2

HADES furrowed his brows and frowned as he watched Meg wander towards the river, already in search of Nessus's home. He stood there with a hopeful expression resting on his placid features, hoping he had not made a grave mistake in sending the girl so soon after accepting her as his charge.

He told himself that he would trust his instincts as they had never been wrong before and he made sure that his newest prized possession would be treated well and rewarded adequately once she had persuaded the River Guardian to ally with him to help him usurp his bastard brother Zeus off the throne of Olympus.

His brother was a god of many things, and many of Zeus's faults, Hades would have been willing to overlook and forgive him, though Zeus's latest transgression, he did not think he could ever forget.

Zeus, when Hades had visited Mount Olympus to celebrate the birth of Zeus's latest babe, Hercules, the strong little tyke that he was, had allowed the other gods beneath him to insult his Persephone. Rudeness, impoliteness, even physical violence, these were all things that he could and dealt with enduring from the other gods who despised him, but he would not abide those that did not stand by their own.

Zeus had stood by and done nothing while his beloved wife was openly mocked and shunned from Olympus for daring to genuinely love him. Hades felt something ugly rise within himself just then.

Was he truly that despicable to the rest of those simple tow-headed fools who could hardly be called gods? He knew all too well the other gods had made it a habit of forcing themselves onto unwilling young women, hoping to earn their love and affection through a show of dominance and god-like strength, but Hades had never agreed with such actions.

There was nothing enjoyable in seeing a woman, mortal human or goddess, suffer like that, and though Hades knew he was an immoral god, he knew that even he would never stoop so low.

He had earned Persephone's love, in time. They had learned to love and cherish one another as time passed, and Persephone's curiosity about him when he had first brought her to the Underworld had blossomed into affection after a year of increasingly warm friendship. Real love came soon after, and now, they were easily the happiest, to say nothing of the saner, couples amongst the gods.

But when Zeus had not come to his and Persephone's defense that day, he realized however that the gods believed that was his design, and they hated him all the more for it. It was clear, judging by the venom and even fear in the other gods' eyes when he had traveled to Mount Olympus to set eyes on his young nephew for the first time, that they would only ever see nothing but a monster.

Fine. Then let me behave like one then, Hades thought bitterly to himself, clenching his teeth and closing his eyes, not even needing to visualize his Underworld to know where it was he wanted to go.

He wanted to take a whiff of his drug, his pretty flower, his wife, his lovely Persephone. She always knew what to say to set him in the right mood. His nerves were still wrecked at the plan he had set in motion in revenge against Zeus for the disparaging and horrific insults made against his beloved wife.

Kidnapping the babe Hercules and turning him into a mortal man was the most befitting of punishments. He had wholly expected Persephone to turn against him when he revealed what he had done, but by the gods, she had not, and he loved his wife even more for it.

He opened his eyes and found her, his Persephone, standing dangerously close to the massive three-headed dog that served as a guard and his wife's protector when he could not always be at her side.

She was so still at first that Hades almost doubted if his love was still breathing or if she was frozen where she stood, watching their loyal companion sleep, the dog's loud snores filling the cavern with sound.

"Hades," Persephone called out sweetly to him and the god stiffened.

She never turned to look at him, her eyes were fixed on the dog. Hades stood there for a moment, summoning every inch of the god that he knew he was, and everything in between, the good, and the bad. He waited for his wife to call his name again. He longed to hear his name on his lover's lips.

Then she called him again. "My love," she spoke to him and turned her head slightly to regard him, rendering Hades breathless as her sparkling blue eyes found his.

He thought it secretly amazing how, even after years of marriage, Demeter's daughter never failed to steal the breath from his lungs with just a single look and a sweet smile.

Persephone was very kind, truth be told, and a stunning creature, far too good for the likes of him, and yet, when he had first laid eyes upon her, he'd known then when she had looked into his eyes and did not seem to fear death that he had to have her, no matter the cost, and no matter how she had viewed him.

Her blonde hair was roughly cropped to just passed her shoulders, and curly, framing her face in wisps and stray curls. A light smattering of freckles dusted along the bridge of her slender little nose and her bright blue eyes never failed to remind Hades of the blue sky after a fresh rainfall in the spring.

She was quite petite compared to his statuesque height, and the height difference between the two of them was almost laughable, but Persephone had never seemed to mind it at all, thank the gods.

Hades covered the distance between them in relatively short order, almost seeming to glide as he walked towards her, his feet seeming to move of their own accord, desire clouding his ability the longer he looked upon his wife who, like his pretty little Nutmeg was now, a bright ray of sunshine in this otherwise abysmal and gloomy realm that he had grown to despise.

