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Chapter Text

Poseidon was raging when he returned to the Palace.

“My love?” Amphitrite, his Queen, his safe harbor, could calm his fiercest storms but not even she could dampen the storm of hatred he felt towards Odysseus and his owl of a patron.

The mers and sea creatures and nymphs of his court awaited news of his vengeance with baited breath.

“Five hundred, fifty seven men of his crew are dead.” He clenched his teeth and his fists shook in anger at his side. “The fool escaped with the trapped winds.”

Fish darted about in their shoals around the coral columns as the currents reflected their Lord’s mood.

Amphitrite, as blue and sparking as the whale shark, swam to greet her husband and lover. Her deep blue eyes full of love and sympathy. The seal cloak on her shoulders floated behind her as her spotted shark tail moved. The shoals of brightly colored fish darted in and out of her dark hair. Her tiara of crab claws and shells woven into braids sparkled and reflected light spots on the seafloor much to the amusement of some angelfish. 

“The fool cannot run from you for long. The sea shall claim him in the end. Let him think he escaped but Ithaca is an island and he has no choice but to face you if he wishes to return home to his family.” Amphitrite took one of his fists in her own hands and softly trailed a finger up and down his arm; calming the storm in his eyes. “He loves his wife. He’s been separated from her for over ten years. He will do anything to return to her. He will even come out of hiding to face you.”

Poseidon all but melted under her touch. 

Some of the Queen’s sisters sighed at the sight of their King and Queen.

“He hurt my son.” Poseidon growled. “I want him to suffer. I want him to feel anguish. Even if it is just a fraction of what I feel.” 

“And he shall.” Amphitrite cooed as she led him to the throne.

There was only one throne in the Kingdom of Atlantis; a loveseat of the most vivid and glowing coral, with anemones and plenty of barnacles for fish to live. The King and Queen sit side by side, equally and together. 

Poseidon sat first while Amphitrite sat on his lap, her tail lazily moving in the currents as he stroked the smooth and spotted scales.

“Tell me about this new object of your ire.” Amphitrite wrapped her arm around his shoulders and played with her husband’s floating hair. 

“His patroness is the Owl. Or was, she’s mad at him and her pride is wounded.” Poseidon leaned into her touch. 

“Oh, so not only has he hurt your son, but he has poor choices in patrons.” Amphitrite said with amusement.

“He was formidable in the war. Did everything it took to win. Clever strategies. Wanted nothing more than to return to his wife and children.” Poseidon all but purred under Amphitrite’s touch. 

“So he is like you.” Amphitrite smiled. 

“Excuse you?” Poseidon pulled back and narrowed his eyes.

“You love your wife and children. How would someone hurt you? If someone wanted to punish you for a wrong, how would they go about it to cause you the most grief?” Amphitrite inquired. 

“The children.” Poseidon’s eyes darkened. 

A nymph, eager to please her father, left quietly and swiftly before she heard his decree. 

“No. I shall not target the children, I found my little starfish. The fool and his wife have taken Cordelia in and raised her as their own. For that reason alone, the children and his Queen are spared.” Poseidon ordered. “Anyone who goes against the order, shall be punished tenfold.”

“AYE!” The guards, gods, and nymphs answered.

“You found her?” Triton inquired.

“The war occupied all of our focus, but yes. She grows more and more like the Sea.” Poseidon said proudly. 

“I cannot wait until the day I meet her if she takes after only a fraction of her father.” Amphitrite rested comfortably in his arms.

Charybdis was just a nymph, but her talent for tides and whirlpools and storms rivaled her goddess sister. She was the daughter of Gaia and Poseidon. She was loyal and loved her father and she would do anything to avenge his honor.

She would even kill. 

As she waited, she watched the island. 

The palace crawled with suitors, a young Prince telling them to get out of his house, the laughter at the child; oh he would do. But he never ventured close to the shore. He stayed near his mother’s skirts, never leaving his mother alone with the men who had lust and greed in their hearts.

His sister, a fresh woman, would either lock herself in her room or run out to the freedom of the fields with a dog; anywhere free of suitors whose eyes lingered between her and her mother, she would flee too.

The Princess was just a woman, but she was more likely to run to the shore. With her dead, future alliances were lost. All the suitors’ focus would be solely fixed upon the Queen. The Prince would have a harder time protecting his mother and would eventually be killed by an impatient man.

Both children dead, a wife taken by another; Charybdis was sure her Lord father would gaze upon her with pride. 

All the Princess would have to do was come to the shore.

It was midday when Charybdis struck. 

The Princess had run to the secluded cove for sanctuary from the suitors. There was no dog.

She was pretty, the nymph would give her that and she did bare a resemblance to her Lord father, but then again, over half of Greece had dark hair. 

Charybdis waited until the Princess waded into the gentle water and dived under. The Princess floated on the surface, unaware of the danger under her.

Charybdis approached slowly before pulling her under; using whirlpools and creating a small hurricane in the cove as she pushed the Princess into the sea floor. The Princess struggled and kicked and screamed underwater for help but Charybdis cackled as her storms and pools drowned out her pleas for help.

The mortal Princess was drowning too slowly for her liking, so Charybdis took out a knife made from the bone of a megalodon. 

“Oh little Princess, a child for a child.” Charybdis cooed in her ears as she raised the knife. “Poseidon sends his regards.”

Charybdis laughed maniacally as she kept stabbing.

The blue waters turned red and the Princess stopped struggling. 

Charybdis was drunk on the scent of blood and could have stayed forever with the corpse but father needed to know of her swift vengeance.

When she returned home, she was grinning ear to ear. 

“You are requested in the throne room.” Delphin and an armed escort of guards greeted her at the city gates. 

Charybdis preened; father must have heard and was going to grant her godhood for her loyalty.

One look at her father and his Queen wife let her know that was not the case; not with the loathing and contempt and the disappointment and the sorrow in their eyes. 

“Charybdis, daughter of Gaia,”

The nymph startled; never once had he referred to her as her mother’s daughter, always his. What was wrong? Was it because she had not killed the boy as well?

“Tell me once and tell me true: did you disobey a direct order not to harm the children of Odysseus of Ithaca?”

“He insulted you, Father.” Charybdis looked him in the eyes with pride. “He could not go unpunished. I only regret that I could not kill the Prince as well.” 

Queen Amphitrite pursed her lips. 

Poseidon’s face and body language was carefully blank.

“Come with me.” He ordered. 

He took her arm and he flashed them to the throne room of the gods. 

