Chapter 6: Of Petty Gods And Mortal Matters

"And it's breaking over me

A thousand miles down to the sea bed

I found the place to rest my head

Never let me go, never let me go."

Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine

On their way back to Thebes, Hercules and Meg stopped by Zeus' temple, just as Hercules had promised to Athena.

As Hercules approached the huge statue, Meg stayed back, feeling apprehensive. As Hercules called for his father, with a sudden lighting bolt, the statue turned into a living thing and Meg bolted back.

She wasn't sure when (if ever) she would get used to these divine family meetings of her beloved.

"It's good to see you son!" Zeus joyfully exclaimed, tapping Hercules' head with one of his gigantic fingers. Then he turned his attention to her.

"Good to see you as well, Meg," he cheerfully told her and she weakly smiled back.

"Likewise, I'm sure," she replied, still not sure how she felt about the fact that the Lord of the Cosmos itself had just greeted her and called her by her nickname. And the fact that he was actually the birth-father of her boyfriend… Nope, she wouldn't even go there.

Somehow dealing with Hercules' adoptive parents seemed like a much more reasonable task.

"Father, there is reason why I called for you. I heard that you plan to restrain the authority of the Gods," Hercules began and already the face of Zeus turned sour.

"Now who told you that? Athena, huh? That tattler, I should have guessed… " he muttered, his irritated voice sounding surprisingly human.

"Father, are you sure this is the right course of action? Should you at least take some time to consider about it?" Hercules tried to propose, but his father already shook his head.

"I'm sorry son, but I have already made my mind. It is clear to me that the Gods aren't doing their job as well as they should. Complaining and fighting over minor things like a bunch of bicentennials! No, they need to be kept an eye on. They need an authority telling them what to do!" determined Zeus ended his rant.

"But father…" Hercules tried once again, but unfortunately his father dismissed him.

"Nevertheless, it was good seeing you. Both of you," Zeus focused momentarily his gaze on Meg once again before turning back into a stone statue.

Hercules sighed as his father was gone once again.

"So much for that card," she could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"I really do have a bad feeling about this. Didn't the takeover executed by the Olympian Gods start something like this? Back in the day, when Cronos and the Titans were still in power? Cronos tried to control all the other Titans, including his wife Rhea, and everybody got fed up with it?" Meg wondered aloud and Hercules rubbed his eyes wearily as he sighed.

"Yeah, well, Cronos did try to eat all his children. I guess that was the main factor which sped up things back then," Hercules reminded her, shaking his head.

"Good point. Good times, obviously," Meg responded in a sardonic manner. Then she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you tried. Give it some time, and as you said before, maybe the Gods can settle this matter among themselves?" Meg offered with a gentle smile.

"Yeah, I hope you're right," he momentarily looked back at her, comforted by her presence and gave her a small grin.

"Come, let's head back home," he took her hand and they headed back outside where Pegasus was waiting for them, eating the fresh, green grass.

After Meg and Hercules returned back, Hercules found himself contemplating.

He had always admired Meg's quick wit and her ability to react quickly in any situation: after that incident on Arcadian agora, Hercules was even more impressed with those qualities of her. No matter what she faced (what they had faced) she held her head up high and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Even if he was fascinated by her beauty, it was her personality that he loved more than anything. Thinking of life without Meg in it seemed unbearable: he wanted to be with her, more than anything, he wanted to share his life with her.

He knew that he wanted to be with her more than anything. He knew that he wanted to ask her to marry him, but he wasn't quite sure how she would react: was she ready to take that step or would it be too soon to ask her to commit herself to him? He wasn't sure.

He had decided to wait for a while and enjoy what they already had in the meantime. And they did have a plenty to begin with.

That day, Hercules had returned to his villa after a hard day: he had been helping nearby farmers, because their crops had been nearly destroyed by a flood. Losing a crop would have meant a long winter without income and anything to eat for them. They were poor people, so they were overwhelmed with thankfulness for his help. They had been thanking him over and over again, with tears in their eyes. It was hard work, but helping people was what gave him joy. (How did he ever even think about staying on mount Olympus and not being able help people the way he did? What had he been thinking?)

