Defying Fate

Chapter 30-p1

The others tried hard to keep up with Odysseus as he ran through the vineyard, and up toward the top of the hill—really the small mountain—that the farmhouse nestled against, but Odysseus had had a head start, and there was no gaining on him. Only one person had ever beaten Odysseus in a footrace, and that person had died a long time ago. Also, Odysseus may have... possibly let him win. He wasn't telling. Achilles' pride wasn't something to mess with.

Asterion babbled as he bounced against Odysseus' back as they pounded up the hill for the second time in as many days. The sun was beginning to go down, and it slanted across at an angle, making Odysseus' shadow stretch out long behind him, reaching where Eurylochus—with Cassandra on his back—and Polites were straggling behind.

Odysseus turned back to look down at the farmhouse and the island beyond it. It was still so strange to be *home.* The shape of the hills and the trees hadn't changed at all, of course, because four thousand years mean nothing to the land or the sea. As his friends caught up, he could almost pretend that he was there, and they were just kids, and everything after that had all just been a bad dream.

He waited silently as his friends finally caught up with him, and as Eurylochus set Cassandra down, he helped her sit on one of the stones scattered around, and sat beside her, with Asterion on his lap. Eurylochus and Polites took positions on the ends, and the five sat, looking over the island together for several minutes without saying a word to each other.

"These rocks look like more ruins," Polites observed once he caught his breath, looking around at the low blocks scattered almost geometrically across the hilltop. "I don't remember what used to be here."

Odysseus shrugged, too caught up in his thoughts. "I don't remember either," he muttered. "Maybe nothing. It's been a really long time. Maybe it was built after us."

"We'll have to go look when we get back," Eurylochus said, tapping a fist against the rock he sat on.

"What if... what if the gods can't change us back?" Odysseus asked, finally saying his deepest fear out loud. "What if we're stuck like this?"

"I think, changing us back into adults would take less power than sending us back to our time, and the gods are pretty confident that they can send us back," Polites said. "Though... Hermes always seems confident."

"Do you think he's bluffing?" Cassandra asked, her eyes widening. "If the gods could change us back, why haven't they done it?"

"They're not powerful enough here," Odysseus said, tracing circles on the stones with his fingers. "Athena said their powers aren't what they used to be, and she's definitely out of practice. Have you guys seen any of them using godly powers since they showed up yesterday? Or even Athena and Hermes?"

"Hermes changed the car, and the house," Polites suggested helpfully. "And you said Athena used quick-thought with you."

"I think that's only because of the old connection," Odysseus rubbed the back of his head. "She didn't try to restore it at all herself. It's just a fluke from the transformation. Hermes... I don't know."

"Makes you wonder, doesn't it," Eurylochus said quietly, his hand on his chin. "If we'd been made just... a little bit younger, by days even, would our injuries from that fight have come back?"

Odysseus glanced down at his leg. Though he couldn't see the old scar through his trousers, he traced it with his eyes anyway.

"I guess we're lucky he missed..." he muttered. In a way, he was grateful to have kept the scar. It was part of him, and no matter what came next, no matter what the gods did to him, he could be sure of who he was because of that scar.

"Or maybe he's planning something else with us," Cass said. "We're no good to him injured. But I wasn't there when you three were injured. I was..." she trailed off and looked at her hands, folded carefully in her lap. "My scars came later..."

Polites put one hand on her shoulder, and Odysseus reached over and did the same, trying to lend her comfort. Eurylochus sat awkwardly for a moment, then reached out and put his hand over top of Polites'.

"We are going to get back to normal," Odysseus said, trying to sound confident. "We will go down to Tartarus, face the titan, and use his powers against him!"

"You make it sound so easy," Eurylochus muttered.