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katerinaaqu · 2 months ago

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I Take that Back

Set after Rhapsody 11 of Iliad. Odysseus is rushed to his tent to be healed after his rescue by Menelaus. He receives some wholehearted conversations with two close friends.

As he was being half-carried to his tent, Odysseus was groaning in pain holding his still bleeding side. Menelaus had rushed to cover the wound with a piece of cloth but the bleeding was pretty severe especially given his fast heartbeat after the heat of the adrenaline in battle. He had to rely on the strength of his comrade Polites to make sure he wouldn’t damage his body even further. He was already feeling lightheaded from blood loss and now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he had started to feel the burning sensation of the stab wound to his torso. Perimedes was holding his other arm over his nape as they were rushing to his tent to the Achaean camp.

“Quickly! We must get him hot water and stitch the wound!” Polites ordered

He too was painted in blood from battle and his wounded king and the dirt of the camp wouldn’t help a potential infection. Eurylochus met them half-way, looking as pale as Odysseus in worry at that moment.

“What the hell just happened?!” he asked running to the spot

“Stab wound! We need to treat him!” Polites replied

“How…? Like how the hell…?”

“That…bastard Socus…son of Hippastus…” Odysseus moaned through clenched teeth, “Don’t worry, I had the last laugh…”

“Don’t speak, you idiot!” Eurylochus scolded him taking over the spot Polites had

The latter rushed to the tent to open the way so that the other two would bring the groaning, not to mention bleeding and soaked in sweat king to his bed.

“Quickly! I will need some wine and moldy bread as soon as possible!” Polites ordered, “And, for gods’ sakes; someone bring me clean cloths and boil water!”

“O-On it!” Perimedes rushed out

Odysseus huffed and puffed as the cloth soaked in his blood was drawn away so that a new would be applied and be pressed on. Eurylochus held onto it almost for dear life.

“Dammit!” the king of Ithaca complained trying to stabilize the pain with his breathing

“Come on! Drink this!” Polites advised offering him the skin

Odysseus didn’t need to be told twice before grabbing it and gulp down a few good sips of wine before Polites opened the cloth and poured some of it over the bleeding gash. His king clenched his teeth, hitting his fist to the side of his bed.

“Shit!” he cursed, “I knew this year was not good enough!”

“Got the water!” Perimedes interrupted before Polites had the time to scold his king for inappropriate timing for humor

“Good! Help me cleanse the needle”

Odysseus drew a few more sips from the skin watching his friends frantically work; Perimedes cleansing the stitch with water, Polites passing the needle through the flame and murmuring a prayer to Asclepius while Eurylochus was trying to hold the gaze to his wound. He groaned as Polites began stitching his wound.

“Dammit!”

“Sorry…” Polites whispered, “You have to endure”

“Don’t worry Polites…” Odysseus smirked in his sweat and pain, “I took the spear, I can take the stitch! Argh! Hey! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t ya?!”

Polites had to master all his willpower not to chuckle and lose his concentration. At least he had his sense of humor. That was a good sign. He thanked all gods he knew that the spear indeed had not harmed any internal organs so all he needed was to patch him up and pray that the wound wouldn’t be infected. He was already applying the moldy bread over the stitch so that he could tie it up when Menelaus rushed into the tent.

“How is he!?” he asked anxiously

He was in terrible shape as he seemed; sweaty and dirty from battle but thank goodness unharmed himself for most part. Polites bowed his head.

“We’re just finishing, my lord…thank goodness nothing seems to be harmed inside”

The king of Ithaca drew another gulp of wine and calmed his breath a bit.

“Don’t worry, Menelaus” he said, “It’s just a scratch. It will heal in time, I am sure. Athena protected me! Socus didn’t stab me deep enough”

“Thank gods!” Menelaus sighed

“How’s Diomedes?” the elder king asked again, assisting Polites at raising himself so that he would bind his wound

“Good. He is being taken care of as we speak.”

“Good” Odysseus voiced sighing a bit, “Otherwise all this effort would have been for nothing! Ouch!”