Charybdis puffed up with pride: her father was pleased enough he was going to beseech the council for godhood. He was going to proclaim his pride for her to the Olympians.

He let go of her arm and rose to his godly height and sat upon his throne.

Zeus, King of the Gods, studied her.

“This is the murderer?” Even calm, he thundered. 

“She admitted it in front of my court.” Poseidon said, his voice void of emotion and-Charybdis blinked. Why did her father look so heartbroken?

“Charybdis, daughter of Gaia, did you or did you not kill the Princess of Ithaca?” Zeus asked. 

“I killed the Princess of Ithaca.” Charybdis grinned. “I avenged my father. I did it with pride. And I would gladly do so again.” 

Zeus studied her before looking to the other gods who nodded in agreement. 

“Charybdis, for your crime of kin slaying, you shall be punished for eternity.” Zeus proclaimed. 

Charybdis felt cold. 

She looked to her father for support but only found his eyes focused upon the hearth, face blank. 

Zeus raised his master bolt.

“Fath-”

Pain. 

Excruciating pain.

And falling.

When she crashed in the ocean, the waves did not welcome her like before. 

Her body burned and twisted and morphed until all she could do was scream and rage and drown all in her wake.

Poseidon closed his eyes as the judgement was passed. 

“I have a request to make upon the council.” Poseidon said, voice nearly breaking. 

A few curious glances but Hera waved at him to continue. 

“I wish to be cursed. To only beget sons until my daughter Cordelia finds it in herself to forgive me and chooses to be reborn. I could not protect her in this life, but I will do all in my power to protect and guard her next one.” Poseidon made his request. 

Athena raised an eyebrow. 

Dionysus drank his wine.

Apollo’s eyes glowed green like his oracle before he spoke. “It will be a long time, Uncle. A very long time.” 

Poseidon never got to know his daughter in this life; just that she was found upon Ithaca’s shores after her mother’s death. Just that she was his. He didn’t even know what her face looked like. Would she have her mother’s blue eyes or his own green? Would she have his tan complexion or a princess’ pale skin?

He would never know.

His daughter was now a resident in Hades’ kingdom.

“I don’t care.” Poseidon said, tears falling from his eyes. “My daughter is dead. My son is blind. The pain is too much.”

“Very well.” And the curse was placed.

Theseus.

Bellerophon.

Calico Jack.

All sons of his. 

Centuries passed and not one daughter. 

Not until Salacia Jackson held out a small bundle for him to hold. Not until his lover told him the name of his daughter. 

“What will you name her?” He asked, barely a whisper for fear of waking the sleeping babe.

“I was debating between Ariadne or Andromeda, but seeing as how quickly she stole your heart, I am now thinking about Cordelia.” Sally smiled as she lay in the hospital bed. 

“Cordelia, my own heart.” He whispered in awe. 

Hearing her name, Cordelia woke and Poseidon saw his own eyes staring back at him. 

“Would you like to pick out her middle name?” Sally asked. 

“Pallas, for she shall be clever and wise as her niece and fierce in battle. Salacia for her mother is the strongest mortal woman I have ever known. A queen among women who gave me a precious daughter.” Poseidon declared softly.

“Cordelia Salacia Pallas Jackson. Kind of a mouthful.” Sally jested. 

Poseidon pressed his lips to his daughter and murmured a blessing.

“I cannot stay long, my love.” Poseidon felt his heart rip in two as he gave up his daughter to Sally. 

“I know.”

“I love her.” 

“I’ll tell her. Every day.” 

“She can’t ever know. If monsters find her, she’ll have to be taken to Camp immediately.” 

Sally said nothing as she nodded. 

Poseidon turned to leave but Sally called after him. 

“And if we just happen to be in Montauk?”

“If you just happen to be in Montauk.” He said. 

He could watch her from afar. He could watch her grow. The Nereids could keep her from harm as they hid in the waves.

He wanted nothing more than to take Sally and their daughter to Atlantis and keep them safe from his family and prophecies. 

Sally refused.

And gods help him, her independence is one of the many things he loves about her. 

He hoped Cordelia took after her mother; he couldn’t bear to think of the monster she’d become if she took after him. 

Chapter Text

It was inevitable from the moment that Sally took an early morning walk along the shoreline that day in Montauk, from the moment Paul decided he was going to be an English teacher with a degree in the Classics, from the moment Cordelia came into the world screaming in the middle of a hurricane that shook the hospital windows.

Mythology was tightly intertwined in their souls as decreed by the Three Sisters.

“So should we talk about the mythological elephant in the room?” Kore stared at the book that was her assigned reading, a book she knew intimately as she followed the same journey just a few years prior.

A book she had written an essay on with the thesis of Xenia’s importance. 

“Okay, I’ll bite; who have you met?” Sadie asked as she ate another cookie.

Sally was nursing a cup of tea as she eavesdropped on the teens doing homework on the epic.

“I would like it stated for the record, I didn’t start remembering until after I had Kore and read up on all of the myths.” Sally sat her mug down.

“And I also didn’t have an affair with Circe or the nymph.” Paul said to his wife.

“Oh what’s the list again?” 

Sally heard a paper getting passed and there was quiet as the girls and Carter waited for the answer. 

Paul was openly listening to the conversation.

“Okay so the Lotus Eaters are in Vegas.” Kore said.

“What?” Carter asked.

“Yeah, they have a casino and trap kids inside with all their games. Grover and Anthony and I were trapped for five days when we were twelve.” Kore said. 

“Oooo, was this the Buzzfeed Unsolved kidnapping?” Sadie asked.

“There’s a Buzzfeed Unsolved?” 

“I can’t believe you bested the god of war when you were twelve and that it’s permanently on YouTube.” Rachel snickered. 

“Pretty sure that’s why he cursed me.” Kore shrugged. 

Sally and Paul shared a glance; Kore was cursed?

The following exchange of facial expressions went something like this: 

We summon the god of war and we kick his ass.

No, we summon his children and adopt them.

Sally, 

No, we get his children, he doesn’t have children, we win.

And then we kick his ass?

Oh definitely.

“Polyphemus is my half brother who tried to marry Grover and then Clarisse cause he can’t tell the difference between sexes or species. We stole the Golden Fleece from him and then he broke Anthony’s ribs. Tyson and I fought him so the others could escape.” Kore said as she came across another name on the list. 

Sally took Paul’s hand and squeezed. 

He squeezed back as he thought about Polites. 

“How many half brothers do you have?” Carter asked. 

“A lot.”

“She killed one in the Labyrinth over the summer.” Rachel said. 

“He was forcing me to fight to death in a gladiator arena. He was asking for it.” Kore replied. 