The edges of his mouth twitched as he fought back a smile as Persephone made a quick scan of him and then peeked over his shoulder and then her face fell, crestfallen.

"She is not here? Hades, why in Chronos's name not? I was hoping to meet her," she questioned, not even needing to refer to pretty Megara.

He had told her when he'd felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand up when the girl had made her call for help where he was going, and what his intentions were for the mortal girl.

"No," Hades replied, snaking his arms around his wife's small waist and pressing a gentle and chaste kiss to her lips. "I sent her to persuade Nessus, Pers, but she will be joining us soon enough. I don't think it will take her too long, she seems...skilled in that regard. I know that you get lonely, my love, and need someone to help you get used to the strangeness of this place, even after all this time. I know you have wanted another companion. She will come, soon enough," he murmured his words into her ear.

She twisted in his embrace and looked shocked.

"Nessus?" she challenged, quirking a thinly plucked brow at him. She pursed her lips in disapproval and shook her head. "Did you at least tell her what sort of a vicious brute that horrid creature is? Does the girl know what she's going up against? You did tell her that much, didn't you? Oh, Hades," she asked, and the furrow of confusion between her brows deepened when he answered his wife with only silence.

"No, Pers, I didn't, she can handle him. The lovely mortal is more than capable, I think," he murmured, after a long pause that stretched between them past the point of comfort, heat flushing his cheeks.

He felt the familiar fire seed of anger course through his stomach and seep into his chest. He swallowed down hard to control his temper. He never wanted to lose his temper with his beloved wife.

Hades gave his wife a wide-eyed stare at seeing the kernel of doubt flickering to life behind her blue eyes.

"What is it? I know that look. You don't think this will work, do you?" he snapped with a bark to his voice that made Persephone look up in surprise.

Persephone gave Hades her most innocent 'leave me out of this' look and shook her head.

"It's not that, I-I just…do you truly think that she will be able to persuade Nessus?"

"Of that I am sure, my love," Hades told her with measured confidence in his voice as he chuckled. "I thought you were talking about the other thing."

Persephone shook her head. "Your brother should never have been allowed to rule Olympus, my love," she reminded him, reaching up a warm hand to caress his icy-cold cheek, smiling at the shudder of pleasure that went down his spine at her gentle touch. "It was always your destiny to rule Mount Olympus, my love. The sisters of fate have foreseen it. He has told us that all you need is time and an army of creatures worthy to defeat the gods. The Titans," she whispered in a meek voice, scrunching her nose in disgust.

Hades could not help but chuckle at her discomfort.

He knew his wife held no love for the Titans in her heart, the creatures of mass destruction that they were, but they were his best hope of distracting Zeus and keeping his bastard brother busy.

Hades noticed his wife's crestfallen expression and immediately questioned her again, thinking that something was wrong.

"What?" he demanded, feigning hurt feelings as his wife stuck out her bottom lip in an adorable pout.

"You still blame yourself for the way the gods speak to me and about me, my love, don't you," Persephone challenged him and when phrased like that, it was not a question. Hades squirmed, growing uncomfortable. Had he been that obvious? He frowned and waited impatiently for his wife to elaborate.

Persephone sighed in disappointment and reached up to tuck a stray blonde curl back behind her ear where the strand belonged.

"It was not your fault, Hades, you and I both know this. I have told you at least a million times. The fault lies with Zeus and with him alone. You did all that you could that day to protect me, though I don't know what you hoped to achieve by going after your nephew, my love," she confessed, her expression pained.

"I didn't do it for you, Pers, I did it for me," Hades growled through gritted teeth, though the look in his eyes was strained as he bore into his wife's eyes, searching for something he did not even know what. "You weren't there that day, you did not hear the things he spoke of. I am not cruel to my brother for the sake of cruelty," Hades snapped, an edge to his voice as he spoke that had not been there before, and he hated hearing the warbling crack and dip in his voice. "I'm not like my brothers, I could never hope to be, and I don't want to be. Olympus is all the poorer for it with a bastard like my brother on the throne. I go against Zeus and the others for us, my love. I'm not a monster, Persephone…am I?" he questioned, his voice cracking and breaking as he asked the one question he was not sure he wanted an answer to.

"No, Hades, you aren't," Persephone immediately tried to reassure him, looking at him with such pain in those sparkling blue eyes of hers that Hades was not sure he could stand it.

He was relieved when she took one of his icy cold hands in hers and clung to it, moving to stand beside him and watch Cerberus sleeping, one of his massively large paws twitching as he dreamt of something.

