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HADES furrowed his brows and frowned as he watched Meg wander towards the river, already in search of Nessus's home. He stood there with a hopeful expression resting on his placid features, hoping he had not made a grave mistake in sending the girl so soon after accepting her as his charge.

He told himself that he would trust his instincts as they had never been wrong before and he made sure that his newest prized possession would be treated well and rewarded adequately once she had persuaded the River Guardian to ally with him to help him usurp his bastard brother Zeus off the throne of Olympus.

His brother was a god of many things, and many of Zeus's faults, Hades would have been willing to overlook and forgive him, though Zeus's latest transgression, he did not think he could ever forget.

Zeus, when Hades had visited Mount Olympus to celebrate the birth of Zeus's latest babe, Hercules, the strong little tyke that he was, had allowed the other gods beneath him to insult his Persephone. Rudeness, impoliteness, even physical violence, these were all things that he could and dealt with enduring from the other gods who despised him, but he would not abide those that did not stand by their own.

Zeus had stood by and done nothing while his beloved wife was openly mocked and shunned from Olympus for daring to genuinely love him. Hades felt something ugly rise within himself just then.

Was he truly that despicable to the rest of those simple tow-headed fools who could hardly be called gods? He knew all too well the other gods had made it a habit of forcing themselves onto unwilling young women, hoping to earn their love and affection through a show of dominance and god-like strength, but Hades had never agreed with such actions.

There was nothing enjoyable in seeing a woman, mortal human or goddess, suffer like that, and though Hades knew he was an immoral god, he knew that even he would never stoop so low.

He had earned Persephone's love, in time. They had learned to love and cherish one another as time passed, and Persephone's curiosity about him when he had first brought her to the Underworld had blossomed into affection after a year of increasingly warm friendship. Real love came soon after, and now, they were easily the happiest, to say nothing of the saner, couples amongst the gods.

But when Zeus had not come to his and Persephone's defense that day, he realized however that the gods believed that was his design, and they hated him all the more for it. It was clear, judging by the venom and even fear in the other gods' eyes when he had traveled to Mount Olympus to set eyes on his young nephew for the first time, that they would only ever see nothing but a monster.

Fine. Then let me behave like one then, Hades thought bitterly to himself, clenching his teeth and closing his eyes, not even needing to visualize his Underworld to know where it was he wanted to go.

He wanted to take a whiff of his drug, his pretty flower, his wife, his lovely Persephone. She always knew what to say to set him in the right mood. His nerves were still wrecked at the plan he had set in motion in revenge against Zeus for the disparaging and horrific insults made against his beloved wife.

Kidnapping the babe Hercules and turning him into a mortal man was the most befitting of punishments. He had wholly expected Persephone to turn against him when he revealed what he had done, but by the gods, she had not, and he loved his wife even more for it.

He opened his eyes and found her, his Persephone, standing dangerously close to the massive three-headed dog that served as a guard and his wife's protector when he could not always be at her side.

She was so still at first that Hades almost doubted if his love was still breathing or if she was frozen where she stood, watching their loyal companion sleep, the dog's loud snores filling the cavern with sound.

"Hades," Persephone called out sweetly to him and the god stiffened.

She never turned to look at him, her eyes were fixed on the dog. Hades stood there for a moment, summoning every inch of the god that he knew he was, and everything in between, the good, and the bad. He waited for his wife to call his name again. He longed to hear his name on his lover's lips.

Then she called him again. "My love," she spoke to him and turned her head slightly to regard him, rendering Hades breathless as her sparkling blue eyes found his.

He thought it secretly amazing how, even after years of marriage, Demeter's daughter never failed to steal the breath from his lungs with just a single look and a sweet smile.

Persephone was very kind, truth be told, and a stunning creature, far too good for the likes of him, and yet, when he had first laid eyes upon her, he'd known then when she had looked into his eyes and did not seem to fear death that he had to have her, no matter the cost, and no matter how she had viewed him.

Her blonde hair was roughly cropped to just passed her shoulders, and curly, framing her face in wisps and stray curls. A light smattering of freckles dusted along the bridge of her slender little nose and her bright blue eyes never failed to remind Hades of the blue sky after a fresh rainfall in the spring.

She was quite petite compared to his statuesque height, and the height difference between the two of them was almost laughable, but Persephone had never seemed to mind it at all, thank the gods.

Hades covered the distance between them in relatively short order, almost seeming to glide as he walked towards her, his feet seeming to move of their own accord, desire clouding his ability the longer he looked upon his wife who, like his pretty little Nutmeg was now, a bright ray of sunshine in this otherwise abysmal and gloomy realm that he had grown to despise.

The edges of his mouth twitched as he fought back a smile as Persephone made a quick scan of him and then peeked over his shoulder and then her face fell, crestfallen.

"She is not here? Hades, why in Chronos's name not? I was hoping to meet her," she questioned, not even needing to refer to pretty Megara.

He had told her when he'd felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand up when the girl had made her call for help where he was going, and what his intentions were for the mortal girl.

"No," Hades replied, snaking his arms around his wife's small waist and pressing a gentle and chaste kiss to her lips. "I sent her to persuade Nessus, Pers, but she will be joining us soon enough. I don't think it will take her too long, she seems...skilled in that regard. I know that you get lonely, my love, and need someone to help you get used to the strangeness of this place, even after all this time. I know you have wanted another companion. She will come, soon enough," he murmured his words into her ear.

She twisted in his embrace and looked shocked.

"Nessus?" she challenged, quirking a thinly plucked brow at him. She pursed her lips in disapproval and shook her head. "Did you at least tell her what sort of a vicious brute that horrid creature is? Does the girl know what she's going up against? You did tell her that much, didn't you? Oh, Hades," she asked, and the furrow of confusion between her brows deepened when he answered his wife with only silence.

"No, Pers, I didn't, she can handle him. The lovely mortal is more than capable, I think," he murmured, after a long pause that stretched between them past the point of comfort, heat flushing his cheeks.

He felt the familiar fire seed of anger course through his stomach and seep into his chest. He swallowed down hard to control his temper. He never wanted to lose his temper with his beloved wife.

Hades gave his wife a wide-eyed stare at seeing the kernel of doubt flickering to life behind her blue eyes.

"What is it? I know that look. You don't think this will work, do you?" he snapped with a bark to his voice that made Persephone look up in surprise.

Persephone gave Hades her most innocent 'leave me out of this' look and shook her head.

"It's not that, I-I just…do you truly think that she will be able to persuade Nessus?"

"Of that I am sure, my love," Hades told her with measured confidence in his voice as he chuckled. "I thought you were talking about the other thing."

Persephone shook her head. "Your brother should never have been allowed to rule Olympus, my love," she reminded him, reaching up a warm hand to caress his icy-cold cheek, smiling at the shudder of pleasure that went down his spine at her gentle touch. "It was always your destiny to rule Mount Olympus, my love. The sisters of fate have foreseen it. He has told us that all you need is time and an army of creatures worthy to defeat the gods. The Titans," she whispered in a meek voice, scrunching her nose in disgust.

Hades could not help but chuckle at her discomfort.

He knew his wife held no love for the Titans in her heart, the creatures of mass destruction that they were, but they were his best hope of distracting Zeus and keeping his bastard brother busy.

Hades noticed his wife's crestfallen expression and immediately questioned her again, thinking that something was wrong.

"What?" he demanded, feigning hurt feelings as his wife stuck out her bottom lip in an adorable pout.

"You still blame yourself for the way the gods speak to me and about me, my love, don't you," Persephone challenged him and when phrased like that, it was not a question. Hades squirmed, growing uncomfortable. Had he been that obvious? He frowned and waited impatiently for his wife to elaborate.

Persephone sighed in disappointment and reached up to tuck a stray blonde curl back behind her ear where the strand belonged.

"It was not your fault, Hades, you and I both know this. I have told you at least a million times. The fault lies with Zeus and with him alone. You did all that you could that day to protect me, though I don't know what you hoped to achieve by going after your nephew, my love," she confessed, her expression pained.

"I didn't do it for you, Pers, I did it for me," Hades growled through gritted teeth, though the look in his eyes was strained as he bore into his wife's eyes, searching for something he did not even know what. "You weren't there that day, you did not hear the things he spoke of. I am not cruel to my brother for the sake of cruelty," Hades snapped, an edge to his voice as he spoke that had not been there before, and he hated hearing the warbling crack and dip in his voice. "I'm not like my brothers, I could never hope to be, and I don't want to be. Olympus is all the poorer for it with a bastard like my brother on the throne. I go against Zeus and the others for us, my love. I'm not a monster, Persephone…am I?" he questioned, his voice cracking and breaking as he asked the one question he was not sure he wanted an answer to.

"No, Hades, you aren't," Persephone immediately tried to reassure him, looking at him with such pain in those sparkling blue eyes of hers that Hades was not sure he could stand it.

He was relieved when she took one of his icy cold hands in hers and clung to it, moving to stand beside him and watch Cerberus sleeping, one of his massively large paws twitching as he dreamt of something.

"Soon, it won't matter, sweetheart," Hades murmured, his voice low and softer than before. "The other gods on their high horses in Mount Olympus want to expose me and drag my name through their golden streets and you along with me, my love. None of them understand what I am trying to do for them. Zeus does not belong on the throne, it should be me. Olympus could be something noteworthy and great with a different ruler other than that bastard brother of mine who does not deserve the throne of his glory," he snarled, the edges of the god's lips curling in a feral snarl, revealing his sharp pointed teeth as he sneered. "Zeus and the others want to destroy everything around us that I am trying to accomplish!"

Persephone turned to look at him then, his Queen's face blank and impassive. For a moment, Hades was stricken with confusion and fear and was almost afraid to try to make out his beloved wife's expression.

But he thought he saw a kernel of understanding flick to life in his wife's eyes, and she was only just now allowing herself to believe it. That this was the only way to win.

"And are you going to let them?" she asked, her words simple but effective. Hades stared at her in awe for a moment, stunned still that this celestial-like creature, this goddess of spring, was his wife.

He wound his arms around Persephone. The two of them had never hidden their emotions in their marriage like the other gods and their wives were prone to doing.

They missed too much time with each other when Persephone would venture to the surface to spend six months of the year with her mother Demeter. They flat out refused to surrender any more time while she was here in his Underworld with him by his side. Hades drew his wife close to him, his large hands encircling the flat of her stomach and resting there. He pressed a gentle kiss to her neck and sighed.

"No. Everything I do to Zeus, I do it for us, you know that," he growled. "I do enjoy it, my Queen, how adorable you become when you are devious. You little minx." He moved his frigid lips to her temple and smiled as she snuggled closer to him, not bothered by his body's cold temperatures one bit.

"And this mortal girl who is our charge now, one thing is for sure," Persephone muttered, her expression thoughtful as she leaned her head back against Hades' chest and shook her head. "The next time we see her here in the Underworld, she will either have succeeded somehow in managing to persuade that brute Nessus to join you, or he will have killed her," she answered simply, sounding as if she fought back a grin.

Hades laughed and looked down at Persephone, grateful she was back in his arms, all thoughts of lovely Meg persuading the River Guardian out of his mind for now as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers and Persephone was more than willing to welcome them.

"Hades, my love," she murmured as she was the first one to break apart from the embrace. She drew back slightly to study his expression. "I am with you again for the first time in six months, and I have missed you, more than you could know," she whispered into the shell of his ear, a grin playing at her lips as she reached for his hand and began to lead him away. "Let's not waste it?"

---

MEG had no idea how she had talked herself into doing this. She was not doing this. She was not searching for a River Guardian, whatever this Nessus was meant to look like, she was not selling her soul for the promise of having her memories purged. She. Was. Not. Doing. This. Oh, but surprise! She was.

She huffed in frustration as she continued walking along the riverbank and toyed with a curl of her dark hair in between her thumb and forefinger, nibbling on the wall of her mouth as she stared out into the mists of the river. She had no idea what to do. Did she call out his name? Why? Why was she so stupid?

Meg wished she could tell herself what had come over her. The brisk autumn air felt warmer than usual, she realized, though that could have just as easily been the blood rushing to her cheeks. She was surrounded by water and she had no idea where to begin to look for this Nessus. She did not even know if this River Guardian was a mortal or some fearsome beast.

Meg frowned wondering if she could turn back. She was already having second thoughts.

This was crazy! No, she was crazy!

Yet, here she was, alone by the river, aimlessly searching for somebody or something called Nessus, hoping to persuade him or it to join with the God of the Underworld.

For what purpose, she did not know and quickly decided she did not want to know. What was she doing? Meg pressed her palm to her forehead in annoyance. The flustered woman wished that her excited mind would quiet down for once. Nervous breaths flowed out of her burning lungs shakily.

She had to do this. She was nervous, yes, but she had given Hades her word that her soul was his in exchange for forgetting the one man who had ripped out her heart. She could not, would not, turn away now. With an angry huff, she forced herself to keep searching, one sandaled foot in front of the other.

"Ugh, I really am a stupid woman who never learns," the bewildered young woman spoke to herself in a voice that was barely above a whisper as she squinted through the mists that covered the river.

She thought she could see the faint silhouette of a man in the distance.

Feeling some hope swell in her chest, she summoned enough strength in her throat to call for the man, hoping he could pinpoint her in the right direction as to where to find Nessus.

"Uh, hello? E-excuse me, I-I'm looking for the River Guardian Nessus?" she called, ensuring her voice carried through the mists. She could see the man through the mists turn his head and her voice seemed to have reached him. She felt another surge of hope swell through her heart as he began to walk towards her, though it only took a fraction of a second to realize that something was wrong. The thing that came bounding towards her was no man, but a monster, a centaur, and a vicious one from the looks of it.

As the creature emerged from the mists and came to step into the light, a yelp left her throat and she looked up at the towering hulk of a beast that could surely only be him.

"Oh, gods, you've got to be kidding me, he told me nothing of what you were. Thing, oh, thing, get away from here!" Meg squeaked under her breath, horrified and disgusted. "Y-You're Nessus?" she whispered in a soft voice, her eyes wide as she arched her neck to look up at the massive centaur that was now coming closer to her. Her mouth went dry as it snorted by way of response and its coarse black tail gave a little twitch. Meg felt as if her chest caved in as fear and apprehension seized her entire body.

Oh, gods, could today possibly get any worse for her?

"I am. You lost, girl?" the centaur grunted in a hoarse voice calloused with ire. "What have you come to my river for? Has Hades sent another one to me?" he growled, his beady eyes narrowing in suspicion at her. Meg's resolve nearly faltered and she almost turned to run as the creature came to a halt only a few inches in front of her. But somehow, by a miracle of the gods, she managed to hold herself still, straight, and proud. Her face burned. If she did not know any better, she thought this River Guardian knew her master's scheme. Meg took a deep breath and let out a little breath before forcing herself to push forward.

She did not know what he meant by another one, but she knew she just needed to talk to him, that was it. Meg nervously wrung her hands together and began to speak, trying to sound calm and composed.

"I...I'm here on behalf of my master. Hades would like you to ally yourself with him. You would be well rewarded if you chose to," she answered in as smooth a voice as she could manage. The centaur's brows rose.

He looked at her, tilting his head to the side. "Is that so? You make me blush," he snapped, and she flushed. He gave her a mocking smile as he waited for her to speak.

Meg swallowed and shifted her weight from one foot to the next, trying to supplicate him some. "Nessus, you don't seem to have much choice. Consider my coming here a formality. If you want to remain alive and unharmed, give Hades what he wants," Meg tried to reason with it, to which she received a snort.

"And so, he sends you in his place?" Nessus growled lowly, his beady eyes slowly moving down the length of his body and back to her face. He barked out a dry laugh that stuffed the chills down Meg's throat just then. "Blonde would have perhaps been better, but you are pretty enough. You may return to your master and tell him that he will have my support…for a price, that is. My help never comes to anyone, god or otherwise, without a cost," he snarled, the edges of his lips curling upwards into a rather animalistic snarl.

Meg hesitated, unready to hear the centaur's next words.

But Nessus seemed to be in the mood to convince and continued without her bidding for him to enlighten her on his terms of this little arrangement.

"The price…for my support, sweetheart, is you," Nessus barked and lunged.

He was on Meg in a moment, placing her waist in a painful vice and lifting her off her feet before she had time to react. She cried out in pain as his large hand gripped tightly around her waist, nearly cracking a rib or two in the process as he began to stalk off with his self-proclaimed prize.

She winced and struggled to get free of him. Meg felt a solar flare of her temper erupt and the words were out of her lips before she could even stop and consider what it was that she was spouting at the centaur.

"HEY! Stop! What do you think you're doing? Get your disgusting grubby nasty sausage fingers off of me, you—you horse's ass! Let go of me! NOW!" she shouted, her temper swelling and her face reddening in anger as she lashed out a foot, hoping to aim at his chest, but missed by a longshot.

Unfortunately, her pitiful attempt at escape only seemed to provoke him.

He squeezed his abnormally large hand that was easily the size of a cart around her small waist and Meg nearly cried out in pain as she swore she felt one of her ribs crack.

The pain of her insides being crushed forced her to move her body around as tears began to come to her eyes as she felt him squeeze harder. She tried to squirm free, but Nessus was too strong.

Meg squeezed her eyes shut as his tongue darted out to lick his upper lip as he brought her closer.

A violent chill went down her spine as she felt his tongue, hot, wet, and disgusting, taste her throat and stop just under her chin and a terrified shiver ripped through her.

"Yesss, keep fighting, girl, I like 'em with a little fire in 'em, keeps things interesting for me," he whispered, his rough voice low and throaty, like a hiss that might have come from a stray cat or a snake.

It terrified Meg, but there was little she could do as she was stuck.

"Nessus, I swear to the gods, you—you beast, that Hades will kill you when he finds you you've refused him and laid hands on me," she snapped, her voice trembling.

Nessus's smile widened but it was a cold and smug gesture. Tears spilled down her cheeks and her lungs began to burn and her cracked rib hurt, more than she could comprehend. Her brain began to turn foggy.

Oh, gods, this was it. She was sure that she was going to die. She had failed her first assignment for Hades, but at least she wasn't about to be taken advantage of. Not alive anyway. She wondered if she should have called for Hades before searching for Nessus on her own. But what good could she have done? She had needed to call for help and she had failed in that regard, and now, she was dead.

The last thing she felt before black spots started to creep into her vision was a wave of unending shame.

Meg fought to keep her eyes open as she swore she heard the sound of someone's voice, not Nessus's, speaking to her, a man's voice, tenor-like, soft, and timid, even.

"Miss? A-are you alright, miss?"

Meg's mind groped for understanding as she forced herself to open her eyes and turn her head.

Had someone... come to her rescue?

From somewhere, Meg heard her voice straining a hoarse groan as she attempted to free herself, though she felt as though she could barely move with one of her ribs cracked, as just a single twisting of her waist to better look the newcomer in the eye sent an explosion of pain through her body.

"I-I'm fine," she snapped, cringing as the lie left her mouth. Gods, she wasn't fine at all, and now, to make matters worse, a stranger was witnessing her horrible humiliation and her death. "Keep…moving…Junior…" she managed to gasp out in a weak voice. "I—I can handle this on my own, buddy. Leave. Go!"

Through the haze in her mind, she could see someone, a man, standing boldly in front of the bastard Nessus and seeming to fumble for a sword at his hip.

Trying to protect her it seemed, though Meg barely had any strength left to lift her head to see more of her savior as the spots continued to dance in her vision, temporarily blinding her vision. She wondered what he looked like, but she was hardly in good physical enough condition to lift her head to look up.

She was almost pulled from her haze of semi-consciousness when she felt the life-threatening pressure around her waist let up completely and she was dropped clumsily into the water. She did not know what this man had said or done to Nessus to get his attention enough to get him to let her go, but she was grateful. Meg turned her head to the side as she coughed and tried to inhale until her heartbeats returned to normal. A fatigued ringing began to ring in her ears, drowning out most sounds around her.

Though if she strained to hear, she thought she heard Nessus yelping in pain and the sound of someone struggling against him. Good, she thought bitterly, thinking what she wouldn't give to sic a worthy adversary on the horse. A good scare would do the arrogant monster a world of good.

She struggled to stand upright and it was then that a sharp shooting pain shot through her midsection, her third or fourth in the last minute.

And then, she felt a pair of warm and calloused hands encircle her waist and she felt herself being gently pressed against a man's muscular body. She did not even recall anybody walking toward her.

Whoever this man was, he had appeared magically close in front of her without warning, and she hated it.

"Let me go…" Meg shoved him, she shoved against his chest, she was sure, strong, and harsh, she was sure. But her efforts seemed futile as the man was still clinging to her.

Her breathing became panicked. Oh, gods. No. Please. No… Her tongue felt thick and when she tried to speak, it felt like heavy clay in her mouth. Exhausted, Meg couldn't fight anymore.

She knew she must have been saved, but she did not wish to be. She had failed Hades. The God the Underworld would surely punish her if not outright kill her himself for such an outrageous failure on her first assignment. The darkness in her vision came for her once more. This time, Meg reached for it.

Even in the embrace of black, under the watchful and vigilant eye of her unexpected savior, this…Wonder Boy, Meg whispered the only word that still meant anything to her anymore.

"Adonis," she sighed, and then slipped into a deep sleep.

She could just barely make out the stranger's handsome face peering at her in curiosity through her eyelashes fluttering before she faded off completely and went limp in the man's muscular strong arms.

Megara was not aware that she had just been saved by a son of Zeus, the mighty Hercules himself.

THE jutting wrestling branches of the twisted trees above her head seemed to dance high above her, but Meg felt as if the trees themselves had souls and were bending down to catch her hair. She tried to breathe in the cool evening air and ignored the pain on her side as her cracked rib hurt. She listened intently for any sounds of her master as she weighed the pros and cons of turning back now.

There was a part of her that wanted nothing more than to march towards Hercules' camp and beg Wonder Boy and Shorty the Goat to take her with them, no matter what.

The deeper she went into the forest, Hades was nowhere in sight and Meg was sorely tempted to take her chance and return to Hercules. But her rational mind won out in the end.

Her brain was practically screaming at her that she had no idea where she was, she was in the middle of some gods-forsaken forest, likely miles from any civilization whatsoever.

It was beginning to get cold, and she did not even have a cloak. Still, Meg forced herself not to turn back and kept walking forward, keeping her head held high and proud. A cold breeze ripped through the trees and Meg shivered, now truly hoping that Hades would come to her.

She did not have to wait long as the sound of a crunching twig underfoot caused her to freeze in her tracks and she stifled the gasp that threatened to give away her surprise.

Alarmed, she turned around to face Hades, only to find the person who had come across her alone and lost in the woods was the furthest thing from the God the Underworld itself. Quite the opposite, as it so happened, she mused.

"Megara?" chirped a woman's voice.

Meg stared as she turned her head to find one of the most celestial-like creatures she had ever seen before, staring at her, leaning against a gnarled old tree trunk near the exit to the woods.

The stranger who had come across her in the forest now had lovely blonde hair that curled in ringlets down past her shoulders, and a small childish face, beautiful in a way, and yet, there was something of her that Meg could not quite put her finger on but it made her uneasy. As if she were spying on her.

Her pink dress was of a similar fashion to the purple dress Meg currently wore, and yet Meg knew that the young woman before her was not a mortal, for her pale pink skin shimmered in the dark. Meg offered no immediate reply, trying to gauge who or what this creature was.

She wondered if she was a goddess from Mount Olympus, come to spy on her or perhaps scold her, more likely, for aligning herself with the likes of Hades, albeit reluctantly. Meg grimaced as the creature's bright sky-blue eyes which almost reminded her of Wonder Boy's eyes made a quick scan of her form, and her mouth pinched and turned down into a slight frown of concern.

She looked up and Meg tried to smile at this creature, but she could only manage a grimace. She wondered what was going through this goddess's mind as they looked at one another.

Probably what a disappointment to the mortal race I am, Meg thought bitterly to herself.

Once again cursing her panic, she tried to mold her features into a nervous smile, though she could feel her cheeks' reluctance to be molded so falsely as she gaped at her.

Meg nervously faced her, keeping her head inclined and her fingers clasped.

"I-I'm very sorry, I-I must have missed your name…?" Meg questioned.

The goddess's face flushed a deeper shade of maroon pink, and with a quick smile, she looked down.

"Persephone. I'm…Hades' wife. He sent me to fetch you to bring you back," she mumbled, sounding shy.

Meg's lips parted slightly in astonishment but kept her voice to herself. She managed to nod instead.

"Oh, I...I see..." Meg murmured, it was all she could think of to say. A heavy and uncomfortable silence fell between the goddess and the young mortal woman eternally bound to her and her husband, that stretched past the point of comfort. Meg grimaced as she swore she could feel the tension in the air, praying to the gods that this Persephone would view her favorably and that perhaps she might make a friend in this otherwise abysmal situation.

Gods only knew she could use someone on her side, for once. Meg breathed out a steadying breath and lifted her gaze to Hades' wife's eyes. Her eyes, bright sky blue like that of a fresh rainfall in the summer, were glinting, and Meg could detect no hint of malice or deceit in them, which relieved her.

She let out a little breath she did not realize she had been holding and felt the tension in her shoulders dissipate completely. She did not know how or why, but her gut intuition was telling her that she could trust this goddess. Hades' wife or not, she could sense no ill intentions. Meg took a cautious step forward.

Meg clicked her tongue, breaking the awkward pause between them as she racked her brain for how best to divulge the truth to Hades' wife that she had failed in her first assignment given to her by her husband.

"I...I'm afraid I don't have very good news," she murmured, her voice sounding as small as a child and Meg found herself swallowing as she swore she saw a tightening of Persephone's jaw.

But what was that look? Hatred? Loathing. Jealousy?

Whatever it was, Meg was quick to decide that she did not like it. She nervously continued.

"The River Guardian won't be joining your husband's…cause. There was…an incident, i-it wasn't my fault, someone, ah, intervened," Meg blurted out and held her breath as she anxiously awaited Hades' wife's reaction, praying that it would be favorable, that she'd listen to her and hear out her reason.

But Persephone merely shook her head and smiled.

"I know. The Sisters of Fate have already foreseen it. I asked to come to fetch you. They told me as opposed to my husband. Hades can be quite the charmer…on the right moods, but my love does have a nasty temper, I'm afraid." Persephone sighed and shook her head in disappointment as she took a blonde curl in between her thumb and forefinger to twirl, a sad smile gracing her features as she looked up at Meg just then. "It seems I'm one of the few in our immortal lives who can keep him calm when he loses his temper." She huffed and tucked a curl of her hair back behind her ear and strode forward, moving to take Meg's hand. "Hades trusts you, Megara," Persephone stated simply and without any fanfare. "He—we—can't do this without your help. His brother Zeus does not belong on the throne. Too long has he mocked my husband and the work that he is trying to accomplish. We would rule Olympus better than Zeus has done in the last several centuries. It is time Olympus underwent a regime change. We don't want anybody to get hurt," she quietly explained, a troubled shadow crossing the goddess's angular face. "And for him to send you to persuade Nessus was a display of faith on his part. The Fates told me of Zeus's son."

Meg felt the blood drain from her face as she stared at Persephone in shock.

She felt her eyes become desperate as they searched the goddess's bright blue eyes for any hint of deceit or trickery, and could find none within them. Oh, gods help her. Wonder Boy, back there was…a son of Zeus?

"I-I had no idea," Meg whispered, horrified, mortified at how she'd behaved around him. She wondered if perhaps it would be appropriate to find and apologize to him and decided against it for now. In due time, perhaps there was ever a time she could sneak away if Hades' plan happened to take them to Thebes. She recovered quickly and looked back to Persephone, struck by something Persephone had said.

"What do you mean, a regime change? What is Hades planning to do? Is he going to overthrow Zeus?"

Persephone brought her gaze to Meg and the Queen's expression was as grim as a gravestone.

"I have no wish to face the gods and goddesses that I consider my friends and family in war, Megara," she spoke proudly. "But if they leave my husband with no other choice if Zeus will not step down peacefully, then I am afraid that we might have no other choice but to use force. There is nothing currently standing in my husband's way, according to the Fates, save for one. Something his demonic little minions' Pain and Panic had forgotten about. Or should I say, someone? They were supposed to have turned him completely mortal," she emphasized, rolling her eyes to the sky and looking disgusted with this Pain and Panic, two creatures that Meg had yet to meet.

Meg was quick to decide that she did not want to meet them if it could be helped.

"Hercules?" Meg guessed, stiffening in defense. Her face flushed hot with anger and she clenched her fists at her side, digging her nails into the skin of her palms. "Your husband does not know him," she seethed at Persephone.

Her eyes widened as she began to nurse quite a bit of shock at where she had acquired the nerve to speak so boldly to a goddess and one with the power to ruin her life with just one call to her husband, but Meg did not care at the moment. Her only quest now was to defend him.

"What on earth is your husband planning to do to him? Is he going to kill him?" Meg surprised herself as she came to Hercules' defense, but this time, the growing fire seed of anger welling in the pit of her stomach threatened to overtake her self-control.

Persephone blinked owlishly at Meg, stepping back from her and lowering her head. She mentally kicked herself for overstepping her boundaries. But she didn't even know this mortal woman, not yet!

"You're right, Megara, he doesn't know him, but he is a threat to my husband's ambitions. I like you, Meg, and I'm hopeful that with you in my husband's service now, our Underworld won't be so lonely, I've longed for another woman to talk to, but you must understand, that Hades is my husband, and I stand by that which I love, and I love him, despite his...moods," she tried to appease. "Please forgive me. I did not mean to offend you or make any aspirations against him. I'm sorry that I have hurt you by making such a comment against Zeus's son. I do not know how you know him, but I simply cannot let anything stand in my husband's way. Zeus cannot be allowed to remain on the throne of Olympus." The goddess crinkled her nose in disgust and pulled a face of revulsion as she spat Zeus's name with no small measure of dislike and contempt.

Meg stared, hardly able to believe her ears.

But Persephone continued, either oblivious to Meg's shock or completely ignoring it.

"It has been too long, and nothing has changed. If we could leave the Underworld, then perhaps things will be better for both of us." Hades' wife proceeded to hold Meg in a gaze so fierce and unyielding that for a moment, Meg was struck speechless.

"Why?" she finally asked when she could manage to draw in a breath. "Why do you want to leave? What could be worth risking going to war with all of Mount Olympus over?" she asked.

Persephone lifted her gaze to Meg's and looked at the young mortal woman who had sold her soul to her husband. Hades' wife could see that Megara was trying her best to hide the hurt that was wounding her soul even now and gently came to rest a pale and perfect pink hand on the small swell on her belly.

Meg's eyes opened wide in disbelief while Hades' wife stroked the bump with a tender hand and a shy smile tugged her lips upward.

"I-I'm very happy for you," Meg stammered, her tongue feeling thick in her mouth as beads of sweat began to glitter on her hairline. She pressed her lips and then parted them once more to speak. "He…truly loves you, then? Even…despite, what he is?" she questioned, curious, as she tilted her head to the side. Her thoughts of her new master planning to usurp the gods on Mount Olympus were temporarily forgotten as she basked in the secret knowledge that the lord of the underworld was to be a father.

Persephone grew quiet. The color drained from her face and yet she tried to laugh her sadness away.

"He does. When he is with me, he is pure. Kind. He is good to me, and he will make a good father. Better than Zeus," she sneered. "Hercules' father thinks only of himself. Zeus has killed men and gods alike much better than him in a thousand lifetimes," she proclaimed. "The Underworld is no place for our children to grow," she sighed sadly. "Too dark, too gloomy, and too many dead. That is no place to raise our family. I want our children to see the sun, to live the lives they are destined for, the children of gods. They don't belong down here in the Realm of the Dead. Surely, you see that?" she asked, her words matter of fact, as she lifted her gaze and locked eyes with Meg.

"I...I understand," Meg admitted, her expression pained as she looked at Persephone.

The of the Underworld nodded, grateful for Meg's toleration, and continued speaking. "But I did not come here to discuss matters of my heart, or my husband's. I came for you," Persephone told her, fixing Meg with a pointed stare the young woman did not know what to make of at first. "Come. We must return. He will be waiting to hear of Nessus," she told her. "He won't be happy, but let me speak to him. He is my husband and just as much my responsibility as it is yours to please him."

Meg stammered and began nervously wringing her fingers together. "I…forgive me, i-it wasn't my fault, it was that—that Wonder Boy, Hercules," she replied, feeling self-conscious. She cringed as the words left her mouth.

She realized she sounded as Hercules had not fifteen minutes ago, stammering and tripping over her words. She blushed and offered a smile, though it came out looking more like a pained grimace.

"I know," Persephone told Meg in a calm and level-headed voice. "As I said, let me deal with him. I know his moods and how best to handle him when he…loses his temper." She lowered her eyes, suddenly bashful. Meg nervously followed the Queen's gaze to the ground and looked up in time to see the goddess outstretch a slender pale pink hand to her. Meg blinked in surprise and looked up, alarmed at her kindness. Persephone smiled and let out a soft, nervous chuckle. "I know that look. Despite what you think of my husband, he is not a monster. And nor am I," she added, shrugging, almost as if she thought herself an afterthought.

Meg was quick to appreciate and admire this goddess's humble nature. She was almost touched.

Persephone's shy smile widened. Encouraged, she took Meg's nervous smile as a good sign and continued. "If I could offer you some advice, Megara, perhaps when we return home, it's best to just tell him outright. You will eventually have to tell my husband the truth and knowing Hades and how he tends to react, prolonging things won't help," Persephone advised.

Meg's eyes widened and then she nodded her agreement. She saw no other choice available to her but to take her hand. Hesitantly, she slipped her hand into his and closed her eyes.

Within seconds, she felt a breeze tousle her bangs off her forehead as the of the Underworld whisked her away from the woods, and reluctantly, away from Wonder Boy and spirited her away to her new prison. When she recovered some courage, she peeked open an eye and found herself in some underground stone chamber of sorts.

Her first thought of the Underworld Persephone had brought her to was that it looked a little grotesque, almost exactly like the stories her parents had told her of the realm of the dead when she was a little girl.

Meg waited until her eyes had adjusted to the darkness before turning towards Persephone, though not before she spotted her master. Hades was standing on the other side of the chamber, silent and stone-faced as an owl, waiting for her report.

Persephone turned to look critically at the young mortal woman her husband had taken into his servitude.

She was eager to give her advice while there was still time. Unless she was called to Hades' side to calm him down, she did not know when she would get another chance to speak with her, and Persephone already decided that she liked this mortal woman who had called upon her husband's help a few years ago. She sighed.

"Megara, please listen to me carefully—"

"Just Meg, please," Meg interrupted. She thought she saw a kernel of annoyance flick to life behind Persephone's blue eyes, but the emotion was gone as quickly as it had come. Hades' wife offered her a curt nod of acknowledgment and continued speaking to Meg softly, all the while casting a skittish glance toward her husband.

"I don't know how much Hades has told you yet, but I hope you will listen to me if no one else. Do not speak negatively of my husband or his methods. The same goes for the way he runs things down here. You must learn to control your temper around him and be careful. Do you hear me?" she demanded, almost sounding angry with her.

"How long will it take me until my debt is forgiven, are you allowed to tell me that?" Meg asked, her gaze somber.

Persephone stared at her rather nebulously before she turned away. "I-I cannot say, Meg," the goddess replied with difficulty, twisting her head slightly to shoot her a pained look that Meg believed was truly genuinely hurt. "It depends on how well you perform. Perhaps a lifetime, but if you're successful in raising my husband's armies, perhaps it will take less time."

Meg nodded in understanding. She thought she was beginning to realize why Hades' wife had been so adamant that she behaved the way that Hades expected her to while she worked for him.

It wasn't just about angering Hades. It was also about making sure that she did not have to stay down here forever.

Hearing Hades angrily call for Meg to come, Persephone turned somberly to look at Meg once more.

"You will do well, I'm sure. If it gets too bad, I will come." She hesitated and suddenly looked embarrassed, a darker pink blush settling over her pale pink cheeks as a thought came to her just then. "My love's voice, ah, carries, whenever he loses his temper. I'll know to come. Good luck. You should go to him, he doesn't like to be kept waiting very long," the goddess of spring muttered, to which Meg replied with a curt nod and a strained, tight smile.

Before heading towards where her master stood waiting for her, she turned to give Hades's wife one last look.

She did not know why this goddess had helped her, but all the same, she was grateful that she had.

"Thank you," Meg said, hoping her voice sounded genuine as she meant her words as she turned away.

Persephone smiled but then she huffed in defeat. "He's already cross with me for keeping him waiting so long. We should have been back at least five minutes ago," she bemoaned. "I'm so sorry to talk your ear off, Meg, but it feels nice to find someone who will listen, and I've longed for the company of another woman my age for Hades only knows how long," she told her, hesitantly.

Meg's eyes widened and then softened.

"Don't worry, the feeling is mutual. I'm just glad that I have someone to talk to."

Persephone smiled warmly. "Me too."

Meg turned away to take her to leave the Underworld's Queen.

With each step forward towards Hades and away from his wife, Meg noticed with surprise that she was starting to feel nervous, something she had not anticipated, and that her hands were becoming clammy and shaky.

---

HADES sensed the prickling on the skin on the back of his neck as he turned to look towards his servant, approaching him timidly, and he secretly marveled at how this mortal woman, a brazen and loud thing, could be so timid at the sight of him. He hoped that she had a good enough reason to return to his realm alongside his empty-handed, or else the girl would be blessed with his fury, and when that happened, there was no stopping it.

"Megara, my little flower, my little ray of sunshine in this otherwise dark and gloomy place," he greeted as she hurried towards him. "I am in the mood for a burning if you do not give me a valid reason why you show up here with nothing to show for your so-called 'efforts.' What in the gods happened up top? I thought you were going to persuade the River Guardian to join my time and you come back to me with your tail tucked between your legs and River-Guardian-less," he growled, feeling his lips curl upward in a snarl and he bared his teeth at her. "Tell me."

The girl flinched and looked away. It took her a moment to find her voice.

"It wasn't my fault. Your horse's ass of a River Guardian made me an offer I had to refuse, and someone else got involved," Megara growled in a voice dripping with contempt and hatred.

Hades watched as she strode towards a stone slab that served as a makeshift table of sorts.

She looked around and noticed the map of Greece on the stone table. He saw her pick up a stone-carved figurine of one of the beats he was close to coercing into his servitude, a lovely specimen of a Gorgon.

Medusa.

Intrigued, Megara picked it up and examined the figurine, almost smiling at the craftsmanship she saw, but didn't. Whether or not she was probably awed or disgusted, Hades could not manage to pretend to care about her feelings.

"Who? Who is it? Who stopped you?" Hades bellowed loudly, his voice ringing in the caverns as Meg's news that her attempt to coerce the River Guardian into joining him had been thwarted by a man. The news seemed to produce in the Lord of the Dead a horrific fiery rage, the likes of which Meg had never seen before. She watched, terrified, as the flames of his hair began to turn orange and his yellow eyes shifted and began to change shape and color now.

Meg winced. "Lord, I don't—"

"Give me his wretched name!" Hades roared and everyone in the vicinity—even Meg—jumped at it.

"Alright, alright, Hercules, it was this Wonder Boy who calls himself Hercules!" Meg stuttered, having to shout to make herself heard over the god's savage growls and snarls as she threw up her arms in the air out of exasperation and a slight fear for her life. "He came onto me with this innocent farm boy routine after he beat Nessus to a pulp and ruined my best shot at persuading him for you, but I could see right through that little act in a Peloponnesian minute," she huffed, folding her arms across her chest and peeking at Hades out of the corner of her lowered gaze.

Hades stormed away from Meg and towards two small, cowering demonic-looking creatures that Meg had not noticed. She stared, wide-eyed at the strange-looking impish cretins as the lord of the underworld unleashed his wrath upon them as they cowered behind a heavy boulder that was larger than them.

"One job, I gave you one job, you were supposed to have taken care of my bastard brother's little brat as a baby, and need I remind you, Pain, Panic, that my wife and I are about to rearrange the cosmos here, we cannot afford any oversights and the one person who can ruin my plans is waltzing around in the WOODS?" he roared. Hades gave the creatures no time to react as he lunged for them with surprising speed and started to wring their necks, cutting off their precious air supply as the creatures gasped and pleaded for breath, sounding nearly hysterical.

Meg stepped forward with anger in her eyes as the little creatures shot her terrified looks, silently pleading with her for help.

"Let them go, unhand them, this mistake was mine and mine alone! Punish me if you must, Hades, but let them go, your little imps here had nothing to do with Nessus!" Meg snapped, though her frightened eyes looked to her left as she thought she saw Persephone approaching with a speed that could summon a deadly hurricane, Meg thought.

"HADES!"

A pair of delicate footsteps reached his ears and Hades was slow to recognize the angry cut that came from his beloved spring flower, his lovely wife. He turned to find his goddess glowering at him. Gods help him, but even in her rage, she was beautiful, and for a moment, it pulled Hades off his fury.

Persephone was glaring at him with those wintry blue eyes of hers that rendered the Lord of the Dead temporarily spellbound by how icy they were, such a perfect and deep shade of pure blue.

"Do as Meg said, my love, and let them go. This is more than enough, you have done more than enough, Hades. Stop this, this isn't you, I will not let you destroy yourself anymore like this, there is another way to put Zeus's son out of your—our—path," Persephone quietly seethed as she came to a halt and moved to stand in between Hades and Meg, leaving Hades' pale blue face almost stripped of color. "Enough ruckus has occurred needlessly today." She quirked a thin brow at Hades folded her arms across her chest and jutted her hip out to the right.

A quirk of his beloved wife's whenever she was particularly angry or annoyed with him, which was thankfully rare.

Hades did not even feel it as he relinquished his vice grip around his minions' throats. Pain and Panic grunted and gasped as their lungs burned for air as the demon wretches scrambled to their feet and ran from their master.

Hades stared as his young wife stiffly instructed the creatures who had all but thrown themselves prostrate at her feet and were showering her with praise, grateful for Hades' wife's intervention on their unworthy behalves.

"Go. Leave."

Pain and Panic did not need to be told twice. Pain reached for Panic's hand and held it tightly as the two disappeared into thin air and vanished, as though the creatures had never been there in the first place at all.

After a moment, Hades finally recovered his voice.

"Pers, my love, this is an insult," he seethed. "You could see that I was disciplining those—those morons."

