Published July 5, 2021

"Confession"

In all the times Meg had imagined how she would feel if she regained her freedom, she could never have imagined it would feel this awful, that it would be this costly.

Hades had taken one of Hercules' best traits—his capacity for sincere love—and used it against him. Then, adding insult to injury, he revealed all of Meg's duplicity, going back to the day they met, to his first public feat of heroism. Thanks to them, both the mortal realm and the heavenly realm of Mount Olympus were doomed.

After they both collapsed into weeping messes, Meg managed to collect herself before Hercules. She wanted to reach out to him, but she was pretty sure he did not want to hear her voice or feel her touch right now. How could she comfort him when she was the one who had caused this pain? But then again, how could she not at least try?

He was still wet and dripping with the Herculade that Pain and Panic had dumped on him. Meg got to her feet and stumbled around the arena until she found a water cooler and some towels. She got a cup of water and a towel and brought them over to Hercules, who was still on the ground, humiliated and grieving. Without looking at his face, Meg knelt a few feet away and placed the items on the ground, then drew back, giving him space. After a moment Hercules reached for the towel and pressed it to his face, probably as much to hide his expression as to wipe away the tears and sticky beverage.

Meg waited until he had drunk a little water and washed and dried himself. Finally she spoke, and for the first time, she addressed him with his full name. "Hercules—"

"Don't." His voice was harsher than she had ever heard it. "Just—don't."

"I have to."

He finally looked at her then, glaring. "What can you possibly have to say?"

Everything, Meg thought, but she could see he would not believe that. She tried to begin anyway. "I need you to understand—"

"I understand now," he said coldly.

"No, you don't—you don't even know the half of what Hades has done, or what he's going to do now. I couldn't tell you before, but I can now."

"What changed?"

"You bought my freedom. Hades doesn't own me anymore."

He was still angry, still hurting, but there was also confusion in his eyes. He shifted on the gr "Fine. Explain. Start with that."

Meg took a deep breath, bracing herself to speak of it for the first time. "A few years ago … I sold my soul to save someone's life." She looked away. "My boyfriend at the time. Then he ran off with another girl." She supposed that now, being betrayed by someone they loved was something she and Hercules now had in common. "So yes, I worked for Hades, but I never wanted to."

"So all that time we spent together—that was all an act?"

"No—well, yes—some, but not all of it. When I said I didn't want to hurt you, I meant it."

"But even asking me out in the first place—what was that about?"

Meg looked down in shame. "Hades wanted me to find out your weakness. I didn't want to, but—he offered me my freedom if I did this last thing for him. So I agreed. But after last night, I said I wouldn't do it anymore. But that tipped him off that …" Her throat tightened, and it was hard to get the words out. "… it was me."

Hercules was silent, processing this, probably blaming her, or himself, or Hades, or all of the above. When Meg looked at him, he was no longer looking at her, but at his hands, once so strong, now so feeble.

When he finally spoke, it was to ask about the bigger picture. "So what's he going to do during my twenty-four hours without strength?"

Before she answered, Meg wondered fleetingly which part of this debacle was worse: what she had done to Hercules personally, or her part in the larger plot against the gods and humanity.

"Hades has a plan," she said. "He's been working on it for a long time—since you were born, maybe even earlier. He had to time it when the planets were aligned. He's going to free the Titans and lead an uprising against Mount Olympus. He thought you would get in the way. That's why—" She hesitated, wondering how much more he could take.

He thought she knew what she was going to say. "That's why he wanted me to trade away my strength."

Meg looked at him with true pity. "It's why he made you mortal."

Hercules looked up sharply, his eyes wide with shock. "What?"

"He was the one who did that. This was long before I met him. When you were born, the Fates told him you'd stop his uprising. So he sent his minions after you, to make sure that wouldn't happen. They took you to Earth and gave you a potion to make you mortal. They were supposed to kill you, but they weren't able to, and you didn't drink all of the potion. That's why you still had that god-like strength. Hades didn't realize you were still alive until you showed up looking for people to rescue."

Hercules' expression was tortured. "He's the one who stole me from my parents? Zeus and Hera?"

Meg had not given much thought to them, but now she saw that he truly cared about them. He may have been happy enough with his adoptive parents, but he felt righteous anger for the parents who had lost their only child. Not to mention Hercules' own birthright—he should have been a god, the prince of Olympus. All of his suffering on Earth had been because of Hades' plot.

By now the morning had broken, but storm clouds darkened the sky. They both understood what the lightning and thunder indicated: war was raging among the gods.

Then, they heard screams from far off and felt the ground shaking.

"It's started," Meg realized. Hades had freed the Titans, and not all of them were closing in on Mount Olympus. She should have known, she thought. Of course Hades would not just leave Hercules alive, now that he was finally vulnerable.

Hercules finally got to his feet, and Meg followed him to the arena entrance. In the distance, towering as high as a mountain over Thebes, they could see a monster they knew from stories: the one-eyed giant called the Cyclops. It was stomping on lower buildings and pulling down higher ones with its hands. While people ran away screaming, it called out Hercules' name, demanding that the so-called hero face him.

To Meg's dismay, Hercules started down the steps. She ran and stood in front of him, blocking his way. "What are you doing? Without your strength, you'll be killed."

He only looked at her for the briefest of seconds before stepping around her. "There are worse things." They both knew that now.

Meg shouted after him. "Wait! Stop!" But he would not listen to her any longer. And she could not really blame him for that.

She watched helplessly as the Cyclops threw Hercules into a mosaic of himself, breaking the stone and probably some of Hercules' bones. Meg clutched her own body, shuddering as she imagined the physical pain—as if he needed that on top of his emotional pain.

She looked around, trying to think of what she could do. She couldn't intervene physically, and Hercules wouldn't listen to anything she said, even if she could think of any advice. The only person she could think of that might be able to help that way was Phil. Where was that annoying satyr when they needed him?

Then she heard sounds coming from a room adjacent to the arena entrance: it was the panicked cry of some kind of animal in distress. Realizing who it must be, Meg opened the doors and found the stable, where Pegasus had been tied up. Pain and Panic had ensured that Hades would find Hercules alone.

Meg untied the horse as quickly as she could despite his agitated struggling. Seeing her did not help to calm him—clearly he still did not like or trust her—but once she explained that Hercules was in trouble and they needed to find Phil, he was willing to cooperate.

She had to ride the flying horse again, and this time through a thunderstorm. She was not thrilled about that, considering how she had fared the first time. All things considered, though, it was not the most foolhardy thing she had ever done, or would ever do, for love's sake. If it helped at all to undo the harm she had done, and save the man she loved, she could brave it.

Author's Note: I'm not sure why Meg didn't send Pegasus to try to help Hercules right away, but I can see how healing the relationship with his mentor was important to the story.