63: Iris Message

CHRYSE, OLYMPIC GREECE

Zoë got to her feet after being blasted across the arena by the party cannon. "That's your victory," she told Pinkie Pie.

"WOOHOOOOOO!" Pinkie squealed.

"So," Applejack brought up, "has anypony given any thought to what's gonna happen to Zoë after all this?"

"We'll set her up with somewhere to live," Meg answered.

"She can call on us anytime she needs help," Hercules added.

It was then that Twilight entered the arena, tranquil, content. Cassandra stormed in angrily after her.

"Okay," Phil sighed, "we all wanna know. How'd it go with both of you?"

So they each told their story. No one spoke until both women had finished speaking.

"I KNEW there was something off about that Thanatocrates guy!" Icarus cried.

"Yes," Cassandra sighed. "You. Were. Right. Unfortunately."

"I trust Mozenrath about as far as I can throw him," Meg told Twilight, "but I'm at least glad you two got to talk."

"I feel a little silly, now, for assuming that he planned my breakdown," Twilight admitted.

"So…are you going to be all right?" Rarity asked Cassandra.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Cassandra retorted. "It's not like it was worth caring about him."

"And yet that's the sort that can stay in your mind," Rarity pointed out.

"I'm FINE," Cassandra grunted.

"Does this mean you've finished up all your business here?" Icarus asked sadly. "DOES THIS MEAN YOU HAVE TO GO?"

"I wish we didn't," Pinkie Pie told him, "but we do! You don't know what could be waiting out there for us! Faeries and sorcerers and people that need our help and parties that need to be thrown and cakes that need to be baked and hats that need to be worn and all kinds of things!"

"It is about time for us to get movin' on," Applejack agreed.

"We'll see you off down at the coast," Meg replied.

Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity stood before the gangplank of the Starlight with their backs to the ship. Lined up across from them, Hercules, Meg, Phil, Pegasus, Icarus, Cassandra, and Zoë faced them to say their goodbyes.

"Keep trainin', kid," Phil told Rainbow Dash, "and you're gonna be able to swim with the big fish. No, bigger than the big fish. You're gonna be swimmin' with the sharks and the sharks are gonna be scared!"

Pegasus snorted an agreement.

"Good luck at Delphi," Twilight told Cassandra.

"Just hang in there," Meg told Rarity. "Love'll find you."

"It was an honor to fight alongside you," Zoë said to Fluttershy.

Icarus and Pinkie Pie hugged each other tightly, then simply burst into tears that sprayed outward like fountains, drenching those around them.

"Okay, okay!" Phil yelled. "Maybe that's enough of the sappy goodbyes!"

"But one more thing first." Hercules handed Applejack a large canvas sack. "Here. One hundred drachmae."

"That's…that's MIGHTY generous," Applejack said in awe. "You sure y'all don't need this more than we do? We get by plenty fine on our own."

"Well, I am one of the most famous heroes in the world," Hercules stated. "And I do have more than a little cash to spare."

"Trust me," Meg added. "That doesn't even leave a dent."

"I know the next place you go might not accept drachmae," Hercules explained, "but it's the only currency Iris accepts."

"The goddess of the rainbow?" Twilight asked.

"THERE'S A RAINBOW GODDESS?" Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped in awe. "Okay, how come we never got to meet HER?"

"Bein' the goddess of rainbows don't exactly qualify you for Zeus' military fleet," Phil snorted.

"Iris does, however, provide a service to gods and mortals alike, especially those who have divine blood or have earned the favor of Olympus," Zoë explained. "Throw a drachma into a rainbow and ask to speak to someone of thy choosing who is connected to Olympus. Iris will connect thee through a portal. Thou may speakest to long-lost friends that way. The connection ends when the rainbow fades. No matter how far apart thou art, even across dimensions, Iris will listen."

"Just in case you wanna keep in touch," Hercules added. "It only really only works for people the Olympian gods know personally, but it will get you back to us if you want to talk. And, just throwing it out there…that includes people Hecate knows. I know I wouldn't want to deal with her or anyone she's with right now at ALL, but I thought that might be a little relevant to you."

