Myrrhine climbed up the stairs that led to the castle. Charon had just let her and while she could transform and fly again, she preferred walking. As she entered the main throne room, she was surprised by two things.
One, Hades was not in his usual place by the throne and two, there was an unusual brightness coming from the outer windows. Walking to one of them, she looked out and down only to shield her eyes by lifting her hand.
The sun was chained at the backyard of the castle, letting it float close to the ceiling of the cavern that hosted the whole Underworld. By the base, Hades was on a sun tanning chair, with sunglasses on and his skin already getting a tan.
It was as if he had gone to some good beach on vacations and all that he was missing was some fancy drink and maybe someone to cast him some air with a palm leaf. Shaking her head, she decided to go and see the god of the Underworld and her boss. By the time she was out of the castle, she had trouble seeing clearly from the intense sunlight; let alone the heat radiating from the sun.
A pair of shades was formed in front of her eyes, and she was actually thankful for that. She turned to her Boss whose skin was now a tanned brown.
"Myrrhine, my baby. Come, have a seat and enjoy the perks of my plan" he said with a grin, one hand behind his head as he kept looking up.
"I think I will pass. Don't you think this is a bad idea? I mean, the whole tan thing?" she placed a hand on her waist, finally earning enough attention from the god to turn his head and look at her.
"Not at all. I think this colour actually suits me more. Don't you think?" he was only met with a pair of rolled eyes, barely visible behind the shades. "Fine but either way. Those gods are too stupid to understand. And hey if they do, there is always spray tanning you know".
She didn't comment. Folding her hands in front of her chest she shook her head slightly. "I do not like this"
Hades turned to look back at the sun again. "Well, get used to it, babe. Soon, I will be ruling Olympus. Oh, speaking of Olympus" he stood up, tossing his shades to the side.
It was only then Myrrhine noticed that the God of the Underworld had removed his upper tunic to get a better tan. She would not admit loudly but Hades was in shape, something she did not truly expect.
His tunic reformed, covering the sight before he stretched. "Pain! Panic!"
"We are here you lordshipness" the duo said, quickly running outside and standing next to the witch.
Then, he turned to look at his 3 minions, "I have a meeting on Olympus. Soon, Zeus will pay for what he did and I, will take his place" he grinned in pride. "However, for the plan to work I need the sun to stay here. Until I need to retrieve it and be the hero" leaning slightly forward, towering above them with his tone at a threatening level. "For that, I leave you 3 responsible for it. Better not to fail me or else…" he never continued, his hair flames turning from blue to red for a moment before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
The 3 minions coughed as the smoke cloud disappeared. They looked at one another before the two Imps quickly rushed to get comfortable on Hade's seat. Grabbing their own shades, they lied and left a sigh of joy once the warm shades of the sun hit their skin.
"I am surrounded by…" with a sigh, Myrrhine tossed her shades to the side, rubbing the side of her temple.
It was times like that she missed the island or even Hercules. At least she had Cassandra and life was more tolerable. Shaking her head, she started to walk away from the two imps and back into the castle.
"Hey! Where do you think you are going?" Pain asked her, lifting his shades.
She stopped, looking at them above her shoulder. "To my room. I have studying to do, and I do not want to end up as brown as Hades".
Panic tried to hold back some laughter by pressing his small hands in front of his mouth. However, he received a slap at the back of his head by Pain and he snapped out of it. "W-wait! You cannot leave. Hades said we all 3 must look after the sun".
A small smirk formed on her magenta-coloured lips. "So, you tell me that the two mighty and powerful minions of Hades cannot look after the sun for a few hours? Do they really need the help of a mere mortal girl?"
They were sceptical for a moment, looking at each other as she waited for their reply. She didn't really have to because manipulating the duo was one of the easiest thing to do.
"She is right. You can go, let the true minions of Hades handle it" Pain said, his pride getting the best of him.
He leaned back on the chair, both hands behind his head. Panic only gave a nod to his head a few times before copying him. Myrrhine shook her head again and held back the smirk that wanted to form on her lips.
Turning her back, she decided to walk back to her room. She did not have any homework, since she had finished them before the week started. However, she knew how things would turn out either way. Eventually, Hercules would come, somehow try to save the Sun and succeed. The last thing she needed, was to be found roaming the underworld.
