The sound of another ship's horn woke everyone up the next morning. A sound so loud it knocked Piper out of bed.

Everyone except for Percy and Zoë burst onto the deck to get mad at Leo for playing a trick on them, but when he came out onto deck, wearing singed clothes implying he had set himself on fire, looking just as tired and frustrated as everyone else, they were confused. They all looked around, before Percy came onto the deck and sighed. Zoë followed behind him.

"It's a cruise ship, guys." He said, pointing at a passing cruise ship. Passengers were waving at the demigods. They hesitantly waved back.

"Leo, where are we?" Hazel asked.

"The mouth of the Mediterranean." Zoë said. She pointed over to a mountain. "That's the Rock of Gibraltar, at the tip of Spain." She pointed more south. "That's Africa over there."

"So, what? Do we just sail in?" Leo asked.

"Why not? Ships come in and out of here all the time." Frank said.

"In the 'ancient' days, this area was known as the Pillars of Hercules." She spit out the ancient hero's name. "The Rock of Gibraltar was one pillar, with one of the African mountains as the other."

"Hercules, huh?" Leo asked. "That guy was like the Starbucks of Ancient Greece. Everywhere you looked, he was there."

"If Starbucks sold douches instead of coffee, sure." Percy muttered.

"What?" Jason asked.

"Hercules was a huge asshole. Super arrogant, womanizer like his father. He was the big bad bully on the playground."

"So, do his pillars pose a threat to us?" Piper asked.

"The pillars themselves, no. They more represented the edge of the known world. There was an inscription— Non Plus Ultra. Nothing Further Beyond."

"So, again, do I just sail in?" Leo asked.

"Hold on." Jason held up a hand. "Was that piece of land always there?" He asked, pointing into the sea.

Where he was pointing, a land mass had risen out of the sea. Looking like a beach out of the Bahamas, the sand was white. Two Greek marble columns rose out of the sand. Standing in between them was a man wearing a golden lion's pelt.

A flame started to lick Percy's hand.

"It's him. H-" Piper was interrupted by Percy.

"Hercules." He grit out of his teeth.

"So, what do we do? Because I'm not hearing a lot of talks about a course of action." Leo asked.

"Zoë and I will go ashore, and request access." Percy said. "With luck, we'll get back before his arrogance causes another tragedy."

Percy and Zoë jumped off of the ship and let their wings catch the wind. They glided down, before touching down on the soft sand of the beach. He folded his wings behind him and stuck his hands in his pockets.

He hated to admit it, but Hercules looked pretty well. The dude looked good. His feet were buried in the sand. He wore a purple cloak underneath the lion's cloak. His beard was scruffy, like a 'he hadn't shaved in two days, but he still looked awesome with it' kind of way.

His black hair was buzzed down. His eyes shone light blue, like Jason's. Immortality was treating him well, he still looked twenty.

A club laid in the sand next to him. It was basically a large baseball bat, made of mahogany, with a handle wrapped in leather and studded in gold.

He watched the angels approach. "Hello Lucifer, Zoë." He said.

Already, Percy sensed something off. He wasn't bragging about his achievements; he wasn't being loud and obnoxious. It seemed that the years seemed to have mellowed him out. "Hello, Hercules. I see you're still alive and well."

"Alive, yes, well, I don't know about that." Hercules gazed out into the sea. "I wonder if I'm well every day."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Immortality isn't everything I'd thought it would be. Everyone wants it, and I did too. After all, who wouldn't want to live forever? It seemed like the ultimate blessing. So, when dad offered me to be a god, why wouldn't I accept? And then he stuck me here."

"Too good to be true?"

"Too good to be true. Nothing to do here. I'm supposed to be guarding the pillars, but who's ever going to attack a fuckin mountain? So, all I do is stare at the sea and think. And there, I am tortured."

"Mm." Percy couldn't decide whether he felt bad for Hercules or not.

"Every waking hour, I reflect on my past, and I am ashamed. I have done so many good things, but for everyone I did countless more bad ones. And for that, I apologize. To you, Lady Zoë."

"Lady Zoë?" She questioned.

"You are the Queen of Hell, are you not?"

"Indeed."

"I am sorry. I know, it doesn't heal the wrongs I have committed, but it also doesn't help me feel better. A fair trade, I suppose. All humans cringe at the things they have done, but at last they have an ending to their suffering."

"Yes, that is something mortals have." Percy said. "They have a light at the end of the tunnel. Immortals, however, we must deal with the things we have done. But in turn, it makes us stronger. For us to forgive ourselves, is the strongest thing we can do." Percy took a hand out of his pocket and let fire dance on his hand. "A silver lining, it is. Everything has one. Take fire, for example. It is nature, a force of destruction. Burning down forests, or anything in its path. But what happens after it leaves? The forest regrows, and the fire is the catalyst. A force of destruction causes new beauty. For destruction, is just the herald of change."

