…Once seeing the king walk forward; Meg immediately stormed away, and hid behind Pegasus. The white stallion didn't budge, but he looked at her with utter confusion. She whispered to him through fearful sobs; "Whatever you do, horse-feathers. PLEASE…..don't move." Although he would have done the exact opposite if she had asked the same request several hours ago; Meg was no longer his enemy, so he stayed put. "Meg, isn't this….M-Meg?" Hercules asked as he looked around for her. She was just here a second ago. He thought. Moments later, he saw the bottom half of her dress hidden behind Pegasus. What's she doing over there? He shook the thought from his head, and walked towards them. "Ugh….Meg? You okay?" He asked. She straightened up; quickly making sure she wouldn't be seen by anyone else. "Of course! Uhm…..I just wanted to….check on Ol' horse-feathers." She forced a smile while petting the stallion's cheek. Still worried that Hercules wouldn't be convinced; Pegasus lovingly nuzzled his head into Meg's neck, just to confirm her reply. He bought it, and smiled back. "Okay, well….King Creon has invited us all to the palace; I'm sure he'd love to meet you." Meg nodded, putting on her happy face. "That sounds….great." She almost choked on the last word, but somehow managed to say it. Hercules suddenly took Meg's hand, and guided her forward. Wait! He means NOW!? She screamed to herself. "Ugh wait! Herc?" Hercules looked back at her; stopping dead in his tracks. "C-Can't we…meet him later? I'm just…...not used to meeting a whole bunch of new people all at one time." She bit her bottom lip; praying he wouldn't push forward. Thankfully, he didn't. "Oh, I'm sorry…..yes; we'll just meet him later then." He said while kissing her forehead. She sighed with satisfaction, finally able to genuinely smile. She already had to deal with Hercules' parents today; she really didn't want to bring her own father into the equation.

…Even after 2 hours; the party was still very much alive. Everyone was having a great time, well….almost everyone. Meg had spent most of the time avoiding her father to the very best of her abilities; all while trying to convince Hercules that she was fine. Her attempts were short-lived though. He quickly caught on that she distressed about something. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He pulled her off to the side….again, and asked. "Alright, what's wrong?" She shook her head, and tried acting confused. "Nothing, I'm perfectly…" Hercules interrupted and gave her a *would you just tell me* look. "Meg?" She finished her previous sentence with a defeated sigh. "Fine." After lowering her head, Hercules gently lifted her chin back up so she would look at him. "Hey? You know you can tell me anything." He then smirked, and whispered softly. "No matter what…I'll always love you." She couldn't help but smirk back at him; his smile was just so contagious. With another sigh escaping her lips; Meg looked around to make sure no one was watching, took Hercules' hand, and walked outside on the balcony. After collecting her thoughts, Meg looked up into Herc's worried eyes, and began. "I-I….I should have told you this earlier, but" the rest of her sentence suddenly seemed to get caught in her throat, but she somehow made something come out; even if it was a soft whisper. "But, I was afraid." Hercules took her hands in his again, and spoke with a firm; yet gentle tone of voice. "Meg? You know you can tell me anything." She nodded, and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. How am I supposed to tell him that my father is the king of Thebes?! And then I'll have to explain EVERYTHING to him; about my family, why I ran away from home, my deal with Hades, and.….Adrian. Tears started welling in her eyes just to the thought, but she held them back as if she was trying to save the last bit of independence still left in her.

-Flashback-

…A middle-aged man with silver and black hairs coming from his beard and under his crown; walks through a narrow hallway of the palace. His purple robe symbolizing his regal attire; drags faintly across the floor. Several servants tending some potted plants watch as their master walks up, and gently knocks on a door. They could barely hear him ask; "Sweetheart? May I come in for a moment?" He waited, and then finally heard his daughter answer back; "H-Hold on, just a sec!" The king shook his head, smirking. "Your sisters and I have been waiting for," he then was interrupted by the girl. "I know. I know…I accidentally slept in!" She finally rushed out of the room; her curly, auburn hair was practically falling out of place, and she was still trying to tie her sandal. King Creon looked her over, and let out a sarcastic sigh as he placed his hands on his sides as if to say he was disappointed. Even though he wasn't, he was trying his hardest not to smile and look at her sternly. When she looked up at him and saw his expression, she could immediately see through him. Letting out a small chuckle, she then copied her father's pose; placing her hands on her hips. "You told me to hurry, what did you expect? To come out looking like some goddess?" She said sarcastically with a hint of harshness. He then relaxed his posture, realizing he could never win that certain charade with his daughter, and then replied back. "No, but I was expecting the princess of Thebes." She then rolled her eyes; always hating being called a princess. "Yeah," She started. "And that's exactly what you got. So perk up, and let's go to that ceremony already!" She started to walk off, but her bangs flew down in front of her face, messing her ponytail up even more. "Ugh!" The king chuckled with her annoyed attitude, and then said softly as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "How about we fix that hair of yours first? In front of your pretty face like that, it might just get in the way. Don't you think?" She scoffed, but nodded in agreement as he led her back to her room.

