The men were managing to herd the sheep across the bridge by the time Cassandra and Odysseus caught up. They'd rounded up a couple dozen, and the last was making its way across the bridge, with Eurylochus leading and Polites lying balanced on top.
"How is he?" Odysseus asked, leaping from the back of the sheep.
"Still holding on, captain," Eurylochus said. "His arm is broken, and he's lost some blood. I think he hit his head when we hit the ground, but the sheep's wool provided some padding against the full might of that club. What happened to the cyclops?"
"Charged me, tripped and fell over the cliff," Odysseus forced a chuckle, but it sounded hollow in his ears. "I may have gone with him, if it weren't for Cassandra."
Cassandra blushed as she heard her name. She led her sheep with one hand, and it followed her obediently onboard.
"Well, we did it captain, we will butcher these sheep and prepare the meat, and it should be enough to feed the entire fleet for nearly two weeks."
"Plenty of time to get home," Odysseus said. "So long as there's no more trouble."
"Do we know where we're headed?" Eurylochus asked.
"Not yet, but," Odysseus glanced at Cassandra, "I have a good feeling I know who to ask."
Polites was taken to the ship's doctor, who splinted his arm and bandaged his wounds. Eurylochus' scrapes and cuts were cleaned and bandaged as well. Odysseus paced the tiny space as Eurylochus watched.
"Captain, you're pacing like a caged tiger, go make yourself useful on deck." The medic shooed him away.
Odysseus came on deck to find Cassandra staring out to sea, watching the Cyclops island receding behind them.
"Any visions telling you which direction we need to sail?" Odysseus asked.
"All the skies are dark," Cassandra said slowly. "It is like... the gods have gone silent."
Odysseus suspected she wasnt telling him everything, and waited, trying to keep his posture casual as he leaned against the ship's rail. She glanced at him, and opened her mouth to speak multiple times before finally, the words came out.
"Does this mean, that you never believed me?" She asked in a small voice.
"What do you mean?"
"You are not Nobody, that was a lie that you told the cyclops. A lie that you told me."
"Anybody can be Nobody," Odysseus said. "I'm surprised no one had thought of it before."
"But the curse—"
"Cassandra, look at me," he leaned in close. "You've saved my life, and the lives of my crew. Do you think I would stop believing what you say, just because of a name?"
"I—"
"Cassandra, what do you see?"
She looked up at him, her eyes going unfocused and staring through him as if he was glass.
YOU ARE READING
Defying Fate
FanfictionI read a Tumblr post while back about Odysseus meeting and adopting the prophet Cassandra, who had been cursed so that "Nobody would believe her." Of course, if he's going to adopt Cassandra, whom he never met in the original story... why not adopt...
