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When Odysseus was a child, around 5 or 6, he remembered always wanting to adventure, never staying in just the castle but exploring the forest or the kingdom. Of course, he also had a horrible habit of getting lost, losing the guards he was with, and ending up alone. He remembered sobbing alone behind a tree as he looked for his father, a hunting trip gone wrong. Then he heard it, footsteps so light that he almost missed it, luckily he didn’t. He stood up in a hurry and tried to find the person behind the house, then he saw him. A young looking man, his toned body in display with the simple tunic only covering his lower body and half his chest, his eyes a gorgeous blue, like diamond or a clear sky, his sandals were the strangest thing for Odysseus, they had these small golden wing trinkets on each side, the shined as the sun rays hit them.
Odysseus looked up at the man with teary eyes “w-who are you? What do you want?” He said, trying to sound strong but it still came out a bit shaky. The man only gave a sympathetic smile as he knelt down “Apologies, your Highness, I didn’t mean to scare you. You see, I find myself lost, could you help me?” He said with eyes, oh so trusting. Odysseus sniffled as he rubbed his eyes “I can’t help you, I’m lost too” he said softly as he began crying again. The man cooed softly as he reached out and wiped Odysseus’ tears “No, no little one, don’t cry, you are not lost, you have just taken a longer trail home, come, let’s find our way back together” the man suggested. Odysseus blinked a few times, his tears stopping as the man continued wiping his cheeks and spoke so softly, he had been taught about the dangers of strange men, but he was already lost, and this man was so nice. He nodded slowly as he took the stranger’s hand, much to the stranger's small surprise, who smiled again as he crouched slightly so Odysseus could keep his grip on his hand. They continued walking for a few more minutes before they reached the back of the castle, some guards walking around in a rush, Odysseus’ father looking around as well in a panic.
Odysseus smiled brightly as he let go of the stranger’s hand and ran to his father, his father looked over in shock and relief as knelt down and opened his arms, hugging Odysseus tightly “My son, how worried I was, thanks gods you came back” he whispered. Odysseus pulled back as he smiled with watery eyes “Father, a nice man helped me” he turned to see the man, only to find nothing but trees. He looked around in confusion as his father lifted him up and rested the boy on his hip “You must be confused son, let’s get you back to your room” and with that Odysseus father carried him back, but the boy will remember that face, those blue eyes looking at him so kindly.
Odysseus kept bumping into the man at the randomest moments, anytime he felt lost or confused he was always there, giving him reassuring words, of course, he never saw the man in the castle, so he would go out into the forest to see if he could find him. He asked his little sister, Ctimene about it and she said she’s seen him a few times herself but he never stays for long. The siblings were at a loss but Ctimene never thought much of it, saying it was just a kind stranger who cared for the prince and princess of Ithaca, and Odysseus hesitantly agreed, there could be no other explanation for it anyways, so why think much about it? Around the time he was 10, he stopped seeing the man entirely, Ctimene seemed to forget about him as she grew up, not even remembering any visits from him. Odysseus began to believe that maybe it was all just in his head, since no one else seems to know of the man.
For the next few years he forgot about the man with strange sandals, keeping him in the very back of his mind, going on with his life as a prince and focusing on his father, who had slowly been losing himself, getting sick and going insane. It was a sad sight, one Odysseus didn’t even have time to fully process, having to prepare for the day he would be king, learning things years early just so he could be prepared for the day. At 13 it finally happened, he became the King of Ithaca…he just wished it was on a happier note.
That night Odysseus sat alone in his room, staring out from his window as he pondered silently. How could he be king? Sure he was prepared, he knew everything he needed to know to properly run a kingdom, but it was now finally hitting him, he was truly a king, and Ithaca, while small, was still a whole kingdom. He sighed and stood up, moving to his door and opening it just enough to slip out of his room and walk the hallways of his palace..it was his now, he was the king..Odysseus felt a heavy weight begin to form in his chest, while prepared, he was still a young teenager. He then stopped as he heard a very far away noise, was that bleating? He looked out of one of the windows and tried looking for the animal which made that noise. His eyes landed on a particularly large ram, it stood right outside the forest, its eyes right on Odysseus, it made the newly made king almost shiver, its eyes an unnaturally bright blue that stared right into him.
The ram felt so different, more intelligent, it bleated again before turning and walking into the forest, Odysseus walked quickly to the nearest exit as he tried to look for the ram again, not wanting to lose it. He didn’t know why the ram was so alluring, but he needed to see it again. He continued scanning the forest, it was so dark that every bush and tree was merging into one black cloud of shadows. Odysseus huffed as he stopped right outside the entrance of the forest, he took in a small breath before entering, he knew it was unwise to enter but he needed a distraction from everything, plus, he knew this forest like the back of his hand. As he entered he heard another bleat, and there was a high chance it was from the ram he saw, he smirked as he followed the sound, looking for those intelligent eyes. Though after some time he stopped hearing anything, he came to a full stop as he tried listening for the ram again, but heard nothing, being left alone in a dark forest. he was so distracted by the ram that he didn’t even try to remember the directions he took to get here, the darkness making every tree look the same.
Odysseus nervously looked around for any recognizable markings soon he realized that he was completely lost, alone in the dark forest. He felt the fear creep in before trying to push it down, he began trying to retrace his steps, walking in the very vague direction he remembered taking, it was all in vain as he stood there in a dark forest, having no idea where he was and if he was even close to the castle anymore. Odysseus slowly backed up until he hit a tree, skidding down to sit and feeling the bark scratch his back through his tunic, he felt the ground under him as his breathing began to grow rapidly. He was all alone in a forest. He just turned king, what was going to happen if he died? Odysseus’s mind quickly began to take his worries and fears, creating a storm of bad thoughts as he sat there, his body beginning to tremble as he felt his eyes water.
