Author's Note: I wrote this when I was ten years old. What happened to me...
THIS HAS NOT BEEN EDITED IN ANY WAY SINCE I WAS TEN. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE.
For five years Telemachus lived happily with his father, mother, and grandfather. They buried Argos, his father's faithful hunting dog, and replenished his wine and herd. A happier man could not be found. But it seemed trials run in one's blood for Telemachus felt a call. The call was weak at first, but grew steadily stronger until the scarcest pause in thought found his eyes drifting toward the horizon, to the unknown, the wild plane.
Then his world crashed down around his ears. "Tis true," Eumaeus insisted, though Telemachus had not uttered a word of protest. "Odysseus has fallen ill." He was fine yesterday though. Telemachus had watched with his own eyes Mother dare Father to drink the salty water of the sea. Odysseus had given Penelope a mocking bow before raising his hand to his lips filled to the brim of sea water. He immediately spat out the foul liquid, while Telemachus and Penelope laughed till tears ran down their faces. There must have been something in the water, nothing the healer couldn't cure. He said as much to his loyal friend. "But sir," Eumaeus said, tears glittering in his eyes, "the healer's seen nothing like it. He thinks he won't live for more than a month."
Meanwhile Poseidon watched with deep satisfaction his handiwork. The fool thought he could escape him, the mighty Poseidon, god of the sea. All it took was one sip for the illness to overtake him. Only divine help would save him now.
Telemachus took one look at his father, the ghostly pale face, sweat soaked sheets, and deathlike stillness, before ordering an expedition to be put together.
It is said that if you take a drop of blood from Medusa's left side you would find it a deadly poison while a drop of blood from her right side is an all healing cure. Telemachus wasn't sure if that was correct, but one thing he did know was that if he killed her, and lost the vials, he could try again for if even one of her snakes survived she would be born again. So Telemachus set sail, searching for the legendary island that held Medusa. Chaisei they called it.
He was an entire day's journey away when Odysseus drew his last shaky breath. Poseidon laughed, before turning his attention to his enemy's son. He has harmed my son, thought Poseidon. Why shouldn't I return the favor? So with vengeful glee did the god of the sea sent the first of many monsters.
"Watch out!" cried Tache, one of the sailors. Telemachus ducked just in time to save his head from being yanked off by a giant tentacle. As he dodged another strike he found the tentacles to connect at a giant squid. "What in the world…" he muttered as he took in the hideous creature. A raw, fleshy pink, the squid was monstrous with a single, yellow eye, and a large, vicious beak. The squid let out a great bellow of pure rage. "Everyone, please grab a harpoon!" Not wanting to get eaten, for that was indeed the monster's goal, the sailors hastened to obey Telemachus. Under Telemachus's directions the sailors launched the harpoons, ropes trailing from them, at the squid. Whether by luck or a mighty god's interference, all made their mark. It did not fell the squid though, but managed to make it unleash its hold on the ship. It was all Telemachus needed. Their ship was built for speed and agility, and as Telemachus steered her in ever tightening circles she seemed to cut through the waves like a blade through butter. The horrible beast soon began to sink, its arms bound by ropes and unable to swim. Telemachus cut the ropes where they were attached to the ship and watched the monster sink.
Suddenly, a small stone appeared in his hand. It was clear and glasslike, yellow in color and with a black center. It was smooth and, strangely, looked just like the monster's eye. His people called them battle spoils. They appeared whenever a mortal defeats a monster. It was a 'reward' of sorts, from the gods. Each had a small power. Nothing big, but enough to help.
But that wasn't all that happened. It appeared the southeastern wind blew, and blew she did. They were soon directed off course without the slightest apology. Eventually land came into sight, and the sailors decided to restock their supplies. When Telemachus introduced himself as Odysseus' son, they were ushered to the palace and told this was Phaeacia. Telemachus recognized the name from the epic tale his father had narrated to him when he came home.
They were given food, and a place to stay for the night. At first Telemachus protested, worried his father would die before he made it back. He was soon shouted down by his tired crew. As they did for his father, a feast was held, filled with sport and game.
