#can i hug odysseus

[lovelylulib]

The one who has the final say.

You?

Or your crew?

[kittenscookie]

Here me out, hear me out...Reincarnated Odysseus Au...but Odysseus is one of Poseidon's past lovers—HEY! If you wanna blame anyone for this blame the author of this fic right here!

(Tldr: Poseidon was Ody's first love. He thought Odysseus was cheating on him with Athena so he drowned like half his Island and absolutely destroyed his heart)

Anyway Poseidon has long since realized how badly he fumbled Odysseus—it genuinely keeps him up at night—so when a reincarnated Ody pops up on Olympus with his son even though the man's glaring daggers at him all he can think in "Holy SHIT!?!? Is this a second chance!? Has some kind power greater than my own granted me an opportunity to fix my past mistakes!?" While Hermes and Athena are just like— "...My good bitch, you drowned half his Island, killed most of his men, threatened his family, and basically abandoned his adoptive son and Sally—who's pretty much his best friend. He is NOT taking you back, the fuck are you on???"

"...I'm sorry, can a man not have dreams? Can he not have aspirations?"

"You've been huffing pufferfish haven't you—!?"

Odysseus: *Opening his apartment door* Hello—Go away.

Poseidon: One date! One date that's all I'm asking!

Odyssey: No

Poseidon: Please! I'm a changed man—I swear I'm a changed man! I'll treat you so well this time around please!

Odysseus: *Through gritted teeth* Oh like you've treated Sally well?

Poseidon: ...Okay that's really fucking low—

Odysseus: *Slams the door in his face*

[o3o-lapd-o3o]

okay! part 4 is here! still no dinner scene but hey, who doesn't like a telemachus and athena moment? huh? huh?

the post/thread that started this whole au

dinner scene: part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8

there's a masterlist now!

*later that day* *telemachus walking around the palace ground and speaking with athena about poseidon & also tomorrows family dinner*

telemachus: so, you said lord poseidon is your uncle, right?

athena: *under her breath to herself* unfortunately

athena: *to telemachus this time* he is indeed my father’s brother.

telemachus: what does he like? what’s his favourite food? does eat with you and the other gods on olympus?

athena: *not expecting to play 40 questions about poseidon*

athena: HU- *coughs* why do you want to know? i thought you studied the gods when you were younger?

telemachus: i mean yeah, but those are other people’s words. what better way than to ask his actual family?

athena: *regretting this conversation, but answers because it is telemachus asking*

athena: if you are looking to strike a conversation with him, i can say for certain he will be interested in anything about his kingdom, the sea.

athena: as for food, i’m sure you know we gods, do not require mortal food for sustenance.

telemachus: *confused and stops walking*

telemachus: *turns and looks up at athena* but you ate breakfast this morning with us? and other meals?

athena: *stops walking also and laughs a little at his confused face*

athena: *ruffles telemachus’ hair* yes i did. we can find it enjoyable, whether it be an offering, during a feast or with…

athena: *stops ruffling his hair & smiles warmly at telemachus* family.

telemachus: *smiles*

telemachus: *continues walking*

athena: *continues with him*

telemachus: so, you still never said what his favourite food was?

athena: *shrugs* i don’t know, fish?

telemachus: *laughs* well we certainly have plenty of that!

*both continue talking and walking together*

*a short while later*

telemachus: ok so even though he does have a place to live on olympus, he doesn’t live there? how come?

athena: the sea is his domain, i would expect he feels more comfortable being always part of it. he knows everything that is happening on and in it then.

athena: also, i’m sure that having my father be king of the gods while also being his younger brother, is not something he would personally want to be around all the time.

athena: i think if it were my younger brother…

athena: *imagines ares as king of the gods* *shakes the thought immediately away*

athena: *waves hand in front of her in dismissal* never mind that thought.

telemachus: *eyebrow raised in confusion* uh ok.

athena: as i was saying, my father, while he is a great & wise king of us gods, occasionally having to sometimes deal with his...

athena: *thinks to the lighting shaped scars on her face and body*

athena: …games, does not always end up good for those who play them.

telemachus:

telemachus: so, he just prefers living in his palace under the sea basically?

athena: pretty much, yeah.

athena: maybe you could save some more of your questions for my uncle at dinner tomorrow?

athena: trust me, i’m sure he’d love to talk about himself.

telemachus: yeah, i’ve got so much to ask him!

telemachus: not just about himself, but how he and my father came to be such good friends!

athena: *laughing to herself as she knows the truth of said friendship*

athena: oh i too would like to know…

athena: *has a thought* little wolf, you’re helping your mother and the palace servants plan everything for tomorrow, correct?

telemachus: yeah i am!

telemachus: actually, i probably should go and find mother to discuss things.

athena: *gently holds his arm before he can run off* before you go, i believe it would be best if we sat your father and my uncle right next to each other don’t you think?

athena: i normally know your mother and father would sit together as king and queen, but this is a family dinner, is it not?

athena: *grins* friends should be with friends.

telemachus: *holds hand up for a high five* that sounds like a great idea athena! that means you’re next to me, right?

athena: *hive fives and then smiles at telemachus* of course.

telemachus: *smiling back* okay, i’ll go and let mother know!

telemachus: *waves before heading into the palace* bye ‘thena!

athena: *waves back* goodbye telemachus.

athena: *now to herself* oh tomorrow will be fun indeed.

[hyperfixating-rn-brb]

rereading tsoa and remembering that I can always be more obsessed with my gf because odysseus is out here setting the bar

[bringbackmaes14]

My favorite moments from the Epic: The Musical Ithaca Saga Premiere Livestream (in no particular order):

Armando and Jay doing the macarena during Luck Runs Out

Also during Luck Runs Out when Odysseus says "let me pull you aside then I need to talk to you in private" and Jay pulled Armando to the side of the room in a very silly flirty manner and then immediately pretended to smack the shit out of him

Talya and Jay swapping lip sync roles during There Are Other Ways

Troy standing on the table and twerking during Dangerous

Everyone pretending to row during Full Speed Ahead

Luke acting like the cyclops during the cyclops saga, and reprising the role during Circe and Odysseus' fight in Done For

Mason and Jay ballroom dancing during No Longer You

Jay and his mom swaying together during Anticlea's part of The Underworld

Jay's dad messing up lip syncing Hephaestus' part of God Games and laughing about it

During Legendary, Mico is clearly on screen lip syncing as Telemachus but Jay keeps typing in chat "Where's Mico?" And "Mico it sucks we couldn't get you here"

Jay trying to hold Mico in his lap during Just A Man

Steven Rodriguez' cast message between the showing of the Vengeance Saga and the Ithaca Saga

Jay wearing ten billion pairs of glasses during Just a Man and then later in chat saying that whenever he wears glasses that means he's being serious (so obviously we can interpret that Just a Man was super serious)

During Get In the Water Mason kept trying to hand Jay a tiny fork clearly trying to mime Poseidon's trident but then it also seemed like he hadn't actually watched the Six Hundred Strike animatic before because he never ended up handing the fork to Jay and his jaw dropped when Odysseus started stabbing Poseidon, at which point Jay picked up Mason's tiny fork off the table and mimed stabbing Poseidon, much to Mason's amusement

KJ jumping around on and crawling over the couch attacking random people with pillows during Scylla

So many viewers spamming the chat with pancake emojis during Survive

Mason pretending to turn into a pig during Puppeteer

Luke pretending to be the magical boar during Warrior of the Mind

JP pretending to be the cow during Mutiny

The grocery bag that they filled with air and tied up and threw around as "the wind bag" during Keep Your Friends Close and Dangerous

Jay and Luke actually pretending to game as Telemachus and Antinous during Little Wolf with what seemed to be switch controllers

The cast using one of said switch controllers as a stand in for the baby in The Horse and The Infant

Everyone applauding at the end of Charybdis when Odysseus is singing "Penelope" but then going "wait wait" and freaking out when Odysseus starts going backwards. Then Get in the Water started and Poseidon said "There you are. Coward." and Jay yelled "IT'S STEVEN!!!!!" and everyone cheered

Jay just absolutely tackling Mico in a hug at the climax of I Can't Help But Wonder

The entire cast trying to be excited and hyped at the end of the stream while saying goodbye/thank you but all of them had been crying/sobbing through the last two beautiful songs so they all just were wiping their eyes and noses and some of them just could not pull it together enough to look at the camera (looking at Luke Holt and Earle Gresham Jr. affectionately) so it was a very emotional excited goodbye

[wukyma]

can you draw ody and polites hugging

please i am delusional and i dont believe polites died hes still alive trust me please

OdyPoli? From me? Naaah, you must be seeing things

Anyway, the first one is Iliad times, second is them too but young (I just know Odysseus was a troublemaker 💥)

This ⬇️ was drawn purely to heal my soul, but I thought... why not share? :D Perimedes is too stubborn and misses out on good things :V

And don't even get me started on these guys' relationships because I'll yap

Answered some asks under the cut!

