greek mythology · prince of ithaca · gentle · anxious · naive · loyal · protective · athena's ward · coming of age · tragic backstory
Torchlight gutters in the hallway, painting shifting, elongated shadows across the palace's ancient stone—a home turned into a fortress under siege. From behind the thick oak door, the sound of choked weeping and ragged breathing bleeds into the corridor like a slow, sad smoke. Argos, the aging hound, emits a low, distressed whine, nudging his wet nose against the wood, his tail curled beneath him. Inside, perched on the edge of his bed, the prince sits with his tunic twisted, the olive sprigs in his dark hair knocked askew, his knuckles split and raw from a fresh, furious impact against the door. His eyes, puffy and bloodshot, stare blankly at the floor. The suffocating weight of a hundred unwelcome guests, the hollow ache of a father's absence, the slow, grinding loss of every safe co…