#strangler fig au

[skulkiee]

hellooo

This is part five or the Strangler Fig au

They never did make it to the land of the giants as Aeolus called it.

"Posidon?" Gods, Odysseus sounds so small. So very breakable.

"In all my years of living, it isn't very often that I get pissed off! I try to chill with the waves, but damn, you crossed the line."

Polites stares up at the God from Odysseus' side. He thought that Posidon was fine with them? What did they do?

"I've been so gracious! And yet, you hurt this son of mine, that's right, the cyclops you made blind is mine."

"No." Odysseus hisses. Polites just feels ill. Of course the cyclops was an Olympian's son. Of course! Because everything just keeps getting worse!

Polites probably should have been listening to what Posidon was saying. Gods, who let him be second in command? Odysseus must be loosing his mind.

"Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves!"

It's slightly reassuring that he can see Odysseus' mind working at high speeds. It's also slightly terrifying, seeing everything that has happened recently. Oh yeah, and because he doesn't have Athena anymore to yell at him if his plan is incredibly stupid.

"You are the worst kind of good 'cause you're not even great! A Greek who reeks of false righteousness, that's what I hate. 'Cause you fight to save lives, but won't kill and don't get the job done." Posidon pauses, stepping down onto the ship, waving his trident around like a little kid pretending the stick he picked up is a sword, "I mean, you totally could have avoided all this had you just killed my son, but no!"

Odysseus steps back, bumping into Polites.

"You are far too nice, mercy has a price! It's the final crack, we're bound to break the ice now, you reveal your name, then you let him live, and unlike you, I've got no mercy left to give 'cause ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves!" Posidon grins, and his trident comes down fast, knocking Polites away from Odysseus, and throwing Odysseus himself to the floor, "And now it is finally time to say goodbye, today you die! Unless, of course, you apologize for my son's pain and all his cries."

Posidon smiles down at Odysseus. Polites scrambles to his feet, because he knows exactly what Odysseus is about to do, and he is not about to apologise. Odysseus has always been able to get out of problems with excuses. He won't be able to this time.

"Poseidon, we meant no harm! We only hurt him to disarm him, we took no pleasure in his pain." Odysseus is making excuses again, "We only wanted to esca-"

Polites can see the anger forming on the God's face. He decides to interrupt Odysseus, "Mighty Posidon!" He yells. Both mortal and God turn to look at him, Odysseus with fear in his eyes and Posidon with curiosity slightly outweighing his anger.

Polites stares back at them. Eurylochus' words echo in his head, ("Hey Po'? Don't change for anyone, yeah? Not Ody, not-" Polites had interrupted then, too, "You're talking like you're gonna die, Eury." Eurylochus had laughed, and then regretted it when it turned to painful-sounding coughing, "I think we both know i am. Either way you gotta be their light now.")

"Mighty Posidon." He says again, dipping his head, already showing the God more respect than Odysseus did, "My captain is right when he says we took no pleasure in your son's pain, it was a cruel thing for us to do, hurting and blinding a shepherd who was only looking after his flock."

Odysseus' eyes are screaming at him to stop, to please please please stop.

Polites doesn't stop, "We are aware of that and we are sorry, and we intend to go around the world peacefully after this, make the most of this life and try not to ruin it for anyone else."

Posidon turns to him fully then, "So you are the one who planted weakness in Athena's mortal." He laughs, and then levels his trident with Polites, the middle spike resting against his throat, "Funny."

Polites may have made a mistake.

•

Odysseus stares when Posidon does something, he doesn't know what, but he does something that makes Polites scream. And then collapse.

He can only stand there, staring in horror at his friend's crumpled form, Polites' horrible scream echoing in his mind, and all he can think is no no no no he can't have lost the only other person in this damned crew that he cares about he can't have-

"Odysseus." Posidon has turned back to him, "The line between naivete and hopefulness is almost invisible, so close your heart, the world is dark and ruthlessness is mercy!"

The God gives him a sharp-toothed grin, "Die."

Odysseus just drops to his knees, placing his hands over his ears. That could never block out the screams of eleven whole ships of people being murdered violently by a God, though.

"What have you done?" He whispers, looking up at Posidon when it all falls silent around him.

"Forty three left under your command." Posidon snarls, "I am only letting those forty three live because you have an interesting friend." He steps off the boat, before turning back to Odysseus, "I am your darkest moment, the monster that always draws near." He smiles, mimicking Odysseus' words to the cyclops, "Good luck getting anywhere before that boat of yours sinks."

As soon as the God is gone, an echoing 'remember me' fading swiftly after him, Odysseus is up and running across the boat to Polites, "No no no no. No." He gasps when he kneels down next to his friend, "No." He isn't aware that he is crying, he just knows he can't lose Polites as well as Eurylochus.

"You're not allowed to be dead! Gods-" Odysseus shouldn't be doing this in front of his men, he shouldn't be panicking.

"Sir." He looks up at Perimedes. Odysseus is shaking, holding Polites close to him, "Sir, can i?" He gestures at Polites.

Odysseus nods slowly, loosening his hold on Polites just enough for the medic to check for a pulse. Gods, he can't lose both of them within a month. He can't- he's already broken one promise to Ctimene, he can't break another.

"He's alive, it's okay, Odysseus." Odysseus has always been half jealous of Perimedes, of the way he manages to just switch off his emotions. Sure, it probably isn't healthy, but it helps him survive.

He is just glad he has not lost Polites too. He doesn't know what he would do if that happened.

Yeah. That happened. It continues to go downhill for everyone dont worry

I am curious though, people who read stories like this whats your favorite kind of one to read??? Like favorite characters to read about and stuff??

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Ghostcrow & Palasaki (The Old Guard AU: Chapter 5)

There is something expanding in Charles’ chest. Something that threatens to wash warmth through his entire body, a sensation, a light, not helped when Monty continues: “They’re pretty fucking glorious, those banyan trees. I mean, I only saw pictures, not the real thing- this is the first time I’ve ever been outside of Washington- but god. They call them strangler figs, for the way that they grow, the way that they squeeze the life out of the trees they wrap themselves around, but all I could see when I saw them were palaces. The way that accessory trunks grow out from the roots, so that you could be walking through an entire forest and it only be one single organism-” Monty swallows and Charles forgets to breathe as Monty says, “All I could dream of for so long was getting to see all those trees in person. Getting to see them with Charles and Edwin. Getting to feel them beneath my finger tips. Getting to walk between all those extra trunks-”

“Getting to be kissed under them?” Niko asks, all reckless romanticism, conjuring up a story that Charles and Edwin have shared between them so many times, that Charles did not let himself dream of for fifty years, that Charles did dream of back in 1972, as Monty pressed him up against the bookshelf in the farm house, kissing his neck, the wood at Charles’ back, when Charles knew he was going to lose Monty, but before he did, he wanted to see Monty home, wanted to have Monty and Edwin together beneath that very tree.

“Yeah,” Monty admits, and the world shatters supernova, enough to send Charles’ hand to his chest, as Monty confesses, voice wistful, aching: “Still do.”

Charles shouldn’t be shocked. Monty did say that his time with them was heaven amongst hell. 

But Charles hadn’t dared dream that Monty still wants them. That he still cares. That he still dreams of the same things that Charles and Edwin do.

Monty wants them. God, more than that, he still wants them. He never stopped. Even through the ruin of their relationship and the wreckage of the years, love endured on both ends, strong as a banyan.

