ari/devouring poetry and fictional men

Belated birthday present! 😅

So I remembered the basic idea of the Assassin AU but only knew of/ could find the one fic and since you asked for Astyanax... I made some guessing on his age based on Telemachus's age. (Then later found out Ghosty wrote more... whoops) so... the two stressed out teenagers who need hugs meet the Prince and then find out he's a bit of a menace?

“Well, come meet your charge.” The king beckoned from inside the next room. Both teenagers froze again once beyond the doorway. Their target, now their charge, was a boy of about nine. 

“Introduce yourself to these two, Little One.” The king directed as the boy was persuaded to leave his tasks at the table to come to his father’s side. 

“Pleasure to meet you, sirs. My name is Astyanax.” The boy took a polite bow of acknowledgment, trying to maintain a miniature version of his father’s regal stance. Telemacus had to admit, he was kind of a cute kid. Curly dark hair frizzed under his father’s hand, he smiled a lopsided grin from under a spray of freckles. But the eyes that watched them had far too much…cunning for a child that age. 

The king raised an eyebrow at their silence, though they’d both genuflected at the introduction of the young Prince. 

“Telemacus, your majesty.” 

“A-Anthiax.” Telemacus’ attention snapped to the younger teen at the stumble. Anthiax bowed deeply once again to hide whatever it was. There was a beat of uncomfortable silence.

“Well, these two troublemakers are your new best friends, Asty. Try not to get into too much trouble before dinner, alright?” 

“Ok, Dad…” the three of them stood in silence while the king left the room, ruffling the boy’s hair in parting and giving Telemacus and Anthiax both looks that made the admonition very clear. 

Don’t screw this up. 

“What is that you’re doing with your hands?” Anthiax’s hands abruptly stilled and he hid them behind his back. 

“Bad habit, your majesty.” 

Astyanax tilted his head, and watched with those entirely too clever eyes once again. Oh he needed to distract the kid before Anthiax stuck his foot—or hand—in things.

“So, Prince Astyanax, what's your favorite game?”

--

This kid was going to be the death of him. Telemachus barely restrained curses under his breath as he stumbled over the rocks and foliage in this corner of the island. 

The King had a hunting party out in this section of the island today, and rather than attending to studies or staying home, the young Prince had slipped away from them and had gone looking for the hunt. The King was supposed to be a storied, mighty hunter. There had been jokes that if Athena hadn't blessed the King, then surely Artemis would have been next in line. Was he skilled enough to differentiate between a charging beast and an enthusiastic kid excited to have found his dad? More than that, what would the King do if he found out that his kid had been able to slip away from them so easily? 

He knew what the response from Antonius would have been. He had the scars to prove it.

Anthiax gave a piercing whistle across the clearing and when Telemachus looked up, he was frantically motioning for Telemacus to hurry. He must have found the trail. It was their bad luck that the captain of the guard and the awkward guy…Polites? Crossed their path first. 

“You two are a long ways away from the palace…” the captain of the guard caught Anthiax by his collar. Telemacus braced himself to either defend Anthiax or fight a guard captain when he heard Odysseus call out to them. 

“He’s with me, boys. Come join us.” The Captain dropped Anthiax’s collar and the two of them fell into line with King Odysseus’s guards and walked the short gap to the king and the entourage with him. Astyanax was talking excitedly with his father about things he'd seen on the way over. Odyssesus let the boy get all his excitement out before scooping the boy up and onto a nearby horse. 

“Well, you are quite the tracker...but you're still too young to be replicating my Boar hunt. I was at least twelve.”  Now was when their deaths would be ordered... or at the very least a public flogging, for failing in their one duty. Could he beg to spare Anthiax at the very least? He came up with a half dozen last-ditch plans to save the other, or praying for some clever words to deflect the anger to himself.  Gray eyes seemed to read his very thoughts. “And you really should have let your best friends know where you were going so they weren't worried.” Odysseus finished. Astyanax looked from his father to where Telemachus and Anthiax were flanked by Odyssesus's friends and confidantes. 

“I’m sorry. I just... wanted to see the hunt. And I knew I could find Dad...” That was a strange way to say it. The King let it fall silent for long enough that Telemachus started waiting for a sword to fall on his neck before he continued in a shockingly normal tone. 

“Well, I would apologize for your dramatic introduction to one of my son’s...uncanny abilities but I think I will save that for if and when the other shows up.” 

Other?! There was something else? And maybe worse? 

He saw Anthiax signing out something over and over. 

T-a-r-t-a-r-u-s 

Yeah, that was accurate. They'd died, been judged, and sent directly to the Pit of Tartarus. Skip the Fields of Punishment entirely... this kid would be the death of one of them. 

AJIC?!?!??!

I CANNOT EXPLAIN TO YOU HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS?!?!?!

And also immediately started fingerspelling Tartarus how dare/lh