"No, Hades." He spoke in a tone that almost sent a chill prickling to life underneath his icy skin. "You were humiliating them, and you're scaring Meg."

Hades pursed his lips as a wave of unfamiliar shame washed over him like a tidal wave. He swallowed and did not remember how it was that Persephone moved to face him fully, coming to stand almost shoulder-to-shoulder with Meg. His wife's perfect face had gone stiff and all traces of warmth and softness were gone from her.

"There is always another way. Zeus's son could still be dealt with and out of our way and no one needs to get hurt, Hades, love," she scolded her husband as she narrowed her eyes in despair at the Lord of the Dead. "If you wish for me to remain here with you as your wife, then you will do this my way. If you want an immortal life with me, Hades, then find it." Persephone left her threat hanging in the air between them, and a heavy silence grew in the air and stretched past the point of comfort.

Hades' lungs threatened to turn to stone as shame rained down on him as he watched his wife begin to walk away, taking his black wretched heart and immortal soul with her as she did. He looked to the side to catch lovely Megara's quick aversion to meeting his gaze.

It was then that Hades' eyes wandered and lingered, stuck on the figurine of his map and paperweights that his lovely Nutmeg still clutched in her hand. A truly wonderful idea came to him the longer he looked upon the figure of beautiful but deadly Medusa in Megara's hand.

"Fortunately for you, Megara, my little dove, we still have time to correct my imps' rather egregious oversight, and this time, there will be no foul-ups, do you understand?" Hades sneered, noticing the way the girl swallowed at hearing her name on his lips.

He waited as she glanced down at the paperweight in her hand. He thought he saw the beginnings of understanding flicker through those eyes of hers, but prickly Meg was not allowing herself to believe it.

Meg looked up, and Hades noted how her expression was quite pained.

"What? Where are we going now?" she asked in a flat voice that was dull and lifeless, a resigned sort of numb acceptance that this was to be her fate.

"To see an…old friend, Meggie," Hades muttered wearily, "though a little bit of my 'deadly' magic is required for this little surprise visit." Without giving Meg any time to react or ask what he meant by that, he snapped his fingers.

Meg let out a little cry as her vision began to blur and turn slightly green.

"What did you do to—" she started to ask, but he cut her off.

"Don't ask questions, Megara, my sweet, they are not becoming. Where we're going, doll, trust me, you're going to need it. She tends to turn mortals into stone, albeit on accident, but she has something that could prove useful in dealing with this little pest problem that I have, and besides, she owes me a favor," he growled, a shadow of anger flitting across his angular features.

Meg did not understand what was going on and could only nod, barely able to force out her thanks for whatever power he had just bestowed upon her. Meg grimaced as Hades turned slowly towards her and once more offered her his outstretched hand for her to take.

There was a long moment of an awkward pause as Meg gingerly crept forward and dared to take his hand.

Finally, she summoned enough courage in her throat to ask a question of her new master. She was not sure she wanted to know the answer, but she knew that she had to get the question out.

"Will you at least tell me whom we're going to see?" she demanded angrily, finding it hard to maintain eye contact. Meg reached for Hades' outstretched hands with fingers she could no longer feel were attached to her hand given how cold it was in his Underworld.

As her slender fingers curled shakily around the god's hand, she heard her new master chortle before turning to look at her, while the dank air around them echoed just one word, but the one-word admission of whom they were paying an unexpected visit to sent a chill down Meg's spine just then.

"Medusa."

THE air of Thebes was almost bitter as the autumn leaves softly rode the breeze. The city rested peacefully through the early hours of the morning since Hercules, Phil, and Pegasus had arrived. Not a single voice or sound was heard aside from the swaying creaking of the trees that lined the city. The air carried with it the faint scent of rainfall.

The only soul awake at this early hour of the morning was the mighty Hercules himself. Even Phil and Pegasus were still sound asleep. The man had woken from a nightmare that he could not even begin to make sense of.

Meg's terrified face, twisted and contorted in pain, and looming over her with his icy-cold hand outstretched, a god, and a malicious-looking one judging by the state of his attire, clad in black and the shifty smile that tugged the edges of his mouth up in a smirk. Hercules simply could not get these horrific images out of his head, no matter how hard he tried. He wondered why Father and the other gods of Mount Olympus were forsaking him like this.

If this was another test. If it was, then it was their worst yet. In a stupor and not wanting to close his eyes and return to sleep, knowing what lay in wait for him the minute he did, he'd removed himself from their makeshift camp and had made it a habit to aimlessly wander the streets. The young man's expression was forlorn and almost miserable.

The silence around him was more than deafening. The calm wind that blew through the streets of Thebes ruffled his hair gently. Hercules' lips held a thin line that only seemed to deepen as the minutes passed.

Though he had met the young woman Meg for a few precious seconds at best, he was surprised at how she was already leaving quite the impression on him. In his mind, he had wanted more time to linger.

He wondered if the girl had made it home to her master, and he found himself praying to Father and beseeching any god who would listen to him that the man who owned her life would be merciful to her if he was angry.

He hoped he would see Meg again, very soon, somehow. The demigod stood in silence at the edge of the city for what felt like hours but the sun had not seemed to rise in the sky any further.

"If she'd stayed…" Hercules murmured, his voice trailing off as his brows furrowed into a frown.

A lump had formed in his throat as his breath caught in his throat. For some reason that he could not discern, it bothered him greatly that the beautiful Meg was a slave.

If she had stayed with him and Phil, he would have happily escorted her here to Thebes. She could have made a new life for herself, one not tied to a man who owned her and commanded her every move.

"No. She made her choice, and Meg chose to return. It was her call, not mine," Hercules growled the word through gritted teeth and shook his head almost violently as he dismissed the thought.

As the silence around him thickened, bitterness began to seep its way into the pit of the demigod's churning belly.

He mumbled a quick prayer to the gods under his breath that Meg would be safe, wherever she was, that the people of Thebes would need a hero, and that he would be accepted here.

That it would be enough to earn the gods' respect. He flicked his gaze down towards a pristine white flower that had floated on the autumn breeze and had landed at the sole of one of his sandals.

With a sigh, Hercules knelt to the small thing and gingerly picked it up with surprising tenderness, resting the little plant with its crumpled leaves in his calloused palm. He stared at the flower with thoughtful eyes, his thoughts once more drifting to Meg upon looking at the flower. Hercules closed his eyes and pressed the flower to his chest.

The memories of meeting her, and speaking with her for even just those few precious moments swirled around in his tired mind. Hercules was confused by this strange feeling that caused his chest to tighten and seep warmth throughout his body whenever he would think of the young slave whose life he'd saved. He was skeptical of it at first, but he quickly came to understand that it was a good feeling and something he wanted to experience again.

He was utterly lost but something good came out of it. He hoped that Meg if he ever saw her again, would consider him a friend to her. The memory of Meg's serene but haunted eyes drenched his memory.

There was a sadness lurking behind the young woman's lavender eyes, a sadness that he loathed to see. He wanted selfishly to be able to make the woman smile if it meant that she would smile at him, and because of him. He rose back to his tired feet, which were beginning to become sore from all the walking he had done, not wanting yet to return to the campsite. Hercules was not even aware that he still held the flower he'd found pressed close to his broad chest.

He glanced over the struggling city of Thebes for a moment, the beginnings of hope rearing its head in his chest that he could not ignore. He had a feeling that he would be seeing Meg again soon, and with that thought fueling him, for the first time since Meg had left, Hercules smiled as he walked back to their campsite.

---

MEG stared in horror and disbelief at the large boulder that was blocking the entrance to Medusa's Hydra's lair the young Gorgon had spoken of. She flicked her gaze towards her master to try to discern any identifiable emotion in her lord's yellow eyes. But there was nothing.

She felt her blood boil at the thought of Wonder Boy getting hurt by Medusa's...creature.

She did not even know what a Hydra looked like, but just the name sounded intimidating and imposing. It surely could mean nothing good. Though she had sworn off men since Prince Adonis had so cruelly abandoned her for another woman after she had given away her soul to save his life, there was something of Hercules that was almost contagious.

Meg could not take her gaze away from Hades' yellow eyes as the lord of the Underworld was surveying the sight that was sure to be Wonder Boy's downfall with an approving gaze. It wasn't even just their yellow color that was afflicting her so much.

However, it was what lay underneath them. The relative blankness of Hades' ice-cold stare that he seemed to have perfected throughout his immortal life seemed just a cover for the tumultuous sea of emotion Meg just knew had to lay underneath. But she was ripped from her thoughts of her master when she heard her name and Hades' name being called and scuttling footsteps approaching them from behind. Meg spun around and found Hades' minions, Pain and Panic she thought their names were if her memory served her correctly.

That was what Persephone had called them, running towards them with eager looks on their demonic faces.

"Hades! Hades! He's here! Hercules is here, in Thebes! We can finally make this right!" The skinny purple whelp yelled in a desperate wheeze.

Meg felt the hope that had been blooming in her chest that Hercules would not be here slipping away and wilting.

"What? Where?" Meg asked and the short, stout fat purple creature pointed a long claw to his left.

Meg followed where the creature was pointing and if she squinted to see, she thought she could make out Wonder Boy's familiar muscular silhouette, heading toward the edge of the city.

Pain and Panic and even Hades watched Meg intently and waited for the mortal girl's response.

Meg bit down on her lip and took a dark curl in her finger to twirl as she thought about her role in Hades' scheme to get Hercules out of his way and cringed. She tried to ignore the burn of the god's gaze burning a hole in the back of her skull and when the silence and intensity became too much to bear, she turned towards Hades.

She found the Lord of the Underworld watching her expectantly with a hardened expression. It was almost as if he had anticipated she would resist. She felt the blood drain from her face as she realized what he intended for her.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, forget it, Hades, I'm not going out there, I don't care what you do to me if I refuse," Meg spoke, trying to sound brave, but even she could hear that her voice lacked the conviction to sell the argument she wanted to make.

Pain and Panic darted behind Hades' billowing black robes and sniggered amongst themselves like the mischievous imps that they were as Hades slowly turned his gaze toward Meg and scowled.

"Meg, my darling, you say that as though you have a choice, my little nutmeg. Need I remind you, that you don't? Or have you already forgotten this situation that my wife and I find ourselves in concerns you too?" he questioned, quirking a brow at her.

Meg's expression was one of disbelief and she looked sick as she turned back to look toward Hercules.

Gods help her, but she was going to have to do this. She had no choice available to her. Exhaling a frustrated sigh through her nose, Meg stomped her foot in a moment of anger, a temporary release of frustration, and looked away. She let her thoughts drift to Persephone's words from when his wife had found her wandering the forest.

She wasn't sure if she could fully trust the goddess at her word when she said there was a way that Zeus could step down from his place as ruler of Mount Olympus without the need for violence and bloodshed, but being smack-dab in the middle of Hades' scheme made her uneasy.

But such logic was not going to get through the pigheaded and stubborn god's mind, Meg realized with a heavy heart. She knew if she had any hope of wriggling her way out of this precarious position, a switch in tactics was in order.

She prayed Hades would be sympathetic to her plight. Just once.

"You don't understand, he..we...I can't!" Meg awkwardly began, hating herself for what she was about to say. "Oh, please don't make me do this, you—you didn't see the way that he looked at me. I don't think I can do this and I don't want to be a part of your little harebrained scheme anymore to get back at your brother, just because you have a grudge!" Meg snapped angrily.

She had been about to follow up her argument with the fact that Wonder Boy's eyes had been draped all over her earlier, but Hades angrily cut her off before she could say another word. Which she thought was a damn shame.

She thought for certain Hades might have let her off the hook if she had been able to bring up Wonder Boy's attraction to her, given how doting he was to his wife. Surely, he of all people would understand that she could not do this.

But Hades did not seem convinced. If anything, the god was only incensed by her hesitation and second doubts.

"Megara, honey, then you should have thought of that before you sold your soul to me."

Meg inwardly groaned, growing increasingly frustrated by her role in this. She suspected that however long she was to work for Hades the lord of the dead would make it a point to bring this fact up whenever she did not want to fall in line with an order.

"You know why I did," she replied, indignant as he tilted his head to look at her, not liking the glint in his eyes.

"And your little boyfriend was dying, Meg, it was only a few flesh wounds. I did as you asked and saved his life, and what did your choice get you, hmm, my little nut, tell me," he continued, slinking towards her with a malevolent expression and a hardened gaze that spelled trouble.

But Meg purposefully ignored this in favor of continuing her argument.

"I made a mistake. One I won't make again," she growled through clenched teeth as she balled her hands into fists at her sides. She dug her nails into the skin of her palms.

It hurt, but the pain grounded her and reminded her of her new reality.

"How long are you going to hold it over my head, Lord?" she demanded.

"As long as I need to, Meg, my sweet," Hades purred by way of response as he came to stand in front of her. He reached out a hand and set an icy hand on her bare shoulder making Meg shiver and recoil away.

Something of the way the lord of the dead was staring at her the way he was right now made Meg feel vulnerable and exposed, two things she had sworn never to be again following her heartbreak from her life going so wrong right from the start.

She could already feel her eyes beginning to tear up. She could feel it, but Meg squeezed her eyes shut and refused to let them fall. She had only been working for Hades for a day or two at best now, but she suspected the lord of the dead manipulated those he dealt with all the time.

She needed to stand her ground. But even so, the reminders of Hades' so-called 'charity' began to chip away at Meg's resolve, causing her to have doubts.

"Who took you in, Meggie, and stopped you from making a grave mistake?" he questioned, his voice solemn as he looked her dead in the eye. "Who decided to look after you like a true friend would when you have no one?"

Meg hated herself as she answered in a small, meek voice that did not sound like hers. "You did."

Hades' smirk was enough to cause Meg's face to turn green.

She hated this yielding to him. Meg took a deep breath before pleading with Hades for more information.

"He won't be killed?" she questioned, worried, as she could not bring herself to look away from the god's listless eyes.

Hades, however, made it a point to deflect Meg's question and could not be bothered to give his servant a direct answer.

"No promises, babe, that's up to the Hydra. All you need to do is look pretty for him, bat those pretty lashes of yours at him, lure him here, and Medusa's little pet will take him out of the equation. I can't promise that he won't get hurt, Meg, my sweet, but I don't think the Hydra will kill him. He suffers a few bite wounds, maybe a missing limb or two, but as long as he's out of my way, if I can take Olympus from my bastard brother with no fuss, then no one needs to get hurt, as my wife so wishes it."

Meg furrowed her brows into a frown. She was quick to decide that she did not like the sudden edge to the Lord of the Underworld's voice. She sharply turned her head away, suddenly too timid to meet the god's gaze.

"Just be obedient, doll, and I promise, everything will go very smoothly for you. You might even be a free woman sooner than you expect."

Meg's eyes widened upon hearing the god's words. She started to look up, to back away, to flat out again refuse, only to feel the icy cold touch of Hades' hand winding around her throat just then and squeezing, hard. Not enough to cut off her precious air supply, but enough to enforce the intended message.

Behave, or else.

Meg decided she did not want to know what 'or else' meant.

Meg brought her hands up to try to pry his hand from around her neck, looking at the god without a hint of fear. She had been trained to mask panic with apathy the day her parents passed, and the way she did not give in to Hades' fear only seemed to spur his anger further. His blue fingers around her neck squeezed even harder.

Meg parted her lips to try to draw in a breath of air.

He wouldn't be serious, would he? He needs me, his wife has said so herself, Meg thought wildly to herself as she struggled.

"You will be obedient, won't you, my little nutmeg?" Hades' dark voice echoed in her ears.

Meg made no move to try to force his hand from around her neck and instead, she forced her body to relax and closed her eyes as if she welcomed Death himself like an old friend. Go ahead, do it, she tried to tell him in impossible telepathy.

The look she shot at him seemed to have penetrated his mind, at least, for his fingers loosened from her neck.

Meg staggered backward and turned her head to the side as she coughed, her lungs burning for the taste of fresh oxygen as she brought a hand to her throat, willing her heart to relax. Meg nodded, unable to speak at first for several minutes.

"Y-yes," she gasped out when she had finally managed to draw in a good breath of air strong enough to summon an answer in her throat. Hades' responding smirk nearly made Meg sick with dread until she tasted bile and she thought she'd be sick.

"Good, sweetheart. Very good." Hades glided backward slowly, almost seeming to float whenever he moved like this, as a strange serene calmness overtook the god's handsome and chiseled features.

Meg stayed rooted to her spot and as still and silent as an owl, even after he had relinquished his vice grip from her throat.

"I'm glad that you've come to see things my way, doll. Truly, I am. You do this for me, and if you succeed this time and Medusa's little Hydra has herself a bit of fun after a long sleep, I might shave a few years off your sentence," he proclaimed, almost sounding cheerful as he paraded his back to her. It was his way, Meg quickly realized, of terminating a conversation.

"If—If I do this for you, and if Medusa's pet...creature, puts Wonder Boy out of the equation and off your playing board, will you let me go, then?" Meg dared to have the audacity to ask, leaving her question hanging in the air between them before she quickly realized her question sounded ridiculous. "Will I be free?" she continued anyway when Hades did not answer her.

Hades did not turn to look back at her, but the god could sense the prickling of the mortal woman's skin and how the hairs on the back of her neck were standing upright on end as she waited in anticipation.

"I will take your request into consideration," he answered in a flat and listless voice. "Now go, Meggie, you're losing his trail."

Meg whirled around in alarm and saw with dismay that the Lord of the Underworld was right. Feeling her feet move as if by rote memory, Meg felt as though she had no control over her body as she twisted on her heels and began to lightly jog in the direction of the path that Wonder Boy was following. Only when she was certain that she had put enough distance between herself and her new master did she let out a shuddering breath she did not realize she had been holding. Fresh tears welled in her eyes and a wild frenzied emotion caused her chest to tighten and constrict at what unknown fate awaited the man who had saved her from Nessus. Up until this point, she had never truly been aware of the gods' natures and what they were capable of doing to mortals like her, even to their kind.

When she was a little girl and her parents had told her stories of the gods, Hades in particular as Meg had always taken a keen interest in the macabre and morbid, her parents had done what they could to protect her from the truth of the lord of the underworld. Now, she knew.

She thought the beginnings of understanding were beginning to take root in her mind. Hades was the devil himself, and he owned her very soul, she did not even know how to begin to get her soul back without someone, namely Wonder Boy, getting hurt. She had no other choice but to do whatever he commanded of her…or else…or else what?

Meg halted in her tracks and blinked owlishly at that thought. It took her a moment to calm her racing heart and when she did, without words or tears, Meg rushed to catch up to Hercules. Meg broke into a run, having to lift the skirts of her dress to avoid tripping over the hem as she struggled to catch up to Hercules through the beginnings of the morning crowd of Thebans as they emerged from their beds to signal the start of another day.

"Hercules!" she called, having to raise her voice over the chatter of the townsfolk to ensure she was heard. She did not even have to fake the warbling crack and dip in her voice that gave away the dismay she felt.

The dread in her tone was obvious as she rushed to catch Hercules before the demigod could disappear from her line of sight. Frantic, she jutted out her hand to tap the man on the shoulder.

Meg's expression was one of disbelief and dismay and she looked sick as Wonder Boy turned on his heels, stiffening under her touch and she found herself directly in the concerned and adoring gaze of Hercules himself. She shivered and ground her teeth as she could almost feel his eyes raking over her form.

Sure, Wonder Boy had been kind to her back in the forest and Meg knew that Hercules presented no threat.

Wonder Boy here would probably be more protective of her than anyone else she had in her life. But it was the fact that she suspected he was growing smitten with her, judging by the look on his face. At the very least, she had no interest in going through the prospect of opening up her heart again as she had with Adonis, only to have it and her soul be crushed when Hercules too would leave and prove himself just like every other man on this planet.

She cringed as she stood there still and lifeless as a statue. It took her a moment to find her voice as she was quite distracted by the way Wonder Boy was looking at her. Hercules was looking at her like she was a goddess herself and his only wish was that he be allowed to worship at her feet, which he did not know she would hate.

Hercules was looking as though his legs had turned to mush beneath him and his breaths seemed frozen in his lungs for it took Hercules a moment to find his voice. Hercules could only move when Phil annoyingly shoved him forward.

He felt the old Satyr's hands shove the back of his calves and he very nearly stumbled over himself.

"Aw, not this damsel again, kid, but best see what she wants, and while you're at it, Champ, close your mouth, you look like a fish," Phil whispered through gritted teeth. Hercules did so. He had thought he complied.

Finally, by a miracle of the gods themselves, Hercules managed to regain his voice again.

"M-Meg, I—I don't, i-it's good to see you again, I...I was hoping I would see you again, b-but what are you doing here?"

His voice held a slight stutter to it, likely from nervousness, and Meg simply stared in disbelief and dread at Wonder Boy. Meg was momentarily transfixed by his eyes. They were wary as they looked at her as Hercules waited for Meg to speak, and she could not stop staring into his eyes. They were so round and so blue and brimming with wonder.

She was surprised that the man seemed to exude an almost tender aura about him, which was odd for the son of a god and goddess. It was almost as if he had never been exposed to the evils and cruelty of the world, but he was about to if Hades had it his way. She hated that there was something within her that still harbored a twinge of caution towards Wonder Boy. She despised the feeling. Meg knew that it was her wariness talking from her memories of her time spent with Adonis, and how she thought she would marry the man one day, only for that dream to be shattered and never made a reality. She blinked and came back to herself as she heard Hercules call her name, sounding worried.

Her name sounded funny on his lips but not altogether unpleasant.

Meg grimaced as she shot a hand to her side and nearly doubled over in pain. Her cracked rib from where Nessus had handled her too roughly was going to take some time to heal, she realized.

But she straightened her gait before Hercules could dart forward to help her and spoke a little too quickly.

"My-my master and I, we live here in Thebes, b-but...there are two little boys, trapped under a—a boulder not far from here, I-I think their legs might be broken, please, Hercules, you-you have to help them, you're the only one strong enough to lift it!" she stammered, the lie leaving her lips easier than she thought, which surprised her, but she still hated herself for it.

She prayed that Wonder Boy would make it through this encounter with this Hydra, whatever a Hydra was. She wondered what on earth the lovely Medusa could have seen in such a creature as to keep it as a pet.

Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach as Hercules darted forward with a surprising speed that surprised her and even his trainer, she noticed out of the corner of her eye. Before she could protest or pull away, Hercules reached for her hand and squeezed the delicate appendage. His expression was serious.

"Take me to them, please," he pleaded, but Meg had not expected the sudden touch between them to occur and she quickly pulled her hand back into herself.

The flustered slave glanced from Hercules and then to the ground, parting her lips to speak. "Th-This way," she murmured and turned on her heels to avoid looking into his concerned blue eyes that threatened to trap her there as she quickly led the way to the cave, where Hades' little devils had shapeshifted and disguised themselves as the boys.

True to form, the little whelps of Pain and Panic were waiting for Hercules and the show they put on of being in pain was a convincing one. Their ear-piercing faux shrieks of pain split the air and it was all Meg could do not to cover her ears.

She watched in awe as Hercules darted forward and lifted the boulder off of them with ease, as though the hefty boulder weighed no more than say a quill would for writing.

Her mouth had fallen open longingly as she watched the way his thick strong arms worked as agilely as he could to toss the boulder to the side and free the 'boys', unknowing of the danger that he was in. She swallowed hard and shook her head to herself, trying to shake herself off her fantasy of Wonder Boy and the man's rippling pectorals.

She stood there, shaken, trying to force her lungs to calm. Hercules turned towards her, parting his lips as if he meant to speak to her, but before he could, a low hissing noise resonated from within the cave.

Stay in the cave, Hydra, whatever you are, please, please, please, stay in the cave, Meg prayed, feeling as though her prayers to whatever god above in Olympus might be listening to her were futile.

Don't come out here, please, she tried to will the creature to stay within the confines and safety of its cavern.

She cursed herself as a monstrous figure began to emerge from the mouth of the cave, and she stood motionless, too terrified to flee and too afraid to even breathe. Her eyes widened as she arched her neck.

She was not even aware of Hercules' trainer, Phil, she thought Shorty the Goat's name was, tugging on her hand and pulling her behind the same large boulder Hercules had just moved out of the way for cover.

Meg did not know what she had expected Medusa's precious pet Hydra to look like, but it certainly was not this.

What met her terrified eyes was a massive dragon-like creature with dark purple scaly skin. Its body was bulky and the tail a sharp whip of destruction as it stepped outside fully from the cave.

Her ears began to throb loudly with a horrible fatigued ringing sound, drowning out Hercules' shouts and the terrified screams of the crowd of Thebans from somewhere behind them in the distance.

The Hydra let out a shrill shriek that she swore made the ground beneath her feet rumble and crack in response, and she could only look on in horror as the monstrous Hydra descended upon Hercules, the massive serpent baring its fangs, unfazed by Hercules drawing his sword and trying to keep it now at bay.

Oh, gods….

Meg watched the Hydra descend on Wonder Boy swiftly, prepared to eat him and furious at being roused from its deep slumber.

….What have I done?

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut and her cracked rib suddenly hurt more than she could bear as a wave of crushing guilt washed over her like a tidal wave. She did not think she could bear to watch this, knowing she had just played a part in Wonder Boy's death, and after the man had been nothing but kind to her. Her brain began to turn foggy, her chest began to constrict, and her lungs started to burn.

The sound of the Hydra screeching and Wonder Boy's trainer shouting commands at the boy met her ears, but Meg could scarcely pay attention. She suddenly felt light-headed. Her ears buzzed and she saw spots. No one caught her as she fell, and the last thing she heard amongst the skirmish between Medusa's Hydra and Hercules was the sound of her skull smacking against the ground.

Then, she slipped into sleep.

HERCULES had never considered himself a man who was terrified easily. But if he had been terrified before, then he thought it was safe to say he was mostly panic-stricken now. This Hydra was unlike any beast or monster he had ever faced before.

No matter how many times he sliced this creature's head off, more kept growing. Hercules' attention was briefly pulled away by the sound of something hitting the ground behind him. He turned, a cry of surprise and shock leaving his lips as Meg stumbled backward, swaying dangerously on her feet. She had gone as pale as a ghost.

Her knees buckled and she collapsed into a heap by Phil's feet from where she and Phil had taken refuge from the monster behind the boulder he had tossed aside when he'd freed those poor boys from being trapped.

"Meg!" he shouted, rushing to her side, and calling her name as panic welled within his chest, causing it to feel very tight. He shook her gently, trying to rouse Meg to respond to him, yet his words or his gentle shaking of her shoulder showed no signs of reaching her. Hercules sank to his knees, his hands shaking."Oh, gods, n-no, oh please, no."

Why was she not moving? No, she couldn't be…could she?

He shook his head to himself violently. He exhaled a shaky breath and tried to stay calm.

He knew nothing of medicine or healing and the only thing he possessed in his person that might be of any help to Meg right now (and the rest of the Thebans, for that matter!) was the sword in his hand with which he fully intended to slay this creature.

Hercules frowned as he looked towards Phil, trying to shoot his trainer a pleading look with just his eyes, willing the cantankerous old Satyr to look after Meg, but Phil's face was terror-stricken and pale.

"Kid! Look out!" Phil screamed hoarsely.

Hercules looked up quickly, just in time to avoid being bitten by the Hydra, one of her many heads, of which there were at least thirty now. The beast made a horrible shrieking sound before lunging at him again. Hercules gripped the hilt of his sword even tighter in his hands and swung at the monstrous creature that looked as though it was spawned from the Underworld itself.

But the Hydra dodged the blow and then lunged toward the demigod again. This beast was huge and fast. It wasn't going to go down without a fight. If it was a fight it wanted, then Hercules was going to give it one.

As the Hydra lunged towards Hercules again, he rolled out of the way, grateful the beast couldn't quite land the blow it wanted. It was then that an idea came to him to focus on damaging the beast's legs. It couldn't lung at him if its legs were cut off. Hercules exhaled a sharp breath and swung his sword at one of the Hydra's front legs.

He nearly smiled to himself in a brief moment of smug triumph when he felt and saw the thickening thud of his sword connecting with the beast's legs as well as heard a pained ear-splitting shriek from the wicked creature that he would send back to the depths of the Underworld by himself. He withdrew his sword and plunged it over and over again into the beast's leg, managing to hack off the leg finally, ignoring the smattering of the beast's blood that now donned his face like it was war paint.

But even that did not stop the beast from leaping forward towards him without remorse, now enraged that it was missing one of its legs. The Hydra knocked Hercules to the ground with one swift swipe of its tail and drew back its many heads, the sickening shrieking sound filling the air around him and terrifying the Thebans.

He could hear the mingled screams of the people behind him. Hercules' eyes widened as the Hydra opened one of its mouths and prepared to lunge, fully ready to eat him as revenge for waking it from its sleep deep within the cave and now for hacking one of its legs off. Hercules froze. The terror in his heart was subsiding, and the burning feeling in his lungs calming down as well.

He supposed he should be panicked, for both Meg's safety and Phil's, to say nothing of the din of Thebans that were watching this fight. But not today.

Today, he felt a swell of courage and hope budding deep within his chest, but from where he did not know, nor did he care. Knowing that he had to protect the crowd and Meg seemed to bring out the courage in him, somehow. He thought that being courageous was so much easier when a friend's life depended on it. He liked to hope and pray that Meg could consider him a friend when all of this was over. Hercules calmly closed his eyes and ignored Phil shrieking at him to move out of the way as another idea came to him to attack the Hydra from within, and he made no move as he let the vicious beast swallow him whole.

Hercules let out a furious blood yell and again and again plunged his sword into the Beast's chest once the Hydra had swallowed him with such a raging passion that caused his pupils to shrink. Fragmented flashings of images flitted through his mind's eye and with it, his sword's hard ripping through the flesh and bone of the beast.

The village kids that used to gang up on him and bully him when he was younger for not being normal, his sweet and kind parents who had taken him in as a foundling child, Amphitryon, and Alcmene, who he hoped to see again.

Briefly, he had a strange thought if Meg would like his parents. Even now, death was beating into the Hydra's stomach as he slashed his way out of the beast, and it sounded like his sword was screaming her name. Meg…Meg…Meg…!

Hercules let out another fierce blood yell that was drowned out by the sound of the Hydra's final rattling death shriek as with one final push, he cleaved the beast's stomach in half and emerged from the belly of the beast relatively unscathed, save for a bruise.

His heart pounded and his breaths were rapid as he peeked over his shoulder behind him just in time to see the Hydra collapse into an ungainly heap on the ground, finally and truly dead. Hercules could barely believe what had just happened.

He had just killed this ten times bigger creature than he was, but even as the crowd of Thebans that had watched the fight screamed and roared their approval of him, his one-track mind was stuck on one thing and only thing.

Meg.

Hercules struggled to run to where Meg still lay unconscious and unmoving on the ground, Phil nearby and trying to do what he could to rouse her. His body seemed to move in slow motion and it felt as if it took a century to reach her side. His mind raced with dread as he fell to his knees and took the young woman in his arms. Meg's limp form leaned back against his strong arms.

"Meg?" he whispered hoarsely and gently shook her.

She did not wake. The situation did not look good at all.

He turned a worried gaze towards Phil, who seemed to get the hint and barked at the crowd of Thebans who were beginning to circle them to back off and give the lady some space, but everyone wanted an eyeful of the unlikely hero who'd saved them.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he thought he saw her eyelids twitch, and he let out a little breath he did not realize he had been holding when she let out a groan and shifted in his arms. Her eyes fluttered open and Hercules did not think he could bear to see the fear and bewilderment in Meg's lavender eyes as she stared up at him with wonder. He held her tightly in his arms, ignoring the crowd tittering in hushed murmurs around them, likely wondering what his interest was in a lowborn slave girl.

"Wonder Boy, is it—are you—is it dead?" Meg panted, looking around with wet, red, and wild eyes.

For a moment, she seemed to not see him as Hercules shrugged out of his cloak and pressed it onto her wrist to stop the slow but steady trickle of blood. She must have accidentally scraped her wrist against the ground when she'd collapsed, Hercules realized, and quickly nodded, hoping to alleviate Meg's fears and reassure her that she and the rest of her people were safe.

Hercules smiled and nodded, relieved that she was awake and talking to him and did not seem to be too hurt.

"It's dead, Meg. You're safe, the rest of Thebes is safe. I killed it. I-I wish you could have seen it, it was pretty heroic," he told her, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips as he felt Phil clamp him on the back, but he barely heard his trainer's words of praise as his attention was fixated solely on Meg. He grew startled by the shift as a pink blush graced Meg's face embarrassedly.

He blinked owlishly at her, wondering why she seemed so skittish all of a sudden. She began to squirm in his arms and reluctantly, Hercules helped her to sit up and let go of her, though almost immediately, he felt himself turning in a sour mood.

"You were…" Meg began

"I think you…" Hercules started at the same time, though they cut each other off and nervously laughed at the coincidence as Hercules took Meg's hand in his and helped her to stand upright. It was a moment before Meg spoke and when she did, Hercules noted that she had developed a habit of fiddling with the bangles on her wrist that gave away her status as a slave.

"You saved their lives, Wonder Boy," she gasped out, her voice barely more than a whisper. Panic took hold of her heart as it fluttered uncomfortably against her chest as she realized that Medusa's pet was dead.

The sensitive Gorgon would likely not take the news well, and nor would her master, but that was a problem for later.

In her mind, she wanted more time to linger with Hercules, but it seemed the Thebans had other ideas, at least until Shorty the Goat managed to bark at them.

"Alright, alright, people, break it off, there's nothin' to see here, give the kid and the lady some space, for Zeus's sake!" Phil barked irritably and stomped forward.

The Satyr began to shoo away the crowd of Thebans, who were muttering under their breath at being turned away but some of them called to Hercules over their shoulder and called him a hero and promised a feast in his honor for what the man had just done. Hercules waited until the crowd had dispersed and it was just the two of them, though Pegasus lingered behind him and occasionally gave out a frustrated snort that he was so close to Meg, Hercules ignored him.

"I had to do something, I couldn't just let that beast kill everyone," Hercules answered softly, remembering he owed Meg a reply.

Meg, in a bold move that surprised her, reached out and rested a shaking hand on top of his bicep. She did not seem disgusted by the fact that he was covered in blood and bits of the Hydra.

She looked deep into Hercules' deep blue eyes and breathed out in a low and hushed tone.

"You might be one of the most amazing people I think I've ever known, Wonder Boy, and that's saying something."

Hercules chuckled nervously, reddening. "I—I just did what needed to be done."

But Meg shook her head, the edges of her mouth pinching and turning down into a slight frown.

"Don't hold such a low opinion of yourself, Wonder Boy. You're too modest. You should give yourself a bit more credit. Not that I'm telling you what to do or anything. Here I am rambling again and babbling, I should go fetch you something to eat, you look like you're about to keel over. Are you hungry?" she asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

Hercules smiled warmly.

"A little, yes, th-thank you, Meg," he stammered.

Meg's eyes darted around nervously before she finally met his gaze.

"Don't mention it!" she chirped and made to turn away to see what she could do about fetching him something to eat.

After what he had just done, surely one of the Thebans wouldn't mind making up a plate of food for him. It was the least they could do for him. But before she could, Hercules called her. She was halfway across the threshold of the canyon and had to step back slightly to attend to Wonder Boy's words. She turned nervously and turned to look towards Hercules and almost let herself smile at the look of hope that was flaring to life as a light behind those pale blue eyes of his that threatened to hold her captive.

Meg looked at him, her face registering her surprise and bewilderment.

"What is it?" she asked, trying to keep the astonishment from her voice as she waited for him to speak.

Hercules squirmed, unsure whether or not to ask, but he knew that he wanted more time to linger around Meg, to get to know her better as a person. He awkwardly shifted his weight from one foot to the other and ran a hand through his auburn hair in nervous anticipation, forgetting that his palm was stained with the Hydra's blood. Meg winced and pretended not to see.

"I-I thought maybe, i-if your master would let you away for an hour or two, i-if you want to…eat with me? I, uh, don't like to eat alone," he asked, hopefully.

Her eyes widened in shock and her mind was reeling from the fact that she knew Hades would not be pleased with the Hydra's death. She had expected to have some time to herself to lose herself in the thoughts of Wonder Boy and her role in all this that were starting to overwhelm her. Meg answered Hercules a little too quickly with a guarded wary stare and quickly looked away.

"Oh, I…" she awkwardly began. "I um, I do have a great deal of work to do," she stammered, trying to refuse.

She cringed as Hercules tried to hide his obvious disappointment at Meg's rejection of his offer for dinner.

But earnestly, he tried again. "W-well…" he stammered. "You-you need to eat too, for….for your strength, Meg. Your master can't work you to death or else you'll pass out. Surely, he can let you take at least an hour to eat dinner?" he asked, raising a brow.

Meg felt her hardened resolve slowly chip away as she watched the hope shining in the man's blue eyes. "Well, Wonder Boy, when you put it like that, I…I suppose I could eat a small bite," she assented gratefully and rewarded him with a playful smile.

Without giving Hercules a chance to respond, Meg turned on her heels and darted away from Hercules, trying to ignore the burn of his gaze threatening to burn a hole in the back of her skull as she left him to stare longingly and hopefully after her.

Hercules stood there considering what little he knew of Meg and looked forward to getting to know her better over a meal. She was grateful at least this time she seemed genuinely happy to see him. He stood there covered in the Hydra's blood, lost in thought, and then realized with a panicked jolt that he could not eat alongside men doused in the blood of some monster.

Hercules turned to head in the opposite direction that Meg was heading in, to make towards the river to rinse the blood off and as he walked he could not stop thinking about her eyes, how sad and even fearful she looked whenever the mention of this nameless and faceless master was brought up in conversation. He was glad that Meg had shared with him earlier about how she had come into her master's servitude. Hercules hated that it was painful for her to talk about, but at least it was a connection.

Perhaps even something to build upon. He wondered as he walked towards the river what other experiences had shaped Meg. He wondered what part of Greece she came from, what her life had been like before she had lost her entire family.

Hercules paused when he came to the riverbank. His aching bones were still shaking from the battle that had transpired only moments ago, and yet, the moment had felt like it had lasted hours.

His cloak and armor clung to his bloodied body uncomfortably. His armor felt heavier than usual, his body felt strangely fatigued and weak. He was looking forward to having a chance to rest and share a meal with Meg.

He peeled off his armor and left his cloak by a boulder as he waded into the river, letting a relieved exhale pass his lips as already, he could feel the Hydra's blood being cleansed from him the deeper he waded into the river. His body tingled and his sore muscles clenched as his hair fell about his face.

His skin, the skin that he could now feel that was not drenched in the blood and guts of that vicious beast, was cold. He splashed water onto his face. He ducked underneath the murky water. He stayed there for a few minutes and held his breath, wetting his hair. He wished he had a bar of soap, but for now, just being free of the blood of the beast would do.

As he scrubbed himself furiously to rid himself of the blood and gore of the creature, his mind melted back to Meg. She looked so sad. He did not understand why that was. It shook at him, ate at him, and threatened to tear him apart.

Hercules was ripped from his thoughts when he heard Phil calling his name and Pegasus snorting in frustration and the Satyr's footsteps approaching the riverbank from behind him. He turned and found Phil standing at the edge of the river where Hercules had left his cloak and his armor, gasping for breath and wheezing, doubled over and clutching a stitch in his side.

"Here ya are, kid, I have been lookin' all over for you, the people of Thebes are throwin' a heck of a banquet in your honor, kid, 'an they're missin' the star of the show, so get your demigod butt out of the river and get dressed. We're expected there in five."

Hercules shot Phil an apologetic look and shook his head.

"That's, uh, nice of them to offer, Phil, but I'm eating with Meg," he pointed out, his tone serious.

Phil stood staring at his latest Champ in shock and disbelief, anger marring the Satyr's features. Surely, he had misheard Hercules just now. The annoyance and agitation must have been written all over his features, for as Hercules rose from the water and darted towards the river bend to hastily dress, using his cloak to dry himself, Hercules shot Phil a withering look.

"Do you have a problem with Meg, Phil?" Hercules asked his trainer point-blank, keeping his gaze fixed on Phil.

Once he was fully dressed and dry, he rose to his full height and towered over the Satyr, his stance a challenge.

Phil furrowed his brow as the silence between the Satyr and the demigod lingered past the point of comfort as he thought over what to say to the kid. How there was something of the girl that made him uneasy that he could not quite put a hoof on.

Phil looked up towards Hercules at the slight anger brimming to life in the kid's blue eyes. He almost wanted to contain his honesty, but something about lying to the kid felt wrong, even now, when both of them had only just met the girl.

"Yes, I don't trust her, kid, she's hidin' somethin' and she's hiding from somethin', if you get my meaning, Herc. If you're smart, and I know you are, you'll stay away from that broad, you hear me? She's proven to be nothin' but trouble for you," he snorted, scuffing a hoof in agitation, and folding his arms across his chest, unfazed by the height difference between the two of them.

He might be retired and out of his prime, but he could still go with the Champ like the best of them and give him a good ramming where it would hurt Hercules the most. Phil only hoped that the kid would listen to reason and at least hear him out.

Phil winced as the blood drained from Hercules' face. The kid turned away for a moment to wipe at his face with the heel of his hand and run a hand through his auburn hair in anguish before turning back towards Phil.

When Hercules did, Phil was surprised to see a look of genuine anger on the kid's face as he glared at him.

"Meg's not any trouble, Phil, what's gotten into you lately? Anytime Meg's brought up, you suddenly get defensive. I'm just having dinner with her, nothing more and nothing less than that. She won't be a distraction to my training if that's what you're worried about," Hercules accused, sounding angry with Phil as he clenched his hands into fists at his sides as he fell silent.

Phil scowled inwardly, his temper surging. He did not know why Zeus's boy had to make things so difficult for him and now this girl that he seemed so smitten with was proving to be an even bigger problem than the Hydra he'd just slayed.

"Kid, listen to me, please," Phil went on with gritted teeth. The shift in the Satyr's voice stuffed the chills down his throat. "Every hero I've fought an' trained has had a weakness. Achilles, it was his damn heel of all things that proved to be his downfall, and that kid, I don't want her to be yours," Phil warned, an edge to his gruff voice that had not been there before. "You're the son of Zeus, Hercules, you have a higher purpose than need or want, or even love, and your future doesn't involve that girl, that's all I'm sayin'."

