Chapter 1: Hermione Nicostratus
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Chapter Text
Transcript
"[Helen] bore Hermione to spear-famed Menelaus, and last of all she bore Nicostratus, scion of Ares"
That crazy summer you turn 19 and make a deal with the God of War (who’s also currently your people’s enemy) to help you pull off a Mulan so you can run off to the Trojan War to finally get your mom back…
Transcript
Captions:
Upper: Hermione's Deal with Ares
Lower: Hermione as Nicostratus
Chapter 2: Hermione and Ares
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Notes:
Originally published to Tumblr here
Chapter Text
Transcript
Hermione: Great Ares, lord of battle, if you grant me the ability to breach the walls of Troy and rescue my mother Helen, I swear to be your greatest devotee
Ares: I've no especial love for the Trojans young Princess, but Lady Aphrodite charges me to fight on their side
Hermione: She's not the boss of you
Ares: ...
Athena: This is a trap this is a trap this is a traaaaap
More or less how their initial interaction went down
Chapter 3: Blessing of Ares
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Notes:
Originally posted to Tumblr here
Chapter Text
Transcript
Ares: You are certain, then, young princess? This is what you wish?
Hermione: Yes, my lord. If it will help me prevail at Troy, I am willing to undergo anything
Ares: Very well...
Ares: Then prepare to receive my Blessing
Ares: Enter the holy fire, let it burn away your past...
Ares: And grant you Rebirth
Transcript
Ares: The Achaeans will not accept a woman warrior amongst their number
Ares: They have no appreciation for my Amazons
Ares: This way you ma walk among them without fear of discovery
Ares: Of course you cannot call yourself Hermione in this form
Ares: You will need a new name for your new life
Hermione: Nicostratus
Ares: Heh
Ares: "Victorious Army"
Ares: A fine name indeed for a scion of mine
Ares: Well then, little prince, shall we take you to war?
And so it begins...
Chapter 4: At the Achaean Camp
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Notes:
Originally posted to Tumblr here
Chapter Text
Transcript
Menelaus: All right boy, you're from Sparta are you? I'll say that you look under-trained to me, but at this point we'll take what we can get. What's your name and your weapon of choice?
Nicostratus: N-Nicostratus, my lord Menelaus. And I wield the spear... like my father
Nicostratus having a tense "first meeting" with Menelaus (who he also hasn't seen in 10 years)
And also a tense meeting which turns into a big old fight with Achilles...
Transcript
Achilles: Menelaus has been trying to bribe me out by promising his daughter Hermione to my son Neoptolemus
Nicostratus: UGH!
Achilles: The Hades you mean "ugh"?!
Nicostratus: So you know what? Go ahead and hide in your tent like a coward! We don't need you! You're not the only one with a Divine Blessing. I'll get those walls breached myself if I have to! If it takes another ten years I'll see this through and get Queen Helen restored to her family!
Achilles: Good grief, and they say I have an ego. You think that your Divine Blessing will keep you out of Death's grasp any more than anyone else in the end?
Nicostratus: You think I'm afraid of dying? Try living in a tomb for a decade and see if a little thing like Death holds any more terror. I have lost more than anyone else in this war. I can only go up from here
Hermione Nicostratus has definitely not lost more than anyone in this war. But when you're just 19 and the war is about your mom (and dad) who you haven't seen in 10 years, it definitely feels like it
And the mood is not improved by getting to the battlefield and seeing that the guy who could be of the most help is just sitting there...
Chapter 5: Aristeia
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Chapter Text
Nicostratus 's chance to prove himself comes sooner than he thinks, and at a point where the war should have ended much earlier for all...
Transcript
Menelaus: I've defeated your Prince Paris in single combat!
Menelaus: Now as promised, you will now return my wife Helen to me at onc —
Agamemnon: Menelaus!
Agamemnon: Treacherous Trojan dogs!!
Nicostratus: Father...
Nicostratus: No... No...
Nicostratus: NO
Transcript
Nicostratus: AAAAAAAAAA
Nicostratus: AAAAAAAAAA
Nicostratus: ALALALALA!!!
Notes:
What follows this has been written up as an in-universe Iliad-style mini fic by Aemon_Targaryeon13 and can (and should) be read here!