Thank you SM!! Here's your guy! As for Poseidon, i wanna do a redesign of him so the fish will be in full glory but later hehe (and I like how you blended the colors, Axel!)

[angelyuji]

here me out... yandere nolan x yandere debbie x reader... this was kinda inspired by a dream and also a fanfic i read about odysseus x penelope x reader (that was fluff tho lol)

threesome with two bad bitches…. (gender neutral headcanons, most of the dialogue parts are f!reader tho sawwy ☹)

tw // kidnapping, implied drugging, sex mentioned, f!reader in dialouge, nolan is an enabler and a manipulator, debbie is down bad for u

18+!!!!!!!!!!! MINORS DNI!!!!!!!!!!!!!

listen… put me in a room with nolan and debbie, one of us coming out pregnant (nolan)

anyway let me cook (might cook odypenreader fanfics next idk im very odyssey/epic-brained rn)

nolan and debbie are very freaky as a couple, they get down and dirty bro

they’re kinky and freaky and theyre down to do anything

they met you at a bar during a date and they’re like “ohh theyre cute” and at first it really was just a kink thing, debbie likes making out with nolan as you go down on her and nolan likes making out with debbie as he pounds the shit out of you

sometimes debbie puts on a strap and you’ve got the both of them fucking the shit out of you and it’s great

sorry im freak gooner i want debbie and nolan to split me like a goddamn kitkat bar

anyway, it really was just sex at first

then it starts being more, with them inviting you on their dates or just inviting you over to spend time with them

they’re constantly touching you, not even in a sexual way,  but like hugging and kissing

debbie and nolan are highkey obsessed with you

nolan brings it up first tho

“so… about that girl…”

“(y/n).” debbie bumps her hips against his, continuing to cook as nolan dices.

“right, (y/n).” nolan puts down the knife, turning to look at debbie. she stop stirring to look back, a small smile resting on her face. “she’s cute, isn’t she.” nolan’s eyes search his wife’s face. “we have fun with her, right?”

debbie smiles, putting a hand on her husband’s bicep, “yeah, i like her too, nolan.” she turns back to cook, “we can bring it up to her tonight over dinner.”

nolan hugs debbie from behind, “you know exactly what’s on my mind, woman.” he presses a kiss to her neck.

debbie laughs, “probably because it’s on my mind too.”

that isn’t to say that debbie isn’t into you either, she’s really into you too but nolan is more forward than her

they invite you for dinner and you guys are chill, you’re still under the impression that this whole thing is just for fun. you’re not going to get into a relationship with a married couple, but sex is fine cuz yk… its sex

so when they bring it up to you, saying how they’re both into you and they want to give it a shot, you’re like…. um no lol

which pisses nolan off and makes debbie sad :(((( (why would u do that FAWK YOU)

they don’t say anything at first tho, they’re like “oh! um. fine. ig.” the mood is killed tho so ur like lemme leave and then debbie and nolan have a conversation.

“i guess we can’t make her be with us.” debbie laughs, weakly. “i don’t know, i guess i thought she felt the same as us.” debbie continues to ramble and nolan sits down next to her, “i’m so embarrassed, nolan.” she rests her head on his shoulder.

“i was there too. if im not embarrassed, why are you?” he presses a kiss to her forehead and she sighs. a moment of silence passes before nolan speaks up again, “debbie, we could make her be with us. it wouldn’t take much.” debbie stiffens.

“nolan…”

“we like her.” nolan sneaks an arm around her waist, “and she likes us too. we just have to help her realize it.”

nolan and debbie are patient people. debbie loves nolan, so she trusts him. so if it means kidnapping you and stockholm syndroming you into loving them… i mean…

you scream into your gag, but no one comes to save you. you rest your head against the wall, exhausted. you had been trapped in their basement for the last couple days, chained to a bed, screaming till you fell asleep. you were freezing, itchy, hungry, and to make matters worse, your throat hurt. you let yourself rest, no amount of screaming was going to save you. after a couple minutes, you hear the door creak open. two sets of feet quietly come downstairs. “are you done?” nolan looks bored and debbie smacks his arm.

“are you alright, sweetheart?” she bends down to cup your cheek. you lean into the warmth of her hand. “we wanted to come down here earlier, but we were worried your… unrest… would upset mark.” she looks at you, eyes full of worry. you mumble into your gag. debbie moves to pull it, but nolan makes a noise of complaint.

“she’s not ready yet.” he stands with his arms crossed, menacing.

debbie rolls her eyes, “she’ll be good, nolan. have faith in our girl.” she looks at you, “you’ll be good, right?” you nod. she pulls the wet gag off of you.

“please, debbie, let me go. i-i don’t know why you guys are doing this, but-” your throat burns and you cough. debbie coos, gesturing to nolan for something. he hands her a glass of water. she helps you drink, tilting the glass. she pets your hair as you greedily gulp down water, some of it spilling down the sides of your mouth. nolan bends down, gently wiping your mouth with his thumb. debbie smiles, using her sweater to dry your tears.

“you’re not understanding, (y/n). we love you.” nolan’s thumb presses against your lips.  

debbie pets your hair, “we really only want you to love us back.”

[laritamiauu]

maybe ill color this later BUT GOD

everytime i imagine Poseidon finding Polyphemus crying after Odysseus blinded him i can only think about arcane episode 3 ending with Silco and Powder

IT'S JUST THEM OKAY LET ME BE

did Poseidon made himself bigger just to hug his giant son? of couse he did, what kind of father do you think he is

[jackiepackiee]

hi there! I was wondering if you could do some hcs about telemachus x reader where she’s a demigod daughter of poseidon? And shes not close with her dad at all bc he’s absent n everything but hes just sorta nervous? Or maybe he isnt nervous but when ody gets back he sorta freaks out? Whatever works for you hun xx

Telemachus x Poseidon Daughter! Reader

An- apologies, I’m not too proud of this one… if you want anything else about this just ask! @sunshinewhosketches

I’d say pretty confidently there are three levels of timespans of your relationship

That being meeting, dating before his dad returns, and after Odysseus’ return

Meeting

Now Telemachus is no strangers to gods. He’s a bit of a nerd… studying all the great tales of the sky, ocean, underworld, etc

And obviously he is close with Athena, he’d consider her one of the closest people in his life

But that’s the only god he really knows as in a personal way, not to mention Athena came to him so he wasn’t actively trying to win over anyone

That being said, it’s most likely that he meets you through Athena

One day you overheard the goddess of war and wisdom speaking of her new mentee with Hermes and you were more than interested

It’s not often that she speaks so fondly of anyone, especially men, so this boy had to be good!

Anyways, it’s not like you knew of his father yet (it’s likely during this time you first hear of him that Poseidon and Odysseus are having their fights)

So you followed Athena one day to meet the boy, just planning to watch from afar

As a demigod you couldn’t exactly make yourself invisible like true gods, so you hid in the water in one of the beach pools of Ithaca while he trained

But he’s very intelligent and soon sees you poking up from the rocks at the waters edge

Now he’s incredibly flustered, not knowing who you are or your intentions

So Athena has to tell him to calm down before you can talk

Sure, she’s against romance, but it wouldn’t hurt for her warrior to have a demigod on his side

And when he finds out your Poseidon’s daughter?

Yeah, he’s shocked

Not because he’s scared, but because “gods are such strong beings supposed to be so beautiful?!?”

