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Chapter Text

Nine days, it had been nine days since Odysseus last slept and he was tired, no scratch that he wasn't tired, he was down right exhausted. But not the normal kind of exhaustion, but the one that goes through the whole body and settled deep down in the bones.

It felt like it would never leave, made his limbs feel heavy, like they were made out of stone and made them impossible to move. But this exhaustion wasn't anything new for him, he already felt this bone crushing exhaustion since after the first year of the Trojan war and he got used to it after a while.

It had already been around ten years since then, so it wasnt a big deal, even though Polites was always worried about him after he told him about it. And sure, it wasn't comfortable by any means, but if you walked around with it for the past ten years, the you get used to it at some point.

And sure he had bad days sometimes, were it felt like it was almost impossible to ignore this feeling, but he thought that it got better, since the war was over. So that was at least one good thing that happened to him in the last few day, or more like years. He, of course, still had bad days sometimes, where he would love to do nothing more than lay in his bed all day and rot away.

He never did that, of course, he was a captain and had responsibilities after all. But he was pretty sure that today was one of these bad days. In his defense he almost lost his entire crew today, so give him a damn break, will you.

But he got a little of track, didn't he? Whatever, the poit was that the exhaustion he was feeling right now, was not that kind of exhaustion. No, this was a different kind, one that he normally never got. It was the one you feel when you didn't sleep enough and your body was just so sleep deprived that your mind got foggy, it was impossible to concentrate and even more impossible to keep your eyes open.

And to have both of these thypes of exhaustion at the same time, sucked really badly, if he could say so himself. He kind of felt like death himself, like he would drop dead any second. He would normally never let himself get tired enough to get this kind of exhaustion, since he alway made sure to get enough sleep, so he could concentrate and make good decisions. It was especially important for him to be in best shape, because he was the captain, he gave the orders and if he wasn't in top shape something could go wrong, someone could die and it would be because of him. He had the responsibility of lives in his hand and he would never treat the so carelessly.

He promised himself that nobody unter his command would ever die because of a mistake he made, but he broke that promise and he could never undo it now, no matter how much he wanted, or wished to be able to do it. It was to late, but he still wanted to do better and for that to happen he needed to get some sleep and that right now.

He searched for a place that was good enough to sleep and at the moment he was standing on the hot sand of an random island, that was far away from home, that they coincidentally came across after being washed away by the storm and decided that it would be a good enough sleeping place. They honestly didn't really have a choice in the matter, if they wanted to stop at this island or not, the storm washed them to the shores of it and they had no choice, but to stop there.

But that didn't really matter to him at the moment, if he was being honest. Because he didn't sleep for nine day and the only thing he could think about at the moment was sleep and, of course, his beautiful, wonderful wife, Penelope.

How much he wished he was laying in her lap right now, instead of this beach of an random island. But he couldn't really think much about it any more, because he was so tired that it was even hard for him to keep his eyes open, much less think and imagine fake scenarios, even if they were about his wife.

He couldn't even be angry at what happened, even though he probably should be. He went through a lot in the last few weeks, he lost his best friend and a few other of his men, because of a careless mistake that he made, but they continued on and then he got that stupid wind bag.

He stayed awake for nine, nine whole day, to make sure nobody would touch that bag and he and everyone else of his crew could make it back to their families in one piece. And for what? That's right, nothing! Someone of the crew still betrayed him and opened the bag, didn't trust his word enough and went against his command.

Waiting nine day for him to fall asleep just to open that stupid bag in hopes of treasure. Which was so stupid, because even if he was lying and there really was treasure in the bag, what would they do with it in the middle of the ocean anyway. It just didn't make sense, but it still happened and now they had to deal with what they got. Okey maybe he was a little bitter about what happened, but not angry, yeah definitely not angry.

After nine days of no sleep, his mind felt foggy and weirdly empty, it was an unfamiliar feeling since his mind normally was never empty or silent. His bones felt heavy and he wanted to do nothing more that close his eyes and sleep for a few hours, or no actually a week sounded much more appealing. So he decided to finally do just that, he let himself drop to the ground, now laying with his back on the hot sand beneath him, staring at the bright blue, cloudless sky above him. The hot sand felt good on his tired and battered body.

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief while he let his muscles relax, now just laying limp on the ground. He didn't know sand could be this comfortable until this very moment. But he guessed everything would be comfortable to lay on, if you were as exhausted as he was. It wasn't even a minute later, after he closed his eyes, and he was already gone in the land of dreams, or he would have been, if his second in command wouldn't have found him.

He purposefully walked a bit farther down the beach in hopes that nobody would find him and would give him a bit of peace and quiet, but it seemed like that was too much to ask for. He could hear how the quiet steps of Eurylochus got closer and closer, until they stopped and he could only hear the soft rustling of sand behind him, that could only come form someone standing on the sand and shifting uncomfortably around.

"Captain?" Called his second in command softly out to him. He was unsure of what to do that was already obvious based on his tone of voice. It sounded more like a question than anything else. But he was probably just unsure if Odysseus was awake or not, since he was still laying motionless on the ground, his eyes closed and not reacting to anything around him.

Even though, if he were awake he would have heard him long before he called out to him and since Odysseus was not normally someone to ignore others, he probably thought he was sleeping. He wouldn't have been wrong, about him being asleep, had he just shown up a few minutes later.

Odysseus knew that he would probably walk over to him, if he continued ignoring him. So, he knew he couldn't do it any longer, he gave a quiet sigh, at his own misfortune, and forced his battered body into a sitting position. "What is it, Eurylochus?" He asked. Everyone would have been able to hear the clear exhaustion in his voice. But there wasn't just exhaustion but also a hint, okey maybe not just a hint but clear, annoyance in his voice, too.

The moment he registered that his voice sounded obviously annoyed, he immediately felt bad about it, he was the captain after all, he shouldn't snap at his crew. As a captain he had to solve the problems of the crew and he did do that... normally. But the sleep deprivation was getting in his head and making him unable to think clearly, which made him easily irritated.

He just wanted to sleep a bit, but he knew that especially right now, after everything that happened, he had to take care, of the little crewmembers that were still left, more than ever. But it was just so hard for him, too. He had his own problems as well and he knew he was supposed to put their needs over his, but for some reason everything in him screamed to be selfish for once.

He was sure that Eurylochus had a good reason to bother him, or he wouldn't have done so, because he knew how tired he was and that he needed some sleep. They were on an unknown island, they don't know what dangers to expect, so maybe something happened to the crew and that was why he was here?

And because something terrible could actually have happened, without him knowing and he didn't want to lose more of his men that he already did and also because he felt bad about snapping for no reason at his brother in law, he took a deep breath to gather his last nerves and stood up to actually face his second in command, so they could have a real face to face conversation.

Odysseus looked him in the eyes before asking with a forced smile, but in a calmer and nicer voice this time. "What happened?" Eurylochus didn't answer immediately. He was already unusually quiet the whole time and now that Odysseus actually looked at him, he could see in Eurylochus'  face and body language that he felt guilty about something.

They knew each other long enough already to read the others body language like an open book and it was actually very helpful sometimes, just like now. He could practically feel the guilt radiating off of him.

He didn't know what made him so guilty, but he was sure that whatever it was, it could wait, or maybe not. He could never be sure with Eurylochus. Because every time he felt guilty it was either for the most tribal thing, or because he did something very bad, it was never one in between. But he didn't really care what it was he just knew that he couldn't deal with it right now, even if he wanted to.

If he made decisions now, he would definitely make bad ones, he could guarantee you that, since he couldn't even think straight. After a minute or two, he wasn't sure, passed, Eurylochus finally got out of his thoughts and took a deep breath before answering, like he was preparing himself for whatever he was going to say.

"Captain, I have something that I must confess, I feel really bad about it and I just can't keep it to myself any longer, I just have to get it off my chest." He said, his voice thick with guilt, while looking ashamed to the side, or anywhere that wasn't his eyes.

And all Odysseus could think was called it. He could tell that he had to confess something the moment he looked at him. He could still read him like an open book, even with his tired and fogged over mind, everyone could have seen that coming. He could also tell that this was a real confession and not just about something trivial. So a conversation he definitely shouldn't have right now, not with him being in the state he was at the moment. It was clear to him that whatever it was, was important to Eurylochus. So, not something his sloppy mind should be dealing with.

That was why he stayed silent, thinking about what he could say to make him leave. He knew it probably sounded very rude, but he couldn't give a fuck right now. He just wanted some sleep, that was all. Was the really too much to ask for? He knew that he should be there for his crew, but he just couldn't, not right now at least. "Capait?" Asked Eurylochus hesitantly after Odysseus still didn't answer, he flinched lightly caught of guard, since he was so caught up in his thought that he completely forgot to say something.

Maybe he also forgot that his brother was still even there, because he almost feel asleep, while standing and with his eyes open, but his brother didn't need to know all that. So, he just pretended like nothing happened and answered with the first thing that came to his mind. "Eurylochus, go and make sure that this island is secure." He commanded him sleepily, clearly not being in the right mindset for this and it showed.

But it was still a good command, because they did have to make sure that this island was secure either way, so why not let Eurylochus do it. Then he wouldn't have to deal with him and his guilty expression, that made him feel even more miserable than he alredy did.

He was barely able to keep himself upright, every time he blinked his eyes stayed closed for longer than was necessary and he didn't even do it on purpose, it just so happened, completely against his will! But it seemed like his second in command didn't even notice. "But captain-" He tried to argue against his order, but Odysseus didn't change his mind. He didn't have the power to argue with him right now.

Seems like it's very important to him to say whatever he is going to confess, but I can't deal with this right now, especially if it's really as important as he makes it out to be. He can tell me when I got at least one hour of sleep, but for now he has to do as I say and leave me the fuck alone. He thought while cutting of whatever argument Eurylochus would come up with.

He was irritated enough and the fact that he was speaking against his orders again. He didn't need this, too. "There's only so much left we can endure." He explained, hoping that the reminder of all their lost comrades would be enough to shut him up. "Watever you need to say can wait some more. Of that, I'm sure." Odysseus didn't sound annoyed, even though he definitely felt annoyed, because he was questioning his commands again. No, he just sounded tired and exhausted, because that's exactly what he was and also how he was feeling.

And Eurylochus seemed to have heard it as well, because he didn't say anything for a moment, just looking him up and down and then sighed in defeat. "Okey" He exclaimed, giving in. Finally having noticed that he wouldn't be able to change his captains mind. He turned away from him and walked away, going in the direction he came from to get a few of the other men that where still left, so they could search the island just as their captain commanded.

Odysseus just sighed in relief after he left, finally relaxing again and showing just how tired he really was. He trusted Eurylochus to deal with this and allowed himself to use the opportunity, of his crew being occupied, to sleep as long as he could.

He let himself fall limply on the hot sand, laying on his back once more and closing his eyes again, trying to sleep for the second time today, hoping he could actually get some sleep this time.

He was out like a light not even two seconds later, the exhaustion finally caught up to him, pulling him in the depths of darkness and letting him get a peaceful sleep, with no dreams or nightmares in sight, which was rare for him, but he was grateful for it.

Unfortunately he only got to sleep for, what felt like seconds, but realistically was more like an hour than a few seconds. Either way it definitely wasn't enough, one hour of sleep wouldn't just magically make up for nine day of not even a hint of sleep.

He got woken up by a noise from behind him, his body immediately went into alarm mode and he got into a fighting pose out of reflex, to defend himself from whatever or whoever was behind him. His body and tired mind thought he was under attack. Getting ready to defend himself the moment he woke up was almost a habit at this point, he got so used to doing this in the war, that he still did it sometimes.

One of the most important rules in a war was, never let your guard down and his tired mind immediately went back into that midset, not realizing who was really in front of him. All his body and mind could think about was defending himself and he was more than ready to do so.

Chapter Text

Eurylochus felt guilty, like really guilty about what he had done. It got to a point were he felt like the guilt started to weigh him down and he had never wished to be able to turn back time more that he did in the last day. He looked around himself, seeing the little men that were left after Poseidon's attack, the guilt was already gnawing at him, but knowing that it was partly his fault, that there were only so little left, made it just so much worse.

If I had just listened to Odysseus everyone could have been home already... okey, almost everyone, the ones that died in that cave would have been the exception, we would be reuniting with our families right now. Or maybe we wouldn't be, Poseidon was after us eighter way, so even if I hadn't open the bag they still would have died.

If Odysseus had just shut up and wouldn't have been so arrogant and told that stupid cyclops his name, then non of this would have happened in the first place. It was his fault, because of him the god of the sea is now after us.

No, what am I thinking? I can't think like that, I am still at least partly at fault. I was still the one who opened the bag and let us be stranded wherever we are right now.

Thought Eurylochus while he sighed to himself. He was angry at himself, while the guilt continues to eat away at him. He just didn't know what to do anymore. Odysseus tried everything to get them home and they almost made it. They were so close that they were able see the island. They would have made it had he just listened and belived his captain and not opened the bag.

But he didn't, he was greedy instead and now they were here, stranded on this random island, with no idea how to get, the little crew that was left, back home again and it was not just Odysseus to blame, Eurylochus' knew that too. He was just glad that they didn't die too, it was also good that they stopped at a island again, willingly or not didn't matter since they needed it anyway to stock up their supplies. (They wouldn't have, if he hadn't opened the bag, because they would have been home already.)

They are almost out of food again since a lot of it was lost in the sea with the rest of their crew. Also Eurylochus didn't have a problem with sleeping on the ship, but it got exhausting after a while. So he was glad to be finally able to sleep on solid ground and getting a break from the seas, at least fo a short while again.

But he knew that they could have slept in their own homes and their own beds, if he had just listened. Thinking about it made the hot feeling of guilt just well up in his chest again, burning him from the inside. And that was when he decided he wanted to make it right again, for his and especially for Odysseus' good, he deserved to kown the truth.

He deserved to know that his own brother betrayed him and stabbed him in the back (metaphorically). But he would also tell him because he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep at night, or live with himself if he kept this secret to himself.

That was also the reason why was searching for his captain right now. Am I even allowed to call him that after that I did? He thought bitterly, but decided to ignore that thought for now, it wouldn't do him any good to think about it at the moment anyway. He didn't see Ody since the ship met land, he was off and away the moment it stopped moving, he was the first one off the ship, going without a word or command to tell them what to do. If he remembered correctly then the captain should be somewhere further down the beach. He remembered seeing him walk in that direction.

Hoping that he remembered correctly he told the others he would search for Odysseus and started walking in the direction he last saw him walk towards. After around five minutes of walking later he finally found him, he was laying on the sand with his eyes closed.

Eurylochus took a deep breath before calling out to him. "Captain?" He hesitantly called. He wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not, since his eyes are closed, he wasn't moving and after 9 day of staying awake he would want to sleep, too. So it sounded more like a question that anything else. After he didn't answer after a few moments, he was pretty sure that he was sleeping.

He was just about to go over to him and see if he really was asleep or not. He really hoped he wasn't, because he couldn't keep this secret any longer, he just had to tell him or the guilt would eat him alive. He knew that it was a bit selfish to think that way, Ody deserved to sleep after staying awake for so long, he knew that of course, but he just couldn't help it. However, just as he was about to walk over to his brother in law, he began to move.

He could hear how Odysseus sighed, before pushing himself into a sitting position. He probably woke him up just now without even purposefully planing on doing that. He would have let him sleep, if he really had been already asleep. That didn't hinder the feeling of guilt to get worse though. Odysseus definitely deserved the rest and probably needed it too, but, of course, he had to ruin it again. Before he could get lost in his thoughts completely, he got pulled out of them by Odysseus.

"What is it, Eurylochus?" He asked clearly exhausted and was that annoyance Eurylochus could hear in his voice? Odysseus was not normally someone who wasn't annoyed easily and if he really was annoyed he tried to hide it as good as he could, at least around people he liked. But it seemed like he was too exhausted to do even that and Eurylochus notice it was probably not the best time to confess, but he started and woke him up already, so he had to end what he had started.

But before he could even start on saying anything, his brother stood up and turned around to face him. "What happened?" He asked again, but this time with a smile on his face and a softer tone. And sure the smile looked a bit strained, but he was clearly exhausted and was already running on his last nerves so he understood.

He at least tried to sound less annoyed and tired, which he greatly appreciated. He probably felt bad about snapping at him for no reason, even though he had every reason to do so.

And he didn't only mean the fact that he opened the wind bag, but also waking him up right now, ever though he had every right to get at least a few hours of sleep. He had to say that Odysseus being so nice to him made him feel even more guilty than before, because he knew he didn't deserve it.

He was sure that Odysseus would come to the same conclusion after he confess, even though he hoped that he could forgive him afterwards. He still thought that he didn't deserve that kindness. He was the reason they were in this situation in the first place and the kindness didn't make it easier to confess what he had done.

He looked ashamed to the ground even thinking about it, he knew that Odysseus tried to make eye contact and he tried to hold it, but more often than not he would just look anywhere but his understanding, but also exhausted eyes.

He didn't really know how to say this, but even after a minute had passed already, his captain just waited patiently for him to speak and that made it almost worse.

Get it together Eurylochus. Come one, he deserves to know. Just say it already, so he can go back to sleep. He thought, while having the urge to slap himself in the face, but he stopped himself to not look like even more of an idiot that he probably already did. He took a last deep breath readying himself, holding it for a few seconds before slowly letting it out again.

"Captain, I have something that I must confess, I feel really bad about it and I just can't keep it to myself any longer, I just have to get it off my chest." He said, his voice heavy with guilt, looking anywhere but his brother's eyes. And then he waited and waited, but after a minute or two passed and he still didn't get a answer he finally willed himself to look up.

It looked like his captain was about to fall asleep on the spot, he was completely lost in his thought. Which was nothing new, it happened more and more often lately, but it always got worse when he was tired, which was obviously the case, since he was literally about to fall asleep. "Captain?" He asked hesitantly, even though he said it quietly Odysseus still flinched like he forgot he was even there and had suddenly screamed in his face, which he definitely didn't do, but he acted like he did.

His tired eyes slowly focused back on him and then he tried to pretend like nothing happened, it didn't work though. "Eurylochus, go and make sure that this island is secure." He commanded and Eurylochus really wanted to argue. He knew that Odysseus was tired and probably wanted his space, but this was important. He hated being dismissed like this, it was unfair, he could at least listen to what he had to say.

"But captain-" He started to argue desperately, he really had to say this, now. He couldn't live with himself if he didn't say it now. He had to tell him that he was the reason they were not home yet, he just had to and if he had to say it without Odysseus' permission then he would. He knew that he was his captain, but he couldn't control his every move and word. But Odysseus interrupted him, before he had even the chance to finish what he wanted to say.

"There's only so much left we can endure." He started to say and the fact that he brought their fallen comrades into this, even if only implied, shut him up quickly and forced all the fight left out off him. That his head reminded him that it was, to some extent, also his fault didn't make it any better either.

He was at a loss for words and because his mind was blank and unable to form a sentence, he decided to stay silent instead, not planning on making a fool out of himslef. Ody on the other hand took his silence as an invitation to continue speaking.

"Whatever you need to say can wait some more. Of that, I'm sure." And that just frustrated Eurylochus morr. I just don't understand what his problem is. I know we lost a lot of people and it may or may not be a little bit my fault, but can't he just listen for once! He doesn't even know what I'm about to say, let alone knows how important it is! He thought angrily.

But before he could say anything else he looked Odysseus in the face and saw his exhausted, but also determined expression and instantly knew that it would be pointless to argue with him. If he made up his mind there was no point in trying to change it, if Odysseus decided that what he had to say could wait, it would. So he gave in, seeing no point in wasting even more of their time and energy with a pointless argument.

"Okey" He answered defeated, not waiting since he wasn't expecting his captain to say anything else, he already said what he was supposed to do after all. He turn around with a last defeated sigh and walked away, but before he was out of hearing range he heard Odysseus sigh too and then he heard what sounded like a body dropping on sand.

Which was probably exactly what he would find if he turned around now, Odysseus laying on the ground. It was tempting to look back, but he decided against it. He just shook his head before going back in the direction of the rest of the crew. Not being able to help the small smile on his lips, even though he was still angry.

When he arrived, after around three minutes, at the place that they docked the ship at, he saw a few crewmembers sleeping. He understood why since they were also exhausted after the last few days and probably also from the storm they sailed through, so he would leave them be and let them sleep, get their rest just like Odysseus was doing now.