Chapter 6: Nicostratus and Achilles
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Notes:
Originally posted to Tumblr here
Chapter Text
Transcript
Achilles: Good grief kid, where do you get this "divinely questing hero" nonsense?
Patroclus: Achilles. Don't. Alright?
Achilles: What? I'm just asking what about this whole mess makes him feel so righteously inspired?
Patroclus: Hey! Nicostratus did more today to help bring 'this whole mess' to an end sooner than you've done in months!
Nicostratus: It's fine Patroclus, I don't worry about a craven's opinion
Achilles: Better a craven than a chump, out trying to get himself killed for a whor—
Achilles: ??!!
Transcript
Achilles: Holy!! Get off me you rabid little maniac!
Patroclus: NICO STOP! Your wounds!!
Achilles: You know this doesn't actually hurt me right?! You could punch me for days and it wouldn't do any good!
Nicostratus: Fine by me! I'm more than happy to punch you for each and every month you've hidden in this stupid tent!
Nicostratus: Helen could have been home years ago if it weren't for people like you!
Achilles: What is your deal?? Why on earth do you care about that Trojan tramp so much??
Nicostratus: STOP CALLING HER THAT!
Transcript
Patroclus: Achilles stop! What does any of this matter??
Achilles: It matters because if this fool's going to throw his life away he should know what he's throwing it away for!
Achilles: Listen up kid! Your precious Queen Helen wasn't cruelly carried off, she went with Paris willingly! She left everything and everyone for her barbarian lover, and now we all have to die cuz Menelaus can't handle being made a cuckold! Everyone here hates her! Everyone in Troy hates her! Everyone but stupid little blind you!
Nicostratus: Y-you're lying. She-she wouldn't just leave m—
Achilles' fist: BAM!
Achilles: Wise up kid... Now, get out of my stupid tent
Things like this , and seeing how many men, women and children on both sides of the war have had their lives forever changed, are really what gets Nico on the path of wondering if maybe he shouldn’t be so focused on rescuing his wayward mother, but avenging everyone else who her decision has harmed….
Himself in particular
Chapter 7: Father and Son
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Notes:
Originally posted to Tumblr here
Chapter Text
Transcript
Helen [in flashback]: Oh my darling! Did you fall and get hurt?
Helen [in flashback]: It's all right now, mother will make it all better
Helen [in flashback]: I've got you...
Hel Ares: I've got you...
Ares: I've got you son...
Strong and ferocious as Hermione Nicostratus is thanks to Ares' blessing and shifting of form, facing up against warriors that have trained since childhood is no easy task...
(Also, memories of Helen’s face, so famed for its beauty, are but hazy memories now for her child…)
Transcript
Nicostratus: I- I lost, Lady Alala... I failed Lord Ares...
Alala: You lived, and you gave as good as you got
Alala: And if you're worried about what Lord Ares things, don't be
Alala: He wouldn't have Blessed you with his Rage if he didn't think you could handle it
Alala: And he would have just left you there if you'd disappointed him
Alala: He likes you princess
Alala: To be honest...
Alala: It's been a while since he's had a devotee such as yourself
Alala: I think he's more than half hoping you'll choose to stay as Nicostratus, so that you can take the throne, and become his priest-king of Sparta
Nicostratus: I... I can't think about such things right now... I just want to end the war, and get my mother back
Per Hermione’s thoughts on her genderbending experience, I feel like she honestly isn’t thinking about it too hard at first. Becoming Nicostratus is what needs to be done to join the Achaean army and get into Troy and to Helen. His body is a tool to accomplish that goal. As far as he’s thought about it at all, after the war is over Nicostratus fully expects to return to being Hermione again, and she’s fine with that.
It’s only when truly confronted with the disparity of how the women in the Achean camp are treated (compared with Hermione’s experience as a sheltered princess), and how much more freedom and power Nicostratus has in comparison, that doubts about that particular future begin to come up. But also, her/his one main focus is on Helen, even as the motivation for finding her begins to warp as more and more information comes to light.