Menelaus couldn’t help but smirk at that last remark. He did know how much the two of them cooperated. Quite frankly he almost saw Odysseus treating the young king like the son he never had the chance to raise. For one moment his own mind ran back to his daughter; she was a young girl at the age of 9 when they left her. Maybe 10. Right now she would be a woman ready for marriage while he was there, rotting away at war for the sakes of the wife that abandoned them. He snapped out of his melancholy pretty quickly.

“What the hell happened out there?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing!” Odysseus groaned, “What in all gods’ names happened? The Trojans are cutting through like we are cheese and all our efforts seem to be in vain! What the hell happened and none of our prayers gets through?! Why is Zeus so angry at us? First Apollo sent that blasted plague and now this! What the hell happened, Menelaus?”

“How am I supposed to know?!” also Menelaus retaliated, “I am in the dark just like you are!”

“Did your brother say something agai-…ARGH!” his accusation was cut in half as his raising voice put strain to his wound.

He lay back as Menelaus ran at his side as if by instinct.

“No worries…” Odysseus sighed, “I am accustomed to pain… That was on me!”

He sucked some more wine and seemed to calm down a bit. He leaned back to his pillow but eyed Menelaus with those onyx-black eyes of his that made Menelaus feel like he could really scan his very soul!

“Are you sure we didn’t offend anybody else so far? Last time even Diomedes went rampage.”

“Positive. Not to my knowledge at least. I can ask for a council to be gathered.”

“No. Not yet” Odysseus advised, “We suffered a great loss today. We don’t want people to be discouraged even further by thinking we are somehow heading straight for the rocks!”

“You’re right. But what else can we do?”

Odysseus’s intense stare locked with his own eyes again.

“You know what it must be done, Menelaus! We need Achilles! This cannot go on for much longer! Not only he is the strongest warrior among us but he is also the son of a god; he is rumored to be invulnerable in battle! The longer he stays away the worse for us!”

“Achilles is…” Menelaus hesitated, “We tried already. He will not release his anger against my brother”

“Then bloody do something about it!” Odysseus urged, “Today we lost quite a few men! I will not be able to enter the battle for a while and Diomedes will probably earn himself a limp from that foot! Our greatest warriors have suffered a loss, soon the Trojans will be at our bloody doors and Achilles is still chilling by his ships because your brother will not do something about the situation!”

“He already did, Odysseus!”

“Well, tell him to try bloody harder!”

He drew a breath and realized he had spoken out of the line.

“Sorry” he mumbled, “I take that back. I understand Agamemnon made an effort or that Achilles is not the easiest person to deal with. I shouldn’t have said that”

“Don’t apologize” Menelaus sighed as well, “You do have a point. And you just got a spear today isolated from our army and fighting multiple opponents at the same time. You have the right to be furious”

“I am not furious…” Odysseus mumbled absentmindedly, “I am scared”

Menelaus looked at him questionably. That was a rare occasion for Odysseus to speak of fear so openly. He always was the one to say things others didn’t say but not so blatantly honestly especially when he talked about himself.

“I found myself at hades’s doors today… My only thought out there for one moment was that I needed to survive this…that these Trojans wouldn’t make a widow of my wife or an orphan of my son! And the experience made me realize I am afraid…afraid that our efforts; all the years we spent out here in this hell would be for nothing. That they can be severed at any moment and I cannot help but think that all this was caused by one man! That man who has the power to communicate directly with the gods and his anger can be lethal because the anger will be transferred to the gods themselves!”

He wiped some sweat off his wide brow before collecting his thoughts again.

“I saw Diomedes blaze from Athena’s grace, I saw Sarpedon from the other side of the battle…I saw so many heroes out there connected to the gods; even myself, if I am allowed to say so! I have talked to Athena face to face, was privileged enough to call Hermes my bloodline and yet…yet none of these warriors have caused as much damage as Achilles with his rage!”

He banged his fist to the side before covering his mouth with it in thought.

“It is as if our whole existence depends on the mood changes of that man! And the thought terrifies me!”

He eyed Menelaus once more and he realized that Menelaus understood his train of thought. The idea was encouraging that his confession didn’t make the other man uncomfortable or scorning.