You’re there, skin sparkling from the water looking like you emerged from the depths of the ocean

He’s immediately very polite, not daring to say anything to offend you

After all, your father is known for drowning his enemies for a small wrongdoing

But he sees your face and can’t bring himself to be anything but a stuttering mess who blushes lightly

Before Odysseus

When you two are dating things are more or less… crazy

The most obvious issue is the suitors

Now he’s tempted to say to them that, “yeah, I’m dating a demigod so don’t mess with them or my mother”

But he’s no idiot

He knows this would put you in danger, so instead you two usually meet at the rivers and beaches of Ithaca

Anyways, he loves getting out of the palace and exploring his kingdom with you

Although he knows you’d protect him, he likes to be the one protecting you

He feels strong knowing a literal demigod is trusting him with their safety

Your favorite pass time together is sailing, since he isn’t afraid of you getting caught in the water because he knows you can swim well lol

He looks so so so good with slightly wet hair, muscular arms shown off as he hums lowly and pulls at the ropes of the ship

But don’t tell him that! He’ll blush and lie that it’s a bad sunburn

Now he doesn’t know of his father and your fathers feud, so you two have little to fear

Well… kinda

He’s never known a demigod, nevertheless been in love with the daughter of an incredibly dangerous god

So he’s extra polite to you (he would be anyways, because he loves you) and never goes into the water without you

I’m not going to assume what type of abilities you have, but whatever it be he’s very very proud

When you show him he looks at you in awe before hugging you like an excited little kid

“Do it again!” Yeah, who can say no to him?

You two mainly share gentle kisses after long days of adventures, and you always splash him with some water when you get shy from his affection

After Odysseus

Definition of… “oh sh-“

Now Odysseus is a kind man, despite his change after his odyssey

So he won’t be rude to you

In fact he likely won’t know for a while since… everyone has a lifetime of catching up to do

So it isn’t until you see Telemachus come into your bedroom with a panicked expression that issues arise

Now he’s a sweet sweet boy, and he lies

He tells you he’s just feeling ill and needs to lie down

In actuality his dad was telling him about his journey and started talking about the absolute hatred him and Poseidon had for each other

Telemachus goes pale.

He’s so scared two of the people he loves most won’t get along!

So he doesn’t tell you while he figures it out

And by figuring it out I mean having a “tummy ache” because he’s so nervous

To be fair he didn’t know you didn’t care for your dad as you never brought him up

It was a touchy subject for both of you, but now that he has his dad he’s aware of how quiet you are on the subject

Everything is okay to him until he sees you and his dad talking while you help him fix a boat by going underwater and poor bby let’s the secrets fly

Since he sees you underwater he assumes his dad knows

“I’m so sorry father! I know you hate Poseidon but she’s so lovely and I’m not willing to give her up even if you have fought him.”

Which just confuses the two of you until you look at one another and realize

Now both you and Odysseus love Telemachus, and don’t like Poseidon, so what is there to fight about?

Telemachus just holds your hand, waiting for his fathers reaction

But all he does is nod and carry on

To be fair, he owes you for protecting his family while he’s been gone

After that Telemachus is less nervous

Now the only thing that gets him going in a flustered stutter is when his mom says “I’ve never thought you’d marry a demigod” and I maid squeals “when is the wedding”

No, Poseidon and Odysseus aren’t going to get along for your sake

[that-weird-thing-in-the-woods]

Sup I’m back to feed you gremlins 

🏺⚔️💗Aphrodite Danny and Ares Phantom💗⚔️🏺

So if you’re been here long enough you’ll realize this as one of my first ever au and for some of my newer readers I’ll explain but before I do I just have to say Danny and Phantom are two very different people and now I can explain let’s go

After a few months after Danny being ‘Phantom’ Danny starts to feel… protective of himself???  Which is weird but ok it’s probably his imagination but over the course of a few weeks it gets weirder not bad weird but weird nonetheless like when he goes ghost it feels like he’s not really the one in control of his body and sometimes when the other ghosts get to rough with him he can hear a voice yell but not really being able to tell what its saying and Danny like Danny do is just kinda ignoring all this stuff because it feels nice..? Like being in a protective hug and knowing the person hugging you will kill for you if it makes you happy and all is well

and good until his parents see him transformed in to phantom they knock him out and bring him to their lab and after a few weeks jazz finds out what is happening ( Maddie and Jack told her that they had Danny go to something I didn’t really know what they would say ) And get him out of his restraints and turns on the portal or well try’s to because at that moment Maddie and Jack and a whole fight goes on well Danny is trying to get the portal working and Maddie unfortunately gets a good shot at Danny as he turns it on and causing him to get thrown in and it makes the portal ( that has enough energy to take out this universe ) and it does that exact thing it takes out Danny OG universe (✨ANGST✨ and not that Danny knows that right now ) considering Danny is knocked TF out again but this time it feels different like he unconsciously knows whatever is holding him will protect him with their whole core….

And Danny wakes up a few weeks later [ he really needs to stop passing out it’s starting to get annoying ] and looks around the room? Well it looks like a room it’s big and spacious it also looks a Greek temple bedroom with large marble pillars that indicate windows { you get the image} and now that Danny looks around he sees that his laying on a frankly to big bed and it has a large canopy with fabric as Danny looks around someone enters the room and leans against the wall and looks at Danny with a soft smile and as Danny looks in their direction he sees…Phantom but he looks different he’s wearing Greek style armor [and looking HOT in Danny’s eyes so he’s a blushing mess for a hot minute] and as he makes eye contact with Phantom it feels like he and Danny have known each other for as long as they’ve existed and a few shenanigans happen and would you look that that a couple who are deeply in love with each other.

And for what Danny and Phantom are they are the New Ancients of Love and Protection respectively {yes I’ve decided to change Danny to the Ancient of love}

And Now to what inspired this thing in the first place and that would be the God Games song it goes to hard anyway if you listened to it you can tell Athena has to convince the gods to let odysseus go and I thought “ what if I turned this into dc X dp and what tf is this??” Proceeds Down the rabbit hole that is pitch pearl and now you all have this word vomit I call a post and before I ramble even more let’s get to the DC part before this gets to long

Now for the DC part someone gets on the bad side of one of the Ancients and gets got and now the JL has to convince some of the Ancients you know like ( clockwork, frostbite, pandora etc) and of course Danny and phantom are there as the Aphrodite and ares part of the song. And that’s all I can think of the DC first the moment now on to the details of Danny and Phantom

For Danny I’m thinking something like this

Looking all majestic and shit ( also just imagine that his hair is black)

Also just a pic of phantom and Danny

They have the healthiest relationship you’ll ever see

And also if you want to make this as mom Danny you can have Dani and Dan as Phobos and Deimos just ima thought { forgot to add this in the beginning }

Anyway I hope you guys like this { P.S will add more if I feel like it} byeeee

[xfilesinamajor]

EURYLOCHUS: “Hey Captain, I’m worried about how since we got that bag you’ve…you know…stopped sleeping? I was thinking maybe I should take a turn so you can…Captain? Hello?”

ODYSSEUS: (turns to him excitedly) “Penelope?”

EURYLOCHUS: (taking a step back) “Um, no, sir, it’s just me.” (looks closer) “By the Gods, man, you look awful!”

ODYSSEUS: (hallucinating like no tomorrow) “I can’t wait to make some new memories!”

EURYLOCHUS: “Yeah, we’re all excited to get home. Listen. Captain. You really need some sleep.”

ODYSSEUS: “Telemachus!” (tries to hug him)

EURYLOCHUS: (dodges) “Captain, can you even hear me right now?”

ODYSSEUS: “Time for me to be the father I never was.”

EURYLOCHUS: “Captain! Snap out of it!”

ODYSSEUS: “Why are my eyes and my heart and my soul so heavy?”

EURYLOCHUS: “Because you haven’t slept in nine days. That’s it, this is ridiculous. I’ll watch the bag, you go rest.”

ODYSSEUS: “I keep on trying to embrace you both, why won’t you let me?”

EURYLOCHUS: (has an idea, in a falsetto) “You need to come to bed, Odysseus, love.” (slips an arm under his shoulder)

ODYSSEUS: (raving) “So much has changed, but I’m the same.” (flinging his arms around EURYLOCHUS)

(A group of MEN sneaks behind them, reaching for the bag while they’re distracted.)

EURYLOCHUS: (trying to lead ODYSSEUS to a cot) “Uh-huh, of course you are you, come on now.”