The remaining ones were just relaxing in the shadows of a few giant willow trees, until one of them noticed him and called out to him, making a hand gesture to tell him to come over to them. After he got close enough to hear what they were saying, he immediately began asking questions. "Eurylochus, your back! What did the captain say?" He asked.

While Eurylochus came to a stop in front of them. At first Eurylochus was a bit confused from where he knew that he talked to Odysseus, but then he remembered telling the crew that he would find Odysseus to ask him what they should do next.

It was, of course, just an excuse so he could talk with his brother alone, but he guessed at the end he did what he told them he would do, getting information on what to do next. "He said we should look around the island, to see if it's safe to stay." He explained in his 'second in command/ leader voice.

The man that spoke to him just nodded at the command. "Okey, should we go now? Should I wake the others up?" He asked while pointing at the still sleeping men behind him. But Eurylochus just shook his head before answering.

"Yes, we are going now. We should use the time while it's still light out and no it's not necessary to get everyone, let the ones rest that are already asleep. Get a few of the ones that are still awake together and tell them what we're going to do. The remaining ones should start on building camp. " He commanded. He liked being in control when Odysseus wasn't here. It was nice being the captain and being the one who commands others around for once and not being the one who was commanded around.

His comrade just nodded as an answer, before turning around and walking to the others, so he could group them together. Eurylochus meanwhile walked towards the ship to get his sword that he forgot there before they got off. When he had it again he put it back where it belonged, strapped to his back, before going back down to the others.

When he got back he saw them already waiting for him. "Ready?" He asked them when he was sure that he was close enough for them to hear him, making sure he wasn't lound enough to wake the others up. They all just nodded in an silent answer and waited for him to continue.

There were only around fifteen people who would come with him to search the island, which wasn't a lot but it would be enough for what they were planning on doing. Everyone else was either asleep or starting on building up camp.

"So we are going to split into three groups, five people each. One group will go north, one will go east and the last one will go west. My group will go north and if you find anything or are in danger try to find my group or yell for us if you are unable to leave for some reason, but don't engage unless it's absolutely necessary. This island is not that big and I'm not planning on going to far away from the other groups so we should be able to find or hear each other, okey?"

He asked and based on the okeys and nodes he got back he guessed that they were all fine with that plan. They split into the small groups shortly after. He saw the others go in the direction they chose. Before he went with the other four people of his group, north of the island.

They began walking, Eurylochus looked around to see if there was anything of interest, unfortunately or should he say fortunately there was nothing interesting to see, even after twenty minutes of aimlessly walking around, they still didn't see anything. There were no monsters, no weird creatures or any other creepy stuff really, it seemed to be a completely normal island.

It was so normal in fact that Eurylochus began to get suspicious, there was just no way that they landed on a normal and completely non dangerous island. Not with their luck anyways. But after another ten minutes of nothing happening he slowly began letting his guard down more and more, even if it was just a little bit.

But of course it didn't stay like that, he honestly didn't expect it too in the first place, he was even surprised it took so long for something to happen. They were incapable of having luck on their side after all. It never had been, not even for once. Because not even five seconds after he thought they could turn back around and deem this island save, he heard shouting coming from not that far away from them.

He of course immediately put his guard back up, thinking it was a threat. He took out his sword pointing it east since that was the direction the noise was coming from and from the corner of his eye he could see the other men tensing too, probably having heard the noise as well.

He tensed even more when the bushes in front of them began to rustle and move. Like something was trying to get through it and then that something made it through, coming face to face with Eurylochus' sword, that he pointed at the bush the moment it started to move.

But he immediately dropped it again when he saw what, or more like who it was that was in front of them. It was one of the men he put in the group searching the east side of the island. He remembered telling them to go find or yell for his group if they found something or if they were in danger.

He just hopped it wasn't the latter, but it was very unlikely to be anything else, he could never be sure with their luck, that they didn't seem to have. "Elpenor, what happened? Where you attacked?" Asked Eurylochus with worry in his voice, already expecting the worst. Elpenor didn't answer at first, having to catch his breath after seemingly having run all the way over to them.

He took one last deep breath to collect himself before responding. "No, nothing like that. It's just that we found some kind of palace in the middle of the forest. We didn't go near it after we found it, I immediately ran of to search for you, just like you told us to do." At hearing that the second in command breath out a sigh of relief, he was glad that they weren't attacked and no one was injured or worse, dead.

But he was even more grateful that they listened to what he said. Who knew what was hiding in that palace or what would have happened had they explored it or just gone near it. "Okey, good. That was the right thing to do." He replied, turning around and pointing at one of the crewmembers that were searching with him. "Okey, so you are going to search for the last group that went west. Inform them of what happened and then you are going to come after us, alright?"

He asked, but it was clear that it was an command and not an actual question. The crewmembers in question knew that too and didn't complain, just nodded his head before turning around and going in the direction of the last group.

Eurylochus turned back towards Elpenor and looked him in the eyes. "So and you are going to show us were this palace is." This time the command wasn't hidden in a question since it would have been unnecessary anyways. The addressed man just gave a sharp nod before going in the direction he came from still trying to catch his breath, the rest of the men following after him in silence.

After a few minutes of walking they finally got there, the rest of Elpenor's group was already excitingly(?) waiting for them. Why are they so excited about this? Normally they would, or more like should be tensed and afraid of what was to come. They don't know what's in that palace, so why are they so excited? He asked himself before warily looking around his men to look at the mentioned palace.

At first he didn't find anything that could have made them excited, it was just a big although beautiful palace in the middle of the woods. Maybe they are just existed because they found something interesting in hopes of food? No, that wouldn't make sense, after what happened the last time they would be wary, not excited.

He couldn't imagine was so special, there was nothing to be excided about, more something to be suspicious about if anything, but then he looked closer and he saw women? or nymphs, that were doing something in the garden of the palace.

Eurylochus looked back at the men with an 'are you serious' look on his face, before he disapprovingly shook his head and turned back towards them. When he faced them with his back turned on the palace, he saw the other group come towards them, finally having chought up with them. It seemed like they had been running to be able to catch up. It was good that they were already here because he had planned on waiting for them anyway, so it was good that they were already here.

He waited until they stood themselves to the rest and got their breaths a bit more under control again and then waited until they were putting their attention on him. "Okey, so we don't know what is in the palace. For all we know it could be something that might attack us, so we need to stay cautious. Follow after me." He explained, not waiting for an answer, he turned around and walked in the direction of the palace.

When he glance back he was gald to see everyone following him. When they got closer he could tell the exact moment the women/nymphs noticed them, because the moment they saw them they looked down right terrified and ran away, back into the palace as fast as they could.

But that didn't stop them, they continued forward until they were directly in front of its big entrance. They were just about to go inside when suddenly a different women opened the large double doors, that lead in the palace, and stepped out, closing the doors quickly with a strong well placed nudge behind her.

She immediately looked at them with a big smile and greeted them with open arms, probably trying to make herself look less threatening on purpose and Eurylochus didn't trust her one bit. While all his men, that were still behind him, began to relax, he did the exact opposite.

His body tensed automatically and everything in him screamed get away from her, that she was a threat, dangerous. Because, yeah she may look pretty, with her long brown hair and her perfectly looking body. So of course  she seemed to be non-threatening, trying to help them in a moment of need, but that meant nothing in a world like this.

As far as he was concerned she could be just another monster in disguise. After all, he learned that the ones that look the most innocent are most of time the worst of them all, putting up a facade to lure them in. Maybe he was getting a little bit paranoid, but after all the shit that happened in the last few shitty weeks, he couldn't be paranoid enough, if that meant not losing any more men because of his mistake than he would gladly be paranoid.

But before he could say something to his comrades, she interrupted him before he could say anything. At this poit it was getting kind of old with how often he got interrupted in the last few days. He couldn't say for sure, but he thought that she cut him of was on purpose, probably having noticed his distrust about her and wanted to silent him in time.

"Come inside." Said the suspicious woman, while stepping to the side to gesture to the big double door behind her. "You can rest wherever you like, you don't have to worry anymore, because Circe's got you now." She continued with that overly sweet and suggestive voice of hers. Moving in a way that some people (his comrades) could interpret as suggestive.

That was the moment it clicked for Eurylochus. He knew he was right, this was a trick to lure them in. Like prey being lured in the lair of the monsters,  by being promised something nice. He wanted to stop his men from entering, but before he could even open his mouth they were already walking towards the big wooden doors, that this Circe women was holding open for them.

He saw the lust in their eyes how they practically eat the woman up just with their glances. He would almout feel sorry for the woman if he didn't know what she was really planning. So the only thing he felt was disgust at his men for being fooled so easily, but also worry for what would happen to them.

However, he didn't what to give up on them yet. So when he understood that talking won't amount to anything, he tried to grab one of them. But they didn't even look back at him before tearing their hand right out of his grip. And before he knew it, his men were inside the palace getting guided over to a big table that was stocked and filled to the brim with food, with just a snap of her finger.

And that was the moment real dread started to fill him, because he just realized why everything in him screamed at him to run away from her, to get as far away from her as possible, because she was not a normal woman. She just used magic of some kind, but for some reason, his friend still didn't understand in what kind of deadly situation they were currently in.

This feeling of dread got even worse because he couldn't do anything for them. If he went after them, he would just doom himself with the rest of them. He couldn't do shit, so he was just standing outside, not being able to move out of fear and shock. He just watched as his comrades sat down around the table, not even noticing that he didn't go in with them.

Being completely oblivious to everything that happened around themselves, the only thing their eyes were practically glued on was her. He didn't know what to do, so he just watched as the doors slowly began to close on their own, while his men were drooling over that woman and probably the food too, but mostly only having eyes for her. Now he was just standing there, like an idiot being unable to do shit.

And she wasn't even that pretty, his wife was way more beautiful than this... woman, or whatever she was. He was so caught up in his thoughts, that he flinched out of surprise when he suddenly heard the loud sound of the doors completely closing in front of him.

It seemed like that was enough to get him out of his trance like state and moving again. Because the moment the doors closed he ran around the palace, looking for a window he could use to see what was going on in the inside.

When he finally found one he saw his comrades already eating the food that was placed in front of them and at first nothing happened, but not even a minute later they started to change somehow. The first and only thing he could hear from the inside was a squeal? He was confused at fist until he understood where the noise was coming from.

It was coming from them, his comrades, they were making the pig noises and it didn't take long after that for them to start growing snouts and tails and before he could even begin to understand what was going on with the men, his comrades and friends, were pigs. They were turned into pigs. He couldn't believe his eyes.

And when the realization, that she had cast a spell over the meal and now his friends and comrades were pigs, had finally hit, he began to run as fast as he could towards the beach were he knew Odysseus still was, probably still laying on the sand sleeping.

He ran until his lungs felt like they were burning and going to explode any second, but he couldn't stop. He had to tell Odysseus what had happened, because they had to get off this island, immediately. After around fifteen minutes he finally made it, seeing Odysseus laying on the ground with his eyes closed, sleeping peacefully.

Or he thought Ody was sleeping peacefully, but he guessed he was wrong. Because when he was almost beside his captain he practically jumped off the ground and turned towards him, being in a fighting stance and swung his fist in his direction, trying to fend of the possible treat he possessed. Even though he was exhausted from running all the way back here, he was luckily able to dodge the punsh thrown at him.

Even though he probably would have deserved it. "Cptain, relax it's just me." He stated between breaths, still trying to get air in his lungs. He hoped that would get Odysseus back into reality again, he really wasn't in the mood for getting pushed in the face right now.

Odysseus blinked a few times, his eyes began to refocus and he finally got out of his weird trance. Eurylochus let out a sigh of relief, he was glad that he could dodge in time and didn't get a punch in the face. He knew hwe strong Odysseus was if he wanted to be. After focusing back into the here and now, Odysseus concentrated back on him again, with a guilty and worried look. "Eurylochus, back so soon?" He asked, before looking behind him and whatever he was seeing, or not seeing, seemingly made him worry.

"Where's the rest of your crew? And by the gods, what happened to you?" He asked with thick worry in his voice, looking him over and what as sight he must have been. Standing in front of him with his hand supportingly placed on his knees while he was gasping for air, clearly terrified of what he saw in that forest. Yeah that must be a sight to see.

Chapter Text

Odysseus' body was working on autopilot and he was just about to punch the threat in front of him in the face when it began to say something. He didn't really register the words it said, he only heard the word captain and that was enough to make him hold in his tracks. Because what?

He blinked a few times to make his eyes focus on what was in front of him and what he saw made him feel very bad for almost punching it. Because 'it' was Eurylochus and he just almost punched his second in command and brother in law in the face. At first he felt bad and was just about to apologize, but the words got stuck in his throat. He got distracted, the moment he actually looked at his second in command, he knew he had other worries than almost hurting him.

"Eurylochus, back so soon?" It was weird that he was already back. Sure this island wasn't that big, but it was big enough for it to take longer then, what, an hour? It couldn't have been more, based on how tired he still was. Honestly it didn't matter how long it was, he knew it takes longer than that to search the whole island and make sure it was secure. He looked behind his brother, expecting to see his crew but the only thing he saw was the high grass that gently swayed in the wind.

That was when he grew worried. Okey don't panic Odysseus. Maybe they are at the ship with the remaining of the crew and nothing bad happened. He tried to gaslight himself into thinking that everything was fine, but who was he kidding. He was way to self aware for that to work, especially when Eurylochus was clearly stressed about something.

He looked back over to the man standing in front of him and what he saw made him worry even more. His suspicion that something happened got more and more plausible, because he looked down right terrified. Like he saw something horrible and then ran back to him as fast as he could. He was currently standing in front of him while leaning his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath by gasping for air.

"Where's the rest of your crew? And by the gods, what happened to you?" He wanted to know, being clearly worried about him and the little comrades they had left. He didn't want to lose even more than they already have. They already lost too many to count. Okey that was a lie, he knew exactly how many they lost and 557 was definitely to many.

He promised he would get them home and he knew that he already broke that promise, but he wanted to get at least the few men back home that survived. But the ones that his second in command took with him are probably gone now too, because Eurylochus looked worried and (still) guilty. Which was why Odysseus could only think about the worst scenarios.

"While we were exploring the island we came across a palace and we decided to see what was inside. But before we could go in we heard a voice and since it didn't seem to show any malice, the rest of the men that went with me decided to greet it. But nothing could have prepared us for the power that awaited inside."

The more Eurylochus explained the more worried Odysseus got, because this didn't sound good at all. Whatever was in that palace must have eighter killed or done something to his crew and it must have been powerful and done something horrific, because Eurylochus was not one to be terrified easily.

A million scenarios were already going through his head and the longer he thought about what could have happened, the more gruesome the scenarios got. He just hoped that they weren't dead and could still be saved somehow. But he could only find out by asking, so that was what he did. "What did this palace hide?" He asked worried, expecting a terrible and horrifying monster of some kind, at least that was what he was imagining in his head scenarios.

Eurylochus' face scrunched up in emotions Odysseus couldn't really identify, it were so many. But he could definitely see guilt somewhere in the mix. That look on his face was enough for Odysseus to be able to guess that watever it was, was going to be something he wouldn't like. He knew he shouldn't have left them alone, he should have gone with them. Because his crew were a bit like a group of children. That was how he liked to imagine them some times. Don't get him wrong he liked them all, they were his friend after all, but the moment he let them out of his sight they always, and he meant always, do something stupid.

Like -oh I don't know- trusting a random stranger, in a random forest, on an random island! He really should have gone with them, but he was just so tired. Now, however, he had to deal with this, which was so much worse that babysitting them would have been. At this moment he regretted everything he ever did and didn't do.

It was too late now anyway, there wasn't much he could do. If his men are still alive he would save them, but to find out if they even are still alive he had to listen to what Eurylochus was saying. It was hard for him to concentrate right now, but he was trying his best. And it was easier than it was one hour ago, it seemed like the hour of sleep wasn't a complet wast of time.

"Sir, you know how we've faced a variety of foes from a wide range of places Gods, monsters, you know the roster, hostile creatures that we could resist. But this time it was different, it was a hell of a twist, 'cause we are weak to a power like this!" He explained, but to Odysseus it sounded more like he was trying to justify something and it annoyed him more than he would have liked, since he still didn't answer his question, instead he just talked around it.

"What was it?" He asked again, hoping to get a clear answer this time. Eurylochus suddenly bushed out of embarrassment and looked ashamed to the side, or more like anywhere that wasn't his eyes. He took a deep breath, before quietly answering. "A woman."

He said it so fast that he almost didn't understand what he said. But he did hear what he said and he couldn't do anything but stare dumbfounded at his brother in law. Because seriously, a woman was all it took? Like he said just a few moments before, they did face a lot of terrible things and a woman was the thing that got them!?

He was wordless, he didn't know how to respond to that. He knew that a lot of his comrades were desperate after not seeing their wives for so long, but seriously was there no ounce of loyalty in them. He almost got offended and angry on their woman's behalf, but that wouldn't be of any use now, so he didn't.

"What?" Was the only thing he got out after a few moments passed, judgement and shock was clear in his voice. It seemed like that small respond was enough for the dam to break, because his brother began to explain, without pause, what had happened.

"She had us in just two words." He began saying with an embarrassed tone. He was clearly ashamed that it only took so little to convince them to trust that woman and he shoud be, because, again, seriously? But before Odysseus could say anything, Eurylochus already continued, he cleared his throat, preparing to say something.

"Come inside." He then said with his voice that was a few pitches higher that before, clearly trying to imitate the voice of the woman. It sounded ridiculous and Odysseus almost busted out laughing because of it, but remember the situation they were in and was able to barely stop himself by turning his laugh in an awkward fake cough.

He took a deep breath to get himslef enough together to be serious again, but because he didn't know what he should say to that, he just answered with an "damn" that sounded amused but also impressed, at how little it took for his men to throw caution out the window, at the same time. Even with his best attempts, the laugh in his voice was still there, even if just slightly.

"I was the only one that stayed outside, but the rest went in." He continued, but this time with his normal voice again. After saying that Eurylochus finally looked off the ground and in his face again, their eyes met and his spoke volumes. He was clearly guilty for not being able to hold the off of going inside that palace.

Odysseus didn't even try to respond this time, he just waited for his comrade to continue, kowning that what he explained wasn't all. He didn't have to wait for long since Eurylochus continued shortly after. "They all sat down around a table filled with food and by the time they ate, it was far too late."

He looked guiltily back to the ground again, taking in a shaky breath before continuing and explaining what was probably going on be the worst part of the story. Odysseus just patiently waited for him until he was realdy to speak. After another few seconds passed he calmed down enough to continue.

"It was too late, because inside the meal she had cast a spell. They began to squeal and grow snouts and tails. She changed them! They transformed and it wasn't quick. She turned our men, from men to pigs." He finished explaining and was clearly affected by what happened.

But the only thing Odysseus could feel, was hope because they weren't killed, his comrades were not dead, he could still save them. They still got a chance. Odysseus knew what he had to do. He had to save them no matter what and sure, he knew that his chances to win and save them were slim, since he doubt that he had a chance against an actual witch, but he had to try. He had to save them.

"We have to go save them!" Exclaimed Odysseus with a hopeful voice, he wasn't a complet failure as a captain yet, he could still save them and keep his promise. But it seemed like Odysseus was the only one that was convinced of this idea.

"No, we don't!" He exclaimed almost angrily. He said it like it was the dumbest idea he had ever heard. The captain wanted to argue, but Eurylochus continued speaking before he even had a chance to open his mouth.

"Ody, can't you see? Look at all we've lost and all we've learned. Every single cost is so much more than what we've earned. We still have men left, think about them, before there are no more left! Let's just cut our losses, you and I, and let's run."

He desperately tried to convince him, to forget about his plan to save his men, to just flee while leaving them behind, but he couldn't. It made him angry that he could even suggest something like this, that he would leave them behind just like that. Because of his own selfish gain.

How could he even suggest something like this. They are our friends and he just wants to leave them behind, is he serious right now? No I'm sure I just misheard it, right? But when he looked in Eurylochus' face he only saw pure seriousness and determination and Odysseus knew he wasn't joking. That fact made the king angry, because how could he!

We already lost so many and he just wants to leave them like they are worth nothing. They are human beings, our friends and he just wants to throw them away like they are trash. Don't get me wrong I get were he is coming from, but after everything that happened I could never just leave them behind!

He thought angrily, but he didn't what to snap at his brother again, so he took a deep breath to calme himself down before he answered. He tired to see it out of Eurylochus' perspective so he could answer correctly. "Of course I'd like to leave now, of course I'd like to run" and he really did, he really didn't what to deal with all of this shit right now, or ever.

