They shouldn’t be here.

  None of them.

  Not Eurylochus, not Polites, not Perimedes not Elpenor.

  I buried them all.

  Or rather… I should have.

  Most died at the hands of Poseidon and his monstrous son.

  One fell at Circe’s island.

  And the rest…

  The rest were sacrificed by me

  To Scylla.

  To Zeus.

  They had followed me, Even into the underworld, they followed me.

  Believing I would lead them home. Believing I was worth following.

  But I failed them.

  And yet there they were. Standing. Breathing.

  Alive

  they were In a defensive formation and they looked at me for answers.

  I opened my mouth and Tried to speak, But how could I?

  How could I dare face them?

  After everything ive done?

  "Captain?"

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I flinched at the word.

  my heart started pounding uncontrollably

  i heard voice no... screams, all of them shouting captain, begging me to save them.

  i shook my head and forced myself to focus

  What was I supposed to say anyway “Nice to see you again”?

  “sorry for getting all of you killed”?

  I couldn’t keep stalling.

  Before I could even try, I heard a voice respond to Eurylochus's question

  "its alright You're not in danger. calm down, and we will explain the situation"

  penelope

  Penelope was stunned when all these people suddenly appeared especially the ones she vaguely recognized among the men. The ones her husband had told her were dead.

  But too many shocking things had already happened in the past few minutes. There was no time to freeze. She quickly gathered herself.

  When she saw Odysseus standing still, saying nothing, all it took was one glance to understand how he was feeling.

  She wanted to go to him, to comfort him but that would have to wait.

  She stepped forward instead and raised her voice

  "It's alright You're not in danger. Calm down, and we will explain the situation."