(MEN grab the bag and huddle excitedly around it)

EURYLOCHUS: “Seriously, Captain, you should have shared watch duties from the start. Nine days without sleep? Are you nuts?”

ODYSSEUS: (muttering incoherently) “I’m the same…”

(The STORM suddenly rages)

[zarnzarn]

the angsty prequel to this (ik there's plotholes now but shh I'll fix it in a bit) that i accidentally made after getting possessed and writing for 3 hours straight for what was supposed to be a short hc post jfc. angst ahead (brain damage talk, temporary mcd), but there's a happy ending!

-

zeus saying he's going to make athena's "kingdom fall" doesn't make sense unless you consider. the lightning bolt she takes to the face gives her brain damage.

no one notices at first. Athena brushes it all off, goes to odysseus, oversees their long-awaited reunion. stays in their house after- because it's not like they'll be around forever, after all. and she can do her work just as well from down here- there's no need, to be honest, to go back to Mount Olympus. anyone who needs her comes to Ithaka, and she's content, for the first time in a very, very long time.

and then one day odysseus comes across her seizing on the floor.

she doesn't know the details of what happened- only remembers the first terrified scream of horror, remembers warm hands on her face and being carried to a bed, remembers Penelope's voice shaking as she drags a wet cloth across her forehead. comes to confused and mute minutes later, wandering around and stumbling into walls, unresponsive to the voices begging her to stop, to rest.

finally, she reaches a familiar room with a familiar face, and she touches Telemachus on the cheek lightly before collapsing onto the nearest chair. panicked voices chatter above her and calloused palms lift her face up to meet her own grey eyes, worried and scared, and it finally dawns on her that something has gone terribly wrong.

(later she will find out odysseus held her and sobbed the whole night, knowing more than anyone else what had happened to her and what it meant; he'd taken the throne at thirteen for the same reason, after all)

(later she will find out that penelope wrote to every ally they had within the hour for healers and literature; letting more than half their cleverly planned schemes fall through in exchange for it as she begged)

(later, she will find out that telemachus went running barefoot through the market, banging on doors and shouting for the healers and making the alarmed roused villagers sing prayers for her even though it was the middle of the night)

she recovers under the attention; court abandoned in favour of emergency, odysseus proclaims when he bullies her into placing her head in his lap so he can massage her aching head, not having left her side for six straight days in a row. penelope comes in every few hours, feeding her the olives from the wedding bed she lies in, unable to move, and brushes out her hair. telemachus barely shows during the days, but he comes in every evening without fail, curling up by her side and hugging her tight.

but it happens again. and again and again, and each time she regains consciousness in one of the royal family's arms, no matter where she was at the time. she never remembers it, only has the disgusting taste in her mouth and dried spit on her chin and tears in the eyes of those around her to know it happened.

she loses time as well- has no idea how long it's been happening until she becomes aware of the sound of Odysseus' calm, steady voice dragging her out of a trance, gentle fingers tracing her palm as they stand next to an unassuming tapestry. she'll be walking one moment and be lost to everything around her the next, staring at nothing.

Odysseus has done this all before, she realises one day, when he seamlessly pulls her out of another relapse and ropes her into a cheerful, easy conversation about goats that Athena keeps having stilted replies to.

"Do you know how to do this because-" She murmurs, and his eyes go wide and then grieving.

"Yes," He murmurs sadly, and Athena feels guilt settle in her belly at making him go through this again. He massages at her temples, and she closes her eyes, listening to the smile in his voice. "But there is no hardship, Pallas Athena. The sadness is that you have to go through this, not for the taking care of a cherished one."

"And anyways, Laertes suffered madness in the wake of a terrible fever and the stress of a famine," Penelope says without looking up from the newest scrolls they'd received. Athena feels the guilt worsen at the sleep bags under her eyes, when she knew the reason and just didn't have the courage to- "Your sudden collapses could be due to this one witch curse we found, or perhaps a-"

"It was Zeus."

The room falls silent as two heads slowly turn to look at her.

"What?" Odysseus says quietly, with barely withheld rage.

Athena takes a shuddering breath. "I am sorry, my Penelope, that I didn't have the courage to tell you before." Penelope leaves the desk to cross the room to her, and Athena feels tears prick at her eyes as the queen takes her hand. "But when I petitioned the court of Olympus, Zeus did not take kindly to everyone agreeing to me over him- and such was his punishment. To make-"

Her breath hitches in a sob and she notes with surprise that she's crying. Penelope and Odysseus are both crying with her, staring down in horror.

"To make my kingdom fall, he said," Athena whispers, shoulders jerking oddly as she forces it out, acknowledges what he'd done. "But my kingdom is the mind and-"

Odysseus lets out an animal cry of sorrow and descends on her, pulling her to his chest as she breaks down into shivering tears, the fear running through her as she realises the scale, the enormity of the consequences. Penelope stands by the bed and trembles with anger for a full minute, before she crumples too, crawling into their bed and pressing Athena tight between them.

"I forget things," She confesses in a whisper, shaking. "I blank out during fights, cannot recall certain strategies- I- I do not know how much worse-"

"Easy, darling, easy," Penelope whispers in a rush, stroking her face. Odysseus really is so lucky to have her as a wife, she thinks disjointedly, pressing into the gentleness. "Don't say that. It won't get worse."

"And even if it does," Odysseus continues, pressing a kiss to her cheek, where the lichtenberg scars cross her right eye, to her brow. "We will write down everything you know, copy it a hundred times and keep it safe. So you will never forget."

"And we will find you a Lytrakas owl, to keep you safe when we are no longer here to do it," Penelope murmurs, lips brushing Athena's neck as she speaks. She relaxes finally under the combined reassurances, at the solutions and possibilities that would work, finding a content she has never achieved before in their embrace. "We will keep you safe, our goddess."

And they do. When she teaches the children of Ithaka sparring, at least one of them is there, ready to intervene smoothly if they sense something wrong. They make the books they promised her, and she sends it to her realm, so she doesn't lose them. They cannot come with her when she has to travel- she wouldn't ask it of any of them- but Telemachus is always humming a hymn when she's away so she remembers where to return. When she dissociates in the middle of talking, Penelope guides her over to the loom so she can weave until she feels better, muscle memory kicking in enough for it to help the gradual lift of the fog.

Odysseus always somehow knows when she's about to have a seizure, in the forty years after that they spend together. In all her time in Ithaka, she never woke up from one without the familiar gravely cadence of Odysseus singing under his breath above her, head in his lap and Telemachus perched on her thighs or Penelope by her shoulders.

-

But it can't last forever.

Odysseus kicks her out of the room when he dies, Penelope's breath already slowing on the bed behind him, peaceful in the way that means she won't survive the night. They all know Odysseus will go with her, and Athena feels herself tremble as Odysseus gently guides her outside.

"You are not watching us pass," He tells her firmly, as she opens her mouth to scream at him. He's an old man now, but his eyes are the same, and the different versions of him flash in front of her eyes as he gives her a crooked smile. "I will not have you watch, are you crazy?"

"Odysseus," She chokes out, gripping tight onto her spear.

"My beautiful, wonderful goddess," Odysseus murmurs adoringly, leaning up to press their foreheads together. She sobs. "Thank you. For everything. And know-" His breath hitches. "-know that, for the rest of your existence, remember it- that you were loved."

"How can I ever forget?" She smiles back through the tears. "I will never be the same."

"My Athene," He whispers, swaying them back and forth. She closes her eyes, trembling, and pulls him into their last embrace, last touch.

"You will always be my favourite," She confesses, half-laugh, half-sob.

Odysseus smirks at that, a trace of smugness, then turns to a sobbing, chuckling Telemachus, who's also been kicked out, pulls them both in a hug. "We will meet again, my son," he murmurs. "But Penelope is waiting for me now. Goodnight."

He closes the door, two bright last flashes of smiles aimed at them as it shuts and Athena and Telemachus both fall to pieces.

Telemachus takes twice the care of her than his parents did, somehow juggling ruling the kingdom and spending as much time as he can with her as he can. His wife is sly and mischievous, more fox than owl- but Athena loves her too, just as she loves their children. Telemachus goes with a smile on his face and an arrow in his heart, having taken an arrow for someone else, holding Athena's hand as he laughs for the last time.