He would have rather slept a few more hours, or days... or weeks, but instead he had to fight again. He was just so tired, but running away wasn't an option. "But I can hardly sleep now, knowing everything we have done." Knowing everyone we have lost, was left unsaid, but he didn't have to say it for his friend to understand.

And that was what they were, they were friends. They have known each other for so long, he was his brother in law, so they were even family and he would do everything to save him. He would go through so much if that meant saving him and he told him as much. "There's no length I wouldn't go if it was you I had to save. I can only hope you'd do the same." And he really did hope he would do everything to save him too, because he certainly wouldn't hesitate to save him, if he could. Just like now with the rest of their crew, he wasn't hesitating going into danger to save them, but Eurylochus was.

So instead of saying he would do the same for him and giving in like he did a few hours ago, what he hoped he would do, instead he stayed stubborn and continue to try and talk him out of saving their friends. "I can still hear her and her voice deceives. What if she can't be killed? Will you choose to leave?"

He sounded actually concerned for him this time. But as stubborn as Eurylochus may be, if Odysseus was something than it was stubborn. Definitely more stubborn than his second in command was. He couldn't win an argument against his own captain. But he was right, he didn't know if he could kill her and he didn't know if he would leave without the rest of his men and he said as much.

"I don't know." He answered sounding exhausted, but it seemed like that wasn't enough for Eurylochus, he really didn't want him to go through with this plan, because he continued to argue why he shouldn't go. "She's a clever witch and she's hard to slay. It's a game of wits, that you don't have to play."

He tried to convince him in one last desperate attempt and even though Eurylochus' arguments were good and should have been enough to convince him, he stayed stubborn. Because the lives of his crew was more important than his safety. He just couldn't leave them behind just like that, because there was a possibility that he could die. No, he had to at least try to save them.

"I have to try." He responded confidently while looking Eurylochus in the eyes. It was obvious that he wouldn't change his mind. Odysseus decided that this conversation was over, so he pushed past his brother in law, their shoulders touching, not waiting for him to respond. The only thing he could do now was hope that he would take care of the rest of the crew, that was still at the beach. Hoping he wouldn't regret this decision like he did last time.

I just hope he won't leave without me. No, he would do that, right? He thought and he wished he could confidently say that his second in command would never do that, but after he was so ready to leave the others behind he wasn't so sure anymore.

But he wouldn't turnd back now, he trusted him to wait for at least a little bit, hopfully until he was back. He made his way towards the forest of the island, still exhausted and with the risk that he wouldn't return. And The fact that it was going to get dark soon didn't help to get his mood up eighter.

When he was standing in front of the beginning of the forest, he could have sworn that he felt a precents behind him, a divine one, but he couldn't tell who's it was. He didn't think it was Athena's, it felt kind of different, but not unfamiliar. He couldn't really tell because it was gone just as fast as it appeared. It made him tensed, but when he turned around to look, there was nothing there. The only thing he saw was Eurylochus from afar, still standing at the beach where he left him.

He just turned back around in frustration, shaking his head and blaming his tired mind for making stuff up. He decided to ignore it. Instead he finally walked into the forest, making his way to the infamous palace.

Chapter Text

He kind of regretted it not having asked were the palace was, but it was to late to turn back now, since he was already walking around the forest for at least half an hour. It was even slowly getting dark. Getting darker and darker the longer he took to find it. But he could have sworn that this forest looked way smaller from the outside, but now that he was actually inside, it didn't seem to end. He should have found that stupid palace ages ago even without knowing where exactly it was.

However as much as he hated being here in this stupid forest searching for that palace, he had to say that this island was pretty, with its many flowers and plants. And the setting sun making it look almost magical, now that he thought abot it maybe it was magical. The whole island was probably magical since it kind of belonged a witch with magical powers.

She probably knew that they were here the moment they stepped foot on the shores. Whatever, point was that the island looked pretty and he was sure he could have appreciated it more had he had more than one hour of sleep in the last nine days!

He actually thought that the one hour of sleep helped, at first, but now he felt worse then before he actually went to sleep. His thoughts were getting off track even more often and concentrating felt like an impossible task. He looked and felt like he had just risen from the dead. He was walking around like a zombie and the fact that every blink of his was longer that necessarily needed and not being able to process what he was seeing half of the time because of it, didn't make it any easier to find that stupid palace.

His body and mind screamed at him, saying that he should just lay down and ignore everything around him. He, of course, would never do that, he still needed to save his friend, after all. He would have complained, to himself, about the unfortunate situation he was in more had he not heard a sudden noise from behind him, it sounded almost like... a giggle?

At first he thought it was just his mind playing tricks on him again, but he still tensed all the same, ready to defend himself if needed. But then he heared it again and this time he could say for sure that it wasn't made up and it was definitely a giggle, but who could that giggle belong to?

Is it possible that the precents I felt before wasn't made up by my mind? Whatever, it doesn't matter who it is, I just have to beat them, save my men and then sleep some more. Yeah that sounds like a good plan. The fact that this someone could possibly be a God he completely forgot in that  moment, which he would later regret greatly.

He thought about his definitely thought out plan, while he took out his sword, that he took from the ship before he left to go to sleep, and went in a fighting stance, ready to stab someone the moment they get too close.

His mind immediately went through all the someones this could be and most of them were not nice someones. He didn't know what to do, he was just too tired for this shit.

~

Hermes was really excited and happy, because he finally got the chance to meet his (favorite) grandson again. Which was a rare occasion since he always had something to do, since his job was very... demanding, at least most of the time. That didn't mean he didn't like his job, in fact he loved it, he just didn't always have as much free time as he would have liked.

Despite that he still always tried to make time for Odysseus. Unfortunately he wasn't able to visit his in what felt like centuries. The last time he actually visited him was when he was just a little baby, so small and delicate, with his cubby cheek and big eyes. He was adorable back then and completely oblivious to the world around him, which was probably why he didn't remember his little visit.

And okey maybe it wasn't that long ago when he last saw him and he was just being a teeny tiny bit dramatic, since he did visit him all throughout his childhood. At least when he got the chance to do so. But he didn't let that count since he never actually interacted with him. The only time he actually interacted and talked with him was when he was a baby.

And he refused to let that count eighter since he probably couldn't even remember any of that. Hermes normally wouldn't visit any of his offspring or their children, since he was afraid of getting attached to them and unfortunately he got attached to others quite easily, especially if they are from his bloodline.

They always die so quickly, which was the reason he normally stayed away from mortals. In Gods standards anyways. And he just couldn't take losing someone he was close with every few years. So for that not to happen, he stayed away from them. For their and his own good, at least that was the plan. Unfortunately, or fortunately he wasn't able to always stick to that plan.

Because when Odysseus was born, only a few days old at the time, he was coincidentally near Ithaca delivering messages and collecting souls, you know doing his job, when he overheard that the royal family of the small island got a child and he just so decided to pay the island a visit for no particular reason at all.

At the beginning he just wanted to check on baby Odysseus and then immediately go back to doing his job. However when he saw him laying in that tiny bed of his, with his stubby little hands and cute appearance, he just couldn't help himself and went inside through the window he was previously looking through.

The baby woke up when he carefully took him out of his bed. He started to smile and laugh while trying to grab his head wings and that was the moment he knew he got attached. But for whatever reason he couldn't bring himself to care, so he continued to check up on him throughout his childhood without being seen. That was already a few years ago, probably almost two decades by now, so it was definitely time he visited him again and the time was now.

He could finally see him again and actually talk to him this time! The best part howerver was that he could help him this time too, not just watch from afar and subtly help him on special occasions. He normally wouldn't have been allowed to help him against Circe, since that would be Devine intervention and that wasn't really allowed.

However, he did it most of the time anyway and Zeus never really did anything too bad to him, since his job was important, so compared to others his punishments were 'milde'. This time however he actually asked the God king for permission to intervene first, which he never did and when he said never he meant never.

But this time he made an exception, since he didn't what to risk Odysseus being punished instead of him, for whatever reason that should happen. He could never be to sure how the punishments of Zeus would look like since they weren't always fair. So he specifically waited until Zeus was in a good mood, so he had a higher chance of him saying yes and he actually did allowed it. Which Hermes was glad for.

To be fair he would have done it with or without his permission anyway, but by asking him first he made sure that nobody would get punished for it, not him or his cute great-grandson. Because even though he didn't get that harsh punishments often, it still sucked having to do his job while being injured.

That was the reason he was so excited at the moment, he was on his way to Circe's island right now, already having a plan on how to help him out. He knew already that the visit to the little island was going to be so much fun even if he wouldn't be helping Odysseus. He often visited Circe because he liked teasing her, she always got irritating so fast and it was hilarious every single time, she always had the best reactions. Which was why he loved to visit the island so much and being able to help Odysseus too was just another bonus.

Since he was flying with his normal travel speed it didn't take him long to arrive at the island. He already saw Odysseus and his crew's ship docked on the beach, he made himself invisible for mortals and flew over to them to search for their captain.

The crew was already building up tents to sleep in and others were building a fire to cook over while others were asleep. He looked over every single one of them, but without any luck. Odysseus wasn't among them, which was weird since he was the captain and normally wouldn't leave their side for even a second.

So naturally Hermes began to worry and maybe panic a bit too, thinking he already went into the forest to find the witch and he was to late to help him. But then he felt Odysseus' precents nearby, further down the beach. When he went after it he found him talking to one of his men and he let out a sigh of relief.

The man he was talking to, who he now identified as Eurylochus, looked worried, but he couldn't really tell from this far away. He went closer so he could hear what they were saying, but still didn't go too close, so they wouldn't notice him. He knew that he was invisible and they shouldn't be able to see him, but Odysseus noticed Athena's precents often enough throughout his childhood, even with her being invisible, so Hermes didn't want to risk it.

And since he was hiding in the high grass near them he couldn't really see them, but he could still hear them which was enough for him. "-side the meal she had cast a spell. They began to squeal and grow snouts and tails. She changed them! They transformed and it wasn't quick. She turned our men, from men to pigs."

Said Odysseus' second in command. Okey that means that Circe already got some of his crew and he will probably try to save them soon. This is perfect! I'll just go to him before he is able to reach the palace. Thought Hermes, already forming a plan in his head.

"We have to go save them!" Knew it! Odysseus would never leave his men behind. Tought Hermes smugly to himself, since he loved being right. He expected his great-grandson to immediately storm off trying to save his comrades now that he knew they weren't dead and could still be saved. He was about to fly towards the forest to wait for him there.

However, he was stopped from doing so by Eurylochus who wasn't done talking yet. "No, we don't!" He responded. Obviously not liking the idea of going anywhere near Circe again, which made him almost giggle. He had to admit that she could be scary if she wanted to be. Of course Hermes wasn't afraid of her, but he would understand if a mortal was.

He guessed that this would take a bit longer, because based on what he heard so far he doubt that eighter of them would back down so easily. So instead of going to the forest, he stayed where he was to continue eavesdropp- he meant listening to the conversation, knowing that drama was about to ensure and he loved drama.

He continued listening to them argue and he had to say that his great-granddaughters husband (Eurylochus) had some good points, but Hermes was still on Odysseus' side. In the end his great-grandson, of course, won the argument, since he was the captain and the one in charge. Eurylochus just made Odysseus unnecessarily angry and also made all of this harder than it had to be, by defying Odysseus' orders.

To be fair he didn't have anything against Eurylochus, since he was the husband of his great-granddaughter and she loved him dearly and Hermes also got attached to her, so her feeling matter to him too. So for her sake, he did want Eurylochus to make it back to her. However, every time he saw him, which was about every time he came to visit Ithaca, he had a bad feeling about him. His gut feeling told him not to trust him for some reason. And since his gut was normally always right, he was cautious around him.

Hermes' thought were interrupted and he quickly flew out of the way when Odysseus came rushing angrily in his direction, which was also the direction towards the forest, leaving his frustrated comrade behind. Eurylochus just continued to stand there for a moment, looking angrily but also worried to the ground, clenching his hands into tight fists. He was probably still angry about losing the argument. Hermes, not interested into the second in command, took that as his clue to go after the captain.

Shortly before Odysseus entered the forest, he suddenly stopped in the middle of his tracks, becoming tensed for no apparent reason. But Hermes understood what happened. He got too close and Odysseus noticed his presence. Noticing his mistake, Hermes quietly cursed to himself and suppressed his presence as best as he could. Odysseus still turned around, looking for him even though he shouldn't be able to feel his presence anymore.

Hermes waited, his whole body was tensed, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see him. He hoped that Odysseus would just ignore it, or his fun would already be over before it even started and he didn't want that. After a few tensed seconds he just tuned back around, shaking his head and finally walked into the forest. Hermes let out the breath he was holding in relief that the fun wasn't over yet and that he still got a chance to surprise Odysseus with his presence.

The moment Odysseus entered the forest, he put a spell over it. It wasn't anything bad, the spell would just prevent him from finding Circe's palace. He wanted to mess with him a bit, before he would help him. He wanted to see how long it would take for him to notice that something was wrong and how long it would take for him to get frustrated.

He let him wander around for a while, while he was following him from a save distance, enjoying it when he seemed to get frustrated. After around half an hour he decided it was enough of messing around and decided to show himself, of course not without a bit of a dramatic entry.

So he made himself visible again and flew closer to him. He positioned himself on a tree behind the king and then giggled, before immediately flying to a different tree, so he wouldn't be seen. When he saw how Odysseus quickly turned around in a blind panic he giggled again, this time more because he thought Odysseus' reaction was funny, instead of purposefully wanting to freak him out.

Maybe Hermes shouldn't find it as funny as he did, but he couldn't help himself, he should be seeing his face, it was hilarious. Hermes covered his mouth, shaking from laughter as he did his best to stay in the tree and out of sight. In the end he regaind his bearings enough to not immediately brust out laughing, at Odysseus' funny reaction.

He wiped his eyes after a moment, before losing the fight despite his efforts and giggled again. Which made Odysseus even more tensed and nervous, but also a little annoyed. He quickly turned in his direction again, but he was faster gone that he could turn.

Hermes thought that that was enough, he didn't want Odysseus to die of an heart attack after coming all the way over here just to help him, so he decided to show himself, or more like make Odysseus aware of where exactly he was.

"I must say, what a brilliant speech you gave." He said while sitting down on a sturdy enough looking branch of a tree that was behind Odysseus. He couldn't help it he just had to freak him out one last time. The thing was that this time he didn't turn around to see who was there probably expecting to not see anything again, so instead he called out to him this time.

"Who goes there?" He asked with clear suspicion and a hint of fear in his voice, still holding his sword protectively in front of himself. Hermes decided that he teased his great-grandson enough for today and chose to take mercy on him. He jumped off the branch he was sitting on and started to flap his wings before he could hit the ground, not making a single sound all the while.

He flew with enough distance between them, to be out of the range of his sword, around Odysseus and when he finally got in his line of vision, the tensed king immediately pointed his sword in his direction, ready to swing it at him the moment he made a wrong movement.

But to be honest Hermes was suddenly frozen in place, he wasn't able to move a muscle, the only thing moving were his wings to keep him up in the air. It was also completely silent between the two, the only thing you could hear was the wind whistling and the grass and feathers of Hermes' wings softly shifting in the wind.

Hermes actually planed to go to Odysseus and tell him all the fun stuff Circe could do before giving him moly. He already had a mischievous grin on his face just thinking how scared he would be after finding out what she could do to him with just a snap of her finger. But that plan went out the window the moment he saw the state Odysseus was in. He was so shocked that he just completely froze up out of shock, the grin wiped off his face. He just stared at his favorite grandchild, taking in his appearance.

Because he definitely didn't expect him to look like that. He just looked down right exhausted, like he didn't sleep in days! Trying to taking on Circe in on itself was already a bad- no stupid idea, but doing so while looking like him! No offense, but he looked like shit. He wouldn't stand a single chance, he would be dead and, or a pig in three seconds flat.

Seeing him like this made his father instincts kick in, that he didn't even know he still had. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Hermes was finally able to break out off his trance and make himself move again.

"Oh, darling." He said in a worried and pitiful voice, while flying toward his boy, only stopping because Odysseus swung his sword at him, but he could dodge easily in time, since the captain obviously wasn't in best shape right now and to be honest was very slow and sluggish at the moment.

He proceeded to get closer and stopped again when he noticed that the sword was now pointed at his throat. It seemed like him saying something or just moving in general helped Odysseus to get out off his frozen like state. But that didn't stop Hermes from continuing to worry and asking what happened.

"What happened to you?..." There was a short awkward silence before he continued "You look like shit." He said in an attempted playful voice, but you could still clearly hear the worry in it. He was trying to bring some humor in this tensed situation and since humor always seemed to help he thought why not. This time, however, it didn't help. "No offense."

He quickly added after noticing that this was the first time he ever actually spoke to his great-grandson and for Odysseus he was a complete stranger who just insulted him, even if it was a joke. Okey maybe not completely a joke, since it was true what he said, he did look like shit.

However, in his state he probably wouldn't understand that it was a joke and it wasn't the best idea to start off with an insult anyway. But it didn't seem to matter since it looked like he didn't even hear the words he just said.

Which was also probably why Odysseus didn't answer or react, he seemed to be shaking a bit too, whether that was out of exhaustion or fear, he couldn't tell, but it definitely wasn't a good sign. He just looked at him with an very suspicious look on his face, it practically screamed distrust and if he was being honest it hurt Hermes a bit to see it.

But he had to remind himself that Odysseus didn't know him, so it was understandable, but he just couldn't help it, it still hurt to see it. His father instincts screamed at him to help him, but he couldn't do anything because he was the one that was causing him that fear.

After a few seconds it looked like he was actually registering things again and got aware of his surroundings once more. It was like he had been running completely on his survival instincts, not really understand anything that was happening around him other than that he was in danger. Which he wasn't, but he didn't know that. The king blinked a few times as though snapping out of a fog Hermes couldn't see.

At first he just seemed confused looking around himself, like he didn't even know where he was or what happened. But then his eyes landed on him, Hermes. He looked him up and down before his eyes went wide in recognition and he immediately dropped his sword. He seemed absolutely terrified out of a sudden. His whole body was shaking while he dropped to the ground and bowed at his feet.

Hermes didn't know what was going on all of a sudden, but then the realization hit him. Odysseus must be very exhausted if it took him that long to recognize who he was and now he thought he wound get punished for attacking him and pointing his sword at a gods throat, that was his best bet at least. To be clear if he was any other mortal he would have died a gruesome and painful death for sure, nobody gets away with attacking a God, but Odysseus was an exception. He would never hurt him.

"Lord Hermes. What are you doing here?" He asked in a shaky and stuttering voice, he sounded absolutely horrified and Hermes felt so bad, because he knew that he was the reason he felt like that. And when he thought about it he probably shouldn't have played with him like that at the beginning. But in his defense he didn't know Odysseus would be like that. However he could admit that it still wasn't the best move he had ever made.

The tension between the was so thick you could cut it with a knife and Hermes really wanted to ease it a bit by making a joke of some kind. He decided against it, however, knowing it wouldn't help. So Hermes looked down at the still bowing man in front of him and decided to crouch down to be a bit more on his level, so he didn't look down on him anymore. And also that the power imbalance wasn't so immense anymore.

Even though he didn't it slowly, the man in front of him still flinched a bit. He intentionally did it slowly to come over as harmless, at leat as harmless as he could, but it seemed like it didn't work. Seeing that it didn't work he just let out a soft sign, before answering in the softest and gentlest tone he could muster.

He normally wasn't so gentle and soft with anything, especially not with mortals. He didn't really have a reason to be, the only exception were souls of dead children. He was normally always making fun of everything and always had a grin on his face, that was just how he was and that was also how everyone saw him.

He had to admit that it got exhausting sometimes, always having to be happy and fun, he meant. But that's just how he is. This situation, however was also an exception, since he actually liked Odysseus and sure he wasn't a dead child, but he still deserved some kindness.

Mortals are so fragile and weak, they could die because of the most harmless thing. He would know since he brought them to the underworld and often found out how they died. So, yeah humans were fragile compared to him, or any God for that matter, which was also the reason why he was so concerned right now.

Because his favorite grandchild looked like he was about to drop dead and he was worried. He didn't care if it was out of character for him to be so gentle. He didn't know what was wrong with him... yet, but he looked like he didn't sleep in ages. Is that what is wrong with him? Did he not get enough sleep? Can mortals even die from lack of sleep?... Probably yes.

He didn't know, but honestly it didn't matter, because he looked like he was about to die either way. So, he was allowed to be worried about his favorite grandchild, thank you very much.

