Pardon my extreme absence…
For those who are unfamiliar with them, there is a more extreme form of nightmare called a night terror. Common in children, most people outgrow them but some adults have them. They usually involve a physiological response to the nightmare. So the person tends to wake up screaming, rapid pulse, hyperventilating, cold sweats, and in some cases very brief hallucinations. I myself have these every now and then. And logic: Does. Not. Work. You are incapable of believing "its just a dream" you are irrationally terrified, even if on some level you KNOW you are safe. You literally CANNOT fall asleep as you are in the midst of a full blown panic attack. They are very strange, and hard to explain unless you yourself have had one.
Sheep: Thank you for the pointers, I'm always open to learning more about Ancient Greece as I try to keep my story as on-track as possible without completely blowing up canon. I did try to research their diets prior to writing this, apparently I stumbled upon some false information. Well thank you for the clarifications! On that note though, I am aware of how it's more of a social norm for persons of money and/or power to have servants and slaves. This felt too out of character for Herc and Meg, so it's an aspect of ancient Greek life I opted out of.
Becky: Glad you like!
I really hope I haven't lost ALL my readers to my complete lack of an update schedule.
Herc sat up sharply in the bed, his breath hitching in his chest as his heart throbbed rapidly flooding his ears with the sound of his own pulse. His skin was coated in a cold sweat, and a troubled scream stifled in his throat. The passing weeks had been littered with nightmares, his mind tormented with images he never knew were possible. The dim redness in the sky leaking through the window told him it must be early dawn. He forced himself to sit back, placing his still trembling hands over his face. He always tried to remind himself that they were nightmares, silly dreams. But logic failed to bring any form of comfort. The lack of sleep was beginning to catch up with him. At first it had been disturbingly easy to hide it from Meg, as the consequences mostly involved him taking a harder beating than usual whilst on duty. However, the bruises got harder to hide, and there was no talking his way out of the dark circles surrounding his bloodshot eyes. He had run through every possibility in his mind: stress over the baby, trauma from past events, rage at Hades, or simply torment from Hades. None of it added up. He was beginning to wonder if he was losing his mind.
He drew his hands away, staring at them as he tried to use his blood-free hands as an anchor to reality. The nightmare had been so damned real; he could still feel the sticky stains on his fingers. He slid out of bed, knowing any hope of sleep was beyond his reach. He figured tending to Pegasus's stable would help clear his head. His best friend always knew just how to cheer him up. Besides, the last thing he wanted to do was give Meg any additional unnecessary stress. He dressed in a simple tunic, and made his way down the elaborate marble stairs.
Despite his growling stomach Hercules opted out of an early breakfast and made his way down the dirt path. The morning air still held the crisp night chill, and he regretted not having changed into more appropriate clothing after rolling out of bed. He never seemed to think clearly in the mornings anymore. Inside Pegasus was sound asleep, his snores loud enough to scare off the nearby birds who often snacked on the winged beasts seeds.
Sensing an intruder Pegasus sat up sharply, spinning around ready to rear up when he saw his very groggy best friend standing in the dimly lit doorway. Hercules attempted a meager smile, but just like his wife his best friend could see through his pathetic façade.
"Yeah, I know. I look like I've been to the Underworld and back haven't I?" He got a series of tweets and snorts,
"Yeah… another nightmare. I tell myself it's just a dream. But… I dunno, it's odd. "Pegasus nodded, shaking the sleep out of his body. Normally he would blow Herc off and go back to sleep, but over the passing weeks Hercules seemed to be coming to the stables at the crack of dawn with annoying regularity. He sat patiently, listening to his friend talk through the dreams, which at times were often enough to give Pegasus chills. He snorted and chirped some more, flapping his wings.
"I don't want to worry Meg. She already knows I've been getting nightmares but she's pregnant… I don't want to stress her out. It can't be good," Pegasus's eyes narrowed,
"What could Phil do? Plus he won't like his big famous Hero having nightmares like I'm a kid again!"….. "And what would a doctor do?... Well I come to you to talk about them, why is a doctor different?... Yes I know it's-" Pegasus finally headbutt his friend hard on the forehead, trying to knock some sense into him. Hercules rubbed his head, and turned to grab a rake to start cleaning out the stables while he continued to argue the merits of seeking help for his nightmares.
Meg awoke after the sun had risen to fully light the sky, and she turned over to find the bed empty once more. She had come to expect it, and told herself not to worry. The sharp weather was causing her scars to burn, and she rubbed at them roughly before stumbling out of bed.
"Your dad's crazy you know, up at the ass crack of dawn every morning. He could at least wait until its officially morning." She said aimlessly to her flat stomach. She had never been much of a morning person, and didn't feel remotely awake until she had drank two cups of tea. She had stopped looking for Hercules in the mornings; she figured he was in the stables again. She stood up and dropped the clay cup and gripped the edge of the table as the periphery of her vision blurred and closed in, her head feeling as if she was under water. A moment later her mouth filled with saliva and she doubled over evacuating the contents of her stomach. After she finally finished she went to gather some rags and water to clean the mess she made, but as she stood up again her vision once more started to close in and she felt a sudden wetness on her thighs. She groaned, trying to focus her distorted vision to the crimson stain spreading across the front of her nightdress and down her legs
"N..No…" She clutched the edge of the counter before everything went black.