"You will say nothing more, Phil," Hercules warned with a shake of his head as he sent his trainer's words well away. Hercules' expression was impassive and yet, Phil thought he saw the kid's blue eyes glaze over and become distant as if lost in some thought that was troubling him."You've made your point clear, but I'm having dinner with Meg. I will eat with the Thebans tomorrow morning,"

Phil stood there, rooted to the spot, and only able to watch in stunned silence, as Hercules turned on his heel and disappeared back down the path he'd come.

Back towards Meg.

---

MEG cautiously slipped inside what looked to be an abandoned temple, unable to ignore the prickling on the back of her neck or the cold temperatures in the air. She cringed as the sound of Hades' shouts rocked the air and quickened her pace to follow the sound from behind a closed door that was just to her right.

She had spotted a passing Theban on her way back to Hades and had asked if one of them would mind preparing two plates of dinner, which in their elation that Thebes had just been saved, the architect had agreed. But she still needed to check in with Hades. She was beginning to regret her decision as she heard the god shouting.

Meg felt her blood boil as she did not even bother to knock and came inside to find Hades scraping his nails alongside a wooden pillar, his hair flickering from blue to orange, and her mouth went dry at the odd sight. Hades looked to be fuming as Meg entered the darkened chamber and nervously approached the deity. His shoulders heaved with fury and he was panting heavily.

"I don't know what you were hoping Medusa's pet would do, but it didn't work out the way you wanted," she stated plainly. "Wonder Boy's going to keep on hitting every curve you throw at him, Lord, you know that," Meg spat, not bothering to keep the note of venom out of her voice as she looked upon the Lord of the Dead.

Hades was only just now coming down off a violent cast a nervous gaze towards the walls and was grateful she had missed his temper imploding if judging by the blackened scorch marks on the wall was any indicator.

"Not another word, Megara," Hades warned, burying his burning yellow eyes into Megara's very sucked in a breath and clamped her lips shut out of fear, and took a moment to study the Lord of the Dead.

She gingerly approached her master, causing Hades to turn his attention toward her. She swallowed down hard past a lump in her throat as she realized he was ogling her, his yellow eyes lingering over her breast.

Meg caught on crossed her arms and glared.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but no. I've done my part, I've done as you asked me to, and whatever comes next with Wonder Boy, get your little imps to do it," she snapped. Meg clenched her teeth behind straight lips as she turned away, unready to hear his next words. Unfortunately, Hades seemed to be in a mood to convince Meg otherwise of yet another plan.

"I am doing as Persephone has asked and am attempting to do this 'her way,'" Hades growled, hissing his words through gritted teeth, his shrill voice stuffing the chills down Meg's throat as he spoke. "My wife is too gentle and kind for her good. She would see my brother usurped from the throne on Olympus without a drop of blood spilled. Unfortunately for my love, I am beginning to think that doing this her way is not going to be possible, nor should I entertain the notion knowing the way my bastard brother tends to behave," Hades angrily reddened at hearing his words and stared, her lips parting slightly in shock.

"And…what would your wife think, if you were to go against her wishes? What then?" Meg asked, unsure where she had acquired the gall or perhaps the stupidity to speak so boldly to Hades, but the question was out before she could stop.

Meg cringed and waited for Hades to lose his cool yet again and raise a hand against her, striking her even for asking such a 'ridiculous' question, but that moment for Megara never came. She looked at him defiantly, waiting for the lord to answer her.

A shadow of anger flitted across Hades' sharp, angular features.

She half expected that he would bear his fangs at her and dig them into the skin of her neck with how he was looking at her now with such venom in those haunting yellow eyes as he spoke, his voice was dangerously soft, shaking in rage.

"You will leave my wife out of this, my little Nutmeg if you value keeping your pretty little head attached to those shoulders of yours. I am willing to give Persephone's way one more chance but if this fails, then I will have no choice but to ignite a full-scale war and unleash the Titans on my two bastard brothers."

Meg stared at Hades incredulously, hardly daring to believe what she was hearing. She raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"And…just how do you think you're going to do that?" she huffed indignantly, suddenly sure she did not want to know She was quick to decide she did not like the glint in Hades' eyes as he glided towards her, silent and swift like the phantom she knew him to be. She swallowed down past a lump in her throat as he came to rest an icy cold hand on her shoulder.

"You, Meg, my sweet, how else? I had thought Medusa's little Hydra out there would take care of our problematic little pest, but now I can see that I haven't been throwing the 'right' curves at him, as you so deftly put it a moment ago. I think our Wonder Boy outside needs a woman's touch, don't you agree?" he purred, instantly spurring revulsion in the pit of her stomach.

Meg wrenched away and turned on her heel to glare at him.

"Don't even go there, Hades. I might be your slave and yes, you might own my soul, but you of all the gods should know I've sworn off manhandling. I'm not going to do anything that causes Hercules or anybody else to get hurt!" she cried, her cheeks flushing red as her anger swelled. She knew the moment she let her temper take over that she had said the wrong thing.

Faster than she thought was possible, Hades lunged towards her grabbed her wrist in a vice grip, and squeezed, hard enough that she could already feel a bruise starting to form. Meg was unable to stop the cry of pain that left her lips as she felt her skin beginning to burn as she watched in horror, his coarse hair turning a vibrant bright red. She knew then that his temper was dangerously close to another outburst.

"Did you forget, doll, that I own you? You will do as I ask if you value your freedom, and if you want your precious former lover to stay alive, then you're going to go back out there, while and beguile him, and keep him out of my way, I don't care how you do it but you will do this for me, or else I'm going to destroy your face and make you one ugly girl that not even a blind man would want, darling," he growled, his voice trembling. Meg squirmed and tried to wriggle out of his grip, but he was too strong.

"Hades, stop, please, you're—you're hurting me!" she cried, tears coming to her eyes as she could feel a blister beginning to form on her wrist as Hades burned her, whether, on purpose or an accident in his anger, it didn't let go abruptly and Meg staggered backward, tears trailing down her cheeks as she cradled her burned hand in her other good hand and held it close to her chest.

She stared deep into Hades' eyes and felt a tug of fear at hearing his next words.

"Keep him out of my way, Meg, my sweet, and your Wonder Boy will live, you have my word. This feud between my brother and I need not get any more complicated," he growled, turning his back towards her and striding out of the temple and onto his next matter of business.

Meg remained frozen and rooted to her spot as Hades was going to leave the abandoned temple and find that architect who had promised to have a meal ready for Hercules, but she was in too much pain, physically and mentally, to do anything but stand there.

All she could do was stare down at the angry blistering burn mark that was shining on the skin of her palm. As she did so, her stomach tightened into knots and Meg felt like she was going to be sick as bile rose in her throat. Her lavender eyes were focused on the wound Hades had just given her, the burn mark a reminder of who was in charge in this little situation before she turned silently and walked out of the temple.

Her breathing was heavy and her chest was becoming she stepped outside the temple and into the brisk autumnal air of Thebes, she saw spots in her vision and her body swayed dangerously, and her head grew fuzzy.

Meg clung to a lichen and ivy-covered pillar for support until the waves of nausea and dizziness had passed. Tears came to her eyes as she tried to force her breathing to return to something that resembled normalcy.

She let out a little breath and hesitantly moved away from the pillar and aimlessly wandered off in search of that kind Theban man who hopefully by now had their food. She saw no other choice but to do as Hades commanded. For the deity was the devil himself and he owned her soul.

Meg had no idea how she was going to make it through this with her sanity intact.

MEG'S heart was in her throat and she tried to ignore the pounding of the rush of blood in her ears as she lingered near where she had left Hercules last. Though there was a small part of her that was looking forward to seeing him again, despite her trepidation towards what Hades was demanding of her, there was another part that hoped Wonder Boy did not show.

She did not want him to get hurt by whatever Hades was planning.

Though her Lord had sworn that everything would be fine as long as Hercules remained out of his path, she could not help but feel uneasy at her part in his scheme to be allowed to leave the Underworld and live on Mount Olympus with the other gods and usurp Zeus.

Meg carried the bowls of their food as carefully as she could and nearly groaned in dread when she spotted the sight of Wonder Boy himself standing with his winged beast of a horse that for some reason or other, did not seem to take kindly to her.

But it cared for Hercules, Meg could see that much. She could tell by the way the demigod touched the jaw of the cantankerous animal and how the horse seemed to respond to his soothing words and enticement of what looked like an apple.

Probably for good behavior so it doesn't bite me, Meg thought bitterly to herself.

"Careful," Meg called out, hoping her voice sounded jovial enough and Hercules turned at the sound of her voice and let his hands go from around the beast's neck. She flinched as she almost saw the sky in his eyes.

Despite her promise to herself that she would never love another man as she had loved Adonis again, Meg was still quick to admire and hated herself for it.

Meg slowly approached with the bowls of a hearty-looking stew the Theban farmer had given her after spotting her coming out of the temple.

"He looks pretty cranky, has your horse been fed at all since you and Shorty touched down in Thebes?" Meg snorted as she moved to stand beside Wonder Boy, shifting the bowls of stew to balance on one arm while stretching a hand towards the ornery horse.

The winged Pegasus flicked its ears back and snapped at her, retreating a few paces.

"Meg, I-I'm glad that you came, I-I was just, uh, calming Pegasus down, trying to get him to settle. He…doesn't take kindly to strangers," Hercules stammered, his voice holding a slight stutter to it, likely from nerves, as he gingerly rubbed the back of his neck as a faint pink blush speckled along his cheeks.

He flicked his gaze towards the bowls of soup she held balanced on her arm and moved to take them from her. He motioned towards a stone bench nearby and thought that more appropriate than sitting on the ground.

"Uh, would you like to sit down?" he asked, his words clumsy and blunt.

Meg had to stifle a small smile as she nodded without speaking and noticed Wonder Boy nearly dropped their dinner due to his nerves as he turned to head toward the bench. Thank Zeus he never spilled a drop, though.

She would give him credit where it was due, he could be charming, albeit in a clumsy sort of manner.

"He's yours then?" Meg asked, flicking her gaze towards the beauty of a white-winged horse and despite its magnificence, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes to it. The beast, in turn, did the same and stamped a hoof on the ground in agitation and shot her what she presumed was a withering look of mistrust.

Hercules paused, partly glad Meg was speaking more than just a few words to him and seemed to be warming up to him and partly because he was warmed by her voice. He was reminded of butter melting on warm baked bread.

But it took him a moment to realize she was speaking about Pegasus. "He, is, well, sort of. Pegasus was my father's," he answered after a pause, unsure how much he could tell Meg of his status as the son of Zeus, and motioned with a click of his tongue and a tug on the bridles to pull an unwilling Pegasus forward closer towards her. Though Pegasus wasn't having it and fought Hercules nearly every step of the way until Hercules relented out of frustration and let him go. Pegasus thankfully never wandered too far though Hercules had quickly learned the horse was the mischievous type not long after Zeus had sent Pegasus with him.

He was beginning to lose count of the numerous occasions whenever they would stop by in a city, and even today, a fruit cart owner marched over angrily towards him and Phil, for Pegasus had stolen three apples from the unhappy man's cart and it had taken Phil smooth-talking the man to calm him down.

Once the street stall vendor realized he was talking to the hero who had saved the city of Thebes from that vicious Hydra, his attitude significantly improved. Pegasus began to trot off, but Hercules would not let him go just yet.

"Don't stray too far, and no stealing, Peg!" the demigod warned. Despite his efforts to sound serious, a hint of amusement could be heard dancing in his voice.

Pegasus snorted by way of response as he walked off without looking back. Hercules smiled to himself, amazed at how expressive the horse could be sometimes. When Pegasus had gone off to Zeus only knew where, Hercules returned his attention towards Meg, grateful that they were alone. He wanted to get to know her better, as a person, without anyone else or anything around.

Meg took a tentative bite of the meager stew that had been prepared for her and it was a few moments of silence while they ate.

When they had finished, Meg smiled softly and managed to force her voice up from her throat.

"You saved Thebes today, Wonder Boy. You made them feel like you're someone they can finally count on. A hero to be proud of," she tried to praise him.

"I hope so." Hercules' face was uncharacteristically worried. "To prove my worth as a hero is the only way I can be with my real family." He hesitated, unsure whether or not to tell Meg the truth. He wanted to lie and would have kept it from her, but something within him felt wrong. He swallowed down hard past a lump in his throat and with the air of forcing himself to admit something unpleasant, he spoke the truth. "I uh, there's something about me that I think you should know, Meg. There's a reason why I'm...different, why I'm stronger than most men in Greece," he stammered, blushing slightly. "The truth is... I'm…a demigod."

"I know. You're Zeus's son," Meg answered smoothly without thinking. Hercules' eyebrows rose in surprise and a slight kernel of suspicion flicked to life behind those sparkling blue eyes of his. Only when it was already too late to take back her words did Meg realize she had accidentally let it slip she knew.

"Y-you know?" he stammered, his mouth going slightly slack in surprise. "How? I'm not exactly telling everyone…" He trailed off, confused.

Meg let out a small nervous laugh and nearly retched the soup she'd just eaten as bile rose in her throat that she was left with no choice but to swallow.

She could not bring herself to look into Hercules' questioning blue eyes as she wildly looked away from him and wracked her brain for a quick response.

"Your goat, Phil," she blurted out, again without thinking. "Ah, I heard him boasting about 'Zeus's boy' earlier, just after you killed that—that thing." She shuddered and scrunched her nose in disgust as images of the vicious Hydra flitted through her mind as well and the lingering shrieks of the beast as Hercules had killed it continued to ring in her ears.

Her nervous smile promptly disappeared when she caught sight of a familiar pale green figure peeking through the posts of the marble columns of the temple behind where she and Hercules sat and above them.

Every muscle and fiber in her body became tense as she recognized the lovely young Gorgon spying on them. She stiffened and wondered if Hades had put Medusa up to this. The moment she locked eyes with the Gorgon, Medusa cringed and left as if Meg had just thrown a dagger or an arrow at her.

Hercules, sensing Meg's attention was temporarily drawn to something that was behind them, turned around to see what had her so captivated, but only saw an abandoned temple. Turning his attention back towards Meg, he awkwardly cleared his throat and was relieved when the young woman turned back around to look at him.

Perhaps it was selfish of him, but now that Hercules had Megara alone with no one else around, he wanted her and her attention to himself, at least for the moment. He coughed once to clear his throat ran a hand through his wavy auburn hair nervously and thought of a question to ask her.

"H-Have you always lived in Thebes? Do you have any family here?" he asked, frowning slightly at the way Meg blinked upon hearing his question, raising her eyebrows. Hercules did not know why he was so nervous about what Meg's response might be, but he had already asked the question and he wanted Megara's honest answer.

"I have," Meg answered apprehensively, wondering why he was asking and asking Wonder Boy as much. "Why do you ask this?"

Hercules paused, taken aback. "I want to get to know you better, Meg," he answered, looking at her confused as though he'd thought it had been obvious.

Meg blushed at the intense scrutiny of his gaze and looked away.

"Careful, Wonder Boy," she warned him in a husky voice. "You may not like what you find out."

He blushed.

"I think I'll be the judge of that, Meg, thank you," he smiled bashfully. "So, do you? H-have any family here, I mean?" He watched closely for Meg's reaction.

"No. I live here with my master. I have no family left. No parents. I was an only child, I never had any siblings. If I have any aunts or uncles, I don't know them, my parents never spoke of their families or their past."

Hercules smiled. "I-I see." He was not quite sure why he felt so relieved at the knowledge that Meg was alone in Thebes.

He could not understand why it was that he felt a twinge of jealousy at the fact that there was possibly another man in her life who held her heart. He wondered if it was the thought of someone other than him having such an intimate connection with Meg.

He'd never put much stock into women or the possibility of taking one for a wife someday.

But tonight, however, sitting so close on the stone bench as he was to Megara right now, staring into her lavender eyes that threatened to hold him captive and talking with her, he thought…perhaps…with her, married life here on Earth might be wonderful. His cheeks burned and he could not let himself finish the thought, lest he give too much of himself away too soon.

"And is there…someone special in your life? A—a man?" he asked innocently, unaware of how much his question wounded Meg just then and cut her deeper than any sword or arrow straight to the chest ever could. His question seared her heart and made her fingertips go numb.

Only when Meg slowly lifted her gaze to look at him and Hercules could see the lady had gone as pale as a ghost did he realize that he had just said something wrong. Meg grew sullen and quiet as the color drained from her face, and yet she made an odd noise of dissent through her nose. She tried to laugh her pain away as she looked away.

Hercules stammered. "Forgive me, Meg, I—I didn't mean to pry," he apologized, stumbling over his words.

Meg blushed and granted Hercules a sad but forgiving smile, but her face flushed with anger as visions of Prince Adonis's chiseled and handsome face flitted through her mind's eye just then. She feared this ghost of a man was a memory she would never be able to be rid of. Meg lowered her eyes, suddenly shamefaced and bashful.

Hercules followed Meg's gaze to the ground. He thought she was going to clam up and refuse to speak, but she surprised him when she spoke, though her voice was hushed and barely above a whisper.

Had he not already been intently listening for her answer, he'd have missed it.

"I thought I was in love once, but…it didn't work out." Ashamed, she let her hands fall to her lap and she nervously began to fidget with the gold bangles on her slim wrists.

Hercules nodded, trying his best not to look at her out of fear of causing Meg even more embarrassment.

"What happened?" he asked dryly, suddenly not sure he wanted to know and he was unsure why he found himself getting jealous over some nameless and faceless stranger having Meg's heart.

Meg acknowledged his question with a slight nod of her head, causing Hercules to flinch. He could feel the young brunette's pain even in that gesture.

"He…left me for someone prettier than me. Someone younger. He broke my heart into a thousand pieces the day he left and threw it back in my face," Meg answered and let out a bitter chuckle just then. Meg's eyes widened as she realized she had just spoken of Adonis to another living soul.

She did not know why she suddenly felt the need to be open and honest with Wonder Boy, even if she would come to regret it later. But now, she felt that it was only right, somehow, to bring up her past.

She wanted Hercules to know that she was over that smug arrogant bastard who had nearly destroyed her faith in all men. She was over Prince Adonis, though she still carried the scars of resentment he'd left behind when he left her for her.

"Adonis, he…I thought that he might…" Meg tried to explain, but her tongue suddenly felt like heavy clay in her mouth and her heart hurt just saying his name. She could not even find the words. "I was a fool, to have loved him, to openly trust him."

Meg lowered her gaze to her lap and shook her head, grinding her teeth in annoyance as she wished the images of Adonis's face would leave her imagination. Hercules remained silent for a moment as he contemplated what Meg had just told him. He pictured the beautiful treasure that was Meg's heart and love. How could anyone possibly refuse her love and hurt her so badly?

For the first time in perhaps his life, Hercules felt his blood boil in anger and he wished he knew what this Adonis looked like.

He wanted nothing more than to beat the man within an inch of his life for hurting her. He did not like seeing Meg so sad.

It ate at him, tore him apart. He wanted to see her smiling at him. His muscles were starting to ache with his almost feverish desire, this burning rage now flooding through his veins, to cut Prince Adonis in half.

Hercules had not even realized that his fingers had curled into shaking fists as he stared down at his sandals.

Meg, however, did notice. He exhaled a shaky breath and it took him a great deal of effort on his part, but Hercules was eventually able to let himself relax and his fists unfurled slowly.

He kept his focus fixed on finding Meg's stricken face. Gently, without thinking or even caring how it seemed, Hercules reached up to caress Meg's cheek and wipe away the single tear that was trailing down her cheek, escaping from the edge of her eye. It broke his heart. Hercules looked at him with so much affection brimming behind those baby blue eyes of his, that it stole Meg's breath from her lungs. She could not even breathe, much less move at all.

"No, Meg, don't talk about yourself like that, you're not a fool, far from it," Hercules muttered gently as he brought his eyes to hers. "This…Adonis, he was the fool, not you, Meg, never you," he proclaimed, his decision and opinion of Meg's former lover already formed in his mind. "Nothing could make a man a bigger idiot than to walk away from holding you in his arms."

His blue eyes seemed to burn a hole right through Meg and almost extended their reach to her very soul. Hercules was stricken with the sudden desire to kiss her. Right here, right now, at this moment, he wanted it.

But all he could do was stare as his courage failed him, in the end, and he could not manage to kiss the girl.

Meg swore she felt her heart stop beating as she was overcome with a wave of guilt as the emotion crashed down on her with such pummeling force like a tidal wave. Hercules had listened to her tale of unrequited love and had not laughed at her. He seemed to only want to ease her pain and encourage her, to make sure she was fine.

Wonder Boy's compassion and empathy gave Meg reason to hope that perhaps not all men ought to be written off entirely. Maybe, in a good man like Hercules, there was still hope.

Hercules, for his part, knew if they sat here on this bench a moment longer, he would lose whatever small shred of self-control he still possessed and kiss her.

He wanted nothing more than to feel her lips move against his in a kiss, to feel for himself if they were as soft and ripe as they looked. Hercules was sure he could make Meg love him if she would just give him a small chance.

He watched Meg in silence, watching him, and he thought there was a spark flicking to life behind those haunting lavender eyes of hers as he held her in his gaze. Hercules prayed to Father and any other God in Olympus who might be hearing his plea that it was not his mind playing tricks on him. That it was not simply what he wanted to see.

Hercules sighed heavily and reluctantly pulled away, not wanting to take advantage of Meg in her current vulnerable state, and hastily rose to his feet, almost stumbling.

"Y-you look tired, Meg. It's been a long day, and I'd hate for you to get in trouble with your master if he realizes how long you've been gone," he awkwardly stammered. It was a shockingly casual statement, coming from him, considering the previous nature of their conversation had been intense.

Meg let out a little breath she did not realize she had been holding and jumped up from the bench and brushed the skirts of her dress a bit, relieved to be saved from herself.

"Y-yes, I-I h-have to go," she stammered. "You should try to rest too, Wonder Boy, it's not every day Thebes gets a new hero. I'm sure they'll be calling on you for every little thing in the next day or so," she told him, slightly teasing, enjoying watching him squirm. A cool breeze flowed through the air, yet neither made the move to back away first. It felt cool and refreshing.

Hercules took in a hitched breath as he stared enamored back at Meg. It was odd for him to make a connection with another person, let alone a woman this fast, but he was grateful that he had. He hoped to see Meg again very soon, perhaps even tomorrow if he could get Phil to go easy on him and let him out of training early.

"W-well, u-uh…thank you, Meg, for…for eating with me." Hercules felt as though his head was starting to spin from all the blood that was rushing to his cheeks the longer he looked at her. He needed a moment. "I uh, should be going now." Hercules took a step back but was almost tripped by the hem of his long blue cloak. "Oh, uh, I will, uh, see you tomorrow evening, maybe if you can sneak away for an hour if your master lets you, or if Phil lets me off training early, or um…g-goodnight, Meg!" Hercules stammered.

Meg held back a faint chuckle as she watched the strange but endearing demigod trip over not just his words, but himself as well. Meg quickly pressed a hand over her mouth as the beginnings of an affectionate smile snuck its way onto her face.

Hercules groaned to himself, embarrassed at the spectacle he was making of himself in front of such a beautiful woman and he hastily flipped the hood of his cloak over his head as he began to make his way back toward where he and Phil had set up their camp. But Meg could have sworn Hercules looked back.

Meg watched Hercules go until his silhouette completely vanished from her line of sight. The wind began to pick up without warning, causing a few of her curls to fly into her face. She huffed in frustration as she tried to tuck a few stray strands that had come loose from her ponytail throughout the day back behind her ear.

As Meg was placing the last pieces of her hair back into place, her eye caught the site of a temple off in the distance, different than the one she'd met Hades in. Her hand stayed by her ear as she stared at the proud structure.

It was said that if you called upon the gods for their help within a temple, they would show themselves. Only one god in particular flitted through her mind's eye at that moment. Only one god from Olympus she wanted to talk to.

Zeus.

She wondered if Wonder Boy's father would show if the god would listen to her at all about Hades. A pang of worry wormed through her at the thought of what Hades would do to her if the god were to learn she'd spoken with Zeus.

"I—I couldn't. It's too risky." Meg quickly clamped a hand over her mouth as she tried to silence her thoughts. "I could talk to him though, but what would I say to him? And would he even believe me if I talked to him?"

She started to restlessly pace a small line back and forth, a nervous habit of hers whenever she was thinking about something.

Meg let out a frustrated sigh as she stopped, shifting her weight to rest entirely on her left leg. She huffed and crossed her arms below her wildly pounding heart. Oh, gods, she could not even believe she was entertaining the idea. Meg toyed with her bangles.

"Gods, I can't believe I'm doing this," she moaned, her gaze lingering on the temple. "Ugh, I am a stupid woman," she moaned. Her mind was made up, her decision made, as Meg's legs began to move at their own pace, a brisk walk, as she began to make her way towards the temple of the gods.

The shadows from the clouds followed her, and in the shadows lurked Medusa…

ZEUS help her, but she was not doing this. She was not doing this. Oh, but surprise! She was! Her feet seemed to move of their own accord as the temple of the gods was closer and closer within her line of sight, though her brain was practically screaming at her to turn back now before it was too late.

Calling upon Hades' brother for help in getting out of this deal with the man was perhaps not the best idea, as gods had proven themselves on more than one occasion they could likely not be trusted.

Only a few fair were good, the rest fought amongst themselves for power or were constantly taking lovers. And she was going to Wonder Boy's father for help, when surely, Zeus would know all about her deal with Hades and would know every little detail of her life, down to the last shred of sanity she still possessed. Her breaths hitched in her throat as Meg realized…

The steps. She was right in front of the steps. Her thundering heart pounded loudly against her ribcage as trepidation and wariness flooded through her veins. Was it too late to turn back? Unfortunately, no.

Meg felt her eyes glaze over as she glanced down at the steps of the proud temple. She wondered if Zeus already knew why she was here if he was watching her from high above, assessing why she was there.

She knew she could not stand out here forever. As much as she would have liked to, the people of Thebes tended to talk and would notice her if she did. The overwhelmed servant of Hades mumbled a quick prayer to the gods before lifting the skirts of her toga dress a bit and making her way up the cracked steps swiftly.

A slight breeze blew past her, the soft fabric of her dress flowing to the side of her. Her hand had a mind of its own as she rose it to the door. Her slender fingers curled around the chipped handle. She grimaced and closed her eyes.

"Ugh. You are a stupid woman, Meg, but if this is the only way, then so be it," the bewildered reluctant servant spoke in a hushed voice barely above a whisper. She shoved the massive door open with a firm twist and a push.

Through the door, her delicate lavender eyes peered into the darkness. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she slipped through the door and vanished into the darkness. Medusa was clinging to the shadows, still tailing her.

Meg stood there for a moment, in awe of the temple as she recalled her mother had been a particularly devout servant of the gods, coming to the temple faithfully once a week with offerings to the gods.

Meg had never really considered herself the particularly religious type, but Mother had been.

The thought stirred an abrupt bittersweet feeling from somewhere within her. Pressure started to build behind her shining purple eyes and she toyed nervously with the gold bangles on her wrist as she slowly began to make her way down the long aisle. But before Meg could approach the statue of the god that was Zeus, deep vibrations suddenly rang through the otherwise deserted temple as the sound of someone accidentally tripping over something filled her ears.

The high-clattered twang caused a startled cry of surprise to be ripped from her lips and Meg brought her hands to her mouth as she spun around. Down the aisle not far from her was a fallen candlestick, thankfully not lit, but the candle's wax had managed to spill onto the floor. Meg squinted as she could see the silhouette of a familiar figure shifting oddly in the distance. Her heart sank as she fell as silent as an owl and picked up on the chirping of snakes.

She would know that sound anywhere. Medusa.

"What are you doing here? You followed me?" Meg questioned into the dark as Medusa, apparently sensing that it would do her no good to hide, awkwardly shuffled out from behind the pillar she had ducked behind in hopes of being spotted by Hades' servant coming to the temple.

She tried to keep her voice as level-headed as possible, but she flinched as she could even hear the faint note of anger in her voice. She recalled how the young Gorgon had spied on her and Hercules not but a half hour ago and wondered if Hades had put Medusa up to it.

After what had happened to her pet Hydra, Meg was honestly surprised this Gorgon wanted anything to do with the Lord of the Underworld at this point. Her hands fell from around her chest and now rested between her legs.

Medusa's cheeks flushed a darker shade of green and the Gorgon was suddenly looking shamefaced and was having trouble meeting Meg's piercing stare.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Meg, I-I can be clumsy a-at times…" The anxious Gorgon wrang her hands, thankful that Meg did not seem too angry that she had followed her to the temple. "I just…" Her face twisted and contorted with grief. "Hades promised…" she whispered, the mask of calm she had seemed to have perfected was beginning to crumble.

Meg swore she heard Medusa sniffle as she blinked back the coming onset of tears. Meg felt a wave of pity wash over her as the worst of her anger and annoyance dissipated upon seeing the young Gorgon clinging onto the last shred of self-control she still possessed and immediately felt guilty for having come to expect the worst.

She likely had followed her hoping to talk, hoping for a sympathetic ear and her friend. The last of her anger melted away as she took a cautious step toward her friend. She wracked her brain for the right things to say to Medusa.

Medusa's face twisted and contorted into a pained grimace as she absently stroked a lock of her hair.

Medusa did not think she could take it anymore. Her life would always be a tale of woe, never to know true happiness, she would spend the rest of her long life in the shadows, where a monster like her belonged.

Medusa fell quiet and looked towards the window.

"I'm sorry, Meg, for…for Ophion. She—she gets cranky when woken up and if I'd been there, I could have stopped it. She nearly killed that boy." At that moment, she turned away and made up her mind. "But I can't exist like this anymore, and…I want to see what's so special about this city of Thebes we're in."

Meg's eyes widened. The city… the people… would see her, and then her head would no longer be attached to her shoulders after that. Meg darted forward and grabbed the Gorgon's hand as she made to turn away, spinning her around to look her in the eye. She was grateful at least, that for however long Medusa seemed to be alive, Hades' magic still worked and let her look her in the eye without fear of turning to stone.

"Medusa, don't! This isn't worth your life!" Meg pleaded to Medusa quietly.

But Medusa did not seem to want to listen to Meg.

Before she could plead with the Gorgon to reconsider, a man's voice, deep and baritone, rent the air from somewhere behind them, causing both of them to freeze as the distant sound of low rolling thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Stop this madness at once!"

A figure appeared within the temple, like a bright beacon of shining light.

The man in front of the Gorgon and Meg was beautiful—too beautiful, Meg thought as an abrupt bitterness churned into the pit of her stomach. Despite this, she still harbored an inkling of distrust toward the god she knew to be Zeus. Considering what the god's brother Hades was like, she almost feared having this conversation with Hercules' father.

Yet, it was too late to take back her decision. She had only laid eyes upon the god in his flowing purple robes for all of two seconds, and already, Meg was quick to decide that she did not like him, and felt her temper implode.

"Can you not see that she's suffering?" Meg shouted, snapping her head to the right to get a better look at Wonder Boy's father, frowning as she looked over the man, not seeing any resemblance.

"Did you not come to the temple for help? I have answered your call, mortal, and I find you in the company of this disgusting Gorgon, woman, you dare to bring this...filth into a temple that honors your gods? Have you no respect for your deities?" Zeus's nose crinkled in disgust as the god pulled a face of revulsion as he looked upon Medusa's cowering form with no small amount of disgust in his eyes. "Evil, soulless creatures, deserving of nothing but death," he snapped, the god's temper imploding to match that of Meg's own. She grimaced at the pained look in the young Gorgon's eyes but did not avert her gaze away from Wonder Boy's father. Instead, her feet felt heavily rooted to the ground beneath her as she straightened her posture and angrily clenched her teeth at Zeus behind tightly pursed lips.

Meg angrily stomped her foot, a temporary release of her frustration as she spared a glance at Medusa's tear-filled yellow eyes and jumped to the Gorgon's aid with a quest to defend.

"You know nothing of this poor creature's life! She was driven from her homeland, and her people were killed and hunted by the farmers she lived near. You have no idea what she's suffered, she's a gentle Gorgon!"

Meg looked at Zeus, furious and unable to place his prejudice towards Medusa and the rest of her race, and furrowed her brows in confusion. She turned to Medusa.

"Would you mind, uh, leaving us alone for a moment?" she asked, trying to keep her voice as level-headed as possible, though even she heard the faint crack as it dipped and hated hearing the warbling note of fear in her tone. Medusa could only comply, practically quaking in fear at being in the presence of such an all-powerful god, and fled.

Only when the Gorgon had slunk back into the shadows and she heard a door did she turn to face Zeus.

His expression was almost blank. Menacing, even. She shivered.

"You came to speak to me, mortal, so say your piece," he barked at her with an angry snap to his voice that made her look up in surprise.

Her lips parted as if she meant to speak to Zeus, however, it took the flustered young servant of Hades a moment to manage to find her voice again.

"You don't want war, d-do you?" Meg asked, stumbling a little as her voice held a stutter to it, due to her nerves. She frowned and shook her head to herself as she realized she was almost starting to sound like Wonder Boy when nervous around her. "Because…that's what Hades is planning for you and the rest of you on Mount Olympus if you two can't come to terms. Let him and his wife come up. Perhaps you can find it together before it's too late." "Your son, Wonder B—I—I mean…Hercules," Meg stammered, her cheeks flushing bright red as she realized what she had said the moment Zeus's cheeks turned red, but in anger. "He's everything I did not expect an offspring of a god to be. Clever. Handsome. Charming. Kind," she emphasized through gritted teeth, clenching her shaking fists into hands at her side. "Are you sure he's yours?" she blurted out and hurried to correct herself the moment she heard Hercules' father growl lowly in his throat. She raised her hands in self-defense. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, it was a joke! A bad one," she huffed, frustrated with herself at her inability to tell a joke that wasn't insulting, she realized, as she tucked a curl of her hair back behind her ear and looked up at Zeus. "You really should be proud of Hercules, Zeus. He saved Thebes earlier, and he's going through so much to make you proud. B-But I came here today to warn you that if you don't at least agree to meet with your brother and speak, then Hades is going to declare a full-scale war on you."

Zeus's eyes narrowed at Meg, studying the young woman's lavender eyes for any hint of a lie, at any sign that he could not take this pretty young mortal woman at her every word. But he found none.

Only a fierce blazing determination and passion sparked to life behind her eyes.

He was quick to admire and his first impression of this fiery spirit was that she would have made a good goddess had her circumstances been different and had she not allied her soul to his brother Hades.

"I will…take your words into consideration and speak with my brother given the first chance," Zeus tried to assure this Megara, the god's venomous stare easing only for a moment the longer he looked upon her, knowing all of this mortal woman who had sold her soul to his mischievous brother in exchange to save her wounded lover's life.

"And what of my son? You will tell him of your…arrangement with my brother? I have been watching, Megara, I see and know everything." He shot her a rueful glower upon seeing the blood drain from Meg's face. "There is nothing that happens in Greece that I do not know about, mortal," he said.

Meg swallowed, and when she did, it felt as though she were swallowing knives. Her ears were burning, and her heart was now pounding in her throat.

"Then you know why I….did what I did, everything I gave to Hades, I did to save his life," Meg snapped, unable to keep the note of loathing out of her voice as she squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to think of Prince Adonis or Hades.

Instead, visions of Wonder Boy's sweet face and his dazzling white smile began to flood her mind.

"And now I came to you to ask you to speak to Hades in hopes of saving Hercules and your precious Mount Olympus from annihilation," Meg snapped, unsure where she had acquired the gall to speak so boldly to the gods, but she was far too overcome with annoyance with Zeus to do anything around him but speak the truth, plain and simple as it was.

Sweet. Imaginative. Charming.

Those were the first thoughts that came to Meg's mind as she thought of Wonder Boy after he had saved Thebes from Medusa's Hydra, not ones of disgust or even fear that the demigod was Zeus's son. A sudden thrash of cold began to spread in the pit of her stomach as Meg quickly realized that no, she would never try to hurt Wonder Boy.

Hades' threats and whatever the Lord of the Underworld could do to her fell away completely as she realized her decision was made, and her mind was made up. She knew what she had to do.

She lifted her gaze hesitantly towards Zeus, still wanting the god's confirmation.

"You will speak with your brother soon, then?" she asked, looking as politely as she could into the god's chiseled face.

"Yes." The god answered her in a clipped and curt tone.

Meg huffed, realizing it was likely as good of an answer from him as she was going to get. She nodded, suspecting she would have no choice for the moment but to be satisfied, and lifted the skirts of her dress in her hands as she made to walk away. But before she could make it two feet, Hercules' father called to her. Meg was halfway to the door and had to turn at her waist slightly and peek over her shoulder to attend to Zeus's words.

"You care for my son, mortal. I see it in your eyes. Is it love?" he questioned, his voice low, his expression somber.

Her jaw went slightly slack in surprise upon hearing his words and Meg felt the blood drain from her face as she stared at the god.

"What?" Meg snapped and her brows crumpled as she began to fret in place. She clamped her mouth shut and looked in any direction but at Hercules' father.

"You are in love with my son," Zeus repeated, watching as the color drained from Meg's face as she fretted uncontrollably and nibbled on the wall of her cheek. Meg tried to laugh it off, but thanks to her nerves, it sounded more like a fitful sigh. She did not know how to laugh or condemn the notion. Of course, she didn't care for Wonder Boy.

Well, she cared for him, yes, but it was not love. It couldn't be. She'd known Hercules all of but a few precious days, at best. It was too soon for her to develop feelings for someone else, let alone a demigod.

What she felt for Wonder Boy since he had saved her life from Nessus and then again when she had eaten with him was not love, she began to torment herself as she tried to convince herself to believe it. It was spur of the moment. She pitied him and what Hades had in mind for the boy if Zeus did not comply with his demands to speak freely and allow him and Persephone to regularly visit Mount Olympus alongside the other gods and to be respected as one.

Her cheeks flushed and Meg looked away, hating that her face was reddening like mad.

"I'm not in love with him," she answered, perhaps a little too curtly and too quickly for her liking, for even out of the corner of her lowered gaze, she saw Zeus frown.

"Good. Then don't start to, Megara of Thebes."

Meg froze, trying to measure the god's words and tether understanding to what Hercules' father had just said. With painstaking slowness, she turned to look at him with questioning lavender irises.

"What?" she frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

"If this is the best life my son thinks is offered to him now, then Hercules is sorely mistaken," Zeus sighed, almost sounding exasperated as his voice rose within the desolate chamber. "He is my son, and we need him. It is predicted that my brother will let loose the Titans. The Fates have foreseen it. My son is young and I am not as young as I once was. I am old, and my fighting days are long behind me, but my son is more than capable. He has a higher purpose than needs or wants or even love on this Earth, Megara, and especially not with a mortal," Zeus commanded in a clipped curt tone.

Meg felt a wave of cold wash over her at the god's words and felt tears just begging to come to the surface, but she refused to give in and let them fall. She had no clue what to do next, but for now, she knew she could no longer remain in this temple and listen to this. Hercules was only here on Earth to fight a battle that his father already knew would come and seemed to not even want to try to stop it.

For all she knew, his promise to speak to his brother was just a formality and he wouldn't even honor that request. Meg felt a horrible abrupt bitterness seep its way into the pit of her stomach.

"E-Excuse me, I-I h-have to go, I...th-thank you for...speaking to me," she stammered, and turned on her heels, no longer concerned with if she was offending Hercules' father or not, and fled the temple with horror clinging to her heels. She was already starting to feel for the worst, and her part in Hades' scheme was only just beginning, she knew.

She exhaled shakily once outside and tried to breathe deep in the crisp cool autumnal air.

Her mind was so preoccupied, her thoughts elsewhere, that as Meg quickly fled the temple, she did not watch where she was walking and ran straight into the back of Wonder Boy himself as he halted in his tracks.

Meg jumped back and apologized with a bright pink blush covering her face and waited for Hercules to speak.

His bright sky-blue eyes looked at the flushing of her cheeks with a strange interest, but thankfully, he looked away soon enough for it not to be too weird.

He had chosen that moment to head into Thebes to see if he could locate a kind Theban willing to tell him the name of Meg's master, where the man lived, and to see if there was a chance he could buy Meg's freedom from him.

Hercules' face registered his pleasant surprise as he reached out and took Meg by her bony elbows to steady her. Meg was shocked to see Wonder Boy out and about so late, but she was not altogether displeased.

"Can't sleep?" Hercules smiled kindly at Meg, hopefully.

Meg managed to catch herself in the demigod's strong grasp.

"What?" she immediately questioned, her blush intensifying. "Um…n-no."

What she meant was, that her lack of sleep hadn't been her reason for wandering the now deserted streets of Thebes, but she did not protest at Wonder Boy's misunderstanding either. Perhaps it gave her a more plausible excuse and she wouldn't have to explain herself, that she had just come from speaking with his father, for the gods' sake.

Coming back to herself, Meg craned her neck upward to smile nervously at Hercules.

"W-Would you like to walk with me, then?" Hercules motioned towards the lakeside by the woods.

Meg nodded in an eager response.

Hercules rested his hand lightly on the small of Meg's back and guided her away from the deserted streets and somewhere more private where they could talk together without running the risk of waking anyone up at this late hour.

Hercules could think of no better way to end the evening than to sit by the lakeside with her and watch as the moonbeams hit the water in such a way that stole his breath away.

Of course, he had other thoughts as well, but he forced his urge to press his lips to hers in a kiss to the back of his mind. For now, he would simply have to be satisfied with enjoying her company and hope that in time, she'd open up.

Hercules helped Meg to situate herself by the edge of the lake and she did not turn to face him until he had joined her. A shiver went down her spine at the heat Wonder Boy's body exuded but she felt cold and alone. The cold nearly stole the breath from her lungs as she pondered over Zeus's words and realized the bastard god was right, damn him to Hades for it. She was, like it or not, already developing feelings for the Wonder Boy seated next to her. Hercules had saved her life from Nessus, like it or not, and he had been nothing but sweet and kind towards her in their interactions thus far. She had only known Hercules for a short time, and already, the demigod was leaving an impression on her.

Her heart swelled at the thought of spending more time around Hercules, 'higher purpose' or not, be damned.

For some reason, the thought of being around Wonder Boy gave Meg a rush of excitement she had not known since Adonis. Her pulse quickened as his hand moved to rest on her thigh as she sat with her legs tucked underneath the flowing skirts of her dress. She did not understand why Wonder Boy's presence stole the breath from her lungs or how just the thought of him made her grin. Hercules' quiet and mild-mannered voice shattered the silence that had settled between them and pulled Meg out of her startled thoughts.

