Disclaimer: I own nothing. Seriously, what can a student afford these days?

A/N: I'd like to thank those of you who have reviewed my little story. I love receiving feedback as it's one of the most rewarding things any writer can achieve. Thank you :)

"How's he doing?"

Iolaus looked over to where Theseus was standing by the doorway and shook his head. Words could not explain what he was feeling right now. Quietly, the dark cadet walked over to Hercules' bedside and took a chair. Word had been sent to Alcmene that afternoon. It was now late in the night and the demigod was surrounded by his friends and Cheiron. Fidicius was talking to the healer on the other side of the room. One look over there told Theseus that the healer had no idea what was wrong with his friend. He looked back at his friends. Jason was sitting silently, his face made out of stone, impassive. Only his troubled eyes gave him away. Lilith looked like she was on the verge of tears and Iolaus.... He just looked a wreck. The somber atmosphere was too much to bear. Lashing out, Theseus kicked a chair in frustration. None of them bothered to look and continued to stare at Hercules, not knowing what was wrong with him.

Cheiron's hand was at his chin, clearly deep in thought. "Do any of you remember anything that could have happened to him? Anything at all?" They all shook their heads.

Then Jason jumped up. "Hey! What about that young singer that he met outside at Kora's! Maybe she did something to him. Herc did say something about feeling strange after she did something to him."

Lilith shook her head. "No, remember, all she did was give him a few bruises and bumps. Nothing that she did could leave Hercules like this."

The centaur hummed a bit more, then asked, "Then where did he get this cut on his arm from?"

The cadets just looked at each other, horror showing on their faces. As if reading each other's minds, they all voiced, "Ares."

"What has Ares got to do with this?"

Jason turned to his mentor, then said, "Each hilt on their swords had a symbol on it. They were Ares'." He then retold the story that Hercules had told them.

"Then the cut must be the problem." With that, the centaur surveyed the cut a little more closely, but didn't notice any discolouration. He turned the arm around in his hands, thinking. "Perhaps there was a poison on the dagger, but I'm not sure a poison would be able to kill a demigod so easily. At least not this quickly."

"Hind's blood." They all looked over at Iolaus, who had stayed quiet this whole time. "Hind's blood. It's simple. It can kill a god, so why not a demigod? I mean, if he were an actual god, the stuff would have killed him much quicker, but since he's not, it's just taking a bit longer."

"But then wouldn't his mortal half keep him alive if that side of him would not be affected?" asked Lilith hopefully.

Cheiron perked up at her words. "We shall soon see. There is no known cure for this infliction. We are just going to have to wait it out and hope for the best."

The night passed anxiously. Between holding down the youth on the bed and untangling him from his bed sheets, they just stared around the room, never making eye contact with the others in case their worst fears would be confirmed by the others' eyes. They knew how grim the situation was, nobody was attempting to lighten the mood. Not even Iolaus. In fact, he looked the worse of them all. He just kept holding Hercules' hand and staring down at his pale form. It wasn't when Hercules would thrash around that worried them. It was when he went completely motionless. It was like he was dead. Jason would continually check his pulse at these times. Eventually Iolaus got so fed up with the prince that he would swat the hand away, daring the prince to place his hand on Hercules again. By the end of the night, tempers were running high.

It was nearing dawn when they heard someone's voice. "You can't come in here!" It was Fidicius. "This academy is only accessible by students and special-" Silence rippled through the air.

Cheiron charged out the door, spotting the intruder heading towards the dormitories. He ran back to the room. "Theseus, sound the alarm! Quickly!" Theseus at once raced out of the doors and disappeared outside. The next minute the alarm bell could be heard, followed by the shouts of the cadets being woken up and finding an armed intruder it their midst. "You three, stay in here. Look after him," he ordered, nodding towards Hercules' still form, which was starting to twitch slightly, moaning softly in pain.

Loud clashes of battle sounded throughout the corridors. Jason quickly unsheathed his sword while Iolaus spotted a chair, shattering it with a strike of his foot and grabbed a couple legs to defend with, throwing Lilith the other two. Silence filled the air, with it a creeping dread. They waited for a long time before Jason edged towards the doorway cautiously, just about to peer around the corner when a foot came up to meet his chin, sending stars across his vision.

Iolaus jumped as Jason tumbled to the ground to reveal a blur of a person barreling down on him, sending him into a wall, stunning him momentarily. That moment was far too long. He blinked back the black walls closing in on his world in time to see Lilith lying on the floor, the attacker kneeling beside her, her face a mask of fury, her sword poised straight at Lilith's throat, Lilith looking death in the face.

Yet nothing happened. There was no blood, no choked cry from his friend. Just silence. The attacker, Iolaus and Jason realizing to be the singer from before that had saved their lives, just kneeled there. Her face contorted as though not knowing what to do. Finally a horrified look came to her expression and she stumbled to her feet, casting the sword away from her on the flood where it clanged loudly. She shuddered at the sound.