"I don't understand why you're telling me about fire?"

"Forget the metaphor. Just know, you must forgive yourself, otherwise you are living in Hell while you're alive."

"But how?"

"Try to offset it, by doing good deeds."

"And how do I do that, when I'm stuck here."

"Well, you could let us go through, to start off."

"Of course. Pass through!"

"Thank you." Percy turned to Zoë and winked at her. She nodded subtly and shifted on her feet.

Percy approached Hercules and leaned down into his ear. "I'll give you another tip. When trying to deceive someone, make sure you aren't lying to a person who knows when you are."

Percy punched Hercules in the chest, sending him flying into the marble column, leaving cracks in the marble. Hercules fell to the ground, before shakingly standing up. He held out his hand and his club flew into his hand. The sound of flapping wings cut through the air. Zoë's shadow was cast onto the ground as she perched on top of the column.

"And you tried to rape my wife." Percy said. His eyes seemed to dance with red flames. Gone was the calming sea, now just the destructive force of the fire.

Hercules looked up at Zoë and pointed his club at her. "You're the only one who said no! No one says no to me! Get down here, bitch!"

"Sure." Zoë said. She stood up and jumped off of the pillar.

Hercules wasn't expecting her to do that, and in his surprise, Zoë took the chance to grab his club and wrestle it out of his hand. She wacked him upside the head with it, sending him flying through the air. He landed twenty feet away, eating a bunch of sand in his crash landing. He growled and stood up.

Percy appeared behind him and hit him on the head. Hercules collapsed onto the sand again. He groaned and held his head up. "I was the greatest demigod to live. The pride of Greece!" He stood up with a determined look on his face.

"And yet, you fail to even land a hit on either one of us." Zoë tsked.

Hercules saw red. The sun glowed the color of crimson blood, the sand looking no different. He charged at Zoë, who slid under his legs. He hit his head on the pillar as he ran into it.

Percy walked up to him slowly. "When are you going to sustain enough head trauma to get it through your thick skull? You can't defeat us."

Percy grabbed Hercules by the neck and lifted him off the ground. Hercules's head hung low in defeat. Drool dripped out of his mouth. Percy slammed him into the pillar, propping him up against it.

Zoë came up to Hercules and slammed a knife into one of his hands. She shoved the knife into the marble, pinning his hand there. She used another knife to repeat this with his other hand. Percy let go, leaving the god to hang there, in a mockery of the crucifixion of Christ.

"You lament about feeling guilty about what you have done. But you lie about it. All of it. How about you feel the truth for once. Zoë?"

Zoë held out her hand and concentrated. Hercules' skin started to smoke and glow red. A small flame appeared on his chest. His robes burned off, leaving black ash to stand out on the white sand.

Hercules screamed in pain as his body was roasted from the inside. His heart exploded inside of his body, but he still did not die. He howled as he suffered, fire engulfing his body. His hair burned off, leaving him hairless all over his body. His eyes watered, but his falling tears did nothing to put out the flames.

He was covered in flames entirely now. His skin was starting to blacken, turning to ash that fell onto the sand below him. The white marble behind him started to char, leaving a Hercules sized silhouette on it.

Finally, Hercules stopped screaming. His throat was starting to collapse as the fire ravaged his body. He could not scream if he tried. The crackling of the flames roaring filled the air as Hercules was condemned to his fate.

"I hope you enjoy Hell." Percy said. The fire died, leaving a still alive Hercules. He was just barely hanging on with his burned skin starting to fall off of him. His muscles were crumbling to dust. A pile of black ash reached his feet as his skeleton was exposed in his hands and feet. His body continued to decay and fall as only his skeleton was left, with his eyes still in the sockets.

Finally, Hercules' soul left his skeleton, leaving behind the charred corpse. The skeleton was pitch black, with ash surrounding it.

Above the corpse, written in the ash on the marble column, were the words "Here is your Hero, Heracles".

A/N. Alright, meeting with Hercules over. Hope you enjoyed it as he got what was coming to him. I played with the idea of godhood mellowing him out but decided it would be more in character if he was faking it to get what he wanted, then revealing his true colors. So yeah, that's what you got.

Hey, you know what happens when you get rid of the Mark of Athena section of Mark of Athena? A super short part of a story. So yeah, that's why they are already at the Pillars. Next chapter, they'll be at New Rome. Honestly, at this point, things might start picking up the pace, I don't know.

Thoughts?