Defying Fate

Chapter 20 p1

"How about we all go shopping," Hermes was saying by the time Odysseus hit the foot of the stairs.

"The car won't fit us all," Cassandra had joined, wearing an oversized shirt and shorts. She stirred her eggs with her fork, she'd barely touched her meal. "We barely all fit inside it last night."

"Ah, but I made some modifications while you were all sleeping," Hermes said, wagging his fork at her. He'd eaten two helpings himself, after the toast. Odysseus couldn't help but wonder where he put it all, the man was so wiry. "I think you'll find it very comfortable."

The little white vehicle looked the same on the outside, but Hermes opened the doors to reveal a roomy interior, lined with plush sofas, each with individual seat belts across the cushions. It could comfortably sit a small army.

"Alright, everyone in!" Hermes said, climbing into the driver's seat, which was much the same as it was before.

Odysseus climbed in, sitting as far from Athena as he could manage, but he could still feel her eyes on him. How could he tell her that he'd made a deal with something older than a god, something infinitely more dangerous.

'Tell him, I'll do whatever he asks, if he makes sure my fleet gets home safely.' It had been a stupid promise, but gods don't forget, and they lived forever. Kronos had brought them here for a reason. He just wished he'd had more time to get answers.

He looked over at Cassandra, who sat with her arm over the back of her sofa, staring out the window as Hermes drove down the road. She'd been very quiet since they'd arrived.

He slid over to her, nearly falling as Hermes turned around a switchback, but he caught himself and sat beside her.

"Buckle up in the back," Hermes called, but he did not slow down.

"What's going on, Cassandra?"

"It's silent," she said, her voice barely audible over the noise of the road. "The gods... the future... it was like a constant roar in my head, all the possible futures of all the people around me. Now, there's.... nothing. Silence. As if the gods aren't there at all."

Odysseus glanced at Athena and Hermes. "What could that mean?" He asked.

"I don't know," Cassandra buried her face in her hands. "It's like I've gone blind in one eye..."

"Our powers aren't what they used to be," Athena's voice. She'd slid closer to the pair of them, and Odysseus stiffened. Cassandra looked up, curious.

"A god's power comes from the people who believe in them," Athena continued. "Most of us are written off as fiction these days. Just stories told by far distant, uncivilized cultures..." She shook her head. "Apollo's prophecies ended with the farmer's almanac. Predicting the future is now down to *science*. Not a power from the gods. So, no more prophecies."

Cassandra stared for a long moment, then looked back out the window. "I don't know who I am if I am not a prophet," she said softly.

"You can be whoever you would like to be," Athena said gently. "That's the beauty of this world. Even with your gift, you are more than just a seer, you are a person."

Cassandra stared for a long while, contemplating this. "I would like to be," she said. Athena nodded, satisfied, and moved forward, climbing into the front to speak with Hermes.

They drove north for a while, along a coastal road and Odysseus stared out at the waves, peaceful in the summer sun. He tried to overlay this new Ithaca with the one he remembered and loved. It was strange, because the hills were all the same, and some roads followed the old lines, but, nearly every building they passed was the wrong shape, or a road would turn abruptly from the remembered path, where a wall would be standing instead.

Four thousand years... so much had changed. The architecture of the buildings they passed, the vehicles, the food, the writing. Odysseus was grateful for the godly powers that allowed him to understand all that had happened. For the most part, he could read every sign, despite the unfamiliar letters, and he understood every word that someone said, but, if he concentrated, underneath his understanding, he heard a very different language under Athena's or Hermes' words.

Even now, as they chatted quietly in the front seat, they spoke in a language that he'd never heard before, but he'd catch snatches of familiar words, suffixes or prefixes that he knew, used in unfamiliar ways.

He found himself trying to listen, fascinated, wanting to understand but not comprehending. Athena glanced at him, and smiled, though she did not acknowledge or explain, but carried on with the conversation as if he weren't there. Odysseus glanced away from her smile, and stared out the window instead.