Twilight gasped, but held her tongue. Then, after a pause, she said, "Thank you."

"We'll be sure to call," Applejack promised. "I mean, somepony's gotta keep Phil updated on what heroics his trainees are doing."

Meg shrugged. "I guess that's all there is left to say."

The six Kentaurides turned to board the Starlight. "Talk to you soon!" Rarity called out.

The gangplank and anchor were raised. As the Starlight set out to sea, a thick mist rolled in out of nowhere at all. It obscured the ship completely. Then it was gone, and the ship with it.

THRACE, OLYMPIC GREECE

Adonis felt relief wash over him as he approached his palace. The Olympian fleet had, of course, dropped him back off at home, and Kratos back to Sparta as well. The Thracian king wanted nothing more than to order his servants to massage his feet and feed him honeyed grapes while he tanned beneath the sunlight.

The court of Thrace had other ideas. Adonis didn't know when he entered the throne room that the meeting he was interrupting was the nomination meeting of the candidates for the first democratic election of Thrace. All he knew was that he had entered a hallway full of people who suddenly turned to glare at him and were obviously all VERY angry.

"Your king has returned!" Adonis attempted, throwing his arms wide. "I know, I know. You were probably all wondering what you'd do without me. Now I've come back to put this kingdom back in order."

"We don't need a king anymore!" someone yelled.

"FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY FOR ALL!" someone else yelled.

"We especially don't need a jerk king like you!" a third chimed in.

"Spoiled brat!"

"Coward!"

"Get him out of here!"

"GET HIM!"

Adonis let out a high-pitched shriek as the mob of Thracian citizens chased him from what was formerly his own throne room. He ran out of the palace, down the streets, ducking into an alleyway, slipping into an empty temple and slamming the doors behind him.

"Of all the ungrateful…!" he panted, confused and frightened. "I give them the best years of my life and this is how they repay me? Did they hear about the time I spent working for Hades? But that was the work of an evil spell! Oh, what does it even matter? They've taken my kingdom! They've taken my throne! Everyone hates me! And I'm so pathetic that I'm talking to MYSELF!" He sank down to sit on the floor with his back pressed against the doors to the temple.

"You're not talking entirely to yourself," a female voice echoed throughout the room.

"Huh?" Adonis looked left and right to try and find the voice's owner. "Who said that?"

"Up here."

Adonis looked at the statue that towered at the far end of the temple, comprising its altar. He recognized the goddess it portrayed immediately. "Aphrodite…?"

"It seems we just keep running into each other," the statue of Aphrodite said playfully. "Perhaps it's destiny."

"If you know so much about destiny," Adonis moaned, "tell me what I'm supposed to do now that the peasantry has revolted!"

"You no longer have a throne or a home in Thrace," Aphrodite stated. "I'm starting to think I made a mistake taking you there instead of just keeping you with me."

At that, Adonis brightened. "Really? You…wanted to keep me?"

"I don't know what it is," Aphrodite said sincerely, "but I like something about you a lot. Nemesis would throw a fit, but I could bring you back to Olympus easily so you could live with me in secret. I would give you everything you want and more. Treat you like a true king."

"Aren't you married to Heph…Haph…that ugly god, though?" Adonis asked.

"What Hephaestus doesn't know won't kill him," Aphrodite replied.

"PLEASE!" Adonis quickly changed positions, getting on his knees before Aphrodite's icon. "TAKE ME WITH YOU! Before they find me here and kill me! Or worse…force me to live a PEASANT life!"

Adonis witnessed the air shimmer before him. All life drained from the statue, and the form of Aphrodite's body materialized in front of the deposed king. Adonis was dumbstruck by her beauty, to put it in the purest of terms. The goddess strode toward him, touching him lightly on the shoulder.

"You're amazing," Adonis told her coyly.

"As are you," Aphrodite replied.

Then they both vanished in a bright glow of light, gone away to Aphrodite's Olympic palace of luxury and pleasure.

