DIMITRI

  The teacher was a lonely man in the capital. The only people he was seeing were Dimitri and the customers. He had no friends, no family, or even any other kind of company. And that made his student worry.

  ‘’I am fine with it’’He rasped, but the boy disagreed. Meanwhile, his teacher was trying to find new herbs for the marketplace and any strange meat for the boy to cook.

  Please don’t take deer. I will have to cook it for days, and it stinks.

  ‘’I would like two deer thighs please’’He smiled at the owner.

  Dimitri’s eyebrow twitched.

  ‘’I am happy with having you around’’Teacher tried to explain again.

  ‘’Come on, I've known you for years, you must have friends or any woman in your life.’’

  His brow arched and began to speak to a childish ‘’Oh, you want a new mother? Isn’t your father enough for you?’’

  Dimitri pressed his lips into a thin line, and he grabbed the thighs and placed them tightly on his back.

  And the teacher kept looking at different ingredients once again.

  ‘’You are not my father, and I believe’’As they both walked, they stumbled in front of a garden of flowers. Or rather, a woman who was filled with them. Now, the perkish woman was right at the top of the fallen teacher.

  ‘’I am so sorry’’ The woman gasped with such innocence and embarrassment.’’I am new to the capital and…’’ As she was facing the man, the woman did not even react to his violent appearance. The boy had seen women gasp from horror or be charmed by his warrior scars. He had also seen them pout out of pity. But this woman didn’t even react.

  As the teacher tried to speak and help her stand up, his locks were covered with daffodils.

  ‘’You have a flower shop?’’He asked her, and the woman smiled.

  It was rare to find people selling flowers. But then again, the woman did seem foreign with her reddish hair and pale skin. Her clothing seemed to be northern too with fabrics being sewn to her differently than others.

  She pointed with her plump thumb to the store that was a few seconds away from them. The teacher looked at the flowers once again and then at the woman.

  ‘’My father actually owns it. We moved from Hibernia. Have you been there? Oh, you must go, it’s beautiful. Not that it isn’t beautiful here.’’

  The teacher arched his brow as the beaming woman did not even stop to breathe as she was talking for hours. Still, the boy could see a slight interest escaping Teacher’s eye.

  ‘’Boy, can you go back to the house and cook the meat? I will come back soon.’’

  The boy nodded, and he walked away, while with the corner of his eye, he found his teacher actually raising his hands and helping someone. The woman began talking and talking while his teacher was listening and smiling gently.

  ***

  The boy did not expect his Teacher to commit any more crimes after that trial. He was once again wrong, as he saw his teacher stealing the fairy man’s boat. Of course, I would take it. But the boy did not speak as he had other things to worry about. His hand was tight inside his belongings, where he was hiding the dagger, and inside his head, there was Hermes once more.

  He wanted everything to stop. He wanted to return to his home; he wanted everything to be normal. But he worried that he couldn’t remember how to even talk. He couldn’t even remember his name.

  How could that even be possible? His parents named him, didn’t they? Or maybe the orphanage. But the memories that he should have lost were about his teacher, and then why…

  ‘’Are you alright?’’asked the teacher, who was now the only one rowing. Looking now above, he could see the underworld getting darker. It seemed that they would go to their destination.

  ‘’Of course I am’’He lied.

  His teacher realised it soon, but he preferred to stay silent and look at his necklace.

  ‘’Kid, if you want to go back.’’

  No, not yet.

  ‘’I prefer to stay with you.’’

  After everything he saw, he didn’t know if he could trust him. But there was a small light of hope inside him. That it might change everything when his teacher finds what he was looking for.

  ‘’I didn’t ask, where did you find my belongings?’’ The teacher turned to him once again.

  ‘’Oh, the Queen found me. She seemed to know you better than you.’’

  The teacher smiled. ‘’Of course she does.’’ She let out a mutter.’’She is foolish.’’

  ‘’And trusts you.’’ He tried to prove that what his teacher said before was all lies.

  ‘’Do you still trust me?’’He asked, and the boy nodded slowly.

  ‘’Good because this road might kill you.’’

  What?

  They found a dark shore without a single light but the lantern from the ferry. Dimitri tried to grab one of the branches she found at the shore, and his teacher and the voice inside his head screamed no. Little did he know that the branch was actually a giant snake.

  By instinct, the boy tried to take the dagger out of his bag. Cold sweat showed on his face as he realized what he was about to do. Luckily, the teacher began to kick the snake with all his might, and it fell back into the river.

