ATTENTION: I had to do a switcheroo with Chapter 7 and 8, so Chapter 7 is NEW! And it's a pretty important chapter, so I would suggest starting there and moving forward. Otherwise this chapter will not make a lick of sense. =P
Wounded Shell of Myself: The reason I made it so short was exactly that, if I continued it would lose that foreboding feeling for which I was striving. Thank you for your reviews. =D
HaileyBailey: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I've added quite a bit of allusions to Greek mythology, like a lot. It's mostly for my entertainment because I love Greek mythology. I'm basically just piecing the stories of Greek mythology together with the Disney version as filler. =)
CHAPTER 9:
Hercules returned to the house once Tiresias' form disappeared into the night. Per his nightly routine, Hercules went to the kitchen and fetched Argus a platter of pita and grapes, as well as a hydria filled with water. He knew Argus would get hungry and most definitely thirsty throughout the night and these small provisions would hold him over until breakfast. After securing the doors and windows and checking on his sons, Hercules made his way to his bedchambers. The oil lamp was out and Meg was already sound asleep. He lingered in the doorway, his eyes focused on the gentle rise and fall of her stomach as she slept. 'You're not the only one who has been having nightmares', Tiresias' last words echoed in his mind. He shook his head and went to the washroom to wash up and ready for bed. He quickly dressed in his white chiton and crawled in bed beside his wife, carefully as not to disturb her. The cicadas chirping outside quickly lulled him to sleep as the moon slowly rose over the countryside and flooded their room with a soft, pale blue light.
The moon was a galactic voyeur and thus saw everything. From the teenager sneaking out to tip cows in the fields to the owl hunting mice, the moon was aware. Lycus knew this of the moon and, as he lurked in the shadows of Thebes, he felt as though the moon was judging him. He had crept into the city with relative ease; it was late and the guards were poorly guarding the city gates. They had no reason to suspect such a feeble man, especially at that ungodly hour. He was a figure moving amongst the shadows of a city closed for the night. Pillars and monuments dwarfed him. A statue of Hercules stood on a pillar hovering above the city's center. It was five times larger than the one that had preceded it, before the battle with the Titans. He made his way past closed storefronts in whose windows stood displays of ceramic figurines and plush toys. One display caught his eye; it was a pyramid of Hercules and Megara dolls. He narrowed his eyes. Soon they will be making dolls of me, he thought jealously. He looked up; the son of Zeus appeared to be staring down at him. He wrapped his cloak tighter around him and quickly continued onward.
He wandered down a less than savory part of town where the bars were still open. He could hear a lyre and flute being played, shouting and the sound of pottery breaking. His first instinct was to once again run away, but he pushed forward, willing himself to man up. He passed by the entrance to one of the taverns and peered in. It appeared to be the local hangout for centaurs. Shards of pottery surrounded two centaurs whose forearms were on the table, their hands locked in a death grip. Human bar patrons shouted at the two as they arm-wrestled while he wrestled with the decision to enter the bar. Hades, being the god of the underworld had quite a fortune and, fortunately for Lycus, he had no use for it. Along with money, Hades had instilled him with some modicum of hope. Lycus straightened from his hunched stance and made the decision to walk into the bar. The minute the door creaked open, the shouting and music stopped and he was suddenly the center of attention. He froze unsure of his next steps. He looked around the room timidly and called upon the vision of Hades. In his best attempts to emulate the Lord of the Underworld, he squared his shoulders and walked to the bar. The barmaid simply stared at him. He confidently placed two drachmas on the counter.
"Give me a glass of wine ... Babe," he said, stuttering slightly.
He swallowed hard and didn't dare to look about the room. The barmaid simply rolled her eyes at him and took the coins. Moments later, a glass was slammed onto the bar before him, a few droplets of wine spilled onto the counter. The music began to play and the centaurs began to arm wrestle again as if the slamming of the glass indicated the all clear. Lycus gingerly sipped his wine. He was quite a lightweight and didn't want to over indulge, but the alcohol was helping to loosen him up. 'Liquid courage' as his father would say and he wouldn't deny any form of courage. My father, he thought. Lycus was doing this to prove something to his father; he wanted to prove he was worth something. He was considered the runt of the family and always felt like the outsider; all he truly wanted was his father's acceptance before his father passed on. His father was old and Lycus knew he had one shot at this. He wouldn't fail, regardless of the cost.
Hades had talked to him briefly about his vendetta against the royal family, or rather his vendetta against one royal in particular. Lycus had the backing of a god and that was more than he had coming into his mission. Hades agreed to supply him with money and a way into the palace, but the specifics were left up to him. Hades had told him that he could plan the regicide as long as the job would be done. Lycus felt that it was turning into more of a contract killing and that Hades just wanted to separate himself from the situation and keep his hands clean. He couldn't argue or second-guess a god, so he accepted the deal.
As he sat at the bar nursing his drink, three palace guards entered the establishment. Lycus felt his spine immediately straighten. Oh no I've been caught, he thought. He moved his head back and forth quickly looking for a way out.
"Aeolos, Straton, over here," called one of the patrons signaling to the guards.
