Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 Hermes was over the moon today! Almost literally, since he was delivering a couple of letters to Selene today, which was always a bit of a chore, since the only time he could catch her was when he was taking her journey across the sky, before he comes back in her cave to her lover, and she was moving quite fast, even for Hermes!

Regardless. He finally got a prayer from his beloved granddaughter! About his great-grandson no less!

He rarely got to see his kids past their teenagehood, much less his grandkids, let alone someone that far down the line. And while a prayer, or rather a plea, to babysit would be frowned upon by most of the other Gods, Hermes was nothing short of thrilled. He’d even answer prayers like that from mortals that had no blood of his in their veins!...even if he would be less careful then, if careful at all.

The travel to his granddaughter’s new residence was rather windy, but overall uncomplicated enough. The God of Travels can certainly tell by his son Autolycus called this island a ‘Rocky, cursed by Anemoi shithole’. Not something he would call it, as Ithaca was on the better side of the island that he’ve seen. The bays were greenish blue, the surface was covered in dense forests and green openings. The island itself was small and unnoticeable enough. But alas. Hermes was actually rather glad that Anticlea has settled somewhere like this. At least he didn’t need to search half the forests and risk Artemis’ torrid annoyance to find her.

Speaking of, there she was herself!

Anticlea was sitting on a grass covered by wind flowers, in the more lush part of the forest, where it was more secure to meet the God. She had her trusted bow by her side, as well a bundle wrapped in a wool blue fabric, which was covered in small patterns that Hermes couldn’t see from afar.

“My Little Poppy!” Hermes exclaimed, nearly dropping to the ground from how fast he landed, and pulling the woman, who managed to stand up and ground herself quickly enough to not be tackled to the ground, into a tight hug soon after.

“Hermes!” Anticlea said, half-hugging the God back, while holding the bundle a bit closer to her chest to prevent it being squished by a firm, but short lived embrace. “I hope I didn’t distract you from anything-”

“Of course not! I was already done for the day, and even if I wasn’t, how could I pass up the opportunity to spend time with my great…great? No, great grandson!” Hermes pulled away from the hug, yet still keeping a steady hold on Anticlea’s shoulders, to take a closer look at her.

She had…changed since he last saw her. Which, while was to be expected, since the last time Hermes saw her was when she was 15-ish, but it still didn’t fail to surprise him. She has grown quite a bit, became taller than Hermes himself, but she also was slimmer than she was before. Her hair was not let lying free on her shoulders, but held up in a golden hairnet, with a tiara atop. As she was no longer one of the Hunters of Artemis, she no longer was in a simple white tunic, but in a blue, embroidered, royal peplos. Her face changed too, of course. She now had crow’s feet, and faint wrinkles on her forehead and around her mouth.

“Oh, my Poppy! You are growing too fast! I can already see that the spark of hunger for adventure is fading in your eyes! Why does mortal life go by so fast?!” The God of Messages cried out, already going for a second hug. Which was promptly stopped by Anticlea with a chuckle, by handing the bundle of fabric into his arms.

“Well, now you have a new tiny adventurer on your hands!”

Hermes moved the bundle a bit in his arms to hold it in a more comfortable position, and then unwrapped it slightly. And inside was none other than the freshly-baked baby prince himself! And as his granddaughter said, he was tiny. Even smaller than any of his other kids, despite looking around 8 months old already! Although, half of it must also have contributed to his rather compacted sleeping position. With his small chubby hands and knees held close to his chest, while also hugging a small wooden black sheep, which Hermes gifted him on the night he was born, since the God was too busy to properly visit him. 

“Hello, little Lamb~” Hermes whispered, while gently poking the kid’s rosy cheek. Surprisingly, the baby didn’t wake up, and just merely pouted slightly, still somewhere deep in the realm of dreams. 

“He is a quiet one, good. Ah, and would you look at that! He also has a Kiss-Mole!” He pointed out excitedly, barely managing to keep his voice down. Sure enough, in the left corner of his forehead, almost hidden by the brown curls, there was a small brown dot on his skin, and ‘Kiss-Mole’, as Hermes, and Maia, from whom the mole got passed down, call it. 