It is horrible and she wanders around desolately for days, grieving. But then she sees bright eyes spying on her from behind a bush, carefully watching her to see if she's alright and Athena smiles and goes back to continue the legacy.

-

For 500 years, Ithaka does not fall- when it does, she makes sure the grey-eyed children all make it off the island, scattering on the mainland as at last, her job is done.

Which means there is nothing left for her here, and it is time to go back to Mount Olympus.

She's met with teasing quips and pointed comments, but general ignorance, no one bothering to ask where she was. After almost six hundred years of care, it feels untethering and strange, but the grief of losing Ithaka makes her relieved for it, even if she has to lie down sometimes, press her face into the roots of the olive tree scattered about in her realm and pretend there are three sets of hands in her hair, a familiar voice humming above her.

How did you do it, she wants to ask Penelope. How did you survive knowing what you were missing, she wants to ask Odysseus. Will you sit with me one last time, she wants to ask Telemachus.

Eventually, she can no longer bear the quiet, and one evening she sets out and crosses the pantheon floor to go gently sit down in Apollo's room.

Artemis is there, slouched on the floor with mud in her hair and an arrow in her eye as Apollo chides her. They both look up when she comes in, bowing and worriedly asking if something was wrong.

"Nothing," she says, ignoring the pang of sadness that that would be the only reason she was here. But the idea of leaving back to the books written in Odysseus' horrible chickenscratch penmanship is worse, and she takes a tentative seat in the corner. "Continue your work."

They do so hesitantly, conversation slower and interspersed with bouts of asking her if she wanted ambrosia or a new dish or something while she was here. She declines.

She feels awkwardness radiating off all three of them as she leaves an hour later, but it doesn't stop her from coming back again, stubborn. She will hold a conversation this time- it has been two decades since Ithaka, but that is nothing to her, and she cannot have forgotten how so soon.

Apollo seems to have prepared for the same thing this time, lighting up with a pleased grin like he wasn't sure she would come. "Enter!" He says cheerfully. "Come here, give me your wisdom on this piece I've been composing- I know, I know, owls are not songbirds, but just see if you can help, it's driving me mad-"

Athena closes her mouth and listens to the melody quietly. Thinks about how Telemachus' third daughter would have spun it, added her Ithakan folk style to it, interspersed the perfection with carefree, imperfect beats.

"May I?" She asks, holding her hands out, and Apollo's mouth drops, even as he scrambles to hand her the lyre. She concentrates, trying to pull the melody out from the strings. "Here," she says, manifesting her spear and shield and handing it to an increasingly wild-eyed Apollo. "Bang them together. Create a tempo."

They create something of a passing song in the next few hours until Athena's headache makes its way to the forefront and she has to retreat. Apollo accompanies her across the floor to her room, pressing herbs onto her even as he chatters a mile a minute, excitedly going on and on about new ideas and begging Athena to come by again. She smiles, briefly, and promises to return when she is free, going back to her pallet under the olive trees.

(She cannot bear to sleep anywhere else.)

The next day, Apollo is busy creating new songs and she knows better than to disturb him. She turns and goes to his twin's realm instead, shedding her armour for bark and a bow. Artemis and her women look as equally terrified as Apollo did at the start, looking at her like she's lost her mind, but they all straighten up when Athena raises an eyebrow and silently descend on the night.

"You must teach me!" Artemis enthuses at the end of it. She does not do anything other than scowl often, but she looks more like her twin than ever now, as she beams up at her. "I never knew there were so many strategies, how much smoother-"

"Peace," Athena chuckles, amused. "I will teach you, sister. Next fortnight?"

"Aye," Artemis says, hair matted and covered in filth, eyes sparkling.

"Here," Athena says, taking out her own ribbon- one of the many she has from Penelope, braided in her hair from all those years ago- and turns Artemis around to tie her mess of a mane out of her eyes. "Do not impede your vision in the name of wildness."

"Okay," Artemis squeaks quietly, and Athena snorts and squeezes her shoulder as she departs.

She sits in Aephastus' forge next, watching him create weapon after weapon, with the best of each round being blessed onto a blacksmith in the mortal world.

"Come to see if my work is up to par, Pallas Athena?" Aephastus says self-deprecatingly, a flash of resigned hurt in his eyes.

"No. I wish to learn," Athena decides suddenly, pushing herself up and removing her helmet at the blast of heat that comes from the forge as she nears. "It is shameful, I think, that I know not how my own tools are made."

Aephastus stares at her with surprise, then his kind eyes crinkle into a smile. "Only if you let me replace that," He nods to her admittedly rather dented helmet. "I have been wanting to fix your armour to something respectable for centuries."

Athena laughs.

Of course, once it is done, she has to use it. It fills her with excitement she had almost forgotten, the idea of a good, difficult spar, and she barges into Aphrodite's realm and bangs on the edge of the bed with her new spear, making the occupants screech and jump in fright.

"Good evening," She nods at Aphrodite, who looks to the side and then back at her as if she'll find an explanation somehow, stunned. She turns to her brother, and tries on a grin. "Ares, my brother. Would you care to spar? Aephastus has gifted me this new set and I find myself eager to test it out."

"...Are you fucking possessed?" Ares asks her, flabbergasted, and she clicks her tongue and smacks him upside the head.

"Yes or no?" She says, crossing her hands.

"Y- yes, yes!" Ares blurts out, straightening up. He looks something approaching disbelieving excitement, a small, tentative grin appearing on his face. "You are... not joking, right?"

"Do I look like I joke?" Athena jokes, smiling. Ruffles his hair in a bout of fondness. "You are the only one who will actually give me a good fight, as erratic as you are. I look forward to it."

"What did I FUCKING MISS?" Aphrodite shrieks after her as she goes. "Wha- Athena, get back here, you better have not fallen in love while I wasn't looking-!"

But Athena's not ready to face Aphrodite just yet, so she takes advantage of their height difference and strides back to her realm as her sister chases her, shouting.

The next day, they meet in the arena, and Athena feels herself freeze up as soon as she steps in. Sees the lightning scorch marks on the ground she had almost forgotten, and cannot move.

"ATHENA!" Ares booms, snapping her out of it. "TODAY YOU WILL MEET YOUR DEFEAT AT MY HANDS AT LAST!"

"WHY ARE YOU SO ANNOYING," She shouts back automatically, and Ares bursts out in a peal of laughter, surprised out of him. She knows he has three aspects- the boyish glory-seeker, the soldier filled with bloodlust, the hardened warrior- but Athena thinks the first one suits him best.

He readjusts his grip on his sword and grins. "Begin!"

-

She continues this, finding a strange happiness she never had before in meeting all the other gods, major and minor. She'd never known how intimidated they all were by her, but they open up readily enough, bringing her peace for a little while as she sits with them.

(She avoids Aphrodite, who is getting increasingly more frazzled by the day as she fails to find a hidden lover that does not exist and then switches to trying to find Athena a companion when it is clear that there is no one, in a comic game of chase around the realms that is a great source of amusement to everyone else.

She avoids Hermes too, because it hurts too much to see him. But she leaves him a book of riddles once in a while, when he's away, and he always takes it.)

Hera walks in her room one day, with her train of peacocks and attendants.

"God-Queen," Athena bows, setting her weaving down.

"Athena," Hera nods back. "I hear you have been visiting your siblings."

Athena nods, confused. "Yes?"

Hera studies her and Athena shifts, wondering what she's seeing. "The Pantheon is no longer silent, you know. The Olympians meet in the court almost every day, sharing their gifts with each other. Something I have found out is because of you."

Athena has no idea where this is going.

Hera shifts closer, opening her mouth to say something, then her eyes catch on the weaving, widening in shock. "What is that?"

Athena looks down, also unaware of what exactly she'd made. Then her heart skips a beat in fear.

"No, no, no, no," Athena snaps to her feet, shaking her hands out in dismissal, trying to stop the impending damage. "This is not what you think it is."

Hera's eyes are getting wider and wider, a manic grin on her face. "Athena! A wedding veil? Do you-"

"No!" Athena interrupts. "No, Hera, it's nothing like that, please-"

"Nonsense!" Hera says, grabbing it from her and holding it to the light, grinning wider than Athena has seen from her in years. "You must have made it for a reason. Do not worry daughter, I know you are shy, I will handle it all."

