A/N: I just never get tired of torturing Hercules. So, that's how this story came about. I'm sorry about torturing our favorite demi-god, but, it's too much damn fun! Anyway, I worked all morning on this story, and it was 4 PAGES worth of story! Yes, 4 pages! But, that's how much faith I had in this story! So, enjoy reading chapter 1 and I will see you at the end of the chapter! TTFN
'Hercules!' someone had called, it sounded so far away and he was fading fast. The world was spinning, causing him to get dizzier and dizzier. He could hear his name being called over and over and over again, trying to get him to call out his location. But, there he was, stuck on a rock, his head cracked open, his blood pooling out of him. "I—Iolaus…" he muttered, before he succumbed to the exhaustion that awaited him. He wanted to sleep, needed to sleep. Iolaus jumped over a log in the way and stopped, walking over slowly to the limp form of Hercules, the weakest he'd seen the son of Zeus. He was now reduced to nothing more than a crumpled mess, pinned to the ground by a tree branch, his head leaking crimson liquid that, at first glance, didn't look like blood. Hercules, being the hero that he was, ran off trying to save the invisible screams of the forest. Iolaus could hear the other cadets, pushing through the brush, jumping over logs, searching for him, but, Iolaus had been the first one to find him. "Iolaus!" came the familiar sound of a female voice. Lilith; and she sounded close. He turned one second to find the young woman, walking towards the limp body of Hercules. "We've got to get this off of him! Come on!" And without a word, she began pushing it, straight off the young hero. He lay there, silently, his arms at his side, his eyes closed. Iolaus and Lilith stayed with him until the other cadets came to find them, and they did… to the horror of seeing the great and mighty Hercules reduced to a pile of nothing.
"We have to get him to the infirmary, quickly!" their headmaster, Cheiron, said as Iolaus and Lilith wrapped his arms around their shoulders.
"We've got you buddy," Iolaus muttered, walking alongside Hercules, his head drooped over his chest. "We'll get you fixed up."
They supported him all the way to the infirmary, where Iolaus had planned on staying, should Hercules wake up. He wouldn't eat. He didn't sleep. He just sat there, staring at his best friend, at least until Lilith came in and held out a plate of food to him. "Iolaus, you need to eat," she had said, looking paler than usual. Iolaus shook his head and just sighed. It was his fault. If he hadn't let Hercules leave the grounds to help the screaming lady… he just sat back in the chair and looked at Lilith, his eyes darting from her to the helpless boy on the bed. "I'm not hungry, Lilith," he said, pushing the food away. He didn't feel like eating anyway, not without him throwing up everything. He wanted to be there when Herc woke up. He wanted to be the first one he saw. Lilith sighed and touched Iolaus' shoulder and rubbed it. "He'll be fine. What you need is food and rest," she said. Iolaus got out of her grip and she sighed, walking away. She was just trying to help. Iolaus sat there, staring at his best friend, bandaged, eyes closed as though he were sleeping. There was nothing keeping him from walking away, so why couldn't he? He felt guilty. He should've been there with him. Should've never let him walk through the forest alone, granted, he did think it was safe. Iolaus reached over for the hundredth time that night. "Come on, Herc. You've got to get through this. We've got to get into trouble," he said. He was beginning to get teary-eyed. Iolaus wiped them away before the other cadets could come through.
And there, Iolaus stayed, and he slowly dozed off. Slightly afterwards though, Hercules had come to, his head killing him, his whole body in pain. He groaned, holding his head, and looking at the sleeping cadet at his side. He didn't recognize him, as a matter of fact; he didn't recognize this place either. Where was he? Who was he? That was a big one. That's when he heard the clop, clop, clop of horse hooves in the hall and a man peered in. He didn't recognize this man either. Was he in just some strange place where people can get to him? The half-man, half-horse creature looked into the room and walked in, walking over to Herc, who was still trying to wrap his head around the whole situation. "Good morning," he said, looking at Hercules, his brown eyes taking in the small room with a cot. His eyes fell on the form of Iolaus, who was snoring away. Cheiron looked at Hercules, touching his shoulder. "How are you feeling? You hit your head pretty hard." Hercules touched the bandage, his eyes searching for any hint of deceit behind the old centaur's eyes, but, there were none. He sat up in bed and fell back, the room beginning to spin. Did Cheiron dare to call him by his name? If he couldn't remember he was at the academy, then how could he remember what his name was? His brain worked to try to remember. He wanted to remember everything, but, alas, he couldn't. Maybe it was just the head injury.
"Thirsty," he said, his voice coming out raspy and dry.
Cheiron handed him a glass of water and held his head, tipping the glass back. "Easy, son, easy," he muttered, setting the glass aside.
"Where am I?" Herc asked, his eyes looking around the small room.
"The infirmary. You've had an accident. But, you're safe… for now," he said.
Herc tried sitting up again, but, Cheiron pressed on his shoulder gently and smiled warmly, putting the young hero at ease, causing him to relax into his pillows. He was in the infirmary? The infirmary where? But, before he could speak, Cheiron bid him a good night's rest and left, leaving him just as dazed and confused than when he had woken up. He leaned against the pillows, cuddling into them, and he looked at the ceiling. With each blink, his eyes got heavy, giving way to the exhaustion that had befallen him before. He could barely keep his eyes open, and that's when his eyes finally closed and he slept peacefully.
