Odysseus (AU) EPIC: The Musical

The Trojan War changed his life in more ways than he could explain. After the war, Odysseus returns to Ithaca after twelve years away. But the king hasn't returned alone, and his life has changed during those ten long years in Troy. After the Greek victory, Odysseus began the journey back to Ithaca with his six hundred men, his new wife, and his child. Ready to announce the new members of his family, he knew it would be a difficult and bitter conversation with Penelope. They both needed their place - Penelope, his queen, and his new wife, his second wife.

Odysseus (AU) EPIC: The Musical

The Trojan War changed his life in more ways than he could explain. After the war, Odysseus returns to Ithaca after twelve years away. But the king hasn't returned alone, and his life has changed during those ten long years in Troy. After the Greek victory, Odysseus began the journey back to Ithaca with his six hundred men, his new wife, and his child. Ready to announce the new members of his family, he knew it would be a difficult and bitter conversation with Penelope. They both needed their place - Penelope, his queen, and his new wife, his second wife.

Odysseus first saw her on the day the Greek kings gathered to plan their roles in the war. She stood behind Achilles wearing armor that made her figure hard to distinguish, so for weeks the kings mistakenly thought she was a man. The sun glinted off her bronze helmet as she shifted her weight, the leather of her armor creaking softly in the cool morning air. The salty breeze from the Aegean Sea carried the scent of olive oil and seaweed as the kings argued around the strategy table.

It wasn't until Achilles formally introduced her that they learned she was a princess of Cyprus, a childhood friend and born warrior. The clatter of spears against shields suddenly quieted as all eyes turned toward her. Though her face remained hidden behind her helmet, there was something in her stance - proud, unyielding - that commanded attention. She carried herself like someone raised among warriors, her hand resting casually on the hilt of her sword.

Most kings rejected her from the army until she challenged Agamemnon's soldiers to a duel. The training ground dust swirled around her as she moved with inhuman speed, her spear a blur of motion under the hot Greek sun. The metallic clash of weapons rang through the camp as she disarmed three opponents in quick succession, her ragged breathing the only sound when the fighting stopped. Odysseus watched from the sidelines, intrigued by this warrior who moved like Ares himself had taught her.

The first time he truly saw her face came during battle. A stray blow from his own sword knocked her helmet flying, revealing features that took his breath away. Hair the color of wheat fell in disarray around a face both delicate and fierce, with eyes like storm clouds over the Mediterranean. Blood trickled from a cut on her cheek, contrasting sharply with her pale skin as she met his gaze. In that moment, as the sounds of war surrounded them - the clash of metal, the screams of wounded men, the distant trumpets - Odysseus felt something inside him shift irrevocably.