It was already getting dark outside when he put Pegasus in his stable, gave him brushing and some oats to eat.

"Goodnight, boy," Hercules told his loyal steed as he scratched his head gently and Pegasus whinnied back.

Hercules then made his way to his villa: the torches were lit as Meg was already waiting for him. The knowledge that she was waiting for him brought him comfort: he had always found it so lonely to return to his empty villa after a long day.

He made his way in and as he entered, he quickly noticed the inviting smell coming from the kitchen. He followed the smell and found Meg there, humming to herself as she prepared the meal. Hercules loved just watching her petite figure, moving around in the kitchen. And he loved to her singing, even if she did most of the time without even noticing that she was doing it.

Hercules went to wrap his arms around her body from behind and traced a line a kisses on her neck. Meg sighed, not a least bit surprised. She turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Welcome home," she told him, kissing him on his lips. He pulled her closer, sighing against her mouth. He had been only a day away, but he had already missed her so much.

"Thanks. I missed you, honey," he then confessed her, trailing her back with his hand.

"You do know that you were only gone for this afternoon and evening?" Meg playfully asked him, as she studied him with her eyes. 'No visible wounds or anything, thank goodness.'

"I know, but I always miss you when I'm not with you," Hercules' honest answer melted her heart.

"I did miss you as well, you big lug," Meg wrapped her arms around him and he returned the hug eagerly.

"Where's Phil?" Hercules checked his surroundings, surprised not to see his old trainer.

"He made himself scarce, after noticing I was cooking. Something about some nymph. He obviously doesn't trust my cooking skills," Meg huffed, seeming amused.

"Oh, you haven't tried Phil's mom's cooking. Those are really… Something," Hercules replied, shaking his head.

"So, did you manage to save the day?" Meg asked him as she turned to stir the pot on the stove.

"I tried my best. The crops of the farmer were saved," Hercules replied her, drawing small circles in her back.

"That's my Wonderboy, always helping the people," Meg shot him a grin.

"Something smells amazing," Hercules then noted, hungry from the day's work.

"I knew you were hungry, so I made some meat stew. Go on, dig in," Meg replied and she didn't need to tell him twice.

The pair sat down to have dinner and Hercules was quite impressed: even if the stew was quite simple, it was very tasty and filling.

"This is really good, Meg. I didn't know you can cook," Hercules then complimented her, enjoying the meal Meg had prepared them.

"Well, I'm not really that good, but I'm glad if you like it. I've decided that I'll try to become a better cook," Meg told him, smiling almost timidly.

"I'll have to cook for you as well some time," Hercules replied, determined to return the favor.

"You can cook?" Meg always found new sides about her Wonderboy.

"Well, I make decent fish dishes. Queen Hippolyte's husband actually taught me how to cook," Herc told her, telling her the story about how he had entered the kingdom of Amazons and almost lost his life for it. And how he had learned to cook there as well.

"So, you had a thing for this Tempest, huh?" Meg gave him a knowing look.

"Well, I kinda liked her. She was tough and determined: in a way, she kinda reminds me of you. Not that she was as amazing as you are," Hercules told her sheepishly.

"So no reason for me to be jealous, huh?" Meg asked playfully.

"Meg, there's no one that has ever come even close to what you mean to me," Hercules placed his hand over hers across the table, giving her disarmingly sincere and honest look.

"Likewise, Wonderboy," Meg looked back at him, with a genuine smile on her face.

After they had finished the meal, they quickly cleaned the kitchen up together and moved to the atrium. They poured themselves some wine and moved to the divan, lounging there in each other's arms.

Hercules had his arms around Meg, who was pressed against his chest. He breathed in the scent of her hair, fully enjoying their closeness. Meg sighed, turning her head to face him and kissed him languidly. Hercules responded eagerly, tasting the wine and something he could only define as Meg in her kiss. He deepened the kiss and Meg quietly moaned against his mouth. When they pulled away, her breathing had quickened and her eyes were a bit blurry.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" Hercules asked her, running his fingers through her hair.