"It's happening" Hades spun, the firey hair on the back of his neck blazing white hot as he turned around at the sudden voice to see the mutilated face of one of his Erinyes.
"I need to put a bell on you guys! Geeze! And what is happening oh cryptic one." Hades asked, swirling his empty glass until it refilled itself with mulled wine.
"The Fates, they foretold of the woman called Megara and her involvement in the rebirth of the Titans."
"Oy, am I the only one here who speaks normally. Get to the point. I can't handle any more beating around the bush." He rubbed his forehead roughly, his white hot flames dulling to a soft blue.
"The Fates foretold of the rebirth of the Titans. An injured cosmos repairing her wounds, the ragged edges smoothed and the fabric sewn together again. Time for planning is ended, time for action is at hand."
"So the Titans… are back, already?"
"The time is at hand."
"Ladies, you do lovely work, but please… get, to the point!" The passing weeks he had spent trying to pull his plans together forced him to be surrounded by the Fates and the Erinyes, and the rhymes and cryptic subtlety had driven him half insane. He wished just one of his fellow underworld deities would speak normally. Charon would, but that fellow was too morbid even for Hades at times.
Last time he had to use the Titans he had eighteen years to prepare, so he wasn't very ready little more than a month after the original warning. He couldn't seem to formulate a plan. Hercules would fight, the damn hero was too much an idiotic muscle man to pass up a good fight. Hercules was a damned idiot, but even that moron wouldn't accept one of Hades' deals to sap his strength again. Especially after his little possession stunt. That certainly backfired pretty hard. The only thing he could think of was possibly trying to distract Hercules, draw him away from Mount Olympus or any way to find out about the Titans. If he could draw him into the underworld, there was a small chance he wouldn't be there to fight and he could regain his rightful throne on Olympus.
"So, pray tell, is this big reason you think the time has come for the Titans?"
"The unforeseen life the dead woman has tried to bring into an already broken cosmos has been lost,"
"So… in plain Greek, Meg lost her baby?"
"The unintended life will never be."
"That's a yes. Hmm… that's the best news I've heard! Now go back to whatever speech therapist you see to learn how to talk like that while I go get my ears attacked some more by the Fates." He drummed his fingers together, he could use this. This certainly was some good news. Maybe he wasn't such a lost cause after all.
Hercules had taken Pegasus down to the river for some fresh air and to rinse off the soils of the stable from himself before returning home. The water was cold, and the air even colder once he was wet but his wife often got upset when he tracked mud from the kitchen door up to the bathroom.
As he mounted up Pegasus whinnied and chirped again, stomping his hooves into the hard ground,
"Yeah I feel much better. Some time outside definitely cleared my head." The irrational fear had subsided and he felt almost like himself again. Despite the chill he wanted to go to the agora before heading home to pick up some fish and grain for supper. The early noon rush was bustling through the crowded markets, exaggerated with the frequent stops by ravenous fans. He made his way slowly through the crowds, past the beckoning meat vendors and thieves selling their ill begotten jewels. The fish mongers were always at the docks, and he was surprised to see a familiar face with her arms full of flowers. The girl ran up to the hero, a bright childlike smile on her young face.
"Good morning! How are you today?"
"I'm great thank you, you're the girl who was selling flowers a few weeks ago when Meg wasn't feeling well "Hercules was surprised he recognized her after so long. He was approached by so many fans he rarely could keep track of one face from another. Perhaps it was the fact this particular fan could behave like a mature controlled human being instead of a dog in heat.
"That's me! I'm surprised you remember… You look tired,"
"Yeah, rough night of sleep. I'll just go to bed early tonight."
"Well here, another flower on the house," Hercules took the flower and admired the flush of pink across the delicate milky white petals. It looked quite a lot like the girl herself. She was surprisingly pale for a Greek woman, and her cheeks were flushed most likely from the cool wind.
"A lily remember? Meg seemed to feel better after I gave you the last lily, so this one is to make you feel better."
"Thank you, I hope you have a great day miss…?"
"Amarantos. Everyone calls me Amara."
"Good name for a girl who grows really pretty flowers."
"That's what my mother always told me" Herc gave her a short wave of goodbye, trying to ignore all the jealous looks the other girls were giving Amarantos. He continued down the docks signing autographs, fending off fangirls, ignoring the too-good-to-be-true sales pitches from most of the vendors and purchased his fish and grains for porridge at the end of the docks. Being a horse, albeit a magical bird-like one, he had to wait hitched to a post at the entrance of the agora with the other equines. It took Hercules nearly an hour to venture through the agora and fight his way back to Pegasus who was enthralled with the apples the local children were feeding him. Supplies in hand Hercules gave the children his autograph, unable to ignore their pleading eyes before leaping into Pegasus and heading for home.
"Having fun with the kids?" Pegasus nodded enthusiastically. The horse was as excited for his friend's child, even though he was quite jealous as well. The ride home was pleasant, the cloudless sky finally bring the air to a milder temperature. Pegasus fluttered out to his pasture after dropping Hercules off at the front door. Hercules opened the door about to beckon for Megara when he found her pale form lying in a blood stained dress as a crimson pool was drying around her.
I am a terrible person. Pardon the fact I can't write for shit tonight. I hope you like this update. I hope it didn't feel too rushed…