“You got your David Bowie.” 

“Will you let that go?”

“Never.” 

“Next one.” Sadie said eagerly. 

“Hermes gave me the winds in a limited edition thermos. This doesn’t really count.” Kore said. “Oh, the Laestrygones blew up the school in a dodgeball tournament. That wasn’t me.” 

Paul snapped his head in her direction so fast. “What?!”

“I didn’t blow up the school. That was the Canadians.” 

“Bloody Canadians.” Sadie snickered. 

“It wasn’t hockey season.” Rachel said. 

“Circe?” Carter asked.

“She was nice to me. Offered to teach me sorcery but she turned Anthony into a guinea pig. He was so freaking cute. Then we stole the Queen Anne’s Revenge.” 

“I’m sorry, did you say you stole Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge?” Carter asked. 

“Yeah. Blackbeard was also a guinea pig. And a son of Ares.”

Sally laughed softly at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Alright, just making sure.” Carter paused. “Horus says you Greeks are insane.”

“Likewise. Where are we?”

“The sirens.” Rachel got them back on track.

“Anthony wanted to listen to them. I didn’t.”

“What do you think you would have heard?” Sadie asked.

“Probably the recipe for Famous Dave’s cornbread.” Kore said.

“Yuri on Ice getting a season two. Or my dad actually remembers I exist.”

“The Krabby Patty secret recipe.” Kore snickered. 

“Probably a reality where I get to grow up with my parents and brother.” 

“I was going to say a reality where I’m not getting my butt handed to me by a baboon at basketball but that’s a good one.”

“Isis thinks you’re a wanker.” 

“She does not.” 

“Does too.”

“Does not.” 

“Does too.” 

“Does not.” 

“It’s nice to see Egyptian gods acting like children. Makes me feel less ashamed of the Greek ones.” Kore said.

Paul hid a grin as the kids broke out in laughter. 

“Six letters, synonym of wisdom.” Herophile said softly under her breath.

“What was that honey?” Sally asked. 

“Word search. Visions. Very dark. So dark. Won through pain of woven jail.” Herophile jumped as Sally took her hand. “We will be… nine letters.”

Sally squeezed her hands. “You are in New York. In my apartment. Take your time, sweetness.” 

“I am… here?” Herophile whimpered. 

“You’re here.” Sally assured her. 

“I’ll get you tea.” Paul got up. 

As he passed the table with the others, he overheard the girls talking about Scylla. 

“So she eats six people, who’d they eat?” Sadie asked. 

“Clarisse’s dead confederates but one of her heads got me.” Kore said so nonchalantly. 

“Scylla got you?!” Paul nearly dropped the mug he got out for Herophile. 

“Stabbed her in the eye and got flung into the side of the cliff. Anthony fished me out of the water.” Kore waved him off. 

“Well at least you didn’t try to sail near Charybdis.” Paul said, still concerned. 

“We tried but I had a really bad panic attack. Would have sucked getting killed by her again.” 

Carter choked on his chips and dip. 

“What?” Sadie asked. 

“I’m on my… I think my third life? Unsure but Nico says I for sure have been reborn twice. You think if I die fighting Kronos with a weapon in my hand I’ll go to Valhalla?” Kore asked. 

“If you die on me, I will ask dad to keep you in the Underworld for me to bring back. You are the only nonmagician who knows how insane the gods are.” Sadie said.

“Hey!”

“Besides Rachel.”

“Thank you.”

“Awww pookies.”

“I’m sure if you ask your boyfriend nicely he’ll help bring Kore back.” Carter teased. 

“Shut up Carter.” Sadie turned as red as her highlights. 

Paul numbly made the tea as he listened to the kids. 

Kore had come so close to her murderer, had nearly been killed once again by her murderer on a journey he had done. A path she followed for a quest. 

At least Circe treated her with kindness, had offered to teach her and guide her. 

He wouldn’t know what he’d do if she had come across-

“Next person on the list is Calypso.” Rachel read. 

Paul felt his pulse quicken. A shiver went down his spine. On instinct he tensed and made his lips as small as he could. 

The Titaness was not here. 

She couldn’t be. 

She was trapped and alone on an island that could not be found. 

“Kore, are you alright?” Rachel asked. 

Paul turned.  

Kore was pale, frozen in place, and looked terrified as he felt. 

No!

Please no!

Paul made eye contact with Sally and saw the understanding as she came to the same conclusion. 

Somehow Kore had ended up on the nymph’s island. 

“Was this the two weeks you were missing?” Rachel asked softly.

Kore couldn’t speak. 

Her lips parted but no sound came out. 

Her eyes couldn’t focus on anything.

“Kore, Isis and I want to try some magic. Are you okay with us touching you?” Sadie asked. 

Slowly, unaware of what was happening around her, Kore moved a hand across the table which Sadie grasped gently. 

Sadie’s eyes glowed bright white and he saw a faint woman, an Egyptian woman with rainbow wings wrapped her arms around Sadie as her wings wrapped around Sadie and Kore protectively. 

Then it stopped. 

“That’s to help calm and soothe. Isis would do it for young pharaohs who returned from war.” Sadie explained. 

Kore blinked as tears streamed down her cheeks. 

Carter and Rachel exchanged a glance before their eyes darted to the book on the table and back to their friend. 

“It’s getting late. Sadie and I should start heading back.” Carter started gathering his notebooks and book.

“Might as well walk together, neighbor.” Rachel said as she also gathered up her things. She slung her backpack on her shoulder and came over by Kore’s chair. “I’ll call when I get home, ‘kay?”

Kore nodded. 

Satisfied, Rachel went into the living room. 

“Bye Hero. I’ll come up with a new crossword for you.” Rachel leaned over the back of the couch and hugged the nymph.

“Six letters across, female relation. Six letters down, meaning insight and wise counsel. Goodbye Rachel.” Herophile hummed. 

“She hasn’t spoken much about her time away.” Sally said as she and Paul outside of the girls’ room. 

“I’ll talk to her.” Paul reached for the door handle.

“How? She won’t even talk to me.” Sally hurt at not being able to get through to her daughter. 

“Because I know what she went through.” Paul said, cupping her cheek. 

An understanding passed between them as Sally nodded. 

“Hero? Is Kore in there?” Paul knocked on the door.

“She is. You may enter.” Herophile answered. 

Paul opened the door and found Herophile seated criss crossed on her upper bunk. 

“She’s on the fire escape.” She said in a sing-song voice.

“Thanks.” Paul crossed the room and crawled through the window and lowered the pane.

