Assassin's Creed Odyssey Fanfiction
Three long fics and a bunch of shorts, drabble, and incomplete fics. Multiple ships, mostly mlm, some het.
All works are rated M unless otherwise noted, because there is canon-typical violence at times and there are multiple mild sex scenes. Some of these works are explicit - please be sure to check before reading if you aren't into that.
All on AO3 unless otherwise noted.
The Good Spartan
aka. the Alexidas
The Good Spartan
Summary: It's 431 BCE. Brasidas prepares to take up his first major posting, unaware of all that lays before him in the coming years of the Peloponnesian War.
The story is told almost entirely from Brasidas' perspective and follows him from before his first major historical action at Methone to his last, at Amphipolis.
This is a crossover between AC Odyssey and Thucydides' history, The Peloponnesian War, favouring Thucydides. I am being as historically accurate as I can, game canon is paid lip service at best. Historical notes are included at the end of each chapter.
Snippets on Tumblr: Bardas || Antidas || Diomede || Adimantos
In Every Life (The Good Spartan Poem) (Alexios’ POV).
The Good Spartan Drabble [Google docs, More additions to come in time.]
Another Life: [Alternative Ending of The Good Spartan, WIP].
Summary: Brasidas survives the Battle of Amphipolis, thanks to Alexios' visit to the Underworld; but even before the battle, he knew he'd never go back to Sparta. He's no longer a good Spartan, nor willing to make the sacrifices required to go on pretending to be one.
He just needs to persuade Alexios, and recover from his wounds… and together, find somewhere they might have a little peace.
Another Kind of Odyssey series:
aka. the Thalexios
The Warmth of Home
Summary: After the events of Odyssey, Alexios has been hiding from the world, loitering in the northern regions of Greece. When he decides to return to Athens for the winter, Demosthenes seeks him out for a job only he can do - whether he wants to or not. This leads him to cross paths with Thaletas again, discovering that this old flame burns the brightest of all.
Unfinished Business
Summary: Stentor arrives at Stymphalos, where Thaletas and Alexios settled three years previously. He comes with a message: Alcibiades is in Sparta, and wants to see Alexios - urgently.
Answering this seemingly innocent request will sweep them all into events they could not foresee, and had hoped would never occur...
The Turning Tide
Summary: Spring, 413BCE. The Peace of Nikias has ended. Sparta and Athens are at one another's throats again. Before the Peace, Sparta was having few successes; but they have a plan they hope will turn the tide against Athens...
Against this backdrop of renewed hostilities, Alexios and Thaletas are called upon to complete a mission for King Agis, which will test them and their relationship in ways they haven’t been tested before...
In the Heart of Things
Summary: 412BCE. Reunited after a difficult year, Alexios and Thaletas have been sent to Chios by King Agis to keep an eye on the situation there as the theatre of the Peloponnesian War shifts eastwards, into the islands.
There, they will discover more than they could have bargained for about themselves and their people, and what it is that lies at the heart of things...
A Few Olives
Summary: Alexios decided to buy a farm. Thaletas went along with it. But the plan was not what he had expected, but then nothing ever had been with Alexios.
This is the story of a relationship that has grown up in difficult times, and peace is now the hardest thing to deal with. Thaletas struggles to know himself, and Alexios doesn’t understand. Sometimes things must break before they can be reformed.
The Fire and the Flood Series:
aka. The Alexithenes
This series is rated E.
An Athenian Summer
Summary: Early in the War, Alexios allows Socrates to lure him to Athens for the summer. During his stay in the city, his relationship with Demosthenes, not yet a general of Athens, will change significantly... But as the war rages on, will the pressures of the messy world beyond Athens' walls bring the pair together or drive them apart?
This story takes liberties with canon; as much as possible, I try to keep characters true to their game-selves; original characters are mostly secondary characters, though of necessity I have provided Demosthenes with more character than he had in the game.
Alexios is not immortal; his father is Nikolaos.
The Blue Cloak
Alexios and Timotheos are flirting with the idea of being an item when, in order to help the brothers move past the events in canon, Alexios comes up with a plan to further Lykinos' dream of being a poet in Athens.
Things take an unexpected turn when Alexios finds himself waking up aboard the Adrestia wearing a cloak he has never seen before.... aka. drunk Alexios gets himself into a situation.
