Achilles

Thirteen Years Before

Achilles and the Myrmidons accompanied the host back to Sparta. Achilles didn't want to go with them but the decision was out of his control. He wanted to get back to Phthia. The promise of the ocean grotto from his mother was gnawing at him day and night.

While combat had left a mark on him, it wasn't the memory of that he was so desperate to escape. It was Helen. The girl wouldn't leave him alone. She was always nearby and hinting how her father would love to secure such a son as him through marriage. Maybe that wouldn't have been so bad by itself, but she was always trying to find excuses to touch him too.

Helen would put her hand on his shoulder or arm, run her hand through his hair, and placed her hand on his thigh when they were seated next to each other. He told her repeatedly to knock it off and leave him alone, but she never listened. Helen was starting to get mad at Achilles' lack of interest in her, thankfully she hadn't yet zapped him with her new powers in her anger, others, mostly servants weren't so lucky.

Patroclus kept the boy busy with tedious errands to try and bore Helen but the girl would wait for him anyway. Thankfully Helen was forbidden by Tyndareus to leave the city. He feared another kidnapping and war, he was already deep in talks with his counsel to try and find someone suitable to engage the girl too. It was a joyous day when they set off for Mycenae and left the golden haired annoyance behind.

Though Agamemnon's daughter, Iphigenia, and Achilles were both too young for marriage, they could at least meet to avoid being strangers on their wedding day. Patroclus and Achilles stayed in Mycenae for two months. Iphigenia was nine years old and Achilles at thirteen didn't have much in common. He liked her more than Helen by leaps and bounds though, and Achilles supposed that was a good enough start to their engagement.

Achilles and Iphigenia spent most of their time together strolling in the gardens or playing games on rainy days, under the supervision of Patroclus or handmaidens. Though it wasn't always exciting, Iphigenia did show him some interesting things. There was a flower that grew in Mycenae and the surrounding country side that tasted like honey. Iphigenia would pluck the flower and suck on the end as they took their strolls. She got Achilles to try it eventually and he repaid her by teaching the girl to walk on her hands. Though once Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife and Iphigenia mother, caught them walking on their hands through the garden in a race, she forbid Achilles to teach her daughter such things as it wasn't fitting behavior for either of them. The night of their send off feast Iphigenia disappeared after the meal but only Achilles noticed. Achilles slipped out of the hall and went to find the girl. She wasn't in her room, the gardens, or library. Scratching his head, Achilles wandered over to the stable.

In their short time together Iphigenia mentioned more than once she enjoyed riding. They weren't permitted to ride together because Agamemnon and Patroclus were worried they would start racing through the city. Achilles might of done that but Iphigenia wasn't as confident a rider as he.

When Achilles got to the stables Iphigenia's horse was gone and something odd was in its stall. There was a large bulging pack sitting on the hay of the floor. Achilles sifted through it and became even more puzzled. No wonder the bag was heavy. It was crammed full of instruments sailors used for navigation. Achilles had become somewhat familiar with these tools during his voyage. Wax tablets and scrolls detailing the movements of the heavens were stuffed in alongside them.

Iphigenia was small for her age, but even a larger girl child would have trouble carrying this and hosting it to the saddle would likely be impossible. Achilles looked out over the hills. The moon appeared from behind a cloud and lit up the surrounding countryside. Achilles stood an a barrel and squinted into the distance. It was small but he thought he saw a figure moving up the hills. There was no telling if it was Iphigenia from this far away though.

Achilles saddled a horse and tied the pack to it. Quietly he led the beast from the stables and set off in the direction the figure was moving. As he left the courtyard he thought he heard Patroclus call his name but he didn't look back. If it was Patroclus who called after him the man didn't follow.

As Achilles left the city boundaries the moon overhead began to darken. Achilles slowed the horse and looked up. He'd seen the sun darken overhead as he left Phithia and once again when they were on the outskirts of Athens. His horse nickered nervously but Achilles drove him on.

"Hey!" Achilles waved at the small figure sitting in the grass.

Iphigenia jumped at his voice. "What are you doing here!" Her voice was squeaky but not from fear of Achilles himself. The young girl was afraid was being caught at all.

"I came to bring you these," Achilles said in confusion as he held the pack out to her. "I didn't mean to upset you but I noticed you slipped away from the feast and..."

The girl still looked annoyed but she softened. "It was too heavy for me to carry any farther." Iphigenia looked up as the moon went completely dark. "He didn't say this would happen." The horses nickered nervously as the world darkened. All sounds of the crickets and frogs from the nearby pond ceased.

"Who, my lady?"

"My old tutor," Iphigenia had tears in her eyes. Her light brown hair blew around her head in the soft wind. She usually wore it up at her mother's insistence but she'd taken it out of the complicated braided style she'd woren earlier in the evening. "He died not long before you arrived here."

Achilles put down the pack. The boy had never had anyone close to him die. "The sun darkens when I leave or enter a city. It applies to the moon as well, I suppose. I didn't know that."

"Why would it darken when you leave? That should be impossible, it doesn't make sense." Iphigenia used the sleeve of her dress to wipe the tears that'd fallen on her face.

"I don't know. What should I do with this? Do you want me to tie it back to the saddle?" He moved toward the horse, now uncertain if he should have gone after her. Maybe leaving her to her solace would have been better.