Kore was sitting on the edge with her legs dangling; forehead pressed between the bars of the guardrail. 

The moonlace glow illuminated her features. 

Paul sat down next to her. 

For a while, neither of them spoke. 

They listened to the sounds of the city and watched the lights dance in the night. 

“She was kind at first.” Kore said softly.

Paul said nothing as Kore paused. 

He didn’t blame her. 

It took him months before he was able to tell Penelope about it too.

“I knew I was a prisoner but,” Kore couldn’t find words. 

“It wasn’t your fault.” Paul said softly. 

He could feel her shuddering next to him and he could hear her sniffling. 

“I promise you. It wasn’t your fault.” Paul wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 

She laid her head on his shoulder and he rested his head on hers. 

“She wouldn’t let me go. Even when a god ordered her to, she wouldn’t let me go.” Kore cried.

Paul held her as she cried. 

“I know. She wouldn’t let me go either.”

“I wanted my mama. I just wanted to go home. I can’t tell her because she worries about me already. I was already missing for two weeks. What if something else happens? Something that’s worse?” Kore whimpered. 

Paul let her weep. 

“I’m running out of time Paul. Something is going to happen next summer. I don’t know what is going to happen. She already lost me in one life. It would kill her.” Kore wiped her eyes. “Everyone looks to me like I have all the answers but I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Paul took a deep breath and sighed. 

“I don’t know what is going to happen with the gods, but I’ll be damned if they or the Titans take you away from us again. Whatever happens, kid, your mother and I’ll be by your side.”

Kore sniffed. 

They were quiet again. 

“I met Telemachus. And Argos.” She said. 

“You did?”

“When we went to the Underworld, he was there, waiting with Cerberus. He recognized me.” Kore said. 

“He would follow you around. He was my dog but he loved and adored you and your mother. Wouldn’t even let you sleep alone. He stood by and would guard you.” Paul said bittersweetly. 

“He seemed like a good pupper.”

“He was.”

“Nico tried to summon his sister. She came but so did Telemachus. I didn’t recognize him. He recognized me. He tried to hug me but he couldn’t touch me. He cried at my feet. I wanted to comfort him so badly.”  Kore said. 

“I was the same when I saw my mother’s ghost.”

“How can you sleep at night?”

“I don’t. All I hear are screams every time I close my eyes. My dreams are haunted by what ifs.” Paul said.

“Mine seem to be weird visions that don’t make sense.” 

They were quiet again. 

“It’s late and it’s a school night.” 

“Do we have too?”

“If I have too, you have too.” 

Paul got up and helped Kore to her feet. 

“Whatever happens, I’ll be there with you.” Paul promised. 

“Thanks, Paul.” Kore smiled, however sad it was.

Chapter Text

It was the night of homecoming and the Jackson-Blofis apartment was ready to finally meet up at Central Park with the Kanes and Rachel. 

“Stop fidgeting with your hair. It looks lovely.” Sally gently pulled Herophile’s hands away from her hair. 

“But my ears,” 

“Are absolutely beautiful.” Sally insisted. “And if anyone sees through the Mist and gives you a hard time, I’ll kick their ass and their parents’ for messing with you.”

Herophile flushed and nodded. 

Sally smiled and brushed a red curl behind the nymph’s pointed ear. Sally had let her borrow some earrings to match with her sea green dress. 

“One more thing, lovely.” Sally reached up and unclasped her necklace with the single pearl and placed it around Herophile’s neck. 

“But Father,”

“Your father gave that to me for protection when he found out I was pregnant with your sister. I think he’ll be fine if I give it to you for the night.” Sally grinned. “Let’s go, beautiful. Picture time.”

Sally led the Sibyl out of the bedroom and into the living room where Paul was going over different ways to punch a man with Kore; she knew Kore already knew how to fight from camp but whatever made Paul feel better about the girls going to the school dance tonight. 

The girls had spent a weekend over at the Kane’s in Brooklyn and had discovered that Kore had the same curl texture as Rachel. It was nice to know her hair was curly and not unruly like they had thought for years. 

Kore had her hair down with two braids crowning her brow and small pearls intertwined in the dark hair. 

She wore a sea blue dress and wore her camp necklace with Paul’s ring on the cord with her beads. Her hand was in her pocket, no doubt holding Riptide to make sure the pen was still there. 

“Oh you girls are beautiful!” Paul grinned as he saw Herophile and Sally. 

“You charmer.” Sally flushed as Paul came over to kiss his wife. 

“For you, my Goose, always.” Paul flirted. 

At times, Sally couldn’t believe she found Odysseus again. Sometimes after a bad nightmare of Gabe, she’d wake in a sweat and panic that her infrequent memories of Odysseus and Ithaca were just a dream she came up with to cope with living with a monster. That no hero would come in and pierce Gabe with as many arrows as the times he abused her and, to her horror and devastation, Kore. 

The only hero that came was Kore and all she did was give Sally the tools to slay the monster herself. 

And then she found Paul. 

“Ewwwww!” Kore teased. 

“But I thought you and-” Herophile was silenced with a hand covering her mouth. 

“I told you that in secret!” Kore hissed as she let her go and pulled her sister towards the door. “See ya lovebirds, got to run. Pictures to take, pookies to see, you know how it is.” 

“Oh no. We’re going together because I want pictures.” Sally grabbed her purse and her coat. 

Kore looked like she wanted to argue but she deflated and agreed. 

Sally didn’t like it. 

Her daughter was rebellious and stubborn and tenacious like her father. 

She knew something would happen when Kore turned 16 but how bad was it really?

“Hey, homecoming is going to be fine.” Paul promised. 

“Sister is a chaperone. No monster would dare cross into her temple.” Herophile said.

Kore blinked. “Sister? We have another sister?”

“Rhodes, Lady of Scholars. Missus Halios.” Herophile said. Upon noticing the other’s shocked expressions, she continued. “You didn’t know?” 

“Nope.”

“I share a teacher’s lounge with your sister.” Paul looked so embarrassed. “Your sister knows I have a “dad that stepped up” mug in the teacher’s lounge.” 

“Either she is here to keep an eye on you or Kore, it is unclear. But Rhodes is nice and sweet.” Herophile said. 

“Well, I’m not going to think about the parent teacher conference later this semester. We’ll unpack this tomorrow.” Kore liked like she bottled that thought and decided to come back to it later.

“Well, it would explain the roses I received after the wedding.” Sally shrugged as she put on her coat.

“Would this make me a priest of Rhodes? Are the students initiates?” Paul asked. 