"Soon, it won't matter, sweetheart," Hades murmured, his voice low and softer than before. "The other gods on their high horses in Mount Olympus want to expose me and drag my name through their golden streets and you along with me, my love. None of them understand what I am trying to do for them. Zeus does not belong on the throne, it should be me. Olympus could be something noteworthy and great with a different ruler other than that bastard brother of mine who does not deserve the throne of his glory," he snarled, the edges of the god's lips curling in a feral snarl, revealing his sharp pointed teeth as he sneered. "Zeus and the others want to destroy everything around us that I am trying to accomplish!"

Persephone turned to look at him then, his Queen's face blank and impassive. For a moment, Hades was stricken with confusion and fear and was almost afraid to try to make out his beloved wife's expression.

But he thought he saw a kernel of understanding flick to life in his wife's eyes, and she was only just now allowing herself to believe it. That this was the only way to win.

"And are you going to let them?" she asked, her words simple but effective. Hades stared at her in awe for a moment, stunned still that this celestial-like creature, this goddess of spring, was his wife.

He wound his arms around Persephone. The two of them had never hidden their emotions in their marriage like the other gods and their wives were prone to doing.

They missed too much time with each other when Persephone would venture to the surface to spend six months of the year with her mother Demeter. They flat out refused to surrender any more time while she was here in his Underworld with him by his side. Hades drew his wife close to him, his large hands encircling the flat of her stomach and resting there. He pressed a gentle kiss to her neck and sighed.

"No. Everything I do to Zeus, I do it for us, you know that," he growled. "I do enjoy it, my Queen, how adorable you become when you are devious. You little minx." He moved his frigid lips to her temple and smiled as she snuggled closer to him, not bothered by his body's cold temperatures one bit.

"And this mortal girl who is our charge now, one thing is for sure," Persephone muttered, her expression thoughtful as she leaned her head back against Hades' chest and shook her head. "The next time we see her here in the Underworld, she will either have succeeded somehow in managing to persuade that brute Nessus to join you, or he will have killed her," she answered simply, sounding as if she fought back a grin.

Hades laughed and looked down at Persephone, grateful she was back in his arms, all thoughts of lovely Meg persuading the River Guardian out of his mind for now as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers and Persephone was more than willing to welcome them.

"Hades, my love," she murmured as she was the first one to break apart from the embrace. She drew back slightly to study his expression. "I am with you again for the first time in six months, and I have missed you, more than you could know," she whispered into the shell of his ear, a grin playing at her lips as she reached for his hand and began to lead him away. "Let's not waste it, shall we?"

Hades' heart was in his throat and his lips were dry as he allowed his wife to lead him away towards their chambers in the furthermost part of their kingdom, his mind far away from thoughts of his pretty little Nutmeg and her first assignment when they reached their chambers, Hades lost himself to the sensation of loving Persephone. As Hades gazed at Persephone, he was struck by something.

This feeling he held deep inside his black heart for his wife, this feeling that he could not explain….he liked it. Truly. Looking at his wife, and seeing her, gave the lord of the underworld a sense of peace. Happiness, even. Feelings that had never been made available to him before.

Beautiful, he thought. Perfect. Mine. He said it over and over again. He wished he had another word for it.

He leaned down and placed his mouth to hers.

MEG had no idea how she had talked herself into doing this. She was not doing this. She was not searching for a River Guardian, whatever this Nessus was meant to look like, she was not selling her soul for the promise of having her memories purged. She. Was. Not. Doing. This. Oh, but surprise! She was.

She huffed in frustration as she continued walking along the riverbank and toyed with a curl of her dark hair in between her thumb and forefinger, nibbling on the wall of her mouth as she stared out into the mists of the river. She had no idea what to do. Did she call out his name?

Why? Why was she so stupid? Meg wished she could tell herself what had come over her.

The brisk autumn air felt warmer than usual, she realized, though that could have just as easily been the blood rushing to her cheeks. She was surrounded by water and she had no idea where to begin to look for this Nessus. She did not even know if this River Guardian was a mortal or some fearsome beast.

Meg frowned wondering if she could turn back. She was already having second thoughts.

This was crazy! No, she was crazy!

Yet, here she was, alone by the river, aimlessly searching for somebody or something called Nessus, hoping to persuade him or it to join with the God of the Underworld.

For what purpose, she did not know and quickly decided she did not want to know. What was she doing? Meg pressed her palm to her forehead in annoyance. The flustered woman wished that her excited mind would quiet down for once. Nervous breaths flowed out of her burning lungs shakily.