He stiffened as he heard light footsteps behind him, he quickly crawled away from the tree and turned his body to see who it was, the last thing he needed was to get caught off guard. There stood a man, some of his curls were falling down onto his face, yet not enough to keep those bright and brilliant blue eyes hidden from Odysseus' sight. The man wore a simple tunic with a cape on, yet the only thing that caught Odysseus’ attention was those sandals, the small golden wings attached to each side of the sandals, right near the stranger's ankles. Odysseus felt like he should remember the man but the only thing he could think about was making sure the stranger wasn’t here to kill him “S-stay back! I will fight you!” he yelled out as he tried standing up, stumbling back down from how shaky he had gotten, he hadn’t even realized he had gotten that bad. Odysseus nervously looked up at the stranger.
The man merely gave a sympathetic smile, he knelt in front of Odysseus “I do apologize, your Highness, did I scare you?” The stranger said in a silky tone, almost lulling to Odysseus’s ears, who only nodded. The man gave a slight chuckle, it seemed to echo around the forest, but that might just be in the young boy’s head “My, how awful of me, scaring the new king..I do apologize, little one” Odysseus usually hated being called any sort of nickname that reminded him that he was still a child but at the moment, he just felt worn. He stayed sitting as he began pulling his legs to his chest. “It’s fine..” the stranger hummed as he sat as well “Tell me, king. Why are you out here in the dark forest?” Odysseus only shrugged “I was following a ram..and then I got lost” The stranger let out another small chuckle, and once again Odysseus could hear it echo all around them. Eventually, the stranger calmed down, wiping his eyes of tears that weren’t there “I apologize for laughing, but a ram? You followed the ram?” Odysseus felt his face heat up from embarrassment as the man laughed.
He’ll admit, it was unwise to follow a random animal into the woods, but he just needed a break from his new life already. The man seemed to realize how down Odysseus looked, his face growing a bit softer as he spoke, “I’m sorry Odysseus, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad” Odysseus shook his head “No, you have the right to laugh, it was silly of me to go into the woods alone..now I’m lost..” Odysseus said, the tears coming back into his eyes. He tried to rub them away before they could escape but it was too late, they slipped down his cheeks and onto the ground “I just wanted a minute to myself. I just can’t do it, what if I fail? Or do something wrong? I can’t be king” He said as he cried. The stranger only cooed softly, almost like a bird if Odysseus thought about it. “Your Highness, it’s alright,” he said gently, putting a hand on Odysseus’s shoulder, “I'm sure you will be a wonderful king..but it’s okay to cry if you need to, you need those emotions out before you hurt that brilliant head of yours.” the stranger said with a reassuring smile. Odysseus sniffled as he let the tears fall, maybe the strange man was right.
“I just don’t want to fail..so many people are relying on me and I don’t want to mess up.” Odysseus said as he looked up at the stranger. He didn’t know why he was opening up to someone he just met, the words just flowed out before he could really think about it. The stranger hummed in thought before chuckling “Darling, of course you’re going to fail” Odysseus stiffened a bit at the man's words, did he really just say that so bluntly? The man giggled as he saw the look on Odysseus’s face “Oh, oh little one, your- your face” he said as he laughed “I don’t mean it like I expect you to mess everything up, I just mean that failure and mistakes are always going to happen” the stranger explained further as Odysseus somewhat relaxed. “I know that..but I still don’t want it to happen,” Odysseus said with a small frown the stranger gave a small smile as he tilted his head to get a better look at the boy. “Darling, nobody is perfect, and I mean no one, not even us gods, as much as we hate to admit it. We all make mistakes, I have made plenty and so will you. So, what you need to learn is not how to avoid mistakes but to persevere and turn those mistakes into your success.” The man said with a smile. Odysseus supposed it made sense, he gave a small smile in return “Yeah..I guess you’re right”
Then it hit Odysses..the stranger said that even gods make mistakes, but he also spoke as if he were one of them. The boy quickly looked at the stranger in surprise “Wait a minute-!” he got cut off as he was hit with a blow of some sort of dust or powder. Odysseus tried to wipe it away as he sputtered, but world quickly began to spin as he felt a strange form of exhaustion hit him all at once, his body began to fall just a little bit forward before Hermes's arms carefully wrapped around Odysseus’s shoulders “Well, it seems I blew my cover, what a silly mistake, is it not?” he said with a smile, not too bothered, the powder will easily make Odysseus forget that last bit, if anything the boy will think it was a dream. Hermes sat there with Odysseus in his arms “My darling boy, how I hope you remember my words” he said softly. He sighed as he took his cape and carefully began to bundle Odysseus in it, he carried the boy in his arms as he stood up “Let’s get you back home, little one” he whispered as he began walking back to the castle, humming a soft tune as he did, he was in no rush, if anything he was taking his sweet time if it meant being with his little one.
Eventually though, Hermes reached the castle, using his winged sandals, the small golden trinkets were now real wings, to get up to Odysseus’ room, sneaking in through the window he walked to the boys’ bed. He unbundled Odysseus and set him down carefully on the plush bed “Sleep well Odysseus, you are going to be a wonderful king” he murmured carefully as he leaned down and gave a quick peck on the boy's forehead. He stepped back while throwing back on his cape and in a flash he was out and back into the sky. He knew he had to stop these visits, if Athena saw him with Odysseus he’s sure the goddess would start to think he was trying to steal the boy from her, which was fair, but Odysseus was still his great-grandson, and Ctimene was his great-grandaughter, they deserved visits every so often, even if they will never remember them, or him.