First Chapter: Where the Young Hero Meets a Princess

"He says, "Ooh, baby girl, you know we're gonna be legends
I'm a king and you're a queen and we will stumble through heaven
If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight"

And I've been sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool
For a while now, drowning my thoughts out with the sounds

But do you feel like a young god?
You know the two of us are just young gods
And we'll be flying through the streets with the people underneath
And they're running, running, running."

Young God by Halsey

Something was amiss. There were lots of people entering her mother's private quarters, her private bedroom. The girl followed the mass of people and nobody tried to stop her, they hadn't obviously noticed her yet. She swallowed with some difficulty, feel of dread rising in her stomach. And then she saw her, her own mother, lying in the pool of blood, her own blood.

"By all Gods, she cut her own wrists…" somebody muttered.

"The deaths of her sons must have been too much her to take in. May the Gods let her find her peace," another person stated.

The room was spinning around her, she felt like she was going to be sick and pass out at the same time.

She was shook out of her reverie as someone put a firm hand on her shoulder, guiding her to the hallway, away from the gruesome sight.

"Oh Megara, you shouldn't have entered," her grandmother, Harmonia, sighed with tears filling her eyes.

Megara, Meg, had no chance to answer before her father stormed in, Meg's two younger sisters following in her father's tow.

"Where is she, where is my wife?" the frantic king paid no mind to his eldest daughter and entered the room.

"Megara, look after your sisters!" Harmonia told her grand-daughter before rushing after her son.

Her two younger sisters tried to follow their father's suit, but Meg wrapped her arms around them, pulling them for a tight hug. She could hear their father's agonized cries, mourning for his lost wife. He too had lost his sons and now he had lost his wife as well. The queenmother tried to soothe him, ease his pain, to no avail.

"Where is mama?" the youngest of the sisters ask, hiccuping for crying so much.

"Shh, shh, I'm here. It's gonna be okay, I promise," Meg tried to ran a soothing hand on her sister's hair. Her another sister shot a suspicious look at her: she was older, she knew that things would never be okay again.

It was at that point that Meg realized that she and her sisters had first lost their brothers and now their mother.

Seven years later…

Meg hardly listened to her father as he tried to prepare her for the evening to come. They had another party later that evening, some important people from Thebes had been invited there. Those evenings were all the same, exchanging polite, meaningless words to people who thought they were more important than they actually were.

"And you have to be there on time, you understand me? You are the eldest, after all."

Meg fought back her sigh.

"Yes, father."

"Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, father," Meg replied once again.

"Good girl, you may go now," her father placed a absent-minded kiss on her forhead before dismissing her.

Meg walked away from the throneroom, heading out to the gardens and stopping there on her tracks.

'Good girl.' Meg felt did what she was asked and yet, she felt as if she hardly existed. Like she was some sort of a pretty doll who had to do whatever was asked of her. She was sicked of it.

"Is everything alright, my dear?" Harmonia, her grandmother, came close to her, placing a soothing had on her shoulder.

"Yes," Meg replied with a sigh,

"You don't sound like you're alright," Harmonia replied, arching her perfectly manicured eyebrow.

"I'm just sick of this, sick of these social events and pretending everything's all right," Meg told her, turning away.

"It's not pretending, it's part of your role-"

"As a princess, I know! And I'm sick of it! I'm sick of not being able to decide anything for myself, not even who I'll marry!" Meg snapped back, instantly regretting shouting at her grandmother.

Harmonia seemed a little taken aback for her grand-daughter's sudden outburst. Harmonia felt sorry for her, after her mother's death it seemed that too much pressure was placed on Megara's shoulders.

"Honey, I know you feel stressed and sad, but maybe things get better after you get married, after you have your own court to rule over, hmm?" Harmonia tried to encourage her, placing a hand on her chin and lifting her gaze to level of her own eyes.

Meg was quite sure that marrying the old king Aedes would hardly make her life any easier: she wouldn't be under her father's command, but instead under her lord husband's command. Oh what a joy.

"Yeah, maybe," Meg replied, faking her grandmother a smile.

"Good girl," Harmonia giving her shoulder an supportive pat and then headed to other direction.

Meg was left there standing alone. She was hardly the type to turn to the Gods with her worries, not after losing her mother. But at that moment, she was feeling more hopeless and lost then ever.

'Oh Gods, any god of the Pantheon, is there really nothing more to the life then this?' she silently pleaded, gazing at the sky. After a few moments had passed and as nothing happened, she sighed and turned away, heading back to the palace. She had to get ready for the party at the evening, she had promised her father that she would be there on time for once.

