Defying Fate

Chapter 11-p2

The world went dark so fast Odysseus thought for a moment that he'd been struck blind.

Then he heard the screech of a barn owl and looked up to see a bright speck of light hurtling down at him like a star— or a flaming rock launched from a catapult.

The light coalesced into a massive owl made of gold and bronze, and he barely had time to take a breath before she had him in her talons. His feet were lifted off the deck and soon they had flown so high the fleet was barely a series of specks on the sea.

He could see the curve of the earth and above him was inky blackness dotted with stars.

The owl slowed and her shape became more human.. though she still gripped him with taloned fingers, and wings sprouted from her shoulder blades, beating slowly, keeping them aloft. She glared at him with silver eyes that reflected the stars.

Odysseus knew that this was all in his head, that his body wouldn't be harmed no matter what happened here, in this strange place between moments, but— knowing it was one thing. Believing it was another. He did not look down. He glared back at the goddess with all the anger he could muster.

"You broke your word," Athena hissed, "And you disobeyed me, for petty mortal revenge!"

"I said I'd let him live. I didn't trip the Cyclops—"

Athena shook him, he felt like a doll in her grip but kept glaring as she responded. "And yet you stand and he falls. Loopholes! I trained a warrior, not a lawyer. You were meant to lead—"

"You trained me to win no matter the cost. You would have me kill a thousand innocents, and sacrifice everything I ever loved to avoid 'going soft'. But when I choose to fight for what I love, you abandon me?"

"I knew the lotus had weakened your body, but I didn't realize that your mind was so addled that you can't see the consequences of your own actions! If you don't obey me then our partnership is done!"

Hardly aware of anything besides the pounding in his ears, he grit his teeth. "Fine!" Odysseus felt his whole body trembling with anger. "Go then! I'm tired of you spying on me and interrupting my thoughts. It's not like you've been much help anyway with all your tests and—"

"Well, you've failed this one spectacularly! What a waste of my time!"

"Waste of your time? A waste of your time!? What about My time? I have been your champion for over half my life! All that time spent training, all those years following your orders— I thought we had something, I thought we were friends!"

"A mortal and a goddess can't be friends. If you believed that you're even more delusional than I thought."

"So go then. It's clearly no great loss to you. Get out of my head and leave me alone!"

She let go of him, flinching away as if he'd struck her. He felt the earth's pull working on him again and began to drop. He drew breath to cry out, and as she vanished in a twinkle of stars, he reached out to her.

Then his feet found the deck of his ship and the world was in motion again. He blinked in the bright sunlight and stepped away from Cassandra. Her eyes were still unfocused, and he took the moment to search his mind for Athena's presence. She'd been there for nearly twenty years, and now it was... quiet. Peaceful, even.

Then Cassandra's eyes cleared, and she looked at him in confusion.

"Odysseus?" she asked. "Something just happened to you."

"It's nothing," Odysseus said. "Don't worry about it, what was your vision?"

"A message..." Cassandra still looked confused, "Something has reached out to—"

"Captain!" Eurylochus' voice came up from the lower deck. "Polites is awake!"