Of Heart to Hearts

"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."

- J.R.R. Tolkien

"So, how did it go?" Cassandra asked as she heard Meg and Hercules returning, coming back from the palace and meeting Meg's father, her eyes still glued to the scroll she was currently reading.

Instead of getting an answer, she felt as Meg simply plopped herself down beside her on the couch, burying her face to her hands with a groan.

"That well, huh?" Cassandra replied, glancing at the other woman.

"Yeah. My father's a real handful," Meg huffed out

"I can imagine," Cassandra was starting to know the strong-willed woman next to her, so she decided it wasn't probably the best time to point out that Meg most likely shared certain similarities with her father's personality. Starting with the certain amount of stubbornness.

"Yeah, well, king Creon wasn't exactly forthcoming. And the visit itself wasn't exactly, umm, a joyride," Hercules stammered as he searched for the right word, deciding upon seeing Meg's facial expression not to share the ugly details of the visit.

Cassandra only rose her eyebrows, witnessing the wordless exchange between the two. She sensed there was more to the matter, but decided not to push it.

"But we did in the end manage to convince him to defend the city against any attacks from Hades and Cybele," Hercules optimistically offered after a moment of silence.

"Imagine that. Isn't it like a king's duty to defend his city-state?" Cassandra asked snidely.

"One could certainly imagine so. My father didn't seem certain, though," Meg told her with a touch of anger in her voice.

"Well, that's just great," Cassandra shook her head.

"Any luck with those scrolls?" Hercules asked, eyeing the one she was currently reading.

"Not so much. I've been trying to gather some information concerning Cybele and her followers, but so far, this hasn't been all that enlightening,"

"Well, since we're here, let me help you at least," Meg offered, taking another scroll from Cassandra's pile.

"We'll figure this out. Together," Hercules, ever the optimist, smiled at the two women, taking one scroll to his own hands and finding the nearest available seat near the couch. After a moment of tranquil silence, he noticed something amiss.

"So have you seen Icarus?" Hercules looked around, searching for his other best friend.

"He was pestering me earlier on, but after giving him a pair of well chosen words, I haven't seen him. But I bet his around. He always is. I don't need my gift of sight to know that," Cassandra dramatically sighed.

And as if from a cue, they heard a familiar voice:

"Is that my Cassieloo, talking of me? And my best buddy Herciepoo asking of me? And his sweet Meggiemoo as well? All your wishes and prayers have been answered, here's Ick, baby!" A small tornado of unruly black hair emerged to the room as Icarus arrived.

"Not any of my wishes or prayers. Told you so," Cassandra breathed out as she glared at Hercules, who sheepishly smiled back, shrugging his shoulders as an answer.

"Are we doing teamwork? 'Cause I LOVE doing teamwork!" Icarus took in the situation, seeing Cassandra and Meg who read scrolls side by side. Then he happily fitted himself in between the two women, taking a third scroll from the pile.

"Ooh, nice! This is about blood and sacrifices, gnarly!" Icarus announced with evident excitement on his voice.

"We are all about to witness a blood sacrifice, if you don't SHUT UP, Ick!" Cassandra shot him a meaningful look.

"Ooh, QUIET teamwork! I can be quiet, quiet as a striped field mouses. As my sweetest Cassieloo wishes!" Icarus replied, sounding as happy as ever. Then he continued to read while humming an annoying tune loudly to himself. Cassandra rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything, obviously deciding to settle into the situation.

Meg and Hercules shared a knowing and amused look before he too took another scroll, sitting down on a nearby chair. They could figure this out together, Hercules was certain of it.

As he had promised to Hades, Barak had headed out to the less nurtured part of the city of Thebes. Some might even describe it as a 'ghetto', but Barak wasn't the type of person to pull out such descriptions, for he had seen worse.

In this part of the town lived the immigrants who did not originate from the Grecian world. The Greeks were suspicious at best when it came to the people outside of their own culture, so while the Greeks stayed among their own kind, the immigrants stuck together. Most of these people were coming from parts of the East and as Barak was finally able to locate Zenia, the leader of the cult of Cybele, he came to the conclusion that she was one such immigrant.

"I hear you're Zenia, I have been looking for you," Barak offered as the took in the middle-aged woman before him.