  It seemed that not everything was what he was expecting. So, the teacher took a rope from his bag and tied his wrists with the boy’s. S

  ‘’So we won’t get lost’’He explained.

  And they began walking with a single light and silence. There was no nature on that road. No sound, not even life or ghosts. There was nothing.

  The teacher explained that Tartarus was two days’ walk from where they stood. And it would be better not rest.

  The boy nodded, but he had a worry about his memories again. His name. For a second, he forgot his name.

  ‘’Do you think that…’’He began talking .’’I can find my parents here?’’

  The teacher kept walking. ‘’I am not sure about it, I mean, they were christians right? You have your own religion and-’’

  His words were shut. He realised that something slipped.

  ‘’But I believe that they still might be alive. Tell you what’’ Teacher chuckled, tried to save the part where he mentioned his parents were actually gone.

  ‘’I will help you find them.’’

  How could he know about his parents?

  The boy shook his head. ‘’No, I am fine with you.’’He lied.

  The teacher turned his head all so slightly to find his student rubbing his nervous thumbs. At the end, he sighed and kept walking.

  ‘’Maybe. You can find at least some relatives after this. ‘’He explained. ‘’I will help you for sure. ‘’

  The boy stopped walking, and the rope tightened up. Solemn, he could see a pair of lights far in the darkness. Was it other people? Or something more violent? Other gods, monsters that were hunting, beating hearts for their own pleasure.

  ‘’You will leave me?’’ The boy asked.

  And the teacher’s lips quivered. ‘’You are not a kid anymore,’’ He tried to clarify. ‘’But I know that you would like some people from your own bloodline. You cannot want to stay with me forever.’’ There was a bitter chuckle.

  What if the boy wanted to stay with him? What if the boy wanted everything to return to normal? In the past that some gods and monsters not taking his memories or life? That they were not using him. That he was doing something actually good.

  ‘’I am a thief and a liar.’’He admitted. ‘’I do not think that they would want me.’’

  The teacher’s gaze furrowed with his good eye, seeming to almost welled up.

  ‘’And besides, I cannot let you live at peace with whoever we are trying to save’’He let out a smug, and the teacher pulled the rope tighter and made the boy lose his balance and fall to the suddenly soft ground. One sniff and it was all it took to understand what it was.

  ‘’Oh, mother-’’

  ‘’Language boy’’ Sid the Teacher, who was trying so hard not laugh.

  The boy stood up, and he replied by shoving a pile of the ground to his dark locks. He didn’t reply as he stood there frozen, but the boy could see that his teacher’s body was shaking.

  ***

  The teacher was getting outside the house more often now, letting Dimitri do most of the chores. He wasn’t even going to the marketplace with his teacher returning with all the items, and it seemed that each time he was returning with the scent of flowers.

  He began setting the table while Pup was now on Teacher’s lap and was sniffing the florent scent. The boy could not help but grin like an idiot from the thought that his teacher actually had found someone that he could show his feelings to.

  ‘’So’’Dimitri gave him the elk soup he had been preparing for almost two days.

  The teacher’s forehead puckered.

  ‘’What’s her name?’’

  ‘’I am just doing orders for seeds for the garden’’He tried to explain. ‘’And her father is sick, so I am both helping her, and she doesn’t seem to be able to…’’His words stopped, and he stared at the boy who was still grinning like an idiot.

  ‘’Flann.’’ He kept talking and finally dug in to eat the harsh meat. Then, he stood up, went to the cupboard, and took all the herbs. It seemed that his palette did not change.

  The boy kept smiling and began eating too. And because he spent day and night cooking it, he tried not vomit.

  ***

  ‘’We shall sleep’’Yawned the boy.

  His teacher refused immediately.

  ‘’It’s dangerous here, not even in sleep you can be safe.’’

  ‘’Please’’ Begged the boy who was about to cry. There was no sun to be found. And not any other way of knowing how long they walked. They might have been close, or they were just walking for two minutes. But the boy was exhausted from everything that had just happened.

  ‘’I can help you sleep nice’’ Hermes’ voice whispered inside his head. ‘’Only if I had my beautiful staff.’’

  Now you want your staff back?

  ‘’Not yet. But if that helps you, you are not far from the gate. That also means that it’s been almost two days without any sleep. Then again, how long has it been since you…’’

  ‘’We can take turns’’ The teacher finally spoke and began stepping closer to the floor, thinking that nothing strange was awaiting them.