As for Ares though, I feel like he first is intrigued by the fire of the young Spartan princess, even as he aids the Trojan side. He’s willing to give her a fighting chance out of pure interest, and so changes her form to be accepted in the Achaean army. As Nicostratus begins to prove himself in battle and grow in strength, always remembering to provide gratitude to his patron god afterwards, (despite risking the anger of any Achaean soldiers who resent Ares currently opposing them) so too does Ares pride in his new protege.
Eventually, (and especially after he loses his son Ascalaphus and decides he wants to switch sides) Ares begins to see the young warrior as a son, and harbors dreams of Nicostratus becoming king of Sparta and declaring the warrior island as sacred to him, and him alone (you’d think they’d already be big into Ares but apparently Sparta was actually more focused on Apollo, wouldn’t have guessed it)
Doodle of that hypothetical future where Hermione does decide to become King Nicostratus of Sparta:
Yeaaaah…I got this particular idea when listening to “My Lullaby” from The Lion King 2 😅😬 Ares isn’t exactly gunning for his priest-king to be at all a peaceful ruler…
Chapter 8: Lullaby
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Notes:
Trying out a different style for this, somewhat inspired by the amazing Neal Illustrator of Epic Animatics/ Famethon fame.
(With apperances from Phobos and Alala)
Originally posted to Tumblr here
Chapter Text
Transcript
Phobos: Yeah sleep ya little termite
Phobos: I mean "precious little thing"
Transcript
Phobos: One day when you're big and strong —
Phobos: YOU WILL BE A...
Transcript
Phobos: KING
Chapter Text
Nicostratus' first disillusionment about the treatment of women in the real world outside the sheltered life of a princess isn't even the camp women and Briseis and all that - it's Iphigenia, her first cousin, equally a Princess, sacrificed by her own father (Hermione's father's brother) in aid of this war for Love
Transcript
Iphigenia: Hermione!
Hermione: Oh! I like your necklace Iphigenia!
Iphigenia: Would you like it little cousin?
Iphigenia: I'll get a new one for my wedding
Nicostratus: No
Nicostratus: Not this one
For all that Helen is the driving object of Hermione’s actions, her Rage was born the day Iphigenia was killed. She carries that necklace with her at all times, even if not always openly worn. a constant reminder of the horrors put upon innocents in this war…
Chapter 10: Nicostratus and Neoptolemus
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Chapter Text
Transcript
Nicostratus and Neoptolemus
First Impression: Prepubescent Murder Hobo
Later Impression: Traumatized Child Soldier
Neoptolemus: My stupid dad stupid left and then he stupid died and then stupid Odysseus dragged me off and I had to trick a smelly old guy and now I'm here and I gotta kill people to avenge my stupid dad and it's all so - so stupid!!
Nicostratus: Listen - LISTEN! If you want to survive, you can't let the Rage rule you ok? You have to rule it, or you're gonna get yourself killed faster than Hermes can fly! And I don't want to see that, alright?!
Neoptolemus: I don't need you to look after me!
Nicostratus: SOMEBODY HAS TO!
Nicostratus: There, now we're blood brothers. So now we're legally obligated to make neither of us do anything stupid, ok?
Neoptolemus: Heh, ok... Stupid
Nicostratus: Hey!
Hermione Nicostratus and Pyrrhus Neoptolemus have a very rocky start. Nico thinks Neo is wildly undisciplined and volatile (and is uncomfortable with seeing his own Rage reflected back in someone so young) and Neo thinks Nico is stupid. Neo thinks everything and everyone is stupid. Neo doesn't want to be here at all.
But, both of them are stuck in a war with the ghosts of their parents, in one way or another.
And eventually Nico starts finding himself trying to keep this incredibly angry child from getting himself killed, and Neo starts to find it's kinda nice to have someone actually looking after you, and not just wanting you around for a prophecy.
Poor Pyrrhus is a traumatized child, and Odysseus certainly didn't help by taking him out of school to drop him in a war zone :/
Neoptolemus: what are your plans for when this is all over?
Nicostratus: I... hadn't really thought about it... Go back to Sparta I guess...
Nicostratus: you gonna go back and finish school?
Neoptolemus: oh yeah! I can't wait to see Philostratus and Kakatheres again!
Nicostratus: friends of yours?
Neoptolemus: I'm gonna cut off their heads and feed their entrails to my dogs! I can't wait to see the looks on their faces! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Nicostratus: ....
