The last of a gods divinity | Exiled feathers (AU)

by Ac3y_138, holiestmoly

Summary:

Hermes, the messenger god, has been overworked to no end for days and often misses a few messages. Zeus has had "enough" and exiles him, leading to him having to reside in Ithaca with the royal family. They would've gone to the underworld but Zeus has convinced him that Tiresias was the reason of his exile and that he had gone out of their way to tell Hades to suggest to Zeus that Hermes should be exiled, convincing him that Tiresias had only ever been out for Hermes' power. To furthen that belief Tiresias was used as a replacement of Hermes, leading to many gods hating him, except for Aphrodite.

Tiresias often resides in Ithaca as the trees are comfortable. Them and Hermes often end up meeting each other.

The rest is for you to find out:3

Chapters come out randomly!

Notes:

• Inspired by Clipped by nada_noname

Chapter 1: Ruthlessness from the divine.

When Hermes had been called to the throne room he had to admit that he was frankly freaked out. Zeus had never been one to reason and he'd always find the smallest of reason to punish someone, no matter who or what it affected. So as Hermes arrived to Olympus he was quite worried.

 

When he set foot on the grand halls of the mount he couldn't help but fidget with the feathers on their tail. This could either go really good or really bad and he really didn't wanna find out. As they walked to the throne room he couldn't miss how the air stilled at his arrival and it got harder and harder to breathe the more close he got to the throne room. They entered the throne room, plastering on a bright smile as if nothing was wrong, because nothing ever was wrong really.

 

"Boy." Said Zeus in that familar thundering voice that could make anyone in the vicinity paralyze in fear.

 

"Yes, father? I recall you have called me, might I know what for?" He said as he carefully bowed down to the god king, trying to keep his composure.

 

"You have been getting.. sloppy, as of late. Far too sloppy. You're a god, the god of speed at that, my herald! And you can't even do your job?!" Yelled Zeus, making the pillars that held up the room tremble by the simple force of his voice.

 

"Father, I apologize.. I'm aware I have and I did not mean to, truly!" Hermes said, trying to reason. There was truly no getting out of this now.

 

"Excuses excuses! Excuses are pointless now! They won't help your case. That partner of yours, Tiresias was his name? He has asked my brother to suggest to me that exile might be the right punishment. I find it fitting, and as a reward he will be taking your spot. You're the god of liars and can't even notice when someone is deceiving you? Pathetic." He deadpanned.

 

Hermes froze in place, each set of their wings trembling. Tiresias couldn't have done this, could he? No, they couldn't have. But, why would a shade with a rather poor past with the gods want to truly be with him? "Father plea—"

 

"SILENCE." The room trembled once again. "You are no son of mine anymore. Untill you will have learned your lesson you are no longer welcome here. Farewell, exile." Just as Zeus finished speaking a roaring of thunder erupted, a scream could be heard right after that.

 

When he was hit with thunder they didn't understand who had screamed, maybe it was him who had screamed, but he was far too disoriented for that. All he could make out as everything became a blur was a female figure at the god king's feet. Begging. He couldn't tell who she was and what was she begging about, but by that point everything had blacked out.

 

---

 

Everything was mostly a blur right after that. They could feel something soft underneath him, he quickly caught on on the fact that he was laying on grass. There was a warm golden liquid pooling right under him, the smell of it was metallic. Then voices. A young sounding, masculine voice was yelling, then there were fast steady footsteps. He felt themselves leaving the ground, supposedly being picked up by someone.

 

"Hermes?" asked a feminine voice.

 

But he wasn't able to respond. They opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, just a hoarse sound of pain.

 

"It's alright, we gotcha." said a third voice, coming from whoever was carrying him.

 

Another strained sound erupted from his throat as whoever was carrying him and the others started walking- no, running. The blood coming from them was definitely soaking that person's tunic but they didn't seem to care. Then everything went black again.

 

When his eyes opened once again he found himself laying on a soft surface, probably a bed. His vision was blurred but they saw enough to be able to make out someone standing by his bedside.

 

"Mother! Father! He woke up!" The person who they now realized was the prince of Ithaca, Telemachus, yelled.

 

I've fallen right in Ithaca. Hermes thought.

 

Two people ran into the room, bursting in through the door. Those two people were the king and queen, Odysseus and Penelope.

 

"Oh thank the gods! What happened?" Said Penelope in a sweet yet worried tone.

 

Memories of the event flashed through Hermes' mind like a storm, clouding all his thoughts and making his eyes widen. They sat up swiftly, far too swiftly, leading to him yelping in pain.

 

"Easy there, stay down" Odysseus said as he placed a hand on Hermes' chest, carefully leading him to lay back down again.

 

Hermes simply complied, not able to do anything else. He would've curled up right then and there, they still felt the betrayal and hurt obviously. He knew their father- no, Zeus wasn't that anymore, the god king was quick to punish, but he never thought he'd go this far. And that worse of all this punishment was suggested by none other than his partner Tiresias.