"There's a storm coming, Meg," he murmured, his blue eyes eyeing the storm thoughtfully as they heard the low boom of thunder in the distance.

Meg could not stop the furrow of confusion from showing on her brow and wondered if this little display of thunder was merely Zeus's displeasure at seeing her purposefully not heeding his warning to stay away from his son. But nor could she manage to pretend to give a damn right now.

But suddenly, before Meg could ponder it further, there came an especially loud and ominous clap of thunder with a deafening blast that made Meg's eardrums start to ring loudly. Meg jumped up as though the ground around her were on fire out of reflex while Hercules rose to his feet calmly and stepped vigilantly towards her. Before either one was aware of what was happening, Meg was clinging onto fistfuls of Hercules' blue cloak.

She found herself wrapped in Wonder Boy's strong embrace, her face so close to his that the man's breath warmed her skin and the tips of their noses were now touching a bit. His blue eyes stared tenderly into Meg's questioning and scared lavender eyes as Meg's delicate hands pressed flat against the breastplate of his armor, trembling.

But Hercules seemed as frozen as one of the stone statues that was littered within Medusa's grotto.

Hercules seemed to decide something just then, as without a word, he pressed his lips to hers and what surprised her even more than Wonder Boy's unexpected kiss, was how Meg did not protest. It was quite the opposite.

She leaned into his kiss, nearly feverish and hungry for more. It was as if the world around them was standing still, as though nothing else mattered. Not the rain that had begun to fall, or the wind that had begun to pick up speed.

It was as if Hercules and Meg were the only two souls left on this Earth, left here to wander together.

Not even Adonis had kissed her like this before. Hercules' kiss was tender, charming, and sweet, if not a bit clumsy, but his inexperience only made Meg want him more, as he was trying to please her.

When they were forced to break apart, Hercules and Meg reluctantly pulled apart from one another, both of them flushed and lost in the throes of their first kiss together.

"Well, I….I…" Hercules whispered, his eyes half-lidded and he was looking at Meg in a daze, as though she were the most beautiful thing his eyes had ever laid eyes on. "Perhaps I could…escort you home? I-I was hoping to speak to your master, actually, to….to buy your freedom?" Hercules offered, his voice hopeful.

Meg felt her breaths catch in her throat and she quickly shook her head, but worry wormed its way into the pit of her stomach as she thought of how she could continue to keep selling the lie to Hercules that she lived and had a master here. She settled her gaze away from him and stared out at a distant star in the sky.

After a moment of silence that had passed between them beyond the point of comfort, Meg managed to find her voice.

"N-no, Wonder Boy, you're—you're sweet to offer, I—I could take myself back. You don't need to worry about my master. He is my responsibility to deal with." She cringed as she realized her voice sounded cold and impersonal, too flat.

Hercules felt a rush of raw emotion hit him squarely in the chest as though Meg herself had drawn back her hand and gut-punched him. Phil was right. As much as he did not want to believe it, Meg was keeping something from her, something close to the chest that she did not want him to know about.

He was sure that her master was an abusive man, he could tell by how suddenly skittish Meg was becoming.

What could Meg be hiding from him? He felt his heart plummet to the ground beneath his sandals.

He reached out a hand to set it on Meg's shoulder, unsure the young woman would even allow it, but it was as if Meg sensed Hercules' intentions and purposefully pulled away from him, her cheeks flushed red and she was hastily fixing her ponytail, still actively avoiding looking at him.

"I um…I-I'll see you later, Wonder Boy, i-it's late, and I…there's someone, something I need to do, someone I need to see. I will speak to my master myself, I don't want you to worry about that," Meg heard herself answer again in her cold and distant voice that made Hercules flinch away, not liking the shift in the young brunette's countenance.

Meg turned away, not wanting to look into the heartbreak and confusion brimming with life behind Wonder Boy's sparkling blue eyes. Her teeth clenched behind straight lips and she made as if to turn away, to summon Hades and tell her lord and master of the Underworld that she was not going to abide by anything that would hurt Zeus's son or anyone else. But before she could, she paused. She was stricken with the urge to show him that she would be alright.

She did the only thing that her body would allow her. Meg turned on her heels and made eye contact with Hercules.

She felt a surge of anger towards Hades wash over her as her feet began to move towards Wonder Boy, who was as still and silent as an owl, watching her approach him swiftly.

Wonder Boy's blue eyes gave away no sign of what he was thinking, though she swore she saw the man's pupils widen as she came to stand before him and rested her hands on either of his shoulders. She felt him tense at her touch, as she lifted herself onto the tips of her toes and had to pull him down the rest of the way to be able to reach him.

She was not sure when the suffocating feelings of panic at what she knew she had to do had started settling in.

But the air suddenly felt thick and suffocating and she knew if she did not speak to Hades while her courage and resolve remained steadfast and strong, then she would lose her chance. This fueling her, she pressed her lips to Hercules' cheek in a gentle and chaste kiss.

When Meg finally took her lips away from Hercules' cheek, she stared the demigod boldly in the eye, his handsome face still hunched towards her, a look of longing and desire sparking to life in them.

"Do you trust me when I tell you that I will be fine?" she told him firmly, and Hercules gave her a little half-smile. Wonder Boy slipped his warm and calloused hand into hers and his gentle touch grounded Meg instantly, reminding her of why she needed to do this.

She smiled at him then, realizing that Hercules had somehow anticipated that she was not feeling well, that she was hiding something. Zeus's son was proving to be so sweet and so aware of everything Meg felt.

His brow furrowed in worry, and he spoke to Meg quietly.

"Meg, a-are you sure? I-I don't want your master, whoever he is, to hurt you…" He trailed off, concerned, as he looked deeply into Meg's lavender eyes.

Meg nodded, eager to set his mind at ease.

"Wonder Boy, you're sweet to worry about me. I just need to speak with him about something. I will be fine, I assure you. Please. Just give me this time, and then I will come back to you?" Meg tried to soothe him, hoping he would understand.

He nodded, albeit reluctantly, and with a chaste kiss to her temple, Hercules let go of Meg's hand and let her leave him.

Meg did not let herself turn back around to face Wonder Boy, though she could feel Hercules' longing stare burning a hole in the back of her skull as she walked, her long dark ponytail swishing from side to side as she did so, and instead went on her way. Her face reddened with exhilaration from the kiss they had shared but also anger at what Hades was making her do. Why the god had to make things so difficult for her, she could not say.

Hades was infuriatingly difficult, and she did not doubt that his claim that she would be well looked after and kept safe was just a pretense. That he did not care about her at all, that as soon as her usefulness to him had run its course, he would be done with her, and then what?

Meg shivered violently. She didn't like to think about what. Her last thought before going to speak with Hades in a more secluded part of Thebes as she silently called for the Lord of the Underworld to show himself, was a simple but poignant one.

The more distance Meg put between herself and Wonder Boy, the more she began to wonder about whether confronting Hades and refusing to go along with his schemes anymore was such a good idea. She was no shrinking flower, however, and she was not about to let Wonder Boy get hurt and caught in the middle of this blood feud between the two brothers. Somehow, Meg knew that confronting him was the only way. But even still, the thought permeated itself into her mind and refused to leave her alone. She repeated it to herself over and over again, like a whispered mantra.

I hope this is not a grave mistake…

MEG inhaled sharply the moment she was away from Wonder Boy, the demigod's kiss still tingling on her lips. She raised shaky fingers to her lips and hoped the sensation would not dissipate.

For being inexperienced, he learned quickly, she realized with a faint blush coloring her cheeks, as inexperienced as Hercules seemed to be, he had reciprocated getting lost in the kiss he had given her and had taken the initiative to hold her face in his large and calloused hands.

Meg had thought she would have wanted to pull away, to make up some excuse about why they should not and could not do this to themselves, to explain away the slip in her balance at any given moment.

But his caress seemed to only grow deeper and deeper, sending Meg reeling.

Even now, she was half-lidded and still gasping for air that was just not coming to her. She furrowed her brows into a slight frown as she scanned the spaces closest to her, searching for a secluded place where she could speak with Hades in private when Meg caught sight of Hades walking through the woods. The back of her neck prickled.

The god seemed to glide as he moved, and Meg could tell he was in no rush. He never seemed to be, she realized bitterly. Hades turned at the waist. He must have seen her staring at him because he stopped, and the edges of his mouth were turned down in a frown. He was angry with her, Meg could tell that much at least.

Meg shivered violently as the cool night air wafted over her bare arms and she clutched at her middle as it was becoming fairly cold. She would have to ask a kind Theban if they wouldn't mind letting her borrow a spare cloak, as she did not own such a garment, and with winter coming soon, she'd need one.

Meg did not even feel her feet move as if by rote memory down the path as she came to a small forest clearing and saw Hades leaning in too relaxed a manner against a dead tree trunk, his arms folded across his chest, an angry and troubled expression on the god's handsome and chiseled light blue features.

His shoulders were set straight back as he stared at her and Meg licked her lips which were already dry, though at the site of her master, her lips went dryer still and her stomach churned at what she needed to do.

She was learning quickly enough in her short time as the god's servant that she was sure she would never know what she would get with Hades. Sometimes, he seemed shut down and reserved, other times loud and boisterous.

He seemed to be in one of those quiet and contemplative moods now and Meg took a tentative step forward, her nerves getting the better of her and her resolve nearly faltered as she craned her neck up to look at the slender deity leaning against the tree. Meg shivered as Hades' yellow eyes lowered to her body, narrowing and raking over her slender form before flicking his eyes back up to her face, a little half-smile settling on the god's blackened lips.

"Meglet, my little nut, I'm pleased with your progress thus far. The kiss was a nice touch, you've got him already wound around your pinky finger," he told her, his lips twitching into something resembling a triumphant smirk.

"You were spying on us?" Meg demanded, trying to sound haughty as she jutted her chin out in slight defiance as she glowered at the god who held her life in his hands. She tried to speak with confidence and authority, but she knew by the look on Hades' face that he could hear the warbling note of fear in her voice as she spoke to him. She shivered as the god's smile widened, and there was a bit of rake in his smile that almost reminded Meg of a wolf.

Hades rolled his eyes to the dark sky and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

"I spy on everyone. Relax, Meg," he rasped as the tension in his shoulders seemed to dissipate as Meg took a seat on a fallen log nearby. "You're doing well enough so far. You're distracting Zeus's bastard of a son which is good—"

"I won't!" Meg shouted, not letting the Lord of the Underworld get another word in edgewise as her temper imploded. She shook her head, trying to send away the god's words and having a hard time shaking his voice out of her head. "You keep your forked tongue in between your teeth, snake, I don't want to be a part of your little scheme anymore, Lord, I will not do this! Zeus, he-he's agreed to meet with you and speak to you, if you would just give him a chance, Hades, please!" Meg murmured, and louder than she would have liked.

The sound of her shout reverberating in the forest clearing caused a nearby flock of birds roosting in the trees to take flight, loudly squawking their displeasure at being forced to flee.

Hades furrowed his brows into a frown and looked at Meg, angrily so.

"I must have misheard you, Megara. You'd better hope that I did, otherwise, you're about to become a permanent addition to the River of Souls. What did you just say to me?" Hades whispered in a hoarse voice laced with hostility as he stalked forward toward her.

Meg stared as the fine hairs on the back of her neck rose as she felt the god lean forward and thrust his face dangerously close to hers. She shirked away, and she felt bile rise in her throat the moment she heard a low growl forming in the back of his throat. Meg shivered as she saw the ends of the god's blue hair beginning to flicker to orange, the sure sign a fiery outburst was coming, and this time, there was no stopping it from happening at all.

"I won't do it," she answered, pursing her lips and trying to sound braver than she felt, and failing in that regard. She winced the moment she heard herself shudder with angst.

Hades let out a bitter laugh. "My bastard brother, has you good, Meglet, doesn't he? You truly think that Zeus will listen to me the moment my wife and I set foot through the gates of Mount Olympus?" he snarled, softly.

Meg held her breath as Hades breathed in deeply and slowly, seemingly struggling to control his temper and not wanting to burn down the forest or give away his position to anyone he did not wish to see.

She felt the god's icy breath ghost over her face. A shiver went down her spine.

"Why…why are you doing this?" she pleaded. "Is this truly worth going to war with your brother over?" she asked, trying her best to keep her voice as calm and level-headed as possible, but she knew now from having seen it twice that Hades' silence meant more. She nervously toyed with the bangles on her wrist until Hades reached up a hand and smacked her hand away, harshly, but not hard enough to hurt her wrist now. She watched as Hades stared.

She felt Hades tense.

Meg knew what she was asking of her master was a lot, but she had to try to supplicate him some.

If she didn't, then she, alongside the entire Earth for all she knew, would be wiped out in this bad-blood feud between the two brothers always at war. Meg could only stare in awe and shock as Hades' previously seething expression softened somewhat, and he was almost quiet and contemplative as he spoke his next words to Meg.

"I did not come here to taunt you, Meg, and despite what you think of me, I would not see your precious Wonder Boy killed. I'm not evil. I am not a monster, Megara, not like my brother is. I merely want that which my wife—my family—deserves, as do I. I tire of the Underworld, Megara, as I'm sure you've picked up on that by now. You seem an intelligent enough woman to know that the Underworld is no place for a god to raise his family," Hades snarled disdainfully. "I do not doubt that my brother will be amenable to talking, the bastard has never listened to a single thing that I've had to say. I have told Per time and time again I will give 'her way' one more shot, but if Zeus will not agree to my terms peacefully, then I've no choice but to let loose the Titans. Maybe then, he will see that the only thing I never joke about in my long immortal life is Persephone," he growled, his voice low and almost dangerously soft. "My wife deserves the best, the highest form of respect, and if Zeus and the other gods will not give my Queen even that much, as a minimum to start, then my brother does not deserve to sit on his throne any longer," he hissed.

Meg's eyes widened as she watched Hades' thick blue hair turn orange.

Whether he was aware of it or not, the longer he spoke of Zeus, the more the god's temper swelled.

Just as Meg parted her lips to speak, to ask him if there was anything she could do that would aid in these peace negotiation talks between her master and his brother, Hades curled his fists and seemingly involuntarily out of a kneejerk reaction, his magic imploded and the forest clearing they now stood in burst into flames.

Meg yelped in fear and got to her feet.

"Hades, stop!" Meg pleaded, her eyes watering from the smoke that was starting to fill the air as the forest clearing around them began to burn at an alarmingly rapid pace. "Please! What has your brother done to possibly deserve this…this hatred?" she cried, not expecting Hades would answer, and it took time before the god did, and when he did, his voice cracked.

"Quiet." His voice was tinny and hollow-sounding. Meg's fear for her own life was so great, that she obeyed. She clamped her mouth shut as Hades continued to speak, though he did not look at her, seeming not to see her at all "You're speaking of that which you do not understand, Meg. My business with my brother is my own, and not yours," he snapped, a bark to his voice that made her flinch away in disgust. He lifted his gaze towards the heavens and began shouting to the stars. "I have done EVERYTHING Zeus has ever asked of me, everything, and still, my bastard brother treats me no better than a bloodthirsty hound. My wife and child will not spend the rest of their lives trapped in the Underworld like rats! I did not marry her to let her suffer this!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

He purposefully avoided Meg's question and decided something just then and snapped his fingers.

A cry of surprise was ripped from her lips as the vines of a tree sprang to life and snaked around her middle, pulling her back until her back rested against the trunk, the rough wood poking through the fabric of her dress.

"I will speak with my bastard of a brother, Meglet, and when he does not listen, as I already know he won't, then he leaves me no choice but to unleash the Titans upon his—our—home," Hades growled. "The rest of the world could burn for all I care. With any luck, if my nephew stays out of our way, all of Mount Olympus will now burn, and from it, a better paradise will arise from the ashes that are left by the time my wife and I are finished with it," Hades snarled.

The Lord of the Underworld made to turn away, and as he did so, the handsome features of his light blue face twisted into an expression akin to feral grief as his lips curled up and he made a hiss, a noise Meg was sure that no human man could make.

It sent a violent shiver down her spine. Ignoring Meg's pleas to be freed and unfazed by the mortal woman's salty tears, Hades turned his head and froze upon hearing the rumbling of thunder in the distance, near the temple of the gods. His feral snarl widened.

As the clearing around him went up in flames, his mortal servant still bound to the tree, her world slowly turning to black as the smoke and flames would take her life, Hades realized that Meg had just proven that he could far from trust her. His eyes narrowed in anger as he understood that she was developing feelings for his nephew, and now, it was time to take matters into his own hands, no matter the cost. For Persephone and to ensure the future of their progeny, he could do anything. Even if it meant watching the world around him burn.

As Hades stalked away from the forest and towards the temple, where he knew, without the slightest doubt in the world, Zeus would be waiting for him, he quenched the fires that were in his path but left the rest of them to burn.

A noise escaped Meg as she struggled against her bindings as much as the vines of the tree would allow. It was as much a sob as it was a bitter laugh at the realization that this was how she was to die, after all.

An abrupt bitterness seeped its way into the pit of her stomach as she realized Hades had never cared for her, not as her master, he cared only for his Queen from the looks of it.

Meg had thought that her death would have been less painful than this. Meg felt as though the darkness was closing in around her, threatening to pull her under as the smoke from Hades' fire that he had started filling her lungs.

She turned her head to the side and coughed, beads of sweat forming on her scalp and dripping down at the sides of her cheeks as the searing heat from the fire was too stark a contrast to the otherwise coldness of the night air.

She had thought she had known pain in her life but never like this. This agony as the flames crept closer and closer to where she was pinned was far worse than anything she had ever experienced, far more urgent. Even in the embrace of black as the flames began to nip at the edges of her dress and reach for her toes, searing her skin, Meg could feel a pair of strong scaly hands working deftly to rip the bindings of vines that held her bound away from her.

Meg coughed as she struggled to focus her vision through the haze that was now clouding in front of her eyes. She would have wanted to scream, though as she heard the familiar shy lilt of a young woman's voice, speaking to her, and just for a fraction of a second, Meg let herself relax, never mind that they were within minutes of burning to death if they did not flee the scorching forest. Medusa stood in front of her, terrified, clinging to her forearm.

"I-I saw the fire, I couldn't just leave you here! We need to go, now, Meg, hurry!" she whispered hoarsely, and Meg felt Medusa's scaly hand grasping onto her own and pulling her away from the flames, her vice grip rather strong.

Meg's face looked around wildly to the left and right for any sign of how Medusa could have found her, her expression showing silent disbelief at what the Gorgon had just done for her, her lips parted but no sounds were coming out as they reached the edge of the woods just as the rest burst into flames. Medusa made to lead Meg towards the city of Thebes, hoping to lead Hades' servant somewhere safe, to the home of someone hopefully a friend to Meg where she could be treated for any burn wounds.

However, before the young Gorgon could take so much as another step forward, an arrow yanked one of the locks of her hair away and pinned the snake to the nearest tree.

The blood and brains splattered against the tree and Medusa's small shriek filled the air as she clamped a hand near her right ear, where her now missing lock of hair was quite obvious.

Meg whirled around, still dizzy and coughing, to face Hercules and Shorty the Goat, blinking owlishly in disbelief. The cantankerous Satyr with permanently furrowed brows of suspicion was in front of Wonder Boy, using a large metal shield as a reflector to be able to look the Gorgon in the eyes and not risk being turned to stone, while Hercules' head was turned sharply to the left and had an arrow notched, the tip of death itself pointing directly at her head.

"Back! Get away from her now, or it's your head on a pike in front of the city gates. Speak to or go near the lady, and I promise, your head will be removed from your shoulders before you can even blink. I'm warning you once," Hercules warned, a dangerous growl to his normally mild-mannered quiet voice as he kept his head turned to the left. He dared not look directly into the monster's yellow eyes for fear of being turned to stone, yet he could still see the outline of the Gorgon's live hair out of the corner of his peripherals that gave him enough of a target to see.

Hercules, Phil, and Medusa, all collectively froze, their breaths caught in their throat as Hercules moved as quick as lightning with Phil right behind him, Wonder Boy, and his trainer ready to ignite a war against the young Gorgon, but Meg was even quicker and hurriedly moved to step in front of Medusa, now shirking away from Hercules in fear.

"Stop!" Meg hoarsely shouted, though her plea quickly erupted into a violent coughing fit.

Meg looked towards Hercules with no small amount of delight brimming to life behind her eyes.

She stayed silent and heavily breathing, doubled over at the waist as the worst of her coughing fit subsided, but she was thankful even as fresh tears filled her eyes, that he'd come for her. He must have seen the fire and thought the worst, she thought, a warm feeling resting in her heart as she struggled to see him through her tears.

Thankful, and ashamed that Wonder Boy had to discover her new friendship with the Gorgon this way, but she supposed there were worse ways. She looked at Hercules as though Wonder Boy were the answer to her fervent and desperate prayers, her handsome hero, and here he was in all his glory. She stepped forward and lowered his notched bow and arrow and jutted her chin out slightly defiantly as she all but glowered at Hercules.

Thankfully, Wonder Boy was quick to recognize that the terrified young Gorgon behind her was not a foe, and at Meg's gentle touch of his arrow's shaft, Hercules quickly lowered the weapon and lowered the hood of his cloak from around his face as well, revealing his handsome and chiseled features to the pretty Gorgon, but still, he did not look.

"Who are you? What are you doing out here with Megara? You will answer me!" he snapped, unable to keep the edge out of his voice or the furrow of confusion between his brows deepening.

Meg was the first to answer.

"Medusa, Hercules, she's uh…a friend. We…er…serve the same master."

She was amazed at how easily the truth, for once, left her lips. Hercules numbly nodded, still not understanding but nor did he allow himself to show any sort of remorse towards the creature as he kept his face turned yet stretched out a trembling hand and wound his fingers around Meg's forearm. He gently pulled her close, so she was facing him. She felt a searing sting on her cheek, and when she touched it, she winced. Her cheek had been burned.

Hercules flicked his gaze towards the Gorgon, who was parading her back to him and Phil to prevent her gaze from accidentally turning them both to stone. He regarded the otherwise pretty Gorgon with scrutiny in his blue eyes, uneasy about how someone, even someone so sweet as Meg, could befriend a Gorgon.

Foul creatures, the entire race of Gorgons, Father had warned him of encountering her kind when he had visited the temple of the gods shortly after leaving home. They were evil and deserving of no fate other than death.

"Y...You're a Gorgon," Hercules breathed, feeling his eyes go wide and round as a dinner plate. He could not help but state the obvious as he looked down towards his trainer for confirmation, at a complete loss on what to do next.

Phil threw a withering frown at Hercules, which he quickly shook his head to and motioned with a curt jerk of his head and a slicing motion with his free hand not holding the shield to do her in. There was no need to trust this dame at her word, Hercules could almost hear Phil's words in the Satyr's beady black eyes as a myriad of emotions, all of them un-trusting of Meg and her companion, flashed through the Satyr's eyes in the span of a millisecond.

"Kid, are you listenin' to this broad? She ain't right, Hercules, I'm tellin' you, she's touched in the head if she thinks this Gorgon could be a friend," Phil demanded, glaring at Meg incredulously as though she had lost her mind, before flicking his gaze back to Hercules, whose expression was confused but contemplative. Phil, without waiting for Hercules to respond, whipped his gaze back towards Meg and bleated an angry retort. "No one's ever been friends with a Gorgon, nobody can unless they're blind, kid, Gorgons like this one are dangerous. Why you think they tell folks to aim for their heads, Herc, it's cause they ain't got a heart to pierce!" he grunted, narrowing his eyes in rage.

Hercules could only watch as the Gorgon's spine stiffened as she straightened her posture and clenched her fists. Though he could not see it, he imagined this Medusa's gaze was stony.

When she spoke, though, her voice was soft and timid, even, a striking contrast from the grotesqueness of her outward appearance, at least he imagined her to be, though he could not look her in the eyes.

"Well-spotted. I am a Gorgon, Satyr, you are right about that. And you killed my Hydra, it's...Hercules, isn't it?"

Medusa's blood churned and so did Hercules's. Tears began to prick and sting at the edges of her eyes, while mistrust and wrath burned bright in Hercules's eyes.

"It would have killed the entire city of Thebes if I hadn't," Hercules fired back, eyes narrowing in incense and despair.

"Please!" Meg interrupted, nearly stomping her foot in frustration as she tugged on a lock of her hair. "There's no time for any of this, Wonder Boy, I-I promise I can explain, but for now, could we please just go somewhere else not burning? Medusa won't hurt any of us here, she's harmless, she's my friend!" she begged, her voice shaking.

Exchanging looks, they began to stir.

It took Hercules a moment to find his voice as he emanated a tense exhale through his nose.

"Medusa, uh, if you could please go with Phil back to our camp, Phil will get you something to eat. I-I want to talk with Meg alone for a moment a-and thank you, for...for saving Meg's life." He glanced towards Phil, who looked as though he wanted to protest every bit of Hercules's command, but after the demigod shot him a withering look of daggers, he assented and barked at an order for Medusa to follow him, muttering curses under his breath.

"C'mon, lizard lips, if you're comin'," Phil barked, ignoring how Medusa's cheeks flushed a deep dark green at his insults. "Nothing's gonna be solved just yet anyway, come, and don't make me say it twice or I'm leavin' you out here in the forest to burn, you hear me?"

Medusa frowned at his harsh tone of voice, hesitating, but reluctantly let the Satyr lead her out of the woods and away from Meg. She shot her new friend a pleading look. Meg grimaced as she turned her attention back towards Hercules, not wanting to take her eyes off Medusa and Shorty the Goat until they'd left her line of sight completely.

Once it was just the two of them alone, Hercules turned and gently took her wrist in a firm grip and began to lead her away from the forest, just as the weeny spritzes of rain began to fall and moisten her face.

It would quench the forest fire that was still burning.

Feeling some hope swell in her chest, Meg halted in her tracks, not letting him go any further.

"I…I shouldn't have left the city alone," Meg whispered, shamefaced, furiously blinking back the onset of tears as she looked towards her left, where in the distance, she could hear the low rumbling of thunder in the same direction the temple had been in. She wondered briefly if Hades and Zeus were meeting at the temple to talk, but did not let herself dwell on it too long as she forced her attention back to the current matter at present.

Meg let out a haggard breath as Hercules was looking at her hesitantly, worried.

"Let me see the wound. Y-you're hurt," Hercules murmured.

Meg stared, thinking that Wonder Boy's already soft and timid voice now sounded even softer than before. She shook her head and refused him as she took hold of the skirts of her dress and stepped back.

"No, I—I'm fine," she stammered, backing away from Hercules as he approached, a strange look of determination blazing in his eyes. "I-It's not as bad as it looks," she tried to add offhandedly and tried to shrug it off. Meg made to turn away, but before she could, Hercules' hand was resting firmly on her shoulder, keeping her pinned in place.

He was looking at her as though she were easily the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, but his eyes which were now glistening with unshed moisture remained stuck on the burn on her face that marred her cheek that would blister and scar, and become infected if it were left untreated at all.

"What…what happened, Meg?" he asked timidly, still not quite looking directly into her gaze. "Why were you out here in the woods alone? Is this where you were supposed to meet your master? D-did he do this to you?" he demanded, a muscle in his jaw twitching tensely as he suddenly almost sounded angry with Meg at the fact.

Meg blinked as she could only stare at Hercules. It was not the question she had been expecting.

"I…" she stammered, unsure of how to respond to Wonder Boy's question, and felt a churning feeling in the pit of her stomach. She bit at the wall of her cheek, knowing she could not keep lying to him.

Meg lowered her head in defeat and kept her lashes lowered, suddenly not wanting to meet his gaze.

"Yes. He…didn't like that I…said no, that I wanted to… to leave his service. His temper, uh, ignites like a solar flare, I just didn't expect that he would set the whole forest on fire," she said, ashamed. Her expression twisted and contorted into a pained grimace as she instinctively reached for Hercules' hand. "I…I wasn't thinking, Wonder Boy. I was stupid, I was a fool to meet him out here alone. I-I'm sorry that I made you worry and that you had to come and look for me," she apologized, her hoarse voice barely above that of a whisper.

Hercules nodded, though his lips were still pursed tightly together which told Meg that he was angry. However, mostly, she hoped that he was just relieved she was still alive.

"Why did you not let me come with you? I would have come with you, I would have spoken to your master on your behalf, Meg, I wouldn't have let him hurt you, you know you can trust me," Hercules told her in a trembling voice as he observed the young woman whom he already knew himself to be falling hopelessly in love with precariously as if she were some wild and unstable creature he'd caught and did not know what to do with now that he had her here.

"I…" she hesitated, trailing off. Meg had thought that she had all that she wanted to say planned out in her mind whenever Wonder Boy would ask after her, but her prepared statements and half-truths vanished from her mind the moment something in Wonder Boy shifted and almost seemed to snap. He was almost glaring at her, which in itself was intimidating, but Meg could not let herself become fazed by his sudden display of aggression.

His blue eyes were ablaze with some emotion Meg couldn't quite place. Anger? Desperation? Concern?

Whatever it was, Meg found herself swallowing.

"I couldn't let anyone else get involved," she whispered, horrified to hear that her voice lacked the conviction to sell the argument she wanted to make.

But it was the wrong thing to say, as Hercules lifted his gaze and she watched as the man's breathing quickened and he cut her off, his demeanor suddenly angry as he stalked towards Meg.

"I needed to get involved, Meg, your master, he could have killed you and he very nearly did!" Hercules winced as he heard his voice increasing in volume to match his anger. "You aren't thinking straight, Meg. Your master hurt you."

Hercules shook his head to himself as gruesome and horrific images of all the unspeakable horrors Meg could have suffered at the hands of her faceless and nameless cruel master ran through his mind.

Hercules had trouble shaking the images away and it was another moment or two before he spoke.

"I don't want you going anywhere without me again, Meg, and I don't want to argue with you about this!" he shouted, his anger swelling.

Meg flinched, hearing just how furious Wonder Boy was with her at seeming to disregard her own life so flippantly as she was sure it looked. He sounded so angry that, if she had not known Zeus's son, she might have pitied anyone else who dared to contradict Wonder Boy right now.

Hercules grimaced as she shot him a pained look and stepped away as he cautiously tried to approach with his hands raised, only wanting to help. Meg didn't deserve to be yelled at, especially so soon after a near-death and frightening experience for her, but Hercules knew that Meg needed to take his words very, very seriously.

"Meg, it's clear to me now that your master, whoever he is, is not a good man. He's hurt you, and he very nearly killed you. Tell me his name, Meg, please," he begged, hating hearing the faltering crack and dip in his voice as he begged Meg to tell him the truth. "There is no choice to make, Meg. I can't—I—I won't—let him get away with nearly killing you."

Meg shirked away from Hercules' snarling and foul mood and shivered, clutching at herself as now that they were away from the previously burning forest which was now put out thanks to the rain, it was cold, the unforgiving rain continuing to pelt down against her bare arms unrelentingly, not caring if Meg grew sick.

"I-I'm sorry, Wonder Boy, I—I didn't mean to…to scare you," she whispered, her eyes widening as she realized her voice had turned small and meek. She did not sound like herself at all. Meg averted her gaze awkwardly cleared her throat and spoke up.

He nodded, his blue eyes still suspicious.

"His name, Meg," Hercules urged, trying to be kind while also imploring the young woman to finally tell him the truth.

There was a pause. A beat. Then—

"No." Meg's voice, if it was at all possible, had turned even more soft and timid, and she tried to walk away from him, but Hercules darted in front of her and rested his hands on her shoulders, preventing her from fleeing the scene. She stared. All the color had drained from Wonder Boy's tanned complexion, leaving him as pale as a ghost.

"Don't, Meg," he growled, glaring at her. "Please don't leave me, not a third time. Why are you protecting your master? What is it that you're keeping secret from me?" Hercules demanded.

Meg closed her eyes, and the tears that had been gathering there since Hades had set the forest ablaze now spilled over, clearing a path through the grime and ashes on her cheeks.

"I—I never meant for it to h-happen like this, Wonder Boy, it was just…I had no choice when he…came to me, and, well, I guess, perhaps it wouldn't be so terrible to tell you but I…" Meg sagged as she folded her arms over her chest and pointedly looked away from Hercules.

"I'm here, I'm right here where I'm standing, I'm not anywhere else, and I don't want to be, Meg, so please, just tell me," he pleaded.

Meg clenched her fists and drew in a deep breath to try to calm her racing nerves. Hercules waited with bated breath, watching as Meg seemed at war with herself, but after a moment, she let out the breath she had been holding in one long heavy and looked up at him, her expression pained. Her lips parted as if she meant to finally reveal the name of her master who would so cruelly leave her to burn to death, but no sounds went past her lips.

"I—if I tell you, you have to promise that you'll help your father reach a truce and that you will not kill him, no matter what happens, no matter what your father says. You have to promise me, or I won't tell you his name," Meg whispered. She thought she owed Hades that much at a minimum, considering the god's wife was pregnant.

Hercules stared in disbelief.

"My-my father? My father...knows your master? None of this is making any sense, Meg, so please, help me to understand. Who is it, Meg?" Hercules coaxed, stepping forward and draping his cloak over her shivering shoulders.

She tried to open her mouth to answer, to tell him that her master was Hades, but as she did so, her stomach twisted in uncomfortable knots and she felt like she was going to be sick.

She saw spots in her vision and her body swayed, and her head grew light. Meg tried to take a cautious step forward but before she could, a sharp shooting pain ripped through her head. She reached for Hercules who darted forward, catching her, and holding her in his protective arms until she steadied herself.

Their eyes caught each other's gazes. For a moment, it was almost as if there was nothing between them, but then they were reminded of the dangers Meg had narrowly escaped as Meg erupted into another violent coughing fit. Unwilling to be patient any longer, Hercules scooped Meg into his arms despite her quiet protests that she could manage to walk on her own and began to carry her back towards his and Phil's campsite. Learning the name of her master would unfortunately, much to Hercules' dismay and chagrin, have to wait until tomorrow morning.

As he walked with Meg in his arms back to their campsite, he let his mind wander and became lost in thought. He would make her tell him the truth tomorrow. Why had she not told him just now? The anger and frustration were bubbling within his broad, muscular chest and rising to the surface.

Whoever Meg's master was, he wanted to kill him, no matter what promise Meg would force him to make, he wanted to set the man on fire as her master had tried to do to her. He wanted to watch the ground turn red with his blood. He was not a violent man by nature, but this?

He gritted his teeth as he felt the urge to kill pump through his veins and his anger jump a level to dangerous proportions. Her master had crossed a nonnegotiable line by leaving Meg alone in that burning forest to burn to death.

Hercules was so preoccupied with the raging tempest of a storm that was brewing in his mind that for a long time, as he reached the edge of the city and spotted his campsite in the distance, he did not notice the intruder, paused just behind him.

But when Meg fell asleep in his arms, letting her head rest back against the crook of his elbow, breathing heavily, Hercules turned his head at just the right moment and caught a glimpse of a man that made him freeze. It was the same god from his dreams of watching Meg's death, that cloaked and shrouded figure donned in entirely black woolen robes.

Even half-hidden under the hood of his robes, his face was handsome, Hercules noted bitterly. Sharp angular features that could cut like a knife and a wild shock of thick tousled blue hair that seemed to flicker. Yellow, catlike eyes that, unnerving though they were, were also strangely hypnotic, in a sense. The god looked up and caught Hercules' gaze, just for a moment, and stiffened, his mouth half-open as if he meant to speak up.

But Hercules only stared blankly at him before turning back to Meg and bent slightly to kiss the burn mark just underneath poor Meg's right eye, finding it beautiful, but then, everything of Meg was.

He brushed away a few dark curls of her hair and tightened his grip on her limp form in his arms, almost possessively, protectively so. He did not know who this god was, but he tried to convey the warning with just a single look in his direction.

Meg is under my protection, you cannot touch her, and you cannot have her. Go back to the shadows, whatever hells you came from, and leave Meg here on earth where she belongs with me.

When Hercules looked up again, the intruder had vanished.

THE dark skies above his head reeled with ravens that had been scared out of their roosting perches in the trees from the fire he had started, and even beneath his feet, Hades could feel the dead men who had been buried beneath the soil stirring, knowing something was amiss with the earth.

Hades stood watching the skittering of the birds, the air around him laden with the bone-deep chill of the coming storm, before turning and slipping inside the temple that he had already agreed to meet his brother within, to 'talk'.

Though a smart man would know the low rolling boom of thunder he heard off in the distance as he went inside was the sound of his brother arriving on the scene.

Soon. He slipped inside and clung to the shadows, more comfortable in the dark, finding the light too garish. Hades had never wanted or needed much, but his sweet Persephone deserved the world and the whole of Mount Olympus at her fingertips if she so wished it.

A sinking dread wormed its way into the pit of his stomach and he began to growl, nearly fretting in place as he waited for Zeus to arrive. He would humor the mortal, Meg.

He would speak with Zeus, though he already knew it would likely amount to little except hurled insults. Hades emanated a tense exhale and stepped forward intending to call for Zeus if his brother did not show himself within five seconds, increasingly annoyed and feeling a budding anger welling within his veins at being kept waiting.

But before he could so much as utter the first letter of Zeus's wretched name, Hades' attention was caught by the sound of footsteps coming from behind him.

He whirled around with lightning speed to face whichever god or goddess had managed to catch him off-guard, a rare occurrence for him, and eager to pounce on whoever it was.

Defiantly, he rose to his full height of six feet. He had expected Zeus, or even Hermes have come bearing a message. But what met Hades' questioning eyes was the furthest thing from his brother or Hermes. His Queen stood only a few paces from him, looking like a work of art as if she belonged in Elysium rather than in the dank and dark Underworld with him.

Her flowing blue dress hit the floor and as she walked slowly towards him with measured steps, his gaze softened as her hand came to rest on the small bump of her belly.

Her lovely curls were turning redder, a lovely shade of auburn, as autumn came upon Greece.

"My love," she called, her voice soft and timid as she reached for his hand.

Hades accepted her warm hand in his, but even as he did so, he shook his head in dread. His black heart raced with fear for Persephone at having dared to breach the surface of the Underworld and return to Earth. It was not yet her time to be returned and if he was being perfectly honest with himself at the moment, his bastard of a brother was admittedly the last person he wanted Persephone anywhere near right now, given her delicate condition.

"Per?' Hades questioned, almost sounding angry with his wife, uncertain that what he was seeing was true. He was sure for a moment that his mind was playing a sport of his vision, that perhaps this was another of a god's cruel tricks, causing him to hallucinate the only person in his lonesome world that made him feel of any sort of worth.

But the warmth of Persephone's slender fingers entwining around his icy fingers was too real to be a phantasm, and he knew that she was real. That she was right beside him.

"What are you doing here, Per, you shouldn't be here!" he snapped, a bark to his voice that made her look up in surprise, hurt brimming to life in her blue eyes.

He cursed himself for hurting her feelings but said nothing more.

"I came because the Fates advised it. They told me that…you would need me soon, my love, and so of course, I came," Persephone answered, her already shy voice turning even timider.

His wife was looking shamefaced as she came to a halt in front of him, her hand not currently entwined in his moved upwards to snake her fingers through his shock of blue hair. She flushed and turned such a pretty shade of pink.

Her face was flushed an even darker shade of pink, her blue eyes glossy with unshed tears that immediately made Hades suspicious. Her fingers curled into shaking fists as she seized fistfuls of Hades' thick black woolen robes, and his wife could barely look at him as the distant rumble of thunder grew even louder.

Hades' expression turned almost angry at the turn of events that he could no longer control.

"No, Persephone!" he roared, his entire body beginning to shake vehemently. "I wanted you back home in the Underworld, my love. I wanted you safe and away from him," he declared, his tone hurt.

Persephone's eyes narrowed in incense and despair, the light in her brilliant blue eyes dimming and turning darker, almost cerulean and he nearly flinched.

"I'm not letting you do this alone, Hades!" she cried, though she winced upon hearing the faint warbling note of fear in her voice.

The thunder grew louder, Zeus's arrival within mere seconds, Hades had no choice but to accept Persephone's presence alongside him as he and his brother attempted negotiations and pray ironically enough, that his pregnant queen would be safe at the end of all of this.

Hades' shoulders slumped in defeat. He curtly nodded and turned his gaze towards the front just as a loud deafening crack! of thunder rent the air, and within moments, there stood his bastard of a brother, regal, too beautiful, and every inch the god that Hades always sought to be. He knew that he never could be just like Zeus.

Hades mentally swore every foul curse known to mankind and the gods as Zeus walked towards them, and he felt Persephone's slender fingers curl even tighter around his robes. He furrowed his brows together in a frown when he felt her entire body shaking. Zeus's icy stare seemed ready to hurl a thunderbolt in their direction.

"Brother," Hades answered flatly through clenched teeth as the ruler of Mount Olympus had neither the grace nor care to smile at him nor his wife. His voice was laced with anger and dread as he regarded his brother, the beloved favorite among all the gods, glaring with hatred sparking to life behind Hades' bright yellow eyes.

"It is…good to see you, Hades," Zeus said hauntingly, though the Lord of the Underworld swore Zeus's voice choked a bit as his eyes flicked towards Persephone and lingered on the small swell of her belly as she kept her hands encircled protectively over the baby inside her. "You look…well, except you could use some sunlight, both of you, your eyes are darker than half the dead souls in your Underworld, Hades."

"I imagine we do, brother," Hades hissed his words, still keeping his teeth gritted as he felt the familiar fire seed of anger welling in the pit of his stomach. Only Persephone's gentle touch kept him grounded and reminded him of what was important. Only she and the babe within her that their love and passions had created. Nothing else mattered. Everything he did, he did for them. The three immortals stood in awkward silence for a moment.

Hades' face was deadly serious as he brought his gaze up to meet Zeus, eager to return to the Underworld and not wanting to linger near Zeus a moment longer than was necessary, for Persephone's sake.

Being near his brother who would willingly bed any pretty woman, mortal or goddess, regardless of their status if they were married or not, was not good for his beloved queen.

"I have heard from your pretty little mortal girl you now have at your disposal that you are considering setting free the Titans, Hades," Zeus spoke with gritted teeth in a hoarse voice calloused with ire that never failed to stuff the chills down Hades' throat. "Chances come and go, brother, as you very well know. I gave you yours to do with as you please with Demeter's daughter. I have allowed you to marry your goddess, but if you do not halt this device against me and the others on Mount Olympus, what I have given you, then I can take it away just as easily."

