A.N. Hello, my friends. Sorry to that one person on reddit, it took me way to long to fight Liquid Snake yesterday. The Metal Gear fight was easy, but Liquid? Oof. But eventually I beat him and with it the game. Now to the second one!

Anyways, Uncle Hort is here now, so is the physical description of Atticus, and a (hopefully) longer chapter.

All of the soldiers of Ithaca are in an encampment outside of the now fallen walls of Troy. As Atticus and Odysseus approach the camp they see Eurylochus, Ody's brother-in-law, waiting for them.

"Brother, thanks to your strategy, injuries are few and far between. We should be prepared to leave in a day. Although there is someone who..." Eurylochus trails off.

"Who is it?" Odysseus asks.

"What happened?" questions Atticus.

"I'm sorry, General. Your uncle Hort has lost his left arm."

"Well! If it isn't my favorite nephews! I knew prices were rising, but I didn't think seeing your family would cost an arm!" Uncle Hort says, smiling.

"Still got jokes, even after losing an arm, old man?" Atticus asks.

"Of course!" Hort says.

"Did you really expect anything else?" Odysseus asks Atticus, rhetorically.

"Well, at least once we arrive home, they'll be able to tell us apart," Hort wisecracks.

That makes both Ody's and Atticus chuckle. When Atticus first returned to Ithaca people would quite often confuse him with Hort. They both have shoulder length blonde hair, or at least they used to before Hort's went gray during the war, that they kept in ponytails. They both are about the same height and body shape, both being tall and slender. They both have high cheekbones and a tilt to their heads, Hort's more teasing and Atticus' a defiant tilt. Their eyes though was where the similarities end. Hort has twinkling gray eyes and Atticus has sharp green ones.

"I guess so! Well I'll let you rest, Uncle," Atticus says, leaving the tent.

Polites runs up to him, "Sir what the general need you for that was so urgent?"

"Polites, please don't ask again." Atticus' words are kind, but his tone is sharp.

"Yes, sir," Polites says, looking slightly hurt.

"First off no need to call me sir, and second, can you set up a guard rotation?" Atticus asks him. "The war may be over, but we aren't out of enemies."

" Yes, sir," Polites says grinning. He turns and walks away.

Atticus lets out an exasperated noise and goes to find his own tent.

"How are you doing, brother?" Atticus asks Eurylochus while overseeing the stocking of the ships the next day.

"I can't wait to get home. To see my wife and my daughter," Eurylochus says.

"You have a daughter?" Atticus asks, surprised.

"I hope so. I learned my wife was pregnant right before we left. I hope she and the baby are ok."

"And you want it to be a girl?"

"I can just feel it. It's like-" Eurylochus cuts himself off. "I don't know how to explain it."

"I understand," Atticus says.

"You two!" Odysseus is walking towards them. "are we ready to leave?"

"Yes, Captain," Eurylochus responds.

"Great. I can't wait to get the hell out of Troy and back to Ithaca. Soon we'll be back home with the rest of our family," Odysseus says, staring at the ocean. "Board the ships!" Odysseus shouts to his men.

Up in the crow's nest, Atticus takes out the Regent's Coin. He studies it and wonders about the journey ahead and what dangers lie in wait and they may be even more dangerous than the war. He looks towards where Ithaca is and wonders how his sister and nephew are doing.

He then looks towards where Athens would be. He looks back down at the coin and grins at the fact it represents both his past and future. Although his future might be cut short. He thinks back to the loading of the ships and how much food there was. He questions if that can last six hundred soldiers a month let alone however their journey will take. He looks down at the deck of the ship and asks aloud, "How long until we run out of food to eat?"

Fourteen days. Their food lasted two weeks. At least most of it. Atticus, Eurylochus, and Odysseus are discussing what to do with the rest and how to get more.

"Where will find food for six hundred men?" Eurylochus asks. "Curse the war. If it hadn't lasted so long we would have more food."

"That's in the past. We have to figure out what to do now," Atticus says.

"Look!" Polites calls down from the crow's nest. "In the distance there's an island with fire! They might share some food with us!"

"There's no way there's enough to feed all of us," Atticus mutters.

"Something doesn't make sense. I can see fire, but I don't see any smoke. Can you?" Odysseus asks.

"I don't," Eurylochus states.

"That makes no sense," Odysseus says.

"Maybe it's magic fire." Atticus says. Odysseus and Eurylochus turn and look at him. "What? It very well might be."

"Have you seen a lot of magical fire before?" Eurylochus asks.

"From time to time. And most of it doesn't send up smoke," Atticus responds.

"Alright what should we do?" Odysseus asks them both.

"We should send a small scouting party to search for danger and learn more about the fire," Atticus says.

"That's a bad idea, we should raid the island, striking quickly and take what we need," Eurylochus says opposingly.

"We'll scout it first," Odysseus says decisively. "Polites! Gear up! You and I are going to scout out the island!"

"And me," Atticus interjects. "If there is danger on that island you'll need all the help you can get."

"Eurylochus," Odysseus turns to him, ignoring Atticus. "If we don't return, I give you full permission to raid the island and reduce it to ash."

"Yes, sir," Eurylochus turns and walks away.

"I'll get a boat ready," Atticus says and turns to walk away.

"I never said you were coming," Odysseus says grabbing his arm.

"I am coming, brother. I am making sure you get home," Atticus says, jerking his arm out of Odysseus grasp and stares into his eyes. "No matter the cost, you will return to your kingdom and your family."

A.N. So that was shorter than I thought it'd be. Longer than the first by about fifty words. Anyways happy Ithaca Saga! I already have the story kind of outlined in my head and the Ithaca Saga really only changed Telemachus a little bit. I hope you like the story so far. Oh, and for those of you who want to make art, go right ahead. I feel like I did a pretty good description of both Atticus and Uncle Hort so those who were asking about fanart go crazy.

Have a good day, bye.

01/05/2025