 

Hermes' eyes began to water but he didn't dare let a tear trickle down, not in front of the royal family. This was part of why he was exiled anyways, they were pathetic, far too pathetic. None of Zeus' children should be this pathetic.. those were words the god king often repeated.

 

His hands flew up in that familiar motion and caught onto his wings. Their wings were still there luckily, but the edge of them was burnt off in a crisp by the thunder, a constant reminder of what had happened to him.

 

He began to pull and pluck at the wings, but a swift hand caught both his own hands, making him flinch.

 

"Oh, Hermes.." Penelope said, clearly concerned. Her hand gently leading his from their damaged wings.

 

Odysseus sat by his side, next to his son. They were all looking right at Hermes and he didn't like it one bit. He didn't enjoy how much they worried.

 

"If you don't mind me asking.. might you tell us what happened..?" Said the king of Ithaca in an unusually worried tone.

 

Hermes nodded and opened his mouth, but when they recalled all the recent events, the words were caught in his throat.

 

He quickly shook his head, his wings and feathered tail quickly wrapping around him in search for comfort. They tried pulling out his back wings, those that always appeared when emotions were high, those who never failed to protect or comfort him, but those wings never sprouted from their back.

 

Hermes' whole body shook, trying to avoid the pitying gaze of the royal family. They had always hated when others took pity on him.

 

Odyssey let out a sigh, but he didn't sound annoyed, at all.

 

"Alright then, there's no need to talk about it now." Said Odysseus.

 

"That's right, but in case you feel ready to, you can always come to us." Penelope said in that sweet voice if hers, still holding both of Hermes' hands.

 

Hermes simply nodded in response, still shook, still trembling, still affected and thinking of it all.

 

That night wasn't a pleasant one for Hermes. The nightmare he had was bone chilling.

 

He found himself back on Mount Olympus, but this time they weren't faced by Zeus. No, someone far worse was right in front of him and they weren't ready to face this person.

 

His partner, the blind prophet, Tiresias, stood there, a cold expression settled onto his face.

 

When Hermes saw them he was met with feelings of sadness, sure, but most of all he felt enraged. Enraged at the one who was supposed to hold him, to support them through everything. Enraged at the one who HAD held him through everything, who had forced them to take breaks, to rest, to tend to his wounds, and who was probably laughing at them the whole time behind his back.

 

"Why..?" Hermes asked, his bottom lip quivering.

 

Tiresias could only laugh.

 

"Didn't Zeus tell you? I was only ever after your power Hermes. Now look at you! You're weak and pathetic, but deep down you've always been that, you just refused to accept it, didn't you?" Said the prophet, in a mocking voice.

 

Hermes trembled as he stared at his ex partner. They could feel the tears wetting his eyes and beginning to trickle down their cheeks. Then a burning sensation deep in the pits of his gut. That sensation of rage swallowed him whole.

 

Hermes lunged at Tiresias but could only hold the prophet, he couldn't find it in themselves to ever harm the one who had harmed him.

 

But he gripped tight onto Tiresias' hands, his stance weak.

 

Before any words could be spoken the air thinned, indicating the Zeus' entrance.

 

Hermes could only but mutter weak apologies.

 

"Apologies will do you no good! And to think you used to be my son. What a disgrace, truly." Zeus said in a disgusted tone.

 

"Aw look! Hermes is going to whine. He hit the bottom now!" Tiresias chimed in, chuckling at the sight of the ex god.

 

The sound of thunder filled the throne room.

 

Hermes suddenly woke up in a sweat, screaming. Just then the king and queen burst into the room, Odysseus had a sword in his hands.

 

Hermes basically jumped as the door shut behind the duo. He curled up, hugging their knees to his chest.

 

"Is everything alright?" Odysseus was the first to speak.

 

"Oh, dear.." added Penelope as she rushed to Hermes' bedside.

 

He flinched away, shielding themselves with his unusable wings and tail.

 

Odysseus lowered the weapon and joined Penelope, looking over Hermes by the side 

 

Hermes could only shake, not realizing that his flinching and jumping had caused one of the wounds to reopen as the warm golden ichor trickled from one of the glowing lightning scars.

 

Odysseus and Penelope both sighed, already preparing themselves to treat yet another wound. This time though it'll be rather difficult given Hermes' awake and skittish state.

 

And difficult it was. Whenever the king or queen got too close he'd flinch away, damaging even more the scar.

 

During this routine of flinching and yelping the royals showed infinite patience, but deep down they were rightfully tired and exasperated. Once they were done they both crashed onto the chairs there, the exhaustion clearly catching up to them.

 

When Hermes noticed he couldn't help but mutter weak apologies under his breath, leading to the queen trying to reassure the ex god that it was fine, but they couldn't trust nor believe that.

 

Odysseus and Penelope stayed there for a while more, making sure Hermes wasn't gonna damage any other injury. They attempted asking him about what had caused that reaction, but Hermes just stared at them with the look of a pitiful dog who had been abandoned by it's owner and they dared not ask again.

