groves and feel the soft earth of Ithaca beneath his feet.
“Trying to make it home with no storm or tidal wave”
Fate, it seemed, had other plans.
“I remain unopposed, the bag is still closed and I’m getting closer to you-”
Odysseus, clung to the mast, the rough wood biting into his palms, his thoughts a jumble of dreams and reality.
Visions of Penelope and Telemachus came before him. Was she alright? What had happened in his absence? What were Telemachus’ first words? What a sight his first steps must have been? Was she alright? Did Penelope cast every tiny moment to memory, hoping to share every detail with him the moment he arrived? Surely there had been something he hadn't yet missed? Some moment he would get to cherish? New memories yet to be made? Being the father he never got the chance to be?
“Just keep your eyes open”
How could he? He only glimpsed Penelope and Telemachus when he let his eyes droop. Just a moment of rest, a fleeting reunion, was all he asked for.
“Why are my eyes and my heart and my soul so heavy?”
Oh Penelope…
“I keep on trying to embrace you both, why won't you let me?”
Just once. A dream or illusion it may be, just once did he wish to hold Penelope in his arms and kiss her senseless. Ruffle Telemachus’ hair and lift him up onto his shoulders.
He pictured himself before them.
A moment of weakness, his eyes fell close.
Penelope was in his arms and then she stepped back-
There was blood on his hands.
An infant off the wall.
The cries ringing in his ears- he’s crying again- oh Penelope, go sleep, I’ll look after our son - Hector’s ghostly form lingering at the ground, arms outstretched to catch his son.
Andromache’s screams echoed behind him, he turned to look at her, her distraught form flickered with Penelope as she glared at him and took a step back , hiding their son behind her skirts-
“So much has changed but I’m the same, Yes I’m the same”
He fell to his knees before her, sobbing and babbling apologies- was it to Andromache? To Penelope? To-
He looked up, where was Penelope?
“Just keep your eyes open”
She was right here, where did she go? Penelope? Penelope?
“Wake up!”
Why did she want him to wake up? Did she truly find the sight of him so revolting? Penelope?
“Wake up, Odysseus, they’re opening the bag”
Bag? But the bag was right here in his arms-
Oh.
Oh no.
“Wake up!”
“NO!” he screamed, his voice raw and desperate.
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Never really know who you can trust”
Who had dared to open the bag? Did his crew really trust him so little?
“Where’s the storm taking us?” He pleaded to Aeolus who floated around, laughing.
“Land of the Giants”
No. no no no no- not when he was so close to home- he couldn't- why-
Close the bag, Odysseus.
… Penelope?
“Help me close the bag!” He yelled.
“...sir, it’s too late…” was that Polites? No, Polites wouldn’t be so pessimistic. Eurylochus.
“We can save whatever wind is left to use another day!” He exclaimed.
Polites smiled.
The ship rocked violently.
From the chaos emerged a figure, tall and imposing. He squinted, batting away the swirls of darkness in his vision. It was made of… water?
“ODYSSEUS OF ITHACA-”
He distantly heard some of his men scream as their ship rocked yet again. He held onto the mast tighter.
“DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”
He squinted again. No he didn’t but- Ithaca? Oh, that's where he wanted to go, wasn't it? Home. Thats where Penelope was-
Odysseus, eyes barely focusing, staggered forward. "Penelope?" he croaked, his voice cracking. "Is it really you?"
His crew were all kneeling. Well, Penelope deserved no less.
Poseidon raised an eyebrow, glancing around to see if there was someone else he might have missed. "What are you talking about, mortal?"
Ignoring the god's words, Odysseus threw his arms around Poseidon's waist, clinging to him desperately.
"I've missed you so much," he whispered, tears streaming down his face. "I was so close to home... so close to you..."
Poseidon stiffened, then stepped back, prying Odysseus’ arms off him. Odysseus leapt forward again into a confused Poseidon’s arms, who looked down at the man sobbing into his chest, then around at the equally bewildered crew- who were muttering prayers under their breath, staring wide eyed at their captain.