  So, the boy was the first one to try to sleep. But only nightmares awaited him. Nightmares of people who were trapped inside the prison pit. However, there were no nightmares. Because those prisoners could not sleep. Their voices were escaping into the boy’s mind. Begging to eat, to stop the hard labour. The boy tried to shut those words out until there was a strange sound now.

  The sound of an old man, ancient like time. His body was thin, and the golden clothes that he was wearing were twice his size. The boy could see that he was stepping on pale white grass, but soon he realized that this was the man’s beard. His eyes, deep in the shade of gold, with his skin glistening gray and silver. Sitting on a chained golden throne, with a scythe in one hand, trying too hard to break those chains. But there was nothing.

  FREE ME… The man spoke inside Dimitri’s head.

  What was this man? Was he once a king? A noble that defied the gods? Or simply a poor soul who got trapped in a misunderstanding.

  YOU CAN SEE ME, BOY…YOU CAME TO FREE ME, DIDN’T YOU?

  Was this the man the teacher wanted to free? No, it couldn’t be possible. Even if he looked like a pathetic prisoner, the boy could see how terrible he was. Behind him, there were painted walls, showing off his crimes.

  Once there was a king who had many children with his wife. But a prophecy was found that they would usurp him. So, the king tried to punish them by banishing them. However, one of them escaped and defeated his father. Then, the son also got the curse of that prophecy, and his wife gave birth to one child.

  The new king, out of fear, ate his child. And another. And another. Until five infants were kicking the man’s stomach, trying to get out. Burning slowly from the acid, soon to die.

  But when the sixth baby appeared, the wife hid it and tricked the man into eating the rock. Soon, the boy grew up and usurped the father, and with the help of a woman, he helped his siblings to get out. And so, there was one more battle. One battle that banished the king to the golden chains, begging people to get him out of the internal punishment.

  ‘’I cannot help you’’The boy lied. He actually would rather die than let that man get out of his prison.

  OH BUT YOU CAN. His scrawny fingers pointed at his belongings. MY CELL WAS NOT FAR. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO…

  ‘’Sir, I already have one god inside my head, I do not need another.’’

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  And the man began laughing like a maniac. Each sound was making a terrifying echo, crawling deep into the boy’s bones.

  YOU THINK THAT I AM A GOD? CALLING ME A GOD IS SUCH AN INSULT. NO, BOY I AM A KING, THE FATHER OF EVERYTHING.

  The boy chuckled from his fear. ‘’Of everything?’’ He looked left and right. ‘’Where are your people then?’’

  He opened his mouth, and his golden teeth appeared. YOU ALWAYS NEED ME. YOU NEVER HAVE ENOUGH OF ME. YOU ARE PRAYING FOR ME TO BE MORE, AND WHEN I AM IS STILL NOT ENOUGH. EVEN IF I NEVER END, I AM STILL NOT ENOUGH BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS NEED ME, EVEN IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND IT.

  ‘’I am not good at riddles,’’ The boy explained and began to walk away. But he soon realised.

  ‘’Time’’His voice whispered.

  OH, HOW SMART YOU PEOPLE GOT.

  ‘’Whatever you are, I told you are, I will not help you.’’

  BUT WHAT IF I TOLD YOU, I CAN HELP YOU FIND WHAT YOU WANT?

  ***

  The boy opened the door and found Flan with a basket full of sweets.

  ‘’Hello, Dimitri is your teacher here?’’

  The boy stayed silent and hoped that Flan wouldn’t listen to his teacher snoring like a loud beast from above the attic.

  ‘’I wanted to thank him for everything, my father is getting better now, and the store is blooming and…’’

  She began rattling again, and the boy looked down at the beautiful flourish basket.

  ‘’What’s that?’’ He asked.

  ‘’Oh, honey soaked, cakes-’’

  ‘’Please come in’’The boy, now salivating, grabbed Flan by the hand and made her sit at the table.

  As he was preparing the hot beverages, Flan was petting Pup and making sweet nicknames for him.

  ‘’Are you sure that I can stay?’’ She asked. ‘’I do not want to be a burden.’’

  ‘’Not at all, my teacher will also love these cakes.’’

  That made Flan blush.

  That was it, that was his chance to ask a question. He slowly inspected her naked fingers and then went back to the woman. She was far gone from marital age, and it seemed that she did not say that there were any suitors after her.

