Achilles awoke, as if emerging from the depths of a heavy, dark sea. The first sensation that greeted him was pain: a deep pain that seemed to have settled into every corner of his body. The simple act of breathing sent a stab through his chest, and every small movement made his muscles protest with an unbearable stiffness.
His right eye was covered by a bandage, and another was tightly wrapped around his abdomen, reminding him with every heartbeat that his body was still far from recovered.
He blinked several times with the eye he had left free, trying to adjust to the dim light of the room. The place was completely unfamiliar: pale walls and the faint scent of medicinal herbs drifting in the air. Lowering his gaze with difficulty, he made out a familiar figure asleep at the foot of the bed. It was his mother.
Thetis was leaning forward, as if exhaustion had overtaken her while she kept watch over him. Achilles barely had time to observe her when she shifted slightly, waking up. As she lifted her gaze and met her son's open eyes, her expression changed immediately.
"Achilles…" she whispered with a relief she did not try to hide.
She rose quickly and approached the head of the bed. Achilles tried to sit up a little, but the attempt barely lasted an instant. A dry gasp escaped his throat and his body tensed with pain, forcing him to stop.
Thetis placed a hand on his shoulder gently and guided him back onto the mattress.
"Don't strain yourself too much" she said in a calm tone, though concern still lingered in her gaze. "Rest, my son. Your body needs time."
Then she leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. The gesture was so delicate that for a moment Achilles forgot the pain. For a few seconds they remained in silence. Thetis watched him attentively, as if she needed to make sure he was truly there, breathing in front of her. Finally, she sighed.
"This was a mistake" she said in a low voice, almost to herself. "I should never have let you take part in this."
Achilles turned his head slightly toward her. Even that small movement cost him effort, but his voice came out firm.
"I agreed to it."
Thetis frowned, and the anguish returned to her face.
"But why, Achilles?" she asked with unease. "You already have what all heroes long for: eternal glory. Your name lives in the memory of the world. You don't need to risk your life again."
Achilles watched her in silence for a moment. His expression softened, and when he spoke, his voice carried an unexpected calm.
"I wanted to see you again."
The words hung suspended in the air between them.
Thetis did not respond immediately. Instead, she brought her hand to her son's face and gently caressed his cheek, as she had when he was a child. The gesture was slow, filled with a mixture of love and sadness that needed no words.
"Mom…" murmured Achilles at last, still somewhat disoriented. "Where exactly am I?"
"In my clinic, boy."
The voice came from the other side of the room, interrupting the moment.
Achilles turned his gaze toward the direction it came from and made out a man who had remained silent until then. He wore a black tunic and cloak that contrasted with his completely white hair, and deep dark circles marked beneath his eyes, giving him an almost sickly appearance. However, the most striking thing was not his looks… but the albino snake coiled around his neck, slowly flicking its tongue.
"You lost a concerning amount of blood" the man continued as he approached with a calm stride. "Frankly, I expected your heart to stop before you arrived here. But I must admit your endurance is…fascinating."
He leaned over the bed to examine him more closely. The snake lifted its head and moved toward Achilles' face, observing him with its pale eyes. The warrior remained completely still, more out of discomfort than fear.
"Even so" the man went on with evident enthusiasm, "what is truly extraordinary is your speed. Tell me… how is it possible that your body doesn't disintegrate when you propel yourself like that?"
Achilles looked at him, confused.
"What…?"
"Your body!" the man replied, with an almost feverish gleam in his eyes. "With impulses of that magnitude, your muscles should tear apart and your bones should break from the strain. And we're not even talking about the air. At those speeds, it stops behaving like a gas… it begins to feel like a solid wall. As if millions of tiny arrows were striking your skin at the same time."
He leaned even closer.
"How do you manage to move like that without being reduced to dust?"
Achilles blinked, clearly bewildered.
"I… I just move."
The man fell silent for a moment, processing the answer.
"I see…" he murmured with interest. "Not even you fully understand how your own biology works."
Suddenly, he took the warrior's hands with absolute seriousness.
"Tell me something, boy. If you die again… would you consider donating your corpse for study purposes?"
Achilles had barely begun to process the strange request when Thetis immediately intervened.
"Asclepius, enough!" she exclaimed firmly.
Achilles opened his good eye in surprise.
"Asclepius!?" he repeated, incredulous. "The god of medicine?"
"That's me" the man replied with complete naturalness.
Noticing their uncomfortable expressions, the god straightened up and cleared his throat, as if only then realizing how inappropriate his request had been.
"My apologies" he said with a slight bow of his head. "I did not mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just that… I rarely have the opportunity to study bodies like yours, boy. Bodies that completely defy the rules of nature."
Achilles hesitated for a moment before answering.
"No… it's not a problem."
Though in truth he was still quite bewildered. Not so much by the request itself, but by the fact that the legendary god of medicine turned out to be someone so… peculiar.
Asclepius smiled calmly.
"In any case" he continued, "it would be best to let you rest. I have treated your wounds and stabilized your condition, but no medicine replaces rest. Your body will do the rest if you give it time."
Thetis leaned over her son again and kissed his forehead once more.
"Rest, my son" she said gently.
Shortly after, both of them left the room. The door closed softly behind them, and silence once again took hold of the place.
Achilles remained motionless on the bed, listening to his own breathing as exhaustion slowly dragged him back into sleep.