Page 2 of Elysium

HE STOOD ON A PRECIPICE.

Hand hovering in front of the wooden door, his heart beat wildly in his chest. How long had he been standing here? How long had he waited for this very moment? And yet - years of monsters, years of gods and of death… none of that compared to the bone-chilling terror he currently felt.

She was on the other side. Only a cypress door stood between him and the single thing that kept him going for the last twenty years. He hadn’t journeyed for kingdom, pride, or treasure. It was the woman on the other side of the door, his first and only love, Spartan princess and Ithacan Queen.

He had slaughtered over a hundred men without a second thought, bringing every suitor down with his own hands. But this… this moment seemed to take more courage than all of that combined.

Gathering all the courage he had left, he rapped on the door in time with his racing heart. In an instant, it all played before him. Every minute of his journey, every instant he had to choose between his home, his wife , or his crew.

Their screams kept him awake at night, seeing their lifeless bodies when he longed for peace.

Odysseus had stood at many cliffs before - one as a young man, with a different set of suitors vying for a different Spartan’s hand.

But even then, his eyes were not drawn to the beauty of Helen, but to her cousin, the daughter of Icarius.

That moment seemed a lifetime away now, and yet, standing here, his heart had not changed.

In the eternity after knocking on the door, their door , his memories were kind to him - stolen kisses by the olive tree. Moments of laughter with his young family. His wife, and his son, together before his world was ripped in two.

His breath caught in his throat when he heard a muted reply from the room. He tried to stand tall, push the years away, and present himself to his bride with the same strength he had decades ago.

With a final push, there was nothing that stood between them any longer.

Twenty years apart were finally over.

“Tell me, stranger, what should I call you? Husband - or phantom?”