  ‘’I am happy that my teacher helped you’’He said and gave her honey water, and the boy slowly took the honey cake.

  He closed his eyes slowly, thinking that he could eat like this for ages.

  Flan helped. ‘’Yes, he is so kind and very interested in flowers, I have never seen a man so curious about everything like this’’Her eyes opened wide, and she took out her belongings.

  ‘’I forgot the seeds. ‘’She stuttered.’’He said that he has a garden.’’

  Dimitri nodded. ‘’Yes, I am also trying to help it grow, but it’s very hard.’’

  ‘’Of course it is’’The blushed woman took a sigh from the honey and kept smiling. ‘’Honestly, it was a miracle that I bumped into both of you,’’

  ‘’Yes…’’ His brow quivered, and he tried to ask one more question. ‘’So, how did you end up here? You said that you are from Brit-’’

  Her smile faded. ‘’Hibernia. I uhm’’’She began playing with her thumbs. ‘’When my husband died, both my parents saw that there was nothing left for us there.’’

  His heart dropped. She was a widow. Stupid boy, now asking about her and his teacher would be foolish. Even if she was wearing bright clothes, her fallen gaze could show how deeply she was still mourning.

  ‘’So we took all of our savings and travelled as far as we could’’There was a painful chuckle.

  ‘’I am so sorry’’Dimitri muttered, but Flan shook her head.’’I knew him for so many years, it’s so difficult to move on without someone you have fallen so…’’

  Her eyes were about to water. ‘’But it’s fine’’Her eyes gleamed. ‘’Your teacher told me that he was also a widower.’’

  Dimitri stood there, shocked. He didn’t even know that his teacher was once married. Or someone would actually marry him.

  ‘’And that the mourning never actually stops. But also that doesn’t mean that you have to stop leaving.’’

  Where were the wise words from the sleeping monster in the attack when the boy needed them?

  ‘’So, did he help? With those words’’He moved his hands close to the table. The woman smiled. ‘’Well, the exact way he said those words were complete more vulgar’’

  ‘’Woman, just because your husband died, doesn’t mean you will have to cry for the rest of your life’’ That’s what Dimitri thought the teacher actually said.

  ‘’But it sure did, even if he tried to smack my face when I was about to cry again.’’

  Dimitri narrowed his face.

  ‘’Of course’’

  ‘’What are you doing here?’’The teacher rasped, and both Dimitri and Flan screamed from the shock. When did he get down? How much did he say?

  ‘’Odysseus’’Flan smiled and showed the basket and the seeds.’’I came here to thank you for everything, and just so you know…’’

  His gaze shifted to the table, to the boy, to Flan and back to the table. He suddenly became colder.

  ‘’I think that you shall leave.’’

  The woman’s smile faded.

  ‘’Don’t mind him, he woke up…’’Dimitri tried to save what just happened, but it was pointless.’’He meant that…’’

  ‘’ I meant that you should leave. We are both busy.’’

  Her face shattered to a million pieces from those words, and she stood up shakily as she bowed her head.

  When the door closed, the boy turned to his teacher, furious, and he was about to throw the cakes.

  ‘’What’s wrong with you?’’ He shouted. ‘A woman wanted to thank you, and you throw things-’’

  ‘’Boy, you know that you cannot fool me. I know the reason you told her to stay’’

  Dimitri swallowed, and he lowered his red face. ‘’Would it be that bad?’’

  The teacher blinked.

  Was he actually a widower or was it a lie?

  ‘’Someone actually found you kind, and you pushed them-’’

  ‘’Are you forgetting what I am, boy?’’ He interrupted him, and Dimitri found his Teacher’s broken face with his cheeks being all red.

  Right. No matter what, his Teacher, the man with the name of Odysseues was all fake. Behind everything was a woman, deep in pain and guilt.

  The innocent smiles, the hours of talking, the secret glances, the chance of something to bloom in the forgotten garden.

  It was all a dream of a child. Because the world was cruel. Love was not priceless. Love had rules. How could such innocence belong to the fantasies of the human mind?

  She cannot love her.

  ***

  Dimitri stood there, shocked, thinking of the words that the king just said.

  I AM TIME, I CAN SEE EVERYTHING. I HAVE SEEN EVERYTHING. JUST LIKE THE MEMORIES THAT YOU ONCE HAD FORGOTTEN.