 

Once they left Hermes was left alone in the dark once again. There was a lamp on his bedside but they barely glanced at it. He didn't understand how the royal family had taken them in, why would they have done that?

 

He was nothing but a pathetic exile, they deserved nothing. Why would they have helped him? But most importantly, he couldn't help but wonder why his partner- well, ex partner, had betrayed them like that.

 

Hermes knew the actual reason, but he still wondered why.

 

His hands instinctively reached up to their wings once again but when he remembered the worried and tired expressions of Odysseus and Penelope a few minutes earlier he was surprisingly able to pry their hands away.

 

That night ended up being filled by thoughts of why until Hermes inevitably fell asleep.

Chapter 2: An unexpected encounter

Summary:

Hermes has been residing in Ithaca for quite some time now. What will happen when Tiresias is right in front of him, trying to clear himself from Zeus' lies?

Notes:

Just so y'all know I was SO tempted to have Hermes pull an Odysseus in love in paradise so be happy

The next few days were all a blur.

 

Hermes fell into a hyper vigilant state. Not only that, the memories haunted his mind each day, making living a relatively normal day to day life harder.

 

His injuries were healing at an extremely slow rate given the fact all their powers had been taken away so no divine healing was there to assist him, the injuries were right from the king of the gods, and there was no worried Apollo to help him.

 

Usually they would've gotten annoyed at his brother but now he missed him more than anything.

 

The aching everyday was astonishing, sometimes it left him laying in bed as the lighting scars expanded and retracted randomly.

 

The royal family was nothing but kind to him. They didn't understand why but they were. It made him feel guilty for not being able to trust them, but how could he trust them when they had just gotten betrayed?

 

Whenever Odysseus got too close he shifted away, whenever Penelope was changing their bandages or treating his injuries they'd jump, whenever Telemachus would come in still holding his spear he'd flinch.

 

And he despised how untrusting he was while the royal family was being so patient with them. So he'd avoid speaking up, they'd avoid even glancing at his hosts unless needed, cause the guilt was eating him up and swallowing him whole.

 

He didn't do much around the palace. The routine was: rot in the clinic's bed, eat an invisible portion of whatever food was brought to him, go into a crisis, refuse to eat, then sleep.

 

All this to say, he obviously wasn't doing well, at all.

 

But other than that he had managed to get Odysseus to give them a job. He now served, although not often, as a messenger for the royal family. It helped him feel more at ease, like they were still on Olympus.

 

But often were the times where he'd get confused as to why Odysseus only gave them two or three messages to deliver.

 

One time he has gained the guts to ask Odysseus about it. The first time where he was too mentally drained to deliver any messages. The conversation went sorta like this:

 

Odysseus had entered the room to the guest room as Hermes had been moved there.

 

"Hermes? Have you delivered those messages?" He had asked.

 

Hermes' eyes widened and he rapidly got on the floor in front of Odysseus and starting to apologize profusely, gaining a confused look from the king.

 

"Hey- it's fine. I was just asking.." Odysseys said as he kneeled down to Hermes' level.

 

"You're not gonna smite me-?" Hermes asked, his voice shaky.

 

"No.. except for the obvious fact that I don't have the ability to do that, why would I ever hurt you?" This time it was Odysseus who asked a question, leaving Hermes in shock.

 

"Cause I didn't deliver those messages..? I- I thought you were going to- ..." Hermes froze mid sentence.

 

Odysseus sighed in understanding.

 

"Hermes, you won't be smited for missing a message or two." Odysseus said, placing his hand on the ex god's shoulder, gaining a quiet yelp from him.

 

"I won't..?" Hermes stared up at Odysseus, trying to catch a glimpse of a lie on his face, but Hermes couldn't find any, which was strange to them.

 

"You won't, Hermes." Odysseus reassured him.

 

"Oh. ... Oh.." came Hermes' reply.

 

"Why are the messages so little..?" Asked Hermes once again.

 

"What do you mean by that?"

 

"You always send me to deliver two or three messages.. I thought they'd be more-" Hermes said in a now quieter tone.

 

"Why would there be more..?" Odysseus said, clearly confused but most of all concerned.

 

"On Olympus I'd get hundreds of messages daily.. I thought that was the normal quota-.." Hermes was now the one confused.

 

"And I assume you probably got smited for missing just a few.. gods- ok- no Hermes.. that's certainly not normal.." Odysseus clearly sounded exasperated at that point.

 

Hermes simply nodded. It's safe to say that during his stay in Ithaca he had learned a lot, specifically about things they were taught that actually weren't normal nor alright.

 

He doesn't know when exactly they had told the royal family about what had happened to him, but when they did, the royal family became far more wary.

 

They made sure to remove any possible triggers, they made sure to be careful on what they mentioned, they made sure that he was doing alright every now and then.

 

He didn't recall what he had told them, ‘cause it probably happened during one of their crises, but it must've been a lot, because they were doing a lot.