Hades' hand squeezed almost painfully tight around Persephone's small waist would expand as her belly grew with their child. It wouldn't be long now, a few more weeks and her clothing would start to become tight at the hips and have to be let out. The edges of the god's mouth turned down as he noticed his brother eyeing his queen, and Hades' reeling mind ignited like a lighted wildfire that could not be quenched.

His brother had always thought highly of Demeter's daughter but also wanted her for himself, Hades' paranoia was beginning to seep in and whisper things into the shell of his ear.

He shook his head desperately to try to rid himself of these frenzied thoughts that would do him no good here.

He couldn't. He wouldn't do that. My brother has his honor to protect. He gave Persephone to me, she is MY wife.

But you've always been the lesser brother, a dark demonic voice whispered in the back of his mind.

Zeus could cross you off without batting an eyelid or any thought to his conscience, if the happy bastard even has one, and will take everything from you, starting with your wife and your unborn child.

And with it, the demon's murderous laughter rang in Hades' eardrums. He could not fail Persephone. He could not. The resolution took its toll on the Lord of the Underworld then and there. He would not fail his wife or would be all hell unleashed on him at once. As if he hasn't been feeling the heat of it already with his beloved queen's pregnancy.

All this time while Hades was fretting like a child, he was sloth to realize the emotionless way his brother continued to eye Persephone. His yellow eyes were quick to catch the glances of his brother at his wife, and the angst he was already allowing his immortal soul to wallow in nursed it even a bit more.

Zeus pities her and thinks nothing of me. He wants her. His hand tightened around his wife's waist. He felt his breathing rate increase as his heart careened so loud against his ribs that he was sure his wife and brother heard it.

But before Hades could so much as utter a word, Zeus was the first to speak.

"How fares the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone?" he asked her in a tone of voice that was almost cold.

Persephone stared, and it only occurred to her that she was not in the right place for company tonight, least of all with Zeus. She blinked owlishly at Zeus and it took Hades' wife a moment to find her voice again.

"I am well, Zeus, thank you. You should be proud of Hercules. He is proving himself worthy of us all."

"How are you enjoying your life with my brother in the Underworld? You don't find it so dull and dreary?" Zeus continued, speaking in his usual monotonous voice without even once giving a thought to Persephone's offer of praise to Hercules.

Persephone frowned. She did not understand and could not quite put her finger on how Zeus had a simple means of speaking that never failed to set her on edge. Hades sometimes made her cringe with the things that would slip out of his mouth from time to time, but his brother…Zeus was different. There was an air of hidden monstrosity underneath the regal and majestic appearance that Zeus went to painstakingly great lengths to keep hidden.

The ruler of Mount Olympus possessed a rather strange ability to unshackle one's deepest and darkest kept secret within only a second of conversation.

It unnerved the queen greatly and she looked away, sick at the thought that Zeus always saw her as a prize and he, like the other gods, had never looked upon her and Hades' marriage with the respect that she thought it deserved.

Zeus was looking at her right now like she was such a disappointment to their kind. Like he knew something of her that neither she nor her husband had yet to discover.

Persephone quickly lowered her lashes and spoke to the god in a soft voice.

"Speak to me, Persephone, you need not lie to me," Zeus sighed, sensing the young goddess's hesitations. Persephone looked up in surprise and alarm at him. "I will not take your words against you," he promised her.

"My—my words?" she asked, the furrow of confusion between her brows worsening as she looked to Hades for confirmation, though her husband's face was blank.

"Has my brother been treating you well throughout your marriage?" Zeus cut the Queen of the Underworld off, almost impatiently. "Hades, brother, you have never been an easy creature to love nor be loved, surely you know that about yourself, I do not think it is a great secret," he muttered, casting a curious glance towards his brother, to find that his brother's pale blue face had turned almost white and he looked as white as the souls he looked after.

Persephone stiffened and nervously cast her gaze towards Hades, who was barely moving and was looking suddenly quite tense. Anger swelled to life within her breast, and the words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself from spouting them at him.

"Of course he has. Why wouldn't he treat me well in a marriage? It is what one does, or what one is supposed to do for someone they love," Persephone snapped angrily.

The edges of Zeus's lips curled back into something akin to a feral snarl as he disagreed.

"Forgive me, Persephone, but it is unthinkable of my brother to be so…loving and loyal in a marriage."

"Then why did you let us marry, Zeus, tell me that?" The question slipped off Persephone's tongue smoothly, stealing Hades' eyes away from his brother and causing her husband to look down at her. She flinched. She wanted to take back her question, but it was already too late. "If you deemed our marriage to be a waste?" she demanded.

"Your union was never a waste, dear thing. You are an asset, make no mistake about that, but in the…wrong hands."

Hades was practically trembling with the effort to control his temper. Persephone gave her beloved husband a curious look. There was a glint in Zeus's blue eyes that was beginning to afflict them both. She was pulled from her conflicting thoughts when the ruler of Mount Olympus spoke in a clipped tone.

"You would truly tolerate my brother for the rest of your immortal life, Persephone? Is it love?" Zeus demanded.

Persephone stiffened and gritted her teeth, having the sudden instinct unready to hear Zeus's next words, though he carried on.

"You did not have much of a choice at the time when you married my brother, but now, he is not your only choice, Persephone. You need not stay with Hades, Persephone."

Persephone stared, gobsmacked, but even without her or Hades bidding him to enlighten them, the ruler of Mount Olympus seemed to be in the mood to convince her otherwise. The god's words burned Persephone's heart like the flames of the Underworld itself. Her fingertips went numb and her mouth, already dry, went dryer still.

Persephone closed her eyes and buried her head in Hades' chest, hating Zeus, and hating the predicament the ruler of Mount Olympus was placing them in.

Oh, Zeus knew exactly what sort of venom would hurt her husband the most, but Zeus's provocation of Persephone only incensed the Lord of the Underworld further, and he stood resolutely in place, his hands encircling protectively around his wife for support. His brother's words hit Hades like a slap in the face, the shock of it ringing like his brother had raised his cracking palm against his cheek and had struck him down with one of his thunderbolts.

"No," he growled flatly, his fingernails digging into the fabric of Persephone's dress. "You will not touch my wife, Zeus, Persephone is MY wife. MINE. You gave her to me, you will not take her away from me, brother!" he yelled.

Persephone cast Hades a disparaging look as she noticed her love's eyes beginning to shift and change color to that of purest black. Zeus's stance had shifted, taking on a defensive position and the low rumbling thunder in the skies only worsened. Black and purple storm clouds were now billowing in from the east, at a slow and leisurely pace.

Hades clenched his fists as he saw a thunderbolt appear in Zeus's dominant hand the god readied himself to fight at the slightest sign that Hades meant to pounce.

He was not even aware that his entire body had begun to tremble, or that emanating from every orifice of his body came a thick horrible black mist that shrouded the area in black and grey tendrils of a dense, heavy fog.

She reached up to touch Hades' face but hesitated, scared he might react violently. What Persephone saw should have frightened her, but it didn't. The Lord of the Underworld's eyes were dark and cold, now of the purest black.

His handsome face was void of all emotion. There was a quiver beneath Hades' left eye, and a blue vein began to bulge in the god's neck. She saw nothing but darkness and a menacing look in his newly turned black eyes as he was letting his anger and pent-up frustration and rage take control. The look he shot toward Zeus and the way he held onto her now was possessive and obsessive. It sent a secret little thrill through her.

"Hades," she breathed. What is wrong with me? "Hades, Zeus, stop this, please, there is no need to fight like this," Persephone begged, her shy voice floating through the air toward the pair of feuding brothers like a soothing balm.

She bit down on her bottom lip hard and closed her eyes, bracing herself for Hades to shove her roughly out of the way to lunge for Zeus the moment she heard a low growl come from deep within his chest.

"You will say nothing more to my queen, brother, I will listen to this nonsense no more," Hades threatened, the edges of his lips curling up in a snarl. "I've seen the way you look at Per, Zeus. You cannot seem to stop looking at her lately. You keep your eyes elsewhere, she is my wife. You have not the slightest chance with Per, not even in your wildest dreams, no matter what trickery you think you could pull to try to fool her. You want peace, brother, just as much as I do. You don't want war. None of us do, I know that," Hades hissed through gritted teeth as he spoke up. "My terms are simple enough. Abdicate the throne of Mount Olympus to me. You and your wife Hera will step down, and Per and I will rule in your stead. There is no need for bloodshed if you step down of your own volition."

The tension in Zeus's jaw did not release as he flicked his gaze from Persephone and then back to Hades.

"You are delusional, Hades. This is dangerous ground you tread, brother, you had best be cautious. You seem to forget that we three drew sticks that day for which of us would rule what realm. You seem to be forgetting your place. The Underworld needs a god presiding over it. What better god-suited for the role than you, Hades? Poseidon is busy ruling the ocean, you never struck me as the type to fancy water, you always did seem to cling to the shadows as a boy, Hades. The choice was obvious."

Hades straightened furiously, clenching his fists into angry balls at his side, fire beginning to form at the tips of his fingers.

"Brother, you are quick to judge who is a danger to my wife, but it seems yet again you know not of whom you speak," he snarled, his tone rising to match his angry mood.

A strange dark look passed between the two gods. There would be a fight soon, just as the Fates had predicted, Persephone could feel it in her bones. She moved out of Hades' protective embrace and bravely if perhaps not stupidly, stepped in front of her husband, now shielding him from Zeus's wrath.

"Per," Hades growled in a voice that was far too gruff. It was as if he was holding something back, something within him that was about to implode. "Leave. Go home. I don't want you here to see what comes next, it will not be pretty."

Persephone stared, hardly daring to believe her ears. It took her a moment to find her voice and when she found it again, it came out as broken and sounding very frightened.

"Hades, n-no. Y-you cannot do this, please!" Persephone wept, frightened tears beginning to trail down her cheeks.

"Go. Do not make me say it a second time, Per, you of all the gods know that I hate saying things a second time, sweetheart." His tone was insistent and terse. The way he was standing told Persephone that there would be a limited amount of time before he lost what little control he still had left over the magic that was seeping through every orifice of his body, just threatening to explode out of him. But she couldn't just leave him here alone with him!

How could Hades ever expect her to return to the Underworld without him? He had done so much for her, and now, he was asking her to leave him alone to suffer the wrath of his brother. She could not do such a thing…

A growl passed through Zeus's gritted teeth and the god's grip on the thunderbolt in his hand tightened, to the point where Hercules' father's knuckle turned white with the effort to hold it steady and prevent it from misfiring.

"You are meddling, brother, in that which you do not understand and which you never will. You have no idea the horror and devastation you will unleash if you release the Titans that I worked so hard to imprison, Hades, and if you do not cease this effort against me, then I will have no choice but to act. Consider this as my final warning."

"Stand down and relinquish your throne on Olympus, brother, and my 'meddling' as you call it, will stop. I give you my word," Hades spoke in a low voice, feeling his anger flare the way Zeus's eyes once more traveled to Persephone and lingered upon his queen, a look of desire and jealousy sparking to life behind the god's bright blue eyes.

A cloud of anger and something akin to remorse flitted across Zeus's chiseled face and Zeus shook his head to himself and raised the thunderbolt that crackled and sparked in his fist.

"So be it, brother, I can see that you will once again refuse to listen to my counsel, to logic and reason when it is given to you, but you only humiliate yourself and your queen further by continuing this device against me, Hades!"

Persephone opened her mouth to try to plead with Hades to stop this, that as much as she wished for her and her family to be able to leave the realm of the Underworld, it was not worth this feud, she did not want this.

But just as Hades' wife turned her head out of curiosity, the flash of yellow that was speeding towards them faster than light itself made itself clear. It was Zeus's thunderbolt, directly aimed at Hades' heart.

Persephone nearly felt her own heart stop right there on the spot, but then her crushing fear and panic that one or both of them would be killed if this madness was not stopped were suddenly overwhelmed with a new desire.

To defend and protect her husband, just as Hades had protected her.

But before she could wrench free of Hades' vice grip, he quickly spun Persephone out of the way of the path of the thunderbolt that was intended for him and him alone and towards the safety of the darkness behind him.

Hades could hear her stumble and squeak in surprise at his unexpected roughness, but for once, he did not apologize for his rough handling of his beloved wife. He was far too concerned with not allowing Zeus's wretched thunderbolt to strike his wife and kill her or do harm to their unborn baby. He took several steps away from Zeus to try to put as much distance between him and the queen he guarded behind him. Hades bared his teeth and snarled, shifting his body into a defensive position to try to keep Persephone hidden from his brother's madness.

The pressure in Hades' head exploded as he let out a furious blood scream as he sped towards Hades, summoning just a little of his inhuman god-like speed, tackling his brother to the ground with such a raging passion that his pupils shrank.

"No!" Persephone screamed as black fire began to seep out of Hades' fingertips he conjured a small ball of flame in his hand as her husband whipped his hand back and cracked Zeus hard against the head. Persephone screeched again. "Hades, no!" she pleaded, watching in horror as the ruler of Mount Olympus hit the ground hard.

Blood was pouring from the gash on his head and into his eyes, and the moan the god of thunder let out now was almost truly pathetic. Persephone felt her heart break in two for both her husband, herself, and Zeus.

She thought she was beginning to understand that as much as she and her husband might dislike living in the Underworld, as much as they longed to be accepted among the other gods of Mount Olympus, she'd not wanted this.

"Hades, please…stop..." Persephone begged as tears trailed down her cheeks, though her shy voice wafting through the air was enough to reach the Lord of the Underworld as her love turned his face towards her and stared at her, the god's face blank, his eyes turned purest black, and menacing.

He blinked. He knew just as she did that they could let Zeus live and walk away from this unscathed, and none of the other gods could do anything meaningful in a manner that would hurt them. They both knew this, but… The other gods would learn the truth soon enough if they were not aware of what was transpiring between the two brothers. And Hades, her sweet Hades, if he let loose the Titans on Mount Olympus and went against Zeus after all then he would be viewed as a traitor by the other gods. They would likely even kill him for it. Just because gods were immortal did not mean they could not be killed. She doubted they would simply let him live the remainder of his immortal life in the Underworld with her, even exiled. And if he was killed, she would never see her love again.

She would never be able to talk to Hades or hold him or kiss him. Their daughter would grow up fatherless.

Her lower lip trembled and her eyes began to fill with tears. Persephone's blood in her veins ran cold and her stomach lurched as Zeus managed to get to his feet. The crackling of another thunderbolt could be seen sailing towards Hades before the god could spin on his heels to see it coming.

In a flash of fierce protectiveness and not even needing to think, Persephone darted forward between Hades and the god of thunder's deadly bolt, shoving her husband out of the way with surprising strength for a goddess so petite.

Hades was flung off balance, unsure for a moment of what was happening.

Frantically, he spun around in time to see the thunderbolt Zeus had intended to be struck at Hades bury itself with Persephone's heart. In just the blink of an eye, Persephone staggered backward, her body convulsing as the force of the bolt shocked her, wincing in pain, but miraculously, his love made no sound.

"NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Hades screamed in horror as he watched his wife fall to the ground.

Rage flashed in his eyes as he spun towards Zeus, turning questioning, horror-filled eyes to his brother, unable to believe what he had just done. Almost hysterical, Hades bounded forward and collapsed to his knees beside Persephone's limp frame. He turned his wife to face him, tears streaming down his cheeks as he rested a trembling hand over her heart and could not feel the rise and fall of her chest.

Horrified, Hades tried to will some of his strength into his wife. Nearly in shock, Persephone raised her fingers and caressed Hades' tear-stained cheeks, a funny little smile playing on her lips.

"Thank the Gods, Hades," she gasped in a choked whisper. Though she was gravely wounded, his queen's only thought was of him. "You aren't…hurt," she sighed, her blue eyes turning glossy with relief and thankfulness that he wasn't.

Hades watched as the light flickering behind his queen's eyes was growing fainter with each passing moment.

"Per! Please!" he shouted, shaking her slightly in hopes of rousing her from her state of unconsciousness. "Stay with me, don't do this to me, do not go where I can't follow," he pleaded, but this time, it was not his choice to make.

He could only hold Persephone close, all he could do was stare down into her eyes, finding peace in the soothing blue hue of his wife's eyes as her lids flickered open and shut, barely perceptively, before fluttering closed.

Hades' heart was in his throat as he realized he had no outlet to vent his pain and frustration upon Zeus, not with Persephone still in his arms. Hades rose to his feet on shaking legs that could barely support his body weight, much less that of his wife's dead weight now in his arms, and let loose his fury upon the temple they were in.

Lifting his head to the ceiling and letting out a long and furious yell, he let his magic and anger take control as fury and heartbreak swept over him in a sweeping torrent that could not be stopped.

He did not even feel his fire burning him as he burnt his brother's temple to the ground. He felt no pain as the flames licked and nipped at his hands, his mind so focused on Persephone and what Zeus had just done to him.

He was sure whatever was left of his blackened soul over the years had just died now with Persephone, as he turned rage-filled and questioning eyes towards his brother, unable to believe that even Zeus could be this cruel as to take away everything important in his life from him. But the proof was right in front of him.

When he spoke to Zeus, he spoke in a voice that Zeus could only later describe as a low growl.

"Look at her, Zeus, look at what you have just done," he hissed. "For killing my wife, there is no coming back from this," he snarled through clenched teeth, slick tears streaming down his face. "Too bad, brother. Looks like it's war after all," he snarled.

Zeus parted his lips as if he meant to speak, but before another word was spoken, Hades spun on his heels and vanished in a cloud of black smoke, holding his wife in his arms, his once-black eyes now reverted to yellow and were wild and red at the rims.

In his mind, war with Mount Olympus was already waged.

MEDUSA shivered as she leaned against the bark of a dead tree, feeling the cantankerous Satyr's black beady eyes bore a hole straight through her. She startled slightly at seeing the venomous look with which the goat was eyeing her. She was not sure how much more scrutiny and mistrust from the Satyr she could take. However, she calmed down soon enough when the man who had killed her precious Ophion returned with Meg in his strong arms.

The man who'd killed her Hydra, Hercules, spoke very little as he and Phil bustled about the campsite, doing what they could for her to ensure that Meg was comfortable.

Medusa stiffened upon noticing the burn mark underneath Megara's eye that was sure to scar if it was not properly treated, and soon.

She nibbled on the wall of her mouth. Her head was still throbbing from where the man had accidentally hacked off a lock of her long hair and the Gorgon's body ached all over.

Truth be told, she had never felt more wretched in her entire life. She was sure her entire back was covered in bruises and her dark purple dress would likely be covered in holes from where the bark of the tree she was resting against was poking at her back.

"Her wound needs to be treated," she said but neither Hercules nor the goat did anything, too busy huddled around Meg and fretting over her to pay much attention to anything else going on, let alone Medusa. Hercules seemed to be fretting in place as he fussed over her, not knowing what to do. At first, Medusa wasn't even sure the man had heard her, she had spoken so softly and her words were drowned out by the snakes' hissing of distrust in her ears.

Medusa was not even aware she was looking shocked as her stride met the wall of Hercules' chest she got up from her spot on the cold and unforgiving ground and moved towards Hercules and the Satyr, eager to examine Megara with her own eyes.

Medusa gasped and jumped backward as Hercules, forgetting himself, looked up in alarm at her approach and she quickly squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head.

Hercules ignored the Gorgon's behavior, his mind stuck on one thing and one thing only. Meg.

"Y-you could... help her?" he asked, hopefully, almost begging Medusa.

The Gorgon slowly opened her eyes, hardly daring to believe what she was hearing, but she felt herself nod her head in agreement. She felt excitement welling in her veins that this mortal was willing to at least entertain the notion of trusting her, but she forced her emotions to try to remain calm. She did not want to frighten him or anger him in any way that would bode ill for her, so, Medusa would be cautious for now.

"Y-yes," she whispered. "I-if you will let me," she stammered shyly, careful to approach with caution and slowly.

Medusa did not want this…Hercules, to get the wrong idea about her intentions. If he did, then her head was as good as detached from her shoulders at the first sign of a twitch that the man misinterpreted the wrong way.

Hercules's eyes grew moist as he thought of Meg's burn mark that now marred her cheek. Though she was still beautiful in his eyes no matter what, there was no telling how Meg would react to it when she woke.

His heart skipped a beat and he hoped the Gorgon standing a few feet in front of him did not notice the hope that flickered through his eyes or the way his gaze remained stuck on Meg as she slept uneasily.

But it was clear by the way she spoke that she had already deduced Hercules' dilemma.

As if the young Gorgon sensed Hercules' conflicting thoughts, she spoke, her voice trembling. "Please. Let me help Meg. She needs help," the Gorgon said, concern laced throughout her soft and timid voice. "I know what I'm doing—"

But Phil bleated an angry retort by way of interrupting Medusa, the Satyr unable to hold his wrath and displeasure any longer.

"You are the last person this broad needs to see right now, Gorgon, you'll turn all of us to stone the first chance you get! Herc here can't trust you as far as he can throw you!" Phil bellowed, his face flushing a deep cherry red as he yelled, to which Pegasus snorted and stomped a hoof against the ground in agitation at all the chaos.

Medusa shot Phil a withering look that if she was of a mind to, could have turned him to stone within the blink of an eye if she but lifted her gaze just a fraction higher. She huffed indignantly and stroked the head of one of her snakes.

"If I wanted you stone, Satyr, you would be stone, already. I've already told you, Meg is a friend to me when I have no one else, you dare suggest I'd hurt her?"

Medusa's voice trembled as she was unable to keep the anger out of her voice, and without waiting for an answer, she stalked even closer. Before Medusa could open her mouth to plead with the Satyr or the man to reconsider, Meg shuddered and groaned in her sleep, as if in pain, and curled in on herself in her sleep.

Hercules stiffened and gave Phil a threatening look before turning questioning, cautious eyes to Medusa.

Medusa cast a curious glance out of the corner of her lowered peripherals to see that Megara's so-called 'Wonder Boy' had turned pale and his hands were turning clammy and beginning to shake. Badly. Hercules looked as much as he dared in the Gorgon's general direction.

"Save her. Please, Medusa, I-I will do anything you ask, I swear," he begged in a shaking voice, ignoring his trainer's protests that they could not bring a Gorgon like her into their lives.

Medusa did not speak. It was clear that this son of Zeus, whom Hades seemed so fixated on, was very much in love with Meg, whether or not he knew it or not.

All Medusa could do was nod her head and pray she would pull Meg through.

Medusa rummaged through one of the saddlebags that had been stripped off the man's winged horse for the night until she found what she was looking for, having been able to smell it from across the other side of the campfire. Whichever one had packed the saddlebags, the Satyr if she had to hazard a guess, had come prepared.

She scooped out of a small makeshift clay jar a thick dark and foul-smelling paste that made the snakes closest to her ears hiss and recoil in displeasure as she painted it over Meg's burn mark, just underneath her right eye.

"There," she murmured, taking a step back to admire her quite literal handiwork. "The poultice will need to be reapplied every few hours but at least while it's healing, this way, it won't become infected," she announced, her expression hopeful.

Hercules held Meg tightly in his arms, relieved tears welling in his eyes that she would be all right, and yet, the man did not let them fall.

"Thank you, Medusa, for Meg. You—you saved her, h-how is it that you know medicines?" he declared, turning his head to the left so he could look into the reflection of his shield and see Medusa's face.

Medusa blushed maddeningly and shook her head and tried to shrug off Hercules' praise.

"Well, I...when one lives alone as I do, one has to learn these things in case an incident ever arises," she muttered, recoiling and blushing a deep dark green maddeningly. She did not want this man's praise, any of it, and sent it away. "Don't thank me yet. She's not out of the woods yet, she's not woken up and there's still a chance of infection setting in. It's a serious wound, and it's going to take some time to heal. I-I only did what anyone else would do."

When she was finished, Medusa rose to her feet with a pained groan at the stiffness in her joints from all the walking and running she had been doing here lately and wearily sat by the fire, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

The edges of her mouth turned down in a frown as she noticed the mistrustful look the Satyr was giving.

She felt a surge of annoyance kindle to life within her chest and the words were ripped from her lips as she hissed them more than spoke them, directing her venom at the man's apparent personal trainer and mentor.

"I've already told you, if I wanted you stone, then you would be stone," Medusa snapped, angrily turning her head and adjusting her body so that her profile was turned to the side so she was not in danger of turning any of them to stone on accident. "But I don't, despite what you think of me, Phil. And you, Hercules," she sighed heavily, frustrated. She bit down hard on her bottom lip and watched Meg, who now seemed to be peacefully sleeping, and toyed with a lock of her long hair, smiling softly as she slowly lulled this particular snake to sleep with her gentle touch. "I wasn't always like this. I-I wasn't always a monster," she whispered, shamefaced, aware she was babbling.

"What? What happened?" Hercules questioned, his mind struggling to comprehend it all as he moved once more to take Meg in his arms, though not before unclasping his thick blue cloak and draping it over her badly shivering form.

He was pleased that she seemed to calm a little once his cloak was over her and he held her as firmly as he dared in his arms. Through her tears now brimming in her yellow eyes, Medusa watched Hercules wearily and decided that she had no reason not to trust this man, as Meg did, even though this man had slaughtered her Hydra.

She took a deep breath and began to explain the reasons for her monstrous appearance, staring deep into the depths of the campfire they had gathered around as though she thought she could burn the horrific memories out of her mind, forever. Medusa could no longer hold back her anger and heartbreak.

Hercules could only watch as Medusa's entire demeanor stiffened, and she licked her lips as her jaw hardened. It was clear that recalling the memories of what had happened was painful for her, but he was glad she was sharing them.

"I don't remember much of my life before, as a human, but I remember the day it happened. I was at the temple for prayers and the most beautiful man I ever saw took an interest in me while I was there. I did not know until afterward after it happened, who he was. He had disguised himself to see me," she began, her voice hushed, barely a whisper. "It was a goddess who cursed me. The god of the sea, Poseidon, he uh…forced himself…"

Hercules saw a swallow cascade down Medusa's throat.

"Medusa, I...I'm sorry, I...I didn't know," Hercules murmured, a faint blush coming over his cheeks.

"I tried to fight against him. I struck him and tried to run out of the temple. That was when Athena appeared." She stared numbly into the flames and even through the reflection of his shield, Hercules could see the pain in her eyes.

Phil narrowed his eyes. "Why would it have been Athena who cursed you to look like this, Gorg—I mean...uh...Medusa," he quickly corrected upon being on the receiving end of a particularly stony look from his champ, who did not like anyone calling the broad Megara's unexpected savior anything less than polite.

Hercules frowned at Phil before returning his gaze to the Gorgon who had saved Meg's life.

Staring at the young Gorgon who, now that he was looking hard enough, could see the shadow underneath of the beautiful woman she once was, and even as a Gorgon, Hercules thought there was something of her that was pretty enough. Mother and Father had told him of gods forcing themselves onto unwilling young women but he'd never agreed with such actions. There was absolutely nothing enjoyable in seeing a woman suffer like that, and up until he had met Meg, he had never taken an interest in a woman before. And if it weren't for Medusa, Meg would be dead.

Hercules was pulled back to the present matter at hand by the sound of Medusa's shy voice wafting through the air.

When she spoke, there was a bitterness seeping its way to the surface of her voice he was quick to decide he did not like it, but all he could do right now was listen to the young Gorgon's tale of heartbreak and woe and feel for her.

"She loved him…" Medusa inhaled sharply, pain in her voice as she spoke. "Athena thought that I tried to seduce him, but she could not have been more wrong," she hissed. "For punishment, I did all I could to stop him, and yet I was the one punished for doing nothing wrong. She should have gone for Poseidon but she loved him and was willing to turn a blind eye." A cynical chuckle escaped her as she stroked a lock of her hair and let out a sigh.

Horrified at the truly terrible turn her life had taken for the worst, Hercules felt hollow as he spoke to her.

"I—I'm sorry," Hercules stammered, his tongue feeling thick in his mouth. He was not sure what to say.

Though one of Medusa's snakes hissed in displeasure as it quickly cut him off from what he had been about to say next, Medusa's demeanor was angry as Medusa rose to her feet, shocked.

"Don't," she pleaded in a warbling voice that sounded truly pathetic, even to her ears.

She turned away and furiously blinked back at the onset of what would soon be fresh tears trailing down her cheeks if she could not control herself.

"I-I don't want your pity or anyone else's. Athena cursed me and my entire family to live as these beasts, for his sin. I have to hold out hope that someday, even if I have to beg her, she'll find it within her heart to lift this curse."

Hercules' eyes widened as his grip on Meg in his arms tightened as she paraded her back to him, her way of terminating a conversation, he suspected and shot Phil a questioning look. But the rueful and mistrusting glower Phil shot him told him that Phil's help in persuading her to stay was too much to hope for.

He felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach as she began to walk away to head deeper into the woods.

A wave of guilt washed over Hercules, heavy and suffocating. He had very nearly killed this Gorgon.

"I—I h-had no idea," he stammered, eyes widening. "I-I'm sorry," Hercules stuttered. "No one told me."

"You never asked, kid," Phil grunted under his breath as he kept his arms folded across his chest.

A muscle in Medusa's jaw clenched and tightened as she clenched her teeth and began to walk away.

"Thank you, Hercules, for…for not killing me back there earlier. You could have, but you didn't." He couldn't see it as she was turned away from him, but Medusa was smiling bitterly, sadly, to herself. "You might be the first mortal man I've encountered who didn't immediately hate me right from the start. Meg is lucky, to have a good friend like you, there don't seem to be too many men in this world who don't fear what I've become," she murmured, her tone sad.

Hercules drew in a sharp breath.

"Poseidon, the...the god who hurt you, he was punished?" he asked, feeling certain he already knew the answer, and yet, he clung to an inkling of hope welling within his chest that Medusa's circumstances were different. The bitter laugh that Medusa let out made him flinch and realize that he had been naive and a fool to hope for as much.

She almost turned to face him, to look at him incredulously in shocked awe out of the corner of her eye but did not.

"C'mon, 'Wonder Boy', you can't be so naïve as to believe that? Of course, he wasn't punished for my attack."

Hercules tried to picture Medusa as a beautiful young woman, bruised, beaten, humiliated, broken, bleeding, pleading with the gods to save her, only to curse her instead. The gruesome image made him shudder with angst.

"I-I'm sorry, Medusa, that should never have happened to you, ever, what…what can I do to try to help?" he said, not knowing what else to say and yet already knowing Medusa would hate hearing it.

True to form, the Gorgon hissed in the back of her throat and caused Pegasus to whine in fear as she turned away.

"What are you apologizing for? You weren't the one who attacked me, Poseidon was. Anyways, I told you I have no use or want for your pity. Or anyone else's, for that matter." Medusa's tone was frosty as she began to walk away.

Hercules numbly nodded as he watched Medusa parade her back to him and Phil, half of a mind to follow her, but the other half felt justified in staying right here by the fire and continuing to hold Meg in his arms while she slept and see to it that she was kept protected.

His eyebrows rose as he watched Meg's unlikely savior and a friend go and it was then that a strange and perhaps wildly inappropriate thought came to him. He hesitated, unsure whether or not to ask Medusa this, but his curiosity was almost overwhelming. He had to get it out, he had to know the truth.

"Y-your hair, Medusa, b-before, before your curse," he stammered, fumbling over his words as they reached Medusa's ears and made the young Gorgon freeze in her tracks. He could tell she was listening though, and he took that as a good sign and continued, letting out a breath he'd not even realized he'd held it. "What color was it?"

Medusa stood as still as one of the statues back home in her grotto. Her nervous yellow eyes flicked down to the ground. She felt as though somehow, she should not answer Meg's 'Wonder Boy', but…he had given her no reason not to trust him.

Medusa turned her profile to the side and eyed Hercules sadly out of the corner of her lowered gaze, her yellow eyes boring a hole into the dirt beneath her feet. She pleaded silently with Hercules to understand, that she did not bring up her past and the memories that haunted her still to this day to garner sympathy and pity, but to hopefully earn his trust and to have him and the Satyr seated next to him to stop eyeing her so spitefully.

All she wanted now was to live out the rest of her cursed life in peace. Medusa fought the tears that stung her eyes. These days, she could barely remember what she had looked like as a young woman, before.

The images that tended to flit through her mind's eye when she least expected them were fleeting at best, usually passing her by too quickly for her to comprehend them.

She lifted her head and eyed Hercules with a pained expression as she remembered, seeing rich flashes of a lovely dark brown color flit through her mind as she forced herself to relive the worst day of her life thus far.

Finally, Medusa tilted her head.

"Brown, Hercules, my...my hair was brown, I...I think. It's been so long though, I'm not even sure I remember anymore," she whispered in a voice that was so faint that for a moment, Hercules wasn't even sure that she had spoken at all. But she continued before he could speak. "E-excuse me, Hercules, I um...I'm not feeling well, and I think I need to take a walk. I won't be gone long or very far," she stammered.

She made to turn away, but then something gave her pause and she hesitated, wanting in her mind time to linger.

"You could have killed me back there, in the woods, when the forest burned. When you saw me with Meg, Hercules." The Gorgon's words were unassuming and soft and carried no hint of blame whatsoever, though she knew Hercules would have every right not to trust her, considering what she was.

His immediate reaction upon hearing her unexpectedly grateful words, as Medusa predicted, was an instant wariness. The Satyr too did not yet seem entirely convinced, either.

"You could have, but you didn't," she whispered, her voice serious but a twinge of awe rested in the Gorgon's voice as well. "You let me come back with you to your camp here and you let me help Meg," she gestured with a wave of her hand towards Meg's sleeping form.

"Even knowing what I am, you still didn't kill me." Medusa felt her breath catch in her throat and she fought against the urge to wring her hands together out of nervous habit, but this was admittedly the longest interaction she'd had with humans before since she had been cursed like this. "I-I don't deserve your kindness, b-but…I want you both to know that I'm truly grateful for it. I will try my best not to cause any trouble for either of you. You've my word."

She ducked her head and fled without bothering to look back at Hercules, her words utterly spent and her tears threatening to come to her yet again. She fled before Hercules could plead with her to stay, though he was unwilling to leave Meg's side for even a moment. Phil snorted and rolled his eyes to the sky, turning his attention to Hercules.

"You got a pretty deadly dame angry with you, champ," Phil chuckled darkly. "Take a little friendly advice, kid, from a Satyr who's had plenty of women mad at him," he offered Hercules, unsolicited. "Never underestimate the fury of a woman," he warned, his black eyes flashing. "Especially not a Gorgon, kid."

Hercules frowned and rolled his eyes in disgust, not appreciating Phil's attitude towards Meg or Medusa, instead keeping his eyes fixed on her. He wanted to go after Medusa, to plead with her to stay, that he needed her, and more importantly, Meg did, but instead, Phil's hand coming to rest on his thigh withdrew Hercules from his doubts.

"Let her go, kid. Give her the space. She needs it. I gotta say, I don't know what's come over you, bringin' this broad and now a stone-cold killer of a Gorgon into our midst, but there are worse creatures to keep company with. Just...please don't make me regret trustin' you, Champ, I'm beggin' you."

Given Phil's dislike and mistrust of the Gorgon, he was smiling almost understandingly up at Hercules, which made him wonder what was causing him to change his mind.

Hercules hesitated, looking after Medusa's retreating silhouette as she disappeared into the forest, only tearing his gaze away when he could no longer see her, shifting Meg in his arms.

He was certain that she was the last person Medusa wanted to see right now and feared that Phil was correct.

Hercules was at a loss for words as he held Meg in his arms, his mind once more drifting to thoughts of the handsome unfamiliar god he had laid eyes upon earlier, that cloaked and shrouded figure that made him think of a physical embodiment of death itself. He wondered which god it was, and what he wanted with Meg.

Hercules shivered and shook his head vehemently to himself, willing the image to leave him. Slowly, he leaned down and laid a gentle kiss on Meg's forehead. How he longed to feel her lips move against his in another kiss again, but…now wasn't the time. He sighed and held her tighter so that Meg was almost flush against him, protecting her.

Phil cautiously approached where Hercules sat, shocked at the mark that now marred Meg's beautiful features. As cold and apathetic as he was acting towards Meg, still not trusting this broad, not even he would wish her to suffer this.

"What in Zeus's name happened, kid? The fire…it started out of nowhere, and I ain't never seen a natural fire spread that fast, you feel me? How could it happen? There wasn't anything natural about that fire, some god or other, some creature, was behind this, her master, maybe? I'm tellin' you, Champ, just like a blacksmith would, all the pieces, they ain't welding together true. She's lying," Phil furrowed his brows in deep thought as he looked over Meg's face.

Hercules glanced down nervously at Meg's curled body huddled against his for warmth and his eyes lowered, lost.

"I know that she's hiding something, I don't need you to tell me that. I need to talk to her, Phil…Something's not right," he murmured and stared off into the distance, suddenly catching himself hoping that Medusa would return soon.

---

MEDUSA tried to vest herself to remain in one piece as she ran towards the edge of the woods at a near sprint. The anger shock and embarrassment she had felt at re-telling her past to Meg's friend she seemed so smitten with had thankfully subsided. But all that was left in its place was a hollow ache in her heart, a dull acceptance that she would never be rid of Athena's curse. She would die as this monster, she was sure of it, never again to be a human.

Medusa paused when she came to the edge of the river, just on the outskirts of the woods. She almost expected to hear Hercules' footsteps behind her, hurrying to catch up, to plead with her to come back.

Medusa knew that if she turned and saw Hercules coming towards her, she would be powerless to resist and she did not want to be near anyone at the moment with how she felt. Vulnerable. Weak. Two things that, since her curse, she had sworn never to be again. But when she'd felt Hercules' stare boring into her as she recanted the tale of how she had come to be this accursed wretch whose head every villager wanted to be mounted on their wall like some trophy, it had taken everything within herself not to raise her gaze and let herself look into his sky-blue irises.

But almost as soon as the thoughts formed in her mind, Medusa quickly felt a piece of her resolve chip away and fail her. It made her angry with herself, as she could not allow her fury at what Athena had done to her to fade.

She wanted companionship, more than anything, but for that to happen, the poor guy would have to be—

No! Medusa's eyes widened as she realized what she was doing to herself. She forced her mind to grind to a halt and shook away such unhelpful thoughts.

There was no room in her life left now for daydreaming fantasies of having her curse ever reversed, no hope of her meeting a man and settling down with him and enjoying a life of peace, and happiness. Those dreams, like the forest Hades had set on fire, needed to be burned and made history. She was doomed never to know true happiness. Happiness. Medusa almost felt herself smiling sadly at the notion. Happiness. Love. Emotions, feelings that had not been made available to her since the goddess Athena had seen fit to ruin her life for the simple crime of being attacked by a god whose attention and whose heart she had not even wanted, and would never want. Several seconds ticked by before Medusa realized, surprised and caught off guard, that she was not alone down by the river.

A figure stood a few feet away from her with his back to her. She froze, torn by her indecision on whether or not to flee, as she could see that the man was armed, he carried a knife around his belt. But an enemy, she thought, would not be standing in and taking in the sights, and so, Medusa made the perhaps foolish decision to approach him without fear. The Gorgon made it a point to purposefully step quite loudly on a few twigs and leaves as she drew closer. She did not want to frighten the fellow and end up with a dagger to the stomach or her neck, Medusa knew.

The man glanced at her as Medusa came to stand beside him while still keeping a respectful enough distance away, and her first thought of him was the man's features were striking in the moonlight. The stranger's jaw and cheekbones were sharp, yet his demeanor seemed kind, his clothing simple, a man of modest tastes.

As he twisted his neck slightly to better look in her general direction, Medusa made to squeeze her eyes shut, until she realized that he was blind, his eyes were a faint hazy cloudy blue.

"Uh, h-hello?" The man's tenor-like voice pulled the shocked Gorgon out of her stunned stupor as her yellow eyes made a quick scan of his black-cloaked form which obscured most of his frame and his face under the hood.

But what Medusa could see of him, she immediately knew that she liked him. Her eyelids fluttered for a moment.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I was just…uh…lost in thought for a moment, h-how can I help you, guy, are you…lost? What are you doing out here all alone?" Medusa laughed nervously and hushed the snakes who were hissing into her ear, willing them to be quiet not only so she could seem more attentive but also to get a better look at this blind man.

The man suddenly wrung his hands together in front of him as if nervous.

"I-I-I was looking for someone, a-and one of the Thebans I passed by in the street thought they…saw her go into the woods." The nervous man's voice lowered an octave as he stammered over his words, continuing to wring his hands in front of him. Medusa tried to stifle a giggle from observing the blind man's odd behavior.

Though strange and skittish for no apparent reason, she found him to be quite endearing. She pondered over his words and wondered if the 'someone' he was looking for was Meg.

The Gorgon stepped on a twig as she stepped closer and watched, interested, as the blind man jumped a bit at the sudden noise, a muscle in his angular jaw twitching as he did so, but he stayed still.

"Well, sir, tell me about them. What's their name?" Medusa asked, trying to keep her voice as level-headed as possible, as her hair fell beside her face.

His lips parted as if to say something, however, it took the man a moment to.

"Meg." Speaking only her new friend's name, the blind man took a step forward hesitantly.

Medusa's suspicions and cautious nature remained on their guard. He seemed kind enough but, she knew better than most that looks could be quite deceiving.

Medusa's lips twitched.

"This…ah… 'Meg' of yours, she is someone special to you?" she inquired, not sure she wanted to know the answer, for she had seen how Hercules was holding Meg back at their campsite, as though nothing else in the world mattered but her. The cloaked blind man's whole demeanor changed upon hearing Meg's name on her lips.

"She...she…I…I was her…we were…we were lovers," he confessed, the wringing of his calloused hands only worsening over time.

She knew if the man would lower his cloak and turn his face to her, he'd be blushing deep cherry red.

"I…I see…" Medusa stammered, not quite sure what else to say.

She almost wanted to lie to this man, to tell him that Meg had not gone into the forest, but something within her felt wrong, and this man, though he did not know what she was, he seemed kind enough.

Despite her best efforts to contain her honesty, she could not do it, and before the Gorgon could stop herself, the truth was ripped from her lips of its own accord.