“You’ll have to ask her on Monday, my trickster.” Sally kissed his cheek and followed the girls out the door. 

The gym had streamers and leftover Christmas lights up in the rafters feeding the room its “One Night Under The Stars” aesthetic.

As the group entered, Carter was quickly whisked away by Zia to softly sway to the music.

“Traitor!” Sadie called after him. 

“But Sadie, I love her!” Carter stuck his tongue at his sister as he danced with his girlfriend. 

“Wanker.” Sadie teased. 

“We didn’t need them anyway.” Kore wrapped an arm around Sadie’s shoulder.

“We can have loads of fun without them.” Rachel agreed and looped her arm with Sadie’s and Herophile’s. 

The girls sang loudly and off key as they twirled and jumped around with each other. 

They could almost forget; Sadie about Apophis rising and Kore about Kronos.

“At the Copa!” Kore pulled her sister into a dance. “Copa cabana! You know, the Ferryman listens to Barry Manillow. He was whistling it after he dropped Anthony and Grover and I off on the other side of the river.”

“You mean,” Rachel raised an eyebrow.

“Yep. I have a PowerPoint presentation of all the songs I believe would help me sneak into my uncle’s house.” Kore go of her sister and twirled Rachel. 

“I mean, it must be a Greek sort of thing? Mine always plays classical music and the occasional Ofra Haza.” Sadie shrugged. 

“He also has taken to playing Adele given your admiration of her.” A voice said behind them. 

The girls stopped dancing and turned to the newcomer. 

He was tall and pale. He had scruffy hair and dark brown eyes. He looked like if he were a dog, he would be constantly begging for treats. He wore a nice suit and held a single flower. 

“Sadie, may I have this next dance?” He held it out to her. 

Kore stepped right in front of him.

“Oh no you don’t. This is one of my best friends and she doesn’t dance with just anyone. What is your name, your rank, and your intentions with my bestie?” Kore stood, hands on her hips.

Kore’s audacity snapped Rachel out of her shock. 

“You must pay a toll to speak with her. How do we even know that you are worthy of standing on the same ground as her?” Rachel asked. 

“My name is Anubis. I am the Embalmer. The Protector of Tombs. I am the Guide of Souls and the Weigher of Hearts. As for my intentions regarding Sadie,” Anubis looked at her, “I wish to have a dance with the Eye of Isis and deliver some information I believe will be useful.” 

Kore and Rachel gave each other a side eye to each other before glancing back at Sadie. 

“He’s cool. Let him pass.” She said as nonchalantly as she could looking redder than Rachel’s hair. 

“You do anything funny with her, anything at all,” Kore threatened. 

“I assure you my intentions are honorable.” Anubis promised. 

“That would be the first from a god.” Kore grumbled. 

“Then I am sorry for the ones you met.” Anubis promised. 

“Well then, come on Old Yeller. Dancing is part of modern courtship rituals, you know.” Sadie pulled Anubis off as he muttered in confusion of Old Yeller. 

“Rachel,” 

“If you’re going to ask me if I see a teenage boy or a jackal headed god of death, it’s the latter.”

“That’s what I was wondering.” Kore looked at the god. “He’s cute but he’s not my type.” 

“Not a fan of jackals?” Rachel teased. 

“She likes them blond.” Herophile giggled. 

“Hero!” Kore cried, horrified.

“And clever.” Herophile grinned.

“I knew it.” Rachel looked smug.

“Stop.” Kore’s cheeks darkened under their teasing. 

“I always suspected something happened between you two.” Rachel squealed. 

“I will explode the plumbing.” Kore threatened. 

“They kissed and she exploded Mount Saint Helens.” Herophile clapped her hands together. 

“NO!” Rachel gasped. 

“It wasn’t like that. I told him to leave while I delayed you know what and then he kissed me and told me not to die. The end.” Kore said.

“That’s not what you told me!” Herophile said. “She told me the kiss was so good she forgot her own name.”

Rachel’s jaw dropped in a silent scream as she shook Kore’s arm. 

“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” Rachel demanded. 

“Because we had a fight. And we disagree on many important things right now.” Kore tried not to think about the cutting words that were said or the tears that were shed in the back of the car as Argus took her home.

Rachel seemed to sense Kore would cry if she thought about it any longer. 

“Well, I for one, thought you had a thing for the David Bowie wannabe.”  She teased. 

“Oh gods, no. Attempted murder isn’t going to get me interested in someone.” Kore made a face. 

“I would have thought the gladiator ring was a family spat?”

“Anything on the other side could be considered a family spat.” Kore said dryly. “But this,” she held up her hand in under the light of the soft twinkle lights, “is from a pit scorpion from the pits of Tartarus. Luke set it on me when I was twelve and tried to get me to join grandpa.” 

Rachel looked at the jagged scar that ran across her palm.

Herophile looked pale under the lights of the gymnasium. 

“Murder?” Rachel gasped. 

“Does father know about this?” Herophile took her sister’s hand in hers and traced a trembling finger over the scar.

“If he does, he doesn’t care.” Kore shrugged; she didn’t want to think about how she almost died at twelve or thirteen or barely made it past fifteen. “Enough about dad’s side. This is our homecoming, and I intend to enjoy my evening.” 

Rachel and Herophile shared a look before pulling Kore into a dance.

Kore tried not to think about how she would never reach seventeen but for now, she was dancing with her friends at her homecoming, and she was happy for now.

She didn’t get to have another dance with Anthony, but at least they had the one last year to let her through.

Chapter Text

Apollo looked grateful at that moment. 

“I-I hope you’re right.” he said. 

“Tell us the prophecy you heard in the grove.” Rachel said. 

Apollo took a shaky breath before he recited the lines: 

There once was a god named Apollo

Who plunged in a cave blue and hollow

Upon a three seater

The bronze fire-eater

Was forced death and madness to swallow

Rachel snickered. “A limerick?”

“I know! I’m doomed!” Apollo wailed. 

“Wait,” Kore’s eyes gleamed as she looked at Rachel. “Those lines… Do they mean what I think they mean?”

“Well, I believe the blue cave refers to the Oracle of Trophonius. It was a… a very dangerous and ancient Oracle.” Apollo said. 

“No. The other lines. Three seater, bronze fire-eater. Those lines.” Kore lit up as she pieced together the puzzle. “Harley’s beacon. He said you gave it a tuning adjustment.”

Rachel squinted at her. “Kore what are you…” Her expression went slack as she followed Kore’s line of sight. 