“This is Odysseus.” Anticlea said, just as quietly, looking down at her young son. “Yes, he is a quiet babe…” She was clearly already missing him, and who could blame her? She was leaving her 8 month old for a whole month, if not two for a diplomatic mission!

“‘The one who angers’? Who gave him that name, I wonder.” As usual, his son still managed to outdo him. Hermes should’ve came up with something like that first, how dare he! “Is Autolycus still mad at you, for leaving Artemis’ side? At this point, he is more upset about it than she ever was!” Hermes laughed quietly at his own joke, together with Anticlea, as the baby stirred slowly in his arms.

“Hermes.” With that, all the laughter quieted down, and the woman’s face turned grave as she looked down at her son, who was now wide awake, and trying to reach the ginger hair of the stranger that was holding him. “Odysseus is very…delicate…” She continued, not so suddenly hinting at the reason for her concern.

“Darling. I swear that I will protect him as if he was a pupil of my eye. And if I will ever fail to protect Odysseus from the danger that I have known of, may the wings fall off my body and my tongue be cut off.” Hermes frowned slightly at his own oath. It was a serious one, but the one he intended to keep no matter what, even if his own status was on the line, he would protect this precious babe.

With that, he planted a small kiss on his little Poppy’s Kiss-Mole, and let her plant one on Ody’s, before saying their last farewells, and taking off into the sky.

“Mes.” The baby babbled, kicking his tiny legs in the air aimlessly. He has taken being in the air quite well, not crying, screaming, or trying to kick his way out of Hermes’ hold. Sure, most of it was because he couldn’t really see that he was in the air, since he was securely held against the God;s chest, and had most of his head covered by Hermes’ petasos, to prevent any winds from hurting the babe.

“Hermes. He-r-mes. Heeermeess~” Another attempt to make little Odysseus pronounce his name. Hermes needed something better than ‘Mes’, for he was everything but a mess!

“Elmes!” Ody babbled, now louder, and while tugging on the God’s hair, which Hermes didn’t mind in the slightest, but the kid dropped his little sheep, about which Hermes did care about, because he needed to fly back to catch it, again. It was going to be a long flight. Well, more time for him and the baby!

“Close enough!” Hermes giggled a bit at his new nickname, and ruffled the baby’s fluffy curls. He really did a great job distracting the kid from the flight, Odysseus must’ve missed that they were even off the ground, based on how surprised he was at the change of scenery when they landed on another island.

And they were there for a short break. Not for Hermes, of course! He could fly non stop for weeks and still have a steady breath. But a break for the baby, since they would soon be going way higher, and his head seemed to be hurting already. But he needed to be fed, as Hermes assumed. Babies could eat bread and meat at 8 months old, right? Right.

So, the God of Thievery wrapped the blue wool fabric around the kid a bit tighter, so that it won’t just slip off him, and set him on the ground. It will take him, what, a minute to get water, a loaf of bread from his bag, and half a minute to cut the meat up in the finest slices. What can a mostly mortal baby do in such a short time.

…Steal one of his sandals, apparently. Not enough time to get away further than a meter away from him though.

There he goes, trying to crawl away with Hermes’ sandal on his chubby fist, visibly upset at his own slow speed. And that hold on the sandal was a strong one! When Hermes tried to just yank it away, the whole baby just lifted up together with it, all pouty, and trying to kick the God’s hand away, but only kicking the air again instead. Looks there is more than just ‘a little bit’ left of Hermes in him!

Oh, this is going to be fun fun!

Chapter Text

Olympus was a beautiful place. Past the Golden Gates, after the three Horai, you’d be greeted by an endless garden. Trees larger than those on mortal ground, with fruits growing on them, some from the Earth, and some from somewhere. from only known to the Gods. Flowers, bright with colour and full of odor. And in that garden, there would be a road, leading to the 14 palaces of marble and gold, constructed with bronze foundations, each of which was made by Hephaestus. 12 of them were bedchambers to the Gods, each of them unique in its own right, and the other two were the Divine Stables, and a place where the Mighty Zeus, and Zeus alone, would go to think.