"Well, darling. I actually came here to help you." He wanted to gently garb Odysseus' chin and make him look at him so bad. He just wanted to talk normally, face to face, but he decided that that probably wouldn't end well and just terrify him more and he didn't want that.

Fortunately he didn't even have to, because after hearing what he just said, Odysseus carefully and slowly began to look up. He did it like he was afraid of doing so, like he wasn't allowed to look at him. Hermes decided to not let his worry show on his face, in case he would take it the wrong way and instead decided to smile at him.

"To help me?" He asked with a firmer voice this time and his shaking also stopped. We are making progress. Thought Hermes happily. But Odysseus sounded extremely suspiciously again, like he couldn't belive a God would actually want to help him. But he decided to ignore it and instead answered in a carefree voice.

"That's right, darling." He looked Odysseus up and down. "You can also stand up now, you don't have to bow to me, you know." He added, still in a cheerful and carefree voice, but with enough seriousness to let him know that he actually meant what he said and they weren't going to argue about it.

The address man, in fact, didn't look like he knew that he didnt have to bow to him, but still did as he was told and slowly stood up. Hermes got up with him. He could tell, in the way that he was holding himself, that he was still clearly suspicious of him. He, however, ignored it and decided to focus on the process they were making. He at least wasn't shaking and bowing at his feet anymore, so yeah, process. He would take what he could get.

Chapter Text

Odysseus wanted one, just one thing to not go horrible wrong. He thought that this witch lady was the only dangerous thing on this godforsaken island, but of course he didn't have that much luck. He honestly should have see something like this coming.

It seemed like the forest was just as dangerous as the palace was, because now there was someone out there who could quite possibly kill him before he even found the witch. Before he could save his men and he couldn't let that happen.

He didn't know who that someone was, but his body definitely didn't like the extra stress on his already abused muscles. He was still standing in that small clearing, he cluched his sword so hard in his hands that his knuckles turned white, when he heared that nerve wracking giggle again.

It came from behind him just like last time. He turned around in a blind panic, as fast as his tired body allowed it, but when he looked nothing was there just like the first time. Is this some kind of joke, because if it is I don't think it's funny! He thought angrily, clenched his teeth together in anger and nervousness. His thoughts got cut off by another damn giggle.

He turned around a third time and saw... nothing just like the first two times. He didn't know how someone could possibly move so fast, but that didn't matter, it just told him how dangerous this person actually was. He was getting more nervous the longer this was going on, but also very annoyed because he definitely didn't find this funny. The next time he heard something it, for once, wasn't a giggle but that this someone was saying something.

"I must say, what a brilliant speech you gave." He didn't turn around this time, it wasn't worth it anyway. The voice may sound like it was coming from behind him, but he knew the moment he turned around there would be nothing there. So instead he replied, knowing whoever it was would hear him.

"Who goes there?" He demanded to know, but he sounded to afraid and suspicious to actually sound demanding, it was quite embarrassing but decided to just ignore it. He waited patiently for a replie, or some kind of sign where they were. Turned out he didn't have to wait for long at all, because not even a second later something, or more like someone was coming from his left towards him.

And for some unknown reason to him, his mind just decided to go completely blank. It was like it just stopped working. The only thing working up there were his survival instincts. He couldn't even identify who was coming towards him.

He immediately tensed even more than before and pointed his sword in the direction of the threat. His body was working on complet autopilot right now, he still wasn't able to focus enough to find out who exactly was in front of him. He would be angry and annoyed at himself hadn't it felt impossible to even think right now.

The only thing he knew right now was to attack anything that moved. After what felt like hours, but realistically were probably only a few seconds, the person in front of him moved again, towards him. He was finally able to move, but he still didn't know what was going on around him. His body and mind still not listening to him, didn't cooperate and it was frustrating.

He noticed that his body moved to attack the person, but they dodged and now he was pressing his sword against their throat as a warning. He was able to focus enough to see the lips of the person move, but he wasn't able to actually register the words they were saying and he didn't really care eighter.

He was to exhausted for this shit, he just wanted this to be over already, preferably not with his death. He noticed that he was even trembling a bit. After a few second went by and the other person still didn't move, he saw something golden at the spot where his sword met skin. At that exact moment Odysseus' mind just completely stopped and went empty, yet was screaming at him at the same time.

That was the momen he could finally get a hold of his body again and became aware of his surroundings once more. His survival instincts finally being pushed to the back and common sense took back over again. He blinked a few times to focus his eyes. His sluggish mind needed a second or two to process what he was seeing.

At first he was confused but then he looked them up and down. His face grew pale with recognition, the fear froze the blood in his veins, because it finally klicked who was in front of him. His heart immediately started to beat faster in fear. He threw his sword to the side and began to shake even more, but this time not out of exhaustion, but out of pure terror.

He dropped down on his knees and bowed, because he just attacked a God. It wasn't like he already had enough problems with the Gods, but no of course now he had to fuck it up with lord Hermes too!? Oh my gods, I made him bleed, didn't I? That was the gold I was seeing on his skin, right? He will definitely have my head for this. What did I do? He thought while being absolutely terrified out of his mind.

It was like every emotion was completely pushed to the side, he even didn't feel his exhaustion anymore, the only thing left was the fear he was feeling. This had literally never happened to him before. He had never been tired enough for his body to just stop responding to him. He couldn't even tell who was in front of him even though he literally looked him in the face, but his eyes just wouldn't focus and register anything.

And now he was going to die for his mistake. Like he knew that he was tired but he never would have thought that it would cost him his life. If he would have known what would happen then he would have ignored Eurylochus until he walked away and the slept as long as he wanted to. It seemed like that the nine days of no sleep at all effected him more than he thought, or cared to admit, even to himself.

He realized that he was going to die before he could ever meet his son or see his wonderful wife again, which just made him feel more miserable. He couldn't even save the rest of his comrades. Maybe the remaining that were still at the beach could make it home, since Poseidon was after him not them. That thought calmed him for a second before the situation he was in made itself known again and the fear came crawling back.

His exhaustion completely forgotten the only thing he felt right now was terror. How can anyones luck be this bad? I went through so much shit already and survived and you want to tell me that this is how I die, really? Fuck my exhausted barely working mind. He thought bitterly. He took a deep breath to calm himself down enough to be able to speak again. He had to pray and hope lord Hermes would forgive him, even though it was very unlikely.

"Lord Hermes. What are you doing here?" He stuttered and then silently curse hinself, because that sounded pathetic and he really tried to not to stutter, but that was hard to do, when your whole body was shaking and you were down right terrified. He waited for the agonizing pain to come, or if he was lucky a respond of some kind before getting a merciful quick and painless death.

But who was he kidding, he didn't have any luck and never had any to begin with. Even if he ever had some then it definitely ran out after the war, because since then everything went to shit and now he was going to die because his brain was to dump to recognize a God. What did I do to deserve this? I just want to see my wife and son again, is that to much to ask for? He thought bitterly while letting out a breath of defeat, slowly accepting his incoming death.

He heard something rustling above him, it sounded like the God in front of him began to move, which made Odysseus flinch, expecting an attack, but nothing came. He heard something that sounded like a sigh coming from Hermes, before said God began answering his question.

"Well, darling. I actually came here to help you." Did Odysseus' brain stop working again, or did he just didn't hear it right because, what? He was so confused. What the God in front of him just said just didn't make any sense to him, especially because he said it with such a soft and gentle tone. It was probably supposed to calm him down or make him believe that he was save, but all his soft voice did was creep him out and made his skin crawl all over.

Why would a God ever willingly help me, especially after I threatened him and attacked him. He even bled because of me! I mean sure he didn't bleed much, but still that's unacceptable. A God would never forgive and the even help a mortal afterwards. Is this some kind of trick? It has to be! I mean Hermes is the God of trickery after all. Maybe he wants me to get a false sense of security and hope before he kills me!? Is that something he would do?

He had never met Hermes before so he couldn't really judg his character. And as much time as he spend with Athena she never talked about the other Gods and if she did, on rare occasion, it was never much or about Hermes. So he was in uncharted waters here, which made him feel uneasy.

Whatever his plan was Odysseus decided to take the risk and lifted his head so he could look up at the God, hoping to be able to tell what the God was thinking based on his facial expression. Only to see that he was crouching in front of him. It surprised him a bit not having expected that, but ignored it.

Odysseus' eyes began roaming his face to look for any hidden or malicious intentions, but the only thing he say was a smile on his face, a smile not a smirk, while the rest was painfully neutral. Which creeped him out even more, but at least he could bring himself to stop shaking.

"To help me?" He asked very slowly, being clearly suspicious, because again, why should a God ever help him. And even though he was still suspicious, he at least wasn't shaking anymore which also made his voice come out firmer and he wasn't stuttering anymore like some hormonal teenager who was speaking to his crush for the first time. Not that that happened to him when he was younger or anything.

Anyway, Hermes seemed to have become even happier for some weird reason that Odysseus couldn't fantom, which was why he decided to ignore it for now. "That's right, darling." He said in a still way to cheerful voice for Odysseus' liking. He could see that he looked him up and down, before he opened his mouth to add something. "You can also stand up now, you don't have to bow to me, you know."

No, I definitely don't know, as far as I know all Gods what mortals to bow to them, but okey his serious undertone told me enough. He definitely meant it as a command and not a normal remark, so I'm just going to do as he says and if I die because of it then I honestly shouldn't be surprised, since God liked punishing mortals for things they told them to do, or things they didn't tell them to do, or just for existing in general, so nothing new there.

Okey I'm just going to do it and hope this is not some sick game he is playing. I mean it went definitely better than I expected it to go so far, since I'm not dead yet and all. So maybe it's going to be fine.

He thought while he slowly stood up. Odysseus may not have noticed it, but he was still looking at the god with a suspicious almost judging look on his face, while he was getting up. "You don't have to be so suspicious of me, darling." He said in, what Odysseus guessed and hoped was a playfully offended voice.

Either he is trying to cut the tension between us, or he is just always like that and I can't tell for the life of me what the case is. Or maybe it's both? I don't know, but if he wants to pretend like nothing happened then I'll gladly play along. Even though I think I have every right to be suspicious.

Odysseus tried to make his facial expression as neutral as he possibly could in this situation, with his heart still beating wildly in his chest and him still being afraid of what was going to happen to him. "Like I said, I'm not here to kill you, but to help you." He added which got Odysseus out of his thoughts again.

Odysseus just hoped that the God of lies wasn't lying to him and even though he had no reason to trust his words, or him in general, he was feeling oddly save around him for some reason. Like his instincts were telling him that he could trust him, now that he recognized him, and so he did, at least for now.

"Well I'm sorry if I find that hard to believe after everything that happened with the other Gods." He still sounded suspicious,  even though he decided to trust him for now, but he didn't want Hermes to know that already, in case he was planning something. But most of all he sounded exhausted again, now that he wasn't in a life threatening situation anymore and all the adrenaline left his body, all the exhaustion came back in full force once more and made his mind foggy again.

Which was probably the reason he didn't care that his answered might have sounded offensive, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Luckily Hermes just giggled at his reply and didn't seem to be offended by it. He seemed more amused that anything else.

"I guess your right. I wouldn't trust me either if I were you." Odysseus just sighed at that answer because he still didn't know what exactly the God wanted from him. He just wanted this to be over already. Not just this conversation, but all of this. He wanted to get this over with, so he could go to the witch, beat her, get his men back and then sleep for more that one hour.

But he never got what he wanted before so why should he now? "I don't want to sound rude or anything, but what exactly are you doing here again?" He asked in the hope of actually getting an answer and with that ending this conversation a bit faster.

"Right, well, like I said before, I'm here to help you" Yeah I know that already, you said it often enough. But how do you plan on helping me? "but I guess that has to wait. Seeing in what kind of stat you're in, I know it's not going to work like that." Odysseus didn't know what 'it' was or why it wouldn't work, but he almost felt offered by his statement. But based on the tone of the God's voice, he could tell that he was simply stating facts and not trying to insult him. Odysseus was also just to exhausted and confused to care.

Because what the fuck is he talking about? What does he mean with 'its not going to work like that' and what even is it. Odysseus was just about to ask these exact questions when he was interrupted by Hermes. "What even happened? You look... tired." At the end he paused for a second like he wasn't sure what to say, before settling on an awkward 'tired'.

He just decided to answer Hermes question since he really didn't seem to be here to hurt him, or he probably would have already done so, of that he was sure. Except he was trying to play the long game, giving him a sense of hope before crushing it.

He just hoped that wasn't the case. Also, he felt weirdly save and calm around him, now that his mind didn't think he was going to die any second anymore, for whatever reason that he couldn't explain. It was weird since he normally only felt like that around people he had known his whole life and would trust with his life.

People like Athen- no not her, not anymore anyway, he meant people like Polit- Penelope, yeah people like Penelope. So people he had already know his whole life, which was obviously not the case here, but his tired mind didn't question it. He actually enjoyed it a bit, since it made him able to relax a little.

"Well, there was this wind bag that I had to make sure stayed clos- you know what it doesn't matter, point is that I didn't sleep in nine day. Okey I did get an hour in, like over half an hour ago, but it definitely wasn't enough and now I'm just tired, that's all."

He started to ramble a bit without even noticing it, but after he did notice he quickly stopped talking, being a bit embarrassed about it. He also left out the part where almost all of his friends died on purpose, not wanting to talk about it and it didn't have any physical effects on him so it was unnecessary to bring up. He blamed his lack of sleep for rambling, because he always started doing weird and uncharacteristic things when he was tired. Everything he did in the last like half an hour should be prof enough for that.

Fortunately Hermes didn't seem to mind, he just started to giggle, but it sounded fake somehow and it also didn't hold long because after just a few seconds it stopped. "Wait, you're serious!?" He asked sounding almost like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Odysseus just looked at him with a 'do I look like I'm joking' look, before opening his mouth to answer. However, before he could even begin to respond, he was alrady cut off again.

"Darling" He started, getting closer to him and put his hands on his shoulder and surprisingly Odysseus didn't flinch at the contact. Hermes took a deep breath, looking him in the eyes before continuing. "Please tell me you are joking. You did not just seriously plan to fight Circe, with only having gotten one hour of sleep in your system in the, oh I don't know, last nine days!?" He asked and if he hadn't known any better Odysseus would have said that the God sounded almost desperate. He was even shaking him a bit, before taking another deep breath and letting go of him. It also didn't seem like he wanted an actual answer to his question since he didn't even wait for one before he continued speaking.

"You know what, it doesn't matter. You are going to lay down a sleep for as long as you need to. I'm not going to let you go anywhere near Circe, before you" He got close to him before jabbing a accusing finger against his chest. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, but it got the point across that he wasn't happy eighter. "got at least a few hours of sleep and can think straight again." He said with a commanding voice, but even Odysseus was able to hear the worried undertone in it. Seemed like even he noticed his little mind black out, or whatever that was, too. Even though it probably wasn't hard to notic that he, since he wasn't responding.

Don't get him wrong, Odysseus was glad that Hermes wasn't actively trying to kill him (like a few others of the God's family tried to do), but he was still confused as to why he was caring so much about him. And as much as he would like to do as he was told, he couldn't. Because he still had to save his friends and he also couldn't be sure that Eurylochus wouldn't sail off without him if he took too long.

As much as he would like to believe that Eurylochus would never leave him behind, he knew that he couldn't think so naively. Based on how eager he was about letting the other ones behind, he probably wouldn't hesitate to do the same with him either. So as much as he would love to sleep, he can't and he told the God as much, too.

"I can't." He said with a sigh. When he looked the God in the face again he could see a 'you did not just seriously said that' look on his face. He looked almost offended that he could even suggest that as an option. That look made him kind of feel guilty for saying it even though he had no reason to feel that why.

That look made him what to looked away again. But he forced himself to not break eye contact, to show that he was serious about this. He honestly felt like a son being scolded by his parent for being up past his bedtime, which was ridiculous but he couldn't help it.

"And why exactly can't you?" He asked and this time he sounded more curious than judging, which he was glad for. He felt judged enough by the God for a lifetime. "First of all, I still have to save my comrades and secondly I'm pretty sure that the rest of my crew would sail off without me if I took to long. So yeah, I can't take a break now if I want to save my men or not be stranded on this island." He didn't even know why he was justifying himself.

He didn't own him a explanation, but for some reason he still did. At this point he was just hoping that he would accept his answer and let him leave, because this was already going way to long for his taste. Every second he was waiting here he could have used to get his crew back. He saw how a big grin spread across the God's face and he knew that couldn't mean anything good.

"If that are your only concerns then don't worry, darling. I'll take care off it." He said confidently, giggling a bit and being clearly happy about having the problem solved. But Odysseus didn't trust him to 'take care off it'. "What do you mean take care off it?" He wanted to know, being suspicious of him again.

"I mean exactly what I said. I'll take care of your crew, at the beach and will make sure that they won't leave without you, while you are going to get some sleep." Odysseus was just about to say that that would only solve one of his problems Hermes interrupted him again and continued before he could even get a word in.

"and before you say something about the ones that were turned into pigs, you won't be able to do anything for them in the state you're in right now anyway. So the best thing you could do right now is sleep." He said with an irritating carefree voice, like it was that easy. He even petted his head, like that of a child.

He felt a bit offended, because what did he mean with he couldn't do anything in the state he was in right now anyway. Why shouldn't he be able to fight that Circe woman. It seemed like he looked more offended that he wanted to show, because Hermes answered his question before he could even say it out loud.

"It's a bad idea to fight her in general, but being as" He quickly looked him up and down again with obvious judgment in his gaze, seemingly searching for the right word that wouldn't sound insulting, but his face said enough about what he really wanted to say. Odysseus was almost about to say that okey he got it, he looked terrible, but stopped himself because Hermes seemed to have finally found the right word and continued with his sentence like nothing happened.

"...exhausted as you are right now is a death sentence. So, please darling, I know you have no reason to, but just trust me this once and sleep as long as you need to. I'll even protect you while you sleep, if that will make you feel better."

He said softly with a smile on his lips and for some reason it calmed him down and made him trust him. Odysseus also knew a lost battle when he saw one and he knew that he could change the God's mind. The faster he gave in the sooner he could get to his crew.

He didn't know exactly why he trusted him, but he guessed it was for the same reason he had this weird calming and save feeling when he was around the other one. It was like his subconscious recognized his presence and decided it was a save one to be around.

Which didn't make any sense since he had never met him before today. In the end he decided to ignore that feeling and just blamed it on his exhausted mind and body that practically begged him to lay down and close his eyes. It was just too tempting not to give in.

Hermes was probably right anyway, he knew nothing about the witch that he was going to fight, other than she was very powerful and if she really was as powerful as Hermes and Eurylochus claimed her to be then it probably wasn't a good idea to go find her when he could barely keep his eyes open for more that a few minutes, much less fight her like this. So he caved in and decided to get some sleep.

"Fine! But promise me that you won't hurt any of them." He said pointing a finger in Hermes' direction. He would accept the deal Hermes offered to him and get some sleep, but he didn't know what exactly Hermes meant with 'taking care' of his crew. So he had to make sure he wouldn't hurt them in any why, before he could get some rest, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise.

Hermes looked confused for a second before understanding who he meant with 'them'. When he finally understood he gasped loudly, while putting a hand over where his heart was, before he responded. "Who do you think I am, darling. I would never hurt them."

He said playfully, like he was offeneded Odysseus could even think such a thing, even though it was a completely reasonable thing to be concerned about. "But now for real. Don't worry about it, I will make sure that they won't be able to leave... without hurting them. I even promise if that makes you feel better."

At the beginning of his sentence he actually sounded serious for once, but at the end he got that playful and awfully cheerful voice of his back again. He got closer to him and laid his arm over his shouder like they were buddies. Which made him sigh in defeat. He can't take anything seriously, can he. He thought before sighing again at his own misfortune.

"Fine" He gave in and accepted that he won't get a more serious promise out of the God and decided to just take the risk and trust him. He trusted Hermes to protect him and make sure his crew wouldn't leave without him, or get hurt.

He made it himself comfortable on the ground and closed his eyes. I hope I won't regret this later. Was his last thought before the quiet darkness claimed him, pulling him in a, for once, restful sleep within seconds of closing his eyes.

Chapter Text

Hermes decided that Odysseus didn't have to know that he lied to him. He didn't have to know that Hermes would totally hurt his so called 'friends' if they ever hurt his great-grandson. But at the moment he didn't have a reason to hurt them, so he would keep his promise and take care of them in a different way.

