The time we gained from favorable winds sailing to Crisa is gone, wasted in bed until my leg heals.

It only lasts a week, but it feels like ages, and the worst part is that there's nothing to do.

"Next you won't rush headlong into danger." My sister scolds me often, but no longer acts hostile towards me. "Why did you take on that boar, when you don't know how to use a spear?"

"I had no time to stop and think about it when you were in danger." This answer makes her blush, and slam my shoulder, but it's true. It was a dumb impulse, but it worked out.

It isn't worse than getting shot by a sniper. But without Athena's intervention, the recovery is much longer. It's time I could spend on a journey or at least learning.

"What kind of training did you get from the gods, idiot?" Rather than calling me an imposter or disgusting, she settles with this. She often adds 'brother' too, so she accepts the fact now.

It's a huge improvement but I am still miserable when I try to hurry back to Messene.

Ktimene is fierce when it comes to keeping me in bed though, and also much more direct.

"We focused on strategy and tactics, rather than hand-to-hand combat." It's a bullshit answer, but also true. Athena didn't teach me but brought me to the future where I could learn.

For some reason, the US Navy no longer teaches staff officers to fight with spears and swords in the far future. It'll take thousands of years to get my hands on a rifle.

"Here, let me rub your back. It must be uncomfortable to stay in bed all day." She offers, and there is nobody to hold her back. When I tried the same, she almost threw me into the sea.

"Once you feel better, let's spar together, young master." The family's slave, Eumaeus offers.

I hope it doesn't mean he's jealous and wants to kill me, but I could use some practice.

"Stop that, Eumaeus. Call me Odysseus, or the same way my sister does." Every day, I have to remind him again. The words young and master together creep me out.

Autolycus' son leaves the day after the accident, and the old man often disappears too. He has some shady businesses, being a famous thief, and Hermes' son, and I better not dive into that.

While I want to ask questions about our earlier and future encounters, it's not worth it.

"I bought you a new spear and a sword in Delphi." He returns with gifts one day and adds some bronze greaves on top. He disappears the next day again. If only I had those before the incident.

While it only protects the shins, and that nasty wound is on my thigh, it could have given me some options. This means I spend most of the days with Eumaeus and my sister.

They are always together, so leave me no room for private conversations.

"Let's go sparring Eumaeus, he can learn from that too." My sister doesn't have to try too hard to convince the family slave and handles the spear better than me.

I gather as much information as possible. I finally confirm that Ktimene is only fourteen, and the swineherd is four years older. According to them, I should be twenty.

"You were gone for eighteen years." They claim. The extra five comes from the time-traveling discrepancies. Athena brought me back too early, or too late, depending on the point of view.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Father was confident you'd return." My sister adds. Did the goddess think the twenty-year-old Odysseus couldn't handle the challenges? Or did she lack the opportunity to come sooner?

She needed the Tachyon Lance, and the incident happened in 2024.

Or, if she brought me back too late, I could have missed the outbreak of the Trojan Wars.

For all they know, I spent that time among the gods of the Olympos.

I don't know which is more ridiculous.

Training with deities or time travel, but I leave them in that faith.

"So who else did you meet?" Ktimene asks as if we're talking about sports and celebrities.

Nobody questions the existence of the Greek gods, which is crazy.

Even though I met them myself, and got into even stranger things, I still can't believe they exist.

But her eyes are bright, gleaming with curiosity so I won't disappoint her.

"Athena, for the most part. I met Apollo and Hermes too." But none of them for the past twenty years. And I only wish I knew how I ended up with them.

I ask plenty of questions too.

Even if I can't learn as much as I hope, I'm closer to my sister now, which is great. All it took was a grave injury protecting her life, girls must be into that.

While this keeps me in bed for a long time, who knows how long I would have to court her otherwise? As for Eumaeus, he's more than a slave to my family. He is an integral part of it.

"I'll make dinner, you keep an eye on him." She orders him around like a bossy little sister does with doting family members, rather than a slave. He is humble and patient, I like him a lot.

This puts my mind at ease since Ktimene and him aren't lovers. He is more like a brother to her in my absence, but they are close enough that she didn't want to accept me first.

"Lord Odysseus, the winds are changing." A sailor announces one day, climbing to the little mountain hut.

That's our cue, we have to set sails or face an even longer delay.

Autolycus isn't here to say goodbye, and it's hard to convince Ktimene to let me out of bed, but we must go. The twenty-mile trip down the mountain with my wounded leg is a nightmare.

Even with the sailor and Eumaeus helping me the entire way, we take frequent breaks.

We only reach the penteconter at night, and I pass out minutes later, but we're on the move again.

The route is the same as we came before turning west for Messene.

By the second half, I'm more confident with my legs, and we spend some time sparring on the deck.

I suck at this.

"You're quite the warrior, brother." Ktimene laughs after beating me with the spear.

She can only pull it off once, but it's more than enough.

While Eumaeus isn't a legendary fighter, he's leagues better than me.

What did I expect? I never held a spear or a sword in my hands.

Give me a rifle and they wouldn't stand a chance.

But despite my wounded leg, I get the hang of it before landfall.

We only stop near Pylos, a busy harbor on the Peloponnese to refill our supplies.

I should have returned to Ithaca to send my sister home, but we're finally warming up to each other.

Messene is close to Pylos, but the shores are harder to navigate, and the winds no longer favor us.

It's a little over a month since we set out from Ithaca when we finally arrived.