(I know the story of Heracles for the most part. I know the important things about his birth and his parents and all. Because I want to keep this K+ rated I changed some things. So, there's a mixture of Greek mythology and Disney-fied Hercules. Check out the story of Heracles.)

Chapter Five: Fathom's Below

"I ASK OF YOU ONE THING! ONE THING! GET IT RIGHT!"

The whole school shook as the yell erupted through the air. Birds flew from the trees and the ground seemed to rumble. Our current protagonist was unlucky enough to be standing right next to where the roar came from. He and his friends jumped and covered their ears as they peered through the glass window on the door to see who or what was causing such a noise.

Through the window, they saw the band room and Mr. Sebastian Krab looming over whom they assumed was a new girl. The Live, Love, & Play Music poster, which normally covered the whole window, was hanging diagonally, providing a full view of Mr. Krab and only half of the girl. The only visible part of the girl was her lower half and a gold nautical shell necklace next to her foot. She fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat and tried to shrink down as small as a crab. In the corner near Mr. Krab was a young boy. He stood there terrified, eyes wide and shaking like crazy. His bottom lip was trembling and his mouth was moving wildly, attempting to form words. Mr. Krab opened his mouth and another loud scream burst through the air, this time a bit louder than the previous one. If our protagonist and his friends were getting their eardrums shattered just by being right outside the door, who knows what type of torture was occurring to the girl and the boy's.

One of the friends, a tall, muscular boy who was also quarterback, smiled and let out a small sigh. The other, who had long brown hair and seemed depressed, only let out a grunt.

"I never thought anyone could be as bad as Coach Octetes," the tall one said, examining his reflection in the window.

"I never thought anyone could be as annoying as you," said the depressed-looking one. He turned and faced the tall one, raising head to look him in the eye. "Sometimes I wonder why I waste my time on you people. At least Eric is normal."

Sometimes Eric couldn't believe how his popularity had affected his choice in friends. It was weird, to say the least. He was good-looking and charming enough to hang out with Philip and his group, but at the same time, he could never truly fit in. Then there was Max and his gang. Eric was adventurous and pretty laid back, but Max and his friends had been together for as long as he could remember and didn't seem too set in breaking their social circle. Also, they weren't exactly the most popular kids at Disney High. If we had a popularity hierarchy, you would probably expect Philip and his friends somewhere close up, Eric in the middle, and Max and his friends near the bottom. Basically, Eric wasn't popular enough to hang out with the "cool" kids and too popular to hang out with the "uncool" kids.

And yet, he had made friends with the quarterback and the loner.

Eric had been a friend of Herc's, the quarterback, since Herc transferred to Disney High from Olympus Academy sophomore year. Herc was not popular when he first transferred. He was scrawny and hadn't grown into his feet or his eyes. He was also pretty clumsy and bit shy. After knocking over the bikes outside of the school and ruining a senior's car, he was forever dubbed unpopular. He remained that way until he got the bright idea to become the star football player just like his biological father had at Olympus High. He spent everyday training with Coach Octetes. When the first day of this school year came up, girls were falling head over heels in love with the new Herc.

Now the other one, Adam, was bit more complicated. Adam was a snotty brat who was born with a silver – correction, platinum – spoon in his mouth. When his parents died, they left all the money to Adam, but he would only get it when he legally became an adult and when his legal guardian, Great Aunt Fae, said he could. Well, Great Aunt Fae wasn't going to give it to him that easily. First, he had to prove that he could actually be a nice and sincere gentleman instead of a – and I quote – "Good for nothing whippersnapper". Great Aunt Fae jokingly gave him a rose one day and told him that if he was lucky, he could plant a rose garden and sell the flowers on the street if he wanted to earn some extra cash. She thought the joke was funny; Adam did not. Anyway, Adam was still a bratty, little jerk when he came to Disney High and had tried to separate himself from the other students because he believed that he was better than them. The other students stayed away because of Adam's "back off" attitude, but Eric was the only one who bothered giving him a chance.

Eric was the glue keeping these two together. And from killing each other.