However, he already silently promised that he would kill them with no hesitation if he even so much as suspected them of planing to hurt Odysseus. Right now he had to take care of them without hurting or killing them, just as he promised, but before he could do that he had to take care of the captain of the crew first.

Hermes would have never thought that it would be this easy to convince his great-grandson to get some rest. Sure at first he was suspicious and hesitant, but all in all it went way smoother than he could have imagined, so he wouldn't complain.

He was actually very glad that he listened to him. He was a little confused as to why he trusted him so fast since he was so terrified off him at the beginning, but now it was like they have known each other for years. To be fair he did know him for years, he however didn't, so the sudden trust didn't really make sense.

But he would be lying if he said it didn't make him happy that he trusted him. Fortunately he stopped being afraid of him relatively quickly after he explaint why he was here and that he wasn't planning on killing and/or hurting him. He was relieved that he stopped being afraid of him. It was terrible to see him like that, especially because he was the reason he was feeling so afraid. But now he seemed to, he would almost say, trust him, for whatever reason he couldn't tell, but he was glad nothingness.

He watched as his great-grandson made it himself comfortable on the hard forest floor, it didn't seem to be very comfortable, but he still fell asleep not even a second after he closed his eyes. Which just showed how tired he actually was. Hermes still wished he could have provided a better place to sleep, but the grass had to do for now.

It was a bit chilly however and he really didn't want Odysseus to get sick now, too. He thought about what he could do about it, but he quickly came up with the perfect idea that would actually solve two of his problems. He silently flew over to the fast asleep man on the ground, before struggling his fluffy and warm jacket (imagine he is wearing the one Troy (Hermes' voice actor) is alway wearing) off and covering him with it.

Now he wouldn't have to worry about him getting cold, or attacked since he put a spell on the jacket that would protect him from whatever could be out here. While he was away taking care of, what were supposed to be, his friends. He himself wouldn't call them that since from what he had gathered so far they wouldn't even hesitate to leave him behind on this island, they probably wouldn't even wast a single second on trying to find him.

Even Odysseus was concerned about them leaving him behind, which was on of the reasons why he wouldn't let himself get some rest. So yeah, what wonderful crewmembers they were indeed. He didn't understand what Odysseus saw in them, or why he was trusting them at all, since he knew they would leave him behind without hesitation, but he wouldn't question it.

He just hoped Odysseus wouldn't regret placing his trust in them later on in their journey. He looked over his great-grandson one more time, reassuring that everything was fine, before he made his way over to his crew. He arrived after just a few seconds since he was a lot faster when he was flying than any mortal could ever be on foot. When he got there most of the men were already sleeping, but a few were still sitting around a campfire and chatting to each other.

Which wasn't very ideal for what he was planning to do. Nobody should find out that he was here, much less that he intervened. So the only option he had was to wait for them to go to sleep, which was so boring but he would do it anyway.

After another hour of boredom they finally decided to go to sleep. He thought that he could finally do what he planned to do, but one person was still up. It was Eurylochus. Hermes still didn't know why exactly, but for some reason he didn't like him.

He just seemed off, like a snake that was ready to bit you in the back when you weren't looking. He didn't trust him at all, but that didn't matter anyway, he just had to go to sleep and then there would be no problems. But he seemed to be restless, maybe even concerned.

Looks like he does care about Odysseus at least a little bit, but his worry is more of a inconvenience for me right now, because he won't fall asleep like this. Thought Hermes lightly annoyed and irritated. Since there was nothing to be done about that, he had no other choice, but to wait. He breath out a sigh of relief when the second in command finally fell asleep after another half an hour of waiting.

It took way to long for his taste, but there wasn't much else he could do anyway. He stood up from the branch he was sitting on and made his way quietly over to the last ship that was left of their fleet. When he was hovering in front of it, he snapped his fingers, while having a big grin on his face, which practically screamed mischief.

Even the other gods knew to fear that grin, since every god knew what would happen when they saw that grin on his face. No god was spared from his pranks before and when he said no one was spared he meant no god was spared. It happened so often in fact, that every time they saw that grin they knew something bad was about, in the middle, or did already happen, which made most of them terrified of that grin even though they would never admit it.

But now he wasn't doing anything against his siblings, or other relatives, instead he had to make sure Odysseus' crew wouldn't be able to leave whitout injuring them. That, however, didn't mean he couldn't have his fun with this. The moment he snapped his fingers there was a short golden glow, that vanished as fast as it appeared.

At first nothing happened but then the water and sand beneath the ship began to move on its own. It took around a minute before the water and sand finished moving, leaving the ship stranded and stuck in the sand. It looked like the ship got stuck in quicksand. Perfect! They definitely won't be able to leave like that, that's for sure.

He thought while giggling to himself. Before he remembered that there were still people sleeping around him and he probably shouldn't be so loud if he didnt want them to wake up. Even though if they didn't wake up from the relatively loud sound of the sand, water and ship moving around them, then his giggling won't make a difference either. But just to be sure he turned toward the sleeping crew again, looking over them making sure non of them woke up from the commotion around them.

After he was on hundred percent sure that they were still fast asleep, he flew back to where his great-grandson was sleeping on the ground. Now that he was finished taking care of the crew, he could watch over Odysseus to make sure nothing would happen to him, even though it was very unlikely of anything happening, because, other than Circe, nothing dangerous should be out here in the forest.

Speaking of Circe, should I go to her already to make sure she doesn't kill the pigs, or more like Odysseus' crew, before he can save them? Hermes thought about it but in the end decided against it for several reasons. First of all it wouldn't be worth the hassle since she wouldn't listen to him anyway and if she did than only with a good explanation.

However, he didn't want her to know anything yet because that would destroy all the fun. Also Circe never immediately killed the pigs before, if ever, because she either wanted them to suffer first, for daring to get close to her nymphs, or because she wanted to keep the as pets.

So the likelihood of them to be dead before Odysseus made it to the palace were slim, next to non. So he decided to just leave it as it was and not get involved into Circe's business. So the only reason he didn't go to Circe was because he didn't think it was worth the hassle, not because he was afraid of her or anything, not definitely not.

When he got back to the clearing he was relieved to see that Odysseus was still laying fast asleep on the forest floor, still in the same position that he was when he left, just that he was now snuggled into his jacket. The sight made a big smile appear on his face as he flew over to the tree that was the closest to Odysseus' resting place and landed on a branch that looked sturdy enough to hold his weight.

He sat down and leaned against the trunk of the big tree to make it more comfortable for himself. If he had to stay here for the next few hours then he was going to make it as comfortable for himself as possible. He really didn't want strained muscles after all. Not that he could get strained muscles, but it was the thought that counted and he still didn't want to be in a uncomfortable position for hours on end.

And it was definitely going to be hours, because he wasn't planning on waking that exhausted man up any time soon. He actually meant it when he said that he should get as much sleep as he would need, because yeah he definitely needed it. He stayed like that for a while, just sitting up on that tree enjoying the silence and not having to do his job for once. Don't get him wrong he loved his job, but it could get a bit much sometimes. He rarely got to relax like this.

Doing nothing, just sitting and listening to the soft whistling of the wind, the quiet sound of the grass shifting, the crickets quietly chirping beneath him and the gentle breathing of the only person near him. It was so peaceful and relaxing. His great-grandson fast asleep on the ground not even 5 meters (around 16 foot) away from him.

It was peaceful and very nice. He gave a quiet content sigh and relaxed a little more against the tree he was leaning against. It went on like that for, what he guessed was, around an hour or two before the peaceful quiet got interrupted by a weird sound. It started with a low whimper and some rustling, he looked around trying to find out where the sounds came from.

He waited for the sound to repeat itself, to make it easier to locate and it didn't take long before he heard a similar sound, just that this time it sounded more like mumbling? That was the moment he knew exactly where it came from since only one other person was here to make that kind of human noise. It was his great-grandson, he tried to hear what he was saying, but was unable to do so because he was to far away.

At first he thought he was just talking in his sleep, having a normal dream, nothing for him to worry about and he wished he was right, but of course he wasn't. Because the next thing he knew was that he heard Odysseus scream. But fortunately, or unfortunately, he didn't really know if he should see it as a blessing or curse, he didn't wake up.

He continued being trapped in his own dream, or should he say nightmare, because that scream just now definitely didn't sound like he was dreaming about something nice and honestly it didn't surprise him one bit. He actually expected it since he seemed like he went through a lot in the last few weeks.

He did meet his best friend when he collected the souls from the cyclops cave and they talked a bit about what happened to them, so maybe he was dreaming about that? Since it sounded like a traumatizing experience that he could have a nightmare about.

I liked his friend a lot, he was so nice and didn't make my job difficult at all. He did what I told him too and then he thanked me, do you know how rare that is. Nobody ever thanks me for doing my job, especially not souls that I guide to the underworld.

Most of them scream... like a lot, or try to find a reason not having to go and argue a lot with me. It can be very annoying, but he said thank you, so I immediately liked him. I was even able to have a decent conversation with him before I had to leave again. Watever not the point right now, your great-grandson is having a nightmare, so focus. He thought while slapping himself in the face to focus on the important things at hand.

When he looked over to the king again, he was restlessly rolling around on the ground and still mumbling to himself. He could really make out what he was saying but he thought he heard the word 'no' quit often. So whatever he was dreaming about, it clearly wasn't anything nice and because he promised he would protect him, even if it was from his own mind, but also wanted to make sure he got some actual rest before fighting Circe, he had to help him somehow.

Preferably without having to wake him up, or he was sure he wouldn't get any more sleep afterwards and that just wouldn't do. He needed all the sleep he could get. Problem was he didn't really know how to do that, while also not waking him up at the same time.

A restless sleep is still better than non at all, right? So I shouldn't wake him up even if he is having a nightmare, maybe I can do something else? But what? He thought about it for a moment, before he got an idea. He got up from his brench, stood on it so he could stretch real quick. Staying in the same position for so long really wasn't a good idea.

And began making his way over to the still sleeping man, whitout making a single sound as to not wake him up. From what he gathered from his childhood and when he occasionally saw him in the war, when he was collecting the souls of the dead soldiers, he was a light sleeper and he really didn't want to risk it.

Good thing that it doesn't make a sound when I fly. He thought relieved, more grateful for that skill than he ever was in his entire life. He softly landed beside him, which made the captain roll over again. Hermes paused, afraid that he woke him up, but as he stayed asleep after a few more moments he let out the breath he was holding in relief.

He sat down beside his head, when he was settled he gently and very slowly took his head and put it in his lap. It surprised him that he didn't wake up yet, but that just shows how much he needed this. It's a nice feeling to know that I'm right. I'll definitely tell him that tomorrow when he wakes up.

When he thought about the reaction he would surely have, already imagine his pouting face, he had to stop himself from giggling, but the big grin on his face he couldn't hide. He had never been this gentle with anything in his life, but maybe with Odysseus as a baby. After making sure that he was still fast asleep he began to softly pet his head.

It was a bit awkward at first, since he was not used to doing something like this. But he just continued to run his hand through the king's hair and after just a minute or two of this, he settled down, stopped mumbling and his facial expression softened.

He could practically see the tension bleed out of his body as he began to calm down. Hermes smiled at this, because it was just like when he was young. When Hermes decided to visit his great-grandson. He was just a few days old and his second time secretly visiting him. He came in the room and found him crying. He didn't like the sound of that at all, which was why he went over to him.

The moment Odysseus saw him he stopped crying, only whimpering a little and looking curiously up at him with his small red eyes. He reached out with his little hands, trying to garb his head wings, just like last time, or he just wanted to be picked up, he wasnt sure. And because he was unable to grab his wings, or because he wasn't picked up yet, he started crying again.

So in an attempt to comfort the baby, he took him out of his small bed and sat down on a chair that was also in the room. He began gently petting his head, just like he was doing right now and he almost instantly calmed down. He was able to grab his wings at some point, which was definitely painful, but also so worth it when he heard baby Odysseus' joyful laughter.

Odysseus had always been a affectionate person, just like Hermes and he was just glad that he could help calm him down. He continued doing this for a while, just to make sure that he really didn't get another nightmare, for no other reason at all, it wasn't like he just liked doing it. No, of course not it was just so he would rest well.

But after an hour of doing so, he put his head on the soft moss and grass again before he stood up and flew back over to the tree branch he was resting in before he went over to him. He kept an extra watchful eye on Odysseus for around another half an hour, making sure he didn't get another nightmare, but he stayed still and silently. So he decided that he would be fine one his own.

He allowed himself to laid back against the tree again to continue enjoying the quiet. Now I will have to wait 'till he wakes up. Not much else I can do. This is going to be boring, but whatever, it's probably good that I take a break. I definitely need one that's for sure. He thought with a sigh, deciding to use this much needed break as much as he could and rest a bit on his own.

Chapter Text

Despite not wanting to wake up and deal with life right now, his eyes sluggishly opened and examined his surroundings of the forest where he had been resting. He sleepily rubbed his eyes before pausing in the middle of it because he just realized that he actually felt well rested for once and wasn't that a weird thought for him.

He normally never felt that well rested, he always had nightmares lately. He even had had one tonight, about Polites and his crew dieing, but for some reason it changed into a nice dream out of a sudden in the middle of the night. He dreamed of laying on Penelope's lap while she was gently running her fingers through his hair.

It was unusual but he definitely wouldn't complain, since it was one of the best dreams he had in a while. Even though it was a little cruel since now he yawned her even more. He just missed his wife so much.

Point was that the last time he felt this good was... he couldn't even remember anymore. If he had to guess he would say before the war, probably and that was already a while ago. So it was definitely a nice change. He looked around himself again before almost choking on his own spit, because how could I've been so stupid.

It had took a few seconds to recall where he was and what had happened before he fell asleep. That was mostly because the dream reminded him so much of home that he completely suppressed his memory's of last night, for he knew for sure that he wasn’t at home and hadn't been in a while.

The longer he thought about it the more images from last night suddenly started pouring into Odysseus' brain, like a bucket of cold water getting dumped on him. It was intense and made a shudder run through him as he recalled some of the things that happened, thinges he had done... He attacked a god, a fucking god!

How the fuck am I not dead yet? This was the most disrespectful I have ever been to a god and he just what, didn't care? Would it have been any other god I am sure I would be six feet under by now. But he not just didn't care about my disrespectful behavior he even helped me afterwards. He thought to himself while burying his face in his hands out of frustration.

"Gods what have I gotten myself into?" He quietly whispered while groaning loudly at this absolutely absurd situation. However, he immediately got quiet again when he remembered another very important detail of yesterday's events. His men were turned into pigs and were still with the witch who did it.

As the realization hit him the raw feeling of horror began burning like a fire in his chest. He immediately jerked upward into a sitting position. He felt something soft land on his lap, but he ignored that for now, having more important matters to attend to. "Shit my men. They ate still pigs. I have to save them before it's to late." He said out loud, on accident.

He didn't care about anything anymore, at the moment. The only thing he could think about was getting to his men. When he heard a giggle coming from his left. "Don't worry, darling. Your men are fine." He looked over to that way to cheerful voice, just to see "Hermes? What ar-"

He started but stopped himself. He honestly didn't expect him to still be there when he woke up, but he did remember how Hermes promised to him that he would protect him for the night. Also, he said he would help him with Circe, but wouldn't do it until he rested, so he guessed it did make sense that he was still here. It was still unnerving though. He just wasn't used to gods being nice to him, it was weird.

He took a breath to calm himself, it wouldn't be of any use if he began panicking now. After a few breaths he was calmer again and took the time to actually look around himself, first he looked in the sky, to see around what time it was. However, when he looked up he was shocked since the sun was already up, it was probably already late morning.

How long did I sleep!? No wonder I feel so well rested. But now it's time to save my men, I just hope Hermes kept his promise and my crew is still waiting for me at the shores. He gave a exhausted sigh and was just about to sit up when he felt something fluffy? in his lap. Right he remembered that he felt something soft before, when he suddenly sat up.

He took the time to look down to see what it was this time, just to see what he thought was a jacket, but he honestly wasn't sure. It definitely wasn't his, that he did know for sure. Hermes seemed to have noticed his confusion and decided to explain why there was a jacket in his lap.

"Oh! Right I completely forgot that you still have that. That's my jacket, it was cold in the night so I took it to cover you." He explained with his usual carefree nature, standing up from the branch he was casually sitting on before flying over to him. When he was beside him, he practically yanked the jacket away from him, put it on and brushed with his hands over it to remove any possible dirt on it, before looking at him again.

Odysseus could only stare at him in confusion, because why would a god give him his jacket. "Why... would you do that?" He asked, to confused to sound or be suspicious of the other. Gods never give without a reason, or without wanting something back in return. The god just giggled once again before answering.

"Well, darling. It was cold and you don't want to catch a cold right before you want to fight Circe, now do you, darling?" He asked playfully with a big grin on his face. Like it was the most obvious answere ever. Like he was the weird one for even asking. But in the end he just sighed in defeat. He would never understand Hermes. He was the most bizarre god of them all so far and that wasn't necessarily meant in a bad way.

I guess he is right, maybe I should trust him a bit more. He is planing on helping me after all and up until now he didn't do anything that could harm me in any way, the opposite actually. Whatever, my friends need me, I don't have time for this!

He was just about to stand up when the god, who was standing or more like floating in front of him, stretched out his hand to help him up. He took it and even though he wanted to trust him more, he still tensed when their hands touched.

"Right, Circe, I still have to fight her. Can you help me now? You said you would after I rested and I did. So can we do this so I can help my friends?" He noticed that that probably sounded a bit rude, which was why he added a little "Please" After a few seconds. He sounded almost desperate, which he would normally be embarrassed about but could care less at the moment.

But the god didn't seem to be mad at all, he just giggled again. He seemed to do that a lot. "You're in quite a hurry, aren't you, darling?" More giggling. "Well I will make this quick if you want to get this over with." His grin grew even bigger when he said that and for some reason Odysseus had the feeling that he just had been lied to, but before he could think more about it, Hermes already reached out with his hand towards his head. Odysseus had to stop himself from flinching away, but the way he tensed he couldn't hide.

It didn't seem like the god had noticed, or cared, since he just came closer anyway, just to... ruffle his hair? Odysseus made a noise of surprise, not having expected that, while Hermes stated to laugh at his reaction. Haha very funny. He thought annoyed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, totally not pouting like a child, but as much as he wanted to stop it he couldn't hide the way the corner of his mouth quirked upward with amusement.

"Well since I noticed that you know nothing about her I will help you with that first. It's easier to beat your opponents when you know what to expect, after all." He definitely wasn't wrong, knowing what she could do to him would already be a big advantage. For him especially since he is- was a warrior of the mind.

He liked to plan his attacks and best ways to approach and that was a lot easier with information on the enemy. Because quite frankly he knew next to nothing about the witch. The only information he did have was that she could turn people into pigs or just animals in general if he had to guess.

Odysseus just blinked and suddenly Hermes wasn't floating in front of him any more. But before he even had the chance to look where he went, he stood behind him out of a sudden. "She can turn you into an animal that'll end up on her plate." He startled and quickly turned around not having expected him to suddenly be behind him. But what he saw just made him take a step back, because in front of him stood Hermes with a pig head.

He honestly had to stop himself from screaming, since he really wasn't expecting him to suddenly stand behind him and the look like that. Hermes just laught at his reaction again, even though he didn't even scream. Seemed like the face he was making was enough of a reaction to satisfy him. He blinked again and the pig head was gone. For the record Odysseus did not find this amusing, at all!

Hermes flew around him, before stopping in front of Odysseus while grabbing him before dragging him up with him in the air. Odysseus eyes widened in panic, because the floor wasn't beneath his feet anymore. This time he wasn't able to stop the scream and he clung to the god like his life dependent on it and it kind of did.

When they where high enough to see over the tree tops the god stopped mid air, looking him in the eyes. Odysseus saw that mischievous smirk of his appear again and knew something bad was about to happen. The God opened his mouth and said with all the seriousness he could muster. (Which honestly wasn't a lot because he looked like he would start laughing any minuet now.) "She can all but make you fall in love, like you're on your hundredth date."

Odysseus was just about to say that that wouldn't be a problem since he could never cheat on Penelope, or fall in love with anyone else for that matter, but before he could so much as make a pip he was interrupted by Hermes again. "She can conjure up a monster" and then the messenger was interrupted by Odysseus' own panicked screams.

Because Hermes just let go of him and he didn't know if he notice, but they were flying high up in the air and he didn't have wings like him! He was just falling towards the ground which was probably going to be his grave now, too. He already closed his eyes, bracing for the impact and he could have sworn he saw his life flashing past his eyes.

