Hercules and Meg were in shock. They couldn't believe what they had just witnessed, let alone what they had heard. People were calling their daughter a devil's worshipper? Hercules was torn between wanting to seek out his daughter's bullies to teach them a lesson and running after Hebe to see if she was okay. The internal conflict had him paralyzed until he caught sight of two young boys getting up from their seats to leave the theater in a hurry. He had no doubt these were the culprits and ran straight after them. Meg decided to follow him and told Phil and her parents-in-law that they would be back soon.
Pegasus, who had been able to catch a glimpse of the performance from outside the theater, saw where the boys were headed and showed Hercules and Meg the way. When Hercules called for the boys to stop, they threw one glance over their shoulders and instantly picked up their pace when they realized they were being chased and by whom. Alas, they were no match for a demigod who possessed both super strength and speed. He caught them by the necks of their chitons – one in each hand – and lifted them so they were dangling above the ground with no way of escape. "Gotcha!" he said and the boys struggled in his iron grip.
"Put us down!" they pleaded. "We haven't done anything!" Hercules begged to differ.
"If you've done nothing wrong, then why did you run from me?" They didn't have a good excuse, which only confirmed Hercules's suspicions.
When Meg caught up with them, she got her first good look at the boys and her blood turned to ice. She would have recognized their disguise anywhere. It was the same disguise they had used to trick Hercules into saving them, only now they were teenagers and not young boys, and Meg couldn't believe how Hercules didn't recognize them. Her dread suddenly increased, but it was quickly accompanied by anger. Narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms, she said, "Okay you little creeps, enough with the charades. Show us who you really are."
The boys stopped struggling and flashed her one impish grin each before magically transforming into their true selves. Confused and a little startled, Hercules lost his grip on them and took a step back only to find himself face to face with Hades' little helpers, Pain and Panic. "You…" he slowly said as he was still trying to process everything. "What are you two doing here?" The imps decided to play dumb.
"Oh, we just came to watch the show," Pain said, trying to look innocent and failing miserably.
"Yeah!" Panic chimed in. "We go to see it every year!"
"Oh, cut the crap already!" Meg told them. "You wouldn't be here if Hades didn't send you. What is he up to?" She didn't like how smug they looked as they answered her.
"Well…" Panic looked down at a sundial which had suddenly appeared on his wrist, "right about now he should have taken Hebe to the Underworld. Isn't that right, Pain?"
Somewhere deep inside her, Meg already knew this to be true, but that didn't stop her from feeling dizzy and nauseous – like all of the oxygen had been pulled out of her. She was incapacitated and the roles were suddenly reversed: while Meg was unable to utter a single word, Hercules was for once actually capable of articulating a complete sentence in a dire situation. "But that's impossible! Hades swore not to go near any of us!"
"And he kept his promise," Panic said. "Hades didn't seek out Hebe."
"That's right," Pain went on. "She sought him out."
So Hades had found a loophole after all – one that they hadn't even thought of, but probably should have. Slowly regaining her strength, Meg finally found the words to speak. "But why would she…?" She stopped before she could finish her question, realizing she already knew the answer. "No. The fire." She looked at Hercules and he instantly knew what she was getting at.
"I knew it was too good to be true," he said. "Mr. Pancras couldn't possibly have survived. Only a god would have been powerful enough to change that." So it was obvious Hebe had made a deal with Hades to save Mr. Pancras. But at what cost?
"What did she promise him in exchange?" Meg demanded to know, more desperate than ever, but she knew there could only be one reasonable answer. Hades wouldn't settle for anything less. The malicious grin on Pain's ugly features confirmed her fear.
"Her soul."
Meg felt her knees grow weak and she had to support herself against Hercules so as not to fall to the ground. It was like she was reliving the greatest mistake of her life all over again, only this time she was watching it happen to the person she loved most. And the worst part was knowing that she could have prevented it years ago. "No," she breathed, shaking her head in denial as tears welled up in her eyes. "It can't be true. This is all my fault. Oh Herc, I should have told her the truth." She fell into his embrace, silently weeping. She was the one who had convinced Hercules to keep the truth from Hebe. There was no one else to blame.