Lilith crawled on her back as quickly as she could until she met with Iolaus' legs. He helped her stand up, then glanced over at Jason, relieved, but confused at the same time. All three looked back over to the intruder, fully expecting her to start attacker them again. Iolaus glanced over to where Hercules was, behind the girl. He had to get over there!

He was about to move to attack the girl when Lilith touched Iolaus' shoulder. Jason shook his head as well, then went back to staring at the girl. She just stared at her sword, eyes unmoving, not noticing the others in the room. They then heard her whisper softly, "I failed..." Her face then contorted into disgust and she made to leave while Jason got out of the way quickly.

Just as she reached the door, she finally noticed Hercules, lying on the bed, his form deathlike and pale. Her face remained an impassive mask. "What happened to him?" she asked forcefully.

"He was... He was cut. The blades at Kora's were dipped in... hind's blood," Iolaus finished, not quite sure why he even told her that. At once he regretted it as she made her way over to where Hercules lay. Jason and Iolaus jumped at once to his side, blocking her path to him.

"Let me pass. This is my fault. I must correct it."

"So it was you who cut him!" Iolaus spat. Jason held back the former thief, afraid at what he might do. They heard a moan come from the bed behind him. A much weaker one than any before.

"No. It was not me personally, but it mind as well have been. He would not be in this situation if..." She glanced over at Lilith, who stared confusedly back. "Let me see him. I can help. He will die if you don't." Realizing that she was right, Lilith walked up to Iolaus and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, leading him away from the bed, while Jason stood on the guard as their attacker made her way to the bedside. Drawing up a chair, she sat down beside the demigod, who was silent once more. His face was dry and clammy and pale as a ghost. His hair was drenched with sweat and shivers wracked his body. He was indeed dying. She picked his wrist in a gentle embrace and felt for a pulse. She found it, but just barely. She guessed that the young legend had only the rest of the night, if not less.

"There's no other choice..." they heard her mutter to herself. Before any could inquire on what she had said, the girl laid herself across Hercules chest, placing her ear by his heart and closing her eyes, her brow furrowed in concentration. She stayed like that for a few more moments before a blue glow started to surround her and grow, spreading to Hercules, turning into a brilliant gold glow enveloping both. All the three could do was stare in awe and the spectacle.

The gold light slowly turned into red, drawing a groan from Hercules and the girl's face to contort into a grimace. The eerie red light flowed away from Hercules and back to the girl and abruptly went out. The girl's form tensed, then went limp on top of Hercules. Lilith just stood there, lost for words. Jason, not quite knowing why, let out a sigh of relief while Iolaus rushed to Hercules' side, followed a second later by his two friends. He checked for a pulse Hercules and found one. One that was much stronger! Jason checked the girl's and found it to be weak. Motioning Iolaus to help, they lifted her to another bed and Lilith placed blankets around her.

Whatever she had done, it looked like it may have given Hercules and fighting chance.

Hercules' vital signs were gaining strength with every hour, although Cheiron was quick to point out that Hercules' recovery would be long in coming. He admitted that he had no idea how long the girl's would take. In fact, her life signs were fading. Not as drastically as Hercules' had, but they were fading non-the-less. And, like Hercules, he had no idea how to treat her. All they could do was hope for the best.

A couple days passed and it was now in the middle of the night. Iolaus was propped up in a chair, his head resting gently on his chest. Lilith was sprawled at the foot of the girl's bed and Jason was lying on one of the spare beds.

The demigod's hand twitched slightly, feeling the soft covers placed around him. The air was warm and comforting, smelling sweetly. Silence filled his ears, broken only by soft breathing to his right. Hercules dared not open his eyes, fearing that this was only an illusion that would fade away.

He didn't want the nightmares to start again. He could see his friends. All of them at Kora's during the fight, the sword slicing through Lilith. He watched her collapse over and over again. He could see Iolaus' stricken face as a table leg was brought down on his head, sending him to the floor. Jason was nowhere to be found as was Theseus and Kora. The next thing he knew, his anger rose to unparalleled heights and all he could see was a screen of red cloud his vision. It would finally vanish and he would find himself staring down at Cheiron's unmoving form on the road, blood seeping from numerous wounds. He would then look down at his hands. They were covered in blood. Then the dream would start all over again.

Shuddering, he decided that he would have to find out sometime anyway. Opening his eyes a crack because the light hurt his eyes, he let them focus until they could be opened far enough to recognize Iolaus' sleeping form next to the bed he was lying on.

"Iolaus?" His voice sounded rasp.

Instantly the hunter's eyes snapped open and stared down at Hercules. "Hercules! You're awake!" The thief immediately embraced the demigod in a vice-like hug, squeezing the life out of him.

