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The once peaceful palace of Ithaca was now in chaos, there were dead men scattered around on the floor, their blood covered palace tiles and walls, but there was no guilt in the air as Odysseus ran through the halls of his own palace, trusty bow gripped tightly in his hand. Those men deserved their deaths, as they were the suitors who had been harassing his dear wife, Penelope. They had tried to force themselves onto her and take her hand in marriage. The satisfaction he felt once his arrow had struck the first suitor, Antinous, in the throat was one he had not felt in a long time, that was when everything went downhill for these bastards.
Odysseus struck an arrow into any of the suitors he could see as he ran in the shadows. He knew that his son Telemachus was doing the same, having seen the young man shoot down one of the suitors who had tried to run away once everything started. Odysseus couldn’t be prouder of his son, what’s better father-son bonding than shooting down a bunch of men who made his wife and son’s life terrible for years?
Some time into this whole dilemma, Odysseus and his son had to split up to cover more of the palace, and while he does trust his son, Odysseus can’t help but think about possibly losing him to one of the suitors, and after just meeting the amazing young man, missing out on seeing him grow up, it gave him a few nerves if he was being honest. With that on his mind, it wasn’t too surprising that Odysseus didn’t notice a small group of suitors who were hiding in the dark as well. There were only three of them, but with the element of surprise they were able to get the jump on Odysseus, two suitors came out as they tried to reach for Odysseus, and though surprised, the king was able to step back and get some distance between him and the two suitors who had suddenly appeared.
Much to the two suitors' dismay, it didn’t take long for Odysseus to gain the advantage, knocking one out cold and throwing the other across the hallway floor, Odysseus was preparing to kill the one he had just knocked out but picked up on someones’ steps behind him just as he was about to stab the fallen man with his own dagger. Odysseus turned around just as another dagger was brought down on his right arm, he hadn’t even seen a third suitor, but it seemed like this one went for a more stealthy attack, having waited until Odysseus was distracted to attack. Pain immediately made itself known to him, feeling a burning sensation on his upper arm as the dagger stabbed into it and the suitor dragged it down. It wasn’t too big of a dagger but it was enough for it to open up his skin with ease, blood quickly beginning to flow out once the dagger was removed.
Odysseus held back a cry of pain and surprise when he first felt the dagger go in and down, feeling the burn of the injury, but he quickly refocused as he saw the suitor was raising the bloody dagger, wanting to strike again. Odysseus sidestepped and got behind the suitor, who had stumbled forward once the dagger missed its target, Odysseus raised the dagger he had taken from the unconscious suitor and stuck it right into the suitor's neck, pushing it down deep and not letting the suitor have a chance to scream. Once he knew the suitor wouldn't get up he began to run again, having to leave the area before other possible threats got there.
The wound continued to burn, every movement and step he took felt like he was setting it on fire over and over again, but he couldn’t stop moving until he found a place to hide. He made the wrong choice of glancing down at it, almost doing a double look after he did, the wound was surprisingly large for the small dagger that had been used, going from the top of his upper arm almost to the underside of his elbow, blood spilling out and onto the floor, as he ran, there was too much of it to see how bad the wound really was, but with the amount of blood Odysseus could guess it didn’t look pretty.
Odysseus cursed silently as he focused on the hallway ahead of him instead of the pain and bloody wound he had received. ‘Even with a place to hide, Telemachus is still somewhere in here. I need to find him first.’ the king thought to himself as he continued running. While not much of the palace had changed, Odysseus still found it quite large, making it hard to find his son, luckily there weren’t any suitors around so he didn’t have to worry about fighting anyone with his injury. Though it was suspicious to him that those bastards weren’t running around in the halls trying to find him and Telemachus, then again, they might have just run away. He didn’t know how much longer he was running around his palace, his crew always told him he was bad at keeping track of time, he always said they were being dramatic, and sometimes he wondered what would have happened if he just- No, there's no time to think about the “What-if’s”, he needs to be thinking about finding Telemachus.
The hallways were dark enough that any form of light seemed like the sun was inside the palace, so when he saw the light that came from one of the more spacious halls, he knew there was a high chance for some suitors to be there. He wouldn’t be able to fight back with his bow and arrow, but he could at least try to fight them off with the dagger he had collected from the earlier suitor. Deciding he wasn’t going to let these bastards get away so easily, he made what Athena could consider a “rash decision” and went towards where the lights were. He had honestly expected a small crowd of suitors trying to hide out and come up with a plan to kill him and Telemachus, what he didn’t expect was for a group of maybe five suitors crowded together, practically emanating confidence and condescension even from where Odysseus was standing.