“I don’t plan on dying here, Menelaus!” he declared, “Neither do I want to see our efforts go up to smoke because of an internal dispute! I don’t know what you and your brother shall do, but whatever it is, I suggest you to do it faster!”

Menelaus nodded. He couldn’t say much here. Odysseus was right. He himself felt like life would be escaping him at any moment when he saw Odysseus from afar nearly taken over by all those Trojan warriors. For one second he feared that they would be doomed the moment Odysseus’s corpse hit the holy ground of Troy! He felt as terrified as if he were he himself fighting with a spear wound bleeding out of him. They had lost Achilles in one way, since he refused to fight, the thought of losing Odysseus too, and for good that is, was the gloomiest possible outcome he could think of! Occasionally he felt like Odysseus was the only one who kept them together with his sleek tongue and his clever ways (by gods he had nearly persuaded the Trojans to give Helen back without a war!) not to mention that his strategic mind was something they needed. He knew he wasn’t liked by many but he was respected by almost everyone and Menelaus was realizing every day why. The thought of losing him (daresay his closest friend among this bunch of kings) terrified him. He couldn’t even imagine what was going on through Odysseus’s head at the moment he was either bleeding out or ready to be speared to death. He knew how prudent Odysseus was in battle; he preferred to play safe than heroically. He usually entered the battle at the right for him moment; he was a man meant to survive! He couldn’t even imagine how this man, the embodiment of survival to the extreme, might have felt upon the face of death. And how much it affected him to blatantly say that! Odysseus was a proud man. He never admitted weakness like that! Never!

“Hey…” Menelaus smiled playfully to lighten the atmosphere, “I never expected to hear you speak like that! You usually wouldn’t admit weakness before anyone! You nearly bit my brother’s head off when he scolded you for cowardice!”

Odysseus scoffed and shook the sack of wine suggestively.

“Give me some more of this stuff and I might even start flirting with you!”

Menelaus laughed. He couldn’t find a better comeback than that!

“Let’s pretend this dialog never happened, shall we?” Odysseus added, “One embarrassing experience per day is enough for me!”

That earned him another chuckle from the Spartan king.

“Rest well, my friend” he patted the elder king’s shoulder, “You earned it. Heal for now and I shall talk to my brother. I promise…”

Odysseus nodded in a thanking way. Yeah, to be fair there was nothing else that could be done. Both Achilles and Agamemnon were two really hard-headed fellows but he had to admit that Agamemnon had already made his approach. It was Achilles’s utter refusal to accept it that got things stuck again but Agamemnon didn’t try again either. He felt that they might need a miracle to make these two patch things up again! He silently prayed to Athena that this miracle would come soon otherwise their war was doomed to fail. The prophecy stated they needed their strongest warrior if they wished to have some possibility of success and right now Achilles and all his precious Myrmidons were as good as not there. He didn’t like this thought.

“Hey…” Odysseus said stopping Menelaus at his tracks and making him look over his shoulder, “By the way, thanks… You saved my sorry skin out there! Without you I would be gone. Thank you…”

Menelaus nodded softly.

“No need to thank me. You would have done the same”

“Would I?”

Both kings chuckled in union.

“Jokes aside, Odysseus” Menelaus added, “I got scared too out there, today”

Odysseus raised a brow.

“I saw you overwhelmed and I thought you were a goner. My only thought was that if we lost you too the war would be done for… But now I know that it wasn’t just that. I don’t know if I would ever forgive myself if we lost you…because of me… I believe I never felt so scared to lose a friend like I was today…”

Odysseus was at loss of words for the very first time in his long eloquent life; it wasn’t just a soft block in his brain that needed him to regroup; it was a full on delete on any word or response he could possibly give back. His mouth was left agape and his eyes as wide as they could be. That confession also came out of nowhere. The day was becoming curious and curiouser as one would say. He sighed.

“Just get the hell out of here before we both get emotional!” he said defeated, “And send that oaf of a man Ajax my thanks as well! Just don’t make it sound like I am getting soft!”

