Second Chapter: Of Kings And Things from the Past

"Sleep don't visit, so I choke on sun
And the days blur into one
And the backs of my eyes hum with things I've never done

Sheets are swaying from an old clothesline
Like a row of captured ghosts over old dead grass
Was never much but we made the most
Welcome home."

Welcome Home by Radical Face

There was a giant running free near the suburbs of Thebes. Hercules, ever the vigilant hero, went to face the monster (which turned out not to be as terrifying as it sounded, because the giant was named Athos and he was more or less short-sighted and had lost his sense of direction).

Phil was giving Herc some feedback on his performance when the two of them were approached by a man. He introduced himself as the envoy of the king Creon of Thebes.

"Mighty Hercules, the king wishes to speak with you," the envoy bowed his head and handed out a scroll. Hercules eyed the scroll and indeed, it seemed that the king wanted to meet him. Immediately.

"Uh, well, I'll stop by before heading back home," Hercules replied, feeling uneasy of such a request. Hercules and Phil took off with Pegasus, but Hercules was still left pondering what could the king of Thebes want of him. He had a feeling that this wasn't a mere social visit.

"Jeez Phil, what could the king himself possibly want with me?" Hercules asked from his mentor as they were traveling towards the castle.

"Dunno kid, don't suppose he's the kind who would only summon you to say his thanks. After all, you did save his city-state time after time," Phil contemplated aloud. So Phil too had the gut-feeling that there was something more to this matter.

"Yeah…" Hercules muttered back, still feeling more or less uneasy.

After arriving to the closely guarded palace of Cadmea, they left Pegasus to the royal stables and headed to the throne room, where the king already waited for them. Hercules quickly glanced at the man before kneeling at him. The king was a strongly-built middle-aged man with black hair and beard highlighted with white streaks. His features looked noble, yet the worries he had faced had left its marks on his once handsome face.

"Young hero, so glad you could make it!" the king stood up, moving closer to Hercules.

"Up, up, no need to kneel before me, you're the son of Zeus, after all," the king jovially jabbed and Hercules let out an awkward laugh.

"Yeah… This is Philoctetes, my trainer," Hercules tried to introduce his mentor to the king.

"How nice," the king quickly glanced at the satyr and then turned his focus back to Hercules again. Phil looked quite pissed to be ignored by the king and Hercules gave him a quick, apologizing look.

"So, first of all, I want to thank you for saving my city-state," the king told him, placing his hand on Herc's shoulder.

"Multiple times," Phil muttered under his breath.

"No, no problem," Hercules smiled back, still feeling antsy.

"You will help with re-building the city?" the king asked of him and Hercules was taken aback.

"Sure, I'll help with anything I can. I mean, helping people is kind of my thing," Hercules replied, wondering why this was something the king wanted to speak with him personally.

"Excellent, excellent! I knew I could count on you," the king smiled, but Hercules had the feeling that he still had something else on his mind.

"While you're out there, could you keep yours ears open? There have been some rumors concerning mutiny, people wanting to rebel against me, their rightful king. I want to know who is the mastermind behind this plot," the king's face was suddenly clouded with anger and Hercules got the feeling that he was not the right man to be angered.

"This is the first time I've heard of it. But sure, I'll try to find some information, if possible," Hercules told him honestly.

"Good, that's all I ask of you. You may go now," the king waved his hand, seemingly losing his interest in his guests. Hercules bowed his head quickly and headed out with Phil. He could not shake the feeling that he had been just commissioned to spy for the king. Even more so, there was something familiar in the king's features, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

After making their way back to his villa, Hercules met Meg in the atrium. She had washed her lavender chiton and was wearing it once again. Hercules momentarily pondered on the fact that they should buy her more dresses to wear, but not that day: he was feeling beat. After his more or less strange day, he was more than ready to spend a relaxing evening with her.

"You sure took your sweet time out there. Your parents, MORTAL parents, sent us a scroll. They're asking us for a dinner tonight, they're heading back to Arcadia tomorrow," Meg handed him the scroll and gave his cheek a peck.

"Shoot! I forgot about that," Hercules felt bad for forgetting his promise to his adoptive parents: he had promised that he would come and eat a dinner with them and that he would bring Meg with him.

"I figured that out. You're not feeling like it?" Meg arched her perfectly manicured brow as she studied him.

"No, we should do it, I just… Had quite a day," Hercules confessed to her.

"What happened?" Meg placed a comforting hand on his bicep.

"After the fight with the giant, I was summoned to Cadmea. I mean, the royal palace," Hercules started to explain.

"You met king Creon?" Meg looked as confused as Hercules felt.

