Usually, Hebe had to be woken by her parents in the morning, but today she was wide awake long before she even had to get up to get ready for school. She figured it was all thanks to her incredibly good mood which she'd apparently retained from the day before. It was like her very own super power, filling her with an insurmountable energy and making her feel unstoppable.
She got out of bed and went into the kitchen to see if her parents were up, but there was not a soul in sight. Inspiration struck her like a bolt of lightning and Hebe decided she would surprise her parents by making them breakfast in bed. She made sure to be as quiet as a mouse as she grabbed the pots and plates so as not to wake them up and ruin the surprise. Hebe hated it when surprises were ruined. She could only hope they wouldn't wake up before she was finished.
Thirty minutes later, Hebe was ready to bring her parents their breakfast. She had even gone out into the garden to pick some flowers to decorate the breakfast tray with. Carefully balancing the tray in her hands, Hebe pushed in the door to her parents' bedroom. They were sound asleep, but her mother awoke as soon as she heard the door creak. Meg raised her head from the pillow with sleep in her eyes. "Hebe, is that you? What time is it?"
"It's time for breakfast!" Hebe said with a cheerful smile and put the tray down on the small table next to her mother's side of the bed.
Meg smiled and immediately raised herself up into a sitting position. "Oh Hebe, that's so kind of you! Hercules," she said and eagerly nudged her still sleeping husband, "look what Hebe brought us!"
"Hmm?" he asked, still half asleep, but the smell of fresh bread with cheese and honey soon woke him up. "Morning, cherry blossom," he said, smiling up at his daughter. "Did you make breakfast for us?"
"Yes I did," Hebe proudly replied and handed them one plate each filled with a scrumptious meal. "I wanted to surprise you."
"And breakfast in bed is the best kind of surprise," Hercules confessed as he gratefully received his plate. "Cheese, honey and strawberries? Talk about a luxurious breakfast! Thanks, Hebe."
"Yes, thank you, honey," Meg reached for Hebe's hand to give it a loving squeeze. "I hope you made some for yourself?" Hebe reassured her mother that she had and then left the room to give them some peace. In the meantime, she enjoyed her own breakfast and used the extra time to study for the algebra test she would have the following week.
After a while, her parents joined her in the kitchen, now fully dressed and satisfied after a good meal. Needless to say, they were surprised to find their daughter poring over her math scroll. "Hebe, school doesn't start until thirty minutes from now," Hercules kindly remarked.
"I know," she replied with a smile, "I guess I just felt productive today." Her parents chuckled.
"That's great, Hebe," Meg said and kissed her daughter's forehead. "And thank you for the breakfast, it was delicious. But you'd better be off now, or you'll be late."
"Right," Hebe said and put the scroll in her bag. "I'll wait for you in the courtyard," she told her father, who gave a nod.
"I'll see you there. Bye, honey!" Hebe returned the parting phrase and then began her usual journey to Alexa's house.
On their way to school, even Alexa couldn't help but notice how unusually cheerful Hebe was. She had a big smile on her face and a happy bounce in her step. But how could she not now that she was finally being noticed by people at school (and not in the wrong way)? This was the first time she was actually looking forward to going to school. She was no longer a loser, but a hero. Naturally, she expected to be greeted as such when they arrived. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
Unlike yesterday, there was no flock of students crowding her in the courtyard. No one even as much as looked her way when she passed by them. Suddenly Hebe began to doubt her very existence, like Plato. "I don't get it," Hebe said, more to herself than anyone else. "It's like I'm invisible again. This wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to be one of the cool kids now." She looked to Alexa for answers and comfort and she was met by her most sympathetic look.
"I guess the hype must've died down," Alexa offered with a shrug. It was the only explanation she could think of. "Come on, let's get to class," she said and grabbed hold of Hebe's hand.
The day carried on just like any other: perfectly dull and uneventful. No one stopped to give her a high five or even to say a simple hello. To Hebe's dismay, she wasn't the only one who noticed the lack of attention. During lunch, Demetrius and Lysander stopped by her and Alexa's table to tease her about it. Yesterday had been an exception, but apparently she was no longer immune to their bullying. "I hope you enjoyed your one and only day of fame, Hebe," Demetrius said, laughing. "But it doesn't take long for reality to catch up, does it? Welcome back to your normal life, loser!"
