Odysseus watched as Aeneas’s ship disappeared to their south. He’d given them some of Athena’s maps, and had taught them how to plot a course, but he asked them not to tell him their heading. He wanted Astyanax to grow up without any fear of Greek daggers stalking him in the night. Wherever they went, Odysseus knew they’d be fine. Between Aeneas and Briseis, they had more than enough strength, wit, and resolve to handle whatever the seas threw at them.
Now it was his turn. The Greek fleet had set sail for home. He’d have left sooner, but he wanted to be sure that the Trojan refugees escaped without further harassment. Although, it was the Spartan ships that largely guaranteed that.
“You can still come with us,” Odysseus said as his men prepared the ship for its departure, “You can rest up, and when your wings are mended, fly on to whatever destination strikes your fancy.”
“I have a destination in mind,” Adresteia smiled at him, “A nice little place in Ithaca with a very open-minded couple,” she teased, “But I have loose ends to deal with. Zeus is wandering around up north, somewhere, and even with much of his power stripped, he can bring plenty of misery and suffering down on the people up there. Dionysus is in the wind, but will surely turn up again, and when he does, he’s getting a one way trip to the underworld.”
“Why not imprison him in the Box?”
“Well, honestly I’m not that comfortable carrying this thing around, which is why….” Adresteia popped the round key out of the top and gave it to Odysseus, “I want you to keep that. I’m not so optimistic as to think the Box or the souls trapped within it may never be necessary again, but I don’t want it opened again any time soon. I’ll seal the box away in Tartarus, and leave the key in your trust.”
“Hm, my good luck coin.”
“Ah!” Adresteia wagged her finger.
“I know, I know. It’s not good luck or bad luck. Just luck, so be careful. I know.”
Adresteia looked up at the sky. Although the haze from the Constellar Palace’s destruction didn’t block out the sun, it did leave the skies black and featureless at night, “Remember, you can’t use that fancy device of yours with all that crap up there, so stay in sight of land. Island to island, like all of the other Greek ships.”
“I know!” Odysseus laughed, “Look, are you sure you don’t want to go along to supervise us? You can’t fly off north right now anyway.”
“The battle took a lot out of me,” Adresteia acknowledged, “But I’ll be able to fly again in a few days and… right now... I feel like walking. I think maybe I want to see what’s left of Troa from a more human perspective.”
“I wish there was more left,” Odysseus lamented.
“I know you do, Oddy,” Adresteia hugged him.
“I love you, Addy.”
“I love you too,” Adresteia said, “When you see Penelope, Telemachus, and little Addy, give them my love. I’ll see you all as soon as I can.”
With that, she started walking down the beach, tears of happiness and loneliness streaming from her eyes as she watched Odysseus’s ships disappear past Tenedos with the rest of the Greek fleet. Adresteia took heart, though, in knowing that after 10 years away from his wife and children, Odysseus would soon be home again.
Barring any bad luck.
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