 

---

 

One day, Odysseus has sent him out to receive a message. They didn't know what kind of message it was but it seemed of high importance. As he waited in the spot, a portal opened right in front of him and a familiar voice, although tired, came through.

 

"I have a message for Odysseus of Ith—" The voice stopped in it's tracks.

 

Hermes' eyes widened as he saw that none other than their ex partner Tiresias stood there, with head wings extremely similar to his and some.. bat? wings on his back. Had that dream been prophetic or something? It didn't matter, what enraged him the most was that Tiresias had been turned into the perfect replacement for them.

 

"Hermes.. it's you-.." Tiresias tried reaching out but Hermes had already began backing away.

 

Tiresias' eyes softened upon the sight, but Hermes didn't buy it, or at least he thought that they weren't buying Tiresias' lies, but what he didn't know was that Tiresias was being truthful.

 

"Oh.. you must've gone through so much, my songbird-"

 

"You have NO RIGHT to call me that!" Hermes snapped, leaving Tiresias confused and quite frankly hurt.

 

"Why are you saying that..? Hermes it's me.." Tiresias tried reassuring him in some way, even though they didn't know what Hermes had to be reassured of.

 

But Hermes didn't budge one bit.

 

"Don't act dumb.. you know what you did..! Get away!" Hermes yelled.

 

Tiresias stood there, dumbfounded. Why is Hermes acting like this? Is it some kind of trauma response? He thought.

 

"I really don't know what you're talking about.. how about we sit down and—"

 

"NO! With you?! After what you- ..." Hermes went quiet, trying to focus on not breaking down right there.

 

"Hermes I truly don't know what you're talking about.."

 

"Stop lying..! just- stop it.." Hermes' voice shook in way he never thought it could. It trembled and cracked at all the wrong times.

 

Tiresias tried getting closer but Hermes just backed away further, so the prophet stopped trying.

 

"You betrayed me..! You were only ever after my position..! You led me to this-! To be- exiled.. just like that..! With no remorse..! But now I get it.. each time I was punished cause I cut my work short to be with you, each time you forced me to rest knowing damn well how fath- Zeus would react.. it was just to lead me to this point..!" He yelled, pointing a finger accusingly at the one before him.

 

Tiresias stood there in shock, I mean how could he react to such accusations? They felt hurt and confused all at the same time.

 

"What.. I didn't do any of that..! Who told you that-"

 

"Zeus did of course..! You suggested to him to let me be exiled and- ..." Hermes couldn't help but go quiet every now and then. It was too often that his voice broke.

 

"Hermes, I'm sorry but don't you realize how dumb that sounds? Not to mentione the amount of times he has lied to you..! I'd never do such a thing! Not after all the times you came back from Olympus exhausted out of your mind and bleeding! Not after all the times you told me how horrible it is! why would I ever take your spot? Besides, I've never used you! My dearest songbird, I—" Tiresias quickly got cut off by Hermes.

 

"I told you not to call me that..! You don't deserce to..! You don't.."

 

"Alright.. just hear me out.. please-"  Tiresias sounded defeated at this point.

 

"What is there to hear you out about?! Give me the message and go." He didn't budge, trying to keep his tone stern, trying to keep their composure, like he's always had to.

 

"Hermes.." He sighed, but complied.

 

Hermes' eyes moved to Tiresias' messenger bag as he pulled the message from it, wait, that wasn't Tiresias' bag. That was Hermes' old bag that he had been forced to leave on Olympus, the one with the Crocus flower pinned on it. They stared at the bag with an intense glare that Tiresias couldn't see for obvious reasons.

 

"That's.." Hermes mumbled under his breath..

 

Tiresias looked up, having heard the one word that had been spoken.

 

"That's wha— oh.. right.." He quickly caught on as they pulled the message from the bag.

 

Hermes stood there, now frozen in place, his fingers already beginning to thread through the feathers of their burned wings.

 

Tiresias somehow noticed by the shuffling of feathers.

 

"You really shouldn't do that, you won't regenerate if something happens."

 

"Thanks for the reminder" Hermes snapped back.

 

"Right.." Tiresias sighed in exasperation, but mostly in mournfullness.

 

The prophet handed him the message then turned to look away.

 

"I'm sorry, my so— Hermes. I wish things were different.. please know that I never meant to hurt you, and I hope that one day you'll realize the truth."

Hermes didn't speak. Because what could he say, really? They couldn't admit that he was clinging onto that lie fed to them by Zeus in hopes that not everything they were told was a lie. That there was something truthful in his old father's words. But deep down they knew there wasn't, but he couldn't help but believe that Tiresias truly had deceived him. He quite literally replaced Hermes in every way possible! If Tiresias had gained his helmet and room he'd basically be their perfect copy.

 

"Farewell, Hermes..." Said Tiresias as he spawned a portal and left.

 

Hermes was left there to mourn, over the betrayal, over his old lover, over everything that had been a lie.

 

He slowly began to walk back to the palace.

