#alpha penelope

Continuation of my omegaverse ideas (found here)

Also while nothing explicit happens there's a little spice down the line.

Odysseus and Penelope definitely had their first serious argument before they were even married. While still courting/betrothed, it turns into a huge fight over who's going to be bearing the children once they're wedded and mated.

Not that Odysseus thinks his wife should be doing it, but that he should be the sole bearer with no exceptions! And the problem is that Penelope insists on the exact opposite...

This is the masterlist of epic fics I'm working on. Will be updated as I add more.

Omega Odysseus : a series of oneshots (still on going) from prior to the odyssey and during the odyssey.

Blood of the gods : God!Odysseus, winged!Odysseus

The Wolf in Troy : Omegaverse AU where Paris Kidnap Odysseus instead of Helen. {Completed}

Athena Noctuna : Blind!Telemachus and Omegaverse Au

You win or You Die : an alternate route to my other fic Athena Noctuna. Blind!Telemachus, King Antinous omegaverse au.

Only the Ocean Knows Poseidon takes Odysseus to teach him a lesson for blinding his son. {omegaverse}

Sword's Edge: Alternate version of The Wolf in Troy where Paris decides to be the worst and the war lasts much longer.

Sea Foam: a little mermaid OdyPen AU. Mer!Odysseus.

Odysseus, King of Ithaca Daughter of Laertes Omegaverse AU where Odysseus was born a woman. And has to navigate the her life disguised as a man. (chronologicals through the beginning of her life to her return home from a 20 year journey)

I absolutely think Athena would be way more in touch with mortals than this but yeah sure why not:

For Ody to go into labor with Athena around, I think he'd have to be otherwise alone. So maybe he snuck out of the palace because he was sick of constantly being hounded by the royal physicians. No doubt his mother would also constantly smother him and order the servants to do the same.

Athena joins him and they take a little walk together. Neither of them think anything's wrong until Odysseus stumbles over himself. Athena catches him, but they both smell... something in the air.

Ody looks down and boom, his water broke.

Athena thinks nothing of it. She summons a small axe to one hand and a chisel + mallet in the other, asking Odysseus which he'd prefer.

He looks at her like she's crazy and says he needs to get back to the palace ASAP. Athena is like "Oh of course. Mortals die of childbirth all the time. Well, they do tend to perish when their skulls are cracked open, so that makes sense."

She uses a bit of magic to get them there faster, masking herself from everyone but Odysseus' sight as the servants hurry him to his birthing suite. They get him settled on the provided bed and do all sorts of things to calm him down, like massaging his muscles and rubbing his skin with warm oil. Athena is like "Yup this checks out. Definitely don't want to be stressed when they crack your head open."

She even keeps quiet as a priest prays to Artemis for a safe birth for both the child and the dam despite Athena being right there. Because surely, at any moment now, Odysseus will ask his dear mentor to do the honor of delivering his child. After all, what mortal's hand could possibly be more steady or precise than her own?

Athena is honestly a little excited and a little nervous. She's never delivered a human's offspring before. But she doesn't trust the midwives or physician to do the cutting and/or splitting. What if they accidentally kill Odysseus?

As someone who's vanquished many foes in battle, she's confident that she can get Odysseus' head open just enough for the child to pass w/out killing her mentee. And right now, Odysseus is looking quite stressed and seems to be in a lot of pain. There's some blood coming from his lower area but hey, maybe that happened when Zeus bore her as well. Or maybe it's a human thing.

Athena startles at the first of Odysseus' screams. This isn't a low whine to indicate discomfort. It's not a battle cry, either. It's a sound of pure pain. As soon as he empties his lungs, the midwives & his mother + wife get him off the bed and seated on a strange chair with a large portion of the seat missing.

(Two notes- I think it's insane that it was common practice in ancient Greece for women start labor by laying down and THEN getting moved to a birthing chair because like... idk about you, if I began to experience the worst physical pain of my life I wouldn't want anyone manhandling me.