Mr. Krab was done yelling now and he took his place at the podium with baton in hand. He began conducting and the girl started to sing:

"Bet'cha on land they understand/Bet they don't reprimand their daughters/Bright, young woman sick of swimming ready to stand—"

"NO! NO! NO!" Mr. Krab boomed. "You didn't crescendo! How are you supposed to make a statement that you're longing if you don't crescendo? When you sing 'ready to stand', you need to blossom. Do you hear me, girl? B-L-O-S-S-O-M!"

Herc was ready to leave because he was sick of all the yelling. Adam was just wishing this day were over. Eric, on the other hand, kept his ear close to the door, straining to hear the girl continue singing. He didn't hear much of her beautiful voice, though, because it was drowned out or disrupted by Mr. Krab's yelling. Anyone could tell just by hearing the girl sing for a few moments that she had a set of lungs, but Mr. Krab must have the a larynx and vocal chords of a god! Only someone immortal could scream so much and never lose his voice.

Herc picked Eric up and tossed him over his gigantic shoulder. He and Adam walked down the hall towards their fifth period classes, gym for Herc and Eric and science for Adam. They departed ways at the stairwell, Herc still carrying Eric, and heading out the front doors across the quad and Adam heading upstairs. As they walked across the quad, they attracted the attention of some students, especially the ones who had no clue what their usual demeanor was like.

"Herc, put me down!" Eric protested for the millionth time in a row.

"Not a chance!" Herc laughed.

"Put me down, Heracles!"

Herc dropped Eric on the ground where he landed with a thud. One thing that Eric knew was that no matter how strong, handsome, proud, or cocky Herc was, he was insecure about his full name. When he was adopted, or better yet found and then adopted, his name was Alcides, which I suppose was after his adopted mother Alcmene. He legally changed his name later when he found his biological father. To get on his stepmother's good side, he changed his name to Heracles after her name, Hera. He went by Herc so people wouldn't get a connection between his name and his stepmother's. That, and if you knew the whole story, you would see why he wouldn't want to be reminded of her. There's a common trend in stepmother evilness in this town.

The two continued onward to gym getting a bunch of Herc, you're so cute's and will you go with me to the homecoming dance with me, Eric?'s. Herc was basking in the limelight, loving every second of it. Eric couldn't care less. He didn't really want a bunch of girls pining after him, but he didn't feel like going after any girls either. That was before he heard the girl of his dreams.

I say heard because if you remember, he never really saw the mysterious girl. It was hard for Eric to come to terms with it, but right now, he felt like he was pulling a Charming, trying to find a mysterious girl who he has no clue what she looks like (even though in Eric's case it's forgivable because he never saw her) and attempting to find her based on something really vague. He couldn't get a good listen of her voice, but he remembered the song. He'll probably have to ask Mr. Krab later today who the girl was or maybe track down the kid in the corner who was really close to crying.

In gym class they were doing the swim unit. The boys changed into their swim trunks and got into the pool. They swam a few laps, treaded water, saw how long they could hold their breath, and practiced different strokes. Eric was a really good swimmer. He was captain of the diving team, and he would have been captain of the swim team, but there was something more exhilarating about diving down into the water, feeling free for a few seconds before splash! Today his amazing swimming skills failed him.

There was this guy, Gaston, a major jerk and the most hated guy at Disney High. He had to prove himself to everyone. He had to be the best at everything; it was sickening. Gaston didn't want to be shown up, and even though he wasn't the strongest swimmer, he still had to prove himself to Eric. So, what Gaston did was he swam up to Eric while Coach Flotsam was busy talking to his brother and shoved him down into the water.

Gaston was much stronger than Eric, not Herc strong but strong enough. He then swam down, pushing Eric further under. Gaston didn't mean to hurt Eric, but he didn't seem to notice that Eric's body was starting to go limp. Gaston returned to the surface and expected Eric to swim back up, but he didn't. He figured Eric was just joking around or whatever, so he continued with class.

One person did realize that Eric wasn't just joking. They dived into the deep end of the pool, ignoring the yells of protest from Coach Flotsam and the other students. Grabbing Eric, they swam with all their might and brought him up to the surface. Between mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, they yelled at someone to get the nurse. Eric began gasping for air and opened his eyes just enough to see the shape of a female face. He couldn't get a good look at her, though, as once the nurse came, the girl was yanked away by Coach Flotsam because females, whether they saved a life or not, were not allowed in the pool during male swim hour.

At least Eric was safe…