"Yeah, he kind of asked me to spy for him? There's obviously rumors circling around that people are plotting to rise against him," Hercules elaborated and Phil, who had just entered the room, snorted.

"He wants you do that for him? Why you?" Meg asked incredulously.

"Hmph, wonder why? He's just used to ordering people around as he pleases. The guy may be the king, but he was a total douche nevertheless," Phil propped himself down to the divan, starting to read that day's copy of Greekly World News.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? If his people really are rising against him, he had it coming: he has done lousy job as a king," Meg's lips were tightly pressed together as she obviously pondered on something, almost mournful look on her face.

"You okay?" Hercules felt a bit confused to see the subject affecting Meg so strongly.

"Yeah, sure I am. Shouldn't we go? We shouldn't keep your parents waiting," Meg dodged his question and gave him a reassuring smile. Luckily for her, Hercules dropped the subject.

By Herc's recommendation, they chose to dine in a lovely tavern at the downtown of Thebes. The food was fresh and excellently cooked and Meg had to admit that Wonderboy had the talent for finding the perfect places to eat, although there were so many places to choose from.

Meg also enjoyed the company, even though she had been quite nervous to meet Herc's mortal parents. It turned out that she had nothing to worry about: as she had anticipated from their first (although brief) meeting, they were down to earth and friendly. They told so many stories from Herc's childhood and the time he was growing up which had Meg laughing with tears in her eyes and poor Herc blushing like crazy.

After they had eaten, they parted ways with the elderly couple. Their work at the farm couldn't wait any longer, so they had to head back to Arcadia the next day. They also invited both Hercules and Meg to visit them. Especially Alcmene seemed to like Meg: she hugged her for a long while and made her promise that she would come to visit them with Hercules.

After Herc's parents had headed back to their inn, the younger couple decided to take a walk in the nearby garden, which happened to be the same garden they had visited on their first date. Apollo had stopped his work for the day, so the sun had already set and the evening was closing in. The lovely fragrance of the flowers hung heavily in the air: the garden was every bit as lovely as Meg had remembered. So much had happened since the last time she had been there.

Hercules, however, seemed more or less absent: Meg took a side-way glance to her hero, walking beside her. She could tell that something was bothering him by the look of his face. Meg decided to try her luck.

"Sooo, what's ya thinking Wonderboy? Is something that happened back in your hometown bothering you?" Meg asked cautiously. She had gathered from their previous conversations that his teenage-age years hadn't been exactly the best of times for him, even if he had never really elaborated the tales with details.

He looked surprised to hear her question and he looked back at her. "You want to hear more about my life?"

Meg scoffed. "Is it really that surprising for a girl to want to know more about her man?"

Hercules blushed. He smiled despite himself: he felt warmth spreading in his chest as he contemplated her words and the fact that she had just called him her man. Yes, he could live with that. And to be honest, he did quite like the sound of it.

"Oh! Oh, yeah. Well, that was not exactly the best of the times for me," Hercules then told her, continuing to walk as he obviously contemplated what to tell her next. Meg followed his suit, placing her hand to his bigger one. Hercules gently squeezed her hand, comforted by her presence. He stopped and turned to take a better look at her. He ran his fingers on her cheek and pulled her in for a long, tender kiss. Meg pressed herself against him, sighing as she enjoyed his closeness. After the kiss, Hercules was left gazing at her, admiring at her beauty. Meg, however, had not forgotten their original topic.

"So you were saying, about your time in Arcadia…?" Meg softly pushed on and Hercules seemed to come out of his reverie.

For a moment Hercules' stopped in his tracks and then he sighed. Meg saw the forlorn look in his eyes and she suddenly felt regret that she should ask him such a question.

"Look, I don't mean to pry, if you don't want to talk about it…" Meg begun, put Hercules placed a finger gently on her lips to silence her.

"Meg, if I want to talk to somebody about this stuff, I want to talk to you about it. I just haven't ever really talked about those years before: Alcemene and Amphitryon were great parents, but the other villagers… They thought I was a freak of nature," Hercules sat down on the nearby bench and his shoulders slumped down. Meg felt bad for him: the people could be so cruel, she herself knew that.

"Because of that, I didn't have any friends. People called out to me as a menace or Destructo-boy. That's how I decided to seek guidance from my father Zeus, who pointed me Phil's direction. I just felt like…" Hercules was seeking for the right words, but Meg understood.

"Like you didn't belong there?" She finished quietly.

"Yes," He replied, his reply barely a whisper.