“Happiness approaches. Happy is a name, well, the English translation, anyway.” Kore scanned the horizon and her lips curled into a smile. “Apollo, your escort is on the way.”

Apollo followed her gaze. 

It started small, looking like a small bird but it grew until the shape could be close enough they could recognize the golden dragon. 

Kore grinned at the sight of Leo but her smile faltered when she made eye contact with the nymph seated behind him: Calypso had made it off Ogygia. 

“Kore?” Rachel sounded like she was underwater. 

Everything sounded like Kore was underwater. 

The only thing she could clearly hear was her own heartbeat and it was pounding. 

She was here, how was she here, why was she here when did she escape that was the only reason Kore could sleep at night was the reassurance that she was still trapped on that island so how did she escape-

“Kore!” Rachel shook Kore out of her spiraling. 

As the demigods around them greeted Leo, Calypso seemed to have eyes for only Kore. 

“Kore.” The nymph smiled serenely as she made her way over to Kore. 

Kore jolted like she was electrocuted and was backing up like a cornered doe. 

“How-why-” Kore couldn’t find the ability to string sentences together; she was in fight or flight mode and her body had chosen flight. 

“Leo freed me. There is so much I need to tell you.” Calypso said as she stepped towards Kore. 

The scent of cinnamon and juniper in her nose...

For each step Calypso made, Kore took two steps back.

“Kore, just listen,” Calypso’s voice hardened. 

“Stay away!” Kore screamed at her. 

Demigods and nymphs and satyrs turned to see what was going on with the two girls and were confused at seeing the hero who fought Kronos, who fought Gaia, was terrified of this nymph. 

“Kore, listen to me,” Calypso pleaded. 

“Stay with me!” Calypso raged at her.

Kore’s body acted on instinct as she turned and fled from the pavilion. She darted between bodies as she sprinted like hell was on her heels.

“Kore! Wait!” Calypso pleaded. 

Kore sprinted towards the beach.

Skirt flowing, jewelry clinking as she ran with the nymph on her heels.

"Kore, wait!" Rachel called after her.

"Jackson?" Clarisse shouted.

Calypso screaming she would never let her go. 

Kore's cheeks felt wet.

She couldn't breathe.

She had to get away, she had to get home, there wasn't a raft... why wasn't there a raft? She wanted to go home she wanted to go home she wanted to go home! She wanted her mom!

"Kore please!" Calypso begged.

Kore felt like she was being choked by some invisible force.

The terror was too much.

She wanted her mom.

She wanted Paul.

She wanted her dad.

Kore tripped on the sand but she got up and screamed.

"Someone help me!" Kore begged of the waves and for a scary moment, nothing happened.

The moment Kore splashed into the surf, strength surged through her; the waves carrying her to the raft. There was no raft, why wasn't there a raft?

The moment the water reached her knees, Kore felt a burning sensation in her body; not painful so much as like when getting into a hot shower for the first time. Kore dove beneath the waves and felt her body shrink and she swam so much faster than when she was a human.

Kore vaguely heard the others above the waves calling her, asking her to come back but she couldn't. Kore wasn't safe with them. Not when she was there.

“Cordelia! You could have been a goddess! You could have lived forever!”

Kore swam further out and deeper than any seal was able to; someone, her father perhaps, had turned her into a Mediterranean Monk Seal to help her escape. She had to escape. She had to make it to somewhere safe.

She saw the glowing outline of the city and she pushed herself further; she could rest when she was in Poseidon's court.

Amphitrite was swimming with her sisters on the outskirts of the underwater kingdom; when she saw Kore, her expression melted in relief and she opened her arms.

Kore didn't care if she was her stepmother, she wanted someone to hold her and tell her it was going to be okay even if Calypso had escaped.

"Oh, my sweet little seal pup." Amphitrite cooed as she held her.

In the arms of her stepmother, Kore shifted back into a girl.

"Thank you, thank you!" Kore sobbed in Amphitrite's shoulder.

Kore felt her stepmother's arms squeezed her too tight, trying to ground Kore.

"You are safe, my darling pup. You are safe with me." Amphitrite ran her webbed fingers through Kore's hair.

Kore mentally thanked the goddess for not saying "I got you" as she was certain that would send her further over the edge.

Eudora swam closer to her sister and wanted to comfort Kore but she didn't know how.

"My sweet pup, is it alright if Eudora comforts you as well?" Amphitrite murmured.

Kore whimpered in Amphitrite's arms in acknowledgement and Eudora wasted no time in stroking Kore's back as she hugged the girl as well.

Kore couldn’t speak. 

Her lips parted but no sound came out. 

Her eyes couldn’t focus on anything.

Neither Amphitrite or Eudora liked this.

"Kore, we are going to take you to the palace." Amphitrite let the demigod know.

Kore gave a small whine that Amphtitrite chose to translate as "okay let's go to the palace."

Kore didn't remember the last time she was carried by her mother; when Sadie and her had that basketball game against Brooklyn and that one girl on the opposing team broke her leg, Paul carried her around but this was different. This was a mother holding a crying daughter. This was a child seeking comfort from a mother.

Despite everything, Kore still felt like a little girl who wanted her mother; the only difference between five year old Kore and seventeen year old Kore was that she had a sword and knew her dad.

Amphitrite held her securely against her as she swam towards the palace. She hummed a song that reverberated throughout Kore's body; triggering a sense of calm and safety.

Kore closed her eyes as exhaustion took over her.

"Sleep my little seal pup. Mother won't let anything happen to you." Amphitrite assured her as she continued her whale song.

The calm seeped into her bones and mixed with her tears, Kore fell asleep in her stepmother's arms.

Amphitrite didn't know what happened in the camp to warrant her stepdaughter to run to the ocean with such fear, such desperation for escape; she could imagine but she didn't want to think it. The horrid thought refused to leave her mind and took root as the Queen of the Seas held the child closer, just a little tighter, as if she could protect the girl from the horrors of being a woman.

"Eudora, Thaleia, please let the Court know I will be taking the rest of the day for a family emergency." Amphitrite said to her sisters.

"It shall be done." Thaleia took off immediately.

"Of course, sister." Eudora said, wringing her fingers because that was the child she spent a year guiding, watching, making sure she was safe and doing well in school. This was the child she was helping get into college. She had gone from being a Princess of the Sea, to being Kore Jackson, her favorite student who would bring her fun updates of her mother and talk about how excited she was to be a big sister. She was worried for the girl she had come to care for.

"Perhaps you can let my husband know that our daughter and I shall be retiring." Amphitrite asked.

"Of course," Eudora swam forward and gently pressed her head to Kore's. "My sweet, sweet Princess."