QUADWRANGLE MANOR, THE FLUFFY HEAVY SLOW-MOTION UPSIDE-DOWN WORLD

Discord and Themis sat across from each other a small table laden with a chess board. After much deliberation, Themis moved the white queen. Discord countered by moving the red bishop forward three spaces and capturing it.

"You should have known going in that I wouldn't be playing by your rules," Discord reminded her as she transferred one of her pawns. He lifted his knight about a foot into the air and let it levitate over the intended destination space.

"You have to be playing by some sort of rule," Themis told him, "or else you would have called us here for no reason."

"Somehow I get the feeling you're not talking about chess." Discord switched one of his pawns to the color green before moving it three spaces.

"For what reason did you bring us to this world?" Themis asked. She planted a rook down in a strategic spot. "Checkmate."

Discord simply picked the two kings up and switched them on the board. "Checkmate!"

He'd brought all of the Titans back to the spacious manor. Aegaeon, too, though his size was manipulated so that he was of similar proportions to all inside the manor and could roam it freely. Discord's only regrets were that Helios and Eos had chosen to desert them; he had a feeling Helios was the only Titan who could truly appreciate the anomalies in each of the rooms (Themis certainly didn't appreciate walking into a room where everything suddenly turned into fluffy pillows), and the manor surely would have offered Eos better than she'd have back on Olympus. At least Epimetheus had made friends with Ike quickly.

"You still haven't told us what you intend," Themis said. "Phoebe hasn't either, though I know she knows."

"She can see the grand plan," Discord stated. "I think we should focus for now on the first step."

"And that would be?"

"Well, we're not a full outfit of Titans right now, are we?" Discord posed. "We'll have to wait for Kronos to get bored of waiting for his prophecy to come true, and we'll need to find something else to hold that world up in Atlas' place…"

"Why not simply let it fall?"

"Now, if you knew what the grand plan was, you'd understand why that wouldn't work."

"Are you going to tell me what the grand plan is?"

"And ruin the surprise?"

"I should have expected as much," Themis sighed.

"But most importantly, we're missing some of the key generals from the wars against the Olympians," Discord pointed out.

"Lythos, Hydros, Pyros, Stratos," Themis rattled off. "And the traitor Arges. What of them? They were destroyed by Hercules."

"You REALLY think we can be DESTROYED?"

"I know well that our kind has been able to survive mutilations," Themis said calmly, "but in this case, we are talking about Titans who were torn into thousands of pieces and scattered throughout the multiverse."

"So think of it like a scavenger hunt combined with a jigsaw puzzle."

Themis took a while to think this over. "You're saying you want us to…find them. All their pieces. And put them back together."

"Wouldn't you want your brothers to do the same for you if it were the other way around?"

Themis sighed. "You make sense."

"I do? I must be having an off day…"

"And I suppose with our numbers, we could stand a chance of finding them all," Themis admitted. "Especially with Aegaeon on our side."

"He could carry a hundred pieces at the same time!"

"And what happens when they are reassembled?"

"Then we can have even MORE fun!"

"When do we start?" Themis asked.

"You can start whenever you want to," Discord said with a shrug. "Whenever the mood strikes you."

"How ambitious."

"Time isn't all that relevant to us, you know."

"True." Themis realized a flaw in Discord's wording. "WE may start whenever we wish. When do YOU begin to assist us?"

"Ehhh…" Discord thought it over. "Probably never."

"I should be surprised. I should be angry. And yet I expected this, somehow."

"I've got too much to do!" Discord laughed. "So many other worlds to plunge into chaos, so many others from our age to round up…in fact, I'm almost overdue for paying a visit to THAT version of Earth…"

"Then I suppose it's settled. You do what you must and we shall do what we must." Themis rose from the table. "I shall tell the other Titans of our mission." She strode forth from the room. Discord waited; he heard her cry out as the room she entered suddenly underwent an increase in gravity, and then he laughed raucously. He lingered only long enough to build a physics-defying tower out of the chess pieces and then disappeared.