The only thing he felt was the wind wiping past his face, making his hair move all over the place. He already prepared for that pain to come when he suddenly felt hands grab him, making him stop falling in mid air. He was caught by two hands from in front of him.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the ground was way to close for comfort,  but Hermes was just staring back at him before bursting into laughter, at seeing his panicked expression, like almost dieing was some kind of joke! "That'll grind you to the bones." And then he just continued his sentence from before like nothing happened! What is wrong with that guy!?

After he said that he opened hid mouth to show big pointy teeth, that Odysseus was sure weren't there before. He continued making a biting motion like he was about to bite him and actually grind him to the bones. He was probably trying to bring his point of the monsters across and didn't mean any harm, but it still looked unsettling as fuck.

Odysseus would have taken a step back if he wasn't currently dangling in mid air! Fortunately he let go of him. Again, like nothing happened, it wasn't like he just almost die or something. He panicked a bit since he was falling again, but he only dropped a few meters to the ground and was able to stand since they hadn't been that high up anymore.

All the while Hermes was still laughing from above him, but was able to calm down after a bit and wasn't laughing as much anymore, just giggling again and also still grinning from ear to ear. He softly came down to his level to look him in the eyes.

"She has all the ways to haunt you, when you try to take her on alone, so let me help you." He said while gently putting his hands on his shoulders. He was still a bit breathless from the stunt Hermes pulled and was gland that he had solid ground beneath him again. He just so decided that he didn't like not standing on the ground. Flying was definitely not for him.

Suddenly the god let go of him again and was now flying in circles around him. He sure has a lot of energy, doesn't he? He thought and it exhausted him just to look at, but decided to ignore it so he could listen to what he was saying instead.

"Wouldn't you like a taste of the power? Being able to use more than just your words? Deep in the night, the fight last for hours. You can be hurt or you can beat her. Wouldn't you like to have some other magic to help you, to have your outcome preferred? If yes, then I can help you with that." He said excitedly, grinning from ear to ear again. The thing was that he said all the time that he was going to help him, but so far he didn't see much of that help yet. Maybe that sounded a bit ungrateful but he was just thinking the truth.

Because if he was being honest then of course he would like that magic solution Hermes was talking about all the time, watever that may be, but Hermes didn't seem to be in a rush and took his sweet sweet time with- well everything. He was just about to point that out. However, before he could even ask, what magical thing could help him, his questions was already answered by the god himself.

"Here in the root of this flower" he started saying, while holding his hand out in front of him, making something small, that looked like some type of flower appear in the palm of his hand. It didn't look like something you were supposed to eat, like you would drop dead after just touching it.

"In it lays such a power that can take her on." Yeah and probably enough power to kill me, too. He thought ironically, being kind of suspicious about eating something that he had no idea of what exactly it was. "You have to consume and digest it. Then you'll manifest a being of your creation. All you need is your imagination."

So, he is saying that I just have to eat that special flower, that probably only gods could get, and that has to be the case or I would have hear of such a flower before. The only exception would be if the gods didn't want us mortals to know about it. I mean if he is telling the truth then I would have enough magic to beat her after eating it. And Hermes is just giving it to me out of shits and giggles? Where's the catch?

Odysseus was confused to say the least and he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but for now he would trust the god, even if it still sounded to good to be true. There had to be a catch to it, there always was with things that sound to good to be true.

"Though it will only hold for a short while, 'till you have beaten your opponent." He added, snapping Odysseus successfully out of his thoughts. Odysseus knew it, because of course there was a catch to it, even though it was a way way smaller one then he had expected. That the effect of the flower wouldn't hold for long was kind of expected.

He still belived that this plant was not made to be consumed by a mortal, so the fact that it wouldn't hold for long wasn't surprising at all. He thought that he would get some major drawback by eating it, like falling unconscious after the effect of the root would wear off and since the effect wouldn't hold long, meant fainting in mid battle. So, a death sentence technically, or somthing similar, but that surprisingly wasn't the case.

"And I call this root 'holy moly'" He said with and overwhelmingly amount of excitement, but also proudly. Odysseus doubt that the roots actual name was that and it was probably supposed to be some kind of joke. Which was why he sounded so proud, but it honestly just confused him.

He didn't know how to answer, so he just responded with a confused "ah?" But his lacke of enthusiasm didn't seem to disturb the god's good mood at all. He just started to laugh again and before he knew it the root was already stuffed in his mouth. He would have glared at the god, about not being able to choose if he wanted to eat root or not, but was to take aback to do so.

He was so taken aback in fact that he just automatically swallow. There wasn't much else he could have done with the god's hand still being prest over his mouth and all, anyway. He choked a bit at first, but was able to get the root down without throwing up. It tasted weird, it didn't really have a taste, but if he had to describe it he would say it tasted almost a bit like dirt and also very bitter.

Hermes took his hand off his mouth before grabbed him under his armpits again. This time Odysseus was more prepared for being thrown around in the air and was actually able to enjoy it. He stated to love this feeling, trusting Hermes enough to not let him fall to his death. Flying made him feel kind of free, it was a wonderful feeling once he learned to appreciate it.

He actually started to laugh with Hermes together and enjoy this a lot. But it unfortunately ended way to quickly. Funny how he wanted it to be over as fast as possible just a few minutes ago and now he didn't want it to end at all. He did remember his friends that were still in danger and were still pigs and remembered the mission he had in the first place. And accepting being put back down on the ground again without another word.

He still felt this freeing feeling he got because of flying around in the air, but was also glad to be on his own two feet again. He was thankful for everything Hermes did for him. He would have never expected their meeting to turn out this way when he first showed himself.

Nobody took that much care of him in a while. "Well as fun as it was, darling. I still have a job to do, so I will have to leave now. We will probably see each other again. Bye now, darling." He said with a smile on his lips, that if he didn't know any better he would have said, looked almost sad, and waved goodbye.

He was just about to go, already hovering lightly away from him and had just turned away, when he stopped him again. "Hermes." He called out. Saying it before he could think about it and stop himself from doing it. He wanted to say one last thing to him before he left. He didn't get a verbal answer, but the god turned back around again to face him, showing that he had his attention.

"Thank you." He said, with a genuine smile on his face and clear gratitude in his voice and he actually meat it. Hermes did a lot for him and he wanted him to know that he appreciated it. But Hermes just shrugged it of, like it was no big deal. "Don't thank me friend, you very well may die."

It sounded like he was making up excuses to make it seem like what he did was nothing, even though it certainly was something and it help him a lot. Why he couldn't just accept the thank you was beyond his understanding of Hermes, so he wouldn't ask him about it, not expecting to get an answer.

"Well then, good luck." He added, with a voice that sounded like he was trying to make it sound playful, but came off a more serious as he wanted it to. Before he could respond he was already gone.

The only indicator that he was ever here was a golden shimmer of where he was hovering before and a cold gust of air that hit him and made his hair even messier than it already was. That was the moment for Odysseus to go and finally save his crew. So as to not waste any more of his time, he continued his way into the forest, hoping to find this infamous palace this time.

Chapter Text

Hermes was still sitting in the tree, like he had been for hours and couldn't suppress the groan that slipped out, he was just so bored, he almost couldn't take it anymore. Don't get him wrong, he was glad that his great-grandson was getting some sleep, but it still felt excruciatingly boring to just sit here and wait for him to wake up.

He was just thinking about getting up and searching for a way to entertain himself while still having the sleeping man in his line of sight, when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. His head immediately snapped in the direction of Odysseus, silently hoping for him to be finally awake.

When he looked over he was indeed moving, clearly about to wake up. He could also be sleepwalking but he highly doubt it and even if he was Hermes was sure it would be more entertaining that watching him sleep.

However the moment he saw him shoot up and started muttering to himself it was obvious the he was indeed awake. Finally, was about time. Thought Hermes while letting out a breath of relief. Immediately his bad mood went away and a big grin was back on his face, like it should be.

Hermes had to admit to himself that he loved drama and was always searching for the next adrenaline kick, he just wasn't used to sitting and doing nothing for so long. Sure the break he got out of it was nice... for the first thirty minutes or so, but got way to uneventful for him.

So seeing the king finally awake and knowing what was about to happen was an immense relief and was able to immediately bring his good mood back. He was just excited, because he could finally do what he came here for.

He knew the other man would just love what he had planned. The god was practically shaking in excitement, having a hard time staying quiet. However, before he could start he had to get his jacket back, he felt so naked without it. So, he flew over to him and took it back. He seemed to be confused as to why he gave it to him in the first place. Hermes of course explained, but Odysseus didn't really seem to have belived him.

After some back and forth the king finally asked the question Hermes had been silently waiting for. He asked for his help, but he did seem to be in quite the hurry, so the God decided out of the kindness of his heart... to drag this out as much as he could.

He wanted to spend a bit more time with his great-grandson was that really to much to ask for? He didn't think so and he did plan on annoying him a bit, of course also out of the kindness of his heart. He wanted to have his own fun as well, that was the reason he came her in the first place. Okey maybe not the first place but it was definitely on of the reasons as to why he came here.

He began with telling him about Circe while dragging him through the air. It was fun to see his panicked face, okey not just fun it was down right hilarious. After he was finished with throwing him through the air he decided that this was the part were he would actually help him. He started with talking about the moly root, it was a very rare and special root that wasn't so easily obtained.

He, however, hadn't had a problem in doing so at all and was easily able to do it, he was something special after all. This root would give Odysseus the power he would need to beat Circe and he would definitely need it, because no offense but he wouldn't stand a chance against her. He already said he wanted to drag this out a bit, so he never actually gave the root to Ody, just kept on telling him how great this plant was.

The god was able to see how Odysseus got more and more annoyed the more he dragged it out, but that just amused him even more. He was Glas that his plan was working, but after a while decided to take mercy on him and finally show him the root. He seemed suspicious at first, like he was with literally everything he did, but then just looked confused, when he proudly present the, in his opinion way better, name of the root that he came up with.

He didn't laugh like he would have hoped he would, he personally thought it was hilarious to call the root holy moly, but it seemed like not everyone had a sense of humor. Seems like he didn't inherit all my good qualities. What a shame. He thought but didn't let his thought damper his mood.

Odysseus just answered with a confused 'Ah?' And for some reason he found that very funny and started laughing again, but not before he shoved the root into the captain's mouth and made him swallow it.

He really wasn't it the mood to wait for him 'till he was finished pondering about if he could trust him or not, or if the flower was safe to consume or not. So, he just decided for him, to help quick up the process. Maybe it was a bit forceful but he didn't care much at the moment. He was sure that he would thank him later for it.

Before Odysseus could even process what happened he grabbed him like before and flew up in the air again. This time the captain seemed to actually be enjoying it too and Hermes decided that he liked the happy smile on his face more than the panicked or distrustful one, even though the panicked one was very funny.

After a bit of flying around he decided it was enough. He still had a job to do after all, even though he would much rather stay here with his great-grandson and spend more time with him. They had so much fun right now and he really didn't want to leave already. But he didn't have much of a choice, he already stayed for way longer than he intended to, but he couldn't say he regretted it, even though he spent most of that time doing nothing.

He dropped him gently (this time) to the ground before he said his goodbye and was about to leave when Odysseus stopped him again, to say thank you. He said that earlier than he thought he would and it still filled him with joy. He liked being helpful, but he really had to go now, the mortal in front of him also still had stuff to take care off after all.

So, he vanished from his eye sight. He was just about to go when he decided to stay for just a bit longer, he was sure it wouldn't be such a big deal. He just wanted to make sure that he would find the palace this time. He knew that now that his spell was gone he shouldn't have a problem finding it, but just in case he wanted to stay and make sure everything was going fine, there was no other reason whatsoever. And then he found it and was about to face the witch and he still didn't leave.

I mean I'm already here and I already stayed for way longer then I was supposed to, so a few more minutes couldn't hurt, right? And I really can't say no to what was definitely going to be a very interesting fight. I'm just going to watch the fight, to see what happens. Totally not to make sure my great-grandson doesn't die or anything. No, of course not, just for the entertainment.

He thought while making it comfortable for himself at a window of the palace, that had a good view off where the fight was going to happen. This is going to be so good. He thought having to stop himself from giggling and was now excitedly waiting for it to start. This is going to be the best drama I'm going to see in the next few weeks, I'm sure of it. He thought, a big grin already appearing on his face.

~

It didn't take him long to find the palace. After just a few minutes, after he parted ways with Hermes, the forest sarted to thin out and there were less and less trees until he was standing in a big clearing with a big palace standing in the middle of it. I guess this is the palace Eurylochus was talking about.

He got a bit nervous after hearing about the things that awaited him and all the things she could do to him, but he trusted Hermes, for whatever reason, and just hoped that the god of lies didn't lie and that that root would actually help him.

He did feel a bit different since he eat it, not necessarily in a bad way, just different. He didn't know if he was actually feeling a difference because he was making himself believe he was, or if there really was a difference, but he just hoped that it would help him.

Okey it's now or never Odysseus, you can do this. Just use your brain for once. Just like Hermes said, use your imagination. Whatever that was supposed to mean. Okey, he took a deep breath in, I can do it. He thought letting out the breath of air, trying to bring his hopes up a bit. He took another deep breath in, letting it out again before going in the direction of the palace's entrance.

The moment he stood in front of the big double doors, that would lead him to his friends, but also the witch he was supposed to fight, he wasn't so sure about this anymore. Every instincts he had screamed at him to turn around and run far, far away from here.

But then he remembered all the men they already lost of the crew and he knew he couldn't back down now. He promised he would get them home and some woman, witch or not, wasn't going to stop him from saving them. But he couldn't control how his body reacted, how it tensed and was ready to bolt the second it had a reason to do so.

Suddenly he started to feel... good? He didn't know how to describe it. It felt like the warmth of a campfire on a cold night. This heat started in his stomach and then spread like poison through his veins 'till his whole body felt that weird sensation. It began slow but then spread quicker and quicker, 'till he had this warmth feeling everywhere and he had to admit, it felt good.

He felt stronger and full of raw power. Energy was flowing through his veins and made him feel like he was on top of the world. He had never felt this good in his life. So this must be the effect of the root. Odysseus thought excitedly.

He knew that this root was supposed to help him, but he never would have thought that it would feel this good. He actually thought that he could have a chance at winning this fight now. A wide smile spread across his face before he thought a thank you Hermes and he really hoped he knew how thankfulhe was. He was grateful that Hermes was one of the gods on his side and not one against him. He was sure that Hermes was a lot stronger and scarier than he let on.

Now with the new found power running through his veins he finally didn't have the urge to run away anymore and confidently opened the door to the palace, before the effect of the root could vanished. Hermes did say that it wouldn't hold for long after all.

He stepped inside and the first thing he saw was a big room, beautifully decorated and designed. There where flowers and plants everywhere. He looked to his right and saw a nymph that was currently trying to catch a pig that was running away from her. Odysseus didn't know if he wanted the pig to be one of his men or not.

On one hand it would mean that they were still alive, on other however it meant that they really were pigs. He honestly still didn't really want to believe that they really are pigs now. However, the moment the nymph saw him she ran away looking down right terrified. He was a bit confused about it but decided to ignore it and instead continued looking around. He looked to the other side of the room, wanting to get a good grasp of his surroundings before the fight.

However, the moment he did look over he had to suppress the gasp that wanted to escape because of what he was seeing. It was a giant fucking black panther just lazing around like it was the most normal thing in the world. He had to stop his mouth from hanging open when he saw another nymph not that far behind the panther cuddling, actually fucking cuddling with a tiger like it was some giant house cat.

You want to tell me that these nymphs are down right terrified of me even though I haven't done anything... yet, but are actively cuddling with animals that could tear the to shreds?! You have to be kidding me. He thought in disbelief.

He just continued to stare a bit longer still not believing what he was seeing, but it seemed he stared a bit too long, because the nymph noticed and her eyes went wide in fear. The tiger must have felt it or something because now it was actively growling at him.

That was the moment he decided to quickly look away. He pried his eyes away from the unnerving sight and instead turn his focus on another woman who was standing a few meters in front of him, watering the plants there.

Something in him told him that this was the woman he was supposed to fight. His gut told him she was dangerous and that he should keep an eye on her and that watever he did he shouldn't underestimate her. He had to say that she was in fact pretty, with her long brown hair, bound together with flowers, that he could also see all around the room too, braided into it. Yeah definitely pretty, he had to give her that. But she was nothing compared to his beautiful wife, Penelope.

He was kind of ashamed how his crew was so desperate that they just trusted someone and that just because they looked good. It really was shameful, how they let their lust win over their common sense. However there was nothing he could do about that now other than getting them turned back to humans. Maybe he was going to talk about stranger danger with them again, depending on how this was going to go.

The big door loudly closed behind him, making him flinch and every head in the room, that hadn't already spotted him, turned to looking at him, every single one, but the witch's. He was so caught up in his head analyzing everything that it completely caught him off guard. The moment the remaining nymphs in the room saw him they turned to run away from him, seeming to be terrified of him, just like the first one that saw him.

The witch however still didn't turn around, seeming to be blissfully unaware that he was here. He doubt that though, she was probably just choosing to ignore him. He kept an eye on her, but something else caught his attention.

Is that a fucking alligator? He asked himself when he looked over to what had caught his attention. First pigs, then tigers and now alligators, why does this woman have so many weird pets? Whatever, not important right now. Come on concentrate.

He decided that the awkward silence between the two of them went on for far to long already and he finally made the move to break it. "Lady of the palace, I'm sorry that I ask this, but I hope that I've been misinformation." He took a few more steps toward her, hoping for a reaction. But she was still ignoring him.

Pretending like he didn't exist, the giant cats on his left however were now both growling at him. Now it was his time to ignore something, instead of the witch's. In an attempt to distract himself he just continued talking, hoping it would get his mind of off the danger he was already facing, even without the witch acknowledging him.

"I sent out some scouts to take a look around through here and I heard they wound up at your doors." Right now he wished she would face him, so he could see if she recognized who he was talking about, but she was still not looking at him. It started to get frustrating, but he just continued.

"Through the years we seldom get a warm welcome, so I must ask, just to be sure." He took in a deep breath, holding it a second before letting it out again and asking the faithful question.

"Did you do something to them?" After the question left his lips, she finally decided he was worth her time and turned around, now facing him. "Who, me?" She asked innocently, like both of them didn't already know what happened. It was clear that she found this amusing, saying it with that clear fake innocent tone. It was agitating how she thought that this was funny.

She turned his men into pigs and found that funny. That fact made him angry, but he swallowed his anger down for now. It wasn't a smart thing to do, to make the first move in a fight if he was the one at an disadvantage.

"All I did was reveal their true forms." She added with a smirk on her face. He just looked over to the few pigs that were left behind by the nymphs and then looked back to her. She clearly saw what he was looking at and it just seemed to have made her smirk grow even bigger.

"You turned them into pigs." He stated flatly, pointing in the direction of the pigs. She just scoffed at that, before she continued speaking, but with a much angrier and serious tone. Seems like she is done playing games. Then let's get serious. He thought going into a defensive stance and putting a hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to counter an attack if needed, but not attacking yet.

"Look, I don't know who you are nor why you're here," Odysseus thought he made it already pretty clear why he was here and she didn't need to know who he was. The last time he said who he was it didn't end nicely for him or any of his crew. So yeah she didn't have to know who he was just what he was here for. He just wanted his crewmembers back, preferably in human form. But okey he would let her talk, seemed like she needed her dramatic moment.

"But let me make this clear. I've got people to protect, nymphs I can't neglect. So I'm not taking any chances, dear." Then it seemed like they had something in common. He, too, had friends he had to protect and he failed horribly at it, but he could still safe the ones that he didn't completely fail yet from her.

She made a few steps in his direction as she said that, probably meant as a warning. There was still enough space between them, but he still got a bit nervous. She did use her powers when she made her way closer to him. Making her eyes glow and magic appear around her hands. Odysseus could only hope that the root would do its job and stop her spells from working against him.

"If you make one wrong move, I'll make sure you won't make it out alive. If you do anything I don't approve of, then you're done for. I could put a spell on you and you would be as good as dead. So, boy you better run, before it's too late." She said with anger in her voice. But Odysseus just smirk internally, because he knew something she didn't. She couldn't use any spells on him (hopfully).

While she was threatening him, she got closer and closer, using and showing more of her power the closer she got. Probably to intimidate him, but it didn't work since he knew he was safe, against her spells at least. "I don't mean to tip your scale, but you won't be able to place any spells on me. I just ate a flower, one that claims your power, so you better cower now and flee while you still can."