"And I hear you have been looking for me. Why?" Zenia asked with a heavy accented. The look she gave him was laced with suspicion.

Barak quickly noted the major details of her appearance: her eyes were heavily lined with kohl, her dark hair mostly covered with a decorative, violet scarf and she was also dressed in an Eastern-styled clothes. She had once been beautiful, very much so, but the years had not treated her too kindly.

"I was sent here. By Cybele," the man simply answered, raising her interest. Well, practically he had been sent by Hades, but he didn't want to bother her with minor details.

"Why would Cybele ask an outsider to seek me out?" She asked, even more suspicious than before.

"Aren't you weary of this, hiding in the scrubs like a scum, being treated like a third-class citizen? Aren't you tired of Greeks scorning at you and your people? Cybele was once the most adored Goddess, and now hardly anyone knows her name? Wouldn't you want to change if the possibility came?" Barak offered her and something flashed in her eyes, an ignited glimmer of danger. The words he had chosen obviously resonated with her.

"What are you suggesting then?" She petulantly asked, crossing her arms before her.

"The time is coming. For her retribution. She wants me to help you, leading her followers to the battle," Barak revealed. Zenia seemed surprised, but only mildly: obviously she had already partly heard some whispers of this plan, the seed already planted. Fertile soil was always easier to cooperate with.

"Why would you want to help? Why should I believe you?" Zenia was still suspicious.

"I have been given orders to do so. You know how to lead your people, I know how to combat. Together we could join our forces and our best abilities, then we would make tangible threat. Cybele commands me to do so. She's your deity as well, isn't she? Look, I have her symbol in my possession, indicating the divine mission give to me by her," Barak finally took out the symbol, the new one, he had gotten from Hades and held it out to Zenia.

As she saw the symbol he held, Zenia's attitude towards him changed completely.

"Alright, come on in, stranger, and we shall talk," she motioned him to follow her to her small shack of a house.

After an afternoon heavy on reading, the four friends had found out more about Cybele. Not much, something at least. Which, Hercules pointed out, was better than nothing.

"This is hard, harder than I expected. I thought all Gods were more than happy to provide information concerning their rites to the mortals," Meg grumbled out as she tossed the scroll she had been holding aside.

"Cybele's cult is known for its esotericism and mysticism. Not much is shared with the people they consider outsiders," Cassandra pointed out, picking the scroll up and putting it back to her bag.

"Obviously so," Meg breathed out a heavy sigh, closing her eyes as she slumped back.

"This is a start, at least. Look, why don't we make something to eat? It has been a long day and it's kinda hard to focus on an empty stomach. I could whip something up," Hercules offered, placing a calming hand gently on Meg's shoulder.

"Food does sound great," Meg agreed.

"I can keep company for the lovely ladies while you cook," Icarus offered, wagging his eyebrows suggestively as he looked at Cassandra, who was not able to hide her grimace. Meg too felt tired to her bones and though she normally could laugh at Icarus' antics, this night was not one of those nights.

Hercules seemed to sense the source of their anxiety and ever the hero, came to their rescue.

"Umm, Ick, weren't there that certain dish made of eels you wanted to make for Cassandra? I'm sure she would love to try it," Hercules reminded him, trying his best to avoid Cassandra's dismayed face.

"OH BOY! Herc, my man, I knew I can always count on you! Look at you, a real ladies' man now, aren't you!" Icarus nudged him, before happily skipping his way towards the kitchen.

"Do we even have any eel?" Meg whispered to Hercules, who shook his head.

"We'll visit the market first with Pegasus and the start making the dinner. You get some time for yourselves, okay?" He whispered back, placing a quick kiss on her forehead.

"You're the best. Thanks, Wonderboy," Meg breathed out and he rewarded her with a quick smile, before following his friend and ushering him towards the stables.

The wonderful, untouched silence fell to the room. Both of the women breathed out a coincidental breath of relief.

"Finally," Cassandra muttered aloud and Meg wholeheartedly agreed.

"Icarus has got some… Personality," Meg meekly offered, too tired to find a witty remark and Cassandra scoffed.