Amphitrite rocked Kore in her own chambers, swimming back and forth like she did when Triton, Rhodes, and Kymopoleia were young and still let her rock them. She let her whale song wash over the young girl as she cradled her in her arms.

Poseidon appeared in the bedroom brandishing his trident, prepared for battle but softened as he saw his wife rocking his youngest daughter in her arms.

"What happened?" He asked softly, though Amphitrite could hear the hurricanes in his voice.

"I don't know. I heard her prayer, asking for someone to help her. I turned her into a seal and she swam to me. She sobbed in my arms before passing out from exhaustion." Amphitrite said softly.

Poseidon sat his trident against the wall and held his arms out. "May I?"

"I don't know how she would react waking up being touched by a man, my darling." Amphitrite said.

Poseidon's expression darkened but he didn't make any move to take his daughter from his wife.

"I will kill who did this."

"She doesn't need that. She needs her family to reassure her she's safe." Amphitrite said.

"Where was she? With her mother? Aside from the palace, Camp is the safest place for her." Poseidon's voice was the calm before his storms.

"She was at Camp." Kore whispered but Poseidon and Amphitrite heard her clear as day.

The King and Queen of the sea shared a look of concern: she?

“I knew I was a prisoner but,” Kore couldn’t find words. 

Amphitrite could feel her shuddering in her arms and she could hear her sniffling. 

“I promise you, whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault.” Poseidon swam forward and wrapped his arms around his wife and child; gods Kore was a child, seventeen, a mere infant in the life of a god.

“She wouldn’t let me go. Even when a god ordered her to, she wouldn’t let me go.” Kore cried.

Poseidon knew then just who she was; Calypso.

"I will deal with her." Poseidon vowed.

"You are safe here. I promise. Mother and father will take care of this." Amphitrite sang another whale song and felt Kore go limp in her arms once more.

Poseidon pulled the kelp blankets back so Amphitrite could lay Kore down. When Kore was tucked in, Poseidon kissed her forehead and turned to pick up his trident.

"My love," Amphitrite called after him.

Poseidon turned and saw the fury of the ocean.

"Make her pay." Amphitrite requested.

"Of course, my darling." Poseidon was gone with the currents.

Amphitrite almost felt sorry for Calypso. Almost.

Chapter Text

Kore slipped one of Hermes’ multivitamins into her mouth as she was led into the room where she last saw Anthony and frowned when she couldn't find him; only C.C was in the room.

C.C. looked tense, as if she had been interrupted; out of the corner of her eye, Kore could see Anthony’s clothes and the glint of his knife on the floor under a cage of guinea pigs. The one with the same shade of blond as Anthony’s hair was going ballistic against the cage’s bars. 

C.C. had turned him into a guinea pig. 

Circe had turned Anthony into a guinea pig.

Kore felt her blood boil and donned a fake smile. 

There was so much power here and Kore was just a girl. 

This was an immortal sorceress and she was just a kid.

But Anthony was her friend and she owed it to him to try.

“Lady of the palace, sorry that I ask this, I really hope that I am misinformed.” Kore stepped forward, bowing her head in respect towards the immortal witch of the island. “After a disastrous journey past Scylla in which we lost friends and my brother, my friend and I have wound up on your shores. The years have seldom given warm welcomes to us and I must ask to be sure; did you do something to my best friend?”

Kore lifted her head and gave her a shark like grin.

Of course Circe had done something to her friend; she turned Odysseus’ men to pigs, she turned Scylla from a beautiful nymph to the monster she was now, she turned a fisherman into a god. Of course she would possess the power to turn a boy into a guinea pig. 

The question remained: why a guinea pig?

Circe bared her teeth as she smiled back; just as fake as Kore’s. “All I did was reveal his true form.”

“You turned my best friend into a guinea pig. I’m allergic to guinea pigs so that would really put a damper on our relationship.” Kore crossed her arms.

The guinea pigs were squealing now.

“Huh.” 

Was that approval from Circe?

Kore didn’t have time to ponder it as Circe stepped closer to her. 

“You are a clever girl, you could be an even greater witch.” Circe said.

“I have people to protect, friends I cannot neglect, my Lady. I cannot turn back and return home empty handed when so many count on us to succeed. Please release my friend so we may continue our quest.” Kore asked. 

Circe gave her a look. 

“Tell me, child, what is your full name?”

“Kore Jackson, my lady.” 

“What is Kore short for?”

“Cordelia.” Kore didn’t know why Circe wanted to know, but as soon as the name fell from her lips, Circe changed from antagonistic to almost a mix of recognition and fondness.

“You remind me of a great deal like someone I used to know. He also requested the release of his friends and tried to greet the world with kindness as opposed to violence.” Circe’s smirk changed to a genuine smile. “I’ll release your friend and I’ll help you with your quest.”

“You’ll help us?” Kore asked. 

“There are many ways of persuasion and control but perhaps showing one act of kindness leads to kinder souls. I remember my old friend. You’re a lot like him.” Circe pulled back the curtain and scooped up the squealing, blond guinea pig. “Perhaps one day, there will be no use for a puppeteer but until then,” Circe set it down and curled her fingers. 

Dark purple sparks and pink swirls appeared around her fingertips as the guinea pig changed back into a thirteen year old boy; his blond hair was messed up, his grey eyes were wide, his knuckles were white as he clutched his knife. 

Kore stepped forward, her hand out towards him, and Anthony grabbed onto her hand tightly as he stepped away from Circe. 

Her heart pounded rapidly as the situation turned out to be a lot better than what she was expecting to happen.

“Come, children,” Circe led them out of the room and back out into the open courtyard. “You must replenish your strength.” 

As they followed Circe and her attendants, Anthony looked at her oddly with his cheeks red; perhaps he was embarrassed he was turned into a guinea pig?

Kore would also be embarrassed if the roles were reversed and she was the one as a pet. 

It never once crossed her mind that the son of Athena had an enormous crush on the daughter of Poseidon or that it was because he was holding her hand or that she looked like a Greek princess of the ancient world. 

Circe watched the two demigods sail away on the Queen Anne’s Revenge and thought of Odysseus. 

He spoke so fondly of his wife and children when he was here that Circe didn’t even take offense when he refused to join her in her bed. 

His daughter and son, his gifts from the gods, he called them. 

The son he only got to know for a few months before he had to leave for war, his sweet Telemachus. His eyes lit up when he spoke of how he desired to return home and be the father to him that he never was. 