He responded smugly, having a big grin on his face. He thought that he could try to intimidate her, just like she tried to do to him. If she wanted to play games than he wouldn't say no, if that meant he would get his men back. Circe seemed to falter a bit at hearing his reply, which made him feel more satisfied than it should. He didn't win yet after all.

Unfortunately she did gather herself quickly and seemed to have gotten her confidence back. "You must be a liar! Mortals aren't able to get this flower without dire consequences!" She was sure of herself and normally she would have been right if a certain someone hadn't helped him. But she didn't have to know that he got a little help. Maybe she would be more afraid of him if he said he had picked the flower himself.

A fuck it, it's worth a try. "Then I must be a god like you 'cause I picked this root, all by myself, from the ground with my own bare hands." He said with confidence. And for a moment after he said that it was quite. He thought for just a second that he heard a him now familiar giggle, but before he could even see where it came form, or if it was even real, the witch began speaking again.

"Hermes gave it to you, didn't he?" She asked in a deadpan voice, while looking annoyed and angry in the direction of a window. He knew it was a bad idea to take his eyes of her, but he wanted to see where she was looking at. But when he did look, there was nothing there, so he immediately focused his eyes back on her again.

He was a bit embarrassed about being caught in his lie so quickly, he was normally better at lying and because of that he could only answer in an embarrassed half stutter. "Okey, fine, your right." He was kind of embarrassed by his own helpless answer, but then just decided to continue like nothing happened in hope of making it seem less awkward and embarrassing. "But that doesn't matter, because you and I are now evenly matched."

He replied, being clearly proud at having found a comeback and decided to finally draw his sword. He pointed it at her, while she just looked at him with a hateful expression. "Fine, you have done your one wrong movement and now I'll make sure that you are done for!" She replied in an hateful tone.

He expected her to shot magic at him, or something, he didn't really know much about all that magic stuff. But what he definitely didn't expect was a fucking chimera to just suddenly appear. Okey I guess that is what Hermes was talking about when he mentioned monsters. What else did he say again? That's right I have to use my imagination. But how the fuck am I supposed to do that?!

At this point he was desperate, so he tried concentrating on the warm feeling that was still lingering in his chest and imagined the first monster that came to his mind, which was ironically a cyclops. He felt the warm feeling leave his body and gather beside him instead. When he opened his eyes he saw an actual cyclops froming, who immediately began fighting with the chimera. Odysseus got an uncomfortable feeling at seeing a cyclops, but decided to ignore the feeling. He could deal with it later, or even better never, now he had to focus back on the goddess in front of him.

Odysseus tied to get closer to her, but it was hard with the giant monsters fighting beside him. Even though the cyclops was clearly winning which he was... gald for, for once. He was almost in front of her, when her chimera suddenly landed in front of him, cutting of his path. He had to jump out of the way so he wouldn't be crushed by the giant monster, but when he composed himself again he didn't hesitate to give it the final blow.

After he cut it with his sword, it began dissipating into the air and it didn't take long for the monster he created to do the same. But it didn't matter anymore, because he was already in front of Circe and was able to push her against the wall behind her. He put his sword against her throat, in a clear warning.

"You've lost." He stated plainly, having no satisfaction or happiness in his voice. He didn't want to fight, never had actually. It wasn't his choice to go fight in that war, but he still had to and he would fight Circe too if that was what he had to do to save his friends. His voice had a bit of an exhausted, but also angry undertone but was otherwise plain of any emotions.

He was just glad that it was over, or so he thought, but of course with his luck it wouldn't be so easy. To his surprise, the woman he was threatening with his sword and could kill at any time, didn't look afraid. No, quite the opposit actually, she was smirking at him and looked sure of herself, but why? She shouldn't be able to use any spells on him and was at his mercy, so what was he missing?

Okey, did I miss something that could help her win this fight after all, or is she just to overly confident that she would win? He asked himself in confusion, but didn't let his guard down. "My nymphs are like my daughter. I protect them at all costs, no matter what. The last time we let strangers live, we faced a heavy lost and had a big price to pay."

She began to explain and Odysseus had to be honest, he understood her. He also would do anything to protect his son and he understood that she didn't want to risk her nymphs again. Now that he thought about it the terrified faces of the nymphs made much more sense now and he did understand them, but turning his men into pigs really couldn't be the solution.

Before he could reply she already continued talking. "You've given me no reason to bestow you with my trust, but everyone's true colors are revealed in acts of lust." Her smirk got even wider as before, but Odysseus couldn't concentrate on that, because he was just confused at this point.

Because what did she mean by than? "I'm not sure I understand." He responded with clear confusion in his voice. Circe however didn't answer and just continued smirking at him. She began touching the arm that was holding the sword against her throat.

It made his want to take a step back, even though he was the one with a sword at her throat. But the touching just made him uncomfortable. In the end he didn't move away even though he really would have like to have done so.

Chapter Text

Circe, still pushed against the wall, opened her mouth to say something. Odysseus hoped she would explain what she meant with 'everyone's true colors are revealed in acts of lust' because he still had no clue on what she meant by that.

"There are other ways of persuasion. There are other modes of control." Okey, it seemed like she decided not to answer his question. She pushed a bit against his hold, while he immediately reacted by strengthening his hold against her, so she couldn't free herself. While she just kept smirking all the while.

"There are other means of deceit." She finally stopped touching his arm, a relieved breath of air rushed out of his lungs, in silent gratitude that she stopped. He was feeling a lot better now that she stopped touching him. "There are other roads to the soul." While saying that she used her now free hand to snap her fingers.

A shimmering light swept over the room and after it was gone the room looked completely changed. It got darker and small flames emerged from seemingly no where, they ended up being the only light source left in the room. He noticed that other things changed too, but before he could continue to analyze what exactly changed, she used the moment he was distracted as her chance to get out of his grip. He tried to hold her in place the moment he noticed what she was planning, but he noticed to late and before he knew it, she was already out of his grip.

He inwardly cursed himself for being so absent-minded and inattentive. He expected another attack on her part, but instead she just continued to speak, not showing any kind of aggression toward him, which was surprising since they were fighting not even five minutes ago and she didn't seem like she had a problem attacking him then.

"There are other actions of passion." She took a few more steps away from him before continuing. "You have so much left to learn." She stated. She turned around. He could see how she wiped her head back while going with her hand through her ridiculously long hair. Her hair glowed for a second and then the next thing he knew was that her long beautiful brown hair was out of her braid and was now flowing freely down her back.

What, beautiful!? What am I thinking! He thought shoked, feeling betrayed by his own thoughts. She looked over her shoulder, directly into his eyes, before turning back around and taking a few steps towards him. "Want to save your men from the fire?" She asked, while coming to a stop beside him and putting her arm around his shoulder, seemingly having no sense of personal space. She acted like they were friend or something and she was also clearly teasing him, he could hear it in her voice.

And all he could do was stand there, like an idiot, he was just to confused about what was happening and thus didn't know how he was supposed to react. He didn't expect her to, he didn't even know how to describe what she was doing right now, whatever it was he didn't expect it. He thought she would try attck him again or something, but not watever this was.

She moved to stand behind him now, putting her hands on his shoulder and then came closer and closer to him, moving her hand slowly to his throat, making him shived as she continued gently pet over his sensitive skin. His breathe hitched and he shivered again when he suddenly felt her hot breath on his skin. He wanted to flinch away from her, out of instinct, but found himself unable to do so. Some part of him wanted more, for some unknown reason that he couldn't explain. "Show me that you're willing to burn."

She whispered softly in his ear, while one of her hands still stroke softly up and down his throat. His body finally decided to act as it was supposed to, because the combination of her being so close, her hot breath on his skin and the general discomfort of having her hand at his throat, made his skin crawl and a chill go down his spine.

He finally got himself back under control and then immediately proceeded to get the fuck away from her. He felt ashamed that he even enjoyed what she did, even if it was for just a second. He didn't know what was happening to him, but it was beginning to make him panic. He thought he had the upper hand now. Seems like he thought wrong.

He took a step forward and with that successful got away from her. He decided that he was quiet for long enough and proceeded to answer her, when he was out of her reach. He still didn't really understand what she wanted from him, so he answered as best as he could. "Who's to say, with all mistakes I've made" he began speaking. "Don't be afraid." She said, creeping around him like he was some kind of prey, while she was the predator.

It reminded him of her exotic pets, the ones he saw when he entered the palace, who were gone now or at least he couldn't see or hear them growl at him anymore. He wasn't finished talking yet so he decided to ignore, watever she was doing, and to continue speaking.

"That they will be the last mistakes I ever make?" He finished saying. He really did want to save his men and he would be willing to burn for them, but he just didn't know if he would be able to save them. He already lost so many of his men, because of some dumb mistake he made. Who was to say that he wouldn't do mistakes again. He knew that mistakes make us human, but his mistakes could very well take some lives, they already did and he couldn't let that happen again.

She got closer to him again, took his hand in hers. Their faces so close that they were almost touching and Odysseus was surprised to notice that he didn't seem to mind at all. He also couldn't really remember why he didn't want it before when it felt so wonderful. She got even closer, now their noses now almost brushing, he could feel her hot breath on his lips and it made his breathe hitch and his heart began beating wilder and faster.

Their lips were almost touching when she pushed him back, he almost let out a whine at the loss of her closeness and her soft touches, but was too surprised that he was falling backwards to do so. He anticipated to land on the floor, but  when he landed he landed on something soft.

When he looked to see what it was, he was a bit surprised to notice that it was a couch, which he could have sworn wasn't there before when he first entered this room. It must have been one of the change she made when she snapped her fingers earlier. He didn't know why, but he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at her pushing him away.

But that feeling didn't last for long when she proceeded to get on top of him, leaving gentle touches everywhere she could reach. He didn't know how to feel, because a part of him liked her near him, wanted more of it, craved it even. His mind told him that this was right, that he wanted- no, needed it. But then why did it feel so wrong every time she even slightly touched him.

A part of him was silent, simply enjoying this, but another part of him was screaming at him. Screaming that this was all wrong, that he should push her away and run. Part of his mind enjoyed it, but his body rejected every single one of her touches. Subconsciously flinching away from her by even the lightest of touch from her. Something told him that this was wrong because it wasn't her who was touching him.

But who was her and why did only her touches feel right on his skin and not Circe's. Circe was perfect, why shouldn't he want her? She got closer and closer to him, she stopped running her fingers all over him and instead gently grabbed his face with one hand, so that he was forced to look at her. Their lips where just about to touch, only inches apart, when he suddenly remembered.

Penelope! He thought in a blind panic. "I can't!" He said firmly immediately pushing her away with all the strength he could muster, which admittedly wasn't a lot, he was still too shaken at what just almost happened. The moment she was off of him he took the opportunity and took a few steps away from the couch and with that also automatically made space between them. It took a few more seconds, but when his mind finally cleared again, he immediately felt like a bolder made of guilt and shame was crushing him to death.

What was that just now? Why did her being so close to me feel so damn right? It shouldn't have felt right, not even in the slightest! He didn't knew how to explain it. He didn't understand why he craved her so much. What was going on with him? He didn't even think that he could be attracted to someone else who wasn't Penelope.

And then he realized something. The warm feeling that came with the power of the root called holy moly, vanished the moment he created the cyclops to fight the monster she created. Which was probably an indicator that the effect of the root went away with the warm feeling he got from it.

He remembered Hermes' words, from a few hours ago, mockingly echoing in his head now. 'She can all but make you fall in love, like you're on your hundredth date.' That were his words, at the time he naively thought that that would be impossible, he loved Penelope and only Penelope, so he thought that couldn't happen to him, but it seemed like Hermes was right after all.

She used her powers on him, making him involuntarily fall in love with her. Even though Odysseus knew that it wasn't his fault that they kissed and they didn't even kiss, just almost, he still felt really bad about it. He just almost cheated on Penelope, his wife, his everything, who was still waiting for him to come back to her and their son.

He felt really, like really bad abot this. So, he had to make it clear that he had a wife and was not interested in her. He was still loyal, he was, whatever just happened was not willingly. "Back at home, my wife awaits for me. She's my everything, my Penelope and she's all my power." He exclaimed proudly, with a big smile on his face. If he concentrate enough he could almost pretend that she was standing in front of him. His smile grew bigger, he just always felt so happy talking about his lovely wife. But then he remembered somethig, the fact that he didn't see her in so long and the, nowadays, rare smile that graced his lips was gone as fast as it appeared. "but it's been twelve long years."

He continued sadly, the smile on his face had now all but vanished, being replaced buy a frown. "Oh, twelve long years since I have seen my wife." He said in a sad and heartbroken voice. He could even feel how tears began to gather in his eyes, but knowing better that to let them fall in front of an enemy. He grabbed at his hair and lightly pulled at it, before sighing and letting go. He walked backwards, until he hit the couch and let himself drop on it, beside the baffled looking witch.

"And now Poseidon is out to end my life." He stated in despair grabbing at his hair again and crawling into himself as best as he could, while still sitting on a couch. Saying all that out loud felt so good, but it also showed how shitty the situation he was in actually was. He stood up from where he was sitting and for the first time since he pushed the witch away, he looked at Circe.

Taking a few steps back, so that he was now directly standing in front of her. He went down and bowed to her. The bow was not as deep as the one he made to Hermes, but it was still a decent bow. "So I beg you, Circe, grand us mercy and let us puppet leave." He begged desperately, not knowing what else to do.

He hated calling himself and his friends puppets, but that was exactly what they were for her, puppets, things she could control and play with as she pleased. Honestly at this point it didn't matter to him what they were to her, he just hoped she would take pity on him or something and let them leave, preferably alive and unharmed.

He did want to feel ashamed for bowing and begging for their lives, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He knew a lost battle when he saw one, he almost wasn't able to resist her and without the power of the moly he didn't stand a chance. He knew that, which was why he went back to his last option, no matter how humiliating it may be, begging.

If this was what was going to save his friends, then he could push his pride to the side for once in his life. He didn't know what her reaction was, since he was looking down on the ground, instead of her face, but she didn't immediately kill him yet, so that had to stand for something, right?

He decided to look up again when he heard her sigh. "Ah, Poseidon, eh?" She said in a defeated tone, but he cold see how her face softened and how a soft smile grew on her lips. She looked like she gave up trying to fight him, giving in. He saw how she let a dagger in her hand disappeared with her magic. Wait did she have that the whole time? Was she seriously about to kill me, while she made me fall in love with her and almost kissed me? Seems like the love for my wife saved me once again. He thought in disbelief, but also in fondness for his wife.

He had to give it to her though, if he would have been any other man, her seduction definitely would have worked. But he wasn't any other man, he was different, he was loyal, he never could nor would ever cheat on his wife. Not willingly at least. He took it as a good sign though that she let the dragged disappear. She stood up, from where she was sitting in front of him on the couch and moved away from it.

"There might be a way to evade him." She began saying while gracefully making her way across the room. Odysseus decided to follow her, he got up and went in the same direction she was walking in. While she was walking with purpose, seeming to know exactly where to go, he just followed her like a lost puppy, not sure what exactly to do. "There might be a way to get home." She told him, making a hand gesture and he hair was bound back in the braids from the beginning again.

She looked back at him while saying that and even smiled at him, before she continued walking. He just stood there for a second still trying to grasp the situation again, because did she just say she that she might know a way home!? Hope stared to blossom in him again, while he got out of his trance and continued to follow her.

"Though this other way is very dangerous, it might be your one final hope." He honestly couldn't care less how dangerous this new path was, it wasn't like the journey he had, before he landed on this island, was any better. However, he decided to keep that to himself and just followed her silently, 'till she finally stopped in front of, what looked like, a cattle. "I know of a brilliant prophet," She began saying. Odysseus could do nothing but watch her in amazement, as she moved with grace and purpose around the space, grabbing ingredients that she mixed into the cattle.

He didn't really know what was going on right now, his brain still refused to process what exactly she was saying. She took another herb from the shelf on the wall, before making her way back over to the cattle. "Problem is, this prophet is dead." She finishe saying, while letting the herb, she was holding, drop in the mixture she was brewing. It gave a small explosion the moment the herb hit, watever was in that cattle.

It exploded the moment she said dead, making it come over as very creepy, but he was fascinated at what was happening. He didn't know what she was doing, but it looked cool. "I can't get you home, but I will get you to the underworld instead and I will even release your men." The moment the last sentence left her lips, all that was happening finally clicked in his head.

"Wait, you're helping us?" He was surprised. He had hoped that she would help him by letting his men free after he begged her too. But he didn't expect her to help them more than that, too. Like help them more than just releasing his men. He didn't know why she was doing this, but he was grateful nonetheless.

He felt overjoyed. A prophet wasn't a guaranteed way back home, sure, but it could definitely help them get there. It finally seemed like their luck was coming back. (He shouldn't have jinxed it.) "Maybe showing one act of kindness, leads to kinder souls later on. I remember having been in love once before and I thought that maybe someday, the world wouldn't need a puppeteer no more."

She explained way she was helping them and Odysseus thinks he understood why she was helping him. She had hope in him because he chose his wife over her, because he stayed loyal even though he was under her spell, but his love for his wife was strong enough to break it. She had hope that there would be other men like him, men her and her nymphs wouldn't have to be afraid of. It was kind of sad, but he was glad she didn't see him as a treat anymore and that she chose to help them.

She made her way back over to him and pushed whatever she was holding into his hand. "Here take this. You'll need it to get to the underworld." She said already walking away from him again. He looked down at what she gave him, before thanking her and then following after her.

She snapped her finger once more and the room transformed back to the way it looked when he first stepped into it. Then she walked over to the pigs that were still in the room and snapped her finger once again. The pigs immediately started to transform, getting a more and more human like appearance the more time went by, it looked kind of painful and made him cringe, making him want to look away.

Luckily it didn't take long and now his friends were standing in front of him once more. They looked down on themselves and when they saw they were normal again a big smile formed on their faces. Then they saw him and thanked him profoundly, probably knowing that he was the reason why they were normal again.

However, the moment they looked to his left, where Circe was still standing, their smiles were immediately wiped form their faces, replaced with a terrified expression, before practically sprinting out of the palace, they were running so fast you would think they were running for their lives.

He almost laught at their reaction, but was able to keep it in. They did kind of deserve that scare, this was probably going to be a good lesson on not trusting strangers. But he also couldn't blame them for running back to the ship, he would also be afraid of the woman that turned him into a pig. So in the end he did chuckl and shock his head at their behavior.

He gave a last thank you and goodbye to Circe, making sure to express his gratitude to her, before he too, walked out of the palace. Even though at a much slower pace that his comrades and walked after his crew, with a big smile on his face and a new sense of hope in him. Maybe things would finally turn into their favor. He thought hopefully, letting his feet take him back to the beach.

Chapter Text

Today was a wonderful day. That was at least what Circe thought at first, because it started like any other day. They had the perfect weather and she and her nymphs had a wonderful time together. That was until something had to ruin their quiet time together and in this case this certain something were strangers.

Strangers on her island, snooping around where they didn't belong. The audacity! She didn't even notice at first, that was until a few of her nymphs, who were in the garden at the time, informed her that there were a group of men coming their way.

She was glad that her nymphs immediately ran away from them and informed her about the situation, because how were they supposed to know what kind of men they were and what they would have done to her precious nymphs. Everything was possible with the likes of them and she didn't even want to imagine what could have happened. The last time something happened still too raw in her mind.

Who knows maybe they would have been like the first strangers she left alive and she couldn't have taken it to lose more of them. So she decided to take care of them immediately. There was no reason for her to wait any longer. Every second she continued to let them live, was another second they could hurt one of her own.

It was almost pathetic and also shameful of how easy it was to lure them in. A few suggestive word and a bit of skin showing and they were already following her and drooling behind her like some dogs seeing a treat.

It disgusted her, how they couldn't control themselves the moment they see a pretty woman. But it wasn't anything new to her, they were not the first strangers on her island that have met their fate by being turned into pigs by her and in the end men are all the same!

And as much as it disgusted her, in this case it was an advantage, since she could use that lose of control, on their part, to lure them in and make them her puppets. She saw how one of them stayed outside, he was either a smart one, or just not interested in her, which she honestly doubt.

But it didn't matter anyway, it was actually good that he stayed outside. If he stayed away he could warn the rest of their men, who were still somewhere on her island, of that she was sure, and then sail away and leave them alone. This should teach them a lesson to not mess with her ever again!

Once they were inside the palace it was easy enough to turn them into pigs, they didn't see her as a threat so they quickly let their guard down after just a few promises and pretty words. They didn't know that, but their lust was going to be their downfall, not that they could have beat her even if they attacked.