And high up the mountain, hidden in the clouds, blind to the mortal eye, sat a large palace in the heart of Olympus, Palace of Zeus. It was a large palace, built to fit all the thousands of Gods and Goddesses inside for the most important of meetings. Inside it was built with white Greek Marble, as well as black Egyptian one, filled with statues and vases alike.

Olympus was so beautiful in fact, that it is said that some of the mortals invited to see its beauty would soon go mad after being returned back to Earth.

Hermes himself didn’t visit Olympus that often, because his job, that he loved so much, was endless and demanding, leaving him little to no time to fly and stay where he desired for long. But that was also because there was nothing for him up on that mountain. Besides the feasts and the occasional meetings that required all the 12 Olympians, it was pretty boring. The occasional drama was interesting, but it happened rarely nowadays, since Hera started to warm up to all the bastard children.

Hopefully a small babe was enough to make it interesting again~

The fly up on Mount Olympus was very quiet this time. The babe had long started to snooze, out like a little flame the moment they got off the ground from their little break. And Helios hadn’t even reached the faraway mountains yet! Now curled up nicely in the fabric, while holding on one of Hermes’ head wings with a death grip, which while did slow him up, didn’t make the flight difficult enough for him to disturb little one’s sleep.

Passing right above the Golden Gates, fast enough for the Three Maidens to not notice him carrying ‘extra package’ with him. Hermes couldn’t afford them informing his father already. Everything had to go right for little Odysseus to stay safe, nothing could go off course. 

Flying just as fast, he dove down, soaring through one of the windows from the left, more quiet, safe part of the Palace. From there, he could easily get to Gynaikonitis where multiple of the Goddesses would be today. Not the place where he should be in, but being the messenger gave him a free pass to rooms and places like those. Plus, who would be mad at him when he has such a cute one on his hands! It worked with Pan, how could this be different?

Hermes took his petasos back from the tiny head, and put it back on his own, and ruffled Ody’s hair gently to make it look fluffier. Yes, he looked adorable, perfect.

As they were right in front of the door leading to Gynaikonitis, Hermes landed on the ground, and opened the door slowly, sneaking into the room to stand right beside the couches where the Goddesses were sitting, not giving any chances for them to kick him out before the right time.

There sat Hera, Hestia, Artemis, and Aphrodite. All three Goddesses, beside Aphrodite who had looked like she had just woken up, were in their usual attires, Hera in silk and gold, sitting on the couch beside Hestia, with one of her peacocks by her side, as usual. Artemis was standing beside the couches, still bow in hand. She probably just got here. And Aphrodite was sitting, half laying down, in her usual chair, completely uninteresting in the current conversation between the other three.

“Good afternoon, Ladies~” Hermes started, adding a slight bow, to ease the startlement he just caused for all four of them. “I am today with a special package!”

“Oh? And what would that be?” Aphrodite was to speak first, sounding very…annoyed. Not ideal. Luckily, that quickly changed once Hermes untied the bundle of fabric from his chest, allowing for the little babe to be clear and visible for all the Goddesses.

The reactions were just as Hermes was expecting! Aphrodite got up to walk a little bit closer to touch, and later picked up little Ody. Hera straightened her posture, and pressed her lips together in a thin line, and frowned slightly, thinking. Hestia smiled warmly, and let out an ‘awww’, but not getting up just yet. And Artemis looked very conflicted. Eyeing the baby with almost too much intensity, probably having recognised some of the features the babe had inherited from Anticlea, as expected. 

“Who is this little one?~” Aphrodite had already taken Ody in her arms, turning him from side-to-side to get a closer look at all of him, which did cause him to start to stir. It was for the better, since an awake baby was slightly cuter than a sleeping one, unless he’ll start to cry.