Nicostratus: maybe you should stick with me kid
By the time Troy is finally breached, the two consider each other close as siblings — just in time for Even More Trauma to come hailing down on everyone...
Chapter 11: Hippos
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Chapter Text
Anon asked: Having seen the Skyros Pony (a rare ancient breed only existing on the island) I'm imagining Neo never having seen a non-pony horse until he went to the war. Everything and everyone is so much bigger there damn. He probably would dream still playing with boys his size and watching prancing ponies and everything making sense.
Transcript
Horse and Neoptolemus: ...
Nicostratus: Do you want me to teach you?
Neoptolemus: W-what?
Nicostratus: To ride?
Nicostratus: I learned when I was about your age, when I lived with- with my aunt...
Neoptolemus: ...Sure, I guess
Nicostratus: Great!
"It is reported that there is a temple relief depicting Nicostratus and his brother astride a single horse. Some take this figure to be Menelaus' illegitimate son Megapenthes, but not all agree..."
Notes:
(That’s not an actual quote at the end, but a little more Hermioniad retwisting of an actual relief that was reported to exist…)
Chapter 12: Neoptolemus and Nicostratus
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Notes:
Originally posted to Tumblr here
Chapter Text
Chapter 13: Helen
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Chapter Text
Transcript
Nicostratus: Well?! Have you nothing to say? Nothing to defend yourself?
Helen: No
Helen: I have nothing I can say... do what you must, noble Achaean, to avenge your people, and bring peace to the poor people of Troy...
Helen: Let all this madness at last come to an end...
Helen the Younger: Mama?
Helen: Helen...
Notes:
Paris made baby Helen that sheep. She's as old as Hermione was when Helen left...
As for the Question — Helen herself isn't even sure. It's all so mixed up in love and war and grief. Did she go willingly? Did Aphrodite coerce her? Did Paris even have any agency in this? They know they love each other, but did they ever have a choice in it? And at the end of the day, with all the lives lost and ruined on both sides... does it even matter why she left? The fact is that she left at all
Chapter 14: Say My Name
Chapter by Ibrithir, transcriber_mush (animate_mush)
Notes:
Originally posted on Tumblr here
Chapter Text
Transcript
Helen: Helen pleas—
Helen the Younger: Y-you'll have to kill me first to hurt my mama!
Helen: NO!
Helen: No! Noble lord, please! She's just a little girl! She-she's no threat to anyone!
Helen: She's just a little girl who loves her mother when- when she shouldn't
Transcript
Nicostratus: Say my name
Helen: W-what — ?
Nicostratus: Say my name
Nicostratus: Say my name and I'll spare the girl
Helen: H-how can I kno &madsh;
Nicostratus: YOU OUGHT TO KNOW! You, of all people, ought to know! You gave it to me! Was it so easy to forget??
Nicostratus: SAY MY NAME
Transcript
Helen: ...Hermione?
Helen: That is you, isn't it? My little message from the gods...
Helen: My daughter
Helen: Oh, my darling dearest own...
Helen: What have we done to you?
Transcript
Helen: I am s[o] sorr—
Nicostratus: NO
Nicostratus: Y-you don't get to be sorry
Nicostratus: Not now, not after so many years, not after so many deaths
Nicostratus: I said I'd spare the girl, but you...
Helen the Younger: NO!!! Mama Mama!!
Helen: Helen please go. Find Cassandra or one of your uncles —
Helen the Younger: NO MAMA NO!
Transcript
Helen the Younger: MAMA!
Helen the Younger: MAMA!
Helen the Younger: MAMA!
Nicostratus [internal]: What... what am I doing?
Nicostratus [internal]: I... I...
Nicostratus: ENOUGH!!
Transcript
Helen: Hermio-
Nicostratus: Don't
Nicostratus: Just...
Nicostratus: Take your daughter ...and go...
Nicostratus: Please...
Aemon_Targaryen13 on Chapter 2 Wed 01 Oct 2025 02:56PM UTC
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Aemon_Targaryen13 on Chapter 5 Thu 09 Oct 2025 05:22AM UTC
Last Edited Thu 09 Oct 2025 05:22AM UTC
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