Nocturnal Wishes and Pleas

"Macrocosm poured its powers on me
And the hopes of this world I now must leave
The night wish I sent you centuries ago
Has been heard by those who dwelled in a woe."

-Astral Romance by Nightwish

Hercules had been left tangling in the uncertainty for several days now: he had tried to visit the palace for numerous times and always, his requests were more or less politely declined. He had tried to write to Meg, but the scrolls he tried to sent to her weren't replied to.

He knew that something was wrong, but he had no idea what had happened to her: somehow he did know that she was being forcefully being kept away from him, but what could he do?

He had even talked to his divine father, to Zeus, of his problem, who had politely pointed out to his son that a father had the right to take care of his daughter and the king to decide who was welcome to his palace: there were certain cosmic rules not even the Gods themselves were able to cross, not without unsettling the cosmic balance.

Then Zeus kindly reminded his son that he had bigger goals to concentrate on: his mind was still set on becoming a God once again, was it not? Hercules sheepishly realized that his mind had been so focused on other things (or more like, on certain someone), that he had forgotten about his original goal. Discouraged Hercules promised to his father that he would make sure that becoming a God would stay as his priority.

"That's my boy! We count on you!" Zeus tried to encouraged him before his spirit left the statue and it became immobile marble once again.

Frustrated Hercules hurled his fist to the mosaic floor of the temple: so had Meg been counting on him and he had failed her. He knew something was wrong: he knew it.

His loyal friend Pegasus came to offer him some consolation by nudging him, but it offered Hercules only little ease.

After a moment, Hercules gathered himself and rose back to his feet.

"Come on Pegasus, let's go back home," he quietly told his companion as he absentmindedly scratched his head and the horse whinnied to him as an answer.

The ventured back to Thebes in silence and Hercules considered what his father had said to him. It had been pretty much exactly the same things as Phil had told him, even if his father had used more civilized terms to address similar aspects.

Phil had pointed out that Hercules shouldn't let any dame pull his attention away from his main goal. Phil had also noted that his concentration on his dream scattered from the moment he had met the princess. Hercules sighed as he considered things: he hated to admit it, but Phil was right. But she was in an obvious need of help, his help, he could not turn his back to someone needing help as desperately as she did! So from his own perspective, he was doing the right thing, even if it did complicate other things.

When Hercules finally arrived to his villa, Phil was waiting there. Uncharacteristically for his trainer, he was pacing around the atrium as if he was feeling anxious.

"Hey. Something wrong, Phil?" Hercules wearily greeted him.

"Dunno. Maybe, or maybe not. A scroll arrived for you. It's from the palace," Phil offered a scroll, which was slightly crumpled and moist from being held for so long.

Suddenly Hercules' demeanor changed and he almost in his anxiety jumped to take the scroll from Phil's hand.

Phil studied the kid's face as he read the scroll. His brow was set in a determined manner and he gritted his jaw: whatever was written down to the scroll, the kid had already made up his mind concerning it.

"What is it, then?" Phil let finally out a weary sigh after various moments of silence.

"The king summons me to the palace. Something seems to be wrong," Hercules finally spoke out.

"That's unfortunate," Phil's brows knitted together, but before he had any opportunity comment further on, his pupil was already striding towards the door.

"You're not going help him, are you? After the way he treated you?" Phil tried to stop Hercules by pulling his leg, but it was as useful as a cricket trying to to stop a wild-horse.

"Of course I am. Something's wrong and Meg might need my help," Hercules absently told him.

"But kid, she just disappeared on you for DAYS! If you wanna go there, then fine: don't say I didn't warn ya. Just don't rush into anything head first, okay? Just... Think about it, ya hear me kid?" Phil pleaded, trying to drill some common sense into his head-strong pupil.

"Fine," Hercules growled back at him, barely listening. Phil tried to shake away the involuntary urge to shake some sense into him.

"I'll meet later on at the stadium for your work-out, then we'll figure out what to do," Phil involuntarily agreed.

"Fine," Hercules simply repeated, before he took off with Pegasus once again.

Phil wanted to let out another weary sigh himself. The last few days the kid had not been the same as he usually was: he had been much more anxious, absent and short-tempered than he usually was.

Phil could only hope that all this fuss concerning that girl would come to its end and they could once again focus on their main focus: all he could do was to hope that the kid wouldn't do anything foolish.

Knowing that kid, like that would be even an option.

Hercules' mind was both filled with happiness, anxiety and worry as he made his way to the palace with Pegasus: would he finally see Meg and understand what was going on? Or would king ask him to stay permanently away from his daughter? Was everything okay with Meg, she hadn't suffered because of him: Hercules could not forgive himself if she had.