THE SPACE BETWEEN

On deck, beneath the stars, Rainbow Dash sent a burst of lightning toward Twilight; Twilight deflected it with a beam of purple energy. She then took off at a run to dodge bolt after bolt, calling up snowballs out of thin air to shoot at Rainbow Dash. They both slipped at the same time; the lightning struck – and exploded into harmless sparks in front of Twilight's face. The snowball hit Rainbow Dash in the stomach, causing her to cry out, "COLD!" Then the two of them broke out into laughter.

"I wonder what other cool powers you have now that you're a full-blown witch!" Pinkie gushed.

"I guess I won't know until I learn more," Twilight replied. "I think I've had enough fun testing out my powers."

"You, running out of tests?" Rainbow Dash mocked. "Never."

"Well, there is admittedly something I do want to test," Twilight said, suddenly blushing, "but it might be too soon."

"Come on," Applejack urged, "tell us."

"Well…I wanted to see if the Iris messaging would work," Twilight said. "Maybe we could call back to Chryse and see how everypony's doing."

"But we JUST left them, dear," Rarity asserted. "Besides, if we speak to Phil again, he's going to want us to have saved something from something else so he can brag to Chiron."

"Though there are other people you could test it on," Applejack brought up, winking.

"Well…would that be a waste?" Twilight asked.

"Not at all." Applejack tossed a drachma into the air. "I'm guessin' you'll want some privacy for this. But let us know how it works."

"Thanks," Twilight replied.

"Of course, you'll need a rainbow." Rainbow Dash spread her wings, taking off into the air. She zigzagged back and forth, weaving a tapestry of a rainbow that shimmered above the ship's deck. When her hooves touched ground, she stated, "That should last for at least a few minutes."

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight.

"Come on, everypony!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "Let's go do something awesome and fun belowdecks! Ooh, we could make a cake!" She bounded down below, and Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity followed.

Twilight looked up at the great rainbow screen before her. She launched the drachma into the air; when it hit the rainbow, it was absorbed with a shimmer. The rainbow was waiting.

"Goddess Iris." Twilight knelt before the rainbow. "Please accept my offering and let me speak with Hecate."

The rainbow rippled. Its colors faded away and were replaced with a great scene of Hecate striding down the great hall of the citadel of the Black Sands. Hecate was slightly startled. "You," she said.

"Um…hi," Twilight greeted.

"You figured out Iris messaging?"

"Yeah…"

"You know that as long as he's with me, you can just tell Iris to connect to him directly," Hecate sighed.

"Oh…thanks. So…could you…"

"I'll get him. But you two only have five minutes, understand? We have conquest to prepare for!"

"It won't take long, Hecate. I promise. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Hecate rolled her eyes and left the field of vision. Twilight watched the empty hall for a moment before Mozenrath walked into view.

"Well, this is…interesting," he remarked. "What's this?"

"An Iris message," Twilight explained. "If you offer up a drachma to a rainbow, Iris will let you talk to whoever you want, so long as they have a connection to the gods."

"Interesting…"

"So…as long as I have the money, I can talk to you…more often," Twilight said. "If you want."

"This could be very useful. Wonder why Hecate never brought it up…"

"Well, I can call you because Iris patches me to you through her," Twilight said. "I'm not traveling with an Olympian. It probably wouldn't work to call me."

"Well, soon enough, I'll find a spell that lets me transmit messages over longer distances free of charge." Mozenrath shrugged.

"So…um…what are you up to now?" Twilight asked.

"Regrouping at the citadel before we go out into the great wide multiverse so Hecate can matchmake me. You?"

"En route to wherever the mists take us." After a pause, she admitted, "There's something that's still bothering me. I know this is ridiculous, but can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead." Mozenrath swept his right hand outward as though beckoning her to step across the rainbow, into the hall.

"When you get other allies," Twilight asked, "ones who are closer to your cause, will I…you know. 'Outlive my usefulness'?"

That set Mozenrath laughing. Twilight wasn't sure whether to read that as a good or bad sign. When he caught his breath, he gave his answer: "After everything that's happened so far, your position as my confidante is safe."

"Why is that funny?"

"Because I thought it was obvious."

"Maybe for you," Twilight barked. "You…you've never opened up to anypony but me," she realized, "while I share my feelings all the time, with anyone who will listen!"