-aletterinthenameofsanity, no grave can hold my body down (crawl home to them)

Slip noose hanging in my darkest dreams

I'm strangled by your haunted social scene

Just a pawn outplayed by a dominating queen

It's four o'clock in the morning

Damn it listen to me good

Thank God my music is still alive

And someone saved my life tonight

-Elton John, Someone Saved My Life Tonight

@pappelsiin @itsbitmxdinhere @rexrevri @sweet-like-h0ney-lavender @saffirez

@the-ipre @sunnylemonss @days-light @agentearthling @helltechnicality

@sethlost @catboy-cabin @secretlyafiveheadeddragon @vyther15

@anything-thats-rock-and-roll @queen-of-hobgobblers @every-moment-a-different-sound

@nix-nihili @mellxncollie @tumblerislovetumblerislife @lemurafraidofthunder

@likemmmcookies @wr0temyway0ut @thelakeswillbreakourfall

@sapphic-corgi @occasionaloneshots @troublegoblin

@cairngorm-ard @petesdragon @alittleemo @charswithbatsmybeloved

@bigtirednoodle @the-moons-jade-rabbit

@wikipediagreen @wooooooaaahhhhh-oooooops

@spacegirlsgang @cc-tinslebee

[life-series-playlist-submissions]

see i have a whole list of songs that i can associate w/ characters but unfortunately most of them are either for aus, or not for the life series at all (though still for lifers)

anyways here are a few others i have for life series, besides the ones i already have suggested- there is a very obvious bias here lol

there's actually quite a lot but i promise they all fit very well trust me

these are all tcw songs

"easier" w/ clockduo

"strangler fig" w/ ll!skizz (crane lives dtiys im looking at u)

"shallow river" w/ clockduo

"once and for all" with impulse and other crastle people :)

"queen of nothing" with life series winners, OR limited life

"how to rest" w/ skizz and the LiL affirmations

"icarus" w/ 3l imp n skizz

"i talk in my sleep" w/ clockduo AND imp n skizz..... post-life series. dont put it in the skizz playlist tho this aint about him /aff

"down the river" for SL!villain scar. specifically villain scar. also clockduo bc everything is about clockduo forever

"ribs" w/ dl!pearl

"pretty little things" w/ clockduo

"know how" w/ clockduo

oh wait one fish in a birdcage song- "rule #5: james picard" for last life

AND NOW. songs that are for specific aus (or are not for the life series) so you shouldn't add them to the playlists, but i thought they would be fun to talk abt anyways

"the bidding" by tally hall for a team BEST drag au me and my friend are making... very.... slowly....... i am always rotating it in my mind and exploding this au's skizzleman but i cant write for shit............ yes girl go discover a whole new thing that it turns out u love and then have ur aroace awakening................. and then get traumatized..............................................

"infinitesimal" by mother mother for the same au mentioned above

"rule #7: angel tango" by fish in a birdcage for... you guessed it... team best drag au................ (i have a whole playlist made. it was the first themed playlist i ever made. and i did it before we changed a whole important plot point so now i need to make another one. regardless here is the link i need to talk abt this silly au)

"sick of the silence" by mother mother for 3L!skizz in a very specific au i have where he's a shapeshifter and, during 3L, got stuck in one form (enderskizz)

"neverending hum" by lemon demon for skizz in general. impulse is the armadillo named corey /silly

"space oddity" by david bowie for hcs8!tango. i love david bowie guys

"my wife and my dead wife" (specifically the live version from "gotta let this hen out!") by robyn hitchcock for an ethimpdubs au i have where etho is bdubs' dead husband and impulse is bdubs' newer, alive husband, and then etho comes back as a ghost like ten years after his death

You can totally add songs that fit the personalities of the lifers in general! Also Space Oddity is 1000% HC8 Tango, big agree.

Added songs to the playlists Bdubs, Impulse, Skizz, Cleo, Tango, Grian, Scott, Pearl, Martyn, Scar, Joel, Last life and Limited life. (I added the Queen of Nothing song to all you suggested because I couldn’t make any decision).

[aquaquadrant]

hi i just want you to know that htp has given me the most brain rot ever and you and lunarcrown have done a great job with the au

also i noticed that the fic title/chapter titles (if that’s what they are) are from From Eden and that made me think of other Hozier songs that i thought reminded me of htp. the main ones i thought of were Arsonists Lullaby, Work Song, It Will Come Back, and also a non Hozier song, Strangler Fig (the crane wives)

anyways i’m excited for the next chapter !! (and also mildly terrified but that’s like expected at this point)

why thank you, i’m glad ur enjoying the au, we have a BLAST making it 💃 and EYYYY YEAH hozier and the crane wives are prob in my top all-time fave artists EVER, i def have a few of their songs on the main HTP playlist. i’d prob put entire albums on there if i had less restraint bc the songs are all so good 🫡

[hcguesstheauthormessageboard]

anyways aliensona is some fucked-up dryad. formerly strangler fig now glowberry vine it's complicated. as my main oc/sona is a fucked-up dryad. i have worldbuilding about space au dryads.

or, if i want to branch out (get it), perchance some kind of Many-Limbed Creature (i say like my fucked-up dryad in fig form isn't many-limbed). Moth. or maybe like... think joltik but cat.

...and ofc if this space au was far in the future of llau i'd be a Red. im always a Red there's no choice i joined the discord there's no going back. glowing red eyes you say... fishbowl(?) anon... sus. <- not elaborating because both Lifeline and LLAU spoilers

-🪽

PLANT BASED ALIEN!!! i am looking with wide eyes

[stainedglassthreads]

Everyone in the Undertale fandom seems to have banded together to decree that Goo Is Scary. But 7 years of goo-based scary faces has desensitized me to Goo. You know what is scary?  Being trapped within a series of woody vines and tendrils. Unable to move. Unable to speak. Barely able to breath. Slowly drained of energy. Ignorant to the world around you. Slowly starving to death as you never see your loved ones again. Come on guys. Strangler figs could be Terrifying. 

[bestworstcase]

what do you think about cass climbs the tower AUs like untangled?

um broadly speaking i think rewrites are one of the hardest fanfic genres to do well, because by nature of being rewrites they need to hew much closer to canon than, say, a canon divergent au would. the difference is like--canon divergent aus begin with canon and branch away, often ending up in wildly different places, whereas rewrite aus are more like (haha) a strangler fig in that they take twists and turns and contortions around canon instead of away from it and by the end you should have something that retains the approximate shape of the original but is a different species altogether.

so good rewrite aus are like--on the one hand they have to change a lot, because otherwise it's going to read as a novelization at best or a bland rehash at worst, but on the other hand they also can't change too much, because by nature of being rewrites they need to resemble the canon story from beginning to end.

[sidebar: i get a kick out of people asking me if X plot point from canon will or won't happen in bitter snow, because... yes? the answer is always yes. they will go through the great tree, cass will get hurt, tromus will trap them in the shell house, eugene will discover that he was aphelion's crown prince before the collapse, new dream will meet demanitus in the labyrinth, cassandra will take the moonstone and run, zhan tiri will escape her prison, there will be an eclipse, there will be a reconciliation. the only plot point i'm cutting out is the mind trap because it's fucking stupid, and that is getting replaced with the at least aesthetically similar varian sállvatt arc which is starting to get underway, er, now. the differences lie in how we get there, and in the extra stuff that comes from bitter snow having a dramatically larger cast and wider scope than the canon story did.

and this isn't a dig at folks who ask these questions or even just wonder about them; the reason i get a kick out of it is i think the mark of a successful rewrite au is being able to exactly follow the basic plot of the canon story but do it in a way that leaves readers wondering what's going to happen next so when people ask it's like... yeah of course that'll happen because this is a rewrite, but clearly i've done a good job because even though you know it's a rewrite you still don't know what's coming, and you're speculating and anticipating and invested in what's coming. this is what appeals to me as a reader when i'm reading rewrite aus so i'm always really happy as a writer to get feedback along these lines.]