And two- I HC Odysseus' mother as an omega. So she'd definitely be there to coach her poor son through his labor. Also, despite childbirth being strictly regarded as an omega's ordeal, I do think Odysseus would want Penelope to be present. She's still a woman so there's not too much taboo crossing there. And having her familiar scent nearby is really comforting to him.)

At that point, it finally crosses Athena's mind that humans give birth very differently from how she was created. There is so much blood and other bodily fluids, it's wet and smells terrible, Odysseus is red in the face from his screaming and exhaustion, and it goes on. For. So. Long.

Hours. All night and into the morning, Odysseus is pushing and pushing and Athena is just watching from the corner of the room and wondering which other god cursed her poor mentee with this demon of a delivery. Because surely, this isn't normal, right?

At one point, Penelope put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down and Odysseus physically snapped at her and bit her hand.

Penelope doesn't pull her hand away, she doesn't even flinch, not until Odysseus lets go of his own volition. He seems to have gone downright mad. At another point in the birthing process, he screams at his midwives and even his own family to be quiet, even when no one is speaking. He yells at them not to touch him even when no one is.

Athena is horrified and bewildered by his behavior but literally everyone else in the room acts like it's completely normal. Like this is expected.

"Yes, Odysseus," his mother murmurs, having been on her feet for hours and yet not tired at all, "Let it all out. It'll be alright..."

"Stop telling me that!"

And his mother continues to hush and shush him, no fear or anger on her face. Only love and concern.

Athena wishes childbirth was as easy as making a neat split in Odysseus' skull and pulling the child out. Whatever in Hades this all is... it is beyond even her comprehension.

At long last, a tiny fleshy thing drops out of Odysseus and into a midwife's waiting arms. It's cleaned and dressed in white cloth, with the staff declaring it's a boy!

Odysseus slumps in the chair, at last being able to cradle his son. Penelope leans over his shoulder with a smile and all at once, his sanity seems to have returned to him. Odysseus smiles, exhausted but clearly very happy, as his alpha kisses him on the cheek.

Penelope says, "Well done, my beloved."

She's crying, as is Odysseus' mother. Tears of joy, no doubt. Odysseus seems to have shed every tear he could possibly have as he finally gets to recline and relax.

In all his life, he's never looked so fragile, so mortal.

Odysseus spots Athena in the corner of the room and asks to be left alone for a moment. He wants to pray, he says. It takes a great deal of convincing for his mother & wife to leave his side, Penelope seems intent on being removed only by force, but they don't want to argue with the poor omega who just spent 12+ hours giving birth. Odysseus assures her it'll just be for the shortest moment.

When it's just the three of them, (Ody, Athena, and Telemachus) he asks if she wants to hold the baby. Athena politely but swiftly declines, thinking the little thing in Odysseus' arms must be as soft as clay and just as easy to misshape.

Curious, Odysseus asks her what it was like to watch.

"It was... unlike anything I've ever seen."

Odysseus smiles softly. It seems he has no strength to laugh.

He asks her a question that catches her by surprise, "What was I like?"

"What do you mean?"

Odysseus truly doesn't remember long stretches of his birth. He asks again what he was like. Athena decides he doesn't yet need to know about how he snapped at everyone in the room. Now, she can see it was only a coping mechanism for someone in terrible, terrible pain and all the mortals understood that far before she did.

(First off, let's get one thing straight. They're both jacked. Penelope would've been forced to train in athletics regardless of her secondary gender since she was born in Sparta. So despite being a woman, as an alpha she was expected to know how to race, fight, and hunt. Odysseus learned most of what he knows about war and strategy from Athena, who looked past his secondary gender and saw the promise he had.)

Anyways,

When the other kings start gathering up armies to take to Troy, both Ody and Penelope try to dodge that draft like crazy because honestly, either one of them could be forced to go. Despite Odysseus' "unfortunate" secondary gender, he's widely known as one of the best strategists alive. In contrast, Penelope (despite spending most of her days organizing the house and weaving on the side) has the experience of a fierce and formidable warrior. And neither of them want to leave because they've just had their first child.

So when Agamemnon and Menelaus and co. show up on Ithaca, it's go-time. Odysseus, still recovering after giving birth to Telemachus like 3 months ago, pretends to be bedridden and sickly while Penelope feigns madness by doing the thing about yoking a donkey to an ox and plowing the fields in crooked rows.