And his daughter…

Cordelia who was his pride and joy. The daughter he and his wife had plucked from the sea and named her as such. Who stole their hearts and named her accordingly. How Odysseus prattled on and on about how much joy his daughter brought him; so unlike Circe’s father…

Circe remembered when he returned from the Underworld and how he wept inconsolably for the daughter that had died before her father’s return.

“You set him free?” Reyna said.

“I did.” Circe said. 

“May I ask why?” Reyna asked. 

“I had a friend before and he was a lot like her.” Circe said. “I suppose I was feeling sentimental.” 

Reyna hummed and turned to follow after her sister. 

Circe watched as the ship disappeared beyond her sight and she sent a prayer that wherever he was, that Odysseus knew his daughter was alive and that so like him.

Chapter Text

Odysseus did not have to wonder when the crew would come upon the Siren’s rock; the debris and the skeleton of the ships that had come before them were a bold enough announcement for the remaining men.

“Captain,” Eurylochus came up to him, his hands full of rope and chains.

“I am well aware of the Sirens’ call.” Odysseus said. 

“Captain, my brother,” Eurylochus continued. “You have not seen your wife and children in about thirteen years. The Sirens will take their forms. I fear the very sight of them will cause you to jump overboard, even knowing they are an illusion.”

Odysseus could not deny it; the sight of his mother and his daughter in the Underworld were enough to break his heart in a thousand pieces. His only consolation was that Penelope and Telemachus were not there as well. 

“Have the men put beeswax in their ears so they don’t hear the call. Tie me to the mast with ropes and chains. Do not set me free no matter how much I beg and plead.” Odysseus commanded.

“But how will we know it is safe?” Eurylochus asked. 

“You will know.” Odysseus said as he went to stand by the mast.

He did not comment on the tightness or the chafing of the ropes and said nothing about the chains around his ankles; the tighter they were meant the safer he was.

When it was done, his brothers rowed on.

Then the fog rolled past.

In the distance he could hear a faint harmony composed of three voices; it was beautiful and he had no doubt they were sirens but there was nothing about it that would give him reason to-

“Don’t you miss me?” Penelope called to him.

The fog parted around the rocks and Penelope, as beautiful as the day he left her standing on the shore, crying with their children, was lounging on the rock dressed in the same bright purple peplos. Half her curls were up in braids while the rest cascaded over her shoulders. Her golden diadem rested upon her curls.

Penelope rarely wore her crown stating that it would get in the way of their sparring or it would fall when they chased after their children. She had only worn it that day so as to send off her King husband to war.

“More than you know.” Odysseus responded to the Siren who took the form of his wife.

“Then jump in the sea and kiss me!” The Siren blew a kiss to him and gods if Eurylochus wasn’t right…

“My love, I have told you this before.” Odysseus teased the Siren. “You of all people should know how I am afraid of the water.” 

“I’ll make sure you are safe and sound.” The Siren smirked as the two other Sirens joined her upon the rocks; descending with the wings that he knew the two they portrayed did not have.

The second Siren had taken up the appearance of his infant son, his sweet Telemachus as the babe he saw thirteen years ago. It hurt Odysseus deeply to know that he didn’t know what his son would look like, that he only knew him as a baby but he was so thankful that the Siren didn’t take the appearance of a young boy; he wouldn’t think the effect would be as strong as it was with the baby.

The third Siren was slender like the Penelope Siren. Graceful and lithe as she moved upon the rocks. Her dark blue chiton around her knees as she climbed up to gain a better view of him. Her hair was just as wild and untamed and as black as his daughter’s. 

Odysseus tested the ropes and the chains because if Penelope couldn't make him jump overboard, it would be his daughter.

“Come play with me and our children, my love.” Penelope held Telemachus in one arm and held out her free hand for Odysseus.

“Oh, I would but I'd be suffering trying to float the whole time.” Odysseus felt the chains around his ankles begin to chafe as he struggled to get free. 

“I would take the suffering from you.” Penelope called sweetly to him.

Penelope had a lower voice than what the Siren had. It momentarily snapped Odysseus out of it and for a moment he saw the Sirens for what they are; large, dark brown bird bodies with the heads of women surrounded by piles of bones.

“Ooh, as good as that sounds, right here I'm just fine.” Odysseus stopped struggling.

“I can take the suffering from you.” The Siren who took on his daughter’s face called. 

“You know that I prefer my feet on the ground, my sweets.” Odysseus called to the Sirens.

“We will take the suffering from you.” The Siren who had Penelope’s face curled into fierce expression as she threw all her enchantments into her words.

“Fine, but only if you answer a question I have.” Odysseus relented. 

“Of course!” The Sirens who looked like his wife and his dead daughter looked delighted. 

“Penelope my darling, hypothetically, if I had accidentally angered a god, for the sake of this scenario, let’s say it’s Poseidon. Poseidon had killed our men and left forty three to survive his wake.” 

“Oh no.” Penelope said, holding the Siren that was Telemachus.

“How can I evade the god and return home to you?”

The Siren with his daughter’s face leaped from rock to rock as she followed after the ship.
“Poseidon will chase you as the tide rises and falls, father. The only way to return home, without crossing paths of the Earthshaker would be to sail through the lair of Scylla.” His daughter called out to him.

“No!”

“It is your only way home, father.” His dead daughter called out.

“Is there anything else?” There had to be another way; Odysseus had lost too many men, he wasn’t going to lose another six on top of the five hundred fifty three men he had already lost. 

“Do not slaughter the herds of Helios!” Penelope called out, her voice already fading on the wind.

“Father!” The Siren with his daughter’s face tried to follow after him. “Patéras!”

Tears streamed down Odysseus’s cheeks as the Siren called after him.

“Patéras!”

Odysseus struggled against the ropes and chains holding him in place. 

His daughter needed him. 

Even if she was a Siren, just let him hold his daughter one last time!

“Let me go!” He ordered but no one listened to him.

“Patéras!” He could hear the fear in his daughter’s voice.

“Eurylochus, my brother, please! Let me hold my daughter one last time!” Odysseus wept.

“Patéras!” He heard his daughter shriek in agony and then was silent once more.

It was an hour later and he still had tears to shed when the crew took the wax out of their ears and cut him free.

“Brother, what did you hear?” Eurylochus asked.

“Her! I heard her!” Odysseus clung to his brother in law. “You were right. The sight of them was enough to make me jump.”

“Are you going to be alright?” Perimedes asked. 

“I will be, now that I know the way home.” Odysseus took a shuddering breath and stood, ignoring his bloody wrists, arms, and ankles. “Now full speed ahead.”