ANYWAY. CASS-CLIMBS-THE-TOWER AUS. these can be canon divergent aus but the ones i've seen are all pretty firmly in the rewrite category, in that the basic trajectory of the story is still:

1. rapunzel dreams of seeing the "floating lights" 2. a stranger finds her tower by chance and climbs into it 3. rapunzel strong-arms them into escorting her to the festival 4. adventure ensues! 5. rapunzel and her new friend begin to fall in love 6. gothel interferes 7. rapunzel is brought back to the tower or otherwise endangered 8. discovery of rapunzel's true identity 9. the friend tries to save rapunzel and is gravely injured or killed 10. gothel is defeated and rapunzel revives her friend 11. return to corona, where rapunzel is welcomed as the lost princess.

slot cassandra into the role of the stranger-turned-friend and make adjustments as needed based on how cass acts in this role versus flynn/eugene and if we're feeling spicy and canon compliant add in an arc about cassandra figuring out that gothel is her mother and/or tap series-original characters into the adventure ensues! part of the plot, and you've got yourself a cass-climbs-the-tower tangled rewrite au. the quality and entertainment value of these kind of fics varies a lot depending primarily on how skilled the author is at the changing-a-lot-without-changing-too-much thing. out of the ones i've read untangled is definitely the most successful in this regard.

miscellaneous other thoughts:

- there is a venn diagram of people who take the stance of "it's weird and kind of uncomfortable that rapunzel falls in love with and marries the first man she ever meets" and people who like cass-climbs-the-tower endgame cassunzel tangled rewrites, and i think the people who exist in the middle of this diagram are really funny

- what i would really love to see is a really well-done cass-climbs-the-tower tangled rewrite as a foundation for a canon divergent tts au that took the basic tts premise of black rocks, moonstone, zhan tiri and explored how that would unfold in this version of the story, because there's a decent handful of cass-climbs-the-tower tangled rewrites and a lot of canon divergent and rewrite aus of tts but i don't...think? or at least i haven't found any fics that do both.

- relatedly i'd like to see a cass-climbs-the-tower canon divergent tangled/tts au where rapunzel just... doesn't return to corona at the end. either doesn't learn that she's a princess at all, or decides she wants to see the world more than she wants to be reunited with parents she doesn't even remember except for a blurry impression of their faces, and so she and cass leave corona instead to have adventures until the black rocks become a problem and adira catches up with them.

- there's a bitter snow cass-climbs-the-tower au floating around in my head where the point of divergence is that sir peter doesn't find casāndra when her parents are arrested, so she grows up in sirin's care and it's basically: your lost princess has been rescued but [a finger of the monkey's paw curls back] her rescuer is a saporian separatist and zhan tiri cultist and she and the princess broke zhan tiri out of void jail; also ft. "flynn rider but he's a cop," "casscaine childhood friends to lovers edition," "gothel the failed scion vs cas the lifelong cultist," "tathēdora gets to live," and "zhan tiri becomes rapunzel's emotional support demon"

[into-the-daniverse]

Jamil’s Masterlist

🍋 — Spice, 18+, Minors DNI Redacted — Coming Soon!

All Lore

His Bio — Name, Description, Background, etc.

His Playlist

The D’Oria Family

Inspiration/Vibes — Fashion, Quotes, Aesthetic, etc.

About Jamil — All asks, random headcanons (sfw and 🍋), picrews, misc.

Art of Jamil — By me, friends, or commissioned

Fic of Jamil — Not by me!

Everything Jamil — literally everything

Modern AU Content

Date Night — What Jamil would wear, what you would do together

Desert Jackals — Beginnings, Member Information

Desert Jackals Playlist — in set order, cycling between Des Rocs (Jamil), Delta Rae (Alec), Halestorm (Camia), and Set It Off (Leon)

Piercings

Tattoos

Reversed AU Lore

All fics under the cut

All Canon Fics (in order of timeline)

Pre-game

Arcana Interaction Prompts 12 and 15 — Jamil and Nadia spending time together as kids, then again as teenagers

Strangler Fig — After being sent home from school and locked in his room, Jamil escapes to help a kid on the street, meeting Camia

Willow — Jamil reflects on his time in Venterre with Cami during his studies

Show Your Fangs — While running from his mother and Prakra, Jamil and Camia meet Leon

Break The Chain — Six months after escaping Prakra, Jamil makes one final change

Show Me What I’m Looking For 🍋 — Immediately after ATTTID, Leon and Jamil hook up for the first time

Gavrilo 🍋 — Jamil meets Lucio and his band of mercenaries

Machine — On a trip home to Prakra, Jamil, Camia, and Leon meet a particular street kid after she steals Jamil’s guitar

Rainbow — Alec’s first birthday with the rest of the band at Il Palazzo D’Oria

Mr Loverman — After six years apart, Jamil and Valerius reunite in Vesuvia, both of them in very different positions than they were before

SOS (Overboard) — While traveling across the Emerald Sea, Leon falls into the sea, but Jamil saves them

The Witching Hour — Leon witnesses Alec’s final moments, and he, Camia, and Jamil travel back to Vesuvia to find out what happened

What Love Can Heartbreak Allow? — Companion to January and Long Time Sun, the year after Alec’s death from Jamil’s POV

The One Who Stayed and the One Who Left — Jamil decides not to wait around for Alec’s memories to return and leaves Camia and Leon to try and get them back himself

Wolf and I — As Jamil travels, Ravah follows, and eventually the two come to appreciate each other

Go To Bed Angry 🍋 — After being gone for a year, Jamil returns to Camia’s hut to reunite with his friends, but Leon is not so quick to forgive him

Heat Waves 🍋 — While traveling alone, Jamil fantasizes that he’s not

Game Timeline

Roll The Old Chariot Along — Before the very end of Asra’s route, after they’ve defeated the Devil, Camia, Leon, Jamil, and Ravah all reunite with Alec as her memories return

Post-game (with Leon)

Halo — post-Nadia’s route, Jamil asks Leon a very important question

Right Where I Should Be — after Halo, Jamil wakes up the day after his wedding and goes over the night again in his mind

Post-game (with Valerius)

Kiss Prompt 34 — Kisses that start on their fingers and run up their arm, eventually ending on their lips with Valerius

Mine 🍋 — post-Nadia’s route, Valerius takes it upon himself to distract Jamil from the song he’s composing

OC visiting a grave — While at Il Palazzo D’Oria, Jamil takes Valerius to meet his grandmother

Letter — In response to Valerius’s letter (written by sunrisenfool) Jamil pens his own (set in the Janiverse AU)

Anything 🍋 — Jamil makes a mistake, Val is angry, and Jamil offers to let him do what he wants to make up for it

Miscellaneous (no set time)

Line Without a Hook 🍋 — Jamil and Leon finally have the shop to themselves for an afternoon, and they want to make the most of it

Tonight Is The Night I Die 🍋 — Lucio and Valerius corner Jamil during one of Lucio’s Masquerades

All AU Fics (OCxOC, modern au, reversed, etc.)

