#maybe Ody could also get a pet kraken

[somepsychopomp]

yes this is a Pirates of the Caribbean AU

What do Odysseus and Davy Jones have in common besides their intrinsic connection to the vast & merciless sea, their emotional torment by a lady named Calypso, and their intense longing for the love they once knew?

They're both hot af

So yeah here's an AU where Ruthlessness goes a little differently. Instead of claiming nearly all of Odysseus' men, Poseidon will spare them at the cost of their captain's suffering & offer Odysseus a choice.

Death, or ten years before the mast.

Despite the likes of Thanatos and Hermes being very good at their jobs, there's just something about souls lost at sea that make them so very difficult to round up. It could be because the sea is so vast and always moving, churning up the dead in its waters like flotsam. Or it could be because so many tend to die at sea that the psychopomps cannot keep up, with causes of death such as storms, naval warfare, sea monsters, getting lost, etc. 

Poseidon is both pleased by how formidable his domain is, and a tad bit annoyed by how long it takes to collect all the souls who meet their watery demise. 

When his son prays to him and says that King Odysseus of Ithaca left him blinded and in pain, Poseidon's first instinct is to kill the little pest and his fleet. 

But then he gets an idea. 

A king from an island nation, one who knows how to sail and how to do it well? And who owes him a debt?

Poseidon puts on some theatrics when he finds Odysseus, nothing major. Causes some waves that nearly capsize his ships, makes it clear how pissed he is, threatens to kill the king a few times, announces his beliefs about ruthlessness, etc. All of it is true, of course. He is pissed. And mercy has a price.

But it's all just a show to get what he really wants. 

And what he wants is this foolish little king bound under his service. 

Odysseus is offered a choice. 

Either he and all his men can drown then and there, or they can live. Odysseus' fleet can go home, and hell, Poseidon will even send a favorable current to expedite their trip. 

But Odysseus cannot go home with them. He must spend ten years sailing the seas alone, collecting lost souls from Poseidon's domain and delivering them to the underworld. 

Ten long, lonely years surrounded by the dead. 

Odysseus desperately wonders if there's another choice, some escape he's not thinking of. Or some quick-witted words to soothe the sea god's ire. 

But there is none. The lives of all his brothers-in-arms hangs by a thread that Poseidon is more than willing to sever then and there. A small voice in Odysseus' head tells him that even if he must spend a total of twenty years away from home, there will be a day where he can finally return to his wife and son. 

Just think of them, he tells himself. He can either never see them again in this life, or just wait a while longer. 

So he takes the bargain. 

Despite his men pleading with him, some saying this is madness while others are so loyal that they are willing to go with him, Odysseus watches silently as Poseidon raises a ghostly vessel from the bottom of the sea. It's an old ship but it somehow still floats. It even regrows new rigging and sails as if it were a living beast. 

There's something else unnerving about Odysseus' new ship, though. The wooden hull is blackened as if charred by fire, yet the whole thing gives off such a cold and ghastly aura. And it's far too large for any one man to command it alone. 

Poseidon gives him a sadistic smile and says that the ghostly vessel is now Odysseus' and therefore, will abide by his will. 

Now get on the ship. 

The last Odysseus sees of his men is Eurylochus in tears as he grabs his captain's hand and insists there's something dire that he must tell his brother before they part. 

It was him that opened the wind bag. Please, let Eurylochus come with him. Or even take his place. Anything but this. 

Odysseus can't find the strength to be angry or sad. He only hugs his brother goodbye and whispers to Eurylochus to watch after Penelope and Telemachus for him. 

Once Odysseus has both feet on his new ship, a storm comes to life below them. He watches, helpless, as his fleet and all his men are pushed farther and farther away. In seconds, they disappear over the horizon in the direction of Ithaca. 

Now, it is just him and the sea god. 

"Start by sailing seven days south of here," Poseidon says, relishing in the silent tears falling down Odysseus' face, "The waters there are teeming with sirens, and they've left an awful lot of carnage in their wake."