He looks just like Odysseus, those who attended would whisper to each other. The one who most keenly noticed this was Nausicaa, the princess herself. She had long ago come to peace with Odysseus' decision. Now she felt mostly annoyed with herself for becoming infatuated within a few hours. Telemachus' likeness reminded her why that was.
He not only was as handsome as Odysseus, but smart and kind as well, she soon found out. Odysseus, when she had met him had, even as unlucky as he was, still lifted his head high. While normally this was an admirable trait, she had at one moment wanted to scream at him. Are you that oblivious?! Must you be so insufferably confident?! Have you ever wondered what you could have done differently to prevent this misfortune?! Be humble, it may teach you something! But she had not, for it wasn't proper to screech and shout (though she wouldn't have trusted herself if Telemachus had proved to be just as arrogant).
No, as similar in likeness as they were, in personality they were very different. Where Odysseus would have commanded, he asked, with a charm that Odysseus lacked and could not be denied. While Odysseus bore himself as a king, he would look at you with utmost respect, like an equal, trusting you would treat him the same. He was… enchanting. So she shouldn't have been surprised with herself when she asked him to stay.
He did not know what to do. He found himself drawn to her innocent request, to her hopeful smile. Yet he must save his father from death's door. There's nothing stopping me from coming back though, a part of himself whispered. He should have said no and left, but what came out was "I can't, not now, but I promise you, I'll come back. Wait for me, my love, wait for me and I'll bring you three mighty gifts to prove myself to you. Three gifts of utmost wonder I will present you. I beg of you, wait for me." The journeyers left on the morrow.
They at long last reached Chaisei. The men refused to go to 'that cursed snake-witch's layer', so it was then Telemachus found himself searching the forest alone, trying to find Medusa. It was then that Medusa found him. "Foolish traveler, how dare you come to my home seeking to destroy me? You're just like all the others, come and look to your left, so you may join my collection." Telemachus instead called back, careful not to look, "Oh Medusa, but that is not true! I have merely come to look upon the beauty that others have scorned, for indeed you must be beautiful for you to be so bitter that you ask me to behold you before turning me to stone. Indeed, the statues you boast of must have had an expression of utter awe, and that is why you must freeze them, to keep them to behold you with wonder on their faces, and what they must have thought but never have had a chance to say."
"And what would that be?" she snarled. "They must have thought you beautiful," he said. "Impossible!" she roared. "How would you know?" he asked, "Have you ever let anybody look at you and live long enough to say as such?" he continued. "No." This time the voice was uncertain, even hopeful. "My dear Medusa let me look at you as flesh and blood and tell you just how beautiful you really are." Without waiting for an answer he turned and looked. He did not turn to stone, for she really wished someone to call her beautiful, even if it was a lie. Telemachus had decided that instead of killing her, he would ask for the blood, for he had felt quite sorry for this poor, soulless creature, and wanted to cause her no more misery.
As he looked at her, truly looked at her, he smiled, for such an innocent, hopeful look on her face made her even more beautiful then she already would have been. She had the form of a beautiful maiden, except her skin was lightly ridged, like scales were just underneath. They were also patterned like a snake's, alternating between a light tan, dark brown, leafy green, and pearly white. Her legendary hair of snakes was indeed no legend, their scales the same colors of her skin and with eyes filled with an intelligence that suited their mistress. Her eyes, instead of an ugly yellow or shiny black like most other snakes, were a lovely gold. She was indeed beautiful, in her own way.
"My maiden of serpents, my scaled dear, you are a princess, nay, a queen among snakes! How no one has ever commented on your beauty astounds me, even saddens me to think of it, for the world must be truly evil for it to have let you go on for so long and think yourself ugly." His words were true indeed, and sounded as such, his eyes filled with such sincerity that, for the first time in a long, long time, Medusa shed tears, not of sadness, but of joy. "My savior, for you are indeed as much, how can I ever repay you for your kind words?"