She would have beaten them easily, but it was more fun to play with the pray first. After just a few minutes they were already turned and she thought the whole thing was finished and done with, that she wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.

That she could now continue living her life, with her nymphs at her side, in peace until the next few unfortunate strangers stranded on her island that she would deal with. But of course she couldn't have that much luck, because not even a day later, he turned up.

She thought that the man that stayed outside warned the rest and they would sail away with their tail tugged between their legs, but of course it couldn't be that easy. He just turned up, wanting to fight against her, to free his men of all things.

She had to give it to him, how annoying he may be, he was brave or just stupid it was hard to tell with him. She didn't know if he was just dumb, or someone who really valued his comrades, because she had never met a captain that would willingly come back to fight her for his crew. They were all to afraid to save their friends, pathetic really.

Any normal captain would have left them behind, would have moved on and saved his own life, since all captains before him were cowards or just smarter than him, but he was different. He chose to save them and as much as she hates to admit it, that interested her. Nothing like this had ever happened before, it was different and that made it interesting. He may be different, but in the end he was still a man, so she decided to play a bit with him before she would kill, or turn him, too. She would even drag it out a bit just to find out a bit more about him and maybe for her own amusement as well.

Their fight started normal enough. He accused her of turning his men into pigs, even though they both already knew what happened, so it was unnecessary to ask again, but she still decided to amuse him a bit. Playing with obvious fake innocence.

But she soon lost her patience and told him to leave while he still could. He stayed stubborn, telling her that he ate a root and the moment he said that she knew what he was talking about. It shouldn't have been possible, since he was a mortal. But then she felt it, a presence just outside the palace, watching them. It was Hermes, there was no doubt about that.

I will wring his throat the next time he dares to show his face. Who does he think he is! Helping a stranger! He brought my nymphs in danger! Why does he always have to make my life harder the it had to be? She thought angrily, but decided to concentrate back on the fight. She let a chimera appear, knowing he would have to use the ability, the root granted him, to win.

And she wasn't disappointed, he created a cyclops who beat her chimera. But it vanished soon after hers disappeared, too. He had her pressed against a wall, holding his sword to her neck, thinking he won. She almost laught at his over confidence. It seemed like Hermes didn't explain anything about the root and now he didn't know how it worked. Typically of Hermes, really.

But that just made it that much dumber of the captain to just eat the root without knowing what it would do, but watever he was probably just desperate. Obviously Circe wasn't concerned. She knew that Odysseus didn't have an advantage against her anymore, if you could call it an advantage in the first place, and she could now kill him with just a snap of her finger. But where would be the fun in that, right? So, she chose to make him fall in love with her instead, it would only be fair for him to have the same fate as his crew.

She got closer and closer to him and at first he seemed to be a bit hesitant, he almost seemed to try resting her spell, but then gave in after a bit of poking around. She was honestly surprised at how long it took for him to crave in, others would have started drooling over her after just a second. But in the end he was also just a man and gave in.

She had him pinned beneath her, on the couch she conjured up, and was pretending to be about to kiss him. But in reality she already had a small dagger in her hand and was just about to stab him with it, before she actually had to kiss him, but something unexpected happened.

Something happened that she would have never expected was even possible. He rejected her in the last moment! Shoving her away from him and taking a few steps back and began... ranting about his wife?

Am I dreaming right now? What is going on? She thought in disbelief. Because it shouldn't have been possible for him to do that, she had him under her spell after all. He should have been head over heels for her.

Was his love for his wife really strong enough for him to stay loyal to her? A hopeful part of her, who still belived in the good in people, the naive part of her that she had thought had died years ago, hoped that it was really the case, that he loved his wife so dearly that he could resist her magic. But the rest of her, who had already dealt with a lot of men and knew how they tick couldn't, no wouldn't, belive it.

I didn't even know there were men out there that could be that loyal. It was honestly almost attractive how loyal he is, is that a weird thing to like? No loyalty makes everyone at least ten times as attractive, but it doesn't matter anyway. I'm not interested in him.

She thought feeling almost guilty for thinking something like this. Maybe she just liked it because it was the first time it happened to her. Well, either way it was kind of out of her routine and she didn't really know how to deal with this kind of situation.

So she just sat there, looking at him dumbfounded, not knowing what to do. Maybe not all men are the same. She chought herself thinking before concentrating back on what he was saying. At the end she just listened to what he said, not knowing what else to do and found out that Poseidon was trying to kill him and that he didn't see his wife in twelve years. She really started to feel bad for him. What happened to her?

And then he actually started begging her to let his men leave, begging to let him and his men free. He even bowed to her. She was so shocked, she didn't know how to react, she was speechless. Everything about this situation felt just so unreal she could have laught at the absurdity of it all.

Never in her live would she have thought that something like that would ever happen. But the hoped in her chest bloomed again and she remembered how she was in love in the past ,too. That was the moment she decided that she would help this man. She had already lost all her fucks to give and decided to just do it.

She hoped that if she showed kindness to him, then maybe there would be more of him in the future. She hoped so bad that there were more men like him out there. She couldn't remember when the last time was she felt this much hope, but she liked to think that it wouldn't be misplaced.

So she just signed and proceeded to explain to him that she couldn't send them home, much to the man's disappointment, but she could send them to the underworld. She told him what he would have to do for it to work, before turning his men back to their original form.

They of course immediately ran away from her (as they should), but did thank their captain before running. What surprised her a bit, she would have expected them to leave him behind just like that, but watever. The man that gave her hope for the future again, thanked her one last time before leaving as well. The moment he was out the door she furiously called out to "Hermes!"

Because how dare he just give someone moly and not even telling her. He risked her and more importantly her nymphs' lives with that action and she was furious. Sure the stranger turned out to be good, but that was beside the point!

After he still didn't show up after a few seconded, she impartially called out to him again, because she knew he could hear her. She could still feel his presence from right outside the window.

"Hermes! Get your ass over hear this instant and explain yourself while I still alow you to do so!" She Shouted angrily into the empty room, before hearing his agitating voice form behind her.

She turned around just to see him hovering in the air, scratching his neck with a sheepish smile on his face. She was fuming, he just agitated her to no end. Who does he thing he is!? The desire, to punch him in the face, had never been as strong in her life as it was right now. She was absolutely furious.

Chapter Text

Hermes had to say that he was glad that he stayed, because that was one of the most interesting, but also funniest fights he had see in a while. He had to stop himself from giggling a few times and one time even did giggle. He, of course, immediately stopped and could only hope that they didn't hear him and fortunately it seemed like they didn't.

He thought it was ironic that the monster Odysseus created was a cyclops, after everything that happened in the cyclops cave. He, of corse, didn't know the full story, but his great-grandson's friend told him about a bit that happened, while he guided his soul to the underworld. Polites was great to have conversations with, but okey didn't matter. He shook his head to get out of his thought and concentrated back on the fight again, but it seemed like he spend to much time in his thoughts.

Because when he looked back he saw how Circe was very close to his great-grandson and shortly before they kissed she pushed him onto a couch, just to pinn him beneath her and get closer again. It may have looked like she was trying to seduce him, but he saw the full picture. He saw the dagger in her hand, that was about to be stabbed him in the back, literally.

The moment he saw that, every part of him screamed to help him, to save his great-grandson, but he knew he wasn't allowed to do so. He already intervened by giving him the moly, if he saved him now he would have been in big trouble. To be honest, he didn't care. He wouldn't let his favorite grandchild die just like that. He would rather be punished than letting him die.

So, he was just about to do something, but in the end he didn't even have to. He knew Circe put him under a spell, that made him fall in love with her, it was a tactic she often used, he would even say it was on of her favorites. So, he knew Odysseus shouldn't have been able to escape her, but somehow he did. Hermes was so proud of Odysseus, because his loyalty to his wife was strong enough to break the spell and wasn't that something special.

Nobody had been able to do that before, at least not that he knew of. In the end he wasn't just able to escape his own death, but also convinced the witch to help them! That was almost more impressive than breaking her spell since Circe absolutely despised men (Hermes was an exception of course) and would never let them live much less help them, no matter what. He had to admit that he was impressed. Hermes expected a lot of things, but Circe willingly helping them hadn't been one of them.

He watched his great-grandson leave out the door and Hermes was just about to leave before the witch could notice him, but it was fruitless endeavor since the moment Odysseus was gone her whole mood changed. From sweet to absolutely enraged. "Hermes!" She called out to him furiously. Clearly not pleased with his interference. Oh shit. I'm in big trouble, aren't I? He thought slightly intimidated, while wincing in self-pity.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do now. Circe could be very scary if she wanted to be and he really didn't want to deal with her anger right now. He needed a bit more time to think about what to say. How to get out of this situation unscathed. Unfortunately she didn't seem to have that much patience left for him. Because not even a few moment after her first angry call, there was already the next one.

"Hermes! Get your ass over hear this instant and explain yourself while I still allow you to do so!" She exclaimed. Practically fuming with rage and Hermes knew that he didn't have a choice in the matter. If he valued his life and didn't want to be a Guinea pig, then he should come out now.

He silently made his way over to her, stopping behind her. He hovered slightly above the ground, scratching his neck and put one a sheepish smile. She must have felt that he was behind her, because she turned around not even a second later. She looked at him with clear anger on her face, like she would like to punch him in the face. Okey who was he kidding? She definitely wanted to punch him in the face.

"Hey, Circe, darling, how are you?" He said with a nervous chuckle, clearly knowing in what kind of trouble he was in, you could also clearly hear it in his voice, because it said something like 'I know I'm in trouble, but I chose to pretend that everythig is fine because maybe if I play the totally innocent card she wouldn't turn him into a pig' and of course it didn't work, but let a poor god hope. "Don't give me that shit. You know exactly what you did! I mean I didn't expect much of you, but helping a random stranger fight against me, a random man, really!?"

The emphasis was mostly on man and it was clear in her tone that she was very displeased with him. It was true that she didn't expect much of him, since every time he visited he did something to annoy her. She was used to his pranks by this point. But this time it really was different, because he didn't do it to annoy her, but to save his favorite grandchild. So it wasn't like he helped some random stranger. He didn't like being wrongly accused of things, so he decided to explain himself.

"I'm disappointed that you think so low of me." Not without teasing her a bit of course. He said it with an especially fake offended tone on purpose, knowing it would only make her even more angry. It probably wasn't a good idea to make her even more angry, but he just couldn't help himself. The look on her face was just too funny not to do it.

He even put his hand over his heart, like it physically hurt him, just to rile her up more, not caring if it was a bad idea or not. Until he saw that Circe really wasn't in the mood for jokes and seemed genuinely thinking about turning him into a Guinea pig, so he decided to take the situation a bit more serious.

"He isn't some random stranger. I know him very well and knew he wouldn't have done anything bad to you." He tried to defend himself and after a bit of thinking decided to add. "Or your nymphs." Because he knew that this was the real reason she was angry. He knew how much they meant to her and that she only did all that to protect them, so it would be a good argument.

Her anger seemed to fade a bit, but definitely wasn't completely gone. It seemed like she didn't even want to forgive him right now, trying to find a lie in his explanation. "And why, may I ask, do you know him so well? As far as I know you don't particularly like, or have the time, to interact with mortals that aren't dead." She asked in a fake politeness and clear suspicion in her voice. She really thought he was lying to her, which ,okey fair, he was the God of lies and all, but still this time he really was telling the truth.

"I know him so well, darling, because he is my great-grandson and I just so happen to have taken a liking to him." He replied smugly, crossing his arms in satisfaction, knowing he had won this argument. He watched smugly as her anger vanished and she just defeatingly sighed. She seemed to be done with him, not having the strength to deal with him any further. "I couldn't have won the figth from the start, because you would have stopped me from killing him anyway, aren't I right?" She asked in a defeated, but also frustrated tone.

Hermes just giggled at that and flew over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with a smug grin before answering. "Nope, I wouldn't have let you kill him," he saw how she began to frown and in an attempted to bring her mood a bit up again he quickly continued. "but in the end you decided to help him on your own free will, so isn't that great?"

He asked her teasingly and it semed like it worked since he could see how she desperately tried to suppress an amused smile. He, of course, saw it and looked at her knowingly. Unfortunately she seemed to have remembered that she was still angry at him so he only got an annoyed side eye and a tsk from her, which made him giggle again.

"Watever," She said annoyed, seemingly being done with dealing with him. "Just go away. Don't you have a job to do or something?" She said dismissively, clearly not wanting him here anymore, she probably didn't want him here in the first pace, but watever.

She was right though, as much as he would have liked to continue annoying her, he still had a job to get back to. He had already neglected his job for way longer than he should have. He already turned around, just about to leave, but before he could he just had to annoy her one last time. He stopped in his tracks and turned back around to her, having his mischievous smile on his face again.

"But the gossip session still stands, right?" He asked with a knowing tone, clearly already knowing the answer, just waiting for a confirmation. The big grin he had on his face clearly didn't help his case to look like he didn't know exactly what he was doing. And based on Circe's souring mood she knew what he was doing, too.

It would be like a defeat on her side if she said yes, because then it would be obvious that she didn't actually have anything against his presence, even though she so clearly tried to pretend she did. It would also mean defeat because she would allow him to come back after she just practically threw him out and dismissed him after she was so clearly angry at him.

But that was the thing, Hermes knew exactly what he was doing. He knew that she loved their gossip sessions too much and they were way to rare to just say no to one of them. Oh and did he mention that she loved them to much? Well, he couldn't blame her, he did have always the best gossip, after all.

It was just too easy to get information he was not supposed to know, with the kind of job and word skills he had. He got at least one good gossip about everyone he knew and even some he didn't knew directly. He could blackmail everyone and anyone if he just so wished. He could even blackmail each and every God if he ever wanted to, or just felt like it.

He even got a few things on Zeus, maybe a bit to many, but he wasn't a particular hard person to find blackmail on, with all the shit he did all the time. Of course he would never do anything like that. He valued his life to much for that, to do it to Zeus and the rest was spared because he was nice like that. Not like he ever used it to get what he wanted, no he never did something like that before.

He looked over at Circe again and saw how she was hesitating and practically fighting with herself about if she should agree or not. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of saying yes, but also loved his gossip too much to say no. He knew if he gave one final notch in the right direction, she would give in.

"This time I have a particular good gossip and you would be the first one to hear about it..." a moment of silence, before he added "even before Aeolus" and that did the trick. He said it casually, with a shrug of his shoulders, but he saw the exact moment she gave in, not able to resist the best gossip she would ever hear. She exhaled sharply, almost angrily, before answering. "Fine, but that doesn't mean I'm not angry at you anymore."

She clearly just said that to not lose the last resemblance of control she still had over this conversation. But Hermes knew he won this argument and felt pleased, rightfully so. It was hard to win an argument against her, she was smart and also knew how to manipulate people, but nobody was better at manipulating people than him.

"Okey, whatever you say." He said smugly, with a shit eating grin on his face and a teasing tone. He saw the moment she started fuming with rage again and he took that as his clue to get the fuck out of there. So he quickly made his way to the exit, throwing a quick goodbye over his shoulder and left before she could even so much as start cursing him out and he giggled loudly all the while, clearly having enjoyed this.

He also decided to give Odysseus a final goodbye, too. So, he quickly made his way over to the beach, were he saw that the ship was still stuck in the sand. Oh, I completely forgot about that. He thought amused, before making himself invisible, shortly before he got there. He watched a bit how the rest of the crew was frustratingly standing around the ship not knowing what to do.

He found it amusing, so he continued watching them for a few minutes, before deciding to let them out of their misery. He actually didn't care about them and just wanted the ship to be back to normal before Odysseus got there.

He snapped his finger, making the sand slowly disappear in the ground again. This made the crew nervous and all of them looked around themselves, the smarter ones, in fear and some, dumber ones, in confusion, looking for a reason this was happening, but being unable to find one since he was still invisible to them.

It was very funny to watch, but it ended the moment the rest of the crew, that were pigs not even half an hour ago, came rushing back, panting and gasping for air. Seems like they wanted to get away from Circe as fast as possible. I wonder why that may be? He thought, while giggling at his own thoughts.

Odysseus didn't take to much longer to follow, finally arriving at the beach, not out of breath at all and also seemed to be in no rush. In comparison to the rest he looked as calm as can be. He heard him telling everyone to pack their stuff and get back on the ship, before Eurylochus came over to him and they had a quick conversation. He turned visible again as he softly smiled while he watched them slowly sail away from the island.

"I will see you again, the next time I have some free time. I promise, darling. Until then." He said while waving Odysseus one last goodbye and to his surprise Odysseus actually turned around to looked at him and smiled back, before turning back aroud again. After getting over his shock his smile grew even bigger and he shook his head.

What he said was more a promise to himself than anyone else, since nobody but him could have heared it, but he was still planing on keeping it. After the ship was almost out of his sight, he decided it was time to get back to work and so he did. He vanished into thin air not even a second later, while a big smile on his face, being satisfied with his work here nicely done.

~

Odysseus felt so overjoyed and relived when he saw their ship again, he couldn't even describe it in words, even if he wanted to. He wanted nothing more than to leave this island and get back home as quickly as possible. He was glad and thankful that Circe decided to help them in the end, but he still didn't want to stay here any longer than he already had.

He spend enough time here already. When he got close enough to see all of his men, the men he saved not that long ago, were already talking to the others and he was glad that everyone was fine and uninjured. He was glad that Hermes kept his promise of not hurting them, even though he didn't have much doubt anymore anyways.

Everyone seemed to be just as glad that nobody else died as he was. He walked a bit faster wanting to get to them as quickly as possibl. When he was finally close enough for everyone to hear him, he slowed down and raised his voice a bit, so everyone could hear him and he called out to them.

"Okey everyone, now that everyone is back again, we are going continue sailing. I know where to go next, since Circe was so nice to tell me what to do. I will tell you the plan when everyone is back on the ship, so pack your things together and get on the ship!" He commanded.

Everyone looked over to him and when they saw him they just nodded, or some replied with a yes sir or of the sort, before doing as they were told. Everyone but Eurylochus that is. When he heard him, he wiped his head around in his direction so fast he thought his neck would break.

And immediately made his way over to him. "Odysseus, your back! I thought you died! You just left and after you didn't show up after the first few hours I thought she got you too!" He said with clear relief in his voice, but also had this worried look on his face again, just like he had yesterday.

"I'm sorry I worried you, but now we are back and can continue with no more losses and thank you that you didn't sail away without me." He responded. He genuinely felt sorry for worrying him like that and also grateful that he didn't leave without them. But then he saw how Eurylochus' face change from worried to guilty and he immediately knew what that meant.

He did plan to leave without him, or at least thought about it. Odysseus, of course, expected something like that, but it still stung to know he actually planned on just leaving him and the others behind after they already lost so many in the cave and at Poseidons hands. He could argue with himself that Eurylochus didn't say he planned to do it, but he saw how his face changed, he only made that expression if he felt guilty and why else should he feel guilty exactly after he thanked him because of that exact reason.

Odysseus also wasn't that deep in denial to make himself believe otherwise. So he just sighed disappointingly to himself. He looked at his brother in law and saw him fighting with himself, probably pondering over if he should tell him what he probably planned/thought to do, but couldn't because of Hermes, or if he shouldn't. Odysseus didn't blame him he did think they were dead and the crew had to go one at some point, but he could have at least waited for another day just to make sure.

In the end he decided against it and just pretend like nothing happened. "Yeah, I'm glad too. But now let's get off this cursed island, so you can tell us what we need to do next." Eurylochus smiled softly at him, at least he tried to, but it looked more like a grimac because he was still clearly feeling guilty about something if it was about the confession he wanted to do yesterday or about lying just now, he wasn't sure.

"That's a good idea let's get going." He said, with an equal forced smile, before going toward the rest of the crew and began helping them pack everything up.  When they were finally finished and everyone was on board, he explained everything and they made their way to the underworld.

Odysseus felt a divine presence, that he grew quite familiar with in the last two days, even though it sometimes felt like he had already know it for years, when they were just sailing away from the island. He looked around hoping to find him and, to his surprise, he did.

He saw him hovering in the air, over the beach of the island. He saw Hermes smile and wave at him. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, he just smiled back instead of waving back and hoped he saw it, before turning back around again. Maybe not all the gods are bad.

He thought happily to himself, while noticing how, not even a few seconds later, the divine presence of Hermes was gone. He looked at the wide ocean in front of him and for the first time in a long time had hope again that everything was going to be fine.