Defying Fate

Chapter 27-p1

Odysseus and his friends remained under the olive tree for most of the morning, occasionally running to the kitchen for snacks, but generally staying out of the way of the gods as they prepared for the next day's expedition.

Odysseus ran through a few fighting stances with a tree branch as a sword, but gave up after a little while, throwing himself down on the ground beside Eurylochus.

"I feel so useless," he grumbled. "We should be doing something to prepare. We're going on this expedition too! Maybe I should grab one of those bows—"

"The way you're shaking right now, you're going to shoot somebody important," Eurylochus observed.

Odysseus looked down at his hands. His fingers were trembling from the energy that seemed to spark up and down his spine, urging him onward, demanding that he move. He clenched his fists and tried to force himself to calm down, taking several deep breaths.

"Come on, let's spar," Eurylochus picked up a branch, and stood up, leaning down to help Odysseus back to his feet.

They moved off from the tree a little ways, and battled it out like they had so many times on the practice grounds in the army camp. For a moment, they weren't children again, and they weren't fighting with tree branches. Odysseus focused on his footing, and finding an opening through Eurylochus' rock solid defense. He concentrated fully on each move, and felt his thoughts slow and organize themselves, finally on a single path.

He couldn't command a ship like this, and neither could Eurylochus. They had to rely on the gods, and he didn't like that, helpful as they had been. He wanted to pull his own weight, but he wasn't sure how. They were just kids now, easy to overlook. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage like he'd thought last night, but Athena was watching him closely, practically hovering. He could see her further away across the courtyard now, apparently occupied, speaking with Poseidon and Zeus, but every now and then her eyes would flick over to where they were.

This line of thinking wasn't productive, and he focused on the fight again, imagining they really were back on the fields outside of Troy.

Then—the scene around him really did change. He and Eurylochus were on a beach. Odysseus' feet dragged in the sand as he stepped forward. Eurylochus was kneeling, his face set, his sword on the ground, had he dropped it, or had Odysseus disarmed him? He showed no fear, only anger. Odysseus stood over him, sword raised, about to bring it down—

Then they were back under the tree and Eurylochus swung his branch across Odysseus' ribs, hard.

"Ouch!" he cried out involuntarily.

"Sorry Odysseus! I thought you'd block that one!" Eurylochus dropped his branch. "You okay?"

"I—I'm sorry, I must have gotten distracted," Odysseus said lamely, fingering the spot. It would be a big bruise later, but there was no harm done. He noticed Eurylochus was breathing hard and sweating, and he dropped his branch too. "Thanks, Eurylochus," he mumbled. "I should have gone easier—"

"No, its fine," Eurylochus said. "We've got to be in good shape if we're going to pull our own weight." He stretched out his arms, and sat back down beside Cassandra, who was looking at Odysseus with narrowed eyes.

"What did you see?" She asked him.

"What? Nothing," Odysseus didn't look at her as he sat down, "I just got distracted for a second. It's my stupid ten-year-old brain."

"No, you had another vision—"

"No I didn't, Cass!" Odysseus snapped. "I didn't see anything, okay."

Polites looked down at him from his branch, where he'd spent most of the morning.

"Odysseus, you can lie to other people, but you can't lie to us, we're your best friends."

Odysseus said nothing, and the tension beneath the tree grew as the silence stretched on.

"I saw us fighting on some beach... okay?" Odysseus finally said. "One of those 'visions of the past' things I guess. But why am I the one getting visions? You're the prophet, Cassandra."

"Why did we get turned into children?" Polites asked. "I think it all stems from the same place, designed to confuse and distract us from something else happening somewhere."

Odysseus nodded, slowly. "I should have thought of that." He pounded on his head with the heels of his hands. "My brain won't slow down! I don't remember being this pent up as a kid. I just want to *move.*" He threw a stray twig into the vineyard with all his might, and it sailed through the air for several seconds before landing far off in the distance.

A horn sounded out front, and all five of them looked up to see Hermes' little white car pull into the courtyard where all the other gods' cars were still parked.

Odysseus ran around the house to see Hermes jump out of the drivers seat and open the passenger door, revealing a flood of men.

All fifty four members of Odysseus' crew stepped out of the back seat of Hermes' car, one at a time like some kind of endless fountain. To a man, they looked lost and confused, wearing white tee-shirts and soft blue pajama bottoms.

Hermes lined them up with the power of a military general, handing out white garment boxes to each man as he stepped onto the stones.

In a way, it reminded Odysseus of the horse scheme, more than two dozen men crammed into a small space with weapons and armor, until they could barely breath. Odysseus only felt a little guilty about closing the doors on their faces and making them wait for hours for the Trojans to get drunk. If the plan hadn't worked... he might have felt a bit more guilty. But with Hermes' power... they could have fit an entire army inside that wooden contraption with room to spare.

Eurylochus had caught up, and stood beside him, arms folded in his usual "surveying-the-men" pose. Odysseus doubted he was even doing it on purpose. Just old habits. It looked a little silly on the child Eurylochus. Though he was still tall and broad-shouldered, he lacked the full height and musculature that had made him so intimidating as a man. Odysseus didn't even bother looking commanding, but stood with a fist on his hip, drumming the fingers of the other hand on his thigh absently.

"It would have been nice to have Hermes' help with the horse," Odysseus said softly.

Eurylochus grunted, "I'm more concerned with what we're going to tell the men about our situation."

"Why tell them anything?" Odysseus said, shrugging. "They won't believe us, and stop standing like that, you're going to embarrass yourself."

"What *should* we tell them?" Polites asked, catching up with them and standing on Odysseus' other side, looking at the crew and at Hermes with his head cocked to one side.

"I'll tell them that we're nephews of Hermes, and we're here to help," Odysseus said. "Where'd you leave Asterion?"

"I left him with Cassandra. They're not going to fall for that. They'll wonder where we are."

"They're coming over here, say something, *Captain*," Eurylochus muttered, as Hermes led the men over and toward the door.

Odysseus smiled widely and saluted the men, fist over his heart. "Hey there!" he called out.

The crew barely glanced at them, filing in through the door after Hermes like sheep, and Odysseus deflated.

"Good job, well spoken," Eurylochus said, breaking his stance finally, and turning to Odysseus. "One of your finer speeches."

Odysseus scowled. "They didn't even look at us," He was whining again, and clamped down on the impulse.

"Of course not, we're just *kids* remember?" Polites said reasonably. "We're beneath notice, not in charge of anything."

"Right," Odysseus grumbled. "Beneath notice." He glanced toward where Athena had been, but he didn't see her. 'Now's your chance,' the thought sprang to mind unbidden. "Hey, you guys go check on Cassandra, she shouldn't be left alone herself right now."

Polites turned to go, but paused. "What are you going to do?" He asked.

"Nothing, I'm just going to go poke around for a little bit, and see what I can.. find out?"

"Don't do anything stupid, Odysseus," Eurylochus said sternly.

"You know me," Odysseus grinned. "I never do." He slipped inside the house.