Defying Fate

Chapter 28

"Diomedes, its me! It's Odysseus!" Odysseus loosened his grip on Diomedes and dried his eyes, embarrassed. He was not doing a very good job at restraining his childish impulses. "I'm not actually—"

"Stop, let me catch up." Diomedes put his hands on Odysseus' shoulders, and pushed him away, dropping to one knee so he could look the boy in the eyes. Odysseus looked from one silver eye to the other, willing his old friend to recognize him.

"Please... Dio—"

"Quit your blubbering, kid, let me think." His eyes shifted slightly as he looked into Odysseus's, switching from right to left, as if searching for something there. "Never ahead, never behind, but flying swiftly past. To a child I last forever, to an adult I'm gone too fast. What am I?"

Odysseus sniffed, and wiped at his eyes, finally letting out a strangled laugh. "That one's not even hard," he said, not bothering to say the solution. Diomedes only ever chose riddles that had one answer, and Odysseus was grateful for the old, familiar joke.

Diomedes chuckled too, and ruffled Odysseus' hair. "I'll admit I'm out of practice. I had to google it on my way here."

"What's googling?" Eurylochus asked, and Diomedes stood up.

"So, it is Eurylochus, and Polites, then. What did you let this one drag you into this time?"

"The future," Polites said, coming to stand beside Odysseus. Eurylochus came around to stand on Odysseus' other side, in what was their usual formation, and Diomedes laughed again.

"Fair enough. Coffee, then you can tell me the whole story. Particularly the bit about how you three got so short."

"I'll get it!" Odysseus raced for the stairs.

The only thought in his head as he took the stairs four at a time, leaping down them with little regard to his safety, was; 'Diomedes is going to fix everything.'

It was irrational of course. He knew it was irrational. Diomedes was just one man, or.. maybe he was a god, but, Athena had made it pretty clear that one god couldn't solve this. Still, it was good to have another friend in this strange world.

He ran into the kitchen, and grabbed a mug from the cupboard. He poured out the coffee carefully, handling the pot with both hands to keep it from spilling. He set the mug on the table and sat down across from it, chin on his hands, drumming his fingers on the table impatiently.

Diomedes eventually caught up, trailing Eurylochus and Polites.

"So you're a god now?" Eurylochus was asking.

"Only a very minor one," Dio said.

"Did you get any special powers?" Polites asked.

Dio laughed, "I'm an architect, something about my building cities in Italy. Better than being known for all the fighting I did, I suppose. I've gotten to avoid battlefields for the last few centuries. Probably why Ares isn't thrilled with me right now."

"Italy?" Odysseus asked. "What about Argos? Why didn't you go back?"

"I did go back," Diomedes looked pained. "It's not important, it was a long time ago. The important story, right now, is yours." He sat down heavily in the seat across from Odysseus, and steepled his fingers over the steaming mug of coffee. "Spill. I want to know everything."

Odysseus told him the same story he'd told Athena and Hermes several nights before. It felt like a lifetime ago, but he included everything except how he'd truly run into Asterion and Cassandra, and the desperate deal he'd made with the titan, just before the storm had hit. He described the portal, and the picnic in the ruins, and his vision of Penelope.