This is the edited version of a story previously published as So it is With Us. This version has an additional chapter added at the end and has been rewritten in parts, particularly the first half.
Short and Experimental Pieces
aka. The Deimos fic
Shadow-Twin
He felt like neither Deimos nor Alexios.
They were two skins he’d shed - and what remained now?
What new skin might he grow?
Who might he become?
They’d all demanded answers of him at one time or another.
They’d all asked where he’d been when he went out, what he’d been doing.
With concern or with curiosity or what they perhaps thought of as friendship.
What they meant was:
Let me in.
Tell me who are you.
He gave always the same reply: a grunt.
How could he answer that when he didn’t know?
From the Darkness, Light:
Brasidas & Deimos!Kassandra
Having failed to keep his involvement in the assassination of the Monger in Korinth under wraps, Brasidas is sent by the Kings to Paros on a 'special mission' which he suspects is a punishment. His task is to find a missing lokhagos, but what he uncovers is far bigger and darker than the abduction of one man.
aka the Herodietas (Thaletas x Herodianos)
Rising to the Surface:
Rated E for the first two parts.
After the events during the Mykonos arc of the story, Thaletas is left behind to face the consequences of Alexios' actions. Herodianos, who has been his loyal friend for a long time, does everything he can to comfort him - and so the hands of the Fates are set to work.
This was an exercise in writing - Smut, Fluff and Angst, a chapter for each, in that order. Features the power of puppies to dispel the pain of existence.
It Was Just Red
"Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red." Kait Rakowski
This story was prompted by a post I saw recently on Tumblr. It showed Kass sitting at the empty table back in Sparta during the final dinner scene, against which the poster had written something along the lines of: this is the best possible ending – the least amount of Spartans left alive.
The following work is an exercise in exploring what that outcome might look like, and seeks to detail some sense of the possible shifting feelings Alexios might have around losing his whole family, mostly at his own hands (a version of the game I’ve never played and frankly never will) and to explore the main question this post prompted in me: Is there a way in which I might believe this could be the best outcome?
Fair warning: This work doesn’t honour the game timeline, and as always, I'm disinterested in strict compliance with canon. It’s canon divergent from the get-go simply because it’s Alexios, anyway.
Odyssey Drabble
Summary: This is a collection of odds and ends I wrote alongside longer pieces, mainly in response to prompt lists.
So far, these consist of:
Four based on the tarot: Alexios as a teenager throwing himself into the sea to Anais' horror (an early version of a piece included in It Was Only Red); Brasidas finding himself in the Underworld (a tiny fix-it fic); a tentative beginning to a Daphnae fic I've always contemplated writing; a scene with Demosthenes and Alexios which fits nowhere else; two snippets of modern day AU with an Alexidas focus; and a random Brasidas x reader which I have never written before and quite likely won't again.
I will be adding to this collection in time, as I continue working through a significant amount of files that I had forgotten existed (and maybe a few little new things).
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My Sunshine Jimmy
So, along with My Boy Charlie, another archetypal character I write is Jimmy - though just like Charlie, he's taken on many forms, including appearing [without my say so] in my Ancient Greek OC Antidas (with some variation to fit context, of course).
These archetypes aren't gender specific by the way; in my current project, Arity is also in many ways a Jimmy; and as I shared on Sunday, they do get into a relationship together, so they're a lot sometimes.
Jimmy originally came into being in my (published, now unpublished) pair of novellas titled 'Double White Lines'.
In the first of these, Freeway, he's introduced through the eyes of Gracie [another of my archetypes who will also be in the novel I'm writing now, so more on her soon.]
So, Jimmy and Gracie from Freeway:
Original Jimmy
It was sunny outside, and quiet except for the distant hum of traffic on the freeway behind the house, where it ran west towards Langarrin. Gracie sat on the brick letterbox, kicking her heels against one side, waiting for Jimmy to come pick her up. He was her best friend – they’d known each other since early childhood. Besides her sister, Lou, he was the only person that she had any real attachment to.
She didn’t have long to wait. He pulled up in the Rex, shorthand for the WRX, a rally car that was fashionable amongst a certain type of guy. She jumped into the passenger’s seat.
‘I’m glad you dressed for the occasion,’ he said, hazel eyes sparkling with humour. ‘Those are your best trackies, I s’pose?’