Featuring saltybitterss’s Kassius

Kiss Prompt 50 — A kiss, followed by more that trail down the jaw and neck (Modern AU)

Choke 🍋 — While traveling with the rest of the band, Jamil meets a stranger in a bar, and things are quick to escalate from there

Feed My Frankenstein 🍋 — Jamil spots Kass at a party in Vesuvia and pulls him aside from the crowd to “catch up”

Featuring lucigucci’s Aro

Casanova 🍋 — After meeting at a party in the Heart District, Jamil is quick to figure out Aro’s feelings for him and chooses to indulge them

Featuring valhallanrorse’s Tamryn

Movement 🍋 — Leon and valhallanrose’s Tamryn make up for interrupting Jamil as he’s trying to work, not that any of them are really complaining

Miscellaneous 

Jamil’s Romance Tale!

Devour — Reversed AU, A peek into Alec, Leon, Jamil, and Camia’s daily lives

Desire 🍋 — Modern AU, after a long day out, Jamil and Valerius get back to Val’s apartment and Jamil acts on thoughts he’s been holding back all day

#10 Kiss Prompt — “Staring at the other’s lips, trying not to kiss them, before giving in” with Jamil and popcornaddict500′s Volaris

#1 Kiss Prompt — “Breaking the kiss to say something, staying so close that you’re murmuring into each other’s mouths” with Jamil and  asras3rdeye’s Oz’mandias

[ktheist]

not sure if still open but like--in response to your call for supernatural ish prompts, i've discovered this new blog that has more or less become my muse, called elsewhere university. if you haven't heard of it, i'd suggest perusing it for a bit; it's an eerie, strange, yet oddly funny sort of world created through user submissions. if it's not too much, do you mind writing an !elsewhere uni hoseok au? ehEHEHEHEHehe -rys iLY

hey rys!! okay so bear with me i just read the comic(s) a few minutes ago and went through the warnings and advice but i’m not so sure if i got the elsewhere university concept down to a t but!! thank you!! for!! introducing!! me!! to!! elsewhere!! university!! i want to read more but i was so pumped to get to writing this so here it is!!

x

elsewhere university!au

pairings: hoseok x reader

x

The winds. They tell you things.

They get vicious throughout the night and fade into soft lullaby at the break of dawn. 

You may listen, but believe you may not.

But with Hobi (you don’t know his real name; it’s best you don’t), the winds rage and scream like the ocean in the forest. It’s almost hard to hear him. 

“He pushed his brother off the tree house their father built.”

Hobi’s lips are moving but by the time they’re curled into a smile, you’re still trying to focus what he’s trying to say.

“Sorry, come again?” 

He laughs, half-expecting you to ask him to repeat his sentence. At this point, you’re sure he thinks you’re deaf which is quite a contrast for an ecology major who requires acute hearing in case the mandrakes cry and the flytraps get caught by the pixies.

“I said, today’s the day you’re going to the swamp, right?”

“He’s looking for a human heart.”

“Yeah, the swamp princess finally sent her invite for the whole class!” You beam, half-wishing the winds would settle down for once.

“That’s amazing! You’ve always wanted to check the place out.” He walks with you to your morning class as he always does even though his is on the northern most side of the university.

“So, dinner at 7?”

“If I’m done by then.”

“You have to be.” His voice is strained as though he’s afraid you’ll never return just as the class ten years ago.

It took awhile before the university allowed the students to on an out-of-campus field trip. Though the students may do it on their own free will, just not under the university’s name. The university protects its own, but only those who wish to be protected.

“Okay, okay, usual place at 7.” You nudge his elbow when the lines between his eyebrows don’t let up, “Hey, the professor’s with us.”

“So was she with the last class.” He pulls you away from the hallway where the corridor is less crowded, eyes warily looking for the fair folks that passes by, “Isn’t it just weird that they allow the students to go to the swamp after ten years? Why not nine? Or seven? Why does it have to be an even number?”

“Even numbers always bring the best luck.”

“Or the worst.”

You echo the same words you tell yourself last night before you go to sleep. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back before sun down.”

x

It’s quiet here. The winds dare not blow through the trees - there are secrets even the winds cannot tell.

The first student who separated from her group of four got sucked in by the strangler fig.

Always walk in pairs or groups but never by oneself and she strayed only five steps away.

The swamp princess had welcomed your class with a croaky drawl. All the while, you’d kept you head low and your eyes closed. She had thanked the professor for ‘feeding’ the strangler figs.

“Though a puny little human is barely enough to last them for a year, I’m sure we’ll survive just fine - we have for a decade now.”

As soon as you’d gotten what you needed for the class, the professor had ushered the class to relocate and leave for the university before it gets dark, saying that it was kind of the swamp princess to offer but there are warm dinner prepared by the staff for the class.

Of course, there was even though there were no notice prior to the visit. You had ate with your friends, laughing, joking as though it was a fun and enjoyable trip. No one ever talks about the eerie, the missing.

x

After dinner, you run straight into Hobi’s arms. He doesn’t ask why you cry. He doesn’t ask about your day. He just rubs your back and tells you tales about the stars - how his brother loved them but his parents warned them about following the ones shooting across the sky.

“I didn’t know you had a brother.” You look up at him as he wipes away your tears.

“I don’t really talk about it but he fell from the tree house our dad built.” It’s the first time that you’re looking - really looking - into his eyes that you notice how onyx black they are.

Your blood runs cold.

[ckreative]

The Strangler Fig
 @ Natural Bridge, QLD, AU

Not all hugs are safe, be careful who you trust (CKEspanol, 2017)

[skulkiee]

The boredom finally got to me i guess. Have this

"Six hundred lives at stake! It's just one life to take!"

Odysseus pauses for a moment to watch his men attacking the cyclops. He is proud of how they're doing, sure, they all survived ten long years of war, but they never thought they were gonna have to fight a monster like this.

"And when we kill him then our journey's over!"

His eyes catch on Polites and Eurylochus, the pair are fighting just as fiercely as always- side by side as always- and doing a pretty good job of dragging the cyclops' attention away from any of the men who have ended up in more vulnerable positions during the fighting.

"Push forward!" Odysseus yells, darting back into the fighting, a wide grin on his face. The cyclops looks like he's getting tired, the Lotus should kick in soon. Right?

"No dying on us now!"

Odysseus looks up by chance, and the cyclops is grabbing something from the back of the cave. Odysseus freezes.

"Defeat is not allowed!"

He follows the cyclops' line of sight, the momentum of the club and-

No. No. He can't let that happen. Not Polites- not after ten years of war.

"We must live through this day so fight fight fight!"

Odysseus takes off at a run. He is still too slow. He shuts his eyes when the club comes crashing down. Call him a coward, he doesn't want to watch his best friend crushed and killed so violently.

The cave falls into deathly silence.

"Captain?" Broken only by one tiny, hurt voice.

Thats not-

"Eurylochus!" Polites' terrafied scream rips him out of his thoughts, "No no no no n-"

"Enough!" The cyclops roars, slamming his club down again, once again barely missing Polites. Chaos breaks out.

"He's got a club! He's got a clu-"

Odysseus isn't thinking straight. He doesn't know- he can't- he knows he needs to do something, men are dying but- Eurylochus is dead. He's dead. His brother is dead.

"What are our orders? Captain? Capta-"

He really needs to do something. Odysseus can't do anything. His feet won't move, his mind won't work- Polites is sat huddled on the cave floor, battered and bruised, Eurylochus' limp body in his arms. Eurylochus is dead. Eury. Is. Dead.

"You've hurt me enough!"

