Athena sits outside the throne room, tears silently running down her face. She never wanted to make her father angry, but, she felt like she had no choice. "Darling, what's the matter?" Hermes sits next to her, his usual sly demeanor replaced with one of concern. She looks down at her shaking hands. "Zeus yelled. And I mean he really yelled." Hermes looks puzzled. "Darling, Zeus always yells. It's nothing personal, really-" Athena cuts him off. "Not at me, Hermes! He's really never yelled at me before." Hermes looks confused. "What about God Games, darling?" Athena scoffs. "He was angry, sure. But the look in his eyes back there was one that I haven't ever seen." His gaze softens. "What was it about?" Pure silence. Then, Hermes speaks up. "It was about Telemachus, wasn't it?" Athena looks up, her face red from crying. "I just want to protect him, Hermes. He's just so sweet and innocent and..." She takes a deep breath, almost as if she's afraid to admit it. "I just don't want what happened with Odysseus to happen to him. Odysseus will never be the same, and I can't make that mistake again with Telemachus." Hermes looks a little shocked, but he covers it up quickly. "Oh...darling. You won't. Telemachus looks up to you so much. You just need to keep up what you're doing." Athena looks up at him, tears pricking her eyes. "How do I know what I'm doing is right? I thought what I was doing with Odysseus was right. Telemachus has always been kind and forgiving, and I just can't afford to take that from him." Hermes puts a hand on her shoulder. "You won't, darling. You're doing great." Athena offers a small smile. "Thank you, but I can't say I agree." The next morning, Athena sits in her home in the mortal world. The only reason she agreed is because Telemachus begged her to stay in the mortal world sometimes. She stayed as much as she could, but being a goddess was always so demanding. She's sitting by her fire, reading a book, when she hears a knock on the door. She opens it, expecting Zeus or maybe Hermes, but it's Telemachus. But she's not greeted with his usual smile and bright eyes. She's greeted with tears streaming down his face, and he looks terrified. He runs into her arms, and she closes the door, wrapping her arms around him protectively. "Sweetheart, what happened? Did someone hurt you?" If someone had hurt him, she would make sure they regretted it. He looks up at her with tear filled eyes, the ones that remind her so much of Odysseus, and shakes his head. "That's alright, sweetheart. You don't have to talk about it right now. Just let it out. I won't let anything else happen to you, I promise." He buries his face into her shoulder and continues to cry as Athena wraps her arms tighter. Her face stays calm as she comforts him, but rage was bubbling over inside. No one was going to hurt him and get away with it. Her eyes dart over to his arm, which has two bloody gashes on it. How did she not notice before? "Telemachus, sweetheart, who cut you?" He looks up at her, shaking with fear. "I don't know who it was. He came up to me and cut me. He said Zeus sent him to hurt you. He said hurting you through me was easier because I was weak. I was so scared, Athena. The palace was so far away, and this was the closest place. I didn't know where else to go." Athena fills with rage as Telemachus tells the story. She would make sure Zeus never hurt him again. But for now, only Telemachus mattered. "You came to exactly the right place, sweetheart. No one will hurt you again." Athena looks at the gashes. "These are pretty big. I'm going to clean and bandage these. You're okay, sweetheart. I've got you." She knew Zeus was angry, but to hurt Telemachus? That was going too far. For the first time, she didn't see a father. She saw an enemy. "Alright, the wounds are bandaged. I'm going to make us some hot chocolate. You just rest, alright?" Telemachus nods, but she can tell he's still shaken. "Telemachus, you are not weak. The weak one is Zeus for targeting you because I care about you. He's trying to punish me." She brushes stray hair away from his face. "But I won't let you get hurt again. Just rest, alright? I swear on everything that I will keep you safe." Telemachus looks down, not meeting her eyes. "I want to believe you. I really do." Athena's heart sinks when she hears the fear in his voice. "Look at me, Telemachus. I'm going to keep you safe, no matter what. I know you're scared. Gods, I know. But you don't have to believe that people won't try and hurt you. You just have to believe that I'll protect you if they try." Telemachus wraps his arms around her. "Thank you, Athena." Athena returns the embrace, silently swearing to keep him safe no matter what. "You don't have to thank me. Just be careful, alright?" He nods "I'll be careful." After a bit, he pulls back, smiling again. "Look at that. There's my favorite smile." She can tell it's genuine because of the way his eyes light up. (Continued in Credits)