"I know where she is, sir. Meg is…a friend of mine. She's not far at all." Medusa watched as the man's expression almost grew hopeful, and then a cloud of remorse flickered across his angular features.

"I need to see her, please, take me to her," the man implored Medusa, stepping forward and taking hold of her arm before Medusa could protest or even pull away. She stiffened as the man's fingers curled over the scales that now covered her arm. She felt him tense and freeze in his tracks, and Medusa herself went as still and silent as an owl.

But if this nameless man was at all bothered by what she was, if he knew, he was good at hiding his disgust.

Looking at him, Medusa could not help but let out a sigh of reluctant agreement. She suspected that Meg and her former lover were now bound to run into one another as long as they were both in Thebes at some point. Prolonging the confrontation that was to come certainly would not help, and it was best they got things off their chest now.

Still. That did not mean this was going to be an easy conversation for her friend to have, let alone now with Meg's new man in the picture. But if she lied about having run into anyone when she returned to the camp, it would not bode well for her.

Medusa began to wonder whether bringing this man who claimed to have a history with Meg back to the camp with Hercules present was such a good idea. But she was no coward, however, and something within the Gorgon told her instincts that she could trust this man.

"Very well," she sighed, lifting the skirts of her dark purple dress a bit, and in a moment of boldness that surprised even herself, she lowered her hand to his and took his hand, surprised by how warm it felt now.

A shiver went down her spine as she realized this man was holding her hand and he'd not flinched away out of fear or even disgust.

As Medusa began to lead him back towards the camp, holding the man's hand, suddenly, she thought she needed a deeper connection with him.

"Wh-what's your name?" she asked as kindly as she could. It seemed an eternity before the man spoke, and when he did, the reveal of his name sent a chill down her spine.

"Adonis, my lady. My name is Adonis."

THE devilish imps Pain and Panic carried a tray of food towards Hades and Persephone's private chambers while doing whatever they could not to drop it. They'd argued amongst themselves about not wasting too much of the fresh meat of their Lord's meals as Hades had no appetite and yet it was the Fates who had bid them take it to him.

The little devils opened the door too heavily, and it took their beady eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness of the room, only to find that their sight was greeted with the body of their Queen who seemed to be sleeping peacefully, except they could not detect the rise and fall of the fair goddess's chest, which meant that he…she…she was…

Oh. Oh.

Pain and Panic stared with wide-eyed and terrified eyes that nearly threatened to bulge out of their sockets at Hades' wife, as though they thought just staring at her could bring her back to life, but of course, the imps possessed no such abilities.

Hades stood stiff and immobile as a statue, pale and even ghastlier looking than before. Grief had caused dark circles to form under his eyes, his cheekbones were hollow, and the closely cropped beard that dusted along his jaw would need tending to.

He would need to shave soon and his hair would need to be cut, as his thick blue hair was sticking up in tufts this way and that, Pain thought bitterly.

The imp remembered all too soon that his queen had used to take delight in doing it for her husband, but now, with Persephone dead, it would fall to him or to Panic to do it, he realized with a jolt. Before he could ponder this further, it was Panic who broke the heavy silence between the servants and their master. Hades did not turn to face them but instead kept his hands folded neatly behind his back, though the two imps could see their master digging his nails into the skin of his palms and causing his flesh to bleed.

"I-is she…?" Panic questioned, his voice holding a slight stutter to it, likely due to his nerves. Panic cast a sad gaze towards the Queen's lifeless form on their marriage bed and felt a wave of anger wash over him to see her like this.

"Of course she is, I'd have not brought her here if she wasn't, you imbecile," Hades growled, and just the reverberation of his voice made them tremble. "Do you know what made my wife truly beautiful?" Hades muttered, still not turning around to face his imps. Instead, he ran his hand through his thick wavy blue hair let out a shuddering breath of angst, and sniffed as he blinked back bitter tears. "Per gave her love to someone like me, knowing the other gods on their high horses wouldn't approve. Her mother disapproves of our marriage and has not spoken to Persephone since we married. If she was able to love a devil as I've always known myself to be, imagine how she would have treated our child, what kind of mother she would have been. What Zeus stole from me, I cannot get back." His bottom lip quivered. "For this, there is no peace, there is no coming back from this."

Pain and Panic could only watch as Hades finally turned around, yet their master had only eyes for his wife on their marriage bed. Hades reached his queen's side in an instant and pressed his lips to his wife's with such tenderness that the imps had to look away, feeling as though they should not be here, as if they had no right to see it.

It felt as though the two of them were intruding upon a private moment of their master's, yet if it bothered Hades, the god gave off no indication as he pulled apart.

"Soon, Per," Hades whispered in a trembling voice, his hand beginning to badly shake as it went to the sword he wore around his belt. "Zeus will pay for what he's done to our family. Your pain will be paid for a thousand times over. I only wish that you could be there to watch." Hades' mouth was dry as he spoke and he licked his lips.

Ignoring Pain and Panic blustering as they pled with him to stay, he left the room. He could not get to Tartarus soon enough. Hades turned on his heels in a twist of his black robes, running his hand along the edges of his closely cropped beard, and felt his face freeze and his anger swell to dangerous proportions.

As he stood rooted to his spot outside their private chambers, Hades waited a moment to compose himself before he left to unleash the Titans from their hell of Tartarus. Zeus's boy would not escape from this unscathed and Zeus would beg him for mercy for the life of his son. But Hades would not grant Zeus mercy.

Instead, Hades would laugh and let the Titans destroy Mount Olympus, just as Zeus had destroyed his world when he'd killed his beautiful Persephone. His decision was made, his mind made up and there was no changing it, he fled, not even needing to picture in his mind where he wanted his magic to take him.

Tartarus.

Some would say that love made the heart grow fonder. But in the Lord of the Underworld's case, Hades' love for Persephone was an obsession and it only made the god's already black heart even darker.

Pain and Panic were left to tend to their master's wife's body to prepare the queen for a pyre worthy of the gods, to send her soul to Elysium where the beauty Persephone rightfully belonged.

The two imps clambered on top of their bed, gently, checking her.

Pain moved Persephone's arm to drape it over her stomach, preparing to dress her, and pulled his hand back in shock, not wanting to face what he had just discovered.

"Holy Hera…" he exploded violently, a myriad of curse words of the foulest language imaginable leaving Pain's lips under his breath in ragged gasps now that Hades was not here to hear him say such things, the shock of his discovery causing the demon to stagger backward off the bed.

Panic furrowed his brows and he looked towards their master's wife's corpse to see what it was that had his friend in such a state of agitation. Panic's gaze lingered on Persephone's chest and the demon swore he felt his heart creep its way up into his throat and stop, as the color drained from his face with the realization the moment he saw her chest begin to rise and fall, and watched as her body began to stir on the bed, and heard her let out a low moan.

Persephone was still alive.

---

MEG awoke to the sound of a crackling fire, the snapping of logs, and the murmuring of a hushed voice, it sounded like Wonder Boy, whispering to her. There was a horrible stinging discomfort on her cheek, just underneath her eye. She reached up a shaking hand to touch it, only for Wonder Boy to pull her hand away and quietly tell her in as firm a voice as he could muster up not to touch it. She sat up slowly, her vision coming back to her as her vision cleared and the objects in front of her began to take on the shapes of things she thought she recognized.

Her lungs beckoned for air, and she inhaled deeply to fill out as she looked at Hercules. Hercules was tending the fire, and his nanny goat Phil was over by Wonder Boy's winged horse, trying to coax him to eat his feed.

Meg was feeling utterly exhausted and would have liked to help Hercules, she presently felt too weak and exhausted to do so. She was feeling quite feverish, and she could barely keep her eyes open, let alone be of any help to him.

Meg stuck out her lower lip and bit down on it in a slight pout as she hugged the cloak that Wonder Boy had draped over her shivering shoulders as she waited patiently for Hercules to turn around and notice that she was awake.

She felt so cold, and she couldn't stop shivering. The shakes could have likely been caused by the fact that she was in shock from nearly having been burned to death, or perhaps it was due to the chilly autumnal air around them and she did not own a cloak. Meg furrowed her brows into a frown as she thought about how Hercules had looked at her earlier like she was such a disappointment to him when she felt compelled to protect him from the truth.

That her own master who'd nearly killed her was his uncle by blood.

The way he'd spoken to her before had suggested that Hercules thought she was foolish and implied that Meg had no idea just how much danger she had been in. But that could not have been further from the truth.

Meg was all too aware of how close she had come to becoming a permanent part of Hades' Underworld, domed to float aimlessly through the River Styx, forever.

The thought sent a violent chill down her spine, and she could not stop the surprised gasp from leaving her lips.

Meg looked up with a furtive, guilty look flashing across her face as Hercules heard the little noise she let out and was by her side in an instant. She flinched the moment Wonder Boy set a hand on her shoulder. She hoped the demigod didn't yell at her again. She'd done nothing wrong, the way she saw it all.

When Hades had bound her to the tree, he'd not been thinking clearly, too overcome with anger and rage towards his brother to likely know that what he was doing to her was wrong. At least, that's what Meg tried to tell herself.

But Hercules knelt in front of her now, looking at the young woman expectantly while he waited for her to speak before finally finding his voice. Thankfully, his voice was once softer and timid again.

"Y-you're awake," he breathed, still looking at her as though he could not quite believe that she was alive and well.

Neither can I, Meg thought as a sharp bitterness crept its way into the pit of her swooping stomach.

She blushed at the intensity of Wonder Boy's gaze as she propped herself up onto her elbow and surveyed the makeshift campsite that Hercules had brought her to through hazy eyes, pained and dry slightly from the smoke that still was lingering in the air from the fire. Meg noticed that his only protection from the chilly night air was his tunic and his armor. She glanced down and realized that he had shrugged off his thick navy blue cloak and draped it across her body. Meg furrowed her brows and stared at Wonder Boy's cloak, confused as to why she had his cloak.

"This is your cloak, Hercules," she stared, peering down at the warm cloak that was draped over her shoulders. "Why am I…?" she started to question.

But Hercules answered before her question left her throat all the way, anticipating she'd ask him.

"Y-you were shivering," was all Hercules said to her with a light shrug of his shoulders towards her.

Meg stared, hardly daring to believe how selfless Wonder Boy was. He'd given up his cloak so that she would stay warm. He had done so much for her in such a short amount of time and had asked for so little of her in return.

"I—oh, well here, you must be freezing," she protested, looking at him with concern and immediately tried to give the garment back. But Hercules shook his head and refused to take it.

"I-I wasn't using it anyways, Meg. You keep it for now, warm yourself up," he told her, worried.

Meg shivered and wrapped his cloak tighter around herself, inhaling the slightly musky scent of the fabric but finding that it calmed whatever frayed nerves were within her prior.

"I…thank you, Hercules," Meg spoke in a small voice as she fumbled with his cloak with fumbling, shaky fingers.

She held her breath as the demigod knelt in front of her and pulled his cloak more securely around her shivering shoulders. Hercules looked her in the eyes and then rested his hand against her forehead and nearly hissed as he withdrew his hand back into himself. She was burning up with a fever.

"Something is wrong, Meg, you're sick!" Hercules exclaimed, the skin of his brow pulled taut and tight with worry and concern as a shimmering pressure began to build behind Wonder Boy's baby blue eyes.

"N-no, I-I'm fine, Hercules," Meg disagreed. "If I have one, I probably just need to sleep it off, I'm sure I'll be fine by tomorrow morning, Wonder Boy," she murmured in a voice that almost trembled as she continued to shiver.

"I'll build up this fire and you'll be warmer in no time," Hercules offered a quick smile that was obvious to her and to Phil who saw it from the other side of the campfire that his smile was strained as Hercules rose to his feet too quickly. Meg frowned, still not entirely convinced. "You'll be all right, Meg," Hercules spoke after a moment, glancing up from the fresh kindling he was gathering in his arms. "Just try to get some rest. I'm not going to let anything get to you."

Though she was still quite reasonably terrified at the hell Hades planned to unleash and knew that sooner or later, the truth would come out, and it better that Wonder Boy hear it from her rather than anyone else, Meg was too exhausted and sore to keep herself awake much longer.

She did not want to fall asleep, not when there was much left unsaid between the two of them and all that she wanted to say to Hercules planned out in her mind. But she supposed she could rest her eyes, if only for a moment.

She leaned her head back against the ground and reluctantly let her eyes close, her mind drifting to nearly happy fantasies of entertaining life with Hercules… Only to have them shatter at the sound of a snapping twig and the sound of a familiar voice calling her name. Meg's ears perked up at the sound of Medusa's shy voice reaching her ears and she instantly felt a rush of warmth flood through her as she turned, expecting to find her friend.

However, the moment she turned in the Gorgon's direction, she froze and stared, hardly daring to believe her eyes.

Meg rose to her feet, letting Hercules' cloak she had wrapped around her shoulders fall to her feet in a crumpled heap. She was not aware that she was now as pale as a ghost.

A myriad of emotions flickered to life in her eyes as she looked at the man clinging to Medusa's arm, the very man whom she had once thought she'd marry. Her lips parted with the shock of her disbelief.

Adonis was there, standing just inches in front of her. She was close enough that she could reach out and touch him if she wanted to do it now. He was real, and…something had happened.

He was blind. But…he had left her. Prince Adonis had ripped her heart out from her chest when he had left her for the other woman after she had bargained with Hades to save him. He'd left her alone with the anguish and pain of a broken heart, and after she had just lost both of her parents too. How could she ever forgive that?

Meg's bottom lip quivered before she came back to herself and angrily clenched her jaw to try to stop it.

She would not give him the satisfaction of even hearing her cry since something had happened to the handsome Prince to take his sight. Her face twisted and contorted into a pained grimace, and for a moment, Hercules thought she might be ill. He reached out a hand to steady her, but hesitated, unsure if Meg would even allow it.

"Meg?" he spoke, his voice filled with hope and fear.

Meg flicked her gaze away from the ghost of her past now standing in front of her and towards Hercules.

She flinched at the worry in Wonder Boy's eyes and could not manage to pretend to care how she was making him feel as she reluctantly shrugged out of his gentle grasp, wanting to put as much distance between herself and Adonis as possible. The look she shot both men pleaded with them not to follow her. Meg desperately shook her head to herself, trying to wring the image of Adonis from her mind, but he would leave her.

All Meg could think to do was to run away. Meg tried to turn her body to run away from the camp, but she could barely take one step forward. Stiffly, she forced herself to walk away.

Hercules itched to follow Meg, his need to protect her safe and overpowering any other thoughts and desires in his mind at the moment, but his legs had turned to stone beneath him.

He stood there, paralyzed by indecision and uncertainty as to who this man was in Meg's life, why Medusa had brought this man back, and could only stare after Meg, watching her go and taking his heart with her as she did.

He could only stare hopelessly as Meg tried to walk away from the seemingly blind man that Medusa had brought back, by the looks of him, wondering who he was to her.

But Meg barely made it ten paces towards the edge of the woods when she collapsed, the strength in her knees giving out beneath her, and she buried her head in her hands and began to openly sob.

Hercules watched in horror and anger as Meg lost control. He suddenly felt uncomfortable, as though he were bearing witness to something he had no right to see as if he were invading Meg's privacy.

For a moment, Hercules was frozen, and with painstaking slowness, turned towards the blind man who had caused such an unexpected and shocking reaction from Meg.

Frantically, Hercules rushed to Meg's side, only to be halted in his tracks to find that, for a blind man, the man Medusa was with moved with alarming speed and had knelt into a crouch by her side and was stretching a hand out to touch her shoulder as if he meant to give her comfort.

"Don't touch her!" Hercules heard himself shout in a voice that did not sound like his voice at all. A low growl was ripped from his lips as he lunged for the blinded stranger, vowing to himself that he would protect Meg from any further harm this night, and he aimed to prove to her that he was not like the man who had broken her heart.

The man could not steady his balance as Hercules pulled him roughly to his feet, shoving him backward away from Meg. His god-given strength propelling him back towards their campsite, he felt his anger nearly threaten to consume him.

As he angrily steered this man back towards their camp, he could feel Meg's eyes on her as he clenched his trembling hands into fists at his side, resisting the urge to lash out at this man out of anger. He wondered as he backed the blind man against the rough bark of a nearby tree what Meg was thinking of him now.

Was she looking at him in awe or disgust? Was he a hero to her or a bully, a zero, a worthless nobody not worthy of her time or her affection and dare he even hope it, someday, her love? A disgusting bully no doubt, by the way, he was behaving, but Hercules wanted to pretend he saw respect in Meg's eyes and awe that he was helping save her.

The blind man seemed to understand that he was not in a good position to be right now. Yet, despite the obvious fret forming to life behind the man's clouded blue eyes, he managed to stand his ground and barely flinched as Hercules curled his hand around a fistful of the man's robes and shook him slightly, a wave of fierce protectiveness overcoming him just then as Hercules watched the man who could not see raise his chin slightly defiantly and glower in his general direction, a clouded look that had nothing to do with his blindness overcoming his features just then.

"Who are you and what are you doing here? What is it you want with Meg?" Hercules snarled at the man as a brand-new rage consumed him as he thought he heard Meg from somewhere behind him, she was now getting to her feet.

This time, the stranger did flinch as splinters of wood shattered to the left of his face, nearly slicing off his earlobe, and would have too if the man hadn't ducked.

"I don't suppose there's a chance I could talk this through with you? I don't mean Meg any harm," he stated slowly, not turning his head towards Hercules but instead keeping his face turned towards the left, where a good chunk of the tree was now missing. "I…I need to speak with her. Please, I-I've come such a long way." He paused. "But I can see that by coming here…I've done poor Meg more harm than good."

The abrupt bitterness in the man's voice was plain and unmistakable.

Upon hearing the man's last words, Hercules ground his teeth and felt his anger resurface with revived anger.

"What do you mean 'harm?' What have you done to her? Who are you to her?" Hercules angrily demanded.

A delicate hand gingerly touched his right shoulder, applying just enough pressure to coax him to look down to see who it was that was trying to pull his attention away from this stranger who had caused undue stress to Meg.

He turned his head and was shocked to find Meg staring at him, the burn mark under her cheek glistening with the coating of salve that Medusa had applied earlier. Her lavender eyes pleaded with him not to.

"Wonder Boy, stop. Please." Her breaths trembled as Meg shuddered with angst. "This isn't necessary. Don't. Adonis is my problem to deal with, not yours, let me handle him," Meg whispered, her plea leaving her lips.

Hercules felt the blood drain from his face as Meg spoke the name of the man who had broken her heart and hurt her all those years ago. Never before had another man's name sounded like a curse, until right now.

But what made this situation all the worse was the way Adonis' name sounded on her lips.

Meg spoke her former love's name with such anguish that Hercules felt his anger pump a level and the urge to kill once more flood right through his veins. He curled his hands tightly at his side to prevent himself from striking out at something in anger, the closest target would be, of course, Prince Adonis.

"Wh-why are you here? H-how did you get…like this?" Meg whispered in such a quiet voice.

Despite not liking the look in Meg's eyes one bit, Hercules felt a surge of hope at hearing the anger in Meg's voice.

Perhaps there was a chance she'd not give in to this man's return so easily, and she held no love in her heart for him. Almost as soon as the thought flitted through his mind, Hercules felt his heart lurch and stretched a trembling hand out to touch her former love's cheek, her fingertips ghosting near his eyes.

Hercules felt the blood drain from his face, wishing that it was his face for which she reached, not lurch, evil soulless bastards, deserving of death, all of them, but they were never caught," Adonis grunted in a harsh voice, though the man's handsome tanned face grew wistful as he continued. "I—I looked for you, Meg, after….I woke. You were nowhere in the house or the city. I scoured Thebes for days and when I did not find you, I ventured outside the city. I would have scoured all of Greece, the whole world, even, if it meant that I could find you." His voice lowered to barely a whisper. "When they cornered me on the road, they took me for every last drachma I had. The bastards ruined any chance I might have had of finding you the moment they decided taking every last thing I owned wasn't enough and they blinded me to ensure I couldn't remember what they looked like. Even afterward, I searched for you for two years, Meg, before I finally gave up and had to give up the search. I only came looking for you now because I heard someone in Thebes say your name and something about you being with the hero of the town. I heard your name and thought, if it was you, then there was a chance that you would at least tell me why you left, not because I...held any hope that you might take me back, even if I could find you, Meg. I knew you would want that for me, a-at least I hope you would have," he sighed. Adonis exhaled a shaky breath and paused to catch his breath, running his hand through his dark hair. "Where in the hell did you go, Meg, tell me?" Adonis growled, sounding more hurt with Megara than angry as he clenched his jaw and ground his teeth.

Meg blushed and frowned at his comment, not understanding.

"Two years, Adonis? I...I was gone a week!" she stammered, her tongue suddenly feeling like heavy clay in her mouth and she thought the beginnings of understanding were starting to flit through her brain.

Hades had told her it had been a week, but...he could have been lying about her time in the Underworld.

He had sent her away shortly after promising to cure Adonis of his wounds, sending her to a centaurs' encampment to begin recruiting the foul beasts to his cause, promising her she would be gone no more than a week.

She had done as Hades had asked and had returned to Adonis' home to find his home barren and desolate as if he'd never been there. By a miracle, Meg somehow found her voice as she clamped a hand over her mouth in horror.

"O-oh, gods. Holy Hera, I-I can't believe...I was such a fool, Adonis. He...he lied to me, I..think. I…I bargained with a god to save your life when you came home from the war, Adonis, he told me I had been gone a week," she whispered, shamefaced as the truth finally left her lips in front of Hercules. "You were dying, I couldn't handle it, and I...I pleaded. One god heard me and offered to save you in exchange for my soul. There was a time when I would have given anything to have you back, but...you met someone else." She bit down on her lip and looked at Hercules.

Hercules felt as though Meg herself had gut-punched him. He staggered backward and suddenly had trouble meeting the young woman's gaze.

She had sold her soul to a god, but which god?

His heart very nearly faltered and stopped right there on the spot as what little color was left drained from his face, leaving the demigod as pale as a ghost. Hercules spun furiously on Adonis.

He stepped away from Meg and felt his hand instinctively drift to the hilt of his sword.

"What are you doing here? Did you come here to win her back, is that it?" he snarled, a harsh bark to his voice that made Meg, Phil, Medusa, and even Pegasus look up in alarm and shock, surprised by the sudden shift in the demigod's attitude. His tone was almost bordering on biting. Seething, even, Meg would go as far as to describe it.

Meg looked towards Prince Adonis, her brow furrowing in confusion as she looked at the man who once held her heart, the man she thought she'd marry one day.

When Adonis did not respond to Hercules, Meg tried again, this time in a much softer, subdued tone.

"Why now?" she asked, trying to keep her voice as level-headed as possible.

Adonis squirmed in front of her, suddenly looking more than uncomfortable as he reached up a hand to rub the back of his neck gingerly. His cheeks flushed pink as he spoke in a soft, timid voice. He awkwardly shifted his weight from one foot to the other and it took Adonis a moment to find his voice.

"I...I'd hoped that... you would come back with me willingly, Meg. That you would stay. After those bandits took my sight, thoughts of you, seeing your face in my mind, it was the only thing that kept me searching the two years that I did look, hearing your voice, finding you, was the only thing that kept me wanting to live. Yes, I-I did meet another woman who I thought I could have moved on with, but every time I heard her speak, I heard only you. It wasn't fair of me to do that to either one of us, and so I ended our friendship that did not even last long enough to turn into a courtship, Meg," Adonis spoke softly, and earnestly.

Standing protectively beside Meg, Hercules did not even feel his entire body shudder with angst a fierce protective rage for Meg. Before he could part his lips to speak, Meg stepped forward and immediately took offense to his tone. She straightened her posture incredulously and glowered at Adonis.

Though he could not see it, he felt the burn of Meg's angry gaze and it was enough to make him wince as he waited for whatever cutting remarks Meg had to give to him for his offense.

Meg stiffened and felt the edges of her mouth turn down into a frown and when she did, she winced in discomfort and immediately brought a hand to the burn mark underneath her eye.

She did not know if it would scar, but she was not sure how long she could tolerate this pain.

Meg curiously flicked her gaze towards Hercules, resting a hand on his muscular bicep and trying to give it a reassuring squeeze. She had to lean up onto her tiptoes to whisper into his ear.

"He will be gone soon, Wonder Boy," Meg reassured him, a shining pressure building to life behind her lavender eyes as she decided she did not like the jealous look in those big baby blue eyes of his.

She looked deeply into Hercules' eyes and his very soul was calmed by the depths of Meg's gaze.

Meg then flicked her gaze towards Medusa and silently nodded to the Gorgon, who returned her nod with a curt one of her own. The silent communication that was exchanged between the two friends was quite clear.

If Adonis so much as twitched a finger to either harm her or Hercules with the news that she was about to impart, then Meg would have no qualms with letting Medusa look him squarely in the eye and turn him into another prized stone statue for her humble grotto back home. Meg then shifted her gaze back to Adonis and glared, wishing that the man who'd once held her heart could now see the look of daggers she was trying to pin him with.

Somewhere deep within her, the old wound still screamed at Meg that if Adonis had truly loved her, he'd have not left her. He'd not stopped his searching for her. Part of her wanted to laugh in his face and there was even a little bit of her that wanted to allow Hercules to let loose his fury on Adonis.

But then it occurred to her, whatever Adonis's reasons for seeking her out now, or even the seeming misunderstanding of his leaving her, no longer mattered. It was the thought of Wonder Boy beside her that calmed her frayed nerves within her and in their place, a strange peace began to wallow in her soul.

When she spoke, she spoke with the reassurance of a young woman who knew she had what she wanted out of life.

She could understand regretfully that Adonis would be hurt for a while, and she would have to destroy the hope that seemed to have sustained him since his blindness, but she could already feel her heart was slowly going out to Wonder Boy beside her. She could think of little else besides the kiss he had given her earlier.

Even Hades' threats to unleash all hell on Greece did not seem as important as her desire to return to their kiss.

"I-I was a fool, Meg. I never should have stopped looking." Prince Adonis shook his head regretfully and ran a hand through his dark wavy hair in anguish, the other clutching onto the thick walking stick he used for support.

Meg was quiet for several long moments. She truly did not want to hurt Adonis, now that she had seen how much he had suffered, but she also knew she could not allow him to spend any more time in his life hoping for something that he would never have back. Adonis might have been her first love, but she hoped Hercules would be her last.

"Oh, Adonis…" she began softly and then looked towards Hercules tenderly before continuing, reaching for his hand. "I…I mourned you when you…when you left, b-but I'm beginning to think that my master lied to me about how long I was gone after he saved you," she whispered, clenching her teeth as she spoke, her troubled expression echoing the pain in her words. "I-I don't know what we had back then. Maybe it was love, but the war never gave us the chance to find out for sure. Just as soon as I found you, you were taken from me. Twice. Time never has been on my side, has it?" Meg let out a cynical chuckle that was laced to the brim with bitter hurt as she squeezed Hercules' hand for support. "But uh…I want to be with Hercules, Adonis," Meg told him, holding Wonder Boy's shocked and affectionate gaze lovingly for a moment as he returned her growing affection. She felt her heart swell with hope as slowly, she turned back to face her former lover. "I-I'm glad that I was able to be a source of comfort to you after your…accident," she stammered awkwardly, trying to be kind to the Prince. "I truly wish you the best life." She did hope that for them and spoke the truth to him. "I'm sorry that you've come all this way to Thebes, Adonis." Meg looked sympathetically at Adonis and shook her head. "But there is nothing for you here."

Out of the corner of her gaze, she saw Adonis swallow down past a lump in his throat as he fought the tears he knew would overwhelm him later, once he was alone. Adonis could hear the affection in Meg's voice he had always hoped to hear reserved for him, now that he had found her, only to find it directed at someone else entirely.

"Then…there is no reason for me to be here, Meg," Adonis conceded, his entire body turning numb at the heartbreak that now washed over him like a tidal wave. "I-I just…need you to know that I…" He hesitated as he trailed off, his mind faltering with everything that would need to go left unsaid between them. "That I'm sorry, Meg. For all of it," he trailed off, unable to say more.

"I know, Adonis," Meg tried to comfort him, even as she leaned back against Wonder Boy's muscular chest and softly smiled to herself as she felt his calloused hands come to rest protectively on her shoulders.

Adonis suddenly felt like an intruder, intruding his way into Meg's life when he was not wanted.

"I-I should go" he stammered quietly, wishing he could see, wanting nothing more than to take one last longing look into Meg's piercing lavender eyes, but gods, he would have to be content to only see them in his dreams.

"Yes," she stammered.

Medusa spoke up shyly next and stepped forward, pulling Meg from her thoughts of what family she had left.

"I-I'll escort you back," Medusa offered, offering Adonis her arm in a moment of boldness that surprised everyone in the camp. Even Phil was looking at the young Gorgon with questioning beady black eyes.

Adonis made to follow Medusa, having been about to accept the offer of the lovely young Gorgon's outstretched arm, though stopped as he felt Hercules staring at him. He straightened his gait and inhaled deeply, wanting to make himself appear as the Prince that he wanted Meg to remember him by.

"Hercules, is it?" Adonis's voice rose with a begrudging sort of respect as he clutched onto his walking stick for support with one hand and stretched out the other for the demigod who had won his lover's heart.

Hercules hardened his gaze and narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he took a step in front of Adonis to face his nemesis. But the Prince's hand remained outstretched, waiting for him to take it, as a peace offering, a truce, of sorts.

"You're a lucky, lucky man. Treat her well," Adonis declared, just a hint of a threat at the edge of his voice that almost made Hercules bristle and bite out a warning of his own as he scrutinized the blind man in front of him a moment.

He'd been more than ready to pounce at the man who still seemed to hold feelings for Meg, but now, he thought he was starting to feel sorry for the man. Not only had he lost his sight, but also Meg's heart as well, and he would have to live the rest of his life without her at his side. Hercules reached out hesitantly and accepted Adonis's handshake, though shaking the hand of the man who'd once held Meg's heart was admittedly the last thing he wanted to touch, he felt the burn of her gaze and knew it was what she wanted.

His desire to earn Meg's love-fueled his actions, and he forced himself to shove his feelings of jealousy that this Adonis had gotten to spend more time with Meg than he had to the pit of his stomach and shook the man's hand.

"I will, Adonis. I promise," was all he could say to this Prince.

He stepped back and pulled an arm around Meg's shoulder, gently pulling her close. She returned his affectionate gaze as if they were the only ones left in the world. After a long moment that ended too soon, Meg forced herself to tear her gaze away from Hercules' admiration of her, her cheeks blushing a bright pink as she did so.

"Goodbye, Adonis," she spoke formally, as Adonis lowered his head with as much respect as he could muster and began to leave quietly, accepting Medusa's arm, leaving without the prize he'd hoped to obtain.

Medusa nodded to Hercules and Meg, ensuring the man would not return.

Meg nodded as she snaked her arms around Hercules' neck, pulling him down slightly so that she could reach him. She was only half-hearing the Gorgon as Medusa began to lead Adonis away.

Meg could not recall the last time she'd felt so nervous around a man. Yet, confronting Adonis coming to terms with her past, and being here with Wonder Boy now, made her finally realize that perhaps she could let herself fall in love with him. She could not recall a time in her life when she felt more comfortable.

Spurred by the closeness they now shared as Hercules rested his forehead against hers and eager to show Wonder Boy how she felt, Meg cradled Hercules' face in his hands and pressed her lips to his in a kiss. Their kiss was sweet as his lips met hers, and Meg felt it in her body as Wonder Boy's kiss tingled and burned.

It felt right. Not even Adonis had kissed her this way before when they had still been together.

She didn't want the kiss to end, and it didn't for the longest time. Then, finally, they were forced to separate and as Hercules' eyes opened, he looked as stunned as Meg felt, his eyes half-lidded.

She felt her smile begin to falter the longer she looked into Hercules' deep blue eyes and saw nothing but adoration and affection there. Maybe, even the beginnings of love. She hoped for that, but she was overcome with a wave of crushing guilt at the lying by omission she had taken part in by trying to protect her master from Zeus's wrath.

"I...I have to tell you something, but...I don't want you to worry about me, Wonder Boy, whatever happens, I-I want you to fight to keep yourself alive," Meg told Hercules softly, and she flinched as she felt his eyes burning a hole through her, but she continued.

For some reason, she felt as though she needed to ensure that no matter what, she—they—would be fine.

She shuddered at what the consequences of Hercules' attention being drawn away from the threat that loomed over their heads could mean. She exhaled a shaky breath and decided that now was the time to tell Hercules the truth about Hades. Down to the last detail. Meg turned her head away from Hercules.

It was coming down to time, the one thing she knew they did not have much of. Gods, but she didn't know if she could do this. This was not the way she had imagined telling Hercules the truth. But before she could so much as utter a word, a flash of something black darted towards her out of the corner of her gaze.

Her throat parched as she thought she caught a glimpse of thick blue hair, sticking up in tufts in a way that suggested it wasn't always aflame. A sound jolted Meg back to reality, and Hercules heard it too.

Wonder Boy moved with incredible speed, unsheathing his dagger from the belt around his waist. However, Hercules was too late to prevent the Lord of the Dead's attack.

Meg perceived the tearing of flesh and the fabric of her dress—her own, and far too belatedly. Her eyes widened in shock as they ascended to Hades' handsome face, now with pure black eyes and an indifferent expression, down to the god's hand gripping Hercules' hunting knife deeply embedded in her left thigh. The pain would soon engulf her entire body once the initial shock subsided.

"You were quick to spot me, Meg," Hades growled, his voice flat. "You should know why. I wish it didn't have to be this way. I liked you when you called for me, and then you had to go noble on me by summoning Zeus."

Hades' voice dripped with disdain for Wonder Boy's father. Meg felt Hades' icy cold hand on her shoulder as he pushed Hercules' weapon deeper into her leg, prompting Meg to scream, tears streaming down her face.

"Why…?" Meg gasped, her voice barely audible as tears filled her eyes.

"Meg!" Hercules shouted, his voice trembling with panic. Meg felt tears welling up, and she yelped as her legs gave way, collapsing to her knees. She fumbled for the blade buried in her thigh, screaming, kicking out at the Lord of the Underworld as he approached calmly.

She had heard of people performing incredible feats in times of peril, driven by adrenaline. But she had never truly understood human capabilities until that moment. Meg smacked Hercules' hand away, tearing at the knife, screams still escaping her as she managed to slide the weapon from her thigh.

If not for the adrenaline, she might have found it amusing how unexpectedly challenging it was to extract a blade from the body. But it seemed permanently stuck in her.

"No, Meg, don't pull it out!" Hercules pleaded, but Meg ignored him, the pain too intense.

It finally came free, and she dropped it. Hercules knelt by her side instantly, tears welling in his eyes, his brow furrowed with worry.

"Meg!" Hercules cried, on the edge of hyperventilation. He wound his arms around her, trying to protect her while refusing to leave her side. When the god in front of them spoke, his icy voice sent shivers down their spines.

"I've heard from the pathetic mortals of this city that their town's little Hydra problem was cleaved in two by Zeus's son Hercules. I've never met the boy, but my intuition is telling me that it's you," he snarled, his words hissing through his teeth.

"Who are you? What do you want with Meg? With me?" Hercules demanded, tearing his gaze away from Meg's wounded leg. He crafted a makeshift tourniquet for her leg to stem the bleeding.

Hercules looked up at the god who had spied on them when the forest burned down. He realized he could be looking at an older version of himself if he had a beard and blue skin. The god in front of him, who had hurt Meg, had black eyes that captivated Hercules the most.

A smothering, fathomless rage simmered just below the surface. This god, if he was Meg's master, had foundations in fury and pain. These were the eyes of a god who bowed to no one but himself, assertive and strong-willed. And he terrified Hercules.

Hercules' knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists, only half aware of Phil rushing to Meg's side. Phil's face turned pale as recognition flashed in his eyes.

"Herc, Champ, that's Had—"

But the god raised a hand, cutting off Phil. Phil, concerned and fearful for his trainee, immediately closed his mouth.

"Oh, good, it is you. I was hoping you were Meg's noble handsome hero, and I can see I was right in that regard."

The handsome blue-haired god remained expressionless.

His black eyes burned with a passion to kill. Medusa and Adonis returned to the campsite, whispers filling the air, but Hercules did not look.

"I should kill you right here and now as a favor to your bastard of a father that's my brother, boy, but with your help, we might have a chance to ally together, don't you think? Though there's no question in my mind that killing you here and now would be appropriate, considering what your father took from me. Unfortunately, I'm not as cruel or vulgar as Zeus is. Killing you would give me no satisfaction. I merely need you...out of my way. Oh, and since we're bound together by blood, Hercules…please. Call me Uncle."

Before Hercules could respond, time itself seemed to pause as the Lord of the Dead advanced, striking Hercules' temple with the hilt of his sword. Zeus's son crumpled to the ground next to Meg, nursing a broken nose, a pained grunt escaping him.

Meg swallowed, tears streaming down her face as she faced her horrific failure. She was sure she was going to die, judging by the soulless black eyes of Hades.

In the past, she had thought facing the end might be calming, knowing there was nothing you could do. But now, she was panicked, sad, and terrified.

Hades' jaw clenched, his beard barely masking the rage. There was more emotion on his face than Meg had ever seen. His hands shook, lips curled into a snarl, and Meg and Hercules watched in amazement. It was rage, confusion, hurt, and anger on Hades' face, but it was there.

Visible emotion on the Lord of the Dead's face. Meg's lips parted in amazement, and for a fleeting second, she forgot the pain in her leg or the blood staining her dress. She was about to speak to Hades, to ask him what had happened, but her eyes widened as the ground beneath them began to shake. Meg looked up and immediately regretted it. A harrowing scream left her lips as she saw the largest Leviathan creatures she had ever seen. She knew without a doubt what they were.

The Titans.

PERSEPHONE awoke in the darkness of her and Hades' private chambers in the Underworld, the blankets of their marriage bed pulled up around her snugly enough.

For a long moment, Hades' wife was frighteningly disoriented. She looked for Hades to her left and right, but her husband was nowhere to be found, nor were there any signs of his demonic little imps, Pain, and Panic. There were a few terrible moments of panic as the goddess's concern took hold of her heart and it fluttered painfully against her ribcage.

She'd just thrown the blankets off of her when the events came flooding back to her in a flash of knowing so strong that it stole the breath from her lungs. She froze and her eyes widened as she looked towards the entryway, her ears listening for any sounds of any movement.

Hades was sure to have gone after Zeus. She prayed to the other gods if they could even hear her that he had not yet unleashed the Titans. She swallowed and looked towards the entryway.

"Hades, my love?" she called her love's name softly, hoping her husband would materialize and she would revel in the shock in his yellow eyes when he realized she was alive and well.

But Persephone was greeted with nothing but silence.

She swallowed down hard and began to move towards the door, though halted in her tracks as flashes of Zeus and Hades fighting one another in Zeus's temple came to her mind.

The feeling of her brother-in-law's thunderbolt striking her heart…could not adequately be described and she was not sure she wanted to.

"Hades?" she called softly again, leaning against the cold stone wall of the room for support.

She began to move forward, though was overcome by a wave of queasiness and her stomach decided she could go no further. She was sick to her stomach.

Already, Persephone could feel the familiar spoils of her stomach rise in her throat. She stared down at the cold stones beneath her feet for a moment and then threw up everything in her stomach.

Even afterward, she heaved, bile rising painfully in her throat as it dribbled out of her lips, her morning sickness nearly unbearable. She spat out the last of it and shakily wiped her mouth with the backs of her fingers as she rose to her feet upon hearing someone speaking.

"Persephone," a series of voices called, female voices, a series of ghostly timorous noises.

"No," Persephone whispered hoarsely as she straightened her gait and looked up to find three shrouded and cloaked figures, the Fates, staring at her plainly, their black eye sockets soulless and sunken in and hollow, and the shortest of the three in the middle held the single eye they shared, the Eye of Fate itself.

"You are awake," the three of them eerily started, speaking collectively that the three Fates were one entity instead of three. "Lord Hades will need you soon," they predicted.

Persephone blinked owlishly and stared at the Fates. Even after a few years of encountering the Fates, Persephone never failed to be taken aback by the Fates' synchronization.

Persephone eyed the Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos warily, daring to have the impudence to quirk a thin eyebrow at the ghoulish creatures who were above even the gods.

Her mind had always wondered at the powers of the Fates who possessed the ability to see that which had been, that which was, and that which would come to pass. But now, as the Fates eyed her, she wow sure they knew what would become of Hades' vendetta against his brother Zeus and the rest.

But Persephone was also certain that there was some unspoken reason the Sisters of Fate had allowed her husband's threat to unleash the Titans to reach this level of apparent urgency.

Whatever their reasons, she thought she was beginning to understand that that which was already set in motion could not be undone, but what mattered was the action taken going forward to change the series of events.

The Fates' ultimate goal was to ensure the good of the Realm, both the physical Earth and the gods' worlds. Persephone stiffened, feeling her heart ready to grow wings and fly out of her chest, aching to be by Hades' side, hopefully, to talk him out of whatever madness was happening now that he had freed the Titans. She would not—could not—let her love destroy anymore. She only wished that she could have told Hades much sooner.

Persephone parted her lips as if to speak to the Sisters of Fate, nearly ready to bolt from her chambers and flee the Underworld.

But before she could move, she could feel the earth's very foundations above them shake and a chill ripped through her body as she could hear the guttural groans of one of the Titans and whatever other monsters Hades had unleashed in his crusade against Zeus.

"Go," the Fates urged her desperately again.

Persephone did not need to be told a third time.

She nodded, her jaw becoming cut like steel. "Where is Hades?" she demanded, feeling that she already knew, and yet, she wanted to hear her suspicions confirmed for herself.

"Above," the Fates hissed, softly. "The Titans have been unleashed, Oh Queen, he means to—"

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Persephone screamed as she began to act purely on her raging emotions, clenching her fists in rage as her temper was ready to throw her into a fit worthy of her beloved Hades when he lost his cool.

Her breathing felt tight and she saw spots. A delicate sandaled foot jutted out and she kicked the opposing wall, unleashing her fury and fear repeatedly against the stone wall.

"Indeed, child," the Fates agreed in their collectively hoarse voices. "Lord Hades is now beyond our aid and refuses to heed our counsel and if he does not listen to reason, then he will willingly fall into madness, my Queen."

"I'm going after him. I have to." Persephone's sky-blue hardened, turning an almost wintry icy hue of blue.

