"Sacrifice"

At a temple in the countryside, not too far from the Academy, a meeting is being held...

"Sisters," the tall stately woman called the group of women to order. "As you all know, two days from now is the most sacred day of our worship. The day to honor Hera, Queen of the Gods! Now we need to decide what we are going to do to commemorate this event. Are there any ideas?"

"How about an offering of the most succulent fruit in the land?" a young woman near the back called out.

"No, that's what we did two years ago. How about a mound of gold jewelry?" another sister called.

"No, it must be something special. Something no one has ever done before. Something that people will remember for years to come!" the leader said.

"I have an idea," came a timid voice from the far corner of the room.

Everyone turned in surprise - who had spoken?

The girl stepped out from the shadows. It was Sarafina, a relatively new recruit into the house of Hera. She had lived with the group for only four months and rarely spoke out.

"Yes, Sarafina? What is your idea?"

"Well, instead of just giving Hera material things, we should do something to show our appreciation of her. We should do something in her name, to honor her."

"And what do you have in mind?"

"We should sacrifice Hercules."

A gasp arose from the crowd.

"Sacrifice the son of Zeus? I don't believe that would be a wise idea, my child."

"I disagree. Hercules is the bane of Hera's existence - he is tangible proof that her lord, Zeus, has been unfaithful to her! How can we, as her followers, allow her to be taunted with his exploits day in and day out? It is an insult! We must do something! And if Zeus is angered with us, then so be it! I have pledged my life to Hera - and if doing this for her costs me my life, well then it is a price I pay freely and without regrets!"

The crowd was clearly moved by Sarafina's speech. The leader, Omphala, called them to order.

"All right - we have all heard the suggestions of our sisters. Which choice are we in favor of?"

The crowd voiced their choice - they agreed with Sarafina. Hera could no longer be insulted by Hercules' existence!

Omphala spoke again. "And exactly how should we go about this, Sarafina? Since it was your idea, I will let you plan our attack. Remember, though, Hercules is part-god. He is much stronger than we are."

"Not in cunning, Sister. I propose we lure him to us, and drug him. I have some herbs that will do the trick nicely."

"And how do you propose that we lure him to us?"

"He's a young man. I'm a young woman. It will be as simple as taking candy from a baby."


Two Days Later

Hercules, Iolaus, and Jason were all playing a game of melon ball on the south grounds of the Academy. At the moment, Jason was winning, but then Hercules kicked a high ball over Iolaus's head and down the slope towards the forest.

"Air-ball! Air-ball! Good one, Herc!" Iolaus said, laughing. "I think it's your turn to go get the ball, buddy!"

"Yeah, like you're doing any better, Iolaus! I think I have more points than you!"

Jason butted in then - "yeah, well I have more points than both of you! Ha! Hurry up and get the ball, Herc!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm going, I'm going..." Herc muttered, as he walked down the hill.

It was a beautiful spring day and he and the guys had been having fun after classes. After that morning's algebra workout, they had all been ready for some games. Why do I need to know that anyway? I'm sure it will never be useful in the real world...

Herc continued thinking about the futileness of algebra while looking for the ball. He finally saw it. In the hands of one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen.

She had long shimmering brown hair, that also seemed to glow red in the bright sunshine. Her eyes were as green as the grass, and her features - all of them - were just perfect. She was smiling at him and holding the ball, clutched tightly to her chest.

"Hello," she said. "Is this yours?"

Her voice sounded like music to him. "Um, uh, um, uh...yeah, yeah it is. Thanks." Herc stumbled on the words, stunned into silence at the beauty standing in front of him. He reached for the ball, but instead of giving it to him, the girl continued to hold it.

"I was wondering...could you help me? Our wagon is stuck in a ditch and we've pulled and pulled but we just can't seem to get it free."

"Um...'we'?"

"Oh, yes. Silly me. My sisters and I - the wagon is just over this hill. Do you think you could help us be on our way?"

"Oh, sure, of course! Lead the way!" Hercules said. "By the way, I'm Hercules."

He held out his hand, waiting for her to shake it.

"Oh! How rude of me," she said, while shaking his hand. "My name is Sarafina."

Hercules and Sarafina walked over the top of the hill, and there in front of him was a wagon, stuck in a ditch, with six women standing around it. None of them were as beautiful as Sarafina, but they were all very nice. They thanked him profusely for coming to their rescue. He didn't pick up anything odd about them, although he did notice that each and every one of them was wearing a peacock feather.

Hercules set about the task of getting the wagon out of the ditch. It took some pulling and maneuvering, not to mention some help from the mules, but in the end Herc won out. The wagon was free and ready to go.

The day was very warm, and Herc had worked up a sweat removing the wagon. He wiped his forehead and was surprised when Sarafina pressed a glass of cool water into his hand.

"Here. You look thirsty. Thank you so much for assisting us. You've been a great help."

Hercules just smiled sheepishly at her. "Oh, it was nothing. Thanks for the water, though, I am kinda thirsty." With that, he took two long swallows from the glass. He handed the glass back to Sarafina and was about to ask her where she lived or where she was headed when he suddenly felt light-headed. He stumbled a bit and leaned up against the wagon.