  There was a sign of hope deep in his chest. He could give his memories back. Only if he freed that dangerous king.

  So, he took a step cowardly back and held his belongings even tighter.

  The thought of having his memories back so easily, it could be too good to be true. And he could still see the paintings. The honor he had placed on his own family. His own people just because of a vision.

  DO YOU TRUST THE FOOLISH HERALD TO GIVE YOU BACK WHAT YOU WANT?

  ‘’Not at all, that god had always tried to hurt me in any way possible, but…’’A long pause.

  What was he thinking about saying after that?

  ***

  The teacher sat down, defeated. He knew what he said to Flann was cruel. However, he also knew that he couldn’t tell the truth. His hands moved under his tight clothes, right to his chest to let the deep binding get loose.

  ‘’I am sorry, I just wanted you to be happy.’’ The boy moved closer to him. ‘’Honestly, I haven’t seen you being so happy.’’

  His gaze turned to his student and simply stared at him in silence.

  ‘’She said that you told her that you are a widower.’’

  His lips parted, and he looked back at the palm of his trembling hands. ‘’In a way, I was married, ages ago.’’

  Dimitri’s eyebrows rose. Was it actually true?

  ‘’Oh’’He looked down.

  ‘’I tried to find love after it. But it wasn’t the same. ‘’A shuttering pain. ‘’Not when’’ He remained silent as he tried not to break his rough voice.

  ‘’Do you miss them?’’The boy asked and Teacher’s gaze fell to the boy’s honey eyes. A soft smile appeared on his rough face, and his hand cupped Dimitri’s cheek.

  He was about to speak. To say. Every day, every time that I wake up until I fall asleep.

  But instead, he pinched the boy’s cheek.

  ‘’Mind your business, boy.’’

  Dimitri winced and pulled himself away.’’Fine, but do not throw the cakes.’’ He said and walked to take one more bite from the scrumptious honey.

  ‘’Just return the seeds.’’He said. ‘’And the basket. ‘’

  ‘’No’’Dimitri pouted. ‘’You must be a man and face the consequences of your actions’’

  The teacher narrowed. But at the end, he agreed, and Dimitri took a look at the end of the basket. There was a note, two simple words that made Dimitri speechless.

  ''What is it, boy?''

  ''It's nothing.'' He said and curled up secretely the note.

  It was just a fantasy. An illusion that it had to end.

  I know.

  ***

  ‘’I believe my teacher,’’the boy finally said. ‘’No matter what, he will help me’’

  The king chuckled and moved his head lower to the tiny human that was standing in front of him.

  No matter what I saw, no matter what every god is saying, I refuse to believe that he is a monster. I know that he will help me no-

  ‘’It’s a baby boy’’ The teacher’s voice whispered from behind. Turning back, he found himself in an old room where a heavy woman had given birth as his teacher was holding the infant. Right next to them, there was a man, bald like an eagle, holding a young girl with thick brown hair.

  ‘’Look’’Said the woman, all tired of the little girl. ‘’Look, Myrto, that’s your baby brother’’

  The father made the girl, Myrto, take a better look at the screaming baby while the teacher was trying to wash it up and give it to its mother.

  Myrto, instead of being with all the joy, began to cry. Telling that she wanted a baby sister. And she begged them to try again.

  Both of the parents began to laugh, and the Teacher was now the one holding the baby.

  ‘’It’s very healthy’’He explained to them, and the mother smiled while the teacher was looking at the infant with a strange pain.

  ‘’Do you have a name for it?’’ He asked, and the father grasped the mother’s hand tightly while he had left Myrto to play in the other room.

  ‘’Why don’t you name him?’’

  His eyes snapped from those words as he gave it back to them. He finally let go of his full fabric and showed his face.

  ‘’I cannot-’’

  ‘’You cared for our line for centuries’’ The father said gently.

  ‘’Also, you were between my legs for twenty-four hours, and I swear if you tell me that I have to start thinking of names’’’ The mother was a terrifying woman who could even make the teacher scared.

  The teacher began playing with the boy’s short hair and then looked at the plump cheeks.

  ‘’Dima-’’His voice trembled. ‘’Dimitri is a strong, easy name.’’

  The boy opened his eyes and felt his entire body shaking with the Teacher looking at him, confused. What was it again? What could have possibly been that dream he just saw?

