Defying Fate

Chapter 24-p1

Odysseus dropped to the floor in a heap, to find himself in that dark place between thoughts. Athena stood over him, even taller than she had been moments ago, in her godly form, with its crested helmet and owls wings sprouting from her shoulders. The rest of the world was dark, they were no longer in the dining room of the farmhouse, but inside the space of Odysseus' mind, without even an overlay of what was happening around them.

"You *are* out of practice," Odysseus said, getting to his feet and putting a hand on his hip. "When was the last time you did this?" The Athena he was familiar with had more artistry than this... he shivered at the memory of being held high above the earth, and he pushed the memory away.

Athena paid him no mind. Around her head were circling a series of tiny figures. Odysseus recognized them as himself, standing in the doorway of the living room just minutes ago.

"Hey!" He shouted up at her. "Are you sure you're going to be able to get us out again? I don't want to be stuck inside my own mind." He kicked at the floor, but Athena continued to ignore him, swiping a finger across one of the memories, playing it back.

"There!" She grabbed the tiny figure of Odysseus and squeezed, and suddenly they were there in the living room. Odysseus' back was turned, looking down the hall, and Eurylochus was just getting up to walk over to Polites, who was talking about Hera, his shoulders hunched like they'd done often when he was scared or nervous as a kid.

"Gods, I look old..." Odysseus said, looking up at his memory self. The adult Odysseus looked tired, his eyes were creased in worry, his hair was dusted faintly by grey, and his skin was crossed by faint scars.

A shadow passed across the room, like someone was passing by the window, and like a ripple in the air, the four shrank, and the memory froze. Athena paced the room, and Odysseus stood by his frozen twin, watching her, eyes wide.

"The spell effected you four, but not Asterion," Athena muttered. "But it changed you by the same amount of time... nearly twenty years."

"Lucky our clothes changed with us," Odysseus said, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "That would've been embarrassing."

"Time, time! That's it. He moved time through you, instead of moving you through time. This was deliberately targeted, and performed right under our noses. He wants something with you..."

She held up one finger and moved it slowly across her eyes, and the scene moved forward in slow motion, and there it was... it crept up behind the memory-Odysseus, and the real one jumped back. It was strange, creepy, a child made of darkness, nearly invisible. It whispered something into Odysseus' ear, and the memory of himself grinned his crooked grin.

"Get that pin," the idea had been. "All the gods have special accessories. See how many you can get before they notice. But you need to distract the others." The idea spoke out into the air from all around them in Odysseus' own voice. Images flashed on the walls of Athena's pin, Hermes' caduceus broach, pinned to his lapel, Artemis's crescent moon earring, which hung from her left ear, Apollo's sunglasses, it continued, one after the other, like a list.

Athena stared up at them, and Odysseus found himself sinking to the floor, curling up into a ball, afraid.

"I am in trouble, aren't I..."

The vision ended abruptly, without preamble, and Odysseus found himself hanging once again by his wrists in Athena's hand. She looked slightly shaken, but lowered him back to the floor. His feet touched the ground, but she didn't let go.

"It's time we began the meal," Athena said quietly to Hermes.

"Everyone out to the garden!" Hermes called, directing the gods outside.

"So... what is that pin anyways?" Odysseus asked as he still dangled from Athena's grip.

"Never go into battle unarmed," she replied cryptically. "Especially with this family." She released him, and gave him a gentle shove. "Go find your friends, I know you know where they snuck off to."

Odysseus hung his head for a moment, cowed, but ran off.