"Sooo....about that hot chocolate." Athena laughs. A genuine laugh that only Telemachus can bring out of her. "Coming right up, sweetheart." That night, Telemachus slept in Athena's house. But Athena refused to sleep. She needed to make sure Telemachus was safe. That's all that mattered. Telemachus stirs. "Morning, sleepyhead. Did you sleep alright?" Telemachus runs his eyes. "Yeah, no nightmares. Thanks to you. How did you sleep?" Athena stays silent. "Oh. You didn't, did you?" Athena shakes her head. "Don't worry about me, sweetheart. I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway." Telemachus squints his eyes. "Nice try, but I can tell that you're exhausted. Sleep for just a few hours. Okay? I'll wake you up if anything happens." Athena sighs. "What if you get stuck in a situation where you can't scream for help, or I'm not able to get to you in time, or-" Telemachus cuts her off. "Athena, you can't worry about me forever. You have to take care of yourself too. Only for a few hours. Okay?" Athena sighs. "Gods, you're stubborn." Telemachus smiles, his eyes lighting up. "I learned from the best." Athena lays down, and she closes her eyes. Something feels wrong, almost like sleep is pulling her down. She tries to open her eyes, to warn Telemachus something is wrong, but everything goes black. Telemachus sits next to her, with no idea something is terribly wrong. Then, a flash of light blinds him for a moment, and he screams, covering his eyes. "Well, well. Look who it is." Telemachus's eyes widen in fear as his vision comes back. "Zeus?" Zeus´s eyes scan Telemachus as he backs into a wall, his breath ragged. "So you're the mortal Athena wasted her life away for. How touching." Telemachus's eyes drift over to Athena's sleeping form, and something clicks. "What did you do to her?" Zeus chuckles, lightning forming on his fingertips. "Just a simple sleeping drug. Nothing really harmful. It's you that you should be worried about." Telemachus's eyes widen. "NO! STOP!" With a blast of lightning, Telemachus crumples to the ground. Zeus kneels down. "Got him." Athena wakes up to an empty home. "No, no, Telemachus! Telemachus!" Her face falls as the truth dawns on her. "Zeus...this will be your last mistake." Telemachus wakes up chained to a pillar in the throne room. "Oh...my head." As his vision comes back into focus, he sees Zeus sitting there. "So the boy awakens." Telemachus pulls against the chains. "What do you want from me?" Zeus chuckles. "It's not what I want from you. It's what I want from Athena, that I can use you to get." He pulls harder against the chains. "Athena will NEVER give you what you want." Zeus's face falls, but he quickly recovers. "She will, Telemachus. You'll see in due time." The throne room door flies open, and Athena stands there, spear drawn. Even Zeus looks uneasy for a moment. "Athena!" Telemachus pulls against the chains, his wide eyes meeting hers. Athena strides over, keeping one eye on Zeus, who sits there in shock. Athena removes the chains, pulling him closer. "I've got you, sweetheart. And I promise you, I will not let go again." Zeus stands up, a storm in his eyes. "You dare defy me? You think you can just walk in here and take my prisoner?" She lifts her chin at him, her gaze never wavering, her arms still wrapped protectively around Telemachus. "Yes, I can. And I plan on it. It's you who should be scared, Zeus. You think you can take him from under my protection and get away with it? You're a coward, targeting him because you know that if you fight me, you'll lose." Zeus's eyes flash with anger. "You'll regret that." The next thing Athena knows, she's being shoved away by Telemachus. "ATHENA, WATCH OUT!" The lightning bolt strikes him, sending him across the room. For a moment, silence. Athena sits there for a moment in shock. Even Zeus is shocked into silence. He never expected Telemachus to take the blow. "TELEMACHUS!" Athena screams, running over to his limp body. "No, no, stay with me sweetheart. Stay with me." His pulse is gone. "You were safe. Why would you do that? You were safe." Tears run down her face, dripping onto Telemachus's clothes. "He can't be gone. He's not gone. No, no." She uses all of her powers she possibly could to heal him, her hands glowing with divine light. "Please work. Please, Telemachus, I can't lose you." Then, suddenly, his eyelids flutter open. "Athena? Did I save you?" Athena pulls him into a bone crushing hug, her tears falling freely now. "Yes, sweetheart. You saved me. You're so strong." She pulls back just enough to look him in the eye. "Don't ever do that again, you hear me? Don't ever scare me like that again." Telemachus nods, still weak, but alive. And they're together again. That's all that matters. ★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★ Credits: @DebutSwiftie13 for hosting this comp! Mr. Jalapeño for writing this amazing musical and song! This song is We'll Be Fine from Epic! And me, for writing this story! Thank you for reading!