…Sitting in a chair; she put a hand under her bangs so she could see. She watched her father walk over to a dresser and pick up a small brush lying on the top. "Aren't we going to be late?" She asked to relieve the silence. As he walked back over to her, he pushed the hair out of her face, and said; "trust me, I think it'll be alright if we're a bit off schedule. Besides, we have a major crisis on our hands." The young girl chuckled, and shook her head; knowing she just walked right into that one. "Right; let's call the hair police, shall we?" She replied as she blew a couple stray hairs out of her violet eyes. Just as King Creon was about to answer, his eldest daughter came bursting into the room. She had curly, blond hair that draped down her back, and her dress was far more beautiful than the one her little sister was wearing. Even though they were related by blood, the two were very different. "Astraia, what are you going to fuss about this time?" asked the king's younger daughter. Astraia crosses her arms over her chest and glared at her little sister. "Fuss about this time? Okay…hum, let's see. How about the fact that we're going to be late for the ceremony?" Asked the clearly aggravated young woman. "Dear, we're almost ready. But, I'm going to need you to calm down;" said her father. She let out a heavy sigh, but nodded softly. Creon was the only one who could ever calm Astraia down. Even when she was a small child, her mother's attempts always seemed to fail. Sadly, she committed suicide not long after their two sons were murdered. After their death, not only did Creon have to take care of his three daughters alone, but all of Thebes as well. And without a rightful heir to the throne, he knew that he would have to let his eldest daughter marry as soon as possible. As long as she was able to have a son, he wouldn't have to choose a long distance relative as the next king. The thought of wedding his daughter at only seventeen made him feel awful. But, every time he looked in a mirror and saw the grey hairs, and how much older he appeared; it only made him realize what he had to do for his kingdom. As these thoughts raced through his mind, his oldest daughter was still getting herself ready while his youngest noticed the look of sadness in his eyes. She was almost able to read his mind, and even though she was three years younger than her oldest sister, she was far wiser on these sorts of things. Gently, she took his hand to bring him back to reality, and looked up at him with a soft smile across her face. She then whispered; "everything's going to be alright…I promise." Creon couldn't help but smile back. The look of innocence on her face, and in the tone of her voice; was great enough to comfort him for a moment. He slowly knelt down in front of her, pushing back the last strand of hair from her face, and whispered back; "thanks. I needed to hear that." Smiling once more, he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the forehead. "What would I do without you?" He asked. The girl smirked, and then whispered in his ear; "you'd have to go to this stupid ball alone with Astraia and Jocasta. I'm going just to pull you off from the throats of all the guys who are going to be drooling over them." Creon let out a soft chuckle, knowing she wasn't being completely sarcastic about this.

…Finally at the entrance Astraia and Creon's second oldest daughter Jocasta raced inside; slowly followed by their father and little sister. Once the four were inside; they all looked around in awe. Kings, queens, princes, and princesses from all around the world had gathered there that evening. While Astraia and Jocasta walked around, greeting themselves to all the handsome young princes, Creon was keeping an extremely close eye on the two, while his youngest daughter headed straight for the buffet table. It was the only reason she actually liked coming to these types of events; the food was always amazing. Right as she was about to pick up a piece of pita bread, she felt someone bump into her. Even though she didn't fall over, the person's ignorance seemed to enrage her. "Hey, why don't you watch were you're going?!" She almost yelled. It wasn't loud enough for anyone else to hear, just enough to get her point across to the young boy standing nervously in front of her. He started stuttering; "I-I ugh…I'm s-sorry…I didn't mean to…to ugh, bump into you." Starting to feel bad as she saw fear in the boy's golden-brown eyes, she just smiled at him, and then replied. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have over-reacted like that." As he started to relax again, smiling back, she couldn't help but notice how charming he really was. He had dark, black hair that seemed to intensify his eye color even greater than it already was, and he was also fairly well-built for his age. Suddenly, she started to feel nervous and week in the knees as she continued to look him over; she had hardly noticed that he was doing the same in return. "Uhm, I'm Adrian." He said trying to break the silence. Her smile only seemed to widen as she replied back; "m-my name's…"

{Okay, so I know I just posted my first chapter here only two days ago. BUT, I wanted to finish my little cliffhanger, and post this. Each chapter will probably be a week or two apart though. Life's been kinda crazy at the moment, and I don't have much time to write. So if I'm late on the next few updates, I just want to apologize in advance. Thank you all SO much for the support, God bless.}