The Sisters of Fate looked at one another as a determination so fierce flashed across Persephone's beautiful pale pink face that the Fates knew without a shadow of a doubt in their hollow hearts, that she was the true driving force behind Hades' actions, the Queen of the Underworld. They knew that she was now the only one who could cull Hades' madness driven by his grief. Her back straightened and for a moment, Persephone became the Goddess her mother had always hoped she would and lamented she would never be the night that she had married her love.

"I will not abandon my husband to whatever fate Zeus and the others on Olympus have for him."

Before the Fates could respond, Persephone turned on her heels, having to pick up the skirts of her long dress to avoid tripping over the hem.

"I…if you could please ensure that Pain or Panic feed Cerberus, I…thank you," Persephone blurted out, her words clumsy and blunt as she did not know what else to say to the powerful deities.

She turned her back suddenly and ran from their chambers with wide eyes, hoping to breach the surface of the Earth before anything else could happen.

---

HERCULES stared straight ahead of him, unable to take his eyes off the monstrous cretins that towered over the god who, by rights, if he was to take this deity at his word, was his uncle. Meg's terrified shriek reached his ears and tore Hercules' heart apart. He knew then without a shadow of a doubt in his mind that this was the god to whom Meg had sold her very soul. Unable to breathe and his jaw going slack, Hercules turned questioning eyes towards the god that bore such a striking resemblance to him and stared. The god turned his head coldly to regard Hercules, and the vengeful glower on the god's handsome pale blue face nearly chilled the blood in his veins to ice.

Hercules stared in disbelief and horror up at the monsters the god seemed to hold at his disposal while they waited for the command to rave the city of Thebes.

"Nephew," the god spoke, chuckling with mocking, a thing that he seemed to do so naturally. "It is nice to finally meet you at long last. I have looked forward to this moment for years now," he muttered with a wide flourish.

Meg, still on her knees, said nothing. She merely sat and glared at him. Her stare held the god's fear, for the power she knew her master held over herself but also the entire city of Thebes. Yet there was also hatred and contempt for the god for his wickedness and cruelty. For a moment, Hercules felt pride swell in his chest.

Despite the months of pain she had lived in and existing at an abdominal level of pain and abuse at her master's cruelty that he did not even wish to imagine, there was still fire in Meg's soul.

But it was then that Hercules realized something was wrong, for Meg would not bring her gaze to face him.

Beside him, he felt Medusa stiffen and he could hear the Gorgon muttering to Adonis what they were looking at. He heard Meg's former lover suck in a large breath through his nose and mutter to himself under his breath.

"σκατά," he heard Adonis hiss through clenched teeth.

Shit indeed, Prince, Hercules thought bitterly to himself.

Hercules begrudgingly agreed but did not take his eyes away from the god, the fingers of his sword hand twitching as he itched to pull the weapon against the god who claimed to be his uncle.

A shiver ripped through him at the thought of this vengeful god and him sharing blood.

"Hades, please," Meg answered in a trembling voice, though Hercules thought he heard the faintest twinges of a haunting dread in her hoarse voice.

"Quiet," the god whom Hercules now knew to be called Hades commanded and held up a hand to stop her from speaking. He snapped his fingers and conjured a length of rope that shot forward of their own accord and bound Meg's wrists together with enough force to make Meg cry out in pain as the edges of the rope dug into the skin of her wrists and caused them to bleed. Meg's concern for Hercules was so great that she dared not speak a word.

"Let's get on with this, Meg, shall we?" Hades snarled to his servant, rhetorically. "Neither of you moves, they don't move, do you hear me? Nobody else needs to die today save for Zeus. His head is going on a pike at the entrance to my realm, make no mistake about that," Hades spoke in a low voice that Meg could only describe as a low and vicious growl. "I trust your time on Earth as a mortal has been…" Hades paused and glanced angrily down at Meg, who flinched under the intensity of the god's smoldering gaze. "More than adequate, Hercules, wouldn't you say?" he knowingly smirked. Again, Meg dared not to speak.

"Hades, stop this, please!" Meg begged, forgetting her place, but immediately fell silent upon Hades shooting her a threatening look and one of the behemoth monsters behind her let out a terrifying shriek she knew would haunt her dreams for likely the rest of her life.

"Hercules." Hades straightened his posture and began to pace a leisurely line back and forth in an authoritative way, the god's handsome and placid features contemplative. "I've watched you for quite some time now, Meggie here has been…keeping a close eye on you." Hades' hoarse voice wormed its way into Hercules' confused and muddled thoughts once more as he could barely tear his gaze away from the colossal Titans just behind him. "What is it that you were hoping to gain by earning my brother's favor? A place among the gods on Olympus? Hmm? Family? Duty? Honor? All those noble virtues mean nothing to a bastard like my brother. Is that what Zeus promised you, so you've, what put your own life in peril to try to become a hero?" Hades hissed, bearing his teeth at Hercules.

Hercules' temper swelled and the words were ripped from his lips before he could stop himself. He could tell by the glint in Hades' black eyes that the god was lying to him, he felt it.

"If you've heard so much about me as you seem to, Uncle, what else do you want from me? What else do you need to hear?" he shouted.

"That you put your god-given strength to good use, boy! Join me in taking down the All-Father. Even now, I wish for nothing more than to run one of Zeus's thunderbolts straight through your heart like your wretched father did to my beloved wife, my queen.? To run a thunderbolt through your heart and watch as your last breath is plucked from your lungs? I took you for a warrior, nephew, instead, what I find in front of me is a coward, what a waste and a disappointment to the gods you will make," Hades growled through gritted teeth. He paused as he tilted his head to the side and watched as Hercules' eyes widened in fear as the boy hastily went to Meg's side and held her.

Meg turned her face to Hades and then dropped her hands to the ground. She understood why Hades was making a big spectacle of himself, what the Lord of the Underworld had planned for Zeus and the other gods on Olympus.

Her heart ached to think that Wonder Boy's father had killed Persephone, she had no ill will towards Hades' wife, but she would beg her master to stop this if that's what he wanted to hear.

"Please. Please, Hades," she implored the god desperately. "I beg you. Please. Don't."

Frightened tears began to stream down her face as she unconsciously let her hands travel to her wounded thigh as the wound pulsated and seared white-hot flashes of pain that went up and down her leg.

It hurt, but the pain grounded her and kept her mind focused on the horrific reality of their new situation.

"Meg, you are in no position to ask me for anything, sweetheart, you didn't even want to get close to your Wonder Boy in the first place, remember, you begged me to let you off, that you wanted nothing to do with him, and now to find you getting worked up over this boy is truly pathetic, Meggie, my sweet," Hades snapped, his tone rising to match his furious mood.

Meg could only sit there trembling at the thought of the horrific destruction that was to come once he let loose the Titans on the city of Thebes. Hercules' anger was growing as his mind raced to find an escape.

He needed to get Meg and the others out of here and somewhere safer, but as he looked at Meg, the look of heartbreak anger and remorse on Meg's face was almost too much to bear as he struggled to process his uncle's words. Meg had been under Hades' influence this entire time, ordered to get close to him as a distraction.

His stomach lurched and he gnashed his teeth together as Meg looked at him through red-rimmed eyes that were quickly filling with tears, trying to gauge Hercules' reaction.

"Is I-is any of this true? Was it a farce to you all this time? Did Hades truly save you only to throw you into a pit of monsters?" Meg flinched as she looked up and saw sadness in his eyes and angst as his mind was struggling to comprehend it all. Hercules was looking at her now as though he did not know her.

His winged horse sniggered out of fear and anticipation and Meg could only hold her breath. She felt the color draining from her face and she did not even bother to hide it.

Everyone was listening to them, to the sound of both their hearts breaking, at least.

"I…at first, y-yes, I-I didn't want anything to do with you, b-but please, just…just give me a chance to explain," Meg pleaded as she swallowed a lump in her throat, not even caring as her tears began to slip from the edges of her eyes. Her words left Hercules red in embarrassment and utter humiliation. Wonder Boy's look of bewilderment quickly changed into one of furrowed confusion and hurt. She heard Hercules sniff and it took everything she had within herself not to avert her gaze to look into the man's blue eyes to see the hurt that she knew she had caused.

"You…you used me," he growled, his voice turning combative as he gritted his teeth. "You kissed me, Meg…why?"

Meg leaned back, shocked. "I—I… my heart broke for you because I—"

But Hercules suddenly cut her off, his demeanor furious.

"Because, what, you felt 'sorry' for me? You let me think that I had an inkling of hope with you because of your pity?" Hercules felt his breathing increase. "You would willingly go off with your Prince if he asked you…Phil was right…I never should have trusted you," he snapped with a bark to his voice that made Meg look up in surprise and hurt.

"Hercules, no, that is not true!" Meg cried, her voice trembling. "How could you say that? No, your Nanny Goat isn't right, he's never been more wrong! I love—" she started to say but Hercules cut her off, too heartbroken to listen.

"Stop, Meg, I…I don't have the comprehension for this right now." Hercules' voice cracked as he tore his gaze away from Meg and looked up at the much bigger problem now staring him in the face.

At least Colossilossi Titans and then the matter of his uncle. He took a step forward, shaking his head and grasping for the feeling of the cold air that one of the behemoths seemingly made entirely of ice seemed to be emitting. Meg's betrayal came crashing down on him in full force like a tidal wave.

Hercules felt his eyes tear up in both anger and heartbreak. The edges of the demigod's mouth twitched and he was trying too hard to control it, to prevent Hades from seeing it, but the more he tried, the more he failed.

Hercules glowered at his uncle, glaring viciously his blue eyes reddening at the rims as he drew his sword. Zeus's son was ready to pounce and tear the Lord of the Dead limb from limb.

"Hear that I accept now whatever challenge you give me. In your defeat, you will watch as I send these monsters back to the depths of hell they spawned from, and I swear I will send you back to the dead to your Underworld and you will never resurface again and you will never see the light of the sun. I will trap you in Tartarus myself, Uncle."

"Hades, please!" Meg screamed, nearly hysterical as she shouted at her master in shock. "You cannot do this!" She trailed off as Hades sharply turned his head in her direction as she struggled to get to her feet.

"Here!" Meg could hear Medusa's frantic voice beside her as the young Gorgon bounded forward to help her to her feet. Meg was grateful Medusa did not let go as the adrenaline that had flooded her body previously was beginning to fail her, and she was starting to feel the pain spread in her leg.

She was not sure how much longer she could remain standing before her leg would give out.

Hades said nothing, merely eyeing Meg angrily for a moment.

Before Meg could react, Hades drew his knife against Meg, grabbed her by the end of her long ponytail, and grasped her around the waist, holding her close to him with his arm. He pressed his blade to her throat with his left hand.

She would serve as the human shield if negotiations with his nephew went sideways.

"Go," Hades shouted, and he turned his head to watch as the Titans began to stalk in the direction of the famed Mount Olympus, the earth trembling beneath their feet as the colossal monstrous goliaths began to wreak unnatural havoc upon the earth. Once the Titans shambled off toward their respective destination, he turned his wrathful glare upon Meg. "Don't move, kitten, nobody moves, you don't move, I don't move," he growled threateningly.

Hercules' heart was in his throat as he watched the chaos unfold itself upon the innocent city of Thebes and the surrounding lands as the walls of the city were torn down with one crushing stomp from the Mountain King.

Lythos, Hercules thought the two-headed Titan's name was if he remembered the stories of the creatures Mother and Father would tell him as a boy when he could not sleep. The screams of the dying and injured as the Thebans scrambled to evacuate the city as the giants stalked their way toward Olympus rang in his ears and haunted him.

The Titans raved their path through Thebes without even giving a chance for the Thebans to recuperate, much less ready to stand their ground and fight for their home. The ambush that followed as the Titans set Mount Olympus for their destination was a brutal slaughter. Hercules felt his blood churn revoltingly as he roared in anger, a furious blood yell that he was sure even the Titans could hear over the resonating screams of the Thebans as they perished.

When he looked back towards Meg, to find her now held at knifepoint and completely and utterly at the mercy of his uncle, a burning rage hit Hercules squarely in the chest so suddenly that he did not have time to properly sort through his emotions as he realized with a churning feeling in his stomach he would have to choose whom to save.

Meg, who still held his heart despite her having betrayed him, or the Thebans, who were now bloodied and dying in the hundreds, perhaps thousands, as the ruthless Titans wreaked havoc upon the city he'd worked so hard to save.

His conflicting emotions began to wage war uncontrollably within him, but it was as he looked upon Meg's terror-stricken face and was met with such paleness fear, and remorse that he realized, he would always choose Meg.

"Let her go!" The command escaped his lips as a low growl, his broad and muscular chest nearly vibrating from the sound. He glowered darkly at the Lord of the Dead, his once kind sky-blue eyes darkening and becoming the eyes of a seasoned warrior, someone harder, and someone ruthless.

He let go of his gentleness and his timidity, for it would do him no good here with his Uncle.

"Get away from her, and don't make me say it again," Hercules threatened, his voice low. "Move away from her, and fight me instead, Uncle," Hercules ordered loudly, as Hades remained steadfast in place, though it was clear by the look on his uncle's face that the Lord of the Dead knew Hercules was making no idle threat. "FIGHT ME!"

Hercules could feel Meg's pleading eyes on him as he gripped his sword and it took all of his willpower not to tear his gaze away from Hades. He could feel the distress emanating from Meg in waves. Hercules clenched his jaw and turned his head away for the briefest moments, trying to shake off the rage and hurt he was feeling at her betrayal.

"Let Meg go and stand down, then find another of your kin who would willingly vouch for you in front of Father and the others after what you've just done, Uncle, stop this madness, please! Your wife, Hades, think of her, she wouldn't want this for you, would she?" Hercules shouted, the fingers of his dominant hand twitching as he itched to pull his sword and defend Meg's life, though he did not want to fight his uncle over it.

"LEAVE MY WIFE OUT OF THIS, BOY! You have no right to speak her name and no idea what loss is, nephew, but you're about to! You and my bastard brother both! Your father has stolen everything from me, now it's only right that I return the favor!" Hades roared at the top of his lungs, losing what little shred of self-control the Lord of the Underworld still possessed. Meg flinched the moment she heard Hades let out a low and inhuman growl from deep within his throat and felt the god tense. She knew the god would lunge for Hercules in a mere matter of seconds.

Hades was consumed with grief and was past the point of being able to be reasoned with, she realized with a jolt. He was going insane. She felt Hades begin to lower the blade from around her neck.

Her eyes widened in shock and horror as she realized what he was about to do.

With a reflex of protectiveness urging her on, Meg turned and shoved Hades backward with all her strength just as Hades made to throw the knife in hand straight toward Hercules.

Frantically, Hercules lunged forward hoping to catch Meg as she staggered backward after shoving Hades out of the way with her own body. The blood drained from his face as he could only watch in horror the tip of his uncle's knife bury itself deep within Meg's chest, a few inches below her heart.

Meg crumpled backward and winced in pain, making no sound.

"NO!" Hercules screamed in horror and watched as Meg fell to the ground. Rage flashed in his eyes as he brought his sword up at the ready and was now fully prepared to take his uncle's head if it came to that. Before he could charge at the Lord of the Dead, Hades turned on his heels and, in a twist of his black woolen robes, vanished with a loud deafening crack, the sound of his magic drowning out Hercules' anguished and furious blood yell at losing Meg.

Hysterical, Hercules fell to his knees and took Meg in his arms, tears streaming down his cheeks at seeing the gushing stream of blood now flowing down her front. Meg's limp form leaned back in his arms. Hercules did not think he could bear seeing the fear and bewilderment in Meg's lavender eyes as Meg stared up at him in shock.

Hercules did not think he could stomach the fear in her eyes as she stared up at him. He held her tightly in his arms, the god's knife still protruding from her chest, buried deep. Meg's eyes began to swim with tears as if she could not even focus on Hercules' face. He grew even more panicked and his chest grew tight as he spoke her name.

"No, no, no, Meg, stay with me, please," he begged, pressing his forehead to hers and trying to will some of his strength into Meg that he sensed was failing her. Meg raised a shaky hand to touch his cheek and summoning enough strength in her throat that was quickly filling with blood, she managed to speak to Hercules in a faint voice.

"It's better…this way…Wonder…Boy…it's...no less than I...deserve for...for tricking you like I did. You're...more important than me," she hissed through gritted teeth as she squeezed her eyes shut in pain. "I'm...sorry..." She whispered, for one brief moment, seeing him through the haze that was starting to take over her line of sight. Her fingers lingered on Hercules' cheek and then fell limply to her side, leaving streaks of her blood down his jaw.

Hercules felt bile rise in his throat and he thought he was going to be sick. He did not nearly let himself look, but he knew that he could never forgive himself for being such a coward if he did not look at her wound, at the damage that he had caused. If he'd not gotten angry with her, she might not have felt the need to try to save him.

His throat tightened, and it was now a chore just to force the words from his throat as he blinked back tears.

"Oh, Meg, why…why did you…y-you didn't have to…Hades was my problem to deal with, Meg, not yours!" Hercules wept as Meg's head rested back against the crook of his arm and her eyes slowly closed. "No, Meg! Don't go to sleep, stay awake!" Hercules bellowed, his body shaking with force as if he thought he could force Meg's body to heal itself that way. From somewhere behind Hercules, Medusa, Phil, and Adonis's eyes all collectively went wide at hearing Hercules' desperate screams over the reverberating tones of the Titans still wreaking havoc upon the land.

Medusa and Phil tore their gazes away from what was left of the city of Thebes to find Hercules hunched over Meg's fallen body. Medusa's eyes grew wide with alarm as she prayed to the gods if the vicious bastards would hear her that Hercules would not know the pain of losing the one who held his heart. Medusa took Adonis by the hand and together, they ran to where Hercules was cradling Meg, dropping to their knees, both fearing that her life was lost.

Medusa and Adonis fell silent as Meg's hushed voice reached their ears, though her words were meant for Hercules and Hercules alone.

"People…always do…crazy things, Wonder Boy, when…when they're in love. You...should go, you...haven't got much time. Stop...Titans...H-Hades, you can...still stop him, j-just...leave me here and let me bleed, it...it will be good for me," Meg croaked, weakly trying to crack a smile to lighten his mood, her voice becoming fainter and fainter as she kept her eyelids closed, though Medusa could only look on in horror as her friend's breaths were slowing down.

Feeling Meg's chest rising through her dress and hearing the gurgling in her throat, Hercules came back to himself and realized it was not over yet. She was still fighting and she was still alive. He gingerly laid Meg down gently on the ground and took hold of the hilt of Hades' knife. Medusa attempted to help by reaching for it with shaky fingers.

"No! Don't pull it out!" Hercules ordered, knowing she might very well bleed to death if the knife was drawn from her body by anybody less than an experienced surgeon.

Medusa quickly withdrew her hands back into herself and awaited further instructions from Hercules.

Hercules grabbed the hilt of the knife and let out a grunt of effort as he summoned just a little of his overwhelming godlike strength and snapped the hilt of the knife in two. Hercules shrugged out of his cloak tore a large strip of the light blue cloth and began to shove it into Meg's wound, hoping it would stop the bleeding until he could get her into the care of a more than capable physician who could surgically remove it.

"We need to get her to a doctor now," Adonis shouted, the color in his tanned complexion draining as he heard Medusa frantically whispering to him what was going on. Hercules tore his gaze away from Meg and had been about to scoop the young woman up into his arms, though feeling Phil's hand on his thigh stopped him and he looked to his left. He could barely see his trainer through the tears that were now blurring his vision and stinging his eyes.

"Go, kid, you gotta stop the Titans an' Hades before things go from bad to worse, you can't let all those innocent folks die for the sake of one girl, kid, no matter how much in love with you you may be," Phil advised, an edge to the cantankerous Satyr's voice that Hercules hadn't heard before. "Me an' Medusa here, an' the Prince I suppose," he grunted, barely sparing Adonis so much as a second glance, "will look out for her, champ, I promise, kid. We'll see to it she gets the help she needs, Hercules. You got my word."

Hercules hesitated, the indecision eating away at his soul, wanting to stay with Meg, but knew that he could not let Thebes or the rest of Greece, for that matter, suffer this. He glanced over his shoulder out of fear but forced himself to hold it back. He had made it this far in his quest to become a god and be worthy of a place on Olympus, and now, he had to finish it. Even if it meant going against his Uncle.

His heart sank to the pit of his stomach at the very notion and he loathed the thought of having to leave Meg behind even for a few minutes, but he had no other choice. He looked down at Meg and tried to offer her a reassuring smile, though her eyes were flickering open and shut, barely perceptively. Hercules still hoped she could see it.

"I…I will come back, Meg," he told her softly. "I promise. Nothing and no one, not even my uncle is going to take you away from me. You're going to be all right," he swore vehemently.

Before his resolve could falter, he bent and kissed Meg on the lips, hoping the taste of her kiss would not dissipate, wanting to keep it with him, always. And then, he bolted from the woods, taking to the skies on Pegasus, the beginnings of a plan already forming in his mind.

MEG furiously blinked back the tears that stung and swam in her eyes as she saw nothing but red. She lay there on the ground, aware that Medusa and Phil were trying to peer into her eyes, speaking to her, trying to convince her that everything would be alright, that she would be fine, but she knew she wasn't.

Her wound pulsated and throbbed, she was sure it was only a matter of time before her thread of life was cut, and she was whisked away to the Underworld as a permanent addition to Hades' River Styx, she was sure of it, yes, she was sure.

Tears spilled down her cheeks and suddenly, her leg and chest hurt more than she could comprehend. She had a horrifying moment of realization as she felt the warmth slowly seep from her body as everything went cold that this was it. Her brain began to turn foggy and her lungs continued to burn. She was sure her time was upon her, her thread of life was about to be cut. She had failed, but at least Hercules was alive. She'd saved him.

Meg only wished she knew what would happen to Wonder Boy, to Medusa and Adonis, and hells, even Hercules' Nanny Goat, Phil. Would they be alright? She wished she could have done more.

She swore though her master was not here, she could hear Hades' voice, speaking to her.

You're mine now, Meg. You're mine now, she heard his voice whisper into her ear, and for a moment, Meg thought she saw him, mistaking the god for Wonder Boy.

Though it could not be Hercules come back already, as Wonder Boy did not have pale blue skin or the beard like Hades did, damned, the resemblance between the uncle and nephew was uncanny. The two could have been twins, almost. The air around her was gray and quiet. Thebes stood still and she could no longer feel the ground shake so she figured Hercules must have been able to lure the Titans away. Meg forced her eyelids open and wondered at the silence that fell over the land. There was no movement, no screams from the Thebans, nothing.

Did…Did Hercules win? Meg thought, not knowing.

She did not know what happened to the demigod she now knew herself to be recklessly and hopelessly in love with, or what had happened to the city of Thebes as a whole if the Titans had crushed them all into oblivion. But…but…

Meg turned slowly and found Medusa and Phil looking up at her, and poor Adonis' head was turned in her direction, just to the left. Her eyes grew wide and clear, and she strangely enough felt at peace as she watched the sunrise, no longer troubled. The pain in her chest and her leg no longer lingered. The gods were good to her after all.

She took a deep breath as she heard the startled exclamations of voices, Phil and Medusa's, though the ringing in her ears was too loud and drowned out their voices. She blinked owlishly as a silhouette of a woman's figure appeared in her line of sight, and for one mad instant, Meg was sure she was hallucinating.

Then, she blinked again, and she found Hades' wife Persephone peering into her pupils, her pale pink face twisted and contorted with grief, slick tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked at the damage her husband caused.

She struggled to sit up and did not protest as she felt a pair of rough and calloused hands helping her to sit up and realized it was Phil.

"Great night…for…the end of the world, Persephone," Meg gasped, though her voice was faint and barely audible as she turned her head to the side and spit out a sliver of blood.

Persephone flinched. "You're not…" The goddess could not even finish her sentence. "Megara, you're not supposed to be moving…"

But Meg merely coughed and shook her head, Phil's grip around her middle tightening.

"No. I…just need a minute," she hissed. "If I'm to die, I want to see the sun. I want to die in the light," Meg moaned in pain. Phil looked as though he wanted to say something to that, anything, but Hercules' Nanny Goat didn't.

Perhaps he, like Medusa and Adonis, was stripped of words, in shock.

Persephone knelt into a crouch, so she was at eye level with Meg as Phil continued to hold her. She looked almost objectively relieved, and Meg could not tell if it was because the goddess was relieved she was alive or if it was because there was still a chance to talk her husband down from his madness.

"You are foolish, Meg, for a mortal," she muttered softly. "You should not have sacrificed yourself so hastily…" Her voice trailed off as her sky-blue eyes lingered on the gaping crater in Meg's chest and then flicked back to her eyes.

"But I did," Meg croaked weakly. She turned and let out a small faint sigh as Phil relinquished control of Meg and gave her to Adonis. Trembling, Adonis lifted Meg into his arms and Meg's head rested in the crook of the man's elbow and stayed there. "Adonis, I wish…you could see it, the sunrise, it's...beautiful," Meg murmured, feeling guilty for wishing that it was Wonder Boy in Adonis' place but she couldn't help herself. "Medusa, can you see it? The—the sun is coming up," she said.

"It is, Meg," Medusa whispered in a cracking voice. The young Gorgon sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "Hercules is going to win, Meg, and you're going to be just fine. He's going to become the hero I know he can be, the songs will say so, and the singers will sing of you, how you won his heart, Meg, and gave him happiness."

Meg's lips which were slowly losing their color turned upwards in a faint smile as she shifted her attention toward Phil.

"Take care of…Wonder Boy, Phil, please," she begged. "He'll need you..."

"Uh-uh, kid, you'll be there too, Red," Phill told Meg fiercely, shaking his head as if the Satyr thought he could make it so as he looked towards Hades' wife for the goddess' help, but her expression remained stone. "You'll look after him yourself, and…I'm sorry if I misjudged you, but damn you, Red, why?"

Meg's face twisted and contorted in pain as she let out a noise that was not a laugh, but something close to a choked sob.

"Like I…told Wonder Boy, people always do…crazy things when…they're in love, Phil, and…I know…I couldn't let...Hades...ruin...Hercules, Phil," Meg's body shuddered with a racking sigh as she settled into Adonis's arms.

The sky above their head turned a brilliant myriad of hues of pink and red. Phil Medusa and Adonis collectively gathered around Meg's side, neither one of them daring to breathe, barely holding on, as Adonis held tightly to Meg.

Meg watched, starry-eyed as the brilliantly colored sky seemed to reflect in her lavender irises, which brimmed with tears. For a moment, Meg even smiled, as she could not explain it, but she knew that Wonder Boy was going to stop Hades. Then, she let out a tired sigh, turned her face to the left, and buried it in Adonis's shoulder, and quietly, she died.

Phil's eyes filled with tears, knowing the kid would be heartbroken to learn she was gone.

After a moment, Phil tore his gaze away from Meg in the Prince's arms and looked towards the goddess Persephone. The kid Herc was so taken with and possibly even in love with was already dead, she had gone far too pale and her lips were tinged slightly blue, and yet, there was a chance Meg's soul could still be returned if they acted fast.

"C-can you…" Medusa openly sobbed and looked towards Persephone with pleading yellow eyes of her own. "S-save…her?" The young Gorgon asked.

Persephone felt her stomach churn at the Gorgon's broken request. She could not make that call, only Hades could, and first, the god had to be stopped.

"I cannot, but my husband could. Hades needs to be stopped. If I can only convince the others to let him go, I'm sure I could persuade him to give Meg back," Persephone muttered, the beginnings of a fierce determination flitting across her face. She looked towards Phil. "You are my husband's nephew's trainer, are you not? Something tells me I will need you by my side. You might be one of the only few who will keep Hercules calm when he learns the truth." She rose to her full height and held out her hand expectantly for the Satyr to take it. "Will you come with me?"

Phil turned questioning eyes toward Adonis and then flicked his saddened eyes to Megara's corpse.

"You both will look after her?" he asked, already sure he knew the answer but wanted to be sure.

Medusa nodded. "With our lives," she promised passionately.

"Persephone," Phil mumbled, Hades' wife's name sounding funny coming from him. "Take me to Herc. We gotta stop the Champ before he does something he'll regret. If saving Hades is the only way to get that broad back, then, of course, I'll come," he muttered as Phil stumbled forward and took the goddess's pale pink hand in his, her hand warm.

She nodded in understanding.

"Be silent then and do as I tell you when we arrive at Olympus," Persephone told Phil sternly, suddenly very serious.

Phil nodded but said nothing and closed his eyes as the Satyr allowed Persephone to whisk him away via means of her magic to Mount Olympus, as she spirited him away from the earth and towards the home of the gods.

---

HERCULES could not shake away the sudden icy feeling of cold that pricked at his heartstrings and he felt his eyes well with tears as his mind was stuck on one thing and one thing only: Meg.

Somehow, from somewhere deep within himself that he was desperately trying to ignore, he sensed something was gravely wrong with the woman he loved. His mind raced as he struggled to understand what could be causing this gut feeling that something was wrong. He could not even focus on the fact that here on Mount Olympus, he felt…lightweight, and airy.

He thought it a miracle that he was even still alive, that he had managed to corner Hades after defeating the Titans single-handedly and sending them back to the depths of Tartarus where the foul creatures belonged.

Or that Father was dangerously close to executing his brother, having a strong hand wound around the god's throat and a lightning bolt aimed squarely at his heart as he ranted and raved at what Hades had done.

The worst part was now. Hercules knew that something had happened to Meg since he had left, that he was not by her side while she was wounded and in pain, but he could not leave until he was sure the threat to Meg's life (and all of Greece for that matter) was dealt a fitting punishment.

He blinked and forced his attention back to the present matter at hand, wracking his mind as it raced to determine what was wrong, though before Zeus could drive the thunderbolt in hand through Hades' heart, the angry cut of a voice, one he did not recognize, cut through the air.

"ZEUS! ENOUGH!"

Hercules flinched and immediately turned his head in the direction of the voice and was astonished to see a beautiful goddess, pregnant by the looks of her, striding forward calmly with the speed that could summon a storm and fiery in her sky-blue eyes, though that was not what caught at him. What caught his attention was Phil scurrying towards his side. Hercules immediately felt dread worm its way into the pit of his stomach and felt the blood leave his face.

"Phil? Where's Meg, I told you to stay with her, h-has something…" He paused, certain something was wrong. "Happened?" he stammered, fumbling over his words as he looked at Phil, not aware he was pale as a ghost.

"I...I'm sorry, kid. Your girl, Meg, she...she didn't make it."

Phil nodded, and Hercules' heart was in his throat. He staggered forward towards his uncle and father, who were now surrounded by the other gods, blinded by this new emotion that hit him squarely in the chest.

It was a terrible seizing that seized his heart so that the feeble quivering muscle in his chest pounded painfully. As he marched forward, his feet no longer taking direction from his mind, he felt the horrible sprouting of sadness, devastation, and uncontrollable rage toward Hades.

He knew then that his uncle had killed the woman he loved. It was the rage he clung to now, and he suddenly wished for Father to end Hades' life, wanting to watch as the light left his eyes.

He was not a violent man, by any means, but with Hades, he wanted it like he needed air. He felt his muscles twitch and he yearned for Father to end his uncle's life.

But then he turned his gaze towards the young goddess quickly striding towards Zeus and practically throwing herself prostrate at his father's feet.

It was the woman's eyes he was drawn to. They were so sad, she looked so scared, and Hades himself was looking as though he had seen a ghost like he could not believe it as the woman came to bend the knee in front of Zeus and be beside him.

He wanted Hades to die and yet, he sensed the goddess who came to kneel in front of Zeus was the wife he'd spoken of, that Zeus had...killed? Hercules furrowed his brow in confusion, not understanding. He parted his lips to speak, though he fell silent at hearing the goddess' plea. The pink-skinned goddess sounded on the verge of hyperventilation and close to tears.

Persephone worriedly turned his gaze towards Hades, whose lips were agape as if devoid of words, though she could see a muscle underneath his closely cropped beard twitching, as though he were wracking his brain for something to say. She dropped her hands to the clouds beneath them.

She understood why Zeus had forced Hades to kneel in front of him and the other gods of Olympus, what the God of Thunder had planned for her husband. But she would beg him to show mercy, for the sake of their child. She had to.

"Please, Zeus," she begged tearfully. "I beg of you. I...I will do anything, I swear. Let him live. Let him live and see our child born. Let us return to the Underworld," she begged, her chest beginning to heave with sobs as she begged.

"Father, please, don't do this, there has to be another way to resolve this!" Hercules shouted in shock as he swore he heard Zeus let out a deep growl from deep within his broad and muscular chest. "Surely you wouldn't!" he trailed off as he stared at Father's blank and menacing blue eyes whose only emotion left in them was rage.

He was now certain indeed that his father would indeed slaughter Hades without so much as a second thought to his conscience, or giving any thought to how it would upheaval the goddess Persephone's life. Hercules felt his heart break to hear the woman's plea, wondering what Meg would want if she were here. Surely, there was a better way…

Without thinking, Hercules bounded forward and planted himself squarely in between Father and Hades and Persephone, as Meg had done to protect him and sacrifice herself, he would do the same for his uncle, though in his heart, he was furious with Hades for what the god had taken from him, he knew that Meg would want it this way.

"STOP!" he shouted, and the hoarseness of his voice and the rumble in his voice were enough to give his father pause. The anger in Zeus's blue eyes that were so like his seemed to dissipate, though the edges of the God of Thunder's lips pinched and turned down in a frown. "Father, no matter what he's done, this is not the right way!"

"Do you hear yourself, Hercules?" The edges of Zeus's thick white beard twitched as he straightened his posture, towering over his son in anger. "Your uncle deserves to be executed for his crimes of unleashing the Ti—

"I know, Father, but…let them both go, Uncle is going to become a father soon." Hercules could feel his teeth beginning to chatter as his body was itching and teeming with anticipation as a strange tingling sensation began to snake its way throughout his entire body. He wanted nothing more than to return to Earth with Meg, but he suspected that his uncle, as Lord of the Underworld, was the only one who had any say over the dead.

If he saved Hades' life here today, then his uncle would have to give Meg back. He turned towards the other gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus who were gathered around to watch the spectacle.

If they were at all surprised by Zeus's son stepping in to defend Hades, they did not let their faces show it.

Hercules defiantly lifted his chin and jutted it out, almost glowering at the All-Father.

"Send them back to the Underworld, Father. Do not do this. Please," he begged, his voice cracking and breaking as he made his case. "If you kill him now, then you're proving yourself to the mortals back on Earth right, how foolish they are to ever think kindly of you and any other god or goddess here who would enjoy seeing Hades killed!" Hercules passionately proclaimed, turning towards his uncle and Hades' wife Persephone in a quest to defend them.

Zeus, once he had managed to recover, shook his head and turned rueful blue eyes towards his brother, wrath burning in them.

"I suppose, son, that you are right. This does not concern me," the All-Father growled, resenting every word that passed his lips, and yet Zeus felt as though he had no choice at all. "I am the one that he almost killed tonight. That he did kill," he added as an afterthought. "My boy, it was that mortal woman who you seem to be quite taken with who was put in grave danger by your uncle's actions," he stated plainly, his expression devoid of emotion. "You will decide their fates, son," Zeus proclaimed in a loud voice that rumbled like thunder through the rest of Olympus.

The others who had congregated around them to watch began to titter amongst themselves. Hercules felt his breathing quicken as he awkwardly shifted his weight from one foot to another and shot a worried look toward Phil for help. But the confused look and shrug of his mentor's shoulders told the demigod he would get no help here.

Hercules cast his gaze toward Persephone and Hades, suddenly pitying them both. He took a step forward and stretched out a hand to both his uncle and his bride.

The couple exchanged looks with one another though after a moment's hesitation, they accepted the offer of his hand and allowed Zeus's son to help them upright to their feet.

Persephone stood with shaking legs and eyed the other goddesses around her wearily, clutching at the small swell of her belly to guard the precious life within, as though she feared Hercules might attempt to cut the babe from her.

"Bring Meg back to life, lift Medusa's curse, and right the wrongs of the destruction the Titans have caused to Thebes and the surrounding areas, help rebuild the cities back on Earth, and I consider this debt fulfilled and your pardon to be true. Return to the Underworld, and you may live your lives in peace, Uncle," Hercules proclaimed as he ticked off his conditions on his fingers, much to the astonishment of the crowd that had gathered around them.

Behind him, he heard a god, Hermes, he thought the winged messenger was, whisper to Phil.

"That's it?" the blue god whispered to the Satyr, confused.

He, alongside the others, could not understand why Hercules was being so lenient with the pair, particularly his uncle.

"He's the only one that can bring his girl back, you fool, not even his pretty little pupped wife next to him has the authority to make that call, buddy," Phil snorted and stomped a hoof in agitation, rolling his eyes to the sky at Hermes' apparent thick-headedness and simplicity. "Ain't nothin' happens in the realm of the Underworld without Hades' express say-so," he grunted, keeping his arms folded across his chest as he waited for Hades' response.

The others and Hercules fell silent as they turned their gazes towards Hades and Persephone, who were lost in one another's gazes and did not seem to feel the burn of Olympus' gods and goddesses at the backs of their heads, as they had eyes for only each other.

Hercules almost wanted to look away, for they did not embrace as couples down on Earth did, yet the shock reveling in Hades' yellow eyes was almost too much to bear as the god lifted a hand to stroke Persephone's cheek and tuck a curl back behind her ear before lowering his hand and letting it rest against the swell of her stomach.

After what seemed an interminable wait, Hades spoke, though never once did he part eyes from his beloved wife, as he moved to take her hands in his, his eyes desperately searching his wife's gaze.

"And what of you, nephew?" he called, his voice hoarse and trembling slightly, as though he could still not believe his wife was returned to him and in front of him. "What will you do?" he questioned.

Hercules nodded in understanding, not needing his uncle to elaborate on his words. He knew that Hades was referring to his quest to become a god, but…strangely enough, none of that mattered to him anymore. Not when his whole world lay motionless somewhere on Earth. Not when her soul was trapped in his uncle's own Underworld.

Hercules exhaled a shaky breath and took a step towards his father, feeling the tingling warmth spiral through him when he looked down, his body was glowing, a faint golden glow that warmed him several times over.

He stared, dumbfounded, but then with one look towards Phil, who was getting teary-eyed, he thought he understood. By saving his uncle, despite what he had done, he had, in a sense, become a hero, he had become a god to be praised.

Hercules lifted his eyes to his father, his decision made up, his mind made and there was no changing it. He sighed and came to a halt in front of his father and mother, who was looking at him expectantly and waiting for his remark on what his answer was.

"Mother, Father, I…" He hesitated, searching for the right words. "I've wanted this my whole life, b-but…a life here, even an immortal one, without Meg, would be…empty. I'm going back home, to Earth where I belong, to be with her." He spoke with a finality in his voice and just a twinge of steel. He drew in a breath and held it, waiting.

Hera and Zeus stepped forward and without words, embraced Hercules tightly in a hug that nearly cracked two of his ribs. Only when the hug ended and they pulled apart did Zeus speak, though this time, in a much softer and subdued tone than before.

"We understand, son. Your mother and I could not be prouder of you, Hercules. You set out what you've always wanted to do, even if it was not in the way that any one of us could have ever expected. Go then, to her. Time on earth is so fleeting as it is. Best not to waste a single moment." Here, his piece said, he turned towards his brother, who shot Zeus a withering look but snapped his fingers and motioned towards Pegasus with a curt jerk of his head.

"Go, nephew, I think you'll find your lady needs you, Hercules," Hades grunted, sounding thoroughly less than pleased, but Hercules knew that, in time, once his son or daughter was born, the god would come to thank him.

Hercules did not need to be told twice. He bounded forward on his heels and scooped up Phil in his arms, bringing his fingers to his mouth and whistling for Pegasus. The fiercely loyal steed was by his side and urging them onto his back within seconds. Hercules did not even hear the cheers of the gods of Mount Olympus as Pegasus took once more to the skies, only this time, headed for Earth.

He found himself praying to Father and the others that his uncle had kept his word and returned Meg's soul to her.

As far as he was concerned, he could not get back to Meg's side fast enough.

MEDUSA and Adonis knelt silently on the ground, each one of them holding one of Meg's hands in a tight vice grip as though they thought each one of them possessed the strength to will life back into Meg's breast that way.

Medusa flat out refused to give up hope, even though all seemed blind and desperate, no offense to the literal blind man across from her. Medusa sat silently stroking Meg's bruised hand with her scaly thumb.

There was something she had wanted to say to the mortal woman and she was not sure if it was a good time to say it, and now, she was not sure that she would ever get to.

"Meg?" she whispered, hoping that somehow, even among the numerous souls in Hades' River Styx, Meg heard her.

Medusa hesitated for a moment, unsure exactly what to say, and cringed as she watched out of the corner of her lowered gaze as Adonis lifted his gaze and looked in her general direction, listening to the sound of her voice.

"I just…want you to know if you can hear me somehow, that….I was—am—proud to call you my friend. Maybe even…my only friend," she whispered, shamefaced.

Medusa sighed and reluctantly withdrew her hand, though just before she could lift her gaze to Adonis, she felt a shooting pain jolt through her midsection, her third or fourth in the last few minutes. With a sigh of impatience, she rose to her feet and made to walk away, thinking that perhaps if she got moving, her cramps would subside.

She began to pace a restless line back and forth, trying to ignore how clammy her cheeks were becoming, and her skin and insides had begun to tingle and burn. She was sure that Meg's Prince Adonis could hear it.

True to her suspicions, the man spoke as he slowly turned her head in his direction and his ears picked up on the sound of her aggravated and restless pacing.

"What's wrong?" he asked, a twinge of concern in his voice that surprised her. No one had ever inquired about her health before, but then, this was the first conversation with a human she had had before other than Meg. She was grateful Adonis could not see, she did not want to frighten the man away with her green reptilian, unsightly visage.

It took her a moment to reply as she clutched at the trunk of a nearby tree to steady herself, a wave of dizziness overcoming her. She wanted to contain her honesty, to lie and tell the Prince that nothing was wrong, but something about that felt wrong, even to him, and despite her best efforts to keep the truth from the man who once held Meg's heart, she couldn't and heard herself answering the man truthfully.

"I...I thought it was just a stomachache," Medusa managed to answer through gritted teeth. "But now..."