She returned the favour, looking him up and down, pointedly eyeballing his tight pink shirt and skinny jeans, and scoffed.
‘Where’s the metrosexual convention?’
He chuckled and turned his attention to pulling the Rex out into the street.
Once they were on their way, he said, ‘Got some news - don’t go getting all heartbroken on me, though...’
‘A posting?’ He was in the Navy. Postings were a fact of life.
He nodded. ‘Melbourne. I leave in a couple of weeks.’
‘How long?’
‘Nine months probably. It might get extended.’
She just nodded, taking a moment to adjust to the news.
She felt thrown of balance each time he went away. Somewhere, at the back of her mind, she thought he wouldn’t come back; and it was true in a certain way. The longer postings always returned some new variation of the Jimmy she’d known before.
It would’ve been easier if they’d been any good at keeping in touch – but Gracie never knew what to say, and Jimmy was always so busy – sometimes totally uncontactable for months at a time, and sometimes just taken up with whatever friends he was mixing with at the time.
It was understandable that their relationship got put on ice, she thought, all things considered; but it was still hard to be left behind and not take it to heart.
They arrived at the Henley Maccas a few minutes later and went in.
Once they had their food, they took a table near the window, looking out on the shabby carpark.
Gracie slowly drank her shake as he told her about his plans, in between scoffing down two burgers and fries. He always ate like he was ravenous.
During a lull in his monologue, she said, ‘It’s been a while since you’ve been to Melbourne, right?’
‘Yeah, a few years.’
‘Guess you’re about due to check in with your Melbourne wife, then. Visit the kids.’ It was a long running joke between them – the classic, about sailors having a family in every port.
‘What did we call the last one? Joseph?’
‘Joe. He was a pizza baby.’
He snorted. ‘That’s right. I’m really looking forward to having Papa Joe’s again. Best pizza I’ve ever eaten.’
A couple of girls walked into the fast-food joint. They caught Jimmy’s attention.
‘Who’s that with Jude?’ he asked Gracie, gesturing with his chin.
Gracie looked over her shoulder. He was talking about a small, dark-haired girl who was probably around twenty-five, maybe Italian or something like that, dark-haired and pretty.
‘That’s Kirsten’s younger sister, Rosie.’
‘Good-lookin’.’
Gracie rolled her eyes. ‘You’d shag anything, honestly.’
‘Not anything,’ he said, with some dignity. ‘I wouldn’t touch Lou with a ten-foot pole.’
She grinned. ‘Just as well. She’d shank you if you tried.’
He laughed, but he managed to catch Jude’s eye, and the two girls came over.
‘Hey, Jimmy.’
‘Jude. What’s goin’ on?’
‘Just chillin’.’
‘Nice.’ He looked at Rosie. ‘You’re Kirsten’s sister, aren’t ya?’
Gracie smothered a smile. She found it amusing the way he broadened his accent to flirt; inexplicably, it seemed to work more often than not. It was working on Rosie, anyway; she smiled artfully, sizing him up.
‘And you’re Jimmy. You used to date Kirsten’s bestie.’
‘Nah - I wouldn’t say date. We used to be friends, though.’
‘Friends, huh?’ she said, in a playful way.
‘What’re ya getting’ at?’ he said, leaning forward a little, echoing her tone.
‘Oh, nothing. I’ve just heard of you.’
‘And my reputation?’
She smiled, all traces of pretended shyness gone.
‘You might say that.’
Gracie saw Jimmy relax. He knew at that exact moment that she was keen.
‘What’re ya doing tonight?’
‘Nothing much. Why?’
‘You should come down the Pipes.’
‘I might,’ Rosie said, mustering a hint of implied resistance. ‘I’ll see.’
‘Sweet,’ he said, standing up. ‘Carn, Gracie. Let’s beat it.’
She followed him out, saying bye to the two girls as she passed. They pretended not to hear her.
Older, more mature (?) Jimmy
So in Arity, Jimmy is older, but he is still a clown. As I said above, Arity is also like him - and this is my first attempt at showing the chaos of a conversation between two idiots. I'm not sure I am happy with it, but this is where it's at right now :)
~~~
A minute later, a guy came in from outside, shutting the door behind himself. He looked at me and cheerfully said, ‘Good morning.’
I replied with a non-committal ‘Morning,’ and went on drinking my coffee.