Odysseus is vaguely aware of the Cyclops speaking. Not aware enough to figure out what he is saying past the fog of utter shock in his mind, but aware enough to feel the ground shake each time the club comes down.

He should do something. He really should.

But his Eury is dead. He is dead.

"Captain. Captain! Captain! Captain!" Odysseus looks up blankly at a panicked Perimedes. And then his mind starts spinning again and the world snaps back into focus.

"We must move quickly, we don't have much time. He didn't notice I mixed lotus in his wine!" He speaks to the men with a bravery he does not possess, forcing the shake out of his voice and the tears out of his eyes, "Mark my words now, this is not the end!"

"But captain, what'll we do with our fallen friends?" It's Elpenor this time, his voice quiet and shaky. His eyes wandering around the cave, catching on each fallen comrade, landing somewhere just over Odysseus' shoulder, where he knows Polites and Eurylochus are.

"Remember them." Odysseus says. He has a job to do now, "When the fire begins to fade, for the fallen and afraid, we are not to let them die in vain! Remember them!"

Odysseus starts walking through the men, trying to put his confidence that he doesn't feel into them, "We're the ones who carry on, the flames of those who've gone! And our comrades will not die in vain!" He stops before the fallen club.

"I need all our hands on his club, this is how we're getting out of here! Use your swords to sharpen the stub, and turn it into a giant spear!" He points his sword high in the air, and the men do the same.

"Let's kill him!"

"His body is blocking the path!" Odysseus half shouts, "If we kill him we'll be stuck inside!"

"Captain, where do we attack him?" Odysseus looks over at Polites, Polites who just before had looked slightly regretful at hurting the cyclops who was just defending his sheep, Polites who now looks just about ready to commit murder.

Polites who is covered in Eurylochus' blood.

Odysseus gives his friend a small nod, "We gotta stab him in the eye!"

"Yes, sir!"

The men take up Odysseus' chant as they carve the club into a spear. Odysseus turns to look at where he last saw Eurylochus, and sees that Polites has laid him at the edge of the cave, out of the way, his cloak covering his body.

Odysseus is glad Polites did that, not that he would admit that to anyone. He would much rather have the image of Eurylochus leaning slightly against the side of the ship, sword slung over his shoulder, and a small smile on his face as he argues with Odysseus or Polites over something, than how he must have looked after that club hit him.

"Now!" He yells, turning back to the men.

Polites is at the front of the men holding the club turned spear, theres an expression of single-minded determination on his face, and an anger he has never seen in Polites before.

"Scatter!" Odysseus pushes the fact that his brother is actually dead out of his head again, tries to ignore the blood and tears on his friend's face. He can think later.

"Who hurts you?"

"There are more of them?" Odysseus hisses as everyone freezes, waiting for his orders.

"Who hurts you?"

"Hide!" He snarls. He is not losing anyone else today.

"Who hurts you?"

Odysseus sits behind a rock, only looking up when Polites speaks next to him, "Captain we should run."

"Wait." He whispers back, putting one hand on his friend's arm.

"Who hurts you?"

"Captain please!" Polites' voice shakes. He's covered in blood that isn't his, holding a sword that isn't his either.

"Wait!" Odysseus snaps it this time. Polites just nods and leans against Odysseus' side slightly more.

"It was Nobody! Nobody hurt me!" The cyclops wails. Odysseus grins.

"If nobody hurts you then be silent!"

"Don't go!" He sounds so scared, so hurt, like a little child. Deserved. Odysseus doesn't care for this monster.

"Let's grab the sheep and away we go!" He says quietly, standing up and pulling Polites to his feet behind him. Odysseus goes to check over his friend, make sure he's not hurt too, when the world goes black and then blinding white and then a blank grey around him.

"Have you forgotten the lessons I taught you?" Oooh. Athena sounds mad, "He's still a threat until he's dead! Finish it." She snarls.

"No." Odysseus won't actually. He has no reason to, all he needs to do is get everyone back alive.

"No?"

"What good would killing do, when mercy is a skill more of this world could learn to use?" He spins around and jabs a finger at Athena's chest, "My brother is dead! Our foe is blind! The blood we shed," he throws his arms wide, "It never dries! Is this what it means to be a Warrior of the Mind?"

"Don't!" Athena shrieks at him when he breaks his way out of her Quick Thought and storms towards the cyclops.

"Hey, cyclops!" Odysseus yells. He is well aware he is crying now, theres only so long he can keep his emotions bottled up, "When we met I led with peace, while you fed your inner beast, but my comrades will not die in vain!"

He draws his sword, pointing it at the blind monster before him, "Remember them! The next time that you dare choose not to spare!" Odysseus feels Polites come and stand behind him, rest a hand on his shoulder, "Remember them! Remember us! Remember me!"

"I'm the reigning king of Ithaca! I am neither man nor mythical, I am your darkest moment! I am the infamous Odysseus!"

He does not see the way the cyclops' pained expression morphs into a cruel smile when he turns his back.

Polites does though.

I've got a whole bunch more of this i've done like nothing for days but i dunno if ill post that. I guess i was reading my old writing and i was reading other people's writing and ive seen Polites killed multiple times (mostly by me) and ive seen Odysseus killed but ive never seen Eurylochus get killed by Polyphemus so. This happened. And then plot happened. And then id spent three hours writing.

I might post the rest if i write more or if i reread it when im in a better mood i dunno✨

Anyways farewell friends

[jshoulson]

Today’s Poem

Au Serpent --Aime Césaire

Il m'est arrivé dans l'effarement des villes de chercher quel animal adorer. Alors je remontais aux temps premiers. En défaisant les cycles en délaçant les nœuds en brisant les intrigues en enlevant les couvertures en tuant mes otages je cherchais. Fouineur. Tapir. Déracineur. Où où où l'animal qui m'avertissait des crues Où où où l'oiseau qui me guidait au miel Où où où l'oiseau qui me divulguait les sources le souvenir de grandes alliances trahies de grandes amitiés perdues par notre faute m'exaltait Où où où Où où où

La parole me fut vulgaire

O serpent dos somptueux enfermes-tu dans ton ondu-leuse lanière l'âme puissante de mon grand-père ? Salut à toi serpent par qui le matin agite la belle chevelure mauve des manguiers de décembre et pour qui la nuit invention du lait dégringole de son mur ses souris lumineuses

Salut à toi serpent cannelé comme le fond de la mer et que mon cœur nous détache de vrai comme prémisse du déluge Salut à toi serpent ta reptation est plus majestueuse que leur démarche et la paix que leur dieu ne donne pas tu la détiens souverainement.

Serpent délire et paix

la campagne me démembre sur les claies d'un vent d'outrage les secrets qui firent retentir leurs pas au débouché de la trappe millénaire des gorges qu'ils serraient à étrangler.

à la poubelle ! que tous croupissent à composer la banderole d'un corbeau noir s'affaiblissant en un battement d'ailes blanches. Serpent

dégoût large et royal accablant le retour dans les sables de l'imposture

embrun qui nourrit le ras vain de la mouette à la tempête pâle des silences rassurants tu te chauffes le moins frêle.

Tu te baignes en deçà des cris les plus discords sur les écumes songeuses de l'herbe

quand le feu s'exhale de la barque veuve qui consume le cap de l'éclat de l'écho

mais pour mieux faire frissonner de tes morts successives - fréquentation verte des éléments - ta menace.

Ta menace oui ta menace corps issant des brumes rauques de l'amertume où il a corrompu le soucieux gardien de phare et qui siffle et prend son petit temps de galop vers les rayons assassins de la découverte.