Just then, the worst pain she had ever felt shot through her abdomen, causing Medusa to double over and cry out in pain.

"Ouch!" she groaned and sank to the ground on her knees. She was barely aware of Adonis rushing to her side and trying to put a comforting hand around her shoulder to help her to her feet and speaking to her in a worried tone.

"Medusa?! Medusa!" she heard him yelling, but her stomach heaved a pressure that she had never felt before, she just wanted it to stop. For a moment, the terrified young Gorgon thought she was about to be sick.

But Medusa couldn't pay attention to a thing the Prince was telling her, for she was far too focused on the strange tendrils of a soft golden light that were beginning to seep from every pore and orifice of her reptilian body.

She lifted a shaking hand to her eye level to study it better, awed and in shock, tears coming to her eyes, as she realized she was turning back into a human.

Someone, hopefully, Hercules, had convinced Athena or another god to lift her wretched curse.

"I…I don't…I never…I...I'm human again," she stammered, her eyes going wide as she lifted her shaking slender fingers to her hair and felt the silky tresses of human hair instead of live snakes. Tears sprang to her eyes and she whirled around at the sound of Pegasus whinnying in frustration, which meant Hercules had returned from Olympus.

Medusa nearly screamed with delight as she covered her mouth with her hands in disbelief to see Hercules walking towards them, though the demigod's expression was as grim as a gravestone as the man clearly had one thing on his mind and one thing only, Meg. But she could not contain her gratefulness as she threw herself at the man's feet and looked up into Hercules' strong chiseled face, her lower lip starting to tremble and tears slipping from her eyes.

"Thank you, Hercules, thank you, thank you," Medusa wept. "You—you've given me my life back, I don't know how I can thank you," she sighed, turning her tear-filled eyes towards Phil, who had gone bug-eyed to see the attractive young brunette in front of him, though the Satyr quickly shook his head to himself and recovered, speaking on Hercules' behalf as the demigod made a beeline towards Meg.

"It's Hades you should thank, kid, when you get the opportunity. He's the one that undid Athena's curse."

Hercules nodded, a muscle in his jaw twitching though his expression softened as he forced himself to tear his gaze away from Meg's lifeless body nearby and look at the now young human woman in front of him instead of a threatening Gorgon. He chuckled, reddening, as the Prince walked forward to help Medusa to her feet.

"I-it was the least I could do, Medusa. After all that you've done for us, you saved Meg's life. My uncle owed you," he pointed out, and then knelt into a crouch by Meg's lifeless body and took the young woman into his arms. He looked pleadingly towards Adonis, seeming to hold no ill will in his heart or jealousy that Adonis had been the one to be by her side and not him when Meg had died. "Is she…?" he asked, his voice trailing off as Adonis shook his head no.

"N-nothing yet, but we should give you this time. It should be your face she sees when she…when she wakes," Adonis stammered, turning towards the sound of Medusa's sniffles that were starting to taper off as the now-human woman regained control of her emotions.

He was lost and utterly confused but perhaps something good had come out of it.

Without thinking, he reached for Medusa's hand and began to lead her away, sensing Hercules needed a moment alone with Megara. He was surprised at how warm her hand was and hoped that, while the two were having a moment while Meg hopefully woke, she would tell him the truth about what she was. He'd known she was not quite normal the first moment Medusa had offered him her arm when he'd stumbled across her in the forest, but he had the good sense to keep his suspicions to himself, as she had not proved herself to be a threat.

Phil must have sensed the same thing for the Satyr snorted and began to lead Pegasus towards a nearby field, muttering something under his breath, but Hercules could not manage to pretend to care.

Hercules held Meg gingerly in his arms, his heart pounding loudly in his chest as he prayed to Father and Mother above that Hades had kept his word. His arms tightened around Meg's limp form and he braced himself.

Though she was cold and lifeless, her body felt so good against his and Hercules felt a certain relief at being reunited once more, he was on edge. Meg had not yet woken up and there was no telling how long it would take Hades to return her soul to her body. Every single nerve in his body was on high alert, and every cracking twig or birdsong had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up on end. Hercules stared at Meg's lifeless form, her lips tinged slightly blue and her face far too pale, and thought of all the things he wished he had told her, how he was growing to love her, visions of a life that he hoped to share with Meg if she would have him. He took her hand, now free of Hades' bangles that had identified her as a slave, and held her knuckles to his lips. Unable to be strong any longer, he stroked back wisps of her dark bangs away from her forehead and bent his face to hers, sobbing her name.

"Meg," Hercules moaned, squeezing his eyes shut as his tears continued to fall, despite his best efforts not to let them. His breathing quickened and his chest was tight and hurt, but he had to say it. "Don't go," he begged her. "Do not go far from me," he pleaded in a whisper. "Meg, I'm here now," he whispered, choking back his tears. "I'm right here where I'm sitting and I'm not anywhere else. I don't want to be. I'm not leaving you alone again. Hades...you're free. He won't...he won't be bothering either one of us ever again, Meg." His trembling fingers reached out to stroke her face, but the act only deepened his anguish when Meg's eyes still did not flutter open.

Hercules felt himself shudder with angst as he kept his eyes closed and buried in her shoulder as he held her.

He tried to picture Meg restored to full health, the essence of her very soul returned to her body. He could see her fierce, tall, and strong, the picture-perfect image of courage and bravery.

She would have made an exceptional goddess, Hercules thought, and he could swear he sensed her loving arms around him, feeling her slender fingers in his wavy ginger hair gently.

Hercules froze when he felt the sensation again, lost in the darkness of the dreams of the life he hoped to have with her. Hercules shivered as he felt the caress of her fingers moving gently through his hair.

He caught his breath, praying to All-Father that he was not imagining this. He drew in a sharp breath and held it as he raised his head and pulled back slightly, and Meg's hand, now warm, rested on Hercules' cheek.

Elated, he caught her fingers and held them to his lips in a kiss as his tear-filled blue eyes bore into hers. Uncle had kept his word, after all. Meg's soul had been returned to her. Color had returned to her complexion and her lavender eyes were open, and she was watching him with all the tenderness and love that he could have hoped for.

The edges of Meg's mouth turned up in the sweetest white smile Hercules had ever seen, causing his heart to leap into his throat with relief and joy. He pulled Meg closer and kissed her softly.

His fingers trembled as he was almost terrified to touch her his hands shifted nervously to her waist and gripped onto fistfuls of her ruined dress for support.

"You're alive, Meg, I…" he whispered, overcome with happiness. "I came back for you," he smiled, feeling his lips trembling and fresh tears streaming down his cheeks.

"What…happened?" Meg's voice was hoarse and barely audible. Her throat was so dry and scratchy that it was a chore for the woman just to force out the words.

Hercules hesitated. He did not want to lie to her, but he was also anxious to keep any fear and uncertainty from her mind if she did not remember.

"You were injured, Meg, by...Hades," he told her as calmly as he could manage. "I thought that I lost you, but…you're going to be alright now, I promise," he told her, trying to convince even himself as his tears continued to fall.

Hercules gingerly gathered Meg in his arms and kissed the woman he now knew himself to be desperately and hopelessly in love with, to which Meg was more than eager to return his kiss.

As she kissed him and felt it through her entire body, her heart soared with relief as she remembered that it had been she and not Hercules who had been hurt by Hades.

She was not sure she could have survived watching Wonder Boy suffer to that abominable level.

When they were forced to pull apart for air, they did not go far, their breaths mingling together and the tips of their noses touching.

"The gods of Olympus have answered my prayers, Meg. I'm staying here on Earth with you. I was able to convince Father to spare Hades' life in exchange for lifting Medusa's curse. She's not a Gorgon anymore, she's a human. And Hades is to help rebuild Thebes after what his Titans did to the city," he told her, chuckling a little at her stunned expression, but she slowly nodded as she took in all the information, hardly daring to believe it all.

Hercules smiled at Meg, certain that he was the luckiest man alive.

As Hercules clung tight to Meg, fearful of letting go out of a growing fear that he would never have her again, he could feel her shivering in his arms, her chest rising and falling forcefully, as though something was hurting her.

Pulling back from her, he studied her face worriedly. The gaping hole in her chest and leg had been closed up and had vanished, likely thanks to his uncle's magic as if Meg had never been wounded. The only indication that she had been hurt at all was her dress, now ruined and stained crimson in various places with the blood from her wounds. She was crying.

"What's wrong?" Hercules demanded, his tone sounding harsher than he would have liked, but he was worried for Meg as he brought his shaky fingers to her face and stroked her cheek, desperately trying to ease whatever was bothering the girl he loved.

Meg had a blush rise to her face out of embarrassment and quickly looked down at her lap and shook her head, as though trying to force an unpleasant image from her mind's eye. She breathed out deeply and took a moment to regain control over her emotions.

"I'm glad that Hades went for me and not you, Hercules," she explained, watching as the blood drained from the demigod's face as he studied her worried and merely pulled her closer.

Hercules was unable to speak, stripped of his words, just grateful that Hades had kept his word and had returned Meg's soul to her as per their agreement. She nervously brought her eyes to his, tears trailing down her cheeks.

"All I could think of was how much I deserved it for tricking you." She clutched his hands. "I just realized how close I came to losing you." She stared deeper into his eyes and shook his head as Hercules vehemently shook his head, desperately trying to send Meg's words away.

He was astounded by her. She had died for him, and yet it was his safety and well-being that was putting this unwarranted fear into her heart. Hercules tiredly closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers.

"I promise, Meg. You will never lose me," he told her as their lips met again. As she kissed him a second time, Meg realized that Wonder Boy's words to her now were a vow.

A promise, one that she prayed to Zeus he kept, of hope and a new life for herself, and of good things to come.

MEG stood at the edge of the gardens, the scent of the rose blossoms she and Hercules stood in front of was overwhelming and nearly making her dizzy.

Strangely enough, she felt as though someone had hollowed her out since her soul had been returned to her body, but thankfully, after being allowed a few days to rest, she wasn't so tired anymore. Despite Meg's repeated attempts to tell Wonder Boy that she was okay, Hercules insisted that she take a few days to rest. She had wanted to argue, but the look of daggers he'd pinned her with when she'd tried to protest made her think otherwise.

She had assented to his request and had taken the opportunity to rest, much to her chagrin, wanting to help, while Hercules aided Hades in whatever way he could to help repair Thebes.

The people prayed to whatever god they could think of for help, and those who had taken Hercules' word on Olympus thoughtfully answered their prayers. The repairs to the city and the surrounding areas where the Titans had wreaked their havoc upon the land had taken days, even with the assistance of the gods and goddesses' magic aiding the people in rebuilding efforts. Still, the result was worth it. One could hardly tell Thebes had been a victim of the colossal beasts that were now back in the depths of Tartarus where they rightfully belonged.

She had slept for most of the time while Hercules had been off helping Thebans rebuild not only the city but their lives as well, though, during the brief interludes when she was awake and aware enough to hold a conversation, she was visited by Adonis and Medusa. Meg was pleased to see that the two were becoming closer since Medusa's curse was lifted. She hoped that fate or the gods had a plan for her friends.

She harbored no ill will in her heart towards Adonis, and Medusa had been nothing but kind to her.

She would not be surprised if, in the not-so-distant future, the two entered into a proper courtship. She hoped so, as the two would not be coming with them to wherever it was that Hercules had in mind to go. Hercules had let it slip last night that there was someplace special he wanted to take her, but he would not say where it was, or who she was meeting. His Nanny Goat, Phil knew, but the cantankerous and talkative old Satyr was remaining tight-lipped.

There was a soft sound coming from behind Meg, and she turned to find Hercules staring at her, a fresh and beautiful white lily flower in his hands, the delicate petals fluttering in the breeze. He came up to her shyly and handed her the flower that he looked to have picked from this very garden and pressed a gentle and chaste kiss to her cheek that made her blush as she held the lily close to her chest. It was beautiful.

"Pegasus is ready if you are, Meg, do you feel ready to go?" Hercules asked as he brought a hand to rest on her shoulder and gave the appendage a delicate little squeeze. He had to chuckle at seeing the way Meg's face turned a shade of green at the thought of flying on Pegasus to get to their destination Hercules had in mind for the better part of two days and could talk to Phil of little else to the point of vexing him. "It's the fastest way," he pointed out.

She let out a frustrated whine and buried her head in Hercules' muscular chest.

"Oh, gods, I guess, if I have no choice since you won't tell me where we're going, just don't let him drop me," Meg bemoaned.

To try to comfort herself, she slipped her hand through Hercules' warm hand and allowed Wonder Boy to lead her toward his winged beast of a horse. She swore the horse's beady black eyes were narrowed in mischievousness.

Thankfully, she detected no malicious intent as she let Hercules help her up onto his back before situating himself behind her, one hand snaking around her waist and the other holding the reins of his horse's bridle rather tightly.

Before he could order the winged beast to take to the skies, they were interrupted by the sound of Medusa's pleasant voice wafting through the air.

Meg turned and found Medusa and Adonis approaching, a small smile playing on her lips as she noticed the two seemed to be holding hands.

She twisted her neck and looked towards Hercules and was pleased to see a similar hope igniting in Wonder Boy's captivating baby blue eyes.

It seemed then that he held the same hope for their friend as she did.

Meg felt a sudden warmth rush to her heart as she looked at him, in awe of his selflessness. She supposed it would have been easy for Hercules to be jealous of Adonis, and the history they had once shared, but he wasn't at all.

Meg turned her gaze back toward the young woman in front of her. Medusa's long dark brown hair was pulled up into a thick ponytail that swished with her movements, and the dark purple dress she now wore highlighted her comely slender figure. She would make the right man a fine wife someday if she was ever married.

Meg found herself hoping it was Adonis. She could think of two people who deserved such peace and happiness any more than the two who now stood in front of them, apparently holding hands. It was Medusa who first broke the silence between the four of them, her shy voice still sounding slightly awkward, but Meg knew it was simply because the young woman did not know how she could ever fully express her gratitude for what Hercules had done for her.

"Leaving without saying goodbye?" she asked, her voice sounding slightly teasing as she pretended to feign hurt feelings, sticking out her lower lip in a slight pout and resting her head against Adonis's shoulder.

Meg was pleased to see the man light up and did not pull away.

Meg laughed and looked toward Hercules. She could tell Wonder Boy, as well as Medusa and Adonis, was dreading their goodbye as much as she was, though the two friends had made mention of wanting to go to Sparta, and perhaps after that, travel the world, and see other lands, other cities, other oceans.

"Of course not, Medusa," Hercules answered warmly, his grip around Meg's waist tight. Medusa nodded, and Meg could only watch as her shy smile faltered somewhat.

"I…I wanted to thank you, Hercules, for…for everything," Medusa said humbly, suddenly too shy to meet the man's gaze.

Hercules shook his head, sending away the young brunette's thanks and pursing his lips. "There was nothing else I could do, Medusa. You've saved Meg's life and Hades saved yours. I did what anyone else would have done," he mumbled, a light pink blush gracing his cheeks embarrassedly as he looked towards Meg, who playfully socked him in the arm.

"Just take the compliment, Wonder Boy, you're far too modest. Give yourself a bit more credit, won't you?" she teased.

Hercules took Pegasus's reins and began to guide his winged steed towards the pathway that would take them out of Thebes. Of course, they would be flying and he had no need of the road intended for travelers and merchants, but somehow, he thought it would be easier to say goodbye to their friends as they were moving.

As he forced Pegasus into something of a lazy walk, enough that Adonis and Medusa could keep up with as they walked alongside the horse, Meg continued.

"You two seem to be getting rather close, aren't you?" Meg asked, chuckling under her breath as Medusa and Adonis abruptly broke away from one another, their faces matching as deep cherry-red blushes speckled along their cheeks.

Both of them were looking rather flustered.

"Meg, that was cruel," Hercules only lightly chastised but as Meg turned to look at him, he was smiling.

It was Adonis who grunted and waved her off, leaning heavily against his walking stick for support.

"Could you blame us if we are, Meg?" he snorted, making an odd noise of dissent through his nose.

"No," Meg admitted, her teasing smile faltering slightly. She paused to clear her throat before continuing. "Where will the two of you go? Will you stay in Thebes?" she questioned, certain she already knew the answer but still wanted to hear it for herself.

"Sparta, then maybe Rome," Adonis said. "I'm glad that I got to see you again, Meg, well, figuratively speaking, at least," he said, forcing down the lump in his throat. "I owe you the greatest debt."

He did not even need to refer to the fact that, while Meg had healed, he had given his former lover the space and time she needed with Hercules and was developing an increasingly warm friendship with Medusa.

There was a part of him that hoped someday, if she was agreeable, that she'd let him court her. He also did not tell Meg or Hercules that for some reason, he felt as though he and Medusa would never see them again. They had their own lives to live now, as did they, and he could not and would not stand in the way of their happiness. Meg smiled, a bit confused. Adonis's smile twitched. He could not see it, but he could hear the confusion seeping into Meg's voice.

"Adonis. You're talking like Hercules and I will never see you two again."

The look on Adonis' face told Meg that her former lover feared exactly that.

"Listen. We'll be back in Thebes in a few months at the most." Meg smiled. "Then we'll be seeing you both again," she told their two friends jokingly.

"A-absolutely." Adonis nodded, still trying to shove down the uncertainty welling within his chest that Meg and Hercules would not be able to keep their word. Meg quickly nodded in agreement.

"Then…this isn't goodbye," Meg swore. "We'll see you again in a few months," she vowed as Pegasus flapped his wings and Meg let out a moan and closed her eyes tightly shut, not wanting to look.

"Until then," Medusa chirped, smiling, and moved to take Adonis's hand and pulled the blind man back. She watched as Hercules clucked his tongue and dug his heels into the animal's side and the horse took to the skies.

Both Medusa and Adonis chuckled as they could hear Meg's scream filling the sky. Medusa watched their friends depart into the clouds until she could no longer see them before she tugged on Adonis's hand and began to lead the man away. She was looking forward to Adonis taking her to Sparta, to seeing other parts of the world with him.

But as they left, she tried not to give too much heed to the notion that she would never see Hercules or Meg again.

---

MEG'S stomach rolled as she allowed Wonder Boy to help her off of Pegasus and she clung to a tree for nearby support. She gagged but could not bring anything up and then remembered she'd not eaten anything yet today and was grateful for it. She straightened her gait with the help of Hercules, who was looking worried, the skin of his brow pulled tight in fear.

"Meg, are you alright? Is flying too much?" he stammered, the look on his face sure that it was. He rubbed her shoulders, trying to do what he could to help the woman he loved feel better, though the greenness of her face alarmed him.

"I-I'm fine, Wonder Boy," she gasped, though she didn't feel it. Beads of sweat were starting to gather on her forehead and bile was rising in her throat. She breathed deeply and slowly as she tried to settle the queasiness in her stomach. She squinted her eyes struggling to see where they were. "Where are we?" she asked him, confused.

This was not a city or farming village she recognized, and they had been flying on his horse for hours.

Meg's eyes landed upon the glimmer of a fire in the hearth of a small and modest farmhouse.

She turned towards Hercules, confused, who was grinning from ear to ear and had such an excited look on his face that she could not help but shoot Wonder Boy a funny little smile.

"Where are we?" she repeated, not protesting as Hercules took hold of her hand and began to lead her forward.

"Somewhere special, Meg," was all Hercules would say to her. "This is where I grew up. I'd like for you to meet my parents." The excitement in Wonder Boy's voice was unmistakable.

Hercules and Meg made their way toward the door.

Hercules raised a knuckle to lightly knock on the oak panel. He waited impatiently, practically rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet in excitement, hoping that his mother and father would like Meg.

Finally, the door opened, and the drawn and wrinkled face of his thin and elderly adoptive father appeared on the other side. The old man's eyes were narrowed in suspicion, but once Amphitryon saw it was his son, he opened the door wider.

"Hercules! Oh my goodness, what a joy it is to see you!" he exclaimed with relief, happy and proud tears finding his eyes as he called for his wife. A short plump woman who was the farmer's wife, her gray hair swept up into a high ponytail appeared beside Hercules' adoptive father, tears trailing down her cheeks. The farmer gave his wife a loving nod and relinquished Hercules from his arms to allow his wife a moment to hug their son.

"Oh, my darling boy," Alcmene gushed as she pulled Hercules close.

"Mother," Hercules exclaimed with relief, wrapping his strong arms around her waist, yet careful to hold his mother gently, not wishing to hurt her.

Meg backed away a few steps. She would let Hercules have his time with his parents. She could understand their desire for a reunion. She was more than content to stand quietly in the background, simply enjoying seeing Hercules so happy. As far as she was concerned, these were his true parents, not Zeus and Hera.

"We're so proud of you, son, and all that you've accomplished," his father said, coming to stand by his wife and holding Hercules even tighter. "We always knew that you were a hero. You never had to prove yourself to the gods," he lamented painfully, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to force away the horrific image of Hercules getting hurt in his efforts to prove himself to Zeus.

Hercules smiled and pulled apart, looking over his shoulder towards Meg. He was more than eager to introduce the woman he loved to his loving and doting parents, certain that Mother and Father would instantly be fond of her.

"Mother, Father, I'd like you to meet Meg," Hercules proudly smiled. His parents followed their son's line of sight towards the red-headed young woman whose hand he had been holding not moments ago. They turned Hercules around in their arms and proudly regarded Meg. His parents exchanged a knowing look with one another and smiled. They were a couple, and they wanted to make this girl, Megara, feel welcome in their home.

"It's an honor to meet you. Please, won't you come in out of the cold? We were just about to get supper on, it will not be much, I'm afraid, but it will be hot."

Hercules and Meg smiled at one another. Hercules was eager for his parents to get to know Meg and happily accepted.

"Thank you, Mother. We'd love to," he acknowledged gratefully and moved away to take Meg's hand and began to lead her inside the home where he had grown up.

"It's not much, but it's home," Hercules laughed, though Meg could hear the note of pride in his voice as he led her inside.

His parents' one-room hut was rather sparse and free of unneeded things, though Meg could greatly appreciate that. Thick furs strategically placed along the floor and wall ensured the warmth of their home. A small narrow wooden sideboard was crafted alongside one edge of the wall, next to the fire in the hearth, over which a pot of something truly delectable, that smelled like a stew, was cooking. A small wooden table sat near the fire. It had already been set with two plates, two cups, eating utensils, and a small makeshift blue clay vase filled with flowers.

Spare cloaks hung along various pegs on the walls. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light of Hercules' childhood home, Meg turned her bashful gaze to the floor, wanting to help but not knowing how.

"May I help you?" she asked, eager to do whatever she could for his mother, who was already shuffling towards the pot of stew that was cooking over the fire and dishing out the hearty-smelling soup into a few chipped bowls and bringing them to the table. His mother shook her head and motioned for Meg to sit down.

"Oh no, I wouldn't hear of it. Please, won't you sit? The two of you must be exhausted," Alcmene pleaded quietly.

Meg could only comply and moved to sit in the chair Hercules pulled out for her, trying to shoot him a grateful look with just her eyes. The look he gave her in return told Meg that there was no need. She smiled, squeezing his hand as Hercules took the seat next to her and joined her, the two of them now seated across the table from his parents.

Dinner with his parents was a light and pleasant affair. As the light outside gave way to nightfall, Meg and Hercules sat at the table laughing and talking and enjoying his mother's delicious soup.

Hercules amused his parents with tales of his now-legendary heroic deeds. His parents then begged Meg to tell her something about her life, which she agreed to. She had grown up in Thebes, the daughter of a spice merchant.

She painted for them a rich picture of the bustling city, what you could buy there, and what you could sell in the marketplace, and the woods and meadows that rested on the outskirts of the lavish city.

Enchanted by the faraway place, his parents made Hercules promise to take them there one day very soon. Hercules smiled at Meg in agreement and she could only return his gaze with a hopeful one of her own.

Though the next time he hoped to return to Thebes with Meg, it would be with her as his wife. He had hoped to ask her while they were here in the countryside and had a moment to breathe now that Thebes was fully rebuilt.

As the group finished their dinner, Meg and Hercules both were stricken with a familiar wave of icy cold air that made them shudder. They looked at one another, worried. The sudden drop in the temperature could only mean one thing.

Hades was here.

She felt Hercules stiffen beside her upon hearing his parents speak up in alarm.

"Well, isn't that just the strangest thing!" Alcmene chirped, Hercules' mother's kind green eyes slightly unfocused as she looked towards their window, unnerved. "The temperature was quite lovely outside and now this bitter cold!"

Hercules half-rose from his chair and was of a mind to confront his uncle waiting for them outside but was halted when Meg rested a hand on his thigh and lightly shook her head.

"Let me. You stay here and enjoy your time with your parents," Meg whispered, lowering her voice low enough that only Hercules heard her.

Hercules' mouth pinched down into a frown, but upon seeing a look of fierce determination flash behind Meg's lavender eyes, he nodded.

He leaned forward and placed a chaste and gentle kiss on her temple.

"Very well, Meg, but...do not go far from me,' he whispered, smiling softly at seeing Meg's face turn bright pink as she quietly nodded.

"I won't, Wonder Boy, I swear it," she promised, and before her courage and resolve could falter, she quietly slipped out of the house to greet her former master and see whatever it was the Lord of the Underworld wanted with her.

Once outside, Meg caught sight of Hades standing in front of Hercules' parent's house, surveying the small farmhouse with no small amount of disgust. She hated that the god's features were so like Wonder Boy's, and striking even in the moonlight as she gathered the skirts of her dress and stomped her way down the steps of the house to meet the Lord of the Dead. The god's jaw and cheekbones were surprisingly sharp, even when slightly hidden underneath his closely cropped blue beard, and his demeanor was now strangely quiet and contemplative.

He was certainly the quietest god Meg had ever encountered, when not losing his temper, but his thoughtful expression now did little to assuage her worry about why he was here.

Had he come for Wonder Boy's parents, was that the reason? His parents were not exactly in their prime anymore.

Meg felt something come over her the longer she looked at him as she struggled to find the right words. She would have thought that considering how Hades had hurt her and killed her, she would have been angrier with the god, but she wasn't. Hades had simply been blinded by grief in missing his queen.

She was sure her face held a dumbfounded expression with the realization she wasn't. Hades simply nodded to her but a hesitant smile played on Meg's features as she was the first to speak, having found her voice.

"Why are you here? Is it his parents?" she questioned, immediately alarmed and worried.

To her relief, he shook his head, keeping his arms folded across his broad chest.

A small smile danced on the god's blue lips just then, and he let out a morose chuckle.

"No, Meggie, their threads of life will not be cut for another ten years, though I cannot tell you exactly when. It is against my nature and the Fates won't allow it," he muttered. "And I did not come for you or my nephew. Or the mortals within your dwelling. I come to you tonight for a different reason altogether, though I cannot stay long, I must be getting back. I come to atone for my actions and Persephone has asked if you and my nephew inside will be godparents to our daughter. We've named her Melinoe. Persephone quite agrees, we can think of no one better."

It took Meg a moment to comprehend the god's words.

"Wha—Persephone has had the baby? Already?" she squeaked, feeling her eyes go wide and round in surprise.

Hades scowled, slightly annoyed by Meg's elation but nodded.

"Yes, yes, she's had the baby, she couldn't tolerate the normal length of time for your mortal pregnancies and asked the goddess of fertility for a potion to…speed the process along," he muttered, a blush darkening his blue face. "Our daughter was born in the early hours of yesterday morning. Per has spent most of the day sleeping and recovering. Pain and Panic are looking over her and my daughter," he added, sensing Meg's worried expression.

She noted how he stood a little taller and prouder now that the Lord of the Dead was a father to a healthy little goddess in the making.

Meg was quite flabbergasted and did not know what to say except, "I…y-yes, of course," she stammered, wondering what Wonder Boy would say to this, but perhaps that was a conversation best saved for later.

Tidings of new life, even amongst the gods, were exhilarating, and now that Hades had his wife returned to him, even Meg could see that he was growing stronger and confident and smiled more.

A tiny smile danced on Hades' lips just then, proving Meg's point, and Hades nodded.

"We're glad. Persephone will be relieved, she would accept no other answer. We will try to bring her to you in a few days, a girl should know her uncle. Zeus may still rule Olympus, but my family will live on in the Underworld, growing stronger."

Meg had to smile at that and when she did, she felt a weight lift off her chest as she understood that Hades was attempting to make the best of his circumstances and the second chance given to him. As she stood alongside the god who had been her former master, a strange sense of peace washed over Meg, and suddenly, the entire world seemed to fade. A sort of silent understanding passed between the god and the mortal woman.

Meg finally reached out to pull Hades into an affectionate hug, shocking the god as she wound her arms around his shoulders. Hades looked stunned for a moment but quickly embraced her in return.

"Thank you, Meg, you've truly gone the distance for my nephew. For me," he breathed against Meg's neck. Meg's slender arms squeezed Hades a fraction tighter for a moment and she smiled over his shoulder, having forgiven him.

"And I thank you, Hades. If you hadn't tried to get me to coerce Nessus, I wouldn't have met your nephew," she replied. "But I believe we have family waiting for us," she muttered, pulling apart and looking over her shoulder towards the house.

Hades was looking a little shocked that Meg had forgiven him so easily but less so than he expected to be and nodded as the two of them stood outside the simple farmhouse for a moment, neither wanting to be the first to break away and leave.

Both had hesitant little smiles on their faces. However, they did not stand side by side as master and slave, but as the beginning two friends.

TIME in the countryside with Wonder Boy's parents seemed to pass Meg by in a daze. She spent most of her mornings and afternoons assisting the simple farmers with whatever chores she could around the house—and her nights spent in Hercules' arms. And she wouldn't have it any other way. She did not know how long they had been staying with his parents' days. Days? Weeks? Months? Years? She supposed that it did not matter how much time.

Meg could not recall a time in her life when she had been happier. Her beautiful Hercules, so gentle, so loving, the now-mortal man's sweet smile and shining blue eyes that never failed to set her heart on fire.

What the two of them had was so incredibly different than what she had thought she'd had with Adonis. Her friends, the last she had heard when she had asked Hades for news of Adonis and Medusa the morning he brought baby Melinoe to meet her godparents, was that they were heading to Sparta. And after that, he'd heard to Egypt. It still felt surreal to her now, that every evening the two of them would sit outside his parents' home, underneath the stars, and look up into the endless sky and contemplate how their lives had and were continuing to change.

Meg was tempted to fly on Hercules' winged horse Pegasus in the future and locate her friends, but there was a part of her that thought perhaps it was best to let Adonis and Medusa live their own lives and find their peace and happiness in one another. They too, just as she had, had been through so much and deserved their happiness.

Perhaps, maybe, in a few years, they would enlist the help of one of the gods of Olympus and ask him or her to locate their friends so they could visit them, but for now, Meg was content to let them live their lives in peace.

Meg felt a faint blush creep over her cheeks as she thought about what she shared with Wonder Boy, and thought how he'd been acting strangely over the last few days ever since returning from the marketplace with his father.

However, when pressed, Hercules would only become flustered and uncharacteristically tight-lipped, refusing to say whatever was on his mind. She'd chosen to let the matter drop for now, hoping he'd come to her on his own and let her know what bothered him. She stiffened as a blast of cool air whipped through the streets and she wound her shawl tighter around herself. It wouldn't be long before the days would start to get colder, and winter would come.

She turned and embraced him, kissing him lovingly, and did not want the kiss to end, and it didn't, for the longest time. She broke apart first and when she pulled back to study Wonder Boy's features, the edges of his mouth were pinched down in a slight frown and he was looking terrified. It frightened her, and Meg looked at him in surprise.

"What? What is it?" she asked, frowning as her eyes made a quick scan of him, hoping he wasn't about to keel over and pass out. "I've been waiting for you to come back. Are you coming inside? Your mother has supper on."

Hercules was paler than Meg had ever seen him. He looked as though if he opened his mouth to speak to her, he'd vomit. His lips parted slightly as if he meant to speak, however, it took Wonder Boy a moment.

"There's…something I—I needed to say, Meg, something I wanted to ask you," he stammered, fumbling over his words as he stuttered. Meg's lips twitched. She didn't bother to fight back the smile that tugged her mouth up as she watched the endearing man she loved fumble over his words and go red in the face.

Taking pity on him, Meg answered him.

"You should ask it, then, you—" she started to say, hoping to coax whatever it was that was bothering him out of him gently, but Hercules blurted it out before she could say anything further.

"Marry me, Meg, I…I said…marry me," Hercules muttered, bringing a hand up to gingerly rub the back of his neck as the demigod had a blush rise to his face out of embarrassment.

Meg stared, hardly daring to believe Wonder Boy's words, and felt the blood drain from her face.

Had Wonder Boy just…proposed? Meg momentarily looked away and shyly began to study the ground in far too engrossed a manner as she thought over what Hercules was asking her to do. Since Adonis had left, she had never seen herself as a wife to any man, and if she was being honest, the two of them had not known each other long, but nor could she recall a time in her life when she'd felt more open and freer and comfortable.

Perhaps the shock was written all over her face, for Hercules immediately raised his hands and began to try to correct himself, though going redder in the face.

"I-I know that it was selfish of me to ask, Meg, to even mention this so soon, b-but uh…I fear that you've quickly become someone that I cannot live without, Meg. And I don't even want to, so please don't ask me to," he said.

Something Hercules had said caught her.

Slowly, Meg lifted her gaze and locked eyes with Hercules, whose deep blue eyes were looking at her with pleading and longing, was hard for her to refuse, but… she still wanted to be certain of his feelings.

"You fear?" she questioned breathlessly.

He nodded.

"Life without you," he managed to gasp out in a breathless-sounding voice and swallowed down hard past a lump in her throat. For many moments, Meg could only stare at Hercules in utter shock. No one had ever spoken to her like that before, and well, paired with his words and his glowing hopeful smile, how could she refuse? She found her voice again just as Hercules's mouth pinched and turned down into a disappointed frown and he lowered his head, shamefaced. Her heart broke for him. It was as if he had anticipated and had been preparing that Meg would say no.

Slowly, Meg shook her head, hoping to alleviate some of Hercules's concern.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Wonder Boy. I'm right here where I'm standing, and I'm not anywhere else," she whispered shyly, taking a step forward and bringing her hands to rest on top of his muscular biceps. "I am here, Hercules. Always," she tried to reassure him.

Their lips were less than a sigh apart now, and she saw him swallow hard as she moved in to kiss him again, though this time, as their lips met, the kiss was different. More intimate and special than before.

"Yes," Meg answered emphatically, her white smile gleaming as she met Hercules' gaze when they finally broke apart and ended their kiss. "I will marry you," she told him happily.

Hercules felt as if he were floating on air, his nervousness practically forgotten, considering he had spent the better part of the afternoon practicing with his mother on different heartfelt ways that he could ask her. He let out a joyful laugh and lifted Meg into the air and spun her around as though she were a girl.

"Thank you, Meg, you've no idea how happy you've made me. Oh, I love you," he told her, pressing his lips to hers and kissing her, and this time, their kiss was passionate, a promise of a bright future to come with one another.

She smiled as Hercules rested his forehead against hers, his breath ghosting over her lips.

"What are we going to do now?" he questioned, never once averting his gaze, yet Meg knew what he meant. Where they would go, where they would live, and what they would do for a living.

Meg shook her head and reached for Hercules' hand, not wanting to think about any of that just yet. There would be time for the answers to those questions soon enough, but for now, she was content not to ruin the moment.

"Nothing, Wonder Boy," she murmured lovingly, smiling at him and hoping to put his mind at ease. "Nothing at all," she sighed, as she leaned her head against his chest.

He was warm against her and she snuggled in deeper, basking in the heat his body gave off, comfortable.

They were content to stand outside his parents' farmhouse, just basking in one another's presence and the newfound happiness that they were to be married, hopefully within a fortnight.

Neither Hercules nor Meg said a single word, for it was far too precious a moment to ruin by speaking.

---

HERCULES and Meg were married in Thebes. Their wedding was a small affair with only those closest to them in attendance, Hercules' parents, Phil, Pegasus, Adonis, and Medusa, and even Persephone and Hades and baby Melinoe came to pay their respects. Zeus still ensured that it was the most lavish spectacle that his son deserved.

Zeus and Hera proudly proclaimed they'd never seen their boy so happy now that he was a married man and wedded to a fine material of beauty such as Megara. Throughout their marriage, as the years passed, Meg was fiercely loyal and attentive to Hercules as the man's wife.

Their marriage was filled with happiness. The two of them made a life for themselves in a simple home on a distant island, and in time, they welcomed children into their lives. The couple doted on their sons and daughters, raising them to be brave, honorable, and strong. The makings of a true hero.

Meg made it a point to visit the temple of the gods in the evenings, and sometimes she would insist their children come with her. She would try to focus on the artwork and the tributes, but instead, she would continuously be marveling at her sons and daughter and husband, and she would whisper her thank you to Zeus.

She would also thank herself for daring to go the distance and find the courage and strength within herself to learn to love again. She knew that she would always have to strike that perfect balance of faith as well as in all other aspects of her life as she grew older, and she and Hercules watched their children grow.

There would always be the divine, sometimes caused by direct influence from the gods themselves, and the human, the human aspect was something that Meg felt she could control. But when it came down to it, at the very center of her core, Meg was more than content, for she felt overwhelmed with happiness from both concepts.

Now, the sea breezes tickled the nape of Meg's neck as she walked along the shores of the beach. It had been Hercules' idea to take a walk for fresh air.

The sand beneath her bare feet as she had slipped off her sandals almost felt like Elysium. Hercules held onto her hand, tightly enough to bruise if he wasn't careful, though he was gentle with her and had never hurt her.

Though Meg knew it was just how her husband tended to hold her hand. He wished for nothing more than to keep all the moments he'd spent with her throughout their life preserved in whatever way possible.

They'd been married now for quite a few years, and everything that had happened before they were wed, even the bad parts of their time together, seemed a far-off memory.

Her time as a slave for Hades was rarely spoken of, and these days, Hades and his family were a frequent part of their lives, the god and goddess visiting when they could break away from his realm, even for an hour or two.

These days, Meg was not quite fifty, though each time she looked into a looking glass, she counted a few more gray hairs and lines around her eyes and mouth that were not there before.

Yet, Wonder Boy, she knew her handsome husband even as he aged too still saw her as the vibrant and breathtaking damsel he had attempted to rescue from Nessus all those years ago. Their two sons had trained hard under Phil to become heroes of their own, hoping to live up to their father's namesake, while their daughter had married a spice merchant in Sparta and wanted for next to nothing. Rumor has it she had eyes on Adonis and Medusa's son, and Meg would not be surprised if the day came when she and Hercules were called to stand at their daughter's side as she was wed. Meg was overjoyed when Medusa began to write to them while they had traveled, speaking of their adventures, and the places they had seen.

Meg smiled fondly, remembering how uncertain her friend had been when she had confessed to Meg that her former lover was now developing feelings for her and wanted Meg's blessing first, considering her and Adonis's prior history. Medusa had tried to push away at first, though after a few months of resisting, she caved in and allowed Adonis to court her once she realized the true extent of her feelings was similar to what Meg felt for Hercules. The couple had married within months and eventually welcomed children of their own and now lived in a house near the coast.

As Meg stared out at the sapphire blue water of the ocean, mystified by its beauty, she let her mind wander through the years of happiness that she had shared with her sweet Hercules, even the difficult times that had tested their marriage.

The loss of their fourth child as an infant had been especially difficult, and the death of Hercules' parents within ten years of them marrying and their firstborn son coming into the picture, but they had overcome it. Her mind's eye envisioned her sweet husband standing bravely in front of Nessus and challenging the horse's ass to let her go, and then to the night Hercules had proposed to her outside of his parent's farmhouse.

On their wedding night, they exchanged vows, and Medusa and Persephone said a prayer for them. Her heart soared as she was relieved the day their eldest son was born, and within two years they welcomed their second, and three years after that, their daughter.

The life that the gods had seen fit to bless her with was one that Meg knew she would never take for granted. She flicked her gaze towards the cloudless blue sky and thanked Wonder Boy's father that it was Hercules and Hades who had managed to save her. Hades for not allowing Meg to kill herself out of despair, and Hercules for teaching her how to love again. Hercules had saved her, he had redeemed her and brought her back. He'd given her the happy life she'd always wanted for herself as a little girl. A loving husband and healthy, successful children.

Meg was brought back to the present moment by the sound of Hercules's soft tenor-like voice whispering into the shell of her left ear.

"Meg, my love, you were daydreaming. We should be getting inside, these low temperatures are not good for you. I do not want my wife to get sick, otherwise, I'll have to go to my uncle's realm and pull you out myself," he murmured lovingly, the affection and desire sending a chill of pleasure down her spine and causing her to wrap her shawl around her tighter.

The edges of Hercules's lips twitched and her love was unable to hide his amused chuckle or the twinkle forming behind his eyes.

"What is it, Hercules?" Meg asked, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous glint of her own, a small smile finding her face, enjoying seeing him like this, whenever he smiled just for her as he was now.

Hercules let out another chuckle as he placed a well-played kiss on her forehead and answered his wife's question tenderly.

"You were smiling, Meg, my love," Hercules told Meg.

It was as he smiled at her and as the light hit his face that Meg realized at this moment, he was looking years younger than she had ever seen him and it warmed her several times over that they had many moments like this now that their children were grown and on their own.

"I have much to smile about, Wonder Boy," she chuckled, teasing him. "I dreamed of you, Hercules, my love, and how happy you have made me. You have saved me, and given me everything I could have ever wanted. You forced me to go the distance, as your uncle once put it, for us, for our children that we now have," Meg sighed happily, her eyes growing cloudy and heavy with desire for her handsome hero as she drew Hercules into her loving kiss.

Her eyes locked with Hercules's as she reached for his hand in hers brought his hand to her lips and placed a single, chaste kiss on his knuckles before leading him back the way they had come, away from the breezes, to their home.

Meg had never been happier than she was when she was side-by-side with her sweet Hercules, her handsome hero. Hercules had given her a sense of peace, true joy, and happiness.

All feelings that she had thought were unavailable to her following Hades taking her into his servitude in exchange for saving Adonis's life. And Meg knew that no matter what the future would hold for her and Hercules, she would never stop loving him. And so, she didn't.

For the rest of their lives and even when old age and the curse of time claimed them and their eternal souls were welcomed to Elysium, Meg kept her promise to Hercules never to leave him again, to not go far from him, that she was right here and not anywhere else.

Meg was with Hercules, always.