Lycus relaxed having realized they were the usual customers and not out to haul him to prison ... or worse. He needed a plan; he couldn't just go into the palace willy-nilly. He sat quietly at the bar, just thinking. He absentmindedly finished his wine and was soon feeling its effects. One of the centaurs stood from his table and made his way to the bar. He held up two fingers to the barmaid indicating he wanted another round. He leaned against the bar drumming his fingers on the tabletop.
"You're new in town," he said. It took a while for Lycus to realize the centaur was talking to him. Lycus merely nodded. The centaur finally looked at him.
"My name is Elatus." Lycus finally met the centaur's gaze.
"Lycus," he said, simply. Elatus nodded his head. The barmaid returned with his drinks and the centaur turned his back to Lycus and headed back to his table. Lycus watched him sit down and laugh raucously with his friends.
"Ya know, that Elatus doesn't much care for Creon's jurisdiction, especially after his decree. I'm pretty sure his centaur friend wouldn't mind helping, too" said the man seated next to him.
"Yeah! And those guards for that matter! They disagree with Creon's punishment for being disloyal. The big one wasn't even allowed to bury his brother," added the man's friend.
Lycus hadn't even realized someone was seated next to him. He looked to the figure at his left. The movement of his head blurred his vision and for a moment all he was able to make out was a rotund figure who seemed to be bathed in the color magenta. He was the man who originally spoke. The second man was tall where the first one was short and appeared to be more jittery of an individual.
"How d'ya... who're ya?" Lycus asked, slurring his words.
"Let's just say we're kin and we sympathize with your plight," said the magenta man. The other nodded fervently.
"Wha? Did Hades send ya?" he asked. The tall one shifted uneasily.
"Nah, we're just strangers with absolutely no ties to the Lord of the Underworld whatsoever," he said a little too emphatically.
Lycus just stared at the two. The men exchanged worried glances, but were relieved when Lycus simply shrugged and stood from his barstool.
"I dunno who yar, bud I got nothin," he said. He held onto the back of the chair as he stood. He was able to keep upright for a mere twenty seconds before he fell to the ground completely passed out. The two men looked at him and then each other.
"It looks like we've got to talk to the centaurs for him," said the rotund one with the grating voice. The other one responded with an audible gulp.
Lycus had a headache like never before as he slowly sat up.
"Where am I?" he asked himself.
"The same place you passed out at: my bar," said a voice from behind him. He turned around and shielded his eyes from the sunlight streaming through the window. The owner of the voice walked towards him and he heard the sound of hooves hitting the floor. His eyes adjusted and he realized it was the centaur from the previous night.
"Here, take this," he said. He handed Lycus a cup and helped the wobbly man up.
"What's in it?" he asked. The centaur gave him an askew look as Lycus sniffed the contents of the cup.
"It's water," he said.
"Oh," Lycus responded. He hesitated for a moment and then guzzled the liquid. "Thank you for allowing me to sleep here. I'm new in town and haven't yet found a place to stay."
"I was told you came to seek revenge on the king and his family," he said. He was not one for pleasantries and so cut to the chase.
"I-I, I mean -" Lycus began, but was cut off.
"I'm in," he said.
"What?" Lycus asked almost choking. The centaur began to pace in front of him.
"Your friends at the bar came over and talked to me. My friend, Hippotion, and I ... disagree with the king and would like him ... removed. The three guards that came in are also game. They have ensured us access to the palace. We can take the family easily."
"But ... um, what was your name again?" Lycus asked.
"Elatus."
"Right, Elatus. How can you be sure the guards aren't spies sent to the palace to search for dissenters?" Lycus asked. Elatus smiled ruefully.
"They've been complaining about the king for years, ever since the battle with the Argives. Believe me, they want to see Creon gone for good," he said. He gave a derisive snort and spat on the ground.
"What about his children?" Lycus asked. He knew what Hades wanted done and he was not going to let a god down.
"What about them? All he has left are daughters. What will they do? What can they do?" he asked. Lycus began to wring his hands.
"Well, what if they seek revenge? If the king is dethroned the reign will pass onto the next male heir. There are already two male heirs, both the sons of Hercules and I don't know about you, but I don't want to go one on one against him. He would be a likely regent to them until they are of age," Lycus said. Elatus stroked his chin.
"And you're afraid of retaliation. I think it would be an even greater risk if we were to ... harm the others. I would rather have children and three weak women seeking revenge on me than Hercules himself. How do we keep him from interfering with our scheme?" Elatus asked.
"I doubt we have a problem with that. I believe that if we rip his family, his foundation, out from under him, he won't so much as budge. As for how to get him out of the picture, he goes wherever there's trouble. We send him on a mission to rescue a damsel from the underworld, whatever. Just think, we'd be ruling, you and I. I believe the reward outweighs the risk. Besides, I'm on good terms with a certain god that would love to see Hercules fall," Lycus said. Elatus smiled which looked more like a sneer.
The old Lycus would have trembled with fear at the prospect of facing such a formidable opponent as Hercules. This new, confident Lycus had Hades, two centaurs, and three palace guards; nothing could stop him, but one thing was for certain, he sure as hell wasn't going to share the throne with a horse.