The other kings are like "damn Ithaca is super screwed we should just leave", but one of them doubts that both Ithacan rulers are incapable of going to war. So they steal Telemachus from his cradle and put him out in the field. If Odysseus is too sick to save his son and Penelope is too mad to notice her infant child in her path, then they're exempt from war.

Penelope doesn't notice Telemachus hidden in the tall grass, but Odysseus was pulled out of bed by a servant who claimed to see a man stealing the young prince!

Odysseus runs out into the field and rescues Telemachus before he can be trampled. Cue the other kings all pointing their fingers and smugly declaring that Odysseus must go to war.

Penelope realizes what's happened only after it's over. If she had figured out their trick sooner, she would've veered the plow away in order to save her son and to protect her omega from going to Troy.

But it's too late.

Odysseus admits that his illness was a ruse, but he keeps up the act about Penelope being mad. He doesn't want to risk the kings suggesting that he and Penelope both go. After all, the other kings are evenly divided in opinion; half want Odysseus for his mind despite his "inferior" omega nature, while the other half want Penelope for her prowess despite her being a woman. (After all, she did spend like a whole day pushing a plow without rest.)

In the end, Odysseus and 600 men ready themselves for war. Before he leaves, Penelope tries one last time to convince him to stay so she can go. She even begs at his feet, trying to use logic to sway him: he's still recovering from childbirth, Telemachus needs his dam, it was her fault for not spotting their son in the field.

Odysseus smiles and kisses her softly, reassuring her that the taking of Troy is expected to be a swift conflict. Likely no more than a year. He'll be back before she knows it!

And do those two have petty rivalry over the pretty omega who has no fucking clue what's going on and when asking Helen for advice, she's just giggling

🤣 he would be oblivious. Especially cuz he's only paying attention to Penelope

Penelope and Diomedes competing with each other is fucking funny.

Helen is assumed and would have to at some point tell Odysseus he has two alphas after him.

Just to keep things tidy for your sake and my own, I'll be compiling whatever I make for my omegaverse AU and putting it here. This post will def be subject to editing but let's go:

the pre-wedding debate

The Trojan War Draft

Odysseus during the war

Alpha Telemachus & other Telemachus thoughts

Penelope & the suitors + the Alt ending :3

More on Odysseus & Eurylochus

Calypso thoughts + more info on their twins

Athena thoughts + oops she gets traumatized

Trojan War AU/Priam thoughts😭 + Paris & Ody's love/hate relationship + more thoughts + more thoughts + Paris/Ody babies

Also shameless plug but check out my other writings for Epic:

(literal) Monster!Odysseus AU

(This is inspired by one anon asking about whether Telemachus would be an omega or alpha.)

I think the situation with Penelope & the suitors would be vastly different in my omegavese AU where she's an alpha.

Basically, I think she'd be bombarded by both omega and alpha suitors. The omegas would do their best to seduce her, leaving slick-stained sashes outside her bedroom door and stuff like that, but Penelope isn't some knothead alpha that'll forget her true mate so easily. (And side note- while Penelope is queen, if she were to remarry and take another omega as a mate, she would be named king and her new omega would be named queen since they're the one marrying into the royal family.)

But the omegas are somewhat easy to deal with. Penelope gnashes her teeth at them and can scare most of them off with just a look. The omega suitors don't tend to last long in her guest hall because not only is her will made of steel, but there's the added danger of the palace being overrun with unruly, unmated alphas that might just get hungry enough to eat up their fellow suitors.

The alpha suitors are the true danger here. Everyone knows that if two alphas were to mate, one would inevitably have to submit to the other. And that's exactly what the suitors are trying to force Penelope to do. Most of them are male alphas and still perceive themselves to be physically superior to their female counterparts.

And many of these alpha suitors come to Ithaca to challenge Penelope to a duel for her hand. If they can defeat her in a trial by combat, they'll be named king and she will have to submit to them as their queen.

So Penelope has been literally fighting for her life for the 10 years that everyone assumes Odysseus is dead, fending off challenges from younger alphas almost every day.

