Defying Fate

Chapter 18-p2

Hermes led the way to the dining room carrying a massive bowl, which he set in the very center of the wooden table, which had enough chairs for six people, 2 on a side, and one at each end.

Hermes sat at the end of the table, and Athena, setting her burden of bowls containing colorful sauces, one red, one green, one white, beside the larger bowl, chose her seat to his right. Odysseus, carrying plates made of a finer ceramic than he was used to, would up on Hermes' left, directly across from Athena. Polites sat beside him, he'd been tasked with carrying a glass bottle of wine, which Hermes took and uncorked, pouring each of them a generous share into glass cups. Eurylochus hesitated only a moment before taking the end opposite Hermes. Cassandra wordlessly sat beside the goddess, and Asterion was placed on the floor beside Odysseus with a large tray as a plate, as Hermes served each of them from the big bowl.

"What is this?" Polites asked. "It looks like someone spun a bunch of wool and then soaked it in beeswax."

"Spaghetti," Hermes said, using a claw-shaped serving tool to scoop a generous helping into his plate. "I think it was something the Romans came up with. You wouldn't have heard of them. Good people. Called me Mercury, but the job was pretty much the same. Now there's a planet named after me, so that's flattering. Bit of a dust ball, but Athena didn't get one, so..."

Hermes was looking meaningfully at Athena, but she didn't look up from pouring some of the green sauce over her spaghetti, and stirring it with her fork, twirling it around until she had a perfect, bite sized skein of spaghetti entwined around it. She stared at it absently for a long moment before putting the bite in her mouth and chewing mechanically, as if she didn't even taste it.

"A godsend, those pasta makers," Hermes continued. "Help yourself to sauces, that one," he pointed to the green, "is an olive oil and basil sauce, the Italians call it pesto, that one," the red one, "is a tomato sauce. You'll never have had tomatoes. A very robust vegetable, err fruit. The white sauce is cream-based, or cheese based. Very mild flavor. I forget what sort of cheese." Hermes sat, served himself and poured some of the white sauce on his pasta. "Eat up, and then we will discuss how we all came to be here."

Odysseus reached for the green sauce, olive oil was familiar at least, and he needed something familiar. He poured a little over his spaghetti, and, unsure, picked up his fork, trying to mimic Athena's motions without drawing attention to that fact. She didn't even seem to be paying attention to the meal. He glanced down at Asterion, who was slurping up noodles one at a time. Hermes had given him some of the white sauce, and he was getting it all over his face and hands, but laughing as he did it.

Eurylochus gave up on his fork very shortly and chose to eat with his fingers. He tried a little of all three sauces, and made surprised and contented noises with each bite.

Finally the meal was done, and they sat back from their plates, and Hermes leaned forward with his elbows on the table, hands clasped under his chin, and turned to Odysseus.

"So, now comes the time for the tale," he said. "Here you four sit, together, four thousand years from where you ought to be. Tell us how it happened?"

So Odysseus did. He began with that night in Troy, about the horse, and the battle. He talked about meeting Cassandra, and his decision to take Astyanax, and rename him. He told about what he could remember from the Island of the Lotus Eaters, though he didn't go into detail about his hallucinations. He talked about Polyphemus, and his fall into the sea. He told about the storm that awaited them, and the message that Cassandra had received, though he did not mention the titan's name, or the deal he had made.

"I only hope that the fleet made it home safely," he finished, after what felt like hours.

Hermes refilled his wine glass, and lifted it, holding it to the light. Athena was staring at Odysseus, her silver eyes focused on his, and he could no longer avoid her gaze.

"And how exactly do you plan to get back? Or are you so much of an idiot that you didn't think that far ahead? Making deals with mysterious voices spoken to a prophet. I don't remember you being in the story," she shot a look at Cassandra, who looked up from her plate.

"Well, I'm here," she said firmly. "So perhaps the story got it wrong."

Athena smiled at Cassandra, her expression softening to one of interest. "She's witty," she turned back to Odysseus, "I see why you brought her."

"She made the decision herself," he said.

"I see," Athena stood, and gathered up the plates. "Help me wash up, Cass, we can get to know each other."

Cassandra obediently stood, and they went off with the dirty dishes. Odysseus watched them go, and Hermes chuckled at the expression on his face.

"You're tangled up with too many women, my friend," he said. "I don't even bother interfering these days. They will do what they do with no regard for the likes of us. Now," he clapped his hands together. "You have had a trying day, it's time we all went to bed. We can discuss next steps in the morning."