It was dark in the room, but he could still see the owl.
It perched at the foot of his hotel room bed. He groaned. Owls were never a good sign. It mean
she was close, and he was far too hungover to deal with her today.
The owl, to it's credit, wasn't really paying him any special attention, instead surveying the room with that bug-eyed pomposity that only owls could perfect. Maybe if he just ignored it the damnable thing would just leave of it's own accord. As plans went, it was about as good as he was going to come up with today. Mind made up, he rolled onto his side and endevoured to get a few more hours sleep.
Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, knelt at his bedside. He cursed under his breath, long and obscene.
Usually upon realizing that a vision like Athena was in their bedchambers, most men would be ecstatic. After all, she was possessed of a serene, serious, somewhat aloof, and very classical beauty, one that was entirely becoming of her status as a Goddess. Unfortunately she didn't make
those kind of visits, leaving that kind of thing to Aphrodite. No, she only ever came a-visiting just to chastise, like some kind of all-powerful mother-in-law.
"This room stinks." She said, aquiline nose wrinkled in distaste, her voice smooth and measured, soft as silk with just a hint of disappointment to harden it's edges. Seemed she didn't approve of just how far he'd fallen of late. Not that he cared all that much for the approval of Gods these days. That was far to fickle a commodity to try and pin down.
She turned her back on him to cross the room towards the windows, tails of her pure white chiton billowing out behind her. She drew the blinds, showering the room with daylight and earning another curse from the rooms inhabitant.
"Your manners stink. Haven't you ever heard that it's rude to come into a man's room uninvited. He could be doing anything." He grunted in return, pulling the scattered sheets of his bed tight around him. Strange, as Athena had seen him at his worst, all those centuries ago, and yet he still wasn't comfortable showing his nakedness to her. She was the virgin Goddess, after all. Even he held
some things sacred.
"Show some respect, Odysseus." Her reprimand was mild, a display of her legendary level-headedness. Zeus would have started hurling lightning bolts by now. Poseidon would have tried to drown him in the toilet. She forced the window open a crack, allowing fresh air to wash away the offending stink.
"I'm a king Athena. We're a famously arrogant sort."She turned to face him once more, her strong brow furrowed slightly while her full lips curled into a delicate frown. She had long earned a reputation for being the patron of heroes, but he was willing to bet that she regretted that title when it came with the task of having to deal with him.
"A king no longer, in case you had forgotten. Regardless of that, a wise king knows that it behooves even the mighty to show fealty to a Goddess. . . And you were supposed to be the wisest." The owl shrieked angrily at him as if to cement her point. Spineless sycophant.
"Wise no longer." He muttered to himself, though he conceded her the point with slight bow of his head. The mood he was in, it was about as much concession as she likely to get. The Goddess seemed to realize that fact and moved on.
"Olympus grows concerned, Odysseus. This 'Nagoya' incident has angered too many of the humans. They lose faith in you. They lose faith in us. Something must be done, and done soon." She fixed him with her stormcloud-gray eyes, though he couldn't make himself meet her gaze. She knew him too well, better than almost anyone in the history of the world did. Certainly better than he knew himself. Athena had a gift for stripping a man bare, laying aside all the deceits and falsehoods that he presented to the world, until nothing was left of him save his hidden, truthful core. Odysseus couldn't look her in the eyes, because he knew he'd see his reflection in those perfect gray orbs.
And he couldn't stand to see how lost he'd become. Not again.
"You hide in this room." She said, breaking the long silence that had developed between them. Simple. Stark. True.
"I'm not hiding. I'm resting! I've had a busy weak. I was part of a botched operation that collapsed a skyscraper, don't you know!" Feeble excuses, and he knew it. Lying was what he was good at though, and when a man's on the back foot it's always best to fall back on to his strengths. Unfortunately Athena could see through the most tightly woven of deceits with ease. She didn't even bother to acknowledge those particularly weak fibs. Insulting, but not entirely unexpected.
"But it's not this recent calamity that has you retreating from the world." He squirmed uncomfortably.
"No. You fear a repetition of events long past. You see this schism between heroes, this division between legends, and you fear you've seen this all happen before. You look at Ulysse Descombes and you see a Hector of the twenty-first century. In Jack Cochran you think Achilles has been reborn. You see ocean waters tainted by the blood of thousands, and far off beaches littered with the tattered corpses of young men snatched before their time." Odysseus' mouth was dry while his hands shook uncontrollably. Athena's voice was hypnotic and commanding, yet she was struggling to make herself heard over the echoes of time-distant screams. God's, even now they sounded so damned close.
"You see Troy." She finished simply. He closed his eye's tight, but that just made things worse, made his memories sharper. He nodded slowly.
"It's all I see now." His voice was leeched of all emotion. At that moment he felt old. So very, very old. He realized then that in all likelihood he was probably the oldest mortal on the planet. It was not a comforting thought.