He stopped not too far from them, both from apprehension and some confusion as to why they didn’t seem too scared as they turned to him, though he quickly realized not long after those thoughts crossed his mind. Under the suitors was Telemachus, he lying on the ground, it was hard to tell if he was even awake or alive from how crowded together the suitors were. Odysseus could only focus on the body of his son, trying to see if he would move or at least if his chest was rising and falling to show he was breathing. The suitors took this opportunity of him being distracted, three of them running up to the King of Ithaca and trying to get him onto the floor, if it wasn’t for Odysseus’ injury and worry for his son then they definitely wouldn’t have succeeded as well as they did.
Soon Odysseus found himself on the floor, chest pushed onto the tiles of the palace with his hands grabbed and twisted behind his back, aggravating the wound on his arm even more. The other two suitors were standing close to Telemachus as if guarding the young man to make sure he wouldn’t get up and leave. Odysseus was still watching his son with slight panic on his face, soon he did see the movement of his chest, small breaths but breaths nonetheless. Odysseus felt himself relax slightly at seeing his son was indeed alive, though now he found himself in a very bad situation, looking up at the three suitors that held him down, two grabbing his hands while the other at his legs. There was little chance of escaping without himself getting hurt more or his son getting hurt more, all he could do was wait and try to find a good opening to attack.
Hermes had done his job that had been given to him by Zeus, he told Odysseus that he was able to leave Calypso’s island, gave him some motivation, he even gave a few helpful hints to follow during the trip. Still, there was a small part of himself that told him to continue watching his Great-Grandson during his trip back to Ithaca, he suffered too much to fail now, and Hermes just had to keep watch of him. Even when he finally made it back home, Hermes hung around as he hovered over Ithaca until it turned night. He was considering leaving and calling it a day, trusting his little darling to be able to take care of himself.
Of course, the second he turned away he began hearing arrows shooting and small cut-off screams that came specifically from the only place he wished it didn’t come from. Hermes only sighed as he turned to look at the palace for a good solid minute, silently wondering if maybe his genes overpowered the rest when it came to his Great-Grandson. Deciding maybe one quick look wouldn’t hurt anyone, so in a flash he made his way to the entrance of the palace, finding it rather quiet and empty compared to the other times he broke- he visited the lovely place. He looked around and took a small stroll around the palace while he could, he stopped in one of the hallways, taking in the amazing artwork of bodies and blood Odysseus left in his wake before moving on, he expected as much, Odysseus has always been very attached to his wife.
Wanting to just find Odysseus and tease him a little before leaving, Hermes used his trusty winged sandals to fly around the larger hallways to find his little darling. It didn’t take long before Hermes saw the light coming from the halls just like Odysseus had done not too long ago, Hermes was intrigued by who could have possibly been dumb enough to use so many torches in one place. He landed on the floor only a few feet in front of the doors that were cracked open just enough to let the light go through, the worst that could happen if he entered was that some mortal would get a quick heart attack at seeing him, so he wasn’t too concerned with being sneaky. Hermes opened the door and walked in like one would any other day, he glanced around as he saw the scene before him.
Three random men holding down Odysseus by his arms and legs seeming to be bleeding from someplace if the small bits of blood seem to indicate anything, he also seemed to not be struggling as much as one would expect, two other men standing over Telemachus, his Great-Great-Grandson, the young mortal seems to be unconscious but breathing so that was nice. Hermes saw the multiple heads that turned in his direction, the five men, which he believed to be suitors, froze at seeing the god standing like he was supposed to be there, Odysseus seemed surprised and confused himself but Hermes could also see some relief in those blue and brown eyes. Hermes on the outside seemed not too bothered at seeing the almost murder of his two grandchildren, looking closely at the five suitors “Well, well, well..what do we have here?” Hermes said with a smile. The suitors didn’t move, too astonished at seeing a god in front of them, though they did realize that they should answer at the very least.
“I- Lord Hermes..What are you doing here?” One spoke out hesitantly. Hermes just smiled a bit more at seeing the response, hearing the fear in the other’s voice, it was utterly delightful. “That is not the main question that should be asked right now dear mortal. The real question is, what gives you the right to attack these two?” He said as he took a few steps closer. The man seemed more confused “..I don’t understand?” Hermes let out a small chuckle “Ah, you see mortal these two are under my watch at the moment. Though that’s not important at the moment, what I will do to you is the main focus at the moment” He said a bit more darkly as he stepped closer.
Hermes watched as the five suitors ran out the door, running past him and through the hallway as if they could escape him, though he saw no issue with it, he loved a good chase. Hermes turned to see the moving figures, giving a smile over to Odysseus, “I’ll be right back darling.” With that, Hermes took off.
Odysseus watched Hermes leave as he went to chase off the five suitors, left a bit dumbfounded and confused with the whole thing, trying to process not only the suitors that attacked him but the fact that Hermes came out of nowhere and what could he mean by Odysseus and Telemachus being under his watch? Did Zeus ask Hermes to look over Odysseus? He didn’t know. Odysseus quickly remembered his unconscious son, forcing his body to get off the ground as he scrambled over to Telemachus to check for major injuries that he should treat.
