This is the price we pay to live. VOL. 1

Chapter Two.

Cleopas was woke up by the talks of two crewmen that where bringing the last wooden box in.

"I think it's the last."

"I hope so, the captain is making us work off our ticket to go back home to Ithaca."

He tried to listen but he couldn't focus due the lack of food in his stomach and the sharp pain in his knee.

He started to thinking about the talk as he felt the ship started sailing.
Ithaca was distant from Troy,less rich yet a place where maybe find peace and safety.

He sat upon the wooden floor. He looked around, out of the hidden spot. He saw food on the shelfs, he heard the deposit's door closing and getting locked up by the outside.

He carefully walked to one of the shelfs and picked up a piece of bread. A small one, nobody would ever notice it.

Yet hours later,around the sunset. He heard another talk in the deposit.

"Captain, I'm sure that it's just a rat." A man said as he walked with the captain in the room.

"A rat wouldn't eat bandages." The captain answered. "But set up some traps for be sure."

That voice was strange, like Cleopas heard it a million times before. A vivid dream of the night before. the screams, the smell of smoke and burned meat. He remembered the words that he said to the baby, 'I'm just a man' .

It happened often in past that men turned into beasts for different reasons. Love leading to madness, Anger leading to end other human souls. But who was this man?

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The weeks passed and the food kept disappearing. Odysseus was at the point to go himself to check,with his own eyes if someone was there.

Because after the theory of rats on the ship, people started to arguing and accusing each other. The atmosphere was tense and terrible. He had to do something before-

An sound of broken ceramic snapped him back to the reality. He quickly run to the hull and then in the deposit.

He founds a shattered kylix on the floor. {[ AN: In the pottery of ancient Greece, a kylix is the most common type of cup in the period, usually associated with the drinking of wine.]}

There were small drops of blood forming a trail on the floor, Odysseus followed it to a pile of wooden boxes. the trail stopped and the silence fell. He had to see who or what was hiding behind those boxes. He turned the corner and he found it. A young man,not more older than 18, injured and covered in blood.

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Cleopas started to quickly crawl back as he saw Odysseus approaching. "I'm sorry" he cried as his back hit the wooden wall behind himself.

"I won't cause any more problem! I promise! I won't steal anymore!" The boy pleaded as he and Odysseus were a few steps away from each other.

"Stop this!please! Stop!" Cleopas sobbed as he saw the blade of a weapon raising up to his throat.

"I'M SCARED!" Cleopas yelled as the tears fell on his cheeks,he stared in Odysseus' eyes who just froze in place. "I want to live...Begging you..." the boy added quietly as he stared at the captain.

Odysseus looked at Cleopas, he looked in his eyes and saw the same eyes of Hector's son. Big and bright,yet filled with tears.

He lowered the weapon and kneeled down to check the boy. "Listen to me very carefully. You will be mute from now and on, you will not steal anymore and you won't reveal your origins."

"How-"

"Did you thought that I wouldn't recognize you? You were a big bounty in war, prince. We tried to catch you yet you were too fast."

Odysseus helped Cleopas to get on his feet and support him a bit. "Keep your mouth shut,got it?"

Cleopas nodded as he looked at the floor. You will be mute. The words kept repeating in his brain over and over. This will be his life now, his words won't leave his mouth. He wouldn't not be able to express his feelings or opinions, he wouldn't speak anymore.

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"Stay still" The medic mumbled annoyed as he patched up Cleopas in silence. He was in the sick bay. Odysseus and an another crewman were to an island. A man entered the room and looked at him.

"Who are you?" The man asked to Cleopas as they made eye contact. He didn't answered, the man raised an eyebrow and then asked again. Yet no answer.

The medic turned around after finished to close the wound. "Moira, his name is Moira and he is mute as the capitan told me."

"Moira? A female name? A girl stole our food all the time?" The man mumbled before receiving a small kick on the leg by Cleopas.

"You little-"

"Eurylochus,the boy is under Odysseus' wing so ignore his actions for now." the medic explained calmly. Eurylochus calmed down and looked at the boy.

"Welcome at board, Moira." Eurylochus muttered before walking out the sick bay.

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{[AN- back in action with the second chapter. Hope you liked it<3 please leave a comment and a vote if you want.]}