Too Long a Wait
Odysseus had been wrong. Waiting for the child of the Big Three to be born, the foreseen "soon" had came and gone. All three seemed far more faithful then one would imagine. Or, at least when it came to mortal women. After so many years the dead became lazy about watching for a child. They made their first mistake.
Martin Luther King Jr., a very peaceful man who joined the cause quickly after his death, was to be told by Paris when to come for his shift. But Paris seemed to have forgotten such a detail. By the time Martin noticed that Paris was not on shift any longer and ran to the River Lethe, where are potential reincarnations are shown in the form of relationships between the living, there was already a mortal women in Zeus's arm's. A mortal women heavy with child. And by the time the twins had reached the River not only was it impossible for two to enter the womb and make sure there was twins born, but also the child was a girl.
"Not going to happen. Nope. Not going to happen. I like being a man, thank you very much, and I won't go without my brother," said Polydeuces. "And what is wrong with women?" glared Amelia. She was tired of such comments. All the Underworld seemed to have lived in the ancient times, where women were useless. Nervously, Polydeuces looked her way. "Nothing. But I am not a woman. Would you be a man?" Amelia grunted in grudging agreement. Perseus frowned. "Jump into the River before it's too late. We only have a minute before the fetus becomes to strong and rejects you." Castor sighed. "Look, Polydeuces is not going to do it. Most likely this child will die before the time comes either way. And after this child Zeus will no longer care for the broken oath, and most likely Poseidon or Neptune, or Hades or Pluto, will be upset and not care for the oath as well. This is the straw that breaks the camel's back, whether the girl lives or not."
Odysseus shot Castor a look. "Fine. But we keep a closer eye from now on. Understood? It will be the twins on guard. They are the ones who need to reincarnate."
Julius smiled. "Fine by me. Amelia, may I watch your 'television'?" Amelia screamed in frustration. "Why don't you get your own? They're free in Elysium!"
The group backed away from the River then, leaving the fuming brothers to wait at the River for their trip into the mortal world.
Remus argued with Gandhi in the Isles of Bless, as Romulus panicked by the River Lethe. The gods took longer to cheat longer then expected once again, and the twins had decided to switch back and forth for the shift. He looked at the Rive once more. Two were coming, and both he had missed. He hadn't assumed to watch out for Jupiter making the moves on a woman he had had a child with in Greek form, and he hadn't thought that such a poor, unimportant woman would catch Poseidon's eye. He was known to like quality women.
Romulus cursed. Jupiter and that woman would have produced a child at any moment, and Poseidon's woman was pregnant. It was still early, but it would be too late if Remus came at the time they had planned he would. He had sent a son of Hermes to send him the message, of course, but it may take a while for Remus to hear him from the Isles. Shifting to Polydeuces he sent out a long line of Greek curses. This was not good. This could mean missing two more demigods, and he did not believe that all three would die. He looked at the Isles, and the son of Hermes, and it seems the rest of Elysium, screaming at them. He cursed some more.
After what seemed an eternity of pacing, though most likely just a couple months, someone grabbed his shoulder and forced him to a stop. Meleager. The others had come a while ago, while Polydeuces was busy worrying. "First, you're making me dizzy. Second, it's too late for twins for the child of Poseidon. Soon, the gender will have been picked. It's time you enter the River." Polydeuces pulled himself away, disgusted. "Not without my brother." Helen took by the arms, keeping him from pacing any longer. "Brother, there is not much of an option. At least you are not a child of Zeus once more. At least you are Poseidon's child. As a god you were in his service, the savior of sinking ships." She looked him in the eye, trying to sooth the brother she had once loved more then any of the suitors who had fallowed her every step.
"I will have no brother in this life then? I will die a Greek at the age of sixteen? I will die alone once again, like in my second life?" Helen held on to his shoulder. "He is coming, you can see his ship. But he will be late. Go. We have no time for this." Helen tried to push Polydeuces into the water, but Polydeuces stood strong, staring at the ship, a look of pain on his face. Odysseus glanced at the River, than winked at Argus. Turning he looked at Polydeuces and frowned.
"A son of Poseidon! Wonderful! Now I'll have even more difficulty controlling you! We'll end up in another Trojan War!" Polydeuces whirled around, glaring. "The Trojan War was not our fault! How were we to know that the oath to protect Helen's husband would lead to Menelaus taking an army to Troy's doors?" He grabbed for his sword and moved in on Odysseus, giving Argus a perfect opportunity to shove Polydeuces into the Lethe.
Romulus/Polydeuces grabbed at thin air, screaming. "Castor! Remus! Get here quick! ODYSSEUS, YOU WILL PAY!" Than a splash. The heroes saw no more of their friend, only the River Lethe taking the child of Poseidon away as an opportunity for reincarnation.
When Castor finally reached the River he saw the options had gone down from two to one, and his brother gone. He fell to his knees and grabbed his hair, groaning in defeat. "No time for that, Castor. It seems that you only have five minutes to become a son of Jupiter," said Perseus. "You must jump."
"No twin. A son of the Sky God. Roman. This is my entire fault," muttered poor Castor.
"Ok. Amelia, grab his arm. I'll grab the other. On three." Perseus and Amelia dragged Castor to the River, and shoved him in the way they had his brother.
"Well. That was…different from what we hoped for. Now it's our turn. I see a son of Mars. He's the decedent of Poseidon as well. That will be useful. I'm leaving, goodbye. You people are depressing me." Meleager jumped in, not giving anyone a chance to argue.
"A daughter of Aphrodite. That will do. Goodbye. We will see each other soon enough." Helen was gone.
Argus, who for some reason had taken the form of his second life as a man named Sammy for the bath in the River, found a suitable son of Hephaestus to become. Amelia had found a daughter Bellona, scaring both Odysseus and Perseus with the potential of meeting her in this new life.
"Well, just me and you," said Odysseus. "Found anything?" Perseus nodded. He pointed to a son of Apollo. "That will do. Some one righteous by default." He simply walked away into in the River, not a look back.
"Please, please, let me stay a man. That would be wonderful. And not awkward when I come back to Elysium." He turned, looking for someone the Goddess of Wisdom was with. A man, Chase, came up. He took a deep breath, and jumped in.