"So now you get it."

"Yeah. I do."

"Trust me," Mozenrath said with a smirk. "There's going to be a point where I'll need to contact you and get your take on something in order to get to my goal. And I'm sure there will be a point where you need to contact me and get MY take."

"So you're saying I'll help you take something over one day, and you'll help me save something."

"I think that's a fair exchange."

Hecate's voice sounded from out of Twilight's field of vision: "Okay, your time's up!"

"I'll let you go," Twilight said. She noticed the picture blurring; "My rainbow's fading anyway."

"Don't be afraid to call back," Mozenrath told her before the rainbow ceased entirely, and Twilight was just looking up at stars.

"I can call back," she said to herself. "Well, I will. And my friends and I can talk to Phil and Hercules and Meg now, too." All that reminded her that she hadn't yet discussed a letter to Celestia detailing the adventures of Olympic Greece with her friends. She made her way belowdecks, thinking of what she could say: that sometimes, even when you knew that someone like Zeus had done terrible things, you would still feel irrational love for that person. That your idols wouldn't always live up to your expectations, and you might be ashamed to be called the "Kid Icarus," but even celebrities have feelings and flaws, and it's worth getting to know them beyond that. That sometimes, you have to break the rules to help your friends, even if what's at stake is something as big as life in the Paradise Garden. There was really so much to say.

BARDO, THE UNDERWORLD

Hades had doled out rewards to each of the members of his army for the great battle. Hera, Facilier, and Dark Danny hadn't received much simply because there wasn't much more he could give them, but he had a lot of money set aside for the latter two and was waiting for the opportunity to send some to the former. Orcos was given permanent quarters in the Underworld and promised a fairly high-positioned office. Echidna was granted bodyguards from the Underworld army to stand guard at the borders of the Land of Monsters and protect her family; it also wasn't completely off the table, Hades hinted, for Typhon to be brought back into the equation eventually. Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera were given the starting materials to build a new prison to replace Aegaeon. Pain and Panic were granted a pass out of doing kitchen-related chores for a month, and they knew that was the best they were going to get, so they just accepted it. Nemesis refused to accept anything, as she would have had to put it on records. That left the Gorgon Sisters to be summoned to Hades' throne room.

Orcos delivered the message to them, but told Stheno and Euryale to go on ahead while he had words with Medusa. Eager to claim her reward, Stheno obeyed, and Euryale followed. Orcos and Medusa were left with each other in Medusa's quarters.

"Hades has given me a position here in the Underworld," Orcos explained. "It will come with great power and respect, but it will also mean I am under his watch. I also know what he has planned for you. He intends to give you an area of conquest on another world."

Medusa nodded, a little taken aback.

"You will not be free of his contract," Orcos said, "and I suspect there is more to this promise than meets the eye. I would not trust his intentions, were I him. I want you to be careful."

"I will," Medusa promised.

"I will visit you when I can," Orcos vowed.

"I'd like that." Medusa smiled gently.

"Best not to keep him waiting."

"Thank you."

Medusa gave a slight bow of the head before leaving the room.

The Gorgon Sisters arrived in Hades' throne room to find Hades and Dark Danny awaiting them. "Ladies!" Hades greeted. "Okay, let's get down to payment business. First of all, I have the final product of the power bracelet. Bring it in, boys."

Pain and Panic hustled into the room, carrying between them a pillowed shelf upon which three new bracelets, gold and molded into the shape of entwined snakes, were laid. "Phoenician-style craftsmanship," Hades explained. "You put one of these on, it transfers your powers over to it. No more worrying about being blinded when you lose one. They also pack a bit more of a punch as far as conducting your powers. Do NOT lose these. If you do, all your powers – the hypnotism, the petrification, the whole shebang – are gone. Capisce? Plus, they're a pain to forge."

Medusa, Euryale, and Stheno each picked up a bracelet, and each slid it onto her arm. Medusa flinched, feeling her aura drain into the bracelet. Euryale smiled, feeling her aura grow once it was there. Stheno laughed, feeling the bracelet feed power back into her in exchange.