"No, can you help me spread it all out on the ground?"

"Of course," Achilles gave her the scrolls and tablets while he handled the heavier objects. "Did these belong to your tutor?"

Iphigenia nodded sadly. "He taught me everything I know about the heavens and other subjects. The movements of the stars and the waxing and the waning of the moon. I can navigate by them better than any man in my father's army thanks to him," she boosted sadly. "Father knew I wanted to be out here tonight. He forbade to come because he was afraid of insulting you. I thought I could get away unseen tonight because he was so drunk. Did he send you to bring me back?"

Achilles shook his head. "I noticed you were gone and came to make you sure were okay. Nobody saw me leave or noticed you had disappeared, besides me. You really miss him, your tutor," Achilles said. "I don't know how to comfort you."

The girl smiled sadly and laughed with a melancholy joy. "I don't think there is comfort for this. I was trying to bring these things here so a part of him could see it again. It was his dream to see it again."

"See what?"

The sky suddenly brightened from the west. It wan't the dazzling shine of the sun but with the moon darkened it appeared brighter than the lesser celestial light.

"The rock of the heavens which never falls to the ground. My tutor came from a village in the north famed for study of the heavens. He saw this rock when he was no older than I am now. He promised it would return so that I might witness it too. I have this." She took a small lock of hair tied together with some twine. "I took it from his head before we buried we him so it would be like having him here me." 

"A returning rock in the heavens?" Achilles put his hand to his forehead and gazed up at the white, green, yellow and blue streaks that surrounded the rock.

"He wanted to stay alive long enough to see the rock twice. It comes every seventy years so a person could live to see it twice in a lifetime." Iphigenia wept into her hands.

"Don't hide your face from the sight." Achilles gently took her hands away from her face. "Behold the rock for your tutor. What was his name?"

"Comet."

"Let's call the rock Comet in honor of the man who taught you of the heavens."

Iphigenia smiled and wrapped Achilles in a hug. "Thank you." She gently pushed him away and turned her face to the heavens once more. "Make a vow with me, Achilles. We will do what my tutor couldn't. We will watch Comet together again when it next graces the heavens."

"We shall," Achilles said with a smile. Once the comet had disappeared the moon began to brighten as it came out of the sun's shadow again. Achilles and Iphigenia buried the lock of hair beside the pond. Achilles wondered if they should bury the scrolls and other things as well but Iphigenia wanted to keep them to continue her study.

The children left the hill in good spirits. Achilles was pleased to see no one had noticed their absence. Most of the attention was focused on the moon darkening overhead as the comet filled the sky. That night was known as the twice darkened moon to most in Mycenae, but Achilles and Iphigenia would remember it as the night they'd truly become friends.

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Patroclus was preoccupied as the host moved toward the harbor. He kept looking to the south with a strange expression. Achilles pestered and pestered him until the truth came out.

"My sister lives with her husband in a village not far from here. It's been years since I last saw her."

"Then let's go visit. A sister of yours is a cousin of mine. I would like to meet more of my family."

Patroclus looked over towards the boats that were being loaded for the sail back to Phithia. "Your mother and father are expecting you back. They won't take kindly to you being late."

"They can wait."

"I thought you wanted to see your mother's ocean grotto. You've been talking of it nonstop." Patroclus eyed the boy with irratation.

"Why don't you want to visit your sister? You seem eager to see her but it's like you're trying to talk yourself out of it."

"Achilles," Patroclus said exasperated. "There's more here than you know." Patroclus regretted that. It sparked the boy's curiosity even more. After proclaiming he would go himself and find Patroclus' sister the man relented.

Achilles gave a message for his parents to the captain and set off with Patroclus to the south. The farther they went the more silent and brooding Patroclus became. Achilles bombarded the man with questions to which Patroclus responded with one word answers or very short sentences.

What was his sister's name? Urchin. What kind of a name was that? The one their mother gave her. Why hadn't Patroclus visited her more often? I don't want to talk about it. What's her husband do for a living? He's a farmer. What's his name? Rell. How many children did they have? Four. And so on the talk went until Patroclus told Achilles if he asked one more question he was going to make him walk to the village.

It was another two hours before they made it to the outskirts of the humble town his sister called home. As he had come to expect, the sun overhead darkened when Achilles entered the city. It caused great alarm in the village and they whispered and pointed at Patroclus and the glowing eyed stranger. Patroclus led Achilles beyond the boundaries of the village to a small but cozy home.

"Urchin!" Patroclus called.

There was a muffled response from inside the home. Then a woman with a large smile on her face exited the home. She was maybe ten years older than Patroclus and had red hair reaching to her waist. Her face was kind but the woman's defining feature were her eyes, which held the mark of heaven.

"Rell! Children come, Uncle Patroclus has come to visit."

The woman's glowing eyes made Achilles jump. Other than Helen he had never met anyone else sired by the gods. There just were many of them around anymore, or if there were, they didn't do the great things which saw their names immortalized in story and song. Then her husband appeared and he had eyes just as bright as his wife's and Achilles. Achilles' mouth dropped seeing them. The children began to come from the house, their eyes shined too but dimmer than those of their parents' and Achilles'. But then a boy smaller than the others came around the corner and his eyes didn't shine. Not only that, but he bore a very strong likeness to Patroclus.