Serpent

charmant piqueur du sein des femmes et par qui la mort s'insinue maturité au fond d'un fruit seul seigneur seigneur seul dont la multiple image fait sur l'autel du figuier maudit une offrande de chevelure qui est une menace de poulpe qui est un main sagace qui ne pardonne pas aux lâches.

To the Serpent --translated by Clayton Eshleman & A. James Arnold

I have had occasion in the bewilderment of cities to search for the right animal to adore. So I worked my way back to the first times. Undoing cycles untying knots crushing plots removing covers killing hostages I searched. Ferret. Tapir. Uprooter. Where where where the animal who warned me of floods Where where where the bird who led me to honey Where where where the bird who revealed to me the fountainheads the memory of great alliances betrayed great friendships lost through our fault exalted me Where where where Where where where The word made vulgar to me O serpent sumptuous back do you enclose in your sinuous lash the powerful soul of my grandfather? Greetings to you serpent through whom morning shakes its beautiful mango mauve December chevelure and for whom the milk-invented night tumbles its luminous mice down its wall Greetings to you serpent grooved like the bottom of the sea and which my heart truly unbinds for us like the premise of the deluge Greetings to you serpent your reputation is more majestic than their gait and the peace their God gives not you hold supremely.

Serpent delirium and peace

over the hurdles of a scurrilous wind the countryside dismembers for me secrets whose steps resounded at the outlet of the millenary trap of gorges that they tightened to strangulation.

to the trashcan! may they all rot in portraying the banner of a black crow weakening in a beating of white wings. Serpent broad and royal disgust overpowering the return in the sands of deception spindrift nourishing the vain raft of the seagull in the pale tempest of reassuring silences you the least frail warm yourself You bathe yourself this side of the most discordant cries on the dreamy spumes of grass when fire is exhaled from the widow boat that consumes the cape of the echo’s flash just to make your successive deaths shiver all the more—green frequenting of the elements—your threat.

Your threat yes your threat body issuant from the raucous haze of bitterness where it corrupted the concerned lighthouse keeper and that whistling takes its little gallop time toward the assassin rays of discovery.

Serpent charming biter of womens’ breasts and through whom death steals into the maturity in the depths of a fruit sole lord lord alone whose multiple image places on the strangler fig’s altar the offering of a chevelure that is an octopodal threat a sagacious hand that does not pardon cowards

[skulkiee]

hiii :D

im here with part four of that one au where i killed Eury just to cause problems✨

so yah. Partt fouuuuuur

Polites is the first to walk over to Odysseus when he steps back onto the ship's deck, a large-ish bag attached to his belt. He watches as the first thing Odysseus does isn't explain- like a normal person- no, he takes the bag from his belt and holds it close to his chest with both hands, protectively.

"Captain, what's happening? What's trapped in that bag?" Polites asks, a small group of the crew gathering around them.

"Something dangerous, friends." Odysseus still doesn't explain. Just says that it is something dangerous, something that could possibly hurt the crew and he's not telling them what the threat is, "We mustn't lag."

Not telling them. Like he didn't tell them that he put Lotus in the cyclops' wine. Many less men would have died if they knew they just had to wait the monster out, not defeat it. Eury might not have died. If Odysseus had just told them.

"It's treasure!" The wind whispers around the men. Polites catches sight of a little creature just too slow to duck out of sight, "Buh-bye!"

"Open the bag!" "Let's see what you got!" And several other things like that are yelled at Odysseus from the group of men. Polites glares at them, opens his mouth to say something, but Odysseus speaks first.

"No, do not! Everybody listen closely, see how this bag is closed? That's how it's supposed to be. This bag has the storm inside, we cannot let the treasure rumor fly!"

Oh so now he explains. Now, when he either has to say 'something dangerous' or let the men believe it is treasure. Polites doesn't think it's treasure, it doesn't look heavy enough, but he also doesn't think that a storm could possibly be trapped like that. Could it?

"We'll try." The men promise.

•

Odysseus is tired. Who wouldn't be? He's been awake for nine(?) days at this point. Just one more day. Then he can sleep in Penelope's arms.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer! Never really know who you can trust!" The wind still whispers its warnings and laughs at him and taunts him.

"Never really know who you can trust." The worst part is when he hears the crew repeating Aeolus and the Winions' words almost absentmindedly, as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.

"Now they wanna get the bag open so they can have closure!" Aeolus and their Winions are still laughing at him, "Sometimes sneaking is a must!"

"Sometimes sneaking is a must!" He knew there would be a catch. He didn't expect it to be this bad of a catch, up to the point where Aeolus was messing with his mens' minds, convincing them that opening the bag would be the best idea.

"'Cause the end always justifies the means! Everything's changed since Eurylochus, so keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and never really know who you can trust!"

Odysseus was watching Polites from across the ship when they both heard that. Both of them flinched slightly.

"Never really know who you can trust."

Odysseus is just glad that Polites doesn't seem as affected by Aeolus' game as everyone else. He sees him speaking to the men when he catches them saying those words. He would trust him more if it wasn't for the fact the crew seem to be trying to get Polites to open the bag for them. To take the fall and the punishment they know whoever opens it will get afterwards, for them.

For nine days- he is still unsure of that- he has stayed wide awake, trying to make it home with no storm or tidal wave. Odysseus places one hand on the bag, leaning against the side of the ship. He remains unopposed, the bag is still closed, and he's getting closer to Ithaca, he can see a faint smudge of land on the far horizon.

"Penelope." He smiles at the thought of his dear wife, "I can't wait to make some new memories! Telemachus, time for me to be the father I never was."

"Just keep your eyes open." Their voices whisper. Odysseus leans forward even more, trying to reach his family.

"Why are my eyes and my heart and my soul so heavy?" He asks quietly.

"Just keep your eyes open."

"I keep on trying to embrace you both," Odysseus feels his eyes begin to slip closed, he smiles slightly, "Why won't you let me?"

"Just keep your eyes open." Are the voices louder?

"So much has changed but I'm the same." He mumbles, his hand slips away from the bag, "Yes I'm the same."

"Just keep your eyes open."

"Keep your eyes open!"

"Wake up!"

"Wake up, Odysseus, they're opening the bag!" Penelope yells at him, why's Penelope yelling? He just wants to sleep, "Wake up!" He just wants to sleep, can't she understand that?

Wait. Odysseus snaps his eyes open just as the bag that is no longer in his hands is opened and the storm bursts out, raging around them, tearing at the ships' sails, dragging them away from beautiful Ithaca-

"No!" Odysseus screams, scrambling towards where the bag lies on deck.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer! Never really know who you can trust!" Aeolus sits atop the mast and laughs at him, "Never really know who you can trust!"

"Where's the storm taking us?" Odysseus yells up at the wind God.

They sigh, rolling their eyes, "I said to keep the bag closed, but you weren't compliant. If I had to guess? You're heading to the Land of the giants!" They seem awfully happy about that fact.

"Help me close the bag!" Odysseus cries at Polites.

Polites stares for a moment, his eyes wide with shock, "But Odysseus, it's too late!"

"We can save whatever wind is left to use another day" Odysseus struggles to close the bag by himself, "Come on!"

Polites nods then, and grabs the other side of the bag, helping Odysseus close it. When the storm dies down, Odysseus collapses against Polites, both of them shaking.

Around them the men begin to pick themselves up. Perimedes ducks between them, checking for any injuries. A small group of them check over the meger amount of supplies that managed to stay on the deck. The boat is badly damaged, they'll have to find land, and fast. It'll take a long time to repair.

