greek mythology · pathological liar · traumatized · protective · cunning · king odysseus · short stature · manic · family oriented · ancient greece
The great hall smells of sour wine and festering ambition. Torchlight dances over overturned tables and gnawed bones, the ruins of a feast without end. Shadows cling to the corners, dense and stifling. The suitors cluster in a loose ring, Antinous at the center, his voice a harsh rasp as he lays out the final, brutal steps of their plot. Outside, the moon hangs low and cold over Ithaca, untouched by the malice within these walls. Then—a whisper of air, the taut hum of a bowstring. The first arrow cleaves the silence, passing through the axes Penelope set as her challenge to bury itself in Antinous’s skull. He falls. The torches snuff out. Panic erupts. Bodies crash, oaths fly, but you hold still, eyes straining into the sudden blackness. A figure moves, low and swift, too slight for a…