WELL OKAY YOU DIDN'T NEED TO MAKE ME SAD LIKE THAT/pos - Tumblr Posts

(So obviously, this wouldn't work for the actual Odyssey, and even in Epic, Ody is already too far gone, but let's just picture a fun little AU, shall we?)

Near the end of Thunder bringer, it's not Penelope's voice he hears.

It's Polites.

Telling him to greet the world with open arms.

And it doesn't fit the song at all. In fact, it completely throws it off rhythm. It throws Odysseus off rhythm, enough to snap him out of it.

He turns to look back at his crew, and he sees that all of them, all of them except Eurylochus, are drawing their weapons to strike him down before he could sacrifice them to Zeus.

And Odysseus realizes that's exactly what he was about to do.

He already sacrificed 6, after all.

"Captain?"

He looks at Eurylochus in the eyes.

"You have to reach her."

And everyone just... stops.

"Promise me, Eurylochus. Promise me you'll reach my Penelope."

The crew lowers their swords, baffled and ashamed. Eurylochus eyes widen in horror.

And Zeus? Zeus is furious.

Because that's not what's supposed to happen. That's not how the song goes.

But he just told Odysseus that he had the final say.

And Zeus's word is rule. He can't go back on his word.

It's a matter of pride.

So, enraged, Zeus strikes Odysseus down.

And Odysseus greets it with open arms.

Of the entire fleet that left for war, only a single ship makes it back to Ithaca.

Penelope, once she heard about the ship as it was spotted on the horizon, is now waiting at the port.

The ship docks.

Her eyes light up with hope when she sees Eurylochus disembark.

The hope dies when the other 34 men walk off the ship and kneel before her, heads low to the ground.

"Eurylochus?"

"... Forgive me."

He can't take the suffering from her.