“And what is this ‘little one’ doing on Olympus?” Hera had also started to eye the now awake baby, with her decision already forming about him. Whatever that decision may be.

“This is Odysseus, son of Anticlea and Laertes. And my darling granddaughter has trusted me with keeping him safe for a month.” Hermes said, maybe a bit too proudly, as he took the babe from Aphrodite’s hands, and handed it to Hera. After all the decision of if little Ody can stay up here, or if Hermes will have to carry him around for a month. “So I thought, what place is safer than Olympus itself! So perhaps the babe could stay? If you, white armed Hera, will allow it, of course.

“Safe for Gods, not for a mortal.” Hera did take little Ody in her arms, eyeing it just as intensely as she was when he was in Aphrodite’s arms. Odysseus was doing his part well. First staring at the Goddess as well, matching her expression at some point, but soon getting a bit distracted by her golden jewellery. Soon enough, Hera sighed, and looked back at Hermes, sparing the poor infant for a moment.

“What would a baby even do up here? There is nothing to entertain him.” The Goddess said, this time her voice softened just a bit, all while the said baby was toying with her jewellery. That…was true. Beside the Gods and Goddesses themselves, there is nothing and no one to play with. There is no nursery, there is no need for it, as the divines grow up in less than a week. And who would even play with him? There are mostly no other children, Cupid is too busy with his new love, Muses…maybe? They do enjoy teaching children, but Ody is not old enough just yet, maybe in two years. Daphnis was an option, his music alone would entertain a kid…no, there was another child on Olympus!

“I’ve heard that Poseidon had a new son not so long ago, Ody could play with him”

“The cyclop? Please, he is twice the size of this one, not to mention it will scare him.” Hera started to frown again, not even noticing that little Odysseus started to take a bit too much interest in her earrings.

“Not under supervision he won’t. Besides, isn’t it a good practice for other Gods? I mean, Eros and Psyche are thinking about having a baby, Dionysus and Ariadne too!” Maybe not in argument Hermes should use around Artemis, or Aphrodite considering she is still only coming to terms with Eros’ and Psyche’s marriage, but this was an argument for Hera. If he could her to agree, then it is no matter what Zeus will say. Not that that would be much of a challenge either, after all, Hermes had an almost favourite child privileges! 

“Hm…Fine, so be it. This child shall stay.” Hera said at once, and handed the babe back to Hermes, who quickly took away the newly stolen earring from Odysseus’ arms.

And with a low bow, and another almost dirty glance from Artemis, Hermes and Odysseus were off of that room, because Hermes was kicked out. There was still the rest of Mount Olympus to show him because Nyx will cover it in the thick veil of darkness, there is no time to waste!

Chapter Text

 Helios’ chariot was already reaching the far ends of the sky, and Hesperides already began to make their way onto the skyline, painting the clouds red orange and pink, and the sky on which they lay a soft shade of purple.

The day went by surprisingly fast, especially for Hermes, who was used to crossing the world and Underworld from front to back and back again in less than half a day. But he decided to walk the rest of the day on Olympus, to ensure that little one didn’t get a headache, and managed to see every corner of Olympus that he is allowed to see. Even if Hermes was almost sure that babies can’t see that well at this age.

And thanks to the lack of rush Hermes is used to, a rush nonetheless, he also got time to show off his great grandbaby to almost all of Olympus! The Gods were conflicted, but not unhappy, aside from Zeus, just because he has not told him yet. That, he left for Hera to handle, because it was not the fight he wants to fight to begin with, and now that Hera is handling it, he wants to stay as far as possible from it. Not Pan, he didn’t introduce Ody to him either, yet. But once he will grow into a teenager, Hermes will. It will be good to have someone reliable to learn everything there is fun to adulthood from! 

The Muses adored the new little face though! Happy for a new mind to teach and impress, and someone to write songs about.

The demigods-turned-Gods were concerned more than anything, for little Odysseus’ safety and for  how long can Gods’ nerves really last. At least his little Daphnis was happy for him! Those demigods, they just don’t understand the effect kids have on all those around them, they don’t understand how much it will press onto the parental heart that every God has!