"What are mortals these days getting high on?" he muttered, his form dissolving into water and reappearing a few feet away.
Odysseus's crew thought their captain was pretending to be mad again, just like he had to avoid going to Troy.
Odysseus was beyond reason. He rushed to Penelope yet again.
He looked up, his eyes shining with a manic light. "Penelope," he breathed, leaning in as if to kiss the god.
Poseidon recoiled, his form dissolving into the waves and reappearing further away. "Stop that at once!" he commanded, more perplexed than angry now.
Did she really hate him so? Was he a monster to even her? Astyanax’ cries echoed in his ears.
Odysseus, undeterred, stumbled after him, arms outstretched. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
Poseidon watched in disbelief as Odysseus waded through the water, his desperate hands passing through the god's watery form.
"What in Tartarus is wrong with you?" Poseidon muttered, moving again, this time appearing on the opposite side of the ship. He hadn’t expected the mortal to apologise so easily- but then again, the question remained if the mortal even knew what he was apologising for.
Odysseus spun around, eyes wild. "Penelope, don't leave me!" he cried, nearly falling overboard as he rushed to the other side.
Poseidon sighed, his irritation now mixed with genuine confusion. "Mortals," he said, shaking his head. He let his form dissolve again, reappearing in a spray of mist a few feet away. Where was the fucking mortal repellent? Was this truly the man Hera spoke so highly of?
He cleared his throat. He had come here for a reason. “In all my years of living-”
Odysseus, seeing the mist, thought it was his beloved wife and clambered towards it. "Penelope!" he shouted, leaping towards him yet again.
Poseidon quickly shifted again, taking the form of a wave and deciding that staying in the waters was the safest option yet.
Odysseus, undeterred, jumped into the sea.
‘Okay,’ Eurylochus thought, ‘Clearly this is not pretending, is Ody alright?’
Poseidon watched, bewildered, as Odysseus flailed in the water, calling out for his wife.
"This is beyond absurd," he muttered, turning to the equally stunned crew. "Get your captain before he drowns himself.” …before I wish it so. He thought internally.
The crew, snapping out of their stupor, rushed to pull Odysseus back aboard. As they dragged their delirious captain from the water, Poseidon shook his head, his confusion still evident.
“I’ve gotta make you bleed, I need to see you drown”
Might as well continue with his speech. He hadn’t bothered Amphy for hours with this not to go through with it.
The crew’s faces held fear. Except Odysseus, who still had that dazed expression and was being held back by one of the men- the one with the ridiculously large sword on his back.
Shit that line was supposed to come after he tossed Odysseus across the ship, wasn’t it? What came before- ah , why was he drowning this man?
“I’ve been so gracious”
Oh yes he had been. All the Greeks sailing home had sacrificed hecatombs to him before sailing. They had already angered Apollo by sacking Troy- his nephew was the patron of seafarers, afterall. So instead, they had prayed to him for safe passage. Except this one. He’d overlooked it though, too busy with the Lesser Ajax’s disrespect.
“And yet, you hurt this son of mine-”
Confusion.
The men exchanged glances between each other. Had Astyanax been a son of Poseidon now?
He almost drowned the entire fleet right then.
His son. They-
“They cyclops you made blind, is mine” He snarled.
The waves got rougher, darker as if foreshadowing the blood soon to be spilled within them.
Fear.
Ah, yes.
Good.
All except-
The Captain, why was he wailing now?
“I blinded our son?” He asked brokenly, sobbing. No wonder Penelope had tried to hide their son from him. He was a danger to everyone around him. Did he even deserve to be a father if he-
Poseidon stared at him, because what . Was this mortal trying to claim his son as his own now? How dare-
But then realisation dawned on Poseidon's face as he saw the agony in Odysseus's eyes. "Ah," he said, his voice dripping with mockery. "So you're thinking of your son now, are you? Telemachus, isn't it?"