"If you truly insist upon repaying me, my father is deathly ill, with enemies lurking at every corner. I plead for a vial of blood, one from each side, so I may defeat my enemies and heal my father so he may live for just a little more."
"Done." She said. As he sailed away, with his men congratulating him for defeating such a 'vile creature', he couldn't help but think back to the poor, misunderstood creature, and wish it good fortune for as long as prejudice ruled the land.
The sailing was smooth, with helpful winds and mild waves, as if the sea itself wanted him to come and see his father. The thought encouraged him and his men, and they sailed steadily onward, their hearts warm with hopeful thoughts.
Indeed the sea, or more accurately Poseidon, was speeding his progress. Poseidon had decided to switch tactics. Instead of hurting him physically (yet) he would enjoy the look of horror on their faces when they found their beloved Odysseus dead. Besides, there was always next time.
When the weary sailors heard the news, it struck them with the force of a hammer. While the rest of the crew grieved for a week or so, scarcely eating or sleeping, Telemachus was the most depressed. That didn't stop his memories though. 'Three gifts of utmost wonder I will present you.' The thought of his dear Nausicaa made him smile. It also made him stand tall with thoughts of the future when he was crowned king.
People later compared him to Odysseus, and found the comparison thin. As Nausicaa had once noticed, so had they noticed that this man who called himself their king, this son of Odysseus, may have even exceeded every expectation? Or perhaps it was the way he smiled that had most of the citizens chanting his name. They never found out which. (The history books would always name the other tales as preposterous and say that the parade mostly consisted of village maidens, though what they meant by that was still a mystery).
The people were surprised however when he demanded another journey, this time straight to Phaeacia. They were even more confused when he had a bow strapped to his back as they sailed off once more. (What good was a bow at sea?) It was just as well they were distracted by his mighty bow. They might have noticed the glass vials filled with a red liquid peeking out of his pocket.
Without a care in the world, he dipped 12 arrows into the left vial, and then their king looked out into the waves and did something the dumbfounded witnesses later called "royally stupid". He took a great breath and cried, "As vasileía, I call to me a great creature! Come SCOLOPENDRA, come to be defeated!"
Vasileía meant royalty in Greek. Naming himself as such was purely a formality to claim his importance to any nearby monsters. Calling Scolopendra was completely uncalled for however. Why couldn't he call a nice small monster? Scolopendra was a ginormous monster, with hairs protruding from its nostrils, and a tail similar to a crayfish's. It also had rows of webbed feet protruding from either side of its body. As it opened its mouth in a war cry, it revealed hundreds of razor-sharp, pearl white teeth the size of a thumbnail.
Telemachus showed no fear as with deadly accuracy, he let out all 12 arrows into each chink of its armor-like scales. One by one they all they all met their mark, each distributing the poison into the beast. And when all the arrows were gone, he watched with an expressionless face the monster sink into the sea, dead. All that was left was a battle spoil, in the form of a tooth necklace.
"I have come here today with a most heartfelt request. I ask you, King Alcinous, to give me your daughter's hand in marriage. I have brought three mighty gifts for her, as a token of my hopeful plea. The crystalized eye of a monstrous squid, a vial of blood from each side of medusa, and a necklace of Scolopendra teeth I give. Will you heed my request?" said Telemachus. Nausicaa's father considered this, talking to his wife in low tones. "Mighty warrior, brave king, I give you my daughter, Princess Nausicaa's, hand in marriage."
Nausicaa sailed with him to Ithaca, becoming queen of the land. Telemachus was a fair king, and ruled with a righteous hand. They had one son, for the midwife said Nausicaa could not risk another pregnancy. They named him Metis, the Greek word for wisdom and cunning. Wise he was, cunning more so, and he was a wonderful prince. Perhaps one day he will have a journey also…
As you can see, my writing skills have since atrophied... Maybe because I wasn't trying so hard when I wrote this, it seems much better... Give me back my creativity!
If you want me to rewrite this, with smoother scenes, more content, and even a continuation with Metis, please comment!