 

When they entered the halls of the royal palace, Odysseus greeted him, but before anything else could be said Hermes gave him the letter and walked to the guest room without a word, leaving poor Odysseus standing there confused.

 

"Hermes- wait!" But Hermes had already left the room.

 

That night he didn't eat, didn't sleep, didn't drink, leaving everyone in the palace that had cared for them worried.

 

But he couldn't care, they had no reason to. Sure he felt guilty about it but there was nothing they could do.

 

And so he laid there, thinking about how pathetic they had been his whole life.

Chapter 3: You shouldn't replace my problems as well.

Summary:

Hermes goes on a walk and sees Tiresias getting punished by Zeus. An argument with the god king ensues.

Notes:

Don't make me regret adding SOME joy in this chapter

 

Three days later, as it often happened, Hermes was in the middle of having flashbacks. He would've torn off their own wings if Penelope hadn't caught him and suggested he take a walk.

 

And so Hermes did.

 

They walked through the gardens of the palace first. Taking in the scent of each individual flower, he wasn't too fond of flowers in the first place, but the gardens were beautiful and made for a calm walk.

 

They would've passed by the merchants next but those were just a reminder of his past divinity, of when they were the god of trades and always made sure to visit mortal merchants and slip them extra coins, so those were skipped.

 

He found himself in the woods of Ithaca, the chirp of birds and the rustling of leaves filling their ears and leaving him with a calming sensation.

 

Penelope was right, the walk truly did help, but not for long.

 

As they walked through the woods he couldn't help but overhear a rather loud conversation. Two far too familiar voices that made their bones chill filled the calm of the forest.

 

He knew they shouldn't go check it out, it could be dangerous, but even without being a god he was still quite reckless, and decided to check it out anyways.

 

As they leaned on a tree he heard the god king, Zeus, yelling at someone, supposedly.. Tiresias.

 

Why did they always have to encounter those two?! Each one of his instincts screamed and yelled at them to leave, to run and not look back. But he still wanted to know what was going on, and so they stayed.

 

He couldn't hear much before the sound of thunder filled the air, crackling. Hermes jumped, frightened.

 

They wanted to run but he was frozen in place. And there they saw Tiresias, laying on the ground, conscious, but not for long.

 

Their feet started moving and before he knew it they were right in front of Tiresias.

 

"Exile. What do you want? I hope you know it's best you leave" Zeus said in that usual cold, bone chilling, tone.

 

"I just- ... Why?" Hermes asked.

 

"He made a foolish mistake and got punished for it, you should know these things given how often you've been punished and given your.. latest punishment. They failed me by missing multiple messages, just like you did, a perfect resemblance of you don't you think?" Zeus said as he chuckled coldly.

 

"He shouldn't be punished just for that! Despite everything they're still a mortal..!" Hermes countered. That seemed to enrage Zeus even more.

 

He didn't know why they were defending the one who had betrayed him, but they felt like they needed to, he couldn't just watch what happened to them happen to someone he ..cared.. about.

 

"Who are YOU to question ME boy?! He was wrong and in need of consequences. Do you want to meet the same fate once again?!"

 

That made Hermes quiet down for a moment. He certainly did NOT want to be smited like that, not again. But they didn't back down, not full anyways.

 

"And what good will that do?! You might just kill me at this point..!" His voice trembled but they tried to keep it steady.

 

"You know all the consequences and punishments I give are for your own good!! I try everything to keep everybody in line yet you still disobey me even while facing consequences!"

 

"Oh really? So smiting me till I almost was sent doen to Hades was for my own good?! Lying to me my whole life was for my own good?! Not telling me about my partner betraying me even tho you knew about it was for my own good?!" Hermes could feel his eyes start to water as they recalled each traumatic event one after the other.

 

"Don't you DARE cry. And yes! It was all for your own good! And when he was betraying you you seemed so happy I couldn't just break that could I?! I wanted you to be happy!" Zeus countered, his excuses clearly weak.

 

"WHEN have you ever wanted me to be happy?! When?! Cause if I recall correctly you—"

 

Thunder erupted in the distance, making both Hermes and Tiresias flinch.

 

"Back. DOWN. Boy. You have no right to talk to me like that!" Zeus' eyes glimmered with a dangerous electrifying yellow, and that was Hermes' cue to shut up.

 

Tiresias coughed violently as he went from laying on the ground to kneeling on it, trying to get up.

 

"Don't talk to him like that..!" Tiresias shouted at Zeus.

 

The god king raised an eyebrow before his expression contorted into one of further rage. Just how angry could he get?

 

"Don't you dare tell me what to do! You're nothing but the replacement of an exile and think you have any right to speak back at me even worse yell at me?!" He yelled.

 

"That's cause you made me that! You say that yet you've cast your own SON out! How does that make you any better?!" Tiresias yelled back, struggling to stand back up.

 

"He is not my son and don't you ever refer to them as such! He is nothing but an exile and don't you DARE try to defend them." Zeus grew even louder.