But here's the thing. Penelope was a princess of Sparta before she was Queen of Ithaca. It doesn't matter what weapon she uses- a sword, a bow, a spear, a dagger, her bare hands and teeth- without fail, she vanquishes them all. She has to, because she believes her omega is still alive and she must protect Odysseus' home, nest, and child in his absence.

Most of the time, Penelope beats the challenging suitor within an inch of their life and leaves them to bleed on her floor and lick their wounds. Sometimes, her duels end in death.

It didn't take long for the alpha suitors to learn their newest and most prevailing strategy by far. Instead of bloodshed, they'll lay siege to Penelope's home by eating her food and taking over her guest rooms, by intimidating her palace staff and watching her wherever she walks.

They'll let the newest, most arrogant suitors challenge her and lose while the rest engage in a battle of attrition, hoping that with enough time, Penelope will crack and simply give in to their will.

For as strong as she is, Penelope is no fool. Ithaca lacks the number of soldiers needed to drive off 100+ suitors that have banded together. She knows that someday, they might just grow sick enough of her & attack her all at once, with one lucky young alpha seizing her throne.

They won't gang up on her yet, though. Not when they still perceive her to be unbeatable. After all, in the past she's even defeated multiple challenging suitors at once. But she's getting older. She's tired. Her old injuries from past duels ache despite how well she masks the pain. She misses her omega husband more than anything else, her heart growing more sick for Odysseus by the day.

For ten long years, she's guarded her home almost single-handedly in the hopes of someday having Odysseus return to her arms. She imagines that with him back, she can finally rest. She dreams of Odysseus kissing her and telling her what a good job she's done, what a strong and capable alpha she is.

As much as the longing is killing her, it also fuels Penelope's strength.

Her hands have been steeped in more blood than she'll ever be able to wash off, but she'll fight and she'll kill until her very last breath if that's what it takes to protect her family. If that's what it takes to get her Odysseus back.

I'm like 85% sure all my asks are coming from the same 1 or 2 people bc how come all of y'all only submit asks when I have anon enabled 😭

Okay so to clear one thing up, the twins Odysseus has with Calypso ARE NOT canon or an intentional part of my omegaverse au!! They're like an idea that I had for a separate omegaverse AU unrelated to the main story i've been writing about. Basically, since they weren't around in Epic, I'm just gonna exclude them too.

So hypothetically, yes I do think Ody would have a harder time bearing twins than he did with Telemachus 10+ years ago. And the biggest factor in that would be his age.

By the time he washes up on Ogygia, he'd be what? In his 30s? Most likely mid 30s? His body is slower to heal itself, especially after the stress of going through war for 10 years, and I think as a result, his pregnancy would be a lot more demanding on his body. Like I imagine him with increased aches and pains, really bad insomnia, etc. But it'd still be very possible for him at that age to give birth to healthy children.

It's also interesting that you bring up his eating habits because in my mind, since Ogygia is a paradise, it'd be quite easy to get a rich and healthy diet. No doubt even if Odysseus wanted to starve himself in an attempt to terminate the pregnancy, Calypso could force him to eat and get all the nutrients he needs for the duration of the pregnancy.

His mental health would undoubtedly make the whole thing harder, but inevitably and despite his best efforts, he's still gonna pop out Nausithous & Nausinous.

In this scenario, I think Odysseus' most prominent fear is that Penelope would refuse to take him back once she finds out that he "cheated" on her with another alpha. (It's basically 7 years' worth of victim blaming.) Even though Odysseus would like nothing more than to leave Ogygia and everything that happened on it behind, he also wouldn't want to lie to his wife.

So for 7 years, he mentally drafted, rewrote, and practiced the speech he'd give Penelope, begging for her to accept him again despite his supposed betrayal. And if not that, then they could essentially get a divorce or separate where she'd still get to be the queen of Ithaca, but wouldn't have to fulfill any duties to him as his wife or alpha. He thinks it's the fairest proposal he can make- Penelope still gets to be royalty & keeps all her autonomy but rarely has to interact with him, if ever.