…Beside Athena.

That’s why he saved her for last!(and Ares but that’s only because those two were fighting all day, it won’t take…anything to make Ares like the baby) For that Hermes is going to the training grounds right now, hoping that Athena is tired from the training, and from the day overall to argue too much, because he certainly was.

And so was little Ody, but for now he was too busy concerning himself with biting on his hand, no matter how much Hermes tried to pull it out of his mouth. A stubborn thing he is, just like Hermes. Good to know, good to know…

Soon enough, they reached the battle grounds, where sure enough, Athena and Ares were fighting. Athena was using a spear, and keeping her distance, while Ares was wielding his sword, and closing the distance Athena creates faster than immediately. He must’ve won a war today, or gotten praise from their father, because he visibly had more energy and boldness than Athena today! Goddamit, he will lose a bet to Dolos if that continues! 

When was the last time Ares won a fight against Athena? Hm…there was one time when he was still a kid, when Athena still taught him. But that was also before Athena shuffled down her under and became more put together, so Ares got hit with the edge of her shield on his head. Ha, Hermes can remember that. He can also remember Ares breeding buckets of ichor form that, and barely moving for three days afterwords…maybe it wasn’t so fun-

His trail of thought was abruptly interrupted by Athena’s spear almost hitting him straight in the chest, and through the baby’s head, had he not moved in time.

“Hey! Don’t you see me standing here?!” Hermes screamed at them, loud enough for the fight to stop, or at least pause. His voice was cheery as usual, sure. But now he understood why mortals have a saying ‘heart hammering in my chest’ yeah. That one was way too close.

The baby couldn’t care less it seems though, instead chapping his little hands at the speed of his great grandfather, and at the entertainment of a fight in front of him. Fool. 

That caught the attention of both Gods even quicker. Both Athena and Ares took off their helmets, coming closer. But Athena stopped at a ‘safe’ distance, as she called it, for whatever reason, it’s just a baby, what was there to be ‘safe’ about? While Ares came a bit more closer, letting the kid grip onto one of his fingers, and try to grab onto his bronze bracer, which no success. 

“Hermes.” Here we go again, that tone means nothing good. “Where are you holding a child? Why are you holding a child here?”

“Because my dear sister, this is a son or my brilliant granddaughter, whom she trusted me with, while she is away with her husband on a diplomatic mission.” Yeah. Yeah that’s a good start and middle, and he wasn’t even lying! Such an important mission for a kingdom, it will appeal to Athena nicely.

And it did, which was let known by that hum Athena always makes when she hears a reasonable point. That too was quickly replaced by that face she makes when there is something unreasonable. “But Olympus-”

“Your opinion matters not, for Hera and Father allowed it already!” Wow, Hermes lost his temper this time really quick. Unusually quick. Maybe tiny Odysseus’ presence was pushing on his parental heart too. Or maybe it was a part of Zeus in his reacting…that explanation he liked less, by a mile.

At once, Athena’s eyebrows lowered, and her lips were pressed into a thin line. An expression, which was quickly mimicked by the baby in Hermes’ arms. Or maybe not, for he seemed to huff and tug on Hermes’ tunic with a frown whenever Athena looked at him. Oh this is going to be even more fun than he thought it could be!

“Settle Athena. The babe would be a good practice for you, for soon Olympus will have more than one running around, with how things are going for the newlyweds.” Ares said, in that voice that was always edging for Athena’s control of her anger to slip, which almost worked because for once, that fact was almost true.

And with an annoyed huff of her own, Athena left to her house. Sore loser, denial of truth!

Ares said his farewells, and soon left too while saying something about praying to Hypnos for a peaceful night, after Odysseus nearly cried from the inability to grab any of the bronze from his armour. The day was coming to an end for Hermes and Odysseus too, for the babe was already yawning again, and Hermes was yet to find him a place in the palace for him to sleep.