That night, Jason stole into the palace once more. He'd just been filled with a desire to see the prince again. He was utterly lost in the palace and had to resort to hiding behind statues, lest he be caught by the patrolling guards. He roamed endless corridors and was beginning to despair when he suddenly turned and bumped into Korinna. The blonde woman raised an eyebrow upon seeing him, but took his arm and led him somewhere private. Placing a finger to her lips, she left him. Words were not exchanged, but Jason knew what she was going to do.
"You have a visitor." Korinna whispered to Pythagoras as she passed him. She knew he had wanted to see him again, and sure enough, his face lit up and he all but ran to where she told him Jason was staying.
The force with which Pythagoras threw himself at Jason almost knocked the hero off his feet. He held tightly onto the slender blonde and gratefully breathed in his scent of wax, lemon oil and sun.
"I'm so glad to see you." Pythagoras muttered, not breaking his hold on Jason.
Jason kissed his temple and relished holding him in his arms. It had not been long since they'd last seen each other, yet he'd missed him terribly. "I missed you, too."
"So you risked your life coming to see me?" Pythagoras pulled back and raised an eyebrow teasingly.
"I'm risking my life to marry you in a couple of months." Jason lightly retorted, tugging gently on one of Pythagoras' golden curls. He knew he would lose, but couldn't risk worrying or saddening the prince. Not now.
Jason gently nudged the blonde's chin, making sapphire blue eyes look into coffee brown ones. Slowly, lips met and tongues danced together and all that mattered was that they were together, and nothing, not Pankrations, not Minotaurs, not parents, not potential lovers, was important anymore.
"I don't want to be without you." Pythahoras murmured into the kiss. "It's crazy, but..." Shyly he looked up into Jason's eyes, unsure of what to say.
Jason threaded golden tangles in his fingers. "I know. But since when did love make sense, anyway?"
Pythagoras chuckled, trying not to be too loud, worrying for anyone to hear them. "I," he said trying to look into Jason's eyes, "think I'm falling in love with you."
"Can I tell you a secret?" Jason asked.
"Yes." Pythagoras whispered back.
"I think I'm falling too." Jason said, quietly. Without giving the blonde time to reply, he captured his soft, pink lips once more.
"And where were you, last night?" Ariadne teased.
"I was visiting someone." Jason grinned. His night with Pythagoras had been wonderful, with stolen kisses and embraces, talking, laughing.
Ariadne beamed as she tore off a hunk of bread, passing it to him. "I'm glad for you both."
"If only I was to win this bloody Pankration." Jason sighed, feeling disheartened as he remembered his fate.
"Come on," Ariadne soothed patting his shoulder. "Perhaps his husband will die." she told him, cheerily.
Jason had no time to retort to this rather shocking statement as Hercules decided to enter the room, muttering about 'rough nights' and 'strong women'. Whatever he'd been up to last night, he now had diffculty walking. Jason grimaced at the thoughts that invaded his mind from what he could see and tried to think of Pythagoras.
Suddenly, new images came to him, of him and Pythagoras laying on a bed, bodies entwined, arms and legs entangled... He started smiling at the thought.
Ariadne rolled her eyes and gently poked him out of his daydream. "Come on, stop thinking those sinful thoughts. We've got work to do."
"What kind of work?" Hercules asked suspiciously as Jason tried to shake the thoughts of fooling around with Pythagoras from his head.
"We have to get 7 bags of strawberries for a merchant."
"Can't he do it?" Hercules groaned.
"No." Come on, he's paying us a thousand just to pick some berries. The trees are in the middle of the forest. Get ready, both of you."
"The middle of the forest?" Hercules repeated.
"Yes." Ariadne answered, stiffly.
"As in Dionysus are, the middle of the forest."
"Yes."
"No. We'll get killed and you'll be taken. I'm not having it." Hercules told her.
"Hercules.." Ariadne began firmly.
"Look, Pythagoras' friend, what's her name..."
"Medusa." Ariadne reminded him.
"Yes. She got taken."
"She ran away."
"She got taken. No nine year old can move that fast."
"Fine. I'll just go by myself." Ariadne snapped. She went into her room. angrily swishin g the curtain shut. When she came back out, almost bent over backwards due to the weight of her pack, Hercules sighed.
"I know we need money, but I don't want you getting taken by the priestesses, that's all."
"I won't be. Not if I'm careful." Ariadne looked at the pack, eyes narrowed. "I should probably try to hire a horse. I can't carry it all by myself."
"I'll come with you." Jason offered.
"Thanks, but I don't want you straining yourself."
"For the gods' sake. I'll come too, you know I wouldn't let you go alone." Hercules told her.