"Hera, it really is not like that!" She pleads. "I was simply weaving- I made a fisherman's garb the other day as well, it does not mean I want to get out into the sea!"

"Have you made the rest of the outfit as well?" Hera says excitedly, ignoring her as she moves to the wardrobe to rifle through. "Oh, Athena, how beautiful! Is this what you would like to wear?"

She pulls out a men's wedding outfit and Athena stops protesting to stare in disbelief. When had she made that?

"I must go announce this to the others," Hera squeals, bangles jangling. "Oh, I had almost given up on you, dear, but you have made me so happy today! I would have arranged something for you so long ago, why didn't you tell me you were interested?"

"Because I am not," She groans, pulling her hands down over her face. "Hera, please, I do not even have anyone-"

"Easily remedied," Hera dismisses her with the wave of a hand as she strides off. "Oh Aphrodite, you won't believe what I just found in your sister's closet! Look!"

A deafening din rises from the crowd there and Athena is forced to tackle Hera to the ground.

She laughs, surprisingly, and tosses the outfit over to Aphrodite, who snatches it up with a scream of excitement. Athena is immediately flanked by a crowd of screaming gods, each talking over the other, and Athena has to bellow at them all for two hours before the misunderstanding is cleared.

"Oh, but you really have outdone yourself with this one," Aphrodite gushes appreciatively as she lands next to a panting Athena. She turns it back and forth. "So soft, and such patterns! The Ithakan style, yes?"

Then her smile drops like a stone as she hears her own words and freezes, and Athena's stomach swoops, heart skipping a beat as she stops breathing. Aphrodite turns to her slowly, cold horror in her eyes, realisation solidifying at the terrified, raw, pained expression on Athena's face.

"The Ithakan style," She repeats in a whisper, horrified grief creeping into her voice. "Athena-"

Athena snatches the outfit from her and closes herself off in her realm, breathing hard in the dim blue light of the olive tree orchard. She suddenly realises she's holding the robes against her chest and unfolds it hurriedly to look at them.

It is the Ithakan style. It is, in fact, a mix of Penelope's and Odysseus' wedding outfits, in her size.

She throws it into a trunk and screams.

-

She does not know if Aphrodite tells Hera, but the latter does not stop coming by every day to pester her for details of an imaginary wedding.

So now she has three gods to avoid.

-

But of course, the effects of her affliction cannot be hidden forever. She gets up one day from the Pantheon floor to retrieve the threads from her room to be used in the game they are playing, and feels the room swim in a familiar, hated manner, and she only has a moment to feel dread before she tilts sideways and falls.

When she regains consciousness, she feels for a moment the delicate hands on her cheeks, the weight of a young man on her belly, the gravely singing above her- and then it dissipates and she becomes aware of shouting all around her.

"Can you hear me? Athena, can you hear me?" Hera says, shaking her. "WILL SOMEONE FIND APOLLO?"

Athena moans and pushes off the hands on her body, bruising in their panic. She pushes herself up, ignoring the dizziness. "Do not bother."

"Athena, what on Gaia was that?" Ares demands, ashen. "Have I injured you? What-"

"It is of no concern," Athena snaps, getting to her feet and glaring at them, mortification blazing through her. "All I need is rest. Goodnight."

They shout after her, but she's already at her room, closing the shields back up. It nearly knocks her out again to do so, and she barely drags herself to her bed before she collapses.

"What are you staring at?" Hypnos asks her the next day, confused. Athena blinks and realizes she's standing between the thrones, facing an odd patch of wall and losing time.

"Nothing," She sighs, and hefts her spear and walks away.

She fends off all other questions, curt and snapping, and the others uneasily let it go. She has not forgotten her purpose, after all, and will not do anything less than a perfect job, even with this impediment.

Yet-

"Athena," Aphrodite shakes her, and Athena blinks as she comes to herself. It is night, Pantheon bathed in blue and both of them in their nightclothes. Aphrodite is crying and Athena's face is wet.

"What-?" She murmurs.

"You were calling out for Odysseus," Aphrodite whispers, sounding stricken. "Asking him to stop hiding from training. Then laughing with nothing and telling Penelope to stop tormenting your allies."

It hits her straight in the sternum, making her gasp with grief that hits her so hard it feels new, and oh, she misses them, she misses them, she misses them so.

She sobs, and Aphrodite brings her close, holding her as she shakes.

"What is happening, sister? Why is this happening? Please, tell us," Aphrodite pleads. "We only want to help." She pushes her back to stare at her. "It cannot be just for them- something else happened to you."

Athena cannot reply for weeping, and Aphrodite's face crumples on seeing her tears. "You loved them." She says, her own voice catching tears. "You loved them so much, didn't you? That's who the dress was for. Them."

Athena sobs louder and doesn't reply.

-

Zeus' eldest daughter has not talked to him for over eight hundred years.

He still burns with anger some days, on remembering her insolence, her disrespect for his orders. Yet, now it has cooled off and he rather misses her quiet presence, her wit. She is angry with him in turn, cold and formal when they talk, never meeting his eyes.

"How fares Athena?" He asks casually one day. Hera stops removing her earrings and looks up at him sharply- she's been frosty with him since that day as well, disapproving of his actions. "I have not seen her in quite some time."

"That is of your own design," Hera replies blandly. "She spends time often with her siblings now. I am quite proud of her for it, actually- it is no mean a feat to get the entire Pantheon to sit down and indulge in few games without bloodshed."

"Games?" Zeus frowns. "With the others? Why is this the first I'm hearing of it?"

"Well, if you left your realm ever, you would know." Hera says distractedly, shrugging as she takes off her necklace. "They gather in the courtroom, usually."

The wind blows in, blows out.

Zeus ponders on this in silence, thinking of what to do next. Perhaps he should extend the first hand, since she had followed all the rules. He remembers her on the ground, beaten and burning, one hand extended to beg him to let that insolent hero she had pinned all her hopes on leave Ogygia. Frowns again in discomfort at the memory.

Her gamble paid off. Even as the Greek Pantheon declined in power, the story of her hero persisted to give the gods power, to keep them remembered.

Wise Athena, he thinks fondly. Smarter than him, he can admit now.

Zeus is just about to ask Hera if Athena would appreciate a spar when the rustle of fabric past the door of their realm catches his attention.

"Who is there?" He calls out, and Hera turns as well to look. No one enters and they both look to each other with a frown.

Quick footsteps sound out and both of them push themselves to their feet immediately, armed and tense as they rush to the door.

"Athena?" Hera calls out, confused, as they look down over the empty courtroom, Athena pacing erratically silently alone in the middle, no lights on. She does not reply. "Athena!"

Zeus feels foreboding creep up on him as they carefully walk down. "What are you doing up, Athena?" He calls out, voice authoritative. Hera glares at him, and he amends his tone, gentling it. "Is something the matter?"

Athena does not stop walking, at that same hurried pace, turning around at the end of the hall and continuing back towards them, ignoring his words. Zeus feels irritation spark, but the sudden glimpse of his daughter's eyes makes the words die on his tongue, unseeing and glazed over. She does not have her armour on, and her hair is tangled and open, he suddenly realises, along with the growing certainty that something is wrong.

And then Athena drops to the ground and starts seizing.

"ATHENA!" They scream as one, and all the gods of the Pantheon come awake, lamps catching fire as they all come stumbling out of their rooms and realms. Zeus reaches out and holds her hands down as she starts clawing at herself, drawing blood. The others start shouting and crying around them, Athena's head snapping back and forth gruesomely, eyes bleeding ichor. "Athena, gather yourself!" He shouts at her. "Cease this- cease this at once, you are stronger than this!"

"She cannot hear you!" Hera cries, falling to her other side, trying to straighten Athena out from the fetal position she is curling into with painful, stuff jerks. "She never does- she doesn't-"

"This has happened before?" Zeus bellows, outraged. His answer comes in the form of Ares pulling her weapons off her body, the ones who can't help holding onto each other and hiding their faces in each other's shoulders or staring at Athena with fear as they sob.

Her arm slips Zeus' grip and swings at him erratically before he can grab it again. It nearly knocks him down, so powerful in its animal madness that he actually feels his aspect waver to half its size for a moment- but he is her father and he pulls himself together enough to stay standing, pinning her down again.