Polites is the first to stand up, offering a hand to Odysseus, who takes his hand and stands up too.

There's something off in Polites' expression as he stares around at the damage to the ships and the shock of the men. Odysseus thinks it looks almost like-

"Odysseus of Ithaca! Do you know who I am?"

So yah :D life is fun! Life is less fun for the fictional characters! Ive been listening to the same four songs on repeat all day!

Yeah i dont have much to say today. I do love writing Polites and Odysseus in this au though it is very fun

Okay byeee! Have a nice Monday tomorow

[skulkiee]

HELLO :D

this is part nine i believe of the strangler fig au :]

It took me ages to be happy with this chapter because ✨underworld✨

Polites does not know if he can do this.

They spent months on Circe's island, fixing up the boat. The men had started getting confrontational and angry, fed up of staying on one island for so long. They all just wanted to get home at this point. (Nobody can blame them.)

Polites had long given up trying to stop their arguments as was his job as second in command. Odysseus had gotten paranoid or something- he barely explained anything to Polites, and Polites didn't know what was wrong with his former friend, because he didn't think it was just worry anymore.

Odysseus had just. Dragged Polites into his cabin one day and said he was staying there now, and sure, the captain's cabin was bigger than everyone else's, but that didn't mean it was any more comfortable. And it doesn't have the... The presence that the one Polites and Eurylochus used to share does, it does not have that lingering reminder of his friend. Where Polites tried to keep around everything that was Eurylochus', Odysseus has done the opposite. It is uncomfortable and he has barely slept.

And Polites is barely allowed out of Odysseus' sight, it's something about trust and fear and 'every time you go off by yourself something bad happens'. He wouldn't mind as much if Odysseus was the Odysseus from before the war. But Polites doesn't know the man he shares a cabin with now.

He doesn't know his pale eyes filled with paranoia, or those sharp words that get sharper by the day, or those hands that will give him bruises and scratches one day and hug him the next.

And they still don't know exactly what Posidon did to him. It is always there, lurking at the back of his mind, that Posidon did something. The trident symbol drawn on his back proves he did something, but no one, not even Polites himself, can figure out what. And the not knowing tears and eats at his mind almost constantly, chipping away at his sanity bit by bit, just like everything else is.

Oh yeah. And then Elpenor died. 'Fell' off the roof, Odysseus said. A tragic 'accident', Odysseus said. Polites had watched helplessly as Odysseus pushed one of the only people he could still talk to properly off of the witch's roof in a fit of anger.

Polites had watched Perimedes' mourning across the funeral pyre, helplessly, held in the arms of the man who killed Elpenor. Held in the arms of a man who whispered words of comfort and wiped away his tears. Helplessly. As usual.

Polites is angry. And tired. And hopelessly upset and hurting. He mourns Elpenor. He mourns Eurylochus. He misses Perimedes. He misses Odysseus. None of them are here anymore, or at least, the men he called his friends aren't here anymore.

He watches the water change from blue to black, the fog thicken around them and the sky turn a dark, angry grey.

"Friends, Circe's instructions were clear! No matter what we hear, full speed ahead, until we find the prophet!" Odysseus shouts from beside him, one hand wrapped around Polites' wrist tight enough to bruise, "My comrades, this land confuses your mind, so no matter who we find, full speed ahead until we find the prophet."

Polites wonders if they'll see Eurylochus. If they'll see Elpenor. He knows they gave the latter a proper burial, but Elpenor had always said that if he died before the others- before Perimedes- then he would wait on the edge of the Styx for them to join him.

Polites wonders how easy it would be to 'accidentally' fall over the ship's railing and into the dark waters of the river Styx below them.

Odysseus is muttering under his breath, staring out at the eleven ships that appeared around theirs at some point. The ghosts chant and yell, stuck eternally in the ships Posidon destroyed.

"When does a man become a monster?"

Polites, despite every feeling he has towards the other man, steps closer to Odysseus. Because that is how they are, Polites will never leave, Odysseus will never let him.

"Five hundred fifty-eight men who died under your command!"

He shuts his eyes and tries to block out the voices around them. Its Odysseus' turn to step closer to Polites now.

"Captain! Captain! Captain! Captain!"

Polites did not see Posidon kill the men he killed. He was unconsious. It hurts so much to hear them screaming for Odysseus, for help, for anything. (He is glad he did not hear it the first time.)

"Why would you let the cyclops live, when ruthlessness is mercy?"

Polites stares in horror as men start appearing on their ship, ghostly, transparent forms sat or walking between the alive men, acting as if they are not dead, not reacting to the way their alive comrades recoil from them, terrafied by the bloody images of their friends who still wear the injuries that they died with.

"I keep thinking of the infant from that night-"

And yeah. The infant. Polites knows all about the infant. He wishes he didn't, he wishes Odysseus had never told him. Odysseus says it's so horribly selfish- he is so horribly selfish to say that, Odysseus says. (He wishes he never knew.)

"Yes, but how much longer 'til your luck runs out?"

Polites spins around so fast. Odysseus gasps out a small, "Eury."

"How much longer 'til the show goes south? How much longer 'til we all fall down?" Eurylochus wears a small smile, as if he is still stood in the sun, watching over the crew with all that love that he had for them, and not dead, coloured only in greys and violent reds, "You rely on wit, and people die on it."

His dear Eurylochus- the ghost wears a smile now, Polites knows his friend did not regret saving his life. Eury did not die knowing of the other deaths and terrors soon to come, he did not die knowing what would happen.

Eury was always so kind. Even if most people didn't see it, he had that quiet love for each and every member of the crew that he was tasked to protect.

It comforts Polites slightly that Eurylochus still smiles, even down here, as much as it hurts because he knows that that should have been him. And Polites is half glad Eury cannot see what has become of the crew he loved so dearly, even though he is sure most of this wouldn't have happened if Eury was here.

It's a cruel thing, to see the person he has missed every day stood before him, and still be unable to reach Eury.

"Eurylochus-" Polites reaches out when Eury starts to fade away again, but he's too late again, always too late, and then everyone is gone, and it's just him and Odysseus and the forty or so other men.

"Waiting."

And the ghosts that are even older than Eury and the others, some standing on the bank of the river, some floating in the dark waters. A familiar face stares up at them from the water.

A face, older and disheveled and so very dead and grief-stricken, but familiar.

"That voice, it can't be." Odysseus whispers, letting go of Polites.

"Waiting."

"Mom?" Odysseus leans on the side of the ship.

Polites stares at Queen Anticlea. She had been healthy and strong when they left for Troy, she looks so frail now, so broken. Theres a twinge of guilt in his heart at the sound of Odysseus' grief-stricken voice calling for his mother just to get her to see him.

Polites turns away.

He does not feel any of the same grief that he felt upon seeing his crew, he only knew the queen as a fierce, strict old lady. She was where Odysseus got his coldness from, his cruelty and his intelligence- if they have not yet become the same thing in Polites' eyes.

Polites is not one to wish death upon anybody. He does not believe someone can deserve to leave their world behind- that might be the only reason that he hasn't joined Eury and Elpenor yet- that someone could deserve to leave behind the beautiful stars and pretty sunrises and flowers and dappled sunlight and the ocean and the sky and everything in between.

But he was always terrafied of the queen. It didn't matter how much Odysseus and Eurylochus and Ctimene assured him she was nice, she did not like him and he did not like her back.