"Thanks." Ariadne muttered. She dumped the pack into Hercules' arms. He was stronger than he looked, for he didn't even stagger or strain with its weight. He settled it onto his back and watched as Ariadne started stuffing bread, fruit, vegtables and spices into another bag. Handing it to Jason, she took up seven brightly coloured bags and stuffed them into a black pot. Tying her long, black hair into a plait, she went to open the door for the boys. Jason started to wonder what Hercules had been talking about when he'd mentioned priestesses. He'd been imagining the prince again while Hercuiles and Ariadne had been arguing. He only hoped they weren't too dangerous.
"What's in here anyway?" Hercules puffed after setting the pack down.
"Weapons. You didn't think I'd let us leave unprepared, did you?"
Jason looked around the eery dark blue of the clearing. They were near a sacred temple of some sort, so they should be safe, yet he felt as though something was watching them.
"What are these priestesses?" Jason asked, sitting next to Ariadne.
"They are the followers of Dionysus. They are women, and they sacrifice men and take other women that they find to be a part of their cult."
"That's terrible." Jason shivered.
"It is." Ariadne sighed.
"What is it?" Jason could tell something was worrying her.
"I'm just thinking of Medusa."
"Medusa?" Jason repeated, feeling uneasy.
"Yes. She was Pythagoras' firend growing up. One day, they were in the woods, he was comforting her and the next thing he knew she was no longer there. She'd vanished. The Maenads don't go so close to the city, yet there are some who believe she was taken."
"Do you believe that?"
"I think she might have ran away, yet...Something strange definitely happened that day."
"Does Pythagoras remember what happened?"
"No. It's gone from his memory."
Somewhere an owl hooted, making both Jason and Ariadne jump. Slowly it became apprent that something was missing. "Where's Hercules?" Ariadne questioned, looking around for her oldest friend.
"I don't know."
Subconciously, Ariadne grasped Jason's hand. "We must not leave this place. We must stay close to Zeus. They will not attack as long as we're close to the King of Gods." she told him. Raising her voice, she called for him. "HERCULES!"
"HERCULES!" Jason was fearing for him. What if he'd stumbled into the Maenad's territory?
Ariadne wanted nothing more than to run through the forest, tearing down all the trees, upturning rocks, destroying everything that stood in her way of finding him, yet she knew it would be futile to do so. She had to settle for simply shouting for him.
By morning they were exhausted, having called all of the night. Still, they continued weakly murmuring his name, hoping and praying he was still living. A twig snapped in the distance. Ariadne and Jason looked in the sound's direction and cried out as a hand came onto both their shoulders.
"It's only me!"
Ariadne staggered to her feet and stared at Hercules, panting, eyes dark. Suddenly she lunged herself at him and was holding on as tightly as she could. "I feared you were dead, you idiot!"It sounded as though she was crying and Hercules gently petted her hair, trying to calm her.
"I'm sorry, I was seen by them." he explained
"How did you survive?" Jason asked.
"A woman, a beautiful woman, saved me."
"What was her name?"
"I don't know. Let's just get the berries and leave this place." Hercules seemed eager to go and Jason couldn't blame him. Surviving a band of muderous women was a trauma indeed.
They found the trees, long green touched branches reaching down, displaying their luscious fruits. They picked these fruits off quickly and surprisingly soon, managed to fill the bags Ariadne had brought. They left sharply and didn't look back or even stop until they were back in a familiar place. Finally, they felt safe enough to stop and eat. Jason hadn't realised how hungry he was and tore into the bread Ariadne passed him as though he would never eat again.
"We couldn't have a strawberry, could we?" Jason asked.
"We wouldn't stop eating them, so no." Ariadne told him, passing him an apple. "Eat this instead."
By the time they got back to Atlantis, all they wanted to do was go to the house and sleep, but they had to visit the merchant and get paid. The merchant was so thrilled with his goods, he ended up paying three times what they were owed, just by Hercules casually mentioning running into the Maenads. Apparently, he could've offered more than the thousand they were offered.
"You will do anything for money, won't you?" Ariadne told Hercules, though cheerfully as she jingled the silver coins in her money bag.
"Well, you've got to make a living, haven't you?"
"I agree. We should run into the Maenads more often." Ariadne said to him, straight=faced.
Hercules stared at her in shock. "You're joking!"
"Of course I am. I suppose you'll be off to the tavern?"
"I might do, actually. Good idea, Ariadne."
Ariadne dug into the bag and handed him 12 coins, careful not to let anyone else see. "Don't get too drunk!"
"Do I ever?" Hercules asked as he disappeared in the crowd, money held tightly in his fist.
Ariadne smiled and turned to Jason. "Are you going anywhere?"
"Yes. To bed. I'm exhausted."
"I feel the same." Ariadne yawned. "Thank the gods we're home!"
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