Odysseus nodded fervently. The next moment he could see the-man-with-the-ridiculously-large-sword whisper something in his ear.
“Polyphemus?” he repeated.
Poseidon’s eyes narrowed when he heard the almost hopeful tone in his voice. Ah, so he was glad it wasn't his son who was blind?
3 ships drowned.
A red wave overcame the captain’s ship, everyone coughing and choking on the water- and blood of their friends-
Oh why blood, you may ask. Blood was water, water was blood. Blood choked them before his salt waters could. They deserved not a peaceful death. Let Odysseus’ ship be stained red like his hands.
“No Odysseus” he whispered, grasping the mortal by the neck and lifting him in the air. “ Telemachus , yes? You gouged his eyes out”
“I didn’t” the man choked out, “I wouldn’t, couldn’t-”
Shouts of protest erupted from the crew as Poseidon lifted Odysseus by the neck, their fear etched on every face as they watched their captain's life hang in the balance.
Poseidon laughed.
“I’m sorry Penelope” the mortal sobbed.
Poseidon mockingly wiped away his tears, pressed a kiss to his forehead.
The mortal looked up at him, he leaned down.
Eurylochus just stared, bewildered. Was this god angry or interested in Odysseus?
Another 6 ships drowned.
His form flickered a deeper shade of wine red like the waters around them.
“NO!” Odysseus yelled out, “I wouldn’t, you aren't-”
He threw the captain onto his ship.
He snorted with derision. After about half an hour of grovelling, that is how the man reacted when he almost got to kiss his beloved? Really ?
A cool wave lapped against the back of his legs. Right, Amphy, sorry.
“You blinded my son” he hissed, tipping the mortal’s chin up with his trident.
“We meant no harm,” the mortal said- pleading? “We only meant to disarm-”
2 more ships gone.
The one before him was the only one standing now.
“What have you done?” he asked weakly.
“Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves” he whispered.
His son. Blind. It would’ve been mercy to kill him. Now he was dependent on others. He could no longer defend himself. He could no longer see the colours. This mortal took the colours from his son .
“We took no pleasure in his pain” Odysseus pleaded, standing up and approaching the railing of the ship to plead with the god.
Okay being hit on the head by crashing onto the ship did clear his delusions a bit, it seemed.
“We only wanted to escape”
He was hurled across the ship.
Poseidon materialised before him yet again.
“And my son only wanted to avenge the death of his friend, tell me Odysseus, would you not have done the same?” He hissed.
“A sheep -”
“What would you do if I were to drown all of Ithaca” He asked mockingly, “gouge your son’s eyes?”
Odysseus, it seemed, was not of sane mind after all. He leapt forth to grasp at Poseidon’s now solid form, attempting to shake him wildly. “What have you done to my son?”
Poseidon had to admire this mortal’s audacity, regardless of if it stemmed from delusion.
“Nothing, yet ,” Poseidon laughed, pinning the mortal against the ship’s deck by his neck.
Impertinent? Yes.
Impulsive? Perhaps.
Ah , pretty neck.
Attractive? Definitely.
Delirious state aside, he could definitely see the appeal. And he certainly knew how to catch the attention of a god.
He had definitely been impressed when learning of the Trojan Horse incident. A homage to him despite Athena being his patron? Oh he had definitely rubbed that in his niece’s face.
He glided away, the mortal having fallen unconscious due to being unable to breathe.
As for revenge… well, this mortal was clearly mad and a danger to himself. Letting him live and leading what was remaining of his men to doom was a very fitting punishment. And in the meanwhile…
He could indulge himself, couldn’t he? The sea liked pretty things.
The waters yanked the-man-with-the-ridiculously-large-sword up in the air.
“Ask him if his… longing for companionship still haunts him when he wakes.” He orders. With that, Poseidon's form dissolved completely into the sea, leaving Odysseus and his crew to face the long journey ahead
Eurylochus choked for the hundredth time that day.