Hercules wrapped his arms around his wife and gently cradled her. "There's got to be a way we can fix this," he said, refusing to believe that their daughter was lost to them. At that moment, someone called his name and they both looked up to see Alcmene, Amphitryon and Phil rushing towards them.
"Hercules!" Phil exclaimed. "Is everything all right?" Upon noticing the imps, he realized everything was not all right. "What are they doing here?" he asked, glaring at the subjects in question.
"Hades has taken Hebe to the Underworld," Hercules explained, eliciting a gasp of shock from Phil and his parents.
"But how?" Phil questioned, confused. "I thought you were all safe from him?"
"There's no time to explain," Hercules said and then turned to address his wife once more. "Meg, we're going to the Underworld. Pegasus, take Phil with you and give word to my father. He will know what to do." Pegasus raised one hoof to his head as if to say "roger that" and helped Phil get up on his back.
"Hercules, is there anything we can do?" Amphitryon asked and Hercules thought about it.
"Actually, there is. It would be great if you could try to persuade Ms. Penelope to postpone the recital until we get Hebe back. She's been working so hard for this and she'd be devastated if she missed out on the performance."
"You've got it, son!" Amphitryon said and gave him a thumbs up. Before they parted ways, everyone wished Hercules and Meg good luck. Phil and Pegasus took off towards Mount Olympus and Alcmene and Amphitryon hurried back to the theater while Hercules and Meg went in the opposite direction, heading straight for Hades.
Zeus and Hera, who had been watching the recital from their own private cloud, were just as shocked and worried as the rest of Hebe's family. They had no idea what was going on or if there was anything they could do about it. Flying faster than the wind, Hermes suddenly arrived and reported that Phil and Pegasus were waiting outside the gates to Olympus with an important message to Zeus. The king of the gods suspected it had to do with Hebe's sudden disappearance and immediately went to meet with the old satyr at the gates.
"Philoctetes!" Zeus spoke, his voice booming like thunder. "What in the blazing bolts is going on?"
"Zeus! Thank goodness you're here!" Phil replied, wiping his brow. "We need your help! It's Hebe: Hades has taken her to the Underworld!" Zeus was an all-powerful god, but if there was one moment in his immortal life where he had felt like his heart stopped, this was it.
"What?" he asked in disbelief. "But… But that's impossible!" Hades knew what the consequences were if he ever approached Hercules and his family. Surely he wouldn't risk going to Tartarus just so he could get his revenge?
"That's what I thought!" Phil said. "I don't know all the details, but that's what Hercules told me. He got the information from Pain and Panic."
"Hades' minions," Zeus grumbled. "And what of Hercules?"
"He and Meg went to get Hebe back and Herc's parents are trying to stop the recital from continuing until they find her." Zeus nodded.
"Of course. We wouldn't want her to miss it. I think this calls for some divine intervention. Hermes!" Zeus had barely called his name before the messenger was there, ready to follow his king's orders.
"Yeah, babe?"
"I need you to take the Muses with you to Hebe's school. Keep the audience entertained while we go and find her." Zeus winked and Hermes lowered his rose-tinted glasses to wink right back.
"You got it, big guy!" All they had to do was blink and he was gone again. Hopefully this plan would work.
"Now then…" Zeus cracked his knuckles, preparing to get down to business. "Perhaps those two imps can give us some more information?"
Pain and Panic watched as the heroes went separate ways and congratulated themselves on a job well done. Hades would be so pleased with them he would have no choice but to give them the rest of the year off. In fact, they figured he was fine on his own from this point on and decided they would begin their time off right now. Perhaps they could go to the beach and get something to eat? After all of their hard work, it was the least they deserved. Unfortunately, the beach would have to wait, because now it seemed they had a first class ticket to Mount Olympus. A bolt of lightning made the imps jump high into the air and when they landed, it was on a fluffy cloud which carried them up towards the sky. Pain and Panic clung to each other in fear, knowing full well who had summoned the cloud and where it would take them.