"No, let her go!" Apollo shouts as he sits down besides them in his night robes, flipping through an old book of some kind, barely holding in his own panic and fear. "Don't hold her down, give her space."

Zeus grimaces but lets her go, feeling nausea and fear rise within him as she writhes and twists, unhearing of Hera's desperate sobs for her to stop. "What is happening to her?" He demands, unable to watch. He is furious, lightning blazing in his hands as he itches to find the culprit, to find who dared to do this. "Who did this to her?"

"I do not know," Apollo says horrifically, lips pressed thin, eyes flicking up to her and then back down to the book. "But I found this in her realm- she apparently is aware of it, this is some sort of book of instructions on the affliction-"

"Give me that," Zeus growls, snatching it away, and flipping through it. "Go get a bed," He instructs, the other Olympians springing up to do so immediately, desperate to help. "Olive- olive branches, she wakes to branches. Get water- no, get ambrosia, get a cloth to wipe her face. A change of clothes. A cold compress, if she has fever. It will stop on its own, let it run its course- Muses, what is this?"

"A lullaby," Euterpe says, pulling the book down to scan it. "From old Ithaka, if I'm not mistaken."

The gods all stop and stare at her. "Ithaka?" Zeus repeats, flipping to the front of the book. "Who has written this-"

"PENELOPE!" Athena screams suddenly, making them all jump in fright. Her back arches to a painful degree, spit running down the side of her mouth as her eyes roll back in her head. "PENELOPE, TELEMACHUS-"

Aphrodite puts her hands over her ears and squeezes her eyes shut, just as Athena takes a deep breath in and screams louder than before, "ODYSSEUS!"

(In life, he had only failed her once. But now he is dead, and cannot come.)

"Odysseus, please," She moans, in the old Greek that has not been used in decades. "You promised to help, please- Penelope, where are- where is- Telemachus, please-"

Zeus feels his heart break as proud, strong Athena breaks down on the floor, calling for mortals clearly much dearer to her than they thought. But it's not the end of it- he flips through the book again, desperately searching for something to stop this, a cause, an enemy- and then he sees his own name.

Curse proud Zeus, may his life never be happy, may his legacy forever be tainted, Odysseus has written, the letters harsh and burning with fury, even though the curse means nothing from a mortal, even though he risked the ire of the gods writing it. Below it, in what must be Penelope's neat handwriting, an equally furious and clipped diagnosis is penned- brain damage, extensive but occasional, caused by a lightning bolt to the face, that targeted her realm's power and left her with seizures, memory loss and dissociation.

A lightning bolt to the face.

Zeus stands there numbly, as the Pantheon scrambles and chatters worriedly around him, hesitantly singing along to the lullaby in the book as Athena continues to shake, unresponsive. His fault. It is his fault that she is like this, that she is left reduced to calling for dead mortals, crying blood over her siblings' feet.

He did not mean to, he thinks, feeling small and pathetic and monstrous. He did not mean for this to happen- only wanted to teach her a lesson, keep his pride; had not meant for her realm to sustain damage for so long. He thought she'd healed. He thought she hadn't been hurt, past the scar on her face that he'd felt vaguely guilty about, from time to time.

How stupid he was.

"Athena," He whispers, aching to reach out, but she screams again and it's drowned out completely. His daughter. All his own, no longer his- because she was never angry at all, these past years; she simply no longer saw him as her father. And why should she, when he has done the unforgivable, when he has done what no other had managed to do, and broken her.

What has he done?

"We are here," Hera says desperately, taking Athena's head in her lap. Ares sings creakily next to her, offtune and shaking. "We are here, love."

"Odysseus," Athena wails, unseeing. "Penelope, Telemachus."

Zeus steps back to let the others rush in, each providing their own solutions, some calling to Athena entreatingly to guide her back to herself. He is not needed here- he does not deserve it, and knows not what more damage he will wreak.

I am sorry, he wants to tell her, as froth escapes her mouth like a rabid dog. I am so sorry, I beg forgiveness, my daughter, please let me fix it.

But she cannot hear him and Zeus raises his head to look for Hermes instead. The messenger god is standing at the very back, well out of view, with a blank face as he meets Zeus' gaze. He feels a surge of fury at the lack of caring, before he remembers that Athena's hero and his son were descendants of Hermes- and sees past the facade to see the other's gods multiplied distress at that fact, unable to come forward to help without possibly making it worse with the likeness.

Zeus inclines his head and then tilts it towards Hades pointedly. Hermes twitches in surprise, then nods determinedly, running off.

Zeus exhales and looks back at Athena as she finally calms, breathing hard. Shoulders slump in relief, frightened muttering taking its place- this wasn't supposed to happen to gods, to Olympians.

Zeus steps forward and brushes her hair out of her eyes as Athena loses consciousness, as they pull her onto a makeshift palanquin and prepare to take her to her room.

"I am sorry," He whispers to her, but it is far, far too late.

[girltriestowritestuff]

Royal Arrangements, Chapter 1

Telemachus x Reader

“She’s not here for romance. He’s not ready for a crown. But fate has other plans.” When your mother announces your engagement to Telemachus—yes, that Telemachus, son of Odysseus—you expect politics, not apologies. But the prince turns out to be more awkward than arrogant, more kind than kingly. And you? Well, you're not exactly the swooning type.

an-thank you to @thatoneguythatwatchesgayporn for this idea! Hope you like it.

You could immediately tell something was going on when your mother asked to speak with you. Privately.

You’d had “talks” before, usually about responsibilities or etiquette or who you were accidentally offending at court this time. But this one felt different—heavier somehow. You felt it in her voice, in the way she wouldn’t quite meet your eyes when she asked.

Still, you followed her down the corridor. What else could you do?

You walked into her room, where she was already seated neatly on the edge of her bed, hands folded in her lap like she had to physically restrain herself from fussing with her skirts. She looked like she was rehearsing something. You didn’t sit down yet.

"There's been some news from Ithaca," she said, her voice gentle, almost too gentle.

That was the first red flag.

You narrowed your eyes a little. “Should I be alarmed or surprised?”

“That depends,” she said, pausing like she wasn’t sure how much to say. “How do you feel about marriage?”

You blinked. “That’s… a leap.”

But she didn’t answer.

You crossed your arms, a defense more than a gesture. “Is it being forced on me because someone actually wants me, or is this a politics thing?”

She gave you a familiar look—part fond, part tired, part amused despite herself. “Don’t be clever.”

“Too late.”

She sighed, brushing invisible dust off her skirt. “My love, I know you don’t want to marry—”

“To whom,” you interrupted, “and it’s fine, Mom.”

It wasn’t fine. You were not “fine.” But you’d learned long ago that saying so didn’t change much. And she looked like she didn’t want to do this either.

Your mother hesitated, the way she did when she was about to say something that might shatter whatever peace you had left. She looked at you with something like guilt in her eyes.

“To Telemachus,” she said at last. “Son of Odysseus.”

You blinked. “As in Ithaca Telemachus?”

She nodded.

You let out a breath through your nose and ran a hand down your face. “Of all the names you could’ve said, that one’s… bold.”

“He needs legitimacy,” she explained softly. “The suitors are circling like vultures. Penelope can’t hold them off much longer. He needs to be king.”

“And I’m supposed to make him one?” you asked, dryly.

“You would make a fine queen,” she replied.

You stayed quiet, chewing on that. Being queen wasn’t the problem. Being a pawn was.

Still, you sat down beside her, letting your weight sink into the mattress. You were nearly twenty, but in that moment, you felt closer to ten—tired, uncertain, needing a mother more than anything else.

“I’m not saying he’s a bad choice,” you said carefully. “I’m saying… I never had a choice.”

Your mother wrapped her arms around you. It wasn’t one of those tight, desperate hugs, but a steady, warm one. Like she was trying to hold everything together just by holding you.

“I know this isn’t the life you imagined,” she said into your hair.

You gave her a small, sad smile. “I stopped imagining a long time ago.”

She squeezed you gently. “I’ve spoken with Penelope,” she said. “She says he’s… kind. Thoughtful. Not rude like you might think.”

You raised an eyebrow. “So, what, he probably reads poetry and apologizes too much?”