"Now," Hades said, "what I have in mind for you is a little territory we in the cosmic knowhow like to call Sixth Earth. Now, I'm not exactly an expert, but Dan my man here is."

"Sixth Earth," Dark Danny explained, "is my home world. It is one of many Earths, but more than likely the strangest. Ghosts mingle with mortals. Aliens land on a regular basis. An entire magical community lives underground from the nonmagical population, but certain magics have escaped into public knowledge, like the Shen Gong Wu of the Xiaolin monks and the mystical powers of the Monkey ninjas."

"As you can imagine, with all that goes down there," Hades went on, "a lot of us gods have taken a particular interest in Sixth Earth. I personally set someone up there to be my eyes and monitor it in case something, shall we say, relevant comes up. And knowing that place, something will. It's a weirdness MAGNET." He considered saying that it was one of the few fragments of the Summer Country to have intermingled the most with the fragments of the Lands of Legend, but he knew the Gorgons wouldn't understand that.

"You will be taken there to begin your conquest," Dark Danny said. "In its youth, Sixth Earth's magical realm is weak. Strike at the right time, and all of it – ghosts, aliens, dragons, elves, dwarves, witches, mystic powers – will be under your control."

"I LIKE where this is going," Stheno commented.

"So, what do you say, ladies?" Hades asked. "Blank slate territory? Ready for three new empresses?"

"SIGN ME UP!" Stheno cried.

"I can see this working out," Euryale said with a grin.

Remembering Orcos' words but not quite sure how to take them into account, Medusa agreed: "That sounds good."

"Good," Hades said. "Then I'll send you over with your personal guide to get you familiarized with the place."

"I like THAT even better," Stheno said, looking over to Dark Danny. "A world to rule and a big hunk of man on the side? It's almost too good to be true."

"Actually, it is," Hades said, cutting her off. "Dan's not your guide."

"On our timeline, where you're going, Sixth Earth is in its fifth century A.D.," Dark Danny stated. "I am not only from the twenty-first century, but from a timeline that no longer exists on that world. I exist outside time. It would be unwise at least for me to return to that world's past."

"But your 'eyes' on that world," Stheno recalled, confused. "Who – "

"Just another one of my loyal subjects," Hades told her. "And don't worry. You'll have WAY more free reign than I let him have." He turned to the door. "Ladies, may I present to you, your escort – "

The door slid open, and all three sisters wondered exactly how long the other god had been waiting there, face plastered with a fanged grin that he was convinced looked threatening but actually came across as slightly goofy.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet the famous Gorgon Sisters," he said.

"This would be Nergal," Hades introduced. "My personal observer of all things Sixth Earth. Don't ask about the suit. He has a thing for anachronisms."

"Well, the technology was useful in setting up my station for observation of all Sixth Earth and my sector of the Underworld," Nergal admitted. "Observation all day of the happy mortals that live out their days surrounded by family and friends…" His tone grew wistful.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Hades held up a finger. "Remember what we do on Sixth Earth?"

Nergal sighed, slumping dramatically. "We stay in the center of the earth, and we don't leave."

"Good!" Hades replied, grinning, striding over to Nergal and putting a hand on his shoulder. "We haven't forgotten what happened to one certain Ereshkigal when she got ideas about living on the surface, have we?" His fingers clenched tightly.

"No," Nergal said through gritted teeth. "We haven't."

Hades' smile was a mile wide, and this grin sent chills down Medusa's spine from observing it. "Perfect." He let go of Nergal. "The good news is, I'm giving you a vacation long enough to get these three ladies settled down in their new territory. They're aiming for being the new rulers of the magical world on the surface."

Nergal was immediately cheered up. He turned to look at the Gorgon sisters, his eyes lighting up, smiling brightly. "You mean…you three will be my friends?"

"Suuuure," Hades sighed.

Dark Danny stifled a laugh.

"I've long awaited companionship in my lonely position at the center of the earth," Nergal gushed. "But after you three take over the magical realm, we can see each other all the time! And we'll have SO much fun!" He excitedly grabbed Stheno's upper arm, starting to drag her out of the throne room. "We can play all sorts of games and watch the mortals' pathetic lives and have fabulous dinner parties – "

"EW!" Stheno yelled.