The night air felt cool on his skin as Pegasus flew him across the city. He hardly heard as Phil was babbling on and on as he tried to make a point on the importance of the evening in question. The king Creon of Thebes had invited them on his party as honored guests after Hercules had saved the city from one monster after another. Hercules sighed as he knew that it was an honor to get invited to the royal palace, but he felt that he had more important things to do than socialize with the rich and the powerful.

More than anything, he wanted to regain his godhood and join his parents on mount Olympus and it was hard to see how this evening would help him with that. But Phil had made him clear that rejecting king's invitation was not a wise thing to do, so he would go there even if just for a little while.

After they had reached the royal palace of Cadmea and they had safely landed there, Hercules left Pegasus to the care of the royal stables. Then Phil and him made their way through the lush gardens and finally reached the main entrance of the palace. The great hall was brimming with people and an over-employed servant rushed over to hand the both of them a goblet of wine. Phil quickly gulped the wine down and took another cup as he left, obviously chasing after a woman who had just passed them by. Hercules shook his head at the antics of his trainer and then thanked the servant for the wine. As he was about to turn around, he suddenly felt an arm around his shoulders.

"So you made it! Welcome to my home, young hero!" The king himself had come to greet him and Hercules nervously smiled back.

"Thank you, your grace. It was very kind of you to invite me," Hercules replied, studying his host. The king was middle-aged man, tall and lean, with dark hair specked with some gray. He was still a handsome man, even though worry and stress had left its obvious traces on his face.

"Oh nonsense, it is the least thing I could do. Let me introduce my family to you, now where are my daughters? Oh there is Megara, late as usual," the king sighed as he gazed to the top of the stairs. As Hercules looked there, he felt his breath was taken away.

He saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen making her way down the stairs. Her auburn hair was up in a fancy hairdo and she wore white dress with golden jewellery: the most noticeable of it all was her golden tiara, a symbol of her royal status. She was tall and slender yet curvy and Hercules knew he had never seen anything as beautiful as she was. Not any royals or even the Gods could rival her beauty, and he had seen Aphrodite herself. He had heard rumors that one of the king Creon's daughters was said to be the most beautiful woman on the world, but Hercules had regarded that just as a rumor. People were tend to exaggerate, but as he saw her himself, he knew that this time the rumors were correct.

The princess was obviously still deep in her thoughts as she made her way down, she hadn't even noticed her father or him, even though they were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Suddenly the young woman gasped as she stepped on her long dress and fell down. With his quick reflexes, Hercules was there and suddenly he was holding her in his arms. He felt as if the time itself had stood still as the Fates had stopped their weaving as he held her in his arms. It simply felt right. The young woman looked at him wide-eyed, obviously taken by surprise and he looked back at her. He noticed the unusual color of her eyes: violet. How fitting.

Then she smiled slyly and told him cockily: "Nice reflexes."

"Thanks." He smiled back at her, then helped her back on her feet and asked her: "Are you alright, your highness?"

She was about to reply something, but her father was faster than she was.

"Oh Megara, you should watch where you are going, dear! That girl is such a dreamer sometimes," The king scolded her. The young woman looked at her feet, obviously used to getting scolded at. Hercules suddenly felt bad for her. He knew how that felt.

"So this is my eldest daughter, princess Megara. Megara, this is Hercules, the saver of our city" king formally introduced his daughter to him and he bowed his head in respect.

"It is an honor to meet you, your highness," he told her formally, partially hoping that her father, even if he was the king who had invited him in the first place, wasn't there.

"Thank you for you work on our people's behalf. I hope you find our home hospitable," the princess, Megara, replied him. He couldn't help but notice that the tone of her voice and the chosen words seemed somehow off, as if they were forced: it was like she was repeating some mantra someone else had taught her.

"Well, we should go and greet other guests as well, my dear. Please enjoy your stay here," the king smiled benevolently at Hercules before he scurried his daughter away. Hercules sighed as they left. He knew it was selfish to wish that a member of the royal family would spend her evening socializing only with himself, but he had still wanted to speak with her some more, even if for a little while.

Rest of the party was uneventful and Hercules struggled to follow conversation with other guests. He really wasn't used to this kind of events and he felt himself anxious, trapped in the sea of people. His head was pounding from the stale palace air and as he felt he was struggling for his breath, he decided to head outside to the gardens to get some fresh air.

As he made his way outside to the fountain, he noticed he wasn't alone.

Hercules felt his heart skipping a beat as he noticed it was king Creon's daughter, Megara, who was sitting on the ledge of the fountain. She had let her long hair fall down in a simple ponytail and her golden tiara was sitting on the bench next to her. She seemed even lovelier than before.

But her head was hanging low and her shoulders were slumped: everything about her appearance told him that she was sad. Before he could say anything, she seemed to notice that she wasn't alone and lifted her head.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, your Highness," Hercules lifted his hands, feeling awkward for intruding. She looked at him, obviously pondering on something.

