"Hurry!" I said. Grabbing his hand, I towed Heracles through the garden, taking him away from the tree. "He will find us!"
Heracles didn't want to. He was drinking in the Garden of the Hesperides with an air of wholehearted enjoyment. Idiot. I yanked him, hard, towards the mountain.
He looked down at me with a trace of amusement. "I'm not afraid," he told me calmly.
"You should be," I retorted, yanking forward again. He broke into a jog, and instantly I quickened, pulling him at top speed through the garden, then up a small hill, then through a rosebush, ignoring the painful pricks. We both collapsed, breathing heavily.
Heracles shook his head and sat up. "There is no need to run," he told me. "I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."
"Not this one," I replied. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way."
He looked surprised. "I do not trust your father," he said, glancing toward the mountain on which Atlas held up the sky.
"You should not," I agreed. "You will have to trick him. But do not attempt to take the apples directly. You will die!"
Heracles chuckled. "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"
My heart ached. I so desperately wanted to help this hero, though I couldn't say why, but… "I… I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out… they will disown me." I stifled a small sob.
Heracles sighed and stood up, rubbing his hands together. "Then there's nothing for it.
"Wait!" I pleaded as he started to step through the rosebush. My mind churned. If I did this, even my father would call me a traitor. I would never again feed Ladon, nor see my sisters, nor live in the beautiful garden any longer. I would be reduced to a mortal, stripped of power by my siblings.
On the other hand, if I let Heracles die, I could never live with myself. And that, I realized, was more important than anything. Even my sisters and my home. Even so, I hoped I wouldn't be caught.
Fingers trembling, I reached up and took a single pin out of my hair. Concentrating, I summoned my soul, and breathed it over the pin. When I inhaled, taking my soul back into me, a portion of my animus remained inside the pin, which had started to glow.
I looked at Heracles and said, "If you must fight, take this. My mother gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal powers.
He laughed. "A hairpin? How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"
"It may not," I admitted. "But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn."
He sighed, but he reached down and took the hairpin. Once in his hands, the pin grew, sprouting a wickedly sharp, glowing, celestial bronze sword.
"Well balanced," Heracles said, turning the blade over in his hands. "Though I normally just use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?"
I sighed. "Anaklusmos. The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea."
He looked up at me, and seemed about to say something, but before he could, there was a ferocious hissing, and the rosebush was swept aside by an immense head.
"Too late!" I cried. "He is here!"
Heracles stood, holding Anaklusmos high. Ladon hissed in reply, fetid breath accompanying it. Again, I wondered if anyone, even a hero as powerful as Heracles, could ever hope to best Ladon.
For a moment, hero and monster just looked at each other, sizing each other up. Then Ladon, with another furious hiss, plunged his heads forward, fangs clamping down. Heracles spun, using a combination of his Nemean Lion cape and Anaklusmos to stop the fangs from piercing flesh. Finally Ladon stepped back, and seemed surprised that Heracles was still standing
Heracles, with a roar, charged the dragon, sword scything into the body. With a furious roar, Ladon kicked out with one foot, sending the hero flying unexpectedly, but the son of Zeus regained his footing immediately, and then kicked, knocking a fang loose. I ducked, but it stuck in my chiton.
I was afraid to watch, but I could not look away. After several minutes, I made a conclusion. No matter how strong Heracles was, nothing could stop Ladon. Even a god would be hard put, and even Kampê would be cautious.
In a few minutes, Heracles was beaten. He started backing away, and Ladon could not follow, for he needed to protect the tree.
True to my advice, Heracles started up the Mountain of Despair to seek out Atlas. My father would be able to take the apples, for Ladon was not trained to attack him.
I went to follow, but four figures shimmered into view: my sisters. With a heavy heart, I knew my actions had been discovered. Head high, I prepared to face the inevitable: exile.
For a minute, we simply stood, staring at each other, and I was forcefully reminded of Ladon and Heracles. This, too, was a battle, but I would be wounded far worse than Heracles had.
The eldest, Aegle, stepped forward. "You have helped a hero," she stated in a completely emotionless tone. It was not a question, nor an accusation, just a presentation of a fact.
I didn't bother denying it. What could I say? I had known the risks. I had known the consequences. And I had chosen to let Heracles through, to guide him through the garden. I had no words to defend myself.
Hesperia also stepped forward. "You guided him through the garden, and then gave him your soul in the form of a weapon. What possessed thee to do such a thing?"
I simply shook my head. In my heart, I knew why, but I could not bring myself to say it. My tongue was thick, and my throat dry.
Arethusa spoke up. "You love him." Again, it was simply a statement.
Erytheia also spoke. "Then go to him, if you must."
Then all four Hesperids chanted in eerie unison. "Then leave this garden and never return. Flee this place that you were once part of. Run from the wrath of us and Atlas above. Go now, former sister." Hesperia gave me a sad smile in farewell.
Aegle extended a hand, and a globe of yellow energy came out from me to her. My immortality. It was gone now, along with my identity as a Hesperid.
Smirking, Aegle spoke again, words to wound. "To add to your burden, know this: you may have gained a hero's gratitude, but you have lost Ladon, a family, and a home. Your soul is split and your immortality gone. Goodbye, Zoë."
With that, the garden disappeared. I saw flashes: Ladon, looking at me wistfully,
the setting sun, the sky swirling above me. Then I was just sitting on the ground, with nothing but my chiton and Ladon's fang.
I silently cursed Aegle. She had never liked me, but she could have been a bit nicer. Her I would not miss. But the others… I would miss them, and Ladon, too.
I felt like I was already dead. I was mortal. I had nothing. I was nothing. Could things possibly get any worse?
Of course they could. They always did.