Hercules tried to return the greeting, though it was a bit weaker than usual. "I'd like to breathe now if you don't mind." Iolaus quickly let Hercules go and sat back, running his hand through is hair distractedly. "Where are the others? Are they okay?" He paused a moment. "Where's Lilith?" he asked, a bit more frantic than he intentioned.

"Right here," Lilith called back groggily, rubbing sleep from her eyes. A moment later she realized who had spoken and screeched, jumped up, and gave Hercules a hug, though a bit more restrained than Iolaus had been, mindful of his still weakened state.

Jason then came sauntering over and smile down at his friend. "Nice to see sleeping beauty here finally woke up. We were a little worried for a moment there."

Hercules grinned a bit. "Well, was there any doubt? Of course I'd wake up! I just don't understand how I fell asleep in the first place." Jason then clued Hercules in to all that had happened until that moment. When he finished, Hercules looked around the room to find the girl lying on the bed opposite him. She looked so frail.... "What's wrong with her?"

Lilith, who had been looking after her, took over. "Well, we're not quite sure what she did to you, so we don't know how to treat her. We think that she has the same disease that you had, but it's hard to tell. We don't know how to treat her."

"Take her outside." All three looked at Hercules as if he were insane. Instead, he just shrugged a bit. "Just do it."

"Where did that come from?"

"I don't know, but I just have this feeling.... Just trust me on this. We have to take her outside."

Jason spoke up quickly at what Hercules had just said. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you mean by 'we'? I think you mean 'you guys'. You're not in any condition to go anywhere!" Hercules just stared him down, knowing that Jason would not budge on the subject.

"I think that's a good idea." The cadets jumped at the sound of Cheiron's voice. "Iolaus and Jason, you support Hercules on either side and Lilith, I believe that Theseus is resting in his room. Go get him. I believe he'd like to greet Hercules as well." With that, Lilith sprinted off down the corridor. "We'll take her outside to the clearing by the academy."

"But Cheiron, Herc just woke up..." Iolaus protested.

Cheiron looked at Hercules for a moment, then asked, "Would you like to stay in here?" The young demigod shook his head. "There you have it then. Iolaus. Jason. Help Hercules to his feet." They did as they were told, noting that Hercules could barely sit up from his bed. But they made do by taking Hercules' arms around their shoulders. Sighing, they left the room to find Theseus and Lilith, the former gasping slightly as he welcomed Hercules back to the world of the living. Hercules and his two supporters then set out, trailing behind Cheiron who was carrying the girl with ease. Lilith trailed behind with Theseus.

They approached the clearing eventually, held up some by the stubborn demigod who refused to be left behind. They lowered Hercules gently onto a fallen log and placed the strange girl in the centre of the clearing. "Now back up," Hercules ordered. They all did so without questioning him.

They looked around the clearing, noting that the birds, which had been chirping loudly just a minute ago, were now silenced. Not even the trees' leaves rustled. Iolaus shivered at the thought.

Then the silence was broken by a hissing voice. "Ianthosai binei shithsa." The spectators looked around in surprise, trying to find the source of the voice, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. The phrase was repeated over and over again, rising to a booming command.

Then it all of a sudden stopped. The clearing erupted. The wind picked up, tearing leaves from the trees. The earth shook slightly, causing those standing to lose their footing. Jason and Iolaus quickly braced Hercules on the log and lowered him to in front of it, resting with it behind his back. They did likewise. Red lights started drawing forth from the girl, rising slowly, then dispersing into the air and earth. Nature, in turn, sent out blue lights and entered into her body. Eventually the air and earth settled down and the clearing was once again hushed. They all just stared at the girl's still form, not quite sure what had just happened.

Hercules was the first to recover from the shock. Getting Iolaus and Jason to support him, they made their way to the girl's side. He kneeled next to her while the others stayed standing. Slowly, Hercules cupped her chin in his hand, feeling the contours of her finely sculpted jaw. Her eyes tightened slightly, then loosened, revealing dazzling blue-grey eyes.

She blinked once, then her eyes focused on Hercules'. "Nadya." She swallowed nervously. "My name is Nadya."

Hercules grinned boyishly. "Well, it's nice to meet you finally. Nadya," he added, glad to finally be able to use the name. She smiled awkwardly at the warmth that he radiated at her. "I am told that it was you that saved my life."

Nadya slowly sat up, looking down at her hands. "You would never have gotten in that situation if not for me."

"What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "I – I can't tell you why... I'm sorry."

Theseus jumped in at this point. "Well, no matter! Everybody's okay now. No lasting harm done." Nadya gave him a sorrowful look, but refrained from voicing her feelings. She had destroyed one of the greatest heroes of all times life. How could they understand?