Dark Danny burst into laughter at full volume.

Nergal halted, looking back at Euryale and Medusa. "Well?" he asked, somewhat sternly. "Aren't you coming along to Sixth Earth?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Euryale said with a smirk, looking over to Stheno.

"And we'll be together," Medusa pointed out, following. The group of four moved to the doorway out of the throne room. "As a family."

Before Euryale or Stheno could respond, Nergal interrupted. "Family," he said, and Stheno was close enough to see his eyes misting up. "What a glorious thing. Would that I could have one of my very own…now come along! There's no time to waste!"

He broke into a run, dragging Stheno, who was thoroughly miffed. Euryale and Medusa kept pace, Medusa noticing that Euryale was now laughing at how disgusted Stheno was with their escort. But that settled to the back of Medusa's mind as she wondered how Hades was going to twist this to his advantage.

Nergal cast a portal of darkness before the four of them, and all, three Gorgons and one Chthonic god, entered it, bound for a new world. The portal faded behind them.

"So, Dan," Hades said, turning to his general. "You're from the future. Tell me. How's it work out for those three?"

"Their reign was well-known in ancient times," Dark Danny said with a malicious grin. "But where I came from, their names were all but forgotten."

"Too bad for them," Hades remarked, none too disappointed.

The door had barely closed before Hera, cloaked but with her hood down and hair disheveled, shoved it aside, storming into the throne room. "Hades," she snarled.

"Dan," Hades ordered. "Leave."

"As you wish, Lord Hades…" Dark Danny took his leave by floating out the great circular window.

"What do you want?" Hades asked Hera.

"Whatever came over me at the battle site," Hera said, "it has worn off. What did they DO to us?"

"Now, I'm no expert, but it looks like their little Elements infected our – "

"I KNOW what they did," Hera interrupted, swinging her arms outward, gesturing for Hades to shut up. "It is barely conceivable to me that they could have thwarted us!"

"And yet…they did," Hades snarled. "So the question becomes, what do we do NOW? Is this worth stealing another batch of apples, or…?"

"I don't suppose your little faerie whore has a plan."

"WHOA!" Hades flamed bright orange, swiping his hands in an outward X motion. "That is STRIKE ONE, Hera. There is a line you DO NOT cross!"

"You would DARE threaten me over a mere insult?"

"Take a minute to think about who you're talking to. You're not exactly out of your league power-wise here."

Hera bit her lip, fuming.

"Should've known you'd know about Maleficent," Hades went on, cooling down to blue. "As of right now, she and I are the only two of our little group who are the actual ORIGINAL real deal from the Lands of Legend. Everybody else is either stuck in a break-off cycle like Jerk-ules and his band of jerks or from a more recently born world. But trust me, these guys and girls are even better than the originals. That means you, me, AND Mal all know what happens to…HERC…next. We remember his story."

"Are you saying…?" Hera's interest was suddenly piqued.

"All we have to do is wait it out," Hades said. "History repeats itself."

"What was the point of this venture, then, Hades?"

"To make ourselves known. To let Zeus in on the fact that he's not unshakeable. To set a few things in motion. And to pick up some of the victory spoils when and where we can get them. After all, I now have the Gorgons and the Furies under my thumb, and you have Helios and Eos on probation. Trust me. Sooner or later, everything will fall into place, and we can move in to pick up the pieces for real."

"You and I, or you and – "

"Oh, and using her true name would be strike two."

"Maleficent."

"Don't you trust me, Hera?" Hades smirked. "Just keep in mind that we both know we want the same thing."

Hera nodded slowly. "True. But when do you suppose the cycle will come to pass? Hercules has never met Iole, and I doubt he will abandon Megara for her."

"Oh, it's going to play out a little differently," Hades informed her. "This time around…he's going to be tempted by someone a little differently. And a little bit of magic is going to help them all make exactly the wrong choices."

"What sort of spell did you have in mind, Hades?"