Hercules awoke with a loud banging in his ear, his head pounding. What was going on here? That's when the cadet from last night looked into the room and smiled at him. "Well, good morning sunshine. Get enough beauty sleep?" he asked, a goofy grin on his face, causing Hercules to just shrug and try to stand up out of bed. The room was spinning, but, he still decided that he was going to stand up. He lurched forward, causing the other cadet to run over and help support him. "Whoa there, take it easy buddy." He seemed to be stronger than he looked as he wrapped Herc's arm around his neck and helped him walk out of the infirmary. His body ached, his head throbbing as the room spun. But, that didn't stop him. Iolaus stopped him off at the dining hall and sat in-between him, Jason, and Lilith, their eyes closely on the bruised and beaten Hercules. Were they too afraid to talk? Too afraid to say something that might make them regret it? Iolaus cleared his throat and handed Hercules a bowl of breakfast as he looked around. He didn't recognize any of them. He looked at the slop in front of him and picked up his spoon. "This is what they feed us?" he asked in disbelief. He pushed the food away, almost forgetting how hungry he was. He could barely stand himself. He had to have something to eat. Iolaus shrugged and took Hercules' share of the breakfast. Jason patted Hercules' back, causing him to groan in pain slightly. Jason pulled his hand away from Hercules' back and placed it on the table.
Did they know that he couldn't remember them? Their names were blank in his head; although he could guess he was pretty close with them by the way they cared about him so much. "So, what do you remember from last night?" the military-looking boy to his right. Hercules looked at him and shook his head, looking at the table. Jason shrugged. "You remember anything? I mean, according to Iolaus," he pointed at the long-haired boy to his left, "you were pretty much out of it when he found you. Good thing he gets a feeling whenever you're going to be in trouble." Hercules now knew one of their names. He could remember that. Iolaus was the long-haired boy that he had seen in his room last night. The military boy looked at Hercules and waved his hand in front of Herc's face, causing him to snap out of it. "I'm Jason, in case you forgot. I mean, you look pretty lost." Jason. His name was Jason. Hercules waved and saw the concern in his friends' eyes. Hercules just laid his head against the table, the only thing that could stop the world from spinning. He could feel his head throbbing, his body racked with pain, his stomach churning. He felt sick, the kind of sick that only comes from trouble. He could feel the bile rising in his throat, and he stood from the table and began running for the exit, hunched over, almost ready to release everything right there. But, he didn't. He reached the outside, ignoring the stinging sunlight, he fell to his knees, clutching his stomach with one arm and releasing the contents of his stomach right there.
Jason, Iolaus, and Lilith had come with him, watching him. Lilith lurched forward, but, Jason stopped her, looking at her. "He can't remember you. If you sneak up behind him, you'll scare him."
Lilith stared Jason down, the only thing she could do, until she heard the silence. It was Hercules. He was done. He wiped his mouth and looked back at the three cadets. Iolaus and Jason ran over, placing a hand on Hercules' shoulder. "Come on. You must be hungry," Jason said. Hercules was silent as he nodded. He was lost, and I mean, literally lost. Lilith ran in to tell Cheiron where they were going, and then Jason and Iolaus steered Hercules toward Kora's. She seemed happy to see them, at least until she saw the bandage around Hercules' head. She reached out and touched his face. "What happened?" she asked. Jason stepped in-between them, and chuckled lightly. He pulled Kora aside, raising a finger and smiling softly. "Hercules doesn't remember anything. Could you, please, go over there and introduce yourself… again?" Jason asked, a pleading look in his eyes. Kora sighed, rolling her eyes and looking at Jason. She didn't know if she believed him or not, but, she couldn't say no to him. "Alright. Fine, I'll do it," she said, causing Jason to rub his hands together. Great! He led her over to where Hercules stood. Kora smiled, holding her hand out to Hercules. "Hi. I'm Kora. I run this place." Hercules shook her hand and smiled. Kora, owner of the inn… He'd remember that. She smiled warmly at them. "So, are you guys going to take a seat or what?" They all sat at the nearest table and looked over the menu, but, only Jason and Iolaus were half-watching Hercules, scrunching up his face at the menu. This memory loss thing better be temporary. They needed their friend back.
Ares yelled, throwing a ball of energy towards the two visitors, causing them to yell out in terror. "He's still ALIVE?!" he yelled, causing the temple to tremble under their feet. Strife and Discord trembled in fear as he was getting another ball of energy ready for them. Strife stood on his feet and let out a small nervous chuckle. "Well, technically, Unc, he doesn't remember who he is. That's something… right?" he asked, his voice letting out small nervous shivers. Ares growled and walked back to his throne, and rubbed his chin. This could be good. It could be very good. Little brother doesn't remember who he is? Then his guard will be down. It was the perfect opportunity, causing Ares to smile. Ares didn't smile often, which frightened the two. He chuckled and grabbed Strife around the neck and leaned his head in to whisper. "Strife," he said. Strife gulped and let out a small squeal of nervousness. He looked at Ares and smiled, afraid to get on Ares' bad side. Ares had a temper, and if you get him mad, he'd try to kill whoever made him mad. "Yeah, unc?" he asked, gulping again, causing the minor god's knees to tremble. Ares let out another small smile and he looked into Strife's eyes.
"Screw this up and I will make your life eternal Tartarus. You understand?" he asked.
Strife nodded, gulping for a third time. "Yes, uncle Ares. I understand," he said.
"Good. Now get out of my sight!" he yelled.
Strife and Discord did just that. "I'm surrounded by idiots!" Ares muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
A/N: I hope you guys liked this... I worked extremely hard on this story. So, leave a review, telling me what you thought and if I get about 5 reviews on this, I will upload the second chapter within three days... :)... Thank you guys for reading this and I will see you in the second chapter! BAIIIIIIIIII!