The king had requested Hercules to his palace once again, even though he had just declined him from entering. Hercules felt unusually furious: he had no interest in the king's games, he wanted to know what had happened to Meg.

The guards escorted him to the throne-room: obviously he was to be kept closely an eye on and he was not allowed to wander by himself in the palace anymore.

From Hercules' perspective, the journey to the throne-room seemingly lasted forever, even if in reality it was a question of mere moments. When they finally reached their destination, Hercules found another man in the company of king Creon: strangely enough the king's advisor was nowhere to be seen. Hercules had no more time to ponder on this discovery as the king started to speak.

"Oh, good. You came after all," the king sighed from relief, looking weary.

"I came as you requested," Hercules frowned. The king himself had kept him coming to the palace and now he was happy to see him: what exactly was going on?

"Hercules, the matter I have in my hand is one of utmost importance. My daughter, Megara, has gone missing," king Creon gravely stated. Hercules felt his heart skipping a beat. 'Meg, missing? How? Why?'

"She was under my custody, when she suddenly went missing. I don't think it would be possible for her to leave such circumstances alone without aid, so I must believe she has been kidnapped," the king elaborated on. Hercules curled his fist as if to keep himself from punching someone: what did the king mean that she had been under his custody? He tried to chase these thoughts away and concentrate on the problem on hand.

"Oh, this is unfortunate indeed! We have angered Hades, the lord of the Underworld! He has gotten hold of princess Megara! Oh how unfortunate indeed!" Autolycus suddenly dramatically entered the throne-room, wringing his hands in apparent desperation.

"Autolycus? Where have you been? And what is this that you're telling me concerning Megara?" Creon furrowed his eyebrows as his advisor made his sudden appearance.

Hercules too furrowed his brows upon hearing Autolycus' news. Hades? Why would his estranged uncle want to kidnap Meg?

"Oh my king, when I heard that Megara had gone missing, I started my own investigation! I hunted for her with cats and dogs, I swear to you! And here's is what I discovered: Hades, the lord of the Underworld, has her," Autolycus quickly explained as he bowed down before the king.

"How have we angered Hades?" Creon pondered upon what Autolycus had just told him.

"Well, maybe we haven't offered enough goods for him? Maybe we haven't shown enough respect?" Autolycus quickly responded: in Hercules' opinion, he answered too quickly as if the response had been rehearsed.

"If the Gods are being angered, there usually is a good reason behind it," Hercules interfered and for a moment Autolycus looked irked because of his comment.

"The Gods have their own reasons, which are often unfathomable for us mortals," Autolycus snapped back at him. Before Hercules had opportunity to question this logic, a man, unfamiliar to Hercules, took part in the conversation.

"What are you going to do about this, Creon? I want my bride!" the obese man snapped at Creon, who sighed wearily.

"This is king Aedes and he is here to marry my daughter," the king gestured towards the man beside him.

King Aedes was old, probably over sixty, with tufts of hair here and there over his head. He was also exceptionally obese and his facial expressed continuous discontent. Hercules could not bringing himself to imagine him touching Meg without feeling his blood boiling with anger.

"Hercules, if you bring my daughter back to me, I'll give you what ever you desire for," king Creon continued, seeming much more pleading and desperate than was usual for him.

"I came here to get my bride and I won't leave without her," king Aedes smiled viciously.

Hercules balled his fists in fury: How dare he? Who was this man, claiming that he was worthy enough for Meg when he clearly was not? With all his will of power, he fought against the thought of doing something inadvisable: then again, the king of Sparta was obviously asking for i.

After a moment of silence, king Creon pleaded once again:

"Please, I swear on the name of almighty Zeus himself that what ever you request, you shall have, if you find my daughter for me."

"You swear that on my father's name?" Hercules ensured.

The Theban king swallowed, realizing the magnitude of his promise. Both Autolycus and Aedes studied him expectantly, both realizing the significance of that moment.

"I swear."

Hercules collected himself, finding his resolution.

"I will find your daughter, your Highness. I'm not doing it for neither for you nor king Aedes, but for her own sake," Hercules told them rigidly.

King Creon seemed a bit taken aback by his reply and king Aedes beside him narrowed his eyes at him, showing openly his discontent with his reply.

"Fine, whatever your reasons are, as long as you help us find her," king Creon agreed, sighing out with relief.

Hercules simply nodded as a reply to him, already striding away from the throne-room.

He needed to find her now, nothing else mattered at the moment.

-A/N: Boom, the newest chapter is here! Finally getting to see how Herc is holding up (not so good).

I calculated that there should be more or less from four to five chapters left. So we're getting closer to the end!

Thank you for reading and reviewing, see you soon!