Your mother chuckled—real and soft, like it snuck out before she could stop it. “Would that be so bad?”

“No,” you admitted. “But I’ve played these games before. I know how kind eyes can lie.”

She nodded, her expression serious now. “He’s not a game.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I don’t,” she said. “But I believe in him. And more importantly… Penelope believes in him. That means something.”

You leaned into her shoulder. It was oddly comforting to know that Penelope, a woman known for her patience and wisdom, was vouching for this boy.

Boy. That’s what he was to you. Just a name, a story, a set of expectations dressed in royal robes.

You’d grown up on stories about Odysseus—clever Odysseus, cunning Odysseus, the man who tricked gods and toppled cities. What kind of son would that man raise?

What kind of boy accepts a crown with strings attached?

What kind of prince agrees to marry a stranger?

And what kind of man would he turn out to be?

You didn’t say yes. Not yet. But you didn’t say no either. That was something.

“I don’t want to be the answer to someone else’s problems,” you said, quietly.

“You’re not,” your mother said. “But you might be part of a solution.”

“That's a lot of weight to put on someone who didn’t get to choose.”

“I know,” she said again. “But sometimes, the only power we have is how we carry what’s given to us.”

You sighed. She wasn’t wrong. But it didn’t make it easier.

Still, part of you—the part that had grown cautious but not yet completely bitter—was curious.

Curious about a boy raised in a broken kingdom. A boy trying to become a king in the shadow of legends. A boy who might be just as trapped as you.

Maybe he was more than a name.

Maybe you were more than a tool.

Maybe this wasn’t the end of your story, but a strange, unexpected beginning.

[o3o-lapd-o3o]

yessss im all for brainrotting

ok when jorge put out the video saying he had them be sung by odysseus in poseidon's motif... i just had to sit there for a few mins and then listen to the song & replay those words/that part over and over again

its so amazing how by hearing odysseus singing it that way, you can feel the emotions odysseus is going through/feeling.

yes they have both wronged each other and caused pain to each other... but odysseus just wants to leave the past in the past now. he doesn't want to have to be the monster anymore. where did being the monster get him? a mutiny? the rest of his crew (including his own brother-in-law) dead? stuck in hell on an island for 7 years with a goddess who just wouldn't leave him alone? he just wants to go home.

(also a tiny part of my greek mythology/the odyssey loving brain thinks that, this is a man who has grown up on an island surrounded by water/the sea. he's a sailor, a captain. king of ithaca. before this journey happened, he probably loved the sea. he most likely has prayed to/asked for blessings from poseidon more times than he can count for safe journeys and protection for ithaca. to said god now being the reason he's struggling to get home? it's heart-breaking in a way)

and oh god that 3 second pause! yes i believe that poseidon truly wasn't expecting odysseus to say that. i like to imagine at that point poseidon is standing not too far infront of odysseus while he's saying it. so he can clearly see all the emotions odysseus is going through at that moment.

as for the shaking, two people are better than one! we should maybe give him a couple of knocks to head as well hdhdhdhd

(why do you think in my nonsense posts & in my au, i like giving poseidon a hard time?)

This came to me earlier, and now I am utterly obsessed: The Vengeance wasn't Odysseus stabbing Poseidon, it was Odysseus disproving Poseidon's "Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves" belief right in front of his very eyes. With him as the subject, even.

Think about it—the fact that Poseidon remained ruthless and insisted on punishing Odysseus was the only reason he got stabbed repeatedly. If Poseidon had been merciful, if he had accepted Odysseus' offer of forgiveness, he would've been fine. His own ruthlessness backfired so hard on him this time that I am sincerely hoping it haunts him forever.

I am actually utterly obsessed with Poseidon thinking back to Odysseus "Maybe you could learn to forgive?" on a daily, no an hourly basis. I cannot and will not lie to you that is unironically my favorite moment in the whole Vengeance saga just because of what it says about both the characters—about Odysseus for offering and Poseidon for declining. And this makes me love it even more.

Poseidon was going to decline, we all know that. I don't think anyone watching—even Odysseus, probably—expected him to accept. But then I'm picturing him lying there, bleeding into the stone, and, against his will, wondering whether maybe he should have. Maybe if he had, he wouldn't be in pain. Maybe if he had not killed Odysseus' fleet ten years ago, he wouldn't be in pain either. Maybe this one time ruthlessness wasn't mercy upon himself—maybe this time, his one grand belief was wrong. Maybe ... it was always wrong.

Obviously, he would never admit to these thoughts, he would slap himself for having them one second later. But I simply need this self-proclaimed god of ruthlessness to be utterly haunted by that and question whether he made the right choice or no—whether he's even lived by the correct philosophy all his immortal life—and no matter what, be too stubborn to admit he was wrong.

He's trying to pretend like nothing changed, but the thoughts still remain. They pester him. They won't leave him alone. Especially every time someone—anyone—is kind to him for whatever reason, they come crashing back into him and they won't leave.

"What if my own ruthlessness hurt me that time?"

"What if ruthlessness isn't mercy upon ourselves after all?"

"What if I'm wrong?"

"What if I have always been wrong?"

The most dreadful thoughts imaginable to a god as proud and stubborn and old as Poseidon, but they're there now and he can't do anything about them. You all don't understand how much I NEED this god to jolt up in his bed at 3 am after having a dream or nightmare about something related to one of his many ruthless deeds (maybe even sinking Odysseus' fleet) and go "BUT WHAT IF I HAD LEARNED TO FORGIVE?? WHAT IF I STILL COULD??" only to immediately slap himself for it because that's absolutely ridiculous.

He is left to watch this belief shatter before his very eyes as he's clinging to the remains of it desperately, trying to keep it all from crumbling. Not because he genuinely believes he's right anymore, but because he simply cannot imagine ... does not know how to live by any other philosophy.

No matter whether it's objectively correct or not, it's the very thing that defines him. The thing he's known for. He has built his entire image around this, he cannot give it up no matter what ... at least not quickly or without help.

But as much he would seek to deny it, his core belief has now been proven wrong; he has actually lived through an instance where it was wrong, and he can do nothing to erase those memories or conclusions from his mind no matter how much he yearns to go back to simpler times.

And that was the real Vengeance, guys—possibly the biggest, most painful existential crisis of Poseidon's immortal life. I rest my case.

Although before I disappear back into the void I simply must give a shout out to @o3o-lapd-o3o (this came to me during a conversation in one of their comment sections for the glorious Friends In Higher Places AU, which is quite possibly my favorite piece of EPIC fan content that exists ...)

[kdpartworks]

Can I hug Cloudyseidon? He look so cute, i don't even care if he bites or shocks me, it'd be worth it.

Since you are not Odysseus you are risking nothing, so you can hug him and he would let you. But if you are ODYSSEUS OF ITHACA prepare yourself for the biting and the shocks. In a very harmless and totally not deadly way. BUT STILL. NOM NOM

[sophiarose812]

So a little detail in Epic the musical that has me in in a goddamn chokehold.

In WYFILWMA Penelope's first lines are

Is it you? Have my prayers been answered? Is it really you standing there, or am I dreaming one more?

And that's absolutely killing me. Yes, I know that's a perfectly normal thing for a woman to miss and dream of her husband coming home, but it's still shattering my heart into pieces everytime I hear it.

Because imagine; Penelope's laying in the wedding bed, it's late at night, she can't even fall asleep because she misses Odysseus, she's worried about Telemachus and stressed about the suitors in her home. She finally falls asleep, and starts dreaming. She dreams about Odysseus returning home, and she swears she can feel him hugging her even though she knows he's not there. She has this dream multiple times, and it's so vivid and she wakes up with tears in her eyes every single time.

An add-on to this, in ICHBW, Telemachus' first few lines are

All my life, I'd have died to meet you, thought about your name so much it hurts, for 20 years I dreamt of how I'd greet you

So on the other hand, while Penelope's got tears falling from her eyes as she sleeps, Telemachus is awake, laying in his bed and thinking about what he'll say when his father finally returns home. He isn't even sure if he ever will, but he's got hope. Penelope's told him that someday he'll meet his father, she's sure of that. He trusts what his mother says, so he keeps hope that someday, he'll meet Odysseus. Maybe sometimes he even imagines fighting off the suitors with his father.