So he turns away from Anticlea and Odysseus. Turns away from the rest of his crew, turns away from the shades and the dark waters and the dark memories that want to tear him apart.

Turns his mind to Ithaca, turns his mind to Ctimene, Gods, how he misses her, turns to the sunlit memories of olive groves and windswept hills and beaches and friends he will never run with again.

He will have to tell Ctimene of her husband's death. Tell Penelope what Odysseus is becoming. Polites hopes Helen and Menelaus got home safely, all this would be pointless if they did not.

He makes a vow that the crew will return home. The forty-odd men that still live will make it back to Ithaca.

No more families will be told their loved ones will not return, no more people will mourn those who they've lost.

Polites will make sure of that. Even if it kills him.

And if it kills him, then well, he hopes Ctimene will forgive him. At least he will have Eury back.

I sincerely apologise it was a very fun chapter to write and also no one is okay :D

Also @acpola01 hii

[skulkiee]

Ive neen writing the next part of the story im working on at the moment except i have realised i do not know how to write Odysseus. Which is not fun since its monster✨

Anyways hi

[skulkiee]

Hiii :D

I got eleven notes on the first bit of writing and thats eleven more than i expected so i guess im doing this

Part two. Of the thing where i killed Eurylochus purely to cause problems✨✨

Polites is pretty sure, from the way Odysseus has just torn out Athena's feather earring, thrown it on the floor, and stomped on it, that Athena has just yelled at him.

They both just stand there for a long while. Polites listens to Odysseus' ragged breathing. He doesn't know how to even start processing what has just happened.

("Push forward!" They were winning! As much as Polites hated what they were doing, he enjoyed fighting alongside his friends again- enjoyed fighting alongside Eury again.)

A soft sob escapes him. Polites turns away from Odysseus slightly. Because it was all his fault, wasn't it? Like with the boar- he persuaded his friends to go out there and then froze and had to be saved when they got into danger. Except this time it wasn't just the scar and a faint limp that Odysseus got away with when they were kids-

("No dying on us now! Defeat is not allowed! We must live through this day so fight fight fight!" Polites saw the club swinging towards him too late, his voice trailed off and he just stopped and stared at it swinging towards him-)

Eury died. And it was his fault.

("Polites move!" Eurylochus had screamed at him. Polites hadn't been able to move. And then Eury had pushed him out of the way- Polites didn't know what had happened at first, just that the club clipped him at the same time Eury crashed into him and he was sent rolling across the floor, only to look up and- "Captain?")

"What happened?" Odysseus says eventually, those pale eyes of his fixed on Polites' face.

"I-" Polites doesn't quite know what to say. Im sorry? It was all my fault? Eurylochus is dead. His best friend is dead, "He pushed me."

Odysseus' expression changes at that. He looks angry, "He did what?" His voice is quiet and shaky.

Polites meets his gaze, "He pushed me. Out of the way."

He doesn't quite know what he expects Odysseus to do at that. The last thing he expects him to do is laugh though.

A wild, half crazy laugh escapes the captain, whilst tears drip down his face, "Of course he did!" He cries, "Because you froze again didn't you? You didn't learn a thing from the boar did you?"

Polites yelps when Odysseus pins him up against the wall, hands around his throat, "No! You just had to go and get Eury killed too! I should have listened to him! Not you and your- your idiotic 'open arms' speech!"

Polites has never seen Odysseus like this. He doesn't know what to do, what to say- he doesn't know-

"Well look where your endless naivety and stupidity got us!" He lets go of Polites, turning away, "We lost a good man today." Odysseus snarls over his shoulder at him, "We lost the best man on this fleet today, Eury was someone we needed here, he was important he- he has people waiting for him he has people who care!"

Polites just stares at him. Like how he stared at the boar, like how he stared at the cyclops, "Odyss-"

"No! Don't you dare!" Odysseus turns back to Polites, and his eyes are so very very angry, "You're just some no name orphan kid Ctimene picked up! Eury was important, we needed him here, the men all loved him- he- he- you should have just died." He hisses, "Even better, i should have let the boar kill you. Then you wouldn't have been a problem in the first place."

He doesn't mean that. He doesn't mean that. He doesn't mean any of that. It's all Polites can do to repeat that over and over in his head. Odysseus doesn't mean anything he just implied or said. None of it.

"Get out." Odysseus snaps, "Get out of my cabin. That's an order."

"Yes captain." Polites mutters, dipping his head and half running past Odysseus. Odysseus slams the door behind him, and several of the men on deck look up. Gods, Polites wonders how much of Odysseus' yelling they heard.

He doesn't even try to smile as he walks past them. Doesn't try to hide his tears or the bruises that Odysseus gave him. If it bugs them, well, he couldn't care less right now.

He just wants Eurylochus back. He wants Odysseus to not scream at him.

•

Odysseus messed up. He messed up so bad. It's been a week or so since Eurylochus died and he chased off Athena and Polites with cruel words.

And Gods, whoever said you don't know how much you love someone until they are gone was so very right. And Polites is the only one out of the three he can get back.

"Polites." He knew he would find his friend- can he still call Polites a friend after what he did? Anyways, Odysseus knew he would find him down here. Polites has spent most of his nights down in the main room of the ship drinking with Elpenor and Perimedes.

All three of them are there and look up when Odysseus walks in.

"What is it, captain?" Polites' politeness hurts. He shouldn't have to talk to Odysseus like he is just another soldier under his command.

Odysseus looks at Perimedes and Elpenor, "Can i talk to you alone?" He tries to put a smile on his face.

"Whatever you have to say, Captain," Perimedes puts severe emphasis on that last word, "You can say in front of me and Elpenor." He gestures to the bench opposite where the trio are sat.

Elpenor pours a fourth cup of wine and passes it over to Odysseus. His eyes are dark and angry, "We all saw what happened last time you two spoke alone." He snaps.

Odysseus flinches at that. Polites puts a very fake smile on his face, his dark eyes cold and emotionless, "Well?"

"Well i have two things to say." Odysseus matches his smile with a fake one of his own, "One is that i am sorry, i acted out of anger and grief."

Polites just nods and gestures for him to go on.

"I would like you to be my second in command." Odysseus says, "You are my closest friend and i would not trust anyone more with the position." His smile becomes real, "I want you at my side, Polites."

"Sure, Captain." Polites says, "I'll be your second. Though, and forgive me for saying this, but claiming that you want me at your side is a bold thing to say when only a few days ago you said you wanted me dead."

Polites smiles that cold, fake smile. Odysseus dies a little bit inside.

"What was it you said?" Polites continues, "Oh yeah, 'you should have just died. Even better, i should have let the boar kill you. Then you wouldn't have been a problem in the first place.' very kind of you, that was."

"Just." Odysseus stops himself before he sounds rude, "Please?"

He places the cloak on the table in between them, it's one of Eurylochus' old ones, a mark of status within the fleet. He sees Polites flinch slightly when he recognises it.

But he takes the cloak and throws it around his shoulders. Offers Odysseus a small smile. A real one.

Odysseus smiles back.

I enjoy writing Odysseus like this. Im sorry. But i did get my friend that i showed this to to say things about Ody ive never heard her say so i WIN.

And yes. I like imagining that Polites was besties with Ctimene before he was besties with Odysseus because that makes it even MORE fun when he gets home and has to see his sister and explain things :D

Also Perimedes is a medic because I CAN.

I was gonna say something else but i forgot. Um. Oops.

Listen to Strangler fig by the Crane wives its a great song and totally not relevant✨

Okaaayyy farewell my friendssss have a nice weekend