She had to do this. She was nervous, yes, but she had given Hades her word that her soul was his in exchange for forgetting the one man who had ripped out her heart. She could not, would not, turn away now. With an angry huff, she forced herself to keep searching, one sandaled foot in front of the other.

"Ugh, I really am a stupid woman who never learns," the bewildered young woman spoke to herself in a voice that was barely above a whisper as she squinted through the mists that covered the river.

She thought she could see the faint silhouette of a man in the distance.

Feeling some hope swell in her chest, she summoned enough strength in her throat to call for the man, hoping he could pinpoint her in the right direction as to where to find Nessus.

"Uh, hello? E-excuse me, I-I'm looking for the River Guardian Nessus?" she called, ensuring her voice carried through the mists. She could see the man through the mists turn his head and her voice seemed to have reached him. She felt another surge of hope swell through her heart as he began to walk towards her, though it only took a fraction of a second to realize that something was wrong. The thing that came bounding towards her was no man, but a monster, a centaur, and a vicious one from the looks of it.

As the creature emerged from the mists and came to step into the light, a yelp left her throat and she looked up at the towering hulk of a beast that could surely only be him.

"Oh, gods, you've got to be kidding me, he told me nothing of what you were. Thing, oh, thing, get away from here!" Meg squeaked under her breath, horrified and disgusted. "Y-You're Nessus?" she whispered in a soft voice, her eyes wide as she arched her neck to look up at the massive centaur that was now coming closer to her. Her mouth went dry as it snorted by way of response and its coarse black tail gave a little twitch. Meg felt as if her chest caved in as fear and apprehension seized her entire body.

Oh, gods, could today possibly get any worse for her?

"I am. You lost, girl?" the centaur grunted in a hoarse voice calloused with ire. "What have you come to my river for? Has Hades sent another one to me?" he growled, his beady eyes narrowing in suspicion at her. Meg's resolve nearly faltered and she almost turned to run as the creature came to a halt only a few inches in front of her. But somehow, by a miracle of the gods, she managed to hold herself still, straight, and proud. Her face burned. If she did not know any better, she thought this River Guardian knew her master's scheme. Meg took a deep breath and let out a little breath before forcing herself to push forward.

She did not know what he meant by another one, but she knew she just needed to talk to him, that was it. Meg nervously wrung her hands together and began to speak, trying to sound calm and composed.

"I...I'm here on behalf of my master. Hades would like you to ally yourself with him. You would be well rewarded if you chose to," she answered in as smooth a voice as she could manage. The centaur's brows rose.

He looked at her, tilting his head to the side. "Is that so? You make me blush," he snapped, and she flushed. He gave her a mocking smile as he waited for her to speak.

Meg swallowed and shifted her weight from one foot to the next, trying to supplicate him some. "Nessus, you don't seem to have much choice. Consider my coming here a formality. If you want to remain alive and unharmed, give Hades what he wants," Meg tried to reason with it, to which she received a snort.

"And so, he sends you in his place?" Nessus growled lowly, his beady eyes slowly moving down the length of his body and back to her face. He barked out a dry laugh that stuffed the chills down Meg's throat just then. "Blonde would have perhaps been better, but you are pretty enough. You may return to your master and tell him that he will have my support…for a price, that is. My help never comes to anyone, god or otherwise, without a cost," he snarled, the edges of his lips curling upwards into a rather animalistic snarl.

Meg hesitated, unready to hear the centaur's next words.

But Nessus seemed to be in the mood to convince and continued without her bidding for him to enlighten her on his terms of this little arrangement.

"The price…for my support, sweetheart, is you," Nessus barked and lunged.

He was on Meg in a moment, placing her waist in a painful vice and lifting her off her feet before she had time to react. She cried out in pain as his large hand gripped tightly around her waist, nearly cracking a rib or two in the process as he began to stalk off with his self-proclaimed prize.

She winced and struggled to get free of him. Meg felt a solar flare of her temper erupt and the words were out of her lips before she could even stop and consider what it was that she was spouting at the centaur.

"HEY! Stop! What do you think you're doing? Get your disgusting grubby nasty sausage fingers off of me, you—you horse's ass! Let go of me! NOW!" she shouted, her temper swelling and her face reddening in anger as she lashed out a foot, hoping to aim at his chest, but missed by a longshot.

Unfortunately, her pitiful attempt at escape only seemed to provoke him.

He squeezed his abnormally large hand that was easily the size of a cart around her small waist and Meg nearly cried out in pain as she swore she felt one of her ribs crack.