  ‘’Boy, are you-’’

  The king showed him a memory. Of the Teacher that he knew about his parents, he knew him. His parents were kind, sweet, and he had an older sister with the name Myrto. Where was his sister? Where did his parents go? They wouldn’t abandon him. Would they?

  ‘’I have slept enough’’He rasped and stood up, letting the teacher sleep too.

  He told the truth. He had slept enough. Enough he heard of everyone’s lies. Everyone was messing with him from the start.

  Rage filled his body as he watched his Teacher slowly falling asleep.

  ‘’Kid’’ Hermes appeared behind him, and Dimitri tried to hold his fear.

  ‘’What are you doing here?’’

  ‘’Come to see you. I couldn’t find you for hours as if your soul had’’He made a long pause, and he was studying the boy’s eyes. Filled with anger and mistrust.

  ‘’Will you actually give me my memories back if I help you?’’

  The god looked at him, confused, and then smiled. ‘’I always keep my promises.’’

  ‘’Alright,’’He nodded. ‘’Then, this is goodbye.’’

  ‘’What?’’ Hermes gasped, confused. ‘’Kid, you don’t understand, if you don’t do what I say, you will lose -’’

  ‘’The king showed me my parents’’He explained. ‘’They were good, kind. I have a sister, did you know that?’’

  ‘’King?’’He let out a laugh.’’What king can…’’His words shut, and his lips quivered. ‘’Alright, kid, you have to understand that this king is not going to help you’’He grasped his shoulders tight.

  ‘’I just saw the person who once raised me with them. And he never told me. Why?’’

  Pain in his chest and soul. He was tired of everything. He wanted to get out. He wanted answers that he wouldn’t take from either Hermes or the Teacher.

  And so, he knew what he had to do. With the dagger in his belongings, he could listen to whispers of what the next order should be.

  He unwrapped his hand from the rope and began to walk away with Hermes now completely far from him. As he was walking right to the prison pits.

  +++++

  Finally, a good sleep. Odysseus thought as he hadn’t slept well over the last few weeks. But it changed when he heard a familiar, annoying voice.

  Odysseus opened his eyes slowly as he found right above him Hermes smiling like an idiot.

  ‘’Hey, my beloved.’’He sang with guilt. ‘’Listen, I know that you hate me and wish me dead, but…’’

  Odysseus raised his upper body and noticed that his foolish student was missing.

  ‘’What did you do?’’He asked with hatred inside his voice. He knew that the god was following them, but he didn’t believe that Hermes would actually show his presence.

  ‘’So, I might have made a deal with your student that he will have to hurt you, and I will bring his memories back that he lost in Acheron.’’

  Odysseus raised one of his eyebrows and stood up unbornthered and dusted his clothes off.

  ‘’Of course you knew it.’’ He sighed, giving up.

  He knew it the first second the boy got out of the river, and what exactly he had lost. But he also knew how to bring the memories back. But it had to wait a while. As for that, he was trying to ask questions about facts, trying to keep the memories intact. It seemed that he knew everything already.

  ‘’So you know that he also has-’’

  ‘’Hermes, as I trust my boy to keep my belongings now, tell me what did you-’’

  ‘’He ran off to Tartarus alone.’’Hermes spat out.

  Odysseus’s gaze snapped.

  ‘’What did you do?’’

  ‘’I swear on the river Styx, it was the titan of time, whispering to his sleep’’Hermes admitted, and that made Odysseus relax around him as he was standing up.

  ‘’He wants to use the dagger and free him.’’

  ‘’And why would my fool of a student do that?’’

  ‘’Because’’Hermes flew above Odysseus and leaned close. ‘’The king of the titans showed him an interesting memory.’’

  Why was he playing riddles?

  Odysseus took a deep breath. ‘’You are wasting my time’’He rasped and began taking everything from the ground and started walking.

  ‘’He saw it, Lyssandra.’’ His voice was calm and rational. Odysseus hasn’t heard this tone coming from him over the centuries.

  ‘’Honestly, it was surprising that you hid it for so many-’’

  Keep calm. Keep calm.

  Panic appeared in Odysseus’ body as he started running in the direction of Tartarus, thinking of what his student found out was one of the sins he couldn’t hide anymore.

  But why was Hermes following him?

  ‘’Get away from me’’He shouted. ‘’You understand the fate of the world is-’’

  ‘’I do not care about the world, Hermes,’’The man screamed.

  ‘’You…’’Hermes rabbit feet stood on the ground. ‘’You actually care for him, don’t you?’’