"Oh, trust me," Hades said. "It's already been cast, and I didn't have to lift a finger."

CHRYSE, OLYMPIC GREECE

When the mists cleared, Hercules' personal ship set out for the mainland, carrying himself, Meg, Pegasus, and Zoë.

"You're going to love Thebes," Hercules told Zoë from his position at the helm. "You know, when monsters aren't burning it down."

"I have a feeling I am," Zoë said, not daring to look at Hercules in all his beauty, focusing instead on the ocean before her as she leaned on the ship's rail.

"It'll be good to have some friends close to home," Meg added, taking her place leaning over the rail next to Zoë.

"Yes," Zoë repeated. "Friends."

Hercules, Meg, and Zoë each noticed a slight itching on the neck, but none thought to bring it up. After all, it was only an itch. What was there to lend suspicion that it was something more? What was there to remind them that they were the three who had stepped too close to the door to Büchenwyrm's realm on the coast of Colchis?

So none noticed the mark – a shimmering six-pointed star – that gleamed into existence on the back of each of their necks.

Chapter 63:

· I realize the Adonis subplot is pretty much filler, but I feel like I had to write that resolution in so nobody wondered what he had left to go home to. Aphrodite taking in Adonis is pretty much original myth canon, though under different circumstances.

· I wanted to start implementing that characters will be able to communicate with each other regularly despite distance. The Iris messaging is the first of this. As you can guess, I also wanted Twi and Moz to be able to build their relationship that way.

· We finally see how the Phoenician Snake Bracelet works in ADJL and that's the proper incarnation of it.

· You can already see some of what fictional works go into the making up of Sixth Earth. I like to nickname it the "cartoon clusterfuck" world. It's going to be a fun place.

· I PROMISE ONE DAY I WILL EXPLAIN THE LANDS OF LEGEND THING AND THE "CYCLES"…I JUST KEEP NOT FINDING A RELEVANT PLACE TO DUMP THAT EXPOSITION.

· This is meant to mesh right into the ADJL canon of the Gorgon Sisters ruling the magical world in ancient times. I picked the fifth century because it was not only when Ancient Greece still existed, but was when the Shaolin Monastery was forming elsewhere in the world. This is relevant for reasons that you can probably guess.

· Well, hello, Nergal! Now that I'm in love with him, he's going to have more character relevance to EoH in general. You have been warned.

· As you can tell, I've gone ahead and just made him the Babylonian Underworld god, though TVTropes is at war as to whether he really is or whether he's In Name Only. I have a laundry list of reasons why I do believe he actually IS that god (starting with the fact that in that mythos, Nergal is referred to as the "Outsider God"), but really, the only justification I need for it here is "My fic, my rules."

· And as such, I had to come up with an explanation for why Ereshkigal (his goddess wife and superior ranked Underworld goddess) isn't around. No, I didn't explain it here, but again, it was not the right time to dump the explanation. I'm just going to let you wonder, and eventually, you will find out. Let's just say he's got a good reason to do what Hades says, and there's a good explanation for why he's such a lonely guy.

· ALSO: this is the Nergal of Sixth Earth in the fifth century A.D. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. ENDSVILLE DOESN'T EXIST YET. NO ONE WHO LIVES THERE HAS BEEN BORN YET (except Eris, but as you can see, I'm choosing to use the Sinbad incarnation as my be-all end-all of Eris…and of course, the Grim Reaper [Death], but xe's elsewhere right now).

· Let's play a game called "spot the shipteases!" Hint: Dark Danny/Stheno is NOT one of them.

· If you hadn't guessed, Hera and Hades are waiting for the end of the original Heracles myth to play out. "Iole" is the name of the woman that Deianeira thought Heracles had betrayed her for in the end. I'm not going to say much more. I'm just going to encourage you to go look up the original myth if you want to see what they're hoping will be the outcome…

· I feel like I have to apologize profusely for leaving you on THIS cliffhanger. I'm evil. Yes, that is the Witch's Kiss of Twilight. It was delayed because…she's more powerful, I guess? Because it was more plot relevant for them not to notice it.