“I will!” Menelaus chuckled, “Rest assured”

Odysseus collapsed back to his bed when the reddish-blonde king left his tent. Well that was definitely something he never expected. Not only had he nearly died out there but now he seemed to have received the most unexpected deep conversation he had in years with his fellow kings. He and Menelaus always got along better than many out there and both of them knew what it meant to take responsibility for this. They had been through a lot together but never before had Menelaus spoken to him so directly to the heart as now. It was both unexpected and welcome as it couldn’t be more…

“Damn…” he mumbled in thought

The frantic sound of limping came to his ears, stirring him from the half-lethargy he was about to fall into, as someone was obviously trying to run through the camp, crushing the little stones of the lane beneath their sandals but obviously the fellow was relying on one foot to do so. Apparently he was right for a few seconds later a sweaty and very much frantic Diomedes rushed into his tent. He had his foot tied up in bandages and he was assisting his running with a wooden stick. He was pale and flushed from running but Odysseus realized it wasn’t because of blood loss but rather of worry.

“Odysseus!” he called out

“Diomedes?”

The king of Ithaca half-raised his body from his bed where he was covered with a fleece to protect him from the cold of the night. He was still dizzy from blood loss but after a good meal and some rest he was already better. Polites was by his side to change the bandage and check on the process of the wound (so far he had very little fever so the wound probably had escaped the worst infection). However the look at Diomedes’s face made him worried.

“What on earth are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be by your ships resting?”

“Never mind about me!” Diomedes called out arriving by his side

Odysseus nodded to one of his slaves to bring Diomedes a stool for the anxious young man was capable of standing there forever!

“They just told me you got hurt after I left!”

“Yeah…that should teach me not to play the hero ever again!” Odysseus joked

“Odysseus!” Diomedes yelled, “That’s not funny! How bad is it?”

“I’m fine, Diomedes” Odysseus sighed, “It is not as serious as it looks. Athena protected me from the worst and Menelaus assured my retreat”

“So I heard! But you got a spear in your bloody stomach!”

“I’m tougher than I look, Diomedes. These Trojan bastards will not rid of me that easily!”

“Dammit, Odysseus!” Diomedes exclaimed

Odysseus blinked. He never had seen Diomedes; the silent but hot-headed Diomedes be so scared or worried before. This kid seemed to be grown beyond his years now he seemed scared as if he had just lost a parent again. Odysseus knew he was touched beyond words. For one moment he wondered indeed how it would feel if he and his son were together.

“You gave up your chariot… You could have run with me and leave your man behind and instead you just gave me your chariot and covered my retreat! You reckless bastard you…you…”

He sighed in defeat.

“What’s gotten into you? You usually were so prudent and careful and now…for my sake you…you…”

“It was a moment of madness, Diomedes, it won’t happen again I am sure!” Odysseus smirked dismissively

“You absolute asshole!” Diomedes exclaimed again, “You could have died out there!”

“Thanks for the incredible faith you have in my fighting abilities you oh-I-am-Athena’s-favorite-Diomedes! It is noted!”

“Why are you so…ugh! You are unbelievable!”

The two kings remained silent for a little. Odysseus didn’t like that silence; he was more used at being the talkative one while Diomedes stood and listened (he never was the talkative type) but now he found himself, once more, at a loss of words. He knew that Diomedes cared but to THAT extent? Well that was refreshing.

“Well…what do you know…” he thought, “Two people really worried about me at the same day… This war really is full of surprises! Most of people keep the respect mask with me if they want to be seen as nice…”

He was about to say something but then Diomedes surprised him once more as his spoke in his low, deep voice.

“And you were right, you know…sometimes it is good to flee…”

“It is better to live and fight another day than to stay there in the open and die like a hero you know… Sometimes retreat is the wisest solution.”

“Noted…” Diomedes replied apprehensively, “When you brought the salvation for me, I nearly didn’t think about it…I just…left”

“As you should” Odysseus said seriously, “You are young and vigorous, Diomedes. Do not throw away your life just like that…besides…” he smirked a bit, “We need you. We need your crazy ass head for this war. We can’t afford to lose you!”

“Oh shut up, will you?” Diomedes sighed dead serious, “You act as if you are dispensable!”

Odysseus smiled a bit. That was Diomedes he knew. His care language was always harsh like that. A child born and raised in war… That was his way to say that he cared.