The boys continued laughing at Hebe's expense, completely oblivious to the way her hands curled into fists around her cutlery. White hot rage spread through her body quicker than she could control it. Enough was enough. In a matter of milliseconds, Hebe had dropped her cutlery and was now standing with one fist raised and the front of Demetrius's toga tightly wrapped in the other. She was a little taller than Demetrius, which gave her an advantage and a feeling of power. Suddenly, he wasn't so bold anymore.
"What the hell are you doing?!" he exclaimed, like she was crazy. Fear was in his eyes. Good. Lysander had taken a couple steps back, surprised at what he was seeing – and so was everyone else. If she didn't receive people's attention before, she certainly did now. Hebe had never acted this way before. It completely went against everything she had been taught growing up. Or, maybe not completely. She had been taught to stand up for others if they were ever bullied. How was it any different to stand up for herself?
At some point, Alexa had also got up from her seat and was now pleading with her friend. "Hebe, don't do it! You're better than this!" Hebe listened and knew that Alexa was right. It was tempting to punch Demetrius in the face and she knew she could throw a good punch, but what good would it really do? She could get in trouble for starting a fight. She could get suspended or expelled for such behavior. Then she could kiss that scholarship to AAPA goodbye.
Hebe lowered her fist and released her grip on Demetrius who made sure to put a good distance between them. "The hell got into you?" he asked and Hebe merely glared at him until he took Lysander with him and left. Once they were out of sight, Hebe and Alexa sat back down again and the rest of the school cafeteria resumed their chatter and it wasn't hard to guess the topic of every conversation in the room.
Hebe looked down at her half-finished food plate with guilt and regret. She shouldn't have done that. Alexa placed her hand over Hebe's, urging her to look up and meet her gaze. "Are you okay?" she gently asked. Hebe sighed, pushing her plate away from her.
"I think I just lost my appetite." Alexa took it as their cue to leave, so she followed Hebe out of the cafeteria to take a walk in the sun before next class started.
The only positive thing that followed Hebe's little outburst was that Demetrius and Lysander avoided her for the rest of the day. Hopefully this meant they would avoid her for the rest of her life. When it was time for dance practice, most of the girls seemed to distance themselves from her as well, which wasn't very convenient considering this was their last time practicing before the big recital. Ms. Penelope observed this and urged them to get it together. The only person who actually said anything to Hebe was Clarissa:
"For the record, I wouldn't have minded if you punched him. He would have deserved it. I get why you didn't, though, and that's cool too." Hebe managed a smile. It was very kind of Clarissa to say that.
"Thanks. I appreciate it." It didn't really make her feel any better, though. Choosing to back down from a fight was not worthy of any cheers. Trying to save someone's life was not enough to be remembered as a hero for all eternity. Succeeding was the only thing that mattered. And she had succeeded. She had saved that man's life. But the only one who knew about it was Hebe herself. If people knew about the sacrifice she'd made, maybe they would see her in a different light? But could she really reveal the truth to the entire world? She was afraid of what people might think or say. Perhaps she could start with just one person?
Hebe knew that she could trust Alexa to keep a secret, so when dance practice finished and they went into the changing room, Hebe asked her to stay until the other girls had left. Once they were alone, Hebe spoke. "Alexa, there's something I need to tell you, but it has to stay between the two of us. Okay?" Like a paintbrush, Hebe had with these words managed to color her best friend's face with a bright shade of concern.
"Of course," Alexa said, her voice small but steady. "You know you can tell me anything." Hebe nodded, bracing herself.
"You know that man I tried to save from the fire? He died." As expected, Alexa was visibly confused.
"What? Didn't you tell us yesterday that he's alive and well?"
"Yes," Hebe confirmed. "Because I saved him." Still confused, Alexa was beginning to question Hebe's sanity. She had been acting so weird today.
"Hebe, you're not making any sense. How could you have saved him?" Hebe took a deep breath. This was the moment of truth. Looking straight into Alexa's eyes, she said, "I made a deal with Hades."
There was a short pause before Alexa eventually raised her brows at Hebe. "Hades?" she asked dubiously with a nervous chuckle. "You're kidding, right?" When Hebe did not laugh, Alexa began to realize this was not a joke. "Right?" she asked again, her face regaining its shade of concern. To Alexa's dismay, Hebe shook her head.
"I'm not. I sold my soul to Hades so that man could live." She needed Alexa to understand that it was what she had to do. It was what a true hero would have done. Sadly, Alexa did not seem to understand it at all. On the contrary, she was quite alarmed, but thankfully kept her voice level when she questioned Hebe's decision.