He said humorously, ‘Not even a good morning? Hard to believe, when we live in this paradise.’ He gestured with an expansive, vaguely theatrical arm, indicating the Lodge and perhaps Langarrin as a whole.
'Living the dream,' I said, very dryly.
There was nothing else to pay attention to, so I found myself listening to him pouring cereal then milk into a bowl behind me, before making coffee. He was humming half under his breath as he did it – I couldn’t identify the song.
To my surprise, he came and sat opposite me. I looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
I was struck by his face – he had what I’ve always called a kind face, complete with dimples; though he was otherwise just an average looking guy – hazel eyed, dark-haired, tattooed, in his late twenties or early thirties.
He said, ‘I’m Jimmy,’ and offered his hand over the table.
‘I’m Arity.’
‘Like hilarity without the hill?’
I snorted. ‘Yes, just like that.’
‘Weird.’ He took a mouthful or cereal, then set his spoon down with a wrinkled nose. Reaching for the honey, he squeezed it all over the contents of the bowl. ‘Were your parents hippies?’
I shook my head. ‘Nah. It was the name of the street my dad grew up on.’ He looked at me quizzically, and I smiled. ‘You think you’re the first person to tell me it’s a weird name?’
He shook his head, then through a mouthful of food, he said, ‘I’m just glad you’re not a hippy, since we’re friends now.’
‘Are we?’ I said, chuckling at this approach. He was weird, and I appreciated that. ‘I’m not sure I agree. I need to know what you have against hippies first.’
‘They don’t shave their pits, of course.’
I hadn’t expected that answer, and I snorted.
‘What do you care about your friends’ armpits? Besides, do you shave your armpits?’
He twinkled at me – an expression that was at once mischievous and approving – of what, I wasn’t sure.
‘Maybe I do.’ He drank the last of the milk in his bowl then set it aside, before adding, ‘I do hang out at the gym. Gotta shave to really see that muscle definition.’
I looked him over pointedly. ‘What muscle?’
He looked at me as though I’d struck him a mortal blow – but the smile never left his eyes.
‘Really? Is this how you go about building friendships?’ He tutted, shaking his head, ‘Arity, Arity, Arity.’
Dryly, I said, ‘Observations of fact are worse that slandering an entire sub-culture’s grooming habits, now?’
He gave me a playfully dirty look, but didn’t answer as there was a beep from his pocket, and he took out his phone. He was quiet for a moment, tapping out a message.
I went back to staring at the french doors. I wondered suddenly why the textured glass had been put in. The room would’ve been nicer without it, looking out onto the garden.
He set the phone onto the table. ‘You know I don’t mean it, right?’
‘Don’t mean what?’
‘About the hippies.’
‘Oh,’ I said, taking another drink of my coffee before, looking at him from under my brows, I added, ‘I did, about the muscles.’
He was doing his best to suppress his laughter and said sternly, ‘You wait. That’ll change. I’ll be so built I’ll be able to pick you up and fling you across the room.’
I wide-eyed him, and said in a pitiful voice, ‘But why would you fling your brand-new friend around?’
He scoffed. ‘Why else does a man get strong?’
‘To fling his enemies?’
‘I have no enemies to fling.’
Dryly, I said, ‘You’ll have no friends, either, if you start treating them like that.’
The laughter at last bubbled up out of him, and he stood abruptly.
'Dammit, you’re too quick.’
I smiled. ‘Checkmate.’
He scowled at me without any seriousness at all; but there was the sound of voices from reception. One of them was Kristy’s.
Great.
‘That’s my cue to leave,’ he said, knocking the table twice with his knuckles. ‘Until tomorrow morning, Hilarity.’
~~~
So - that's an intro to Jimmy and Arity, I guess. Jimmy does have more depth than either of these descriptions really show. He's been through it, but he's one of those people who uses humour to deal with everything.
Hmm... Since it isn't published anymore, I can post the whole Freeway chapter about Gracie and Jimmy (which is functionally a short story, more or less) if anyone is interested in knowing more? It's the only part of the novella that I think is worth reading, to be honest, hence the unpublishing - even though it's far from perfect.
Anyway - I have no idea if this is insightful to anyone else, but it's super fun tracing this stuff from my end 😀 revisiting old work, dragging these fools from retirement to hang out here for all to see... Not that Jimmy minds - he's down for anything honestly 😂
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