“Hell, no!” Odysseus replied lightheartedly, “I value my life more than anything in this field! I do not plan on jumping in front of another spear for you if you promise me to be more careful next time! You sometimes are way too self-destructive for my tastes! It is hard enough that I hang out with you at my age!”

Diomedes scoffed.

“Noted…”

“By the way” Odysseus fixed himself on the bed, “How is your foot?”

“Better already. It will heal”

“Not if you keep doing stupid things like this, lad, like coming running at me the moment you hear I got a minor cut!”

“Hey!” Diomedes almost seemed offended, “Well excuse me for wanting to check on you, old man! That surely will not happen again if you so want to!”

Odysseus chuckled a bit and held his side in pain.

“Look at us, lad!” he said, “We are a mess! You became an arrow target and I a spear holder! We sure have future in this war!”

He smiled tiredly watching Diomedes chuckle a bit. When he allowed himself to smile and relax, he almost looked like his age; not like aged a hundred years early. He was happy to get that side out of him once in a while even in the fire of war. They were interrupted by Polites bringing in a cup of warm tea.

“I am sorry to interrupt, my lords…” he excused himself, “Come on, drink this…”

Odysseus took the cup having the most suspicious look at his face as he took a sip he took a disgusted expression as he forced himself to swallow.

“Gods!” he complained draining his cup, “You know I hate sage!”

“Well don’t be such a baby! You need to get your fever down!”

“On second thought, I’d rather die young!”

“Come on now, Odysseus! Aren’t you too old to be a picky eater?” Diomedes chuckled

“Care for a cuppa, Diomedes?” Odysseus challenged, laughing

Polites surely brought another cup for him as well anyways. Diomedes sipped from it absentmindedly. He didn’t mind the scent of sage and the taste was not particularly bad for him, as it seemed. The warmth was welcoming to say the very least, for it was already a cold night.

“My father used to burn this devil…” Odysseus smiled softly

“Yeah…” Diomedes whispered looking at his cup, “They say it repells evil spirits away”

“Yeah…” Odysseus sighed fixing himself under his covers, “I know. That explains why I had the insatiable need to run out of the house every time he did!”

The present men at the tent chuckled softly in union. It was nice to be alive after such a long day. The smell of burning flesh from the outside did not seem to bother them anymore. Quite frankly they had trouble now separating the meal preparations from the funeral pyres.

“Speaking of which…” Diomedes hesitated, “That time…when I called you a coward…”

Odysseus looked at him.

“I take that back….” Diomedes whispered, “I should never have said that to you…”

Odysseus smiled dismissively.

“I have already forgotten about that, Diomedes… Don’t worry. I’ve been called worse…”

“Not by me”

Looking at Diomedes’s eyes made him warm inside. He seemed genuinely serious about it. He would be a liar to himself if he said that he wasn’t relieved that Diomedes decided to apologize. His accusation had hurt him plenty that time, he had to admit. But he wouldn’t tell Diomedes the truth about that. He knew Diomedes was under a great emotional pressure and tension at that time, and he HAD abandoned him as well because he saw his actions were against the will of the gods…

“Forgive me…”

“All good, lad…” Odysseus smiled, “Sometimes is better to be called a coward on the face than being praised as brave in the underworld…”

“Right…” Diomedes chuckled, “But I still…thank you. You saved my life…”

“Don’t thank me, Diomedes…you would have done the same for me. Let’s say that I owed you one…”

Diomedes smiled. Touché, he thought. He reached his belt and extended a small pouch at him.

“Here…brought you some medicine from my own tent. It will help the pain”

“Keep it, son. Your youth needs it more…”

“Please…” Diomedes insisted

Once more he was too touched to refuse. He accepted the pouch and handed it over to a slave that put it away to fix it.

“It is a mix of willow and clove” Diomedes explained, “Your physician will know how to brew it…”

“Thanks, Diomedes…” Odysseus whispered tiredly

His eyelids were getting heavier again. It wasn’t just the fatigue and the blood loss but also this whole emotional turmoil was probably getting a toll out of him. The warmth of the fire in combination with his light fever made things even worse. He wanted to say something to Diomedes, offer him some sort of meal of hospitality but his mouth wouldn’t move.