"Oh yeah, his got way too many personalities to handle. Even Icarus himself can't handle them," she replied back and Meg weakly laughed back.

"So, you wanna talk about it? The visit to see your father?" Cassandra decided to brush the avoided subject.

"Not too much to talk about there. He's just… Controlling. And stubborn. When he makes a decision, his mind can't be changed even when he's proven wrong," Meg explained.

"Is this about defending Thebes?" Cassandra specified.

"About anything. For example, his adamant that he should decide who I should marry," Meg revealed and Cassandra's eyebrows almost met her hairline.

"He doesn't want you to marry Herc? Really? I mean, has he met him?" Cassandra shook her head, not believing what she was hearing.

"Yeah. He has. He has this obsession that he should marry me off to some trustworthy ally of his and he simply can't change his mind on that," Meg looked tiredly back at her.

"I can see how that would be an issue," Cassandra agreed.

"Today, we both just finally lost our cool. And I pushed him to the point where he almost, you know, tried to hit me. Probably would have, if Herc wasn't there," Meg finally revealed.

"There's no reason for doing something like that. Ever. I despise men who use violence as a way to control women," Cassandra muttered as she squeezed the edge of the couch, her knuckles turning white.'

"I know. I do too. I would love to say it was the first time, but after my mother died, my father was at a dark place and he acted according to it," Meg quietly spoke out, trying her best not to get lost in her past.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Now I know why Herc seemed on edge when you came back, he can't tolerate that kind of stuff either," Cassandra had finally pieces the puzzle in her mind together.

"I know he can't," Meg agreed, a gentle smile creeping to her lips as she thought of her beloved and how different he was from her own father. She had certainly made better choices lately in her life, only if she wouldn't now screw her things up.

She shook her head with a groan.

"Tired?" Cassandra asked, eyeing her with even more sympathy than before.

"It's been a long day, you mind if I go to lay down for a bit?" Meg made sure as she got up.

"Knock yourself out. Literally," Cassandra picked another scroll, starting to skim through.

Meg had started to head out of the room, but decided otherwise, turning back to the other woman.

"Thanks for listening. It's… Hard. To talk about these things," Meg breathed out, seeking out the eyes of the other woman.

"Those are hard things to deal with. For anyone. Thanks for trusting me enough," Cassandra answered sincerely. Meg smiled back at her, a sincere smile lightning her face up.

"Okay, the moment's gone. Go get some rest before those two loud goofs are back, which will make sleeping impossible," Cassandra brushed her off and Meg finally headed out to get some rest.

Cassandra was finally left alone with her thoughts and she came to a conclusion.

Although she had been hesitant with Meg at first, knowing her history with Hades (on the other hand, without Herc's intervention, she might be sharing a similar fate), but as she had got to know her, she understood her better. And she could see why Herc was so smitten with her. And Meg shared those feelings, which Cassandra was happy for.

Yes, she had reached the conclusion that she actually liked Meg, which slightly surprised her, but made her glad as well. She truly seemed like a good person. Herc was a lucky man. Well, they both were.

-A/N: Whew, and the newest chapter is out. The last part with the conversation between Cassandra and Meg was written this evening, I'm very sorry if it feels too rushed. I just felt that I really see two of them becoming friends, so I wanted to give them some bonding time.

I have to confess that I'm super tired at the moment. Next week, we'll be moving out to our new apartment and as you can probably imagine, all the mayhem concerning that has begun. Also, my godmother passed away yesterday and even though she had been sick for quite some time, we were close, so this has been emotionally tolling for me. (That is also the reason why I chose that certain Tolkien quote to the beginning of this chapter, it has been stuck to my head during these recent days.)

Thank you, I have been getting many new followers, which makes me truly so happy and joyed. And as always, I'm happy to see certain loyal readers always responding, thank you! Feedback is fuel to the creativity. I have few kinks and things I need to figure out concerning the up-coming chapters, but let's hope I'll have some time to write during my holiday!

And to the reviewer shout-outs:

- Disneylove12: Aww, I'm glad you enjoyed seeing the protective side of Herc! And thanks for understanding and congratulations! As you can see, the next chapter is now up! ;)

- Sakura: I really happy to hear that you enjoy this that much, thank you! You too take care of yourself in this current situation!