"I know how that feels." Meg really did understand it: her own home had been nothing but a golden cage, where she never had felt at home. And the places she had ended up after that… Well, they were even worse. Until she had met him: he was like a beacon of hope, proving that not everybody were self-centered and petty. So yes, she understood his pain in her own way. In a certain sense, it was somewhat comforting to know that even her perfect Wonderboy had his own ghosts. That he wasn't really just as perfect as he seemed to be, which made him more human.

"So that's why it seems kinda hard to go back there?" Meg finished out for him.

"Yeah, I guess it is. I feel bad for mom and pop, I shouldn't feel bad when I visit them," Hercules stopped to look a the fountain, deep in his thoughts.

"But it's not about them, it's about the other people, isn't it? And if you do want to go back there someday, I'll go with you. Facing your past can be daunting, but it won't be as bad if you don't have to do it alone. At least I think so," Meg thought aloud and then internally grimaced. 'Really? That's what you're gonna say to him? And when are you gonna follow your own advice?' she mentally chided herself.

Hercules, on the other hand, seemed encouraged by her words.

"Thanks Meg, that means a lot to me. I'm sure facing all that stuff will be a lot easier with you on my side," He smiled at her warmly, wrapping his arm around her.

Hercules pulled her to his arms, thankful for her presence. He breathed in the fragrance of her hair: just having her there was enough. To know that she understood, that she accepted him the way he was.

"I used to think before that because I was born as an immortal, I couldn't fit in among the mortal men. But then when Father asked me to join the Pantheon again, I understood that I had found that sense of belonging already. I found it with you, Meg," He told her, cradling her softly in his arms. Meg pulled away to look at him: she did understand. There were parts of them that were hurting or broken, but together, that pain went away and it was replaced by something far more beautiful, more precious: love. More so, they understood each other and saw the best of each other.

"That's why I didn't choose Olympus. For a moment, I had to face a world without you in it and it was a dark place. I had lost you once already: I didn't want to lose you again. No matter what mount Olympus could offer to me, it couldn't compete with this," Hercules quietly finished, running his fingers on Meg's cheek.

"And I'm thankful for it, I have never felt at home. Not anywhere really. But with you, I feel at ease when I'm in your arms. I feel like home," Meg told him softly. He tilted her head so she was looking directly at him and then pulled her in for a kiss. They were lost in each other and for once, Meg wasn't afraid of losing herself into him. She was sure, that he would be there to catch her. She would be there too when he needed her.

After all, they had already chosen each other, and shown each other parts of them that they couldn't share with anyone else. This was home.

When the night-time arrived, Meg found herself wide awake even though it was way past midnight. The night before she had fallen asleep easily because of her exhaustion. Now she wasn't as lucky. Hercules was deep asleep, but his arms were still wrapped around her. Meg was thankful for it: his touch brought so much comfort to her. It was hard to get lost in her negative thoughts when he was there, even if he was fast asleep.

Meg was afraid. She was afraid what Hercules would say, how he would react, after finding out about her family. She was afraid that one day Hercules would regret his decision to stay with her as a mortal. She was afraid that one day, he would want to leave her. She was afraid that one day he wouldn't see her the same way as he saw her at the moment. Hercules saw her as a brave, smart and good-hearted girl, but she herself could not see it, no matter how hard she would try.

Also, there was a nagging voice inside her head that Hades wasn't gone, not really.

And who was she to advise Hercules on meeting his past and facing his fears when she obviously was unable to do so herself? She sighed as the thoughts inside her head circled around like a flock of vultures, not giving her a moment of peace.

"Meg?" Groggy voice of Hercules called her. Her constant tossing and turning had seemed to woken him up as well.

"I'm sorry, I just can't seem to sleep tonight," Meg apologized, feeling bad for him.

"Oh. Come here honey," sleepy Hercules pulled her to him and nuzzled her hair. 'Honey? He hasn't called me that before,' Meg thought to herself and smiled. If anyone else would have called her that, she would have thought it was incredible cheesy and tacky. But from Wonderboy… It was simply endearing. Honey.

Meg closed her eyes and pressed herself against his chest. She had never felt as safe as she felt in his arms. She felt loved, protected. As if nothing really bad could happen when she was with him.

"I love you Wonderboy," the words escaped from her lips like it was the most natural thing ever. Before she could even think about it more, she heard his chuckle and his sleepy answer: "I love you too, Meg," which brought a smile to Meg's lips. Before she even knew, Morpheus had finally granted her sleep.

- A/N: Second chapter is in! I found out that the ancient citadel in Thebes was called as Cadmea, so I decided to use it for my own benefits in this story. I also spotted out that Athos was really a name of a giant in Greek mythology: I found pretty hilarious considering The Three Musketeers and all that stuff, so I decided to use it as well. Thanks for reading and special shout out for those lovely people, who reviewed! You're the best.