Telemachus didn’t seem to have too many injuries, a few cuts and bruises around his body from the fight he must have gotten into before Odysseus found them. The only thing Odysseus found truly concerning was the growing bruise on the young man's head, the King of Ithaca watched his son carefully as he shook his boy's shoulder gently “Telemachus, I need you to wake up boy” It didn’t take long before a small groan came out of Telemachus as his eyes opened up a bit “..Father?” The boy asked softly, though it relieved Odysseus to no end that Telemachus was awake now “Yes, it is me Telemachus. What happened?” Telemachus looked away, seemingly ashamed “They caught me off guard, I didn’t see them until it was too late. I’m sorry father, if I had just been stronger like you-” “Nonsense boy, you cannot predict everything. You did your best, I am proud” Odysseus said as he cut off Telemachus, not wanting to hear his son badmouth himself over something he could not control.
Telemachus looked back at Odysseus with saddened but relieved eyes as he nodded. Odysseus gave his son a small smile “I suggest you rest for a minute before we continue, I don’t know how many more of these suitors are in here” He said as he stood up, hiding his wince from the wound in his arm, though Telemachus didn’t seem to notice, closing his eyes to try calming his headache from the hit he got. Odysseus let out a soft sigh as he stepped away from his son but kept a sharp eye on him, for now, Odysseus wanted to see if Hermes would return.
And return Hermes did, walking in with a content smile and some blood on his hands and face, surprisingly none on his tunic. Odysseus raised an eyebrow at the god, though Hermes only kept his smile as he waved off the king “Just got carried away is all, don’t worry your little heart” The god said nonchalantly as he stood in front of Odysseus. The mortal frowned a bit, “What are you doing here Hermes? I thought you already went to Olympus a long time ago” Odysseus asked as he looked over the god. Hermes only let out a chuckle “Yes well, I am a god, Odysseus, I have many tasks and I just happen to be around, so I came to visit your palace. By the way, love what you’ve done with the place, the blood just comes to life with these walls” Odysseus sighed at Hermes' response, unable to tell if the god was telling the truth or not.
Odysseus glanced back at his son on the floor, seeing that his breathing seemed much more stable now, seeing that, Odysseus looked back at Hermes, “Why did you help us then? You don’t really have a reason for that” Odysseus asked next, Hermes gave a smile as he patted Odysseus’ head, “Ah, naivety at its finest, I suppose it’s not your fault, I’ve never openly told you anything.” That only made Odysseus more confused, moving away from Hermes' hand, “Want to elaborate on that?” Though it didn’t seem much like a question, Hermes answered anyway, “You see darling, I have always been very attached to my children, my blood. Seeing this whole issue of you trying to get home only broke my heart further, so I couldn’t just stand there, I had to protect my blood” Hermes said with a grin as he placed his hand on his chest.
Odysseus was wide-eyed and in some form of shock as he stared at Hermes, the remaining puzzle pieces clicking together, of course, how could he be this dumb? Hermes has always been around Odysseus, it never made sense before, but now it seemed some form of obviousness. “So, were..were related?” Odysseus clarified, just in case. Hermes nodded as he tilted his head a bit to his left, “Of course, you truly believe I would help some random mortal this much without them being related to me? I only do it to my favorite Great-Grandson.” Odysseus held his head as he processed everything, though it might have been the lack of blood in his right arm that made the news go down smoother, “Great-Grandson?.. Wow, I sometimes forget how old you are” Hermes gasped dramatically as he gave a half glare at the man, “Excuse me?! I am in my prime little one” That made Odysseus chuckle a bit as he looked at the god, his Great-Grandfather, interesting.
Odysseus held his wounded arm as he glanced back at Telemachus, feeling a bit paranoid about keeping his son out of his sight for too long. Hermes seemed to catch onto that as he let out a small huff, putting his hand on Odysseus’ shoulder, “Now now Odysseus, no point in giving yourself a panic attack. Let’s get that wound of yours fixed up and we can deal with those suitors once you two are better, okay?” Hermes said with a gentleness that surprised Odysseus for the tenth time this night, though there was still a bad feeling in his stomach, “But the suitors will escape if we don’t-” Hermes tisked at Odysseus, interrupting the man, “that will be no issue, even if they do try to leave, they won’t get too far” Hermes had a small predatory glint in his eye, he had not had this much fun in some time. A small chill went down Odysseus’ spine as he saw that look, he would feel bad for anyone that Hermes looked at like that, but since it was the suitors, he couldn't care less.
“Now, we’re going to let you and your son rest first, I’m sure those suitors will be no issue once you are all bandaged up,” Hermes said with a smile, leading Odysseus back to Telemachus. Odysseus didn’t know how much this would change his life if knowing Hermes was related to him would take him through another path that he was never meant to go through. Though for right now, he was glad the god was here, deep down Odysseus truly believed that he needed Hermes there tonight, and he was glad the god came, whether on purpose or accident.