The teenage witch was busy practising a new spell. Her blue eyes were on the orange flames that danced across her fingertips. Moving them slightly and then turning her wrist, the powerful element followed her movements as if it was forever a part of her hand.
She had been trying for quite some time to master the art of fire creation and to her luck, Hades was a master of that. Studying him each time he unleashed his anger and using some notes from scrolls she had been given; she had started to succeed. She was tempted to try and see how big the flames could go but then she looked around and she was not in the mood to set it on fire.
Unlike the main throne room, her room was not fireproof because there was no need for it. Not to mention Hades would use her as fireball practice if he would come back and find her room all burnt.
Her train of thoughts made her lose her concentration, weakening the flames. She was about to refocus when she heard the sound of steps. Standing up and preserving the flame, she looked outside her window. Her room was at the back of the castle, at the very top. This allowed her a good view of the entrance of the underworld and that day, proved very useful.
Two figures with hats in the shape of a sheep's face were spotted and that was all she needed, to know Hercules and Icarus had just entered. As she expected, they were here for the Sun but first, they had to pass by Pain and Panic.
Curious to see what would take place, she closed her palm and let the flames die before heading towards the door. She knew the castle inside out and she had her ways of spying without being detected. It also helped that none of the four males had the intelligence to notice her.
By the time she arrived and heat behind a column at safe distance from both the sun and the boys, she leaned on it and watched. Hercules in his Gyro Place uniform and Icarus had already spotted the two Imps melting by the intense heat and had formed a plan.
It did not take long for Icarus to create a fake stand with some refreshments, noticing how the two minions were close in turning into puddles.
"Get your fresh smoothies!" Icarus called, quickly earning the attention of the two minions.
Then, the minutes passed by the two of them drinking smoothie after smoothie after smoothie without stopping. It was a matter of time before both had turned round from all the liquid they had consumed, making them unable to properly think or move.
Myrrhine would give it to boys. Their plan was very smart and wondered who thought about it. Her eyes went to Hercules and somehow, she felt it was his plan. He might be clumsy, but he was smart enough when he wanted.
"Refill?" Icarus asked them.
After a moment of silence, the two minions gave a nod. Because another last smoothie would not hurt them right? Unaware they were, that those smoothies had made their tongues looser than they should be.
"You are looking at two very important minions," Panic said, taking a sip and then loudly burping; causing Myrrhine to pull a face.
Pain emptied his cup in one go. "You got that right" he then passed on his back, too full to do anything.
Panic, on the other hand, continued drinking from the straw. "You see, this very moment, our boss is kicking old man Zeus off Olympus for letting his lamo kid losing the sun".
The two Imps lied on their backs and started laughing as realization hit Hercules. Without wasting any time, he rushed towards the sun.
That idiot. He will get himself burnt, Myrrhine thought as she watched him climbing closer and closer to the bright sphere.
Pain and Panic also noticed because they started to 'run' towards him. Their big bellies jumped up and down with each of their steps, the sound of liquid moving hearable to anyone.
"Hey, who do you think you are?" Panic asked once Hercules was in front of the sun.
The demigod turned to see them and pulled his hat off, showing his signature ginger hair and causing the duo to pale a few tones. "Hercules" they exclaimed, now knowing they had ruined everything.
"Damn you and those disguises," Panic said, both on their back and trying to roll back on their feet like turtles.
"This lamo is returning the sun where it belongs," Hercules said, striking his pose with both hands fists on his waist.
Myrrhine watched surprised, shocked, and amazed at the same time as Hercules wore his over mittens and then proceeded to free the sun from the chains. Last, he picked up the whole sun on his back and started to climb the rocks towards the surface.
She had never seen him pulling such feats before, only hearing part of his skills. Now, she got to witness it from close and she was impressed. She wondered how it would be if she was that powerful. She then though shook her head, enjoying the magic side she had inherited.
Once Icarus had left, she came out of her hiding place. "What is going on here?" she asked the minions, playing it fully clueless.
"Hercules! He got the sun!" Pain shouted, trying to stand up.
She offered her hand ad pulled him on his feet before helping Pain as well. "Thought you two were looking after it" with hands on her waist, she looked down upon the spawns.
"Well…he….he is too strong. We fought bravely…yes bravely" Panic said, lying.
Then, an idea popped into her mind. An idea to get back on Hades, making them suffer a little bit while ensuring that he would not rule the world. He might be her boss and sometimes his character was okay, but even she knew that everyone would suffer if he ever rose to power.
