Another day of of hiding from a literal goddess, I should just- no, I still have to see my wife and son. But... how much longer can I push through doubt? I have to stay alive, I sacrificed my men for the chance to get home, I can't waste it...
Who grabbed my arm? Oh goodness that's just a diss embodied hand. I try to shake it off to no avail and it drags me towards a hole in the ground that wasn't there before. And it dropped me. I guess I'm just falling to my death now. Better than being trapped with Calypso.
Is that a light? It's getting closer really quickly- OW, I think I might've hit the floor. What am I saying of course I did. I stand up and try to observe my new surroundings before something falls on me. Whatever being fell on me hisses in pain before rolling off of me and I see...
"Penelope?"
"Odysseus!? I thought you were dead, thank the gods you're alive..."
She hugs me and starts sobbing into my shirt. I quickly return the gesture and we stay like that for a few minutes before I hear a loud thud. I quickly stand up, turning on my heels to face the source of the sound.
5 minutes earlier, Telemachus POV
Stupid suitors and their stupid challenges, I said I wanted to be legendary not dead! Ugh, whatever. Now that I think about it more, who could Athena's old friend be? She says I'm a lot like him but I don't even know what I'm like. This is all so stressful, the suitors are starting to get more dangerous than ever before and I can barely throw a punch without the help of a literal goddess.
Something grabs my leg and when I turn to look at it... the floating hand starts to drag me under my bed despite my protests and attempt to cling onto the floor. It (sadly) succeeds and I'm dropped into a pit that literally shouldn't exist.
While I'm falling (and trying not to panic) I notice some kind of light. As I get closer to it I see two figures hugging each other. And then I unceremoniously hit the ground below me.
"Ow..."
"Who's there?"
I look up and see my mom standing behind someone who reminds me of those tapestries with my dad on them. He looks a decent bit more threatening though, maybe it's not him? Whatever the answer is, his gaze slowly softens.
"Telemachus?"
"Uh, yeah?"
He hugs me tightly, as if I might dissapear. I take a look at my mom, who sighs before speaking.
"Odysseus, he was a baby when you last saw him, you should probably, I don't know, reintroduce yourself?"
I stare in shock for a second, before quickly recovering just enough to speak.
"YOU'RE MY DAD?!"
"And you're my son." He says, pride in his voice.
I start rambling about the stories I've heard about him before I'm interrupted by an unknown voice.
Sometime earlier, Eurylochous POV
"Polites, how did you even get a deck of cards down here?"
"It's simple really, I had them on me when I died. And now we have something to do while we're stuck down here for the rest of eternity, oooo."
"You died by greeting a club with open arms, and you conveniently had a deck of cards."
"Eury, I didn't greet the club with open arms, the club greeted me with open arms. Anyways, while I was stuck down here I came up with a new way to play cards! I wrote down the rules on this paper so I didn't have to explain them again."
Everyone starts with seven cards, dealt face down. The rest of the cards are placed in another pile face down. Next to the pile there should be room for a discard pile. The first card should be placed in the discard pile, and the game begins!
The first player is normally the youngest player. Every player views their cards and tries to match the card in the discard pile.
You have to match either by the number, or symbol. For example, if the discard pile has a heart card that is an 8 you have to place either a heart card or a card with an 8 on it. You can also play a king card (which can alter current symbol in play).
If the player has no matches or they choose not to play any of their cards even though they might have a match, they must draw a card from the draw pile. If that card can be played, play it. If not, keep the card, and the game moves on to the next person. You can also play a king card, a queen card (draw four), or a joker card (draw two) on your turn.
"... I have to admit, this is impressive."
"Thank you! I got really bored down here so I started playing cards with Tiresias before I had the idea to make this."
That's sad. I'm not going to say it but I think he might be going insane. Whatever, at least we have something to do- and he dissapeared. Okay, what do I do now- MY EYES.
I shut my eyes for a bit before opening them again, and... Odysseus. Well, this is awkward. What am I going to tell Polites? That his best friend got everyone killed? Polites's voice snaps me out of my thoughts.
"Hi Odysseus! Hi Penelope! Hi person I don't know!"
Odysseus looks at me and Polites with a shocked look, trembling as he speaks.
"Polites? Eurylochous? Am I dreaming? I have to be. How else would I be seeing dead people along with my wife and son who I haven't seen in 20 years."
Odysseus starts having a mental breakdown, crumbling to the ground, pulling his hair and saying incredibly incoherent things while Penelope and the stranger try to calm him down. A loud ringing sound starts up before abruptly stopping, a voice coming out of nowhere.
"Ah! Sorry about that, didn't mean for that to happen."
Odysseus loosens his grip on his hair, looking around with pure fear clear on his face.
"Woah there, I'm not going to hurt you or your family. I brought you here so that your family could know what happened during the twenty years you've been gone. Does that make sense?"
Odysseus calms down somewhat before looking ashamed of himself, presumably because of his meltdown, and nodding.
"Okay, good. You all can go explore or something, just come back here within the hour."
Polites spends around 5 minutes explaining the rules of his game to everyone and we end up wasting quite a bit of time just playing his crazy game. During the game we figure out that the stranger is Telemachus, Odysseus's son. Penelope ends up winning and falling asleep on her husbands lap (I saw him blush), Telemachus decides to explore. Odysseus decides to take the chance to ask us how we're alive and I (rather dryly) explain that we're not.
Out of nowhere, I hear someone hum an eerie yet calming song.
"Alright, whoever left, please come back to the main room."
I hear quick footsteps and the door opens, revealing a panting Telemachus who sits down next to his dad.
"So, I guess we can get started now."
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FanfictionAn epic reaction fic also on ao3 under the same name, account is Estellaluna_1