"In Elysium you forget the bad times. In fact you can't even recall them if you try, not that you ever would. Here, now? It's nothing but the bad times. Troy is more than two thousand years past, lost to murky legend. The lessons we learnt there didn't survive our voyage home." "I can't do it again Athena. No man should have to live through something like that twice."He fell into silence again, and they sat uncomfortably for a moment. Even the owl seemed unsure of what to say. Odysseus closed his eyes again. He was so tired. Why did the Gods ever have to wake him for this.
A cool, tentative touch upon his hand stirred him from his pensiveness. He looked down and was shocked to see that it was Athena that had reached out to him. The contact had been so unsure, so shy, so self-conscious, so
human, that he had thought someone else must have snuck into the room. He looked up to see that the Goddess was watching him intently. When their eyes met a small, almost bashful smile spread across her face. For the briefest of heartbeats they sat like that, man and Goddess. It was one of the most surreal moments of his two lives.
It was with some surprise that he realized it was also one of the most comfortable.
Without warning she ended the contact, withdrawing her hand as quick as if she was snatching it back from a furnace fire, her face molding back into it's usual aloofness. He was overcome with the most profound feeling of loss, and momentarily wondered what it was that he had done wrong, and how he could fix it.
She got back to her feet, rising with an inhuman grace, and crossing once more to the window. She studied the skyline outside. He wondered if she was as amazed with the accomplishments of twenty-first century man as he was, or as a Goddess had she seen it all before. Did Olympus still compare with modern day mans cities?
"I agree, Odysseus. No man should be made to live through a conflict like the one that consumed Troy twice. So I charge you with the tasks of averting this new, looming battle, healing the rift within the champions, and reclaiming the trust of the mortals. I have faith that you can accomplish them all."She was all business again. Whatever they'd just had, if they'd even had anything, was gone.
"Well, I'm glad one of us still has faith in me." He muttered. He couldn't be sure, but he imagined he glimpsed her loose a quick smile at that one. Maybe she was more human than she let on.
"I do not give tasks to those I feel are unable to achieve them Odysseus. Good luck."Her owl hooted noisily, and Odysseus turned to bark at it to shut-up.
"And oh, do put some clothes on. It's impolite to sit naked in front of a lady.""Wh. . . What?" But by the time he looked back to the window she was gone.
Ten minutes later and he'd just gotten out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist when he received Descombes message. Just what his hangover needed, a battle with a super villain. If he didn't know that their existence depended upon the success of his mission then he would have been certain that somebody in Olympus hated him. Well to be fair he knew for a fact that Poseidon hated him, but then who didn't the God of the Seas hate? And besides, a hangover and a super-fight seemed to subtle for the old trident wielder.
There was a knock at his door just as he was belting on his leather kilt. What now? With a sigh he went shirtless to see who was calling. He hoped it was Maeve. He could use some cheering up just now, and the Succubus always knew how to brighten his mood.
To his surprise, and disappointment, it wasn't the shapely Fae who called, but instead a balding Japanese man in a tacky suit escorted by three uniformed police officers. Odysseus didn't like where this was going already. They stood in silence for several moments, until the former King of Ithaka could stand it no longer.
"Well?" he demanded imperiously. The balding man, some sort of beuarocrat if Odysseus had to guess, looked shocked at the short greeting, but quickly recovered himself.
“Mr. . . Odysseus." The little man seemed to struggle with the name. "I am Ogata. I represent the interests of the Minister of Justice. We would be most grateful if you were to accompany us to Tokyo to testify before the Cabinet and Prime Minister about the late unpleasantness.” It sounded like a rehearsed line. Odysseus wondered how many other Champion members had been visited first. How far down the list was a former king? Any position below first would be an insult. He momentarily wished for the halcyon years when a monarch could kick rude messengers into bottomless wells, and damned be the consequences.
Those were the days.
He was about to shoo the irritating little worm away when Athena's words came back to him.
Reclaim the trust of the mortals.He groaned aloud, imaging the Goddess of Wisdom was probably feeling awfully smug right about then. She was the puppet master, and he could almost feel her tugging at the strings to make him dance.
Gant d'Argent had broadcasted his message to the entire Champions roster. He probably had a crew of heroes eager to get out of Nagoya right now, champing at the bit to get some action and recover their tarnished reputation. Did they really need him?
Probably. Almost certainly, in fact. Somebody needed to keep them all out of trouble. But he had a feeling they were more in need of someone to face this firing line in Tokyo. Someone to answer questions and deflect blame. Who better than him? No one, unfortunately.
Yes Athena, watch me as I caper. Giggle while you can though, because while you pick the tune, Odysseus will pick the dance. And it might not be one to Olympus' liking.
He rubbed at his temple before sighing deeply, theatrically. He was going to regret getting up today.
"Ok, just let me grab my sword." Ogata's face fell. Odysseus really couldn't have cared less.
He'd long learnt that the best tool for diplomacy was a well sharpened blade.
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