"Are you alright, Hercules?" Sarafina asked.

"Yeah - yeah, I'm just fiiiiiii..." Herc said, as he slowly collapsed onto the ground.

Sarafina leaned over him and checked to make sure he had a pulse. Then she called to her sisters and they pulled him into the wagon and sped away.

Hercules had been gone from the others for only ten minutes.


Jason and Iolaus were wondering what was taking Hercules so long.

"Do you think he got lost?" Iolaus asked.

"No," Jason replied. "That's something I would expect of you, but not of Herc."

"Yea- HEY! I'll have you know I'm a great tracker! I never get lost, not like you oh great Prince!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I seem to clearly remember that time when you said, 'oh, I know where the weapons stockroom is, let's go and see what sort of goodies this palace has'. You got lost in your own palace! How pathetic!"

Jason flushed embarrassedly. "Yeah, well, that place is big. And they moved the stockroom, I know they did."

"Yeah, uh-huh. Tell me another one. I remember -"

"Actually, you know, it's been like 20 minutes. Herc should have been back by now. Maybe we should go look for him."

"Yeah, uh-huh. Okay, let's go look. You can apologize later." Iolaus set off towards the hill.

"Apologize? For what? Ha, I bet I can beat you to the bottom of the hill!"

"Yeah, right! In your dreams, buddy-boy!"

The two began to race down the hill full-speed. They got to the bottom but still saw no signs of Hercules. They continued over the next rise, calling Herc's name, and that's when they saw it.

The ball.

Sitting alone, next to fresh wagon tracks.

"I don't get a good feeling from this, Iolaus."

"Neither do I."

"I think you'd better use those tracking skills of yours - I have a hunch we need to find this wagon."


Hercules awoke with a pounding headache. He opened his eyes slowly and realized he was inside, in some sort of temple it looked like. He tried to move his hand to rub his eyes but they wouldn't move. He looked down and realized that he was chained. He tried to sit up, too, but found that he couldn't.

It was then that he realized he was lying down, on some sort of altar. His arms and legs were chained it, and as hard as he tried, he still couldn't break the chains.

"Don't wear yourself out. Those chains were forged by the gods. They're unbreakable."

Hercules turned his head towards the now-familiar voice. "Sarafina? What happened? What are you doing? Why?"

"I'm sorry, Hercules, it's nothing personal. But I am a devotee of Hera. And today is her special worship day."

"Hera." Hercules said the name with disgust. He knew that his stepmother, the Queen of the Gods, hated him. She had tried several times to inadvertently have him killed, but to no avail. Now it seemed as though she had her minions do her dirty work for her.

"Don't listen to Hera, Sarafina. She's just using you to hurt me. I bet she didn't tell you about Zeus' protection order, did she? If you hurt me, then he'll send you to Tartarus!"

"I know."

Herc was flabbergasted. "You..you know? What do you mean you know? Do you want to spend eternity in Tartarus? It's not a very nice place, you know!"

"I know about the protection order. And I am willing to sacrifice my life in order to avenge the wrongs committed against my Queen."

"But she's using you!"

"No she's not, Hercules. She doesn't even know about this - this is our gift to her. Today is her most sacred day, and we decided the most fitting way to honor her would be to erase the reminder of Zeus' unfaithfulness!"

"Erase? ERASE? I'm a human being, Sarafina, not just a mistake on a writing tablet! Listen to reason! It's not my fault who my parents are! And it's not like I'm the only mortal son of Zeus, he's got a lot of other kids!"

"But none are as celebrated as YOU!" Sarafina said, with venom in her voice. "Every time a minstrel sings your praises it is like a knife in the heart to her! No woman should have to be reminded every day of how their husband has been with others, chosen other women over you! No one! If I can ease even part of her burden I will! And if it costs me my life, then so be it!"

"Sarafina -"

"QUIET! I am tired of arguing with you. Enough of this." With that, she grabbed a scarf and tied it around Hercules' mouth, silencing him. He still glared at her, though.

"It does not matter if you hate me, Hercules. Save your energy for your trip across the River Styx."

Sarafina then walked out of the room and called to her sisters. "It is time for the ceremony!"

Suddenly, the room was filled with about fifty women. All of them were holding lit candles and were dressed in simple white dresses, adorned with peacock feathers. A sign of Hera - he should have recognized it back at the wagon. Hercules cursed himself for being fooled by another pretty face. When would he learn? If it was up to these women, he never would, he realized.

They had started a chant, dancing around the altar. He looked up and saw Sarafina pull a huge ornate dagger out of a case. She then took it and slid it under the edge of Hercules' shirt and sliced it open. She then held the dagger in both hands, high above her head, the blade pointed downward.

"Oh, Great Hera - Queen of all the Gods, accept this sacrifice to you! We offer this to you as a way to shield yourself from the further humiliation of having a mortal stepchild! No longer shall this child live to mock you, to remind you of your love's unfaithfulness! Accept this in our name, oh great Hera!"

Hercules saw Jason and Iolaus enter the temple out of the corner of his eye. But unfortunately it was at the same time Sarafina made the downstroke, plunging the knife into his heart.