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Odysseus walked out of the olive tree bed where he had reunited with Penelope. She had fallen asleep some time ago, finally with her husband tangled in her arms instead of being alone as she had been for the last two decades. Odysseus had watched her as she slept, but was unable to join her in slumber, too high-strung from all that had happened. He carefully eased out of Penelope’s loose grasp and walked towards the moonlit balcony overlooking his kingdom. The night wind gently blew his hair around his face, and almost obscured the sight of an owl coming to land on the sill of the balcony. Odysseus gave a small smile and hoisted himself up to sit next to it on the ledge, and as he did so, the owl was engulfed in blue shimmers to reveal a woman sitting next to him. Athena.
He still couldn’t quite believe she had shown up to see him again, and he could believe the words about empathy that had fallen out of her mouth even less. Athena was looking down at him with another uncharacteristically soft and cautious smile twisting her lips. Athena looked different than the last time he saw her out of the cyclops’ cave; for one, she was no longer donning her silver and sapphire armor, only wearing a flowy blue dress and her owl crown instead. Where her auburn hair had before tumbled down her back when it was free like this, it now was in a short pixie cut. As he scrutinized his former mentor’s appearance, he noticed every bit of exposed skin was traced in branches of twisting gold. These had to be scars, but scars of this shape could only be made by…
“Lightning…” Odysseus murmured, a realization hitting him. “You must be who Hermes mentioned… you’re the one who fought for me,” He met her eyes, silently asking her to deny what he knew to be true, because if it was true… “What happened to you?”
“My brother is correct, I was indeed the one who had to fight for you. I… I heard you calling for me on Ogygia. I had come to find you here in Ithaca and apologize, but I didn’t find you, I only found Telemachus losing a fistfight against those savages. We talked- he’s such a lovely young man- and I realized I had to find you and amend my wrongs. I read your mind to find where you were and when I saw what you were about to do… I couldn’t lose you, I had to save you. The only way to get you off Ogygia was with the permission of my father, and he proposed a game. I won the game but… you’ve interacted with my father. He doesn’t take defeat well,” Athena explained, stretching out her arm to emphasize her golden lightning scars. “I would’ve been there for you as soon as you got off Ogygia, but yours and Hermes’ voyage took place during my convalescence. I only just now got a clean bill of health from Apollo to come down and see you,”
“Athena, I- I’m so sorry you had to go through that all just for me,” Odysseus began after a momentary, speechless silence. “Will your scars ever fade?”
“Don’t be sorry, I needed you alive and back home. You’re worth all I went through and more. And as for my scars, they will go away eventually. They won’t fade within a mortal’s lifespan- it may be centuries before they are fully gone,”
Odysseus stayed quiet for a moment, seeming to decide something. “I know about my share of scars that won’t fade as well,” he said quietly as he pulled up his sleeve, stretching his arm out to be next to Athena’s. Athena peered over at her friend’s arm and softly gasped when she saw the raised horizontal scars decorating her friend’s skin, too perfect and too numerous to be accidents. The oldest of the scars had already faded to white, but the newest were still a vivid purple, showing just how heartbreakingly long he had spent trapped on that cursed island, and just how recently he had managed to escape.
Athena reached out and gently trailed her fingers over the self-inflicted scars before pulling Odysseus into a hug against her side, resting her head on top of his. “I am glad I got you out of there, my friend,”
Odysseus had instinctively leaned deeper into the rare hug, but he pulled back hearing the last word she said.
“...friend?”
“Yes. My friend,” Athena nodded. “I’m so sorry I never treated you as such the whole time, for you always were my friend. I just couldn’t admit to myself that you were one. I was so callous and guarded back then, and I didn’t treat you the way I should have. I should never have been so cruel to you and abandoned you after the cyclops incident. I should have empathized and acknowledged your grief over your friend and how it impacted your actions. I was exactly what you said I was- selfish, prideful, and vain, too stuck up in her own perfectionism to appreciate the friend she had or understand his emotions. I missed you so much these past 10 years- can you ever forgive me?”
Odysseus winced hearing the sharp words he had thrown at Athena rehashed again. “There’s nothing to forgive, Athena. You’ve already done more for me than I deserve. You were right in the cyclops’ cave, I’ve grown to learn that. He was a threat to us because I didn’t follow your teachings and kill him- if I had listened to you, I could’ve been home on time with almost all my crew, and it is my biggest regret that I didn’t listen to you. You were right the whole time,”
Athena shook her head as she began to protest. “Not about everything. Maybe about that individual incident, but my teachings were so skewed. I did lead you astray- bloodshed and ruthlessness aren’t always the answer,”
“Neither is mercy, however,” Odysseus retorted- as long as you’re around, my family’s fate is left unknown- “especially if you’re being ruthless to protect the ones you love,”
Athena inclined her head. “True. But there is a balance between the two, and a right situation to use each of them. And I should have encouraged you to look for merciful options more often, and I should have practiced and taught empathy myself. That’s how we can make a greater tomorrow, not solely with bloodshed,”
Athena turned fully around to face Odysseus on the ledge before she began again. “What if there really is a world where we can choose kindness more often? What if we could change how this cruel world operates? If we could make a greater tomorrow together, but a truly greater one? Just like we planned? Would you help me?” she asked again.
Odysseus held her gaze, shocked at the earnest vulnerability shining in her eyes. “Athena… like I said before, I don’t think that world will exist for a while. I’ll be long in the ground, nothing but soil by the time that world even begins to exist. I can’t change the world with you because I myself have changed too much. How would a broken man with my bloodstained hands and ruined soul ever be capable of creating something beautiful? Merciful? Kind? The man who believed in goodness died, and I killed him. The world deserves better than to be shaped by these sullied, bloodied hands. I can’t be what it needs, and I can’t be what you need, either, not anymore, I’m sorry,”
“I don’t think you’re broken, Odysseus- not beyond repair anyway. I can’t do this alone, I need you by my side, my friend. I squandered a decade of your life, and I don’t intend to waste more years. Please come back to me,”
“I can’t be your warrior of the mind, Athena. Truthfully, I never want to leave Ithaca ever again. I’m far too old, and I want my journeys to be over forever. I need to be with Penelope, and I need to be the father I never was to Telemachus. I can’t be your student or your warrior of the mind again. This is how that ends,”
Athena brought her hands up to cover her face and inhaled a sharp breath like she was about to start crying. Odysseus gently caught her hands and pulled them away from her face, squeezing them as he met her misty eyes.
“I never said that you would be alone though, did I? I can’t work with you again to change the world, and I will eventually die. You will lose me in that way too. But you never have to be alone. There will be more people after me who can be your students, your new warriors of the mind. And maybe you can start anew with all of them, and teach them the right ways from the beginning. I believe in you, Athena, and I know that if anyone can see the world how it should be, and craft it to be that way, it’s you,”
Athena squeezed his hands back. “Then… maybe if you can’t be my student again… if this is truly the end for us in that way… what if we tried a different plan?”
Athena untangled their hands and held one hand back out to Odysseus. “Goddess and man, bestest of friends?”
Odysseus' face broke out in a broad grin as he gave her a high five. “Goddess and man, bestest of friends,”
With that, he reached forward and pulled her into a true hug, one she immediately returned with a shaky laugh.
Both of them had changed considerably, and neither would ever be the same person again. They couldn’t go back to how they were, or go forth exactly how Athena wished they could have, but they had each other as simply friends. Neither would ever have to be alone, ever again.
Goddess and man, bestest of friends.