 

"Yes he is! You must be truly pathetic to say such things about your own child! No parent should ever treat their kin like that!" Tiresias didn't back down.

 

"He is NOT MY KIN. Since you think you have any right to have something to say about my actions then you'll face consequences once again." And with that thunder erupted from the sky, louder than any yelling could be, hitting Tiresias who then fell to the ground.

 

Hermes stood there shocked as Zeus left without a word.

 

He turned around to see their ex partner laying there motionless but still somewhat conscious somehow.

 

"Tiresias.." Hermes mumbled, his voice cracking.

 

Tiresias replied with a groan.

 

"Damn it.." Hermes mumbled under their breath as he walked to the prophet who laid on the ground and hoisted him onto their shoulder without a word.

 

---

 

When they both arrived at the palace, Hermes was quick to settle Tiresias down onto a chair and get some bandages.

 

From how many times he's gotten hurt by their own means he has memorized the exact place of the medical stuff.

 

"I'm not an expert, but I know a thing or two, so stay still." Hermes told Tiresias before beginning the medication.

 

Tiresias could only but nod, the pain being too much to let them speak.

 

Silence overwhelmed the room. A tense, uncomfortable silence that enveloped both of their voices except for a few grunts here and there from Tiresias.

 

At one point Odysseus had walked in the room and was rightfully so quite shocked.

 

"Why is.. he.. here? Didn't they 'cause you're exile?" Odysseus had asked.

 

Hermes stood there for a moment, rethinking over everything that had happened up until that point.

 

"Well, he.. defended me against Zeus.. and got smited for it.. ... I might be rethinking that belief.. but.. no one deserves to be smited.. not even them." Hermes' voice was weak and full of doubt.

 

"I still don't trust him, not around you anyways. But fine.. they can't stay.. neither you nor Penelope will let me kick him out anyways.." Odysseys sighed then his eyes widened. "Are.. they a bat?"

 

Right, Tiresias had developed huge back bat wings, quite similar to Hermes' own ones of course. Due to that he had also developed quite a lot of bat traits and similarities.

 

"I guess so.. why?" Hermes replied.

 

Odysseus shook.

 

"No reason.." he backed away.

 

"Are you afraid of bats..?" Hermes had to double down before actually asking that.

 

"No.. of course not..! Who's afraid of bats-?" Odysseus lied through his teeth. For the great grandson of the (ex) god of liars he wasn't great at lying in front of said god.

 

"You're afraid of bats.. the great warrior Odysseus of Ithaca who fought in a war and defeated gods is afraid of bats." Hermes could barely hold his laughter in.

 

"No I am not!" Odysseus yelled back, a slight red tint enveloping his face.

 

"Uh-huh."

 

Odysseus then left, the room filling with silence and mourning once again.

 

"I think I should go now.." Tiresias mumbled.

 

"Go back to Olympus after talking like that to fath— Zeus? I wouldn't suggest that unless you have a death wish." Hermes replied.

 

"Then what should I do? I don't exactly have anywhere else to go."

 

Hermes thought about it for a moment then sighed.

 

"You could stay here.. I'll let you stay in the room I sleep in.. just.. stay distant."

 

"Alright, fair enough. Thank you.. Hermes.."

 

"It's whatever."

 

Hermes had a feeling he was gonna regret this decision.

Notes:

I don't like this chapter much so imma work on chapter 4 rn

Chapter 4: Old habits die hard

Summary:

Depression is a bitch and Tiresias is just trying to help his (ex) partner💔

Notes:

This was EASILY one of my favorite chapters to write.

In the morning, Tiresias had quickly left Hermes' room, only to be stopped by Penelope.

 

She was the only one who doubted that Tiresias would ever betray Hermes, so she had simply stopped him for some tea.

 

When Hermes woke up, it just so happened to be one of those days. The days where everything comes crashing down on him all at once, making sure to make their recovery even harder.

 

He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall for a long long time, not even realizing when their hands had come up and reached for his wings and started pulling on them.

 

Before he knew it, there were glass shards everywhere around on the floor, they were sitting in a corner of the room, his hands still pulling on the bleeding damaged headwings.

 

Whatever glass crashed on the floor must've been loud because there was a knock on the door that made Hermes flinch so much his hand squashed a glass shard.

 

It was clear they still weren't used to people knocking on doors instead of barging in.

 

"Hermes? It's.. Tiresias. Is everything alright? There was a crash." Tiresias spoke, his voice soft.

 

No response.

 

"Hermes? Will you answer me?" He tried once again then sighed.

 

"Answer or I'm coming in."

 

"I'm fine! Leave." The response was quick.

 

"You clearly aren't. There was a crash, what was that about?" They asked again.

 

"I'm fine Tiresias! Go away! I just knocked something over." Hermes said then cursed under his breath while trying to pick the shard out of their palm.

 

"You aren't and it's clear. That crash was far too loud for something to have simply been knocked over. Tell me the truth!"