"We should warn Hades, but I doubt we are faster than Hercules" she looked up, at the whole Hercules created by pushing through with the sun. She wondered how he would deliver it to Olympus, but he should do it fast.
"We are. Come on Panic" Pain said as he managed to turn into a bird. A pretty fat bird. His companion followed suit and she watched them flying through the whole, heading towards Olympus to warn Hades.
She smirked, feeling that it was way too easy. She headed towards the throne room, knowing Hades would soon arrive and furious. She better have her lies ready to escape with just chores.
As she had expected, it took a few minutes, but Hades came crushing straight through the ceiling and on his throne; successfully breaking it. The Imps followed suit, falling on top of him and only worsening his anger.
They quickly pulled back, not wanting to be hit again by the angry god. Taking steps back, they started to shake from fear as Hades lifted himself. He was furious, the flame on his head a bright orange and his yellow eyes glowed with hatred and anger.
"Didn't I say to…watch the sun?!" he shouted, glaring at all 3 of them but mostly the Imps who had exposed him.
"We tried your evilness, we tried but he was so strong," Pain said, hiding his face behind his lifted arms to protect himself from the flames.
"Yes!" Panic added. "We fought bravely but defeated both of us, then stole the sun. We tried to warn you".
"Both of you?" he repeated, his voice much lower and hiding more danger than before. Then, his golden eyes landed on the form of the Witch, and she felt a lump in her throat. "Where were you Myrrhine?"
The teenager knew she was in big trouble when Hades called her by her true name and not some nickname. That was a sign, that perhaps she should take a few days off from work before she had no idea what situation she would end up in soon.
Grabbing the chance to perhaps save themselves, the Imps were quick to turn on her.
"She left us, your lordship," Panic said, pointing a finger at her.
"Yes! She left us while we were fighting to defend the sun" Pain added, causing her own anger to flare.
"Fighting? Oh please. He fooled you with smoothies and then who from the two was it that spilt Hade's plan to him?"
The two minions looked at each other and then turned against one another. "It was him," they both said at the same time, fingers now pointing not on Myrrhine but the other Imp.
"QUIET!" Hades shouted, flames exploding everywhere.
Myrrhine was fast, bringing her hands forward and using a smell to protect herself. Of course, it worked halfway before she could feel her fingers getting harmed by the heat. Her protection spell was not strong enough to handle the full outburst of Hade's flames. But it would save her from getting a full-body 4th-degree burn.
She held back any sound she wanted to make, feeling the skin in pain. Even when the attack was over, she was on guard because Hades had his eyes on her. "So you watched those two being idiots and you did nothing?" he asked.
He marched towards her, causing her to take a few steps back only to find her back touching the wall. Her fingers touched the material, causing her to pull them back quickly due to the pain coming from the burnt finger surfaces. By now, the god of the underworld was almost a breath away.
One hand was next to her head as he towered over her form. The orange flames on his head were a clear sign that his voice might sound calm, but he was far from it. Her brain quickly brought up the lie she had made, praying to the gods for the first time, that it would work.
"If I tried to interfere, Hercules would understand that I work for you," she said, looking at him in the eyes and trying to keep her composure. "Then, you would have no one to spy on him and tell you his plans".
There was another silence, one that was slowly killing Myrrhine as she waited. Hades seem to process her answer and to her luck, he pulled back. The flames on his head-turning blue, his temper subsiding. Thankfully, logic seemed to affect him.
"Damn that Jerkules" he cursed and walked out of the throne room, possibly because he would not stand to watch at the faces of his minions that failed at their job.
Once Hades was out of the room, the two Imps left out a sigh of relief. However, their senses warned them of danger, and they quickly turned their heads; only to see a very angry Myrrhine.
"Trying to save your asses by giving me the blame, huh?" she stated, lips forming a snarl.
She extended her burnt hands to the side as orange flames came to life. Starting from her palms, they circles her wrists and climbed all the way to her elbow. Oh, she was furious and the pain on her fingers only fuelled those emotions.
Thankfully for her, she was presented with two lovely punching bags and no Hades to stop her from trying her latest trick.
Panic chuckled awkwardly. "Head start?" he asked and then he quickly ran away Pain following.
A second later and a fireball hit them, burning their tails and sending them flying; smoke coming from their bottoms. They were in for a few good hours of pain.