The pain of her insides being crushed forced her to move her body around as tears began to come to her eyes as she felt him squeeze harder. She tried to squirm free, but Nessus was too strong.

Meg squeezed her eyes shut as his tongue darted out to lick his upper lip as he brought her closer.

A violent chill went down her spine as she felt his tongue, hot, wet, and disgusting, taste her throat and stop just under her chin and a terrified shiver ripped through her.

"Yesss, keep fighting, girl, I like 'em with a little fire in 'em, keeps things interesting for me," he whispered, his rough voice low and throaty, like a hiss that might have come from a stray cat or a snake.

It terrified Meg, but there was little she could do as she was stuck.

"Nessus, I swear to the gods, you—you beast, that Hades will kill you when he finds you you've refused him and laid hands on me," she snapped, her voice trembling.

Nessus's smile widened but it was a cold and smug gesture. Tears spilled down her cheeks and her lungs began to burn and her cracked rib hurt, more than she could comprehend. Her brain began to turn foggy.

Oh, gods, this was it. She was sure that she was going to die. She had failed her first assignment for Hades, but at least she wasn't about to be taken advantage of. Not alive anyway. She wondered if she should have called for Hades before searching for Nessus on her own. But what good could she have done? She had needed to call for help and she had failed in that regard, and now, she was dead.

The last thing she felt before black spots started to creep into her vision was a wave of unending shame.

Meg fought to keep her eyes open as she swore she heard the sound of someone's voice, not Nessus's, speaking to her, a man's voice, tenor-like, soft, and timid, even.

"Miss? A-are you alright, miss?"

Meg's mind groped for understanding as she forced herself to open her eyes and turn her head.

Had someone... come to her rescue?

From somewhere, Meg heard her voice straining a hoarse groan as she attempted to free herself, though she felt as though she could barely move with one of her ribs cracked, as just a single twisting of her waist to better look the newcomer in the eye sent an explosion of pain through her body.

"I-I'm fine," she snapped, cringing as the lie left her mouth. Gods, she wasn't fine at all, and now, to make matters worse, a stranger was witnessing her horrible humiliation and her death. "Keep…moving…Junior…" she managed to gasp out in a weak voice. "I—I can handle this on my own, buddy. Leave. Go!"

Through the haze in her mind, she could see someone, a man, standing boldly in front of the bastard Nessus and seeming to fumble for a sword at his hip.

Trying to protect her it seemed, though Meg barely had any strength left to lift her head to see more of her savior as the spots continued to dance in her vision, temporarily blinding her vision. She wondered what he looked like, but she was hardly in good physical enough condition to lift her head to look up.

She was almost pulled from her haze of semi-consciousness when she felt the life-threatening pressure around her waist let up completely and she was dropped clumsily into the water. She did not know what this man had said or done to Nessus to get his attention enough to get him to let her go, but she was grateful. Meg turned her head to the side as she coughed and tried to inhale until her heartbeats returned to normal. A fatigued ringing began to ring in her ears, drowning out most sounds around her.

Though if she strained to hear, she thought she heard Nessus yelping in pain and the sound of someone struggling against him. Good, she thought bitterly, thinking what she wouldn't give to sic a worthy adversary on the horse. A good scare would do the arrogant monster a world of good.

She struggled to stand upright and it was then that a sharp shooting pain shot through her midsection, her third or fourth in the last minute.

And then, she felt a pair of warm and calloused hands encircle her waist and she felt herself being gently pressed against a man's muscular body. She did not even recall anybody walking toward her.

Whoever this man was, he had appeared magically close in front of her without warning, and she hated it.

"Let me go…" Meg shoved him, she shoved against his chest, she was sure, strong, and harsh, she was sure. But her efforts seemed futile as the man was still clinging to her.

Her breathing became panicked. Oh, gods. No. Please. No… Her tongue felt thick and when she tried to speak, it felt like heavy clay in her mouth. Exhausted, Meg couldn't fight anymore.

She knew she must have been saved, but she did not wish to be. She had failed Hades. The God the Underworld would surely punish her if not outright kill her himself for such an outrageous failure on her first assignment. The darkness in her vision came for her once more. This time, Meg reached for it.

Even in the embrace of black, under the watchful and vigilant eye of her unexpected savior, this…Wonder Boy, Meg whispered the only word that still meant anything to her anymore.

"Adonis," she sighed, and then slipped into a deep sleep.

She could just barely make out the stranger's handsome face peering at her in curiosity through her eyelashes fluttering before she faded off completely and went limp in the man's muscular strong arms.

Megara was not aware that she had just been saved by a son of Zeus, the mighty Hercules himself.