 

Tiresias knew Hermes too well to let something like this go. It wasn't unusual for Hermes to lie about his well being or try to brush off their injuries. Tiresias knew not to trust his words.

 

"I am! Just let it go!"

 

"Hermes. Penelope's worried.. and so is Telemachus. They both heard the crash, I need to give them an answer."

 

"Then tell them I'm fine! Tell them I knocked something over!"

 

Without context Hermes truly sounded like a moody teenager.

 

He yelped loudly, still trying to get that shard out of their palm. The yelp wasn't exactly a scream but it was loud enough to be heard through the door.

 

"Hermes! Are you ok-? Just tell me the truth for once please!" Tiresias begged.

 

"Why should I tell you anything?! For all I know you could've never told me anything truthful ever since we met!" Hermes shouted back.

 

This was going nowhere but Tiresias knew that if he didn't hurry whatever injuries Hermes had gotten himself would worsen.

 

"I have always told you the truth! And you should tell me the truth because I'm trying to help you!"

 

"Just go!"

 

"That's it. I'm coming in."

 

Hermes felt his heart in their throat.

 

"No! Don't you dare!"

 

Too late, Tiresias had already opened the door and stepped into that mess that was the room. He took two careful steps, glass crunching under one of their fret.

 

"Get out!!" Hermes yelled, trying to shrink himself in the corner, but Tiresias didn't budge.

 

"I'm not getting out till you let me help you. And you can't lie out of this one, there's glass everywhere on the floor." Tiresias held his tone firm this time.

 

This was one of the many moments Hermes mourned the safety his back wings gave them, but now he didn't have them anymore and they felt powerless.

 

"Leave..! .. please.." Hermes' voice cracked.

 

He had always hated being vulnerable in front of others, probably because a certain someone called Zeus had taught them that vulnerability meant weakness and he'd get punished for it each time.

 

Tiresias' expression softened, but he had to hold firm. They knew that if he left Hermes alone now this could turn into an even worse mess.

 

"Hermes, just tell me what's wrong and this will all be over." His voice softened as well.

 

"I can't.."

 

"So something is wrong."

 

"No..! I can't because there's nothing that I have to say! I'm fine..! I'm fine.." at this point he was just trying to convince themselves of that.

 

Tiresias sighed.

 

"I'm going to come closer now."

 

"No, don't!!"

 

Tiresias stepped forward, careful where he was stepping. Hermes shrunk even further in the corner as if trying to make himself invisible despite Tiresias not being able to see.

 

Once Tiresias was sure they were right in front of Hermes he began kneeling down, only to be pushed away by Hermes leading to the shard in Hermes' palm to stab through his whole hand.

 

"AH-!" Hermes winced, trying to get distance between himself and Tiresias.

 

Tiresias also yelped as the shard had scarred him but that was barely a scratch. They doubled over, trying to keep himself from falling before steadying themselves.

 

"Leave.." Hermes whispered, his voice desperate as he shook.

 

"You know I can't." Tiresias replied as he began kneeling down once again.

 

This time Hermes didn't fight back, he knew it was useless.

 

"Give me your hand.." Tiresias murmured.

 

Hermes shook his head then remembered Tiresias couldn't see.

 

"No.."

 

"Hermes, please."

 

He remained quiet for a few moments before finally extending their arm and revealing his hand.

 

Tiresias traced said hand, trying to find the injury while trying to keep his touch feather light as to not further hurt the ex god.

 

They quickly found the side of the shard at which Hermes winced and looked away. He wasn't sure if Tiresias was going to push the shard further in or if he was going to violently pull it out.

 

"Did it go through your whole hand?" Tiresias asked, that gentle tone still in their voice.

 

"Mhm.." Hermes murmured weakly in response.

 

"This'll need to be medicated for sure. Any other injuries I should know about?"

 

Hermes remained quiet.

 

"Hermes.. tell me, please. Or I'll have to check for injuries myself."

 

He whined before answering with two words.

 

"Head wings."

 

"Thank you.. I'll check on them now." Tiresias warned before letting his hands make their way to Hermes' head, gently threading through the bent feathers of his wings.

 

Hermes flinched but said nothing. The prophet made sure to be as careful and gentle as they could, checking for each individual rip and bruise.

 

It's useless to say that there were a ton of injuries in Hermes' wings, so many Tiresias had to do a double take because of how unbelievable it was.

 

Tiresias sighed.

 

"Did you do this?" He asked.

 

Hermes stayed quiet once again.

 

"You did.." Tiresias answered their own question.

 

Hermes nodded even though Tiresias was unable to see it.

 

"I'll go get some stuff. Wait here"

 

Without further notice Tiresias up and left to get the necessary tools to be able to take care of all the injuries.

 

Hermes was left there on his own, staring into nothing. They felt pathetic, and it wasn't a new feeling either.

 

He hugged their knees to his chest, their injured hand put at a careful distance.

 

He was so tempted to just dig straight back into their wings but by the time his, albeit shaky, good hand had gotten to the wings someone had knocked on the door, making Hermes flinch once again. Just how skittish was he?

