Odysseus slept poorly that night. His dreams were filled with images of Penelope's smiling face as she handed him cups of wine that tasted of salt and bile. He'd try to reach out to her only to fall through the floor as another man took her by the shoulders and kissed her.
An owl circled overhead as he fell for what felt like hours, until he landed, awake, in his bunk, in the middle of the night. Asterion breathed softly beside him, curled up in a ball and sucking on one fist. Odysseus ruffled the little boy's fair hair, taking comfort in the fact that he was safe, and content. An image flashed in his mind of the stone falling from the wall, the blanket wrapped around it trailing like a comet. He set his jaw, and stood up, leaving Asterion to sleep.
Far off down the passage, he could make out voices from below. Strange, high, garbled ones. He followed them past where Polites lay, asleep, past the rest of the sleeping crew. Soft voices came from the deck overhead as men stood their nightly watch, but the strange voices came from below, in the hold.
He climbed down into the hold, carefully making his way past the three massive sheep, and toward the dimness in the back, where he could make out a faint glow.
It was the three wind spirits, gathered around a crate that sat oddly by itself against the wall of the ship. Odysseus recognized it immediately as the supply of lotus fruit that had been gifted to the crew, to help them—and Odysseus especially—ween themselves off of the effects.
It had been a couple of days since Odysseus had had any, and his hands shook slightly as he knelt down by the three creatures, who held up sticky paws as their eyes glowed faintly violet.
"Eat up," Bombom said, offering one of the date-sized fruits.
"Join us," Stookie added.
Odysseus took the fruit, holding it in his open palm. It smelled fresh and sweet, and he knew it would clear the taste of salt from his mouth. His trembling increased as he stared at it, faintly glowing in the darkness.
If he ate the fruit, the weakness would stop. If he ate another, would he see Penelope's face again? If he ate a third, would he just drift back into that hallucination, and would he be able to forget about the coming danger, the constant worry? Would he be able to be home, even for a short while?
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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...