"I think your opinion might be a bit biased," Meg laughed breathlessly back at him.

"No, when I first saw you, I thought you were most beautiful woman I had ever seen and I've seen Aphrodite herself. Back then, I didn't know of course that you're as beautiful from the inside as you are from the outside," Hercules told her, playing with a lock of her hair absent-mindedly.

"Back then I thought you were just pretending, I thought that nobody with your looks could actually be as good and kind as you are. I'm glad I was wrong," Meg then confessed.

"I know that Hades' motives were what they were, but in a way, I'm grateful for what he did: if he hadn't stole me as a child, and if I hadn't gone through all what I did, I might have never met you," Hercules ran his fingers softly on her cheek and Meg closed her eyes, thinking about his words.

Yes, it was quite ironic that Hades had stole Hercules as a child in order to kill him and much later she had become his slave: both were negative things, but because of it, the two of them had met. Oh the irony of life.

"So we owe it to Hades for setting us up? But I get what you mean: we went through some awful stuff, but nevertheless, I'm glad for the outcome," Meg replied, still caught up thinking about all the irony what Hades had done and where it had led them.

"I know. No matter why it happened, I'm so glad I met you," Hercules tilted Meg's head and pulled her in for another kiss.

He felt as if he was unable to express in words how much he loved her. He ran his hand through her hair, still trying to fathom how he had got so lucky that she actually returned his feelings in equal measure.

"Meg, will you marry me?" He blurted out, surprising even himself. He hadn't been planning to do this now, tonight, but somehow the words just escaped his lips and he was left waiting for Meg's reply.

For once, Meg was left speechless. The part of her which didn't want to trust people told her to tell him no, to turn around and run away, never to return. But that part of her was nowadays only a small nagging voice: her heart was telling her to do otherwise, that this man was all that she could ever ask for. She had never felt this loved, safe and cherished: how could she turn away from it, even if it scared a part her to death?

After a moment of silence, Hercules started to babble on nervously: "I know it's soon, and if you don't feel like it-"

"Yes," Meg quietly breathed out.

"Yes what?" Hercules wasn't sure if he had understood correctly.

"Yes, I will marry you!" Meg laughed out.

"You will? You will! Oh Meg, I'm so glad! I've been wanting to ask that for a while now, it just never seemed to be the perfect time…" He pulled her into his arms, embracing her excitedly.

"So now's the perfect time, after talking about all Hades has done to us?" Meg couldn't resist a little teasing, which made her Wonderboy blush.

"Well, all this reminiscing just made me think about how much I love you and that I want to be with you. Like forever," His honest reply made Meg's cynical heart melt.

"I love you too, Wonderboy. And yes, I'll become your wife," Meg told him gently before he pulled her in for another kiss.

No matter what they faced, those matters might be mortal or divine, Meg wanted to believe that they could face them. Together.

A/N: Whew, some teeth-rotting sweetness provided right there for you guys! So, I'm actually quite nervous about this whole engagement thing happening already: I wasn't gonna make it happen quite in this chapter, but on the other hand, it just felt right. And we're talking about the ancient times, so people weren't really "dating" like we do before getting married. I tried to transmit how Herc just kinda rushes into these things, but Meg feels more conflicted. So I really hope this makes sense!

Few shout-outs for my guest reviewers:

VAH: I very happy to hear that you enjoy my fic and I've managed to capture the characters: yes, Meg is very complex, but I think that is exactly what makes her both interesting and relatable. To answer you question, I think for my own part, publishing these fics was something I've always wanted to do. Personally I decided starting from the beginning of this year, that I would do more things that bring me happiness and writing these stories is one of those things. For me, knowing that just one person really enjoys and looks forward to my stories would be enough: I think these stories are meant to shared and they are an important way of showing love for a certain fandom. So I would really be interested in reading your stories. :)

Nutmeg: I'm so happy you love my work (I love your nickname, btw)! Yes, I'll be continuing both of these fics for a while: I think Young God will have like 10 or maybe 12 chapters altogether, but I think Olympus will be going on for a quite a while (and when I say a while, I mean a long while).