"You sold your soul to Hades? Why would you do such a thing?!"
"I wanted to save that man," Hebe replied, raising her hands as if in defense. "He didn't deserve to die. And I sort of felt responsible for it," she added, feeling the weight of her failure. Alexa couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Responsible? Hebe, you didn't start that fire. You tried to save him. Isn't that enough?" While she appreciated Alexa's attempt at cheering her up, Hebe had to admit what she felt inside her heart.
"No," she said. "It's not enough. Anyway, now you know. I'm going to meet my dad in the courtyard. We're going to visit the man at the hospital," Hebe explained, suddenly feeling tired and more crestfallen than before. She had hoped for a different reaction from her best friend.
"Oh. All right," Alexa said, watching as Hebe headed for the door. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." Hebe threw one last glance over her shoulder and gave Alexa a weak smile.
"Yeah. See you tomorrow."
Just as they had planned, Hercules was waiting for Hebe in the courtyard with Pegasus right at his side. When he saw her approaching, he smiled and waved at her. Knowing he would ask a bunch of questions if she showed how she truly felt at the moment, Hebe put on her best smile and waved right back. "Hey, there she is!" Hercules said. "How was your day?"
"Hey, dad," she replied. "It was okay. How was yours?" Her best bet was to divert all attention from herself so as not to make him notice something was off. Luckily, he fell for it.
"Oh, you know, just another regular Thursday", he said with a shrug. "Did some workout in the morning with Phil, then he stayed for lunch and before I came here I helped your mother out with some baking." Hebe was prepared to fake her smile, but to her own surprise, it came out sincere.
"Sounds fun," she said and she meant it.
"Yeah, baking was fun," her father admitted. "We made olive and garlic bread. I actually brought a loaf with me to give to the old man at the hospital." He gestured to a satchel hanging around his shoulders which Hebe hadn't paid much attention to until he mentioned it. "Perhaps you'd like some too when we get home?" Hebe didn't say no to that. Homemade bread was one of her favorite things in the world and her father knew it all too well.
"You know I would. Are we ready to go?" she asked and Hercules nodded.
"I should think so. Ready to go, Pegasus?" Pegasus gave an affirmative nod and whinny. He was ready, all right.
Flying was the fastest way to get around and no more than five minutes later, Hebe and her father had made it to Thebes' General Hospital. No animals were allowed inside the building, so Pegasus had to wait outside while they went to visit the old man. When Hercules asked for him at the front desk, they found out that his name was Pancras and that he was still at the hospital, as they had hoped he would be. A nurse showed them to his room and knocked on the door before entering. "Mr. Pancras? You have a couple of visitors," she kindly announced and the man pushed himself up in his hospital bed.
"I? I have visitors?" he asked incredulously and the nurse stepped aside to let Hercules and Hebe in.
"Hello, Mr. Pancras," Hercules greeted him. "How are you?"
Mr. Pancras widened his old, pale eyes in disbelief and his jaw dropped so far that his white beard touched the bed sheets. "Praise Zeus!" he exclaimed. "I don't believe what I'm seeing! Could it be Hercules?" Hercules looked down at the floor and chuckled. He never quite got used to being famous and Hebe admired him for always staying so humble.
"Yes, that's me," he confirmed. "And this is my daughter Hebe." He placed a hand on her back, encouraging her to step forward. "She's the one who tried to get you out of the fire. We just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing." Mr. Pancras narrowed his eyes, turning his full attention to Hebe who suddenly grew anxious under his scrutiny. She had no reason to worry, though, for in the next moment he gave her a warm smile which reminded her of her grandfathers.
"Hebe, eh? Why, you're as brave as your father, young lady! Look like him too, I might add. I owe you my gratitude." Now it was Hebe's turn to look down. She felt more than humbled.
"I'm glad to see you're doing well, Mr. Pancras," she said, which was really the only thing that mattered. "I'm only sorry I couldn't get you out of the fire."
"Oh, no need to be sorry," the old man reassured her. "You tried, didn't you? And I'm alive, aren't I?" He was speaking as if no harm had been done. Like he hadn't just died and come back to life. How he managed to survive was something that Hercules was curious about.
"Mr. Pancras," he said, "if you don't mind my asking; how did you get out of the fire?" Mr. Pancras paused to think for a moment, to no avail.
