Chapter 27-p2

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Odysseus crept down the upstairs hallway, which seemed to have sprouted more doors overnight. As he stole past one, he glimpsed Zeus and Hera. They were having an argument, quietly, through clenched teeth. Somehow, Hera didn't seem quite so tall as she had been last night, Zeus looked down at her, as they stood nose to nose.

"What was she, another young, pretty college student?" Hera hissed as Odysseus stole closer.

"She was majoring in mythology, I'd been invited to one of Athena's little *talks*—"

"Don't get me started on those lectures of hers—"

On the nightstand by the door, Odysseus made out two sets of keys, a tiny canister hung from one of them, containing a spark of light, which lay next to a key with a rearing horse embossed on it. The keys to Zeus's Ferrari. Slipping in quietly, Odysseus felt his fingers twitching, and he slipped the canister from the keyring, and put it in his pocket. It tingled slightly in his grip, but the gods didn't notice as he left.

He didn't know why he wanted it. He told himself it was just a test, to see how far he could go before anyone noticed. It was strategic.. not a childish impulse. He would put the canister in Poseidon's room or something. He wouldn't hold onto it. He looked in another doorway, and found Aphrodite and Ares sitting on a bed. They spoke quietly, backs to the door, hands hardly touching. Odysseus stepped on a floorboard wrong and it squeaked and the gods turned so quickly, Odysseus felt like a rabbit in a trap.

"You peeping, boy?" Ares growled, standing. He blocked nearly all the light from the window, looming over Odysseus like a mountain.

"No! I'm sorry!" Odysseus raised his hands innocently. "Wrong room!"

"Don't go poking your nose into business where it doesn't belong, or you might find yourself losing it—"

"I'll take care of this, Ares," a deep voice sounded behind Odysseus and a hand closed on the collar of his shirt, pulling him backward. "Carry on with... whatever you were doing."

Aphrodite huffed, adjusting her dress, and standing beside Ares.

"What are you doing here, Albatross?" She asked coldly. "Last I checked, you weren't invited."

Odysseus felt the hand on his collar tense, but the voice responded in a lighthearted tone.

"Well, here I am. I received an invitation via text. I'm here to help a friend." The grip on Odysseus' collar prevented him from turning to see the speaker, but he thought he recognized the voice, though it had a resonance he wasn't familiar with. "I'm sorry I missed the party last night. I heard it was... electric."

"Just my father blowing hot air," Ares said, his mood darkening further.

"And how was the middle east, Ares?"

"How were the forest fires out in California?"

"Touche... let me get this out of your way," with a yank, the grip on Odysseus' collar pulled him out of the room.

Odysseus twisted and struggled, but the hand that held him was too strong.

"Slow down there, kid, I'm not gonna hurt you," The voice said, and the speaker came around to his front. "Perhaps you can help a guy out. I'm looking for a friend of mine, and Athena's been light on the details." The god pinned Odysseus to the hallway wall and he finally got a look at his captor. He froze at the sight of the scars crossing his face, the dark complexion, the densely curled, black hair, cut short now. Odysseus knew that face, though the man's clever eyes were no longer black, but silver.

"Dio—Diomedes?" He gasped. "How—?"

"Sorry kid, have we met?" Diomedes looked puzzled, but continued. "I'm looking for a man called Odysseus. He's about yay-tall, scruffy-looking, and never knows when to—"

Odysseus lunged forward, breaking Diomede's grip and grabbed him around the middle in a hug, his eyes filling with tears. He buried his face into Diomedes' shirt, as the man—the god?— stood frozen.

"How can you be here?" Odysseus asked through his tears, his voice muffled from the fabric of Diomedes' jacket.

"Look kid, I've been traveling for almost 18 hours, I need a shower and a nap, and— damn— quit squeezing me so hard!"

Then Eurylochus and Polites came stomping up the stairs, Polites nearly colliding with Eurylochus as they slid to a stop.

"Diomedes!?" They cried in unison, equally shocked, and he turned.

"Huh," he grunted, staring them down across the hallway, then he looked down at Odysseus. "This one belongs to you two, I take it."

"Um, yeah," Eurylochus said.

Diomedes looked between the three of them. "I'm going to need some coffee for this."

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