 

"Hermes, it's me again, Tiresias." Tiresias spoke from the other side of the door before coming in.

 

Tiresias quickly yet carefully crossed over the distance between them, making sure not to be too loud and to try and avoid the glass shards.

 

Once he reached Hermes they kneeled down in front of him.

 

"Give me your hand." He said.

 

Hermes obliged and extended his hand.

 

They bit his lower lip as Tiresias pulled the shard right out of their hand and quickly began putting pressure on the wound as to stop the ichor from spilling.

 

Hermes couldn't help wincing every now and then, rightfully so, but yet he tried to stay quiet.

 

Tiresias kept a cloth wrapped around Hermes' hand. The cloth absorbed all the ichor but it certainly wasn't enough. But the prophet kept pressing with the cloth.

 

When the bleeding stopped the cloth was quickly replaced with a careful binding of bandages.

 

Once that was done came the time for the head wings. Hermes glanced at his hand and their mouth gaped open when he noticed their hand hadn't been hurt but had instead been medicated.

 

That's when he noticed that Tiresias had been doing this all with one hand.

 

"Tiresias..?" The ex god spoke up.

 

He didn't wanna admit that they were worried but, he was worried, even if the guy they were worried about was the one that had betrayed him.

 

"Yes?" Tiresias replied.

 

"What happened to your other hand..?" Hermes murmured, trying to hide the concern in his tone.

 

For a moment Tiresias thought about whether he should say what had happened or not.

 

"Well, due to continuous punishments my hand is.. how to put it- fucked up?" They said as he extended said unusable hand, revealing all the yellow scarring on it.

 

Hermes knew that that wasn't a lie, it was clear as day.

 

"Oh." Was all he could say before quieting down again.

 

Tiresias sighed and began checking the ex god's injured wings. Those could be referred to as even worse than the hand he had just bandaged.

 

Bits of dried ichor stuck feathers together while the blood that still spilled colored the remaining bent feathers in a macabre golden hue.

 

Tiresias couldn't see that of course, but they could feel how feathers stuck together. He could smell that metallic scent of blood coming from the wings. They could feel the various cuts between the feathers from which a warm liquid dripped.

 

All this to say, the wings were more fucked up than Tiresias had previously thought.

 

He sighed.

 

"This is why I always told you that plucking them was a bad habit.." their voice softened.

 

Hermes didn't answer, he just looked away, not wanting to admit that the prophet before them was right. He had always been aware of the fact that plucking them wasn't exactly a healthy thing to do, especially when after a while they would pull on those poor wings, but he couldn't help but do it.

 

"Old habits die hard." He murmured.

 

Tiresias sighed in response and began the process he was far too familiar with, of taking care of the abused wings, except now they could only rely on one hand.

 

His hand, albeit with some difficulty, skillfully threaded through each individual feather and took care of each cut and each rip.

 

Once both head wings were taken care of and bandaged, Tiresias distanced himself from Hermes just enough to avoid Hermes from spiraling once again.

 

"Thanks.." Hermes mumbled.

 

"It's no problem at all." Tiresias reassured.

 

Hermes disliked how their vocabularies had been becoming more and more similar, but there wasn't much he could do about it, and they felt pretty dumb for having such a "stupid" hatred.

 

Tiresias had been slowly becoming his perfect replacement while they were left to rot on his own.

 

Sure, he hated the treatment they got on Olympus and the royal family of Ithaca was quite nice to him— honestly they couldn't understand how Odysseys, Penelope and Telemachus didn't go insane with him there —but for some reason he missed Olympus.

 

Not only that, he still somewhat believed the methods on there were right, they still believed he was a disappointment to the Olympians and to Zeus.

 

That's why he was basically clinging to the lie of Tiresias being a traitor cause otherwise that would mean that Zeus had never told them something truthful, ever.

 

He curled up, hugging their knees to his chest once again.

 

"Do you wanna.. maybe tell me what caused all this?" Tiresias proposed, knowing the answer but still asking, hoping it'll be different.

 

"No.." Hermes responded.

 

"Fair enough." He sighed. "Well, I think I've long overdone my stay here, I think I need to go. Wouldn't wanna have Zeus mad once again."

 

"Mhm.. right.."

 

Hermes didn't know if he was relieved or sad Tiresias was leaving, but they opted for the former, because gods forbid he actually felt bad about the prophet leaving.

 

"Farewell, Hermes."

 

He stilled at that. Tiresias never used that before replacing them, that was more of a Hermes goodbye to say.

 

"... Bye."

 

And with that Tiresias left the room, leaving Hermes completely alone once again.

 

He probably told Penelope and Telemachus about what had happened because at last they came running in the room, attempting to comfort him, but Hermes wasn't in the mood to listen to anyone.

Notes:

More of this AU can be found at:
@tiresias_isback & @dont_shoot_themessanger

Remember to drink eat and take your meds if you have any! :3