“Honestly…thank you…” Diomedes whispered, “I would’ve been a goner if you-… Odysseus?”

He looked at the bed to notice the elder king was fast asleep.

“What did you give him?” Diomedes asked Polites worriedly

“No worries, my lord” Polites assured him, “Just some chamomile mixed with the sage and some herbs. It will relax his muscles a bit so he can rest; otherwise he is capable of staying up forever!”

“Will he be alright?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you, my lord! I swear to gods this man is immortal! He seems impossible to die sometimes! See this?”

He half-raised the cover to reveal Odysseus’s strong leg. Diomedes perceived the huge scar on his leg; the biggest and most distinct out of all his other micro-scars and wounds.

“Do you know what this is?”

“A hunting accident” Diomedes confirmed, “He told me something about it some years ago”

“Wild boar” Polites confirmed fixing the covers, “We were hunting at Parnassus. He must have been around 14 maybe 16 at that time? I don’t remember. He stabbed the beast in the shoulder while it was literally plowing his skin!”

“I…” Diomedes thought about it, “He did mention it but I thought he was exaggerating! Like telling a story for the lads to be cheered up”

“Oh, no, I assure you my lord, that part was accurate. I was there where it happened. I partially carried him down the mountain myself. No offense to the high kings but he can be such an idiot sometimes! He makes it sound like no big deal!”

Diomedes smiled absentmindedly. He really liked hanging out with the Cephallinians. Unlike people of Argos who often treated him with scared respect (something like the rest of the kings treated Odysseus, ironically), the Cephallinians seemed to be perceiving Odysseus like a friend; like a father figure.

“So I wouldn’t worry about him too much” Polites smiled softly caressing his reddish beard, “He will be fine”

“I hope so…” Diomedes whispered, “He will be missed otherwise”

“Don’t despair, my lord!” Polites chuckled, “Like I said this bastard of a king and good friend of mine is impossible to die! I have a feeling he will bury us all in the end and outlive us some more!”

Diomedes chuckled and stood back to his feet using his walking stick as assistance.

“I’ll leave you to it, then…” he whispered, “Thanks for the tea”

“Thank you for dropping by, my lord…”

Diomedes moved his hand dismissively before limping away from the tent. Yes, he would need some rest too. He just hoped his foot would allow him to fight for another day and perhaps repay his debt to a good friend…

***

Finally it is over! Hahaha! This random one-shot was inspired by a conversation I had with @still-mourning-polites in regards to Diomedes and Odysseus exchanging words in battle (ironically the conversation started over the age of the hero! Hahaha!)

This is also dedicated to good Diomedes fans like @ellilyre and artists such as @smokey07 and Menelaus supporters and fans such as @dorothea-greek

Odysseus's fear is mentioned in the Iliad how he talks to himself how it would be terrible to die here but he cannot run because of cowardice so he stays. In the Iliad Diomedes also runs away because he got worried of his life but he never knew in what position Odysseus would be driven into, thus my idea here.

I imagined it would be interesting if Odysseus was revealing some of his genune fears to people he trusts like Menelaus (artists including @wolfythewitch also desire more content between Odysseus and Menelaus and I agree!)

Herbs like sage are still used today in Greece for healing fever and infections (the fact that Odysseus doesn't like the taste comes from me! Dunno cannot stand sage! XD maybe I am evil spirit!) Moldy bread has been used to fight back infections for millennias. Some of the earliest examples come from ancient Egypt (basically penicillin before penicilin) hahaha! Also willow tree contains the main component of Aspirin! Hahaha!

Yeah I know that the wine joke with the year has been used hundreds of times including Hunchback of Notre Dame by Disney but I don't care! Hahaha!

Diomedes having a future limp was a headcanon of mine

Maybe also a light wink to my other short thing Philoctetes Inspirations 2 (With the Boar story and all Hahaha)

For their voices I was heavily inspired by @greeknerdsstuff who made a video with the voices of Diomedes and Odysseus! XD

Please do also consider my work with @artsofmetamoor! Recently she posted some amazing pieces of art for our Mythology AU as well!

Goddess Dilla and Hero Caleb

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