"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure," he replied. "All I remember is being trapped by the flames and I can still smell that terrible smoke." He shuddered upon mentioning it. "Then the memory fades and everything turns black. The next thing I remember is waking up in the street in the middle of the night to see my home had burned down to the ground. I suppose I must have found a way out somehow and fainted after losing all my energy." Hebe knew this to be false, but for all Hercules knew, this explanation seemed the most probable. Still, he remained somewhat skeptical.
"Maybe so. And… what happened after that?" he asked and Mr. Pancras explained.
"After that I… I went to find some water and shelter. I slept inside a barn where I was discovered yesterday morning. The farmer who lived there was kind to take me here to the hospital." Hercules was happy to know he had been well taken care of.
"You're a lucky man, Mr. Pancras," he said. "The gods were with you that day."
"They sure were," Mr. Pancras agreed. Meanwhile, Hebe remained silent, pretending to be clueless.
Hercules then asked how long Mr. Pancras would be staying and the nurse informed them he would be good to go the following day. Seeing as he was without a house, he would be staying at the local nursing home until he found a new place. Hercules thought this was wonderful and Hebe agreed. Now she could sleep peacefully at night, knowing Mr. Pancras would be in good hands.
Having done what they came to do, it was time for Hebe and her father to leave, but not without giving Mr. Pancras his gift. "This is for you, Mr. Pancras," Hercules said and gave him the loaf of bread which was safely tucked inside a cloth. "My wife and I made this today. We hope you like olives." Mr. Pancras removed the cloth to have a look at what lay underneath and breathed in the scent of the baked goods.
"Olive bread! My favorite!" he exclaimed with a look of pure joy on his face. "Thank you, son! Please give my thanks to your wife as well!"
"I will," Hercules promised. "She will be pleased to hear you liked the gift. Best of luck to you, sir. Perhaps we'll meet again someday."
"I sure hope so!" Mr. Pancras beamed. "Thank you both for coming to visit!"
"Goodbye, Mr. Pancras," Hebe said with a wave of her hand. "Take care!"
"You too, young lady. You too." They exchanged one last smile and then Hebe and her father followed the nurse back outside.
The sun was getting low now and Pegasus had started to grow impatient. Time always passed so slowly when you were bored and he wanted to get back home in time for dinner. He paced back and forth in front of the hospital entrance, keeping an eye out for Hercules and Hebe. After what seemed like an eternity (at least to Pegasus), they finally walked out of the hospital and Hercules laughed when he saw him.
"I'm guessing you're eager to get home, huh buddy?" Pegasus nodded and spread his wings out, ready for take-off. Hercules mounted first before helping Hebe up to sit behind him. Once he'd ascertained that she was secure, he gave Pegasus the green light and they were off once again.
Meg was waiting for them in the garden when they came home and she followed them to the stables to give Pegasus his long-awaited meal: carrots, apples and bird seeds – his favorite. "So, did you get to meet the old man?" Meg asked, curious to know.
"Yeah, he was still at the hospital," Hercules said. "He was doing just fine and he'll be staying at a nursing home until he can get a new place of his own. He wanted me to thank you for the bread, by the way. He loved it." Meg was thrilled to hear this.
"Oh, that's great! I'm glad he's doing all right, the poor man." Since it seemed Mr. Pancras didn't have a family living nearby, Meg was even more sympathetic towards him as she had lost her own family years before she met Hercules, so she knew what it was like to be alone.
"Yeah, he's going to be just fine," Hercules said and pulled Meg to his side to give her a kiss on the head. "Isn't that right, Hebe?"
Hebe, who was lost in thought and petting Pegasus while he munched on carrots and apples, looked up at the sound of her name to see her parents smiling at her. "Uh… yeah," she said and smiled right back. "Everything will be fine." At least that's what she tried to tell herself. Mr. Pancras would be fine, that was for certain, but she wasn't sure if she could say the same for herself. After today's events, it was hard to tell if anyone wanted to be friends with her anymore. Alexa had questioned her decision to strike a deal with Hades and the other students at school now seemed to avoid her because of her little outburst in the cafeteria. She could take that, but losing Alexa was out of the question. If she lost her, she'd have no one. She would have to talk with her in the morning, but for now all she could do was pray and eat her dinner like Pegasus, so she bid him goodnight and followed her parents inside to finally have a slice of that olive and garlic bread.
A/N: Yet another early update! (I'll be way too busy tomorrow.) Things are not going well for Hebe right now and it's about the get a lot worse before it can get better. Stay tuned to find out ;)