Meanwhile, Hercules's parents were backstage with Ms. Penelope, trying to convince her not to go on with the performance until Hebe was back. "Believe me," Ms. Penelope assured, "I want Hebe to come back and perform as much as you do. But we can't wait forever. The audience is already getting antsy and if we don't continue now, I'm afraid everyone will leave and that wouldn't be fair to the other girls."
"That's right!" Serafina said matter-of-factly. "Hebe chose to leave the stage. She has no one but herself to blame if she misses the recital. But we're still here," she gestured to the rest of the dance squad. "Shouldn't we get to perform?" Alcmene and Amphitryon could hardly argue with that.
"We understand," Alcmene said. She only wished there was more she and her husband could do. It felt like they were letting their son and granddaughter down. Alexa, who had been listening the entire time without saying a word, eventually took a step forward.
"Are you sure we can't wait for just two more minutes?" she pleaded with her teacher, but Ms. Penelope could do nothing but shake her head in regret.
"I'm sorry, Alexa, but we can't. The show must go on."
"You said it, girl!" an unfamiliar voice spoke from behind them, causing everyone to turn their heads. It was the Muses!
Star-struck, Ms. Penelope stared at the five goddesses with her eyes wide open in disbelief. "I can't believe it," she whispered to herself. "I must be dreaming." Calliope, the leading muse, smiled and shook her head.
"Not at all, sweetheart. We're here to save the recital. We'll keep the audience entertained until your lost member returns." Everyone was thrilled to hear that their show had been saved. Or, nearly everyone.
"You can't be serious!" Serafina exclaimed. "So now Hebe's getting special treatment just because she has friends in high places? That's not fair!" Though Serafina did have a point, Ms. Penelope didn't seem to mind this divine intervention so long as it would save the recital.
"Oh, come now Serafina – it's the Muses! How can you say no to them? I'll tell you what: if Hebe hasn't come back in thirty minutes, we'll carry on without her. Deal?" Serafina rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Fine. Thirty minutes." It wasn't what she wanted, but it was the best offer she would get.
Everyone backstage had formed a circle around the Muses who seemed to appreciate the attention. "If you need some music, I am sure our talented school band would be more than happy to assist," Ms. Penelope said and the band members raised their instruments with great enthusiasm. When would they ever get the chance to play with the Muses again? It was like a dream come true for them.
"All right," Calliope said with a shrug, "if you think you can keep up with Hermes, I don't see why not."
"Hermes?" Ms. Penelope asked. "Hermes is here?" As if on cue, the fast-flying god suddenly flew past her and came to a grinding halt in front of the Muses.
"Sorry I'm late, I had to pick up my keyboard," he said and began setting it up. "Is everyone ready?"
"Ready when you are, baby," Thalia, the muse of comedy, said and winked at him.
Once Ms. Penelope had ascertained that everyone was ready to get on with the show, she stepped out onto the stage to let the audience know what a treat they were in for. "Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! My sincere apologies for keeping you waiting, but we are finally ready to continue our show!" She was happy to note that some of the people who had prepared themselves to leave were reclaiming their seats as she spoke. Hope was not yet lost. "I regret to inform you that the dance recital will have to wait for another few minutes, but in the meantime, we have some very special guests here to entertain you! Please give a warm round of applause to Hermes and the Muses!" The roar which erupted from the audience was almost deafening, which was a good sign. The curtain rose, Hermes struck a chord which the rest of the band followed and the Muses began to dance and harmonize, making the crowd go wild. Hopefully, their effort would not be in vain and Hebe would return safely to them.
A/N: We're getting closer to the end. Only one more chapter to go and it's also going to be the longest chapter in the bunch, so I hope you're excited for that. I will be posting chapter 10 on Sunday :)