"I'm really sorry, I shouldn't be here-" Hercules was starting to turn away, but before he could leave, he heard her voice; "So you don't like them either, huh?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Hercules furrowed his brows as he thought about her sudden question.

The princess let out a small laugh and replied: "Parties. If you're out here too, it seems like you don't enjoy parties either." She gestured with her hand to the empty spot next to her on the brim of the fountain. Hercules nervously swallowed, cursing his Olympian family playing this practical joke on him as he had earlier on wished to speak with her: it seemed like someone had listened to his wishes.

"Yeah, well I'm not really good with social events like that," Hercules replied as he sat down next to her.

"I don't like them either. I know I should, I mean I'm a princess, I should be all about joy and sunshine and entertaining guests, but I'm not," the princess sighed. Suddenly Hercules felt privileged that she had told him this, that she had trusted him enough to confide in him. He smiled at her and she cautiously smiled at him back.

"So that's why you are alone in here?" He asked her kindly.

"It gives me time to think," she replied, looking sadly to the fountain.

"Think about what?" Hercules wanted to know what exactly had made her so sad.

"About my impending marriage," the princess sighed again. Hercules felt an odd feeling in his chest, as if someone was squeezing his heart. Marriage? To whom?

"You don't want to get married?" Hercules looked at her once again slumped form.

"My so-called fiancée is somewhere around fifty, he's over thirty years older than I am. Would you want to marry someone much older than yourself, someone you haven't even met?" The princess gave him a challenging look, her mouth forming a tight line.

"But that is awful! Does you father, the king, know how you feel?" Hercules felt horrified for her behalf. How could anyone do that to their own daughter, especially her?

"You think it matters what I think? He only wants to get me married to a good ally, what I think is not one of his priorities," the young princess replied him bitterly, obviously feeling defeated.

"I am very sorry to hear that, your Highness," Hercules told her, wanting to let her know that he thought that the king's decision had not been a correct one.

He gently placed his hand on hers and she froze for a moment. Hercules feared that he had taken a wrong decision, but she didn't pull away, even if she seemed a little cautious.

"Thank you. I don't think anyone can change my father's mind," the princess replied with a sigh.

"Well, let's hope that he'll change his mind on his own then," Hercules smiled softly at her.

She huffed a laugh. "You really are an optimist."

Hercules gave an awkward laugh as well.

"Yeah, I've heard quite often that I'm too naive for my own good."

"At least you are who you are, you're not like the most people at this place. They're so fake, only telling the other people exactly what they want to hear," the princess grimaced in disdain.

"You're not like them," Hercules told her, still holding her hand in his. He felt his pulse quickening. What was this? All his life, he had never felt like this.

"How do you know? Even I don't know who am I. I feel as if I was only my title, the princess, daughter of Creon. Like I wasn't even a real person," she than replied.

"Who would you like to be then?" He felt as he could get just lost in her eyes, she was so enthralling, her close proximaiy was making his head swim.

"Just me. Megara. Or rather, just Meg," the young woman replied as she gazed back at him. For a moment, they were lost in each others' eyes. The moment was suddenly gone as they heard a loud yell: "Hey kid! Where are ya'? Ya've got some work out first thing tomorrow, so we should get goin'!" Hercules jumped on his feet as he recognized Phil's voice. From all the moments he could have chosen, he had picked this one, Hercules cursed to himself.

And as from a cue, Phil suddenly appeared from the lush greenery, completely oblivious to the fact that he had possibly interrupted something.

"Ah-ha, found ya! Didn't know you had some company with ya'!" Phil replied, finally taking notice that his pupil wasn't alone.

"Phil, this is king Creon's daughter, Megara," Hercules awkwardly introduced the girl next to him to his trainer. Phil acknowledged the princess, Meg, by bowing his head in almost comical way. "I'm sorry to disturb, your highness, I was just looking for my student here."

Meg smiled, fighting back her laughter and simply replied: "I wouldn't want to keep the great hero from his duties."

Then she got up and turned to head back, but before leaving she told Hercules: "I hope we see again, young hero." She gave him a one last smile (which made his knees feel weak, even if he was the strongest man in the Grecian world) and before he had a chance to reply, she was gone.

As Phil and he made their way back to the stables to find Pegasus and as they headed home, all his thoughts revolved around her.

Meg.

A/N: Dun dun DUN! I'm not completely satisfied with my next chapter for 'All this and Olympus too', so I decided to work on a plot bunny that has been nagging inside my head like forever. I've always thought about this scenario "so what would have happened if Herc and Meg met each other in different circumstances?" And honestly, even I'm not sure: we'll just have to see which direction this story will take. I'll try to update this story every now and then, but maybe not quite as regularly as 'All this and Olympus Too'. Peace and love, take care guys!