Hello! Ok, some stuff that you might need to know
for this chapter. Jason is Hercules and
Iolaus' close friend (he's like the Third Musketeer),
but he's the young and newly crowned King of
Chapter 12
Lilith trudged from the main Academy building to the stables. She was on her way to Kora's to see if there was any word of any sight of Hercules or Iolaus. They had been missing for three weeks now. Cheiron had sent out various search parties, and Jason had helped all he could (which wasn't much, because this wasn't official Corinthian business) but nothing substantial had turned up. The first week, they had picked up Hercules and Iolaus' trail, and it led to a cave. The trail halted, however, at a glowing orb in the center of the cave. Cheiron forbade anyone to touch the orb until they figured out what it was/what it did, and progress on that was painfully slow. Yes, things weren't looking good.
Lilith stopped dead in her tracks as she spotted a group appear over the rise of the hill. She couldn't be sure, but unless her eyes were deceiving her, she'd swear that the group was led by Hercules and Iolaus. By now, the group had just about reached the gates, and Iolaus and Hercules were definitely at the head. Lilith sprinted up to the two missing cadets and grabbed both of them in a hug. "Hercules, Iolaus, WHERE in Tartarus have you been? We've been worried sick!" She released her friends and took a step back. "And who is Zeus' name are all these people?"
Hercules opened his mouth to answer her when Lilith fully took in the sight of the demigod and hunter. "What are you wearing? And what happened to your hair? Especially you, Iolaus. You said that you were never going to cut it! That your, and I quote, "curly golden locks" were your trademark." Hercules put his hand on Lilith's shoulder and steered her in the direction of Cheiron's office.
"Let's go find Cheiron and I'll explain everything. Iolaus," he said over his shoulder, "why don't you give everyone the grand tour?"
"Right," replied Iolaus. "Okay Ladies, Gentlemen," the newsies snickered at being called ladies and gentlemen, "why don't you follow me and I'll show you around?"
***
Needless to
say, everyone at the Academy was shocked to have Hercules and Iolaus just show
up one day with a bunch of people after being missing for nearly three
weeks. Jason and Alcmene were notified
as quickly as possible of Hercules and Iolaus' return. Both extended invitations for their friends
and son (respectively) to visit whenever they wanted with their new
friends. Hercules and Iolaus turned the
decision over to the newsies, who promptly voted to stay at the Academy for awhile, then go to
Mouse took a slight fascination in the physical part of the cadets' training, but it was clear that she was much more interested in the academics. Iolaus was thoroughly puzzled by this, for the idea of anyone wanting to have a perfect attendance record in "Fiddle Face's snooze classes" was entirely a mystery to him.
Scamp was
rarely to be seen, though her presence was felt all
over the Academy. The sudden rash of
pranks that broke out at the Academy soon after the newsies' arrival was proof
of her attendance there. Her pranks
were small, for example, she one day switched the cadets' real swords with the
wooden training ones. However, Iolaus
was the butt of most of her practical jokes. Honey on his pillow, various
grubs, bugs, and other worms in his bunk, etc… she claimed it was the little sistery thing to do. Usually Spot would also be subject to Scamp's "fury", but it
was as if part of the snowstorm raging in
Scamp's pranking worried Iolaus. "Something big is going to happen soon, I know it," he commented one day to Race after seeing Scamp and Hercules whispering about something in the background.
"What d'ya mean?" Race asked. "Scamp may be a prankster, but Hercules is the steady, dependable kinda guy. He would never go along with any of her crazy ideas."
"Ahh," Iolaus shook his head, "but you don't know
big guy as well as I do. A lot of the time, he is the way you
described, but when it comes to practical jokes, especially on Prank Days…he's the Academy's biggest and best prankster. No one's been able
to touch his record. Something comes
over him…it's hard to explain, you're just going to
have it see it for yourself. Once he
turned a guy's bed into a catapault,
and the other time he stuffed someone's pillow with porcupine quills. Not to mention the time that he hitched Jason's
bed up to a horse. We had to chase it
all the way to
"Then I guess I'd better watch my step."
***
'Twas a gorgeous morning. The day broke bright and clear—but that was all lost to the cadets and newsies who rolled out of bed. All that was on their minds was breakfast. As the half-asleep cadets and newsies stumbled into the Dining Hall, it took them a few seconds to realize that they were standing in a completely empty room. Everything was gone. The only thing in the room besides them were Herc and Scamp, with triumphant smirks on their faces.
Before anyone could ask anything, the partners in crime pointed upwards. With a sinking feeling, the hungry group slowly looked in the indicated direction. There were the tables and benches, all attached somehow to the ceiling. The visages of shock, surprise, anger, and disbelief that followed only made Herc and Scamp's grins wider.
Scamp wasn't stupid, and neither was Hercules. They had been cautiously and lovingly plotting their prank for long hours, purposely waiting until the dawn of Prank Day at the Academy. Still, Cheiron wasn't amused. In fact, he was furious. The angry yet calm way that he dealt with the culprits, however, was more frightening than if he had been yelling. Cheiron determined that Scamp and Hercules should serve some penance for delaying breakfast that morning. Besides having to restore the Dining Hall to its usual state, the newsgirl and half-god were to let the horses out for a run through the fields for the day, then clean out the stables. It is here that we can find them now.
***
Scamp dropped her shovel in disgust. "Ugh, I can't take any more of this!" Hercules propped his shovel against a stall and wiped sweat off his face, leaving a smudge of dirt.
"Alright, let's take a break. We'll start again in a couple of minutes." Scamp moaned,
"This is going to take FOREVER!" A mischievous smile crept upon Hercules' face,
"Not necessarily. I've got a plan." Scamp's eyes sparkled in mirth,
"Do tell."
***
Iolaus, Lilith, and the newsies were on their way to Kora's for lunch. "Hey," Lilith said, "why don't we drop by the stables and see if Herc or Scamp want anything."
"Good idea," answered Iolaus. He was about to head to the stables when he was halted by a rumbling noise and slight shaking of the ground. Before anyone could react, a burst of water splashed through the stables, swept them clean, and ran into the gardens, where it there deposited all the dirt and…fertilizer from the stables. And at the top of the hill stood Scamp and Hercules, admiring and congratulating each other on their work.
***
They had
(temporarily) redirected a stream. Or so they said. Iolaus had a strong suspicion that the missing water tower had something
to do with it. Still, the idea of
redirecting a stream or river was genius…no matter which story was true,
Cheiron wasn't upset. With an enigmatic smile on his face, he simply stated that Herc and
Scamp had finished their work, plus watered/mulched the
gardens. His final judgment was that
they were free to go. And
thus ended the newsies' week at the Academy.