11

MEG inhaled sharply the moment she was away from Wonder Boy, the demigod's kiss still tingling on her lips. She raised shaky fingers to her lips and hoped the sensation would not dissipate.

For being inexperienced, he learned quickly, she realized with a faint blush coloring her cheeks, as inexperienced as Hercules seemed to be, he had reciprocated getting lost in the kiss he had given her and had taken initiative to hold her face in his large and calloused hands.

Meg had thought she would have wanted to pull away, to make up some excuse about why they should not and could not do this to themselves, to explain away the slip in her balance at any given moment.

But his caress seemed to only grow deeper and deeper, sending Meg reeling.

Even now, she was half-lidded and still gasping for air that was just not coming to her. She furrowed her brows into a slight frown as she scanned the spaces closest to her, searching for a secluded place where she could speak with Hades in private when Meg caught sight of Hades walking through the woods. The back of her neck prickled.

The god seemed to glide as he moved, and Meg could tell he was in no rush. He never seemed to be, she realized bitterly. Hades turned at the waist. He must have seen her staring at him because he stopped, and the edges of his mouth were turned down in a frown. He was angry with her, Meg could tell that much at least.

Meg shivered violently as the cool night air wafted over her bare arms and she clutched at her middle as it was becoming fairly cold. She would have to ask a kind Theban if they wouldn't mind letting her borrow a spare cloak, as she did not own such a garment and with winter coming soon, she'd need one.

Meg did not even feel her feet move as if by rote memory down the path as she came to a small forest clearing and saw Hades leaning in too relaxed a manner against a dead tree trunk, his arms folded across his chest, an angry and troubled expression on the god's handsome and chiseled light blue features.

His shoulders were set straight back as he stared at her and Meg licked her lips which were already dry, though at the site of her master, her lips went dryer still and her stomach churned at what she needed to do.

She was learning quickly enough in her short time as the god's servant that she was sure she would never know what she would get with Hades. Sometimes, he seemed shut down and reserved, other times loud and boisterous.

He seemed to be in one of those quiet and contemplative moods now and Meg took a tentative step forward, her nerves getting the better of her and her resolve nearly faltered as she craned her neck up to look at the slender deity leaning against the tree. Meg shivered as Hades' yellow eyes lowered to her body, narrowing and raking over her slender form before flicking his eyes back up to her face, a little half-smile settling on the god's blackened lips.

"Meglet, my little nut, I'm pleased with your progress thus far. The kiss was a nice touch, you've got him already wound around your pinky finger," he told her, his lips twitching into something resembling a triumphant smirk.

"You were spying on us?" Meg demanded, trying to sound haughty as she jutted her chin out in slight defiance as she glowered at the god who held her life in his hands. She tried to speak with confidence and authority, but she knew by the look on Hades' face that he could hear the warbling note of fear in her voice as she spoke to him. She shivered as the god's smile widened, and there was a bit of rake in his smile that almost reminded Meg of a wolf.

Hades rolled his eyes to the dark sky and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

"I spy on everyone. Relax, Meg," he rasped as the tension in his shoulders seemed to dissipate as Meg took a seat on a fallen log nearby. "You're doing well enough so far. You're distracting Zeus's bastard of a son which is good—"

"I won't!" Meg shouted, not letting the Lord of the Underworld get another word in edgewise as her temper imploded. She shook her head, trying to send away the god's words and having a hard time shaking his voice out of her head. "You keep your forked tongue in between your teeth, snake, I don't want to be a part of your little scheme anymore, Lord, I will not do this! Zeus, he-he's agreed to meet with you and speak to you, if you would just give him a chance, Hades, please!" Meg murmured, and louder than she would have liked.

The sound of her shout reverberating in the forest clearing caused a nearby flock of birds roosting in the trees to take flight, loudly squawking their displeasure at being forced to flee.

Hades furrowed his brows into a frown and looked at Meg, angrily so.

"I must have misheard you, Megara. You'd better hope that I did, otherwise, you're about to become a permanent addition to the River of Souls. What did you just say to me?" Hades whispered in a hoarse voice laced with hostility as he stalked forward toward her.

Meg stared as the fine hairs on the back of her neck rose as she felt the god lean forward and thrust his face dangerously close to hers. She shirked away, and she felt bile rise in her throat the moment she heard a low growl forming in the back of his throat. Meg shivered as she saw the ends of the god's blue hair beginning to flicker to orange, the sure sign a fiery outburst was coming, and this time, there was no stopping it from happening at all.

"I won't do it," she answered, pursing her lips and trying to sound braver than she actually felt, and failing in that regard. She winced the moment she heard herself shudder with angst.

Hades let out a bitter laugh. "My bastard brother, has you good, Meglet, doesn't he? You truly think that Zeus will listen to me the moment my wife and I set foot through the gates of Mount Olympus?" he snarled, softly.

Meg held her breath as Hades breathed in deeply and slowly, seemingly struggling to control his temper and not wanting to burn down the forest or give away his position to anyone he did not wish to see.

She felt the god's icy breath ghost over her face. A shiver went down her spine.

"Why…why are you doing this?" she pleaded. "Is this truly worth going to war with your brother over?" she asked, trying her best to keep her voice as calm and level-headed as possible, but she knew now from having seen it twice that Hades' silence meant more. She nervously toyed with the bangles on her wrist until Hades reached up a hand and smacked her hand away, harshly, but not hard enough to hurt her wrist now. She watched as Hades stared.

She felt Hades tense.

Meg knew what she was asking of her master was a lot, but she had to try to supplicate him some.

If she didn't, then she, alongside the entire Earth for all she knew, would be wiped out in this bad-blood feud between the two brothers always at war. Meg could only stare in awe and shock as Hades' previously seething expression softened somewhat, and he was almost quiet and contemplative as he spoke his next words to Meg.

"I did not come here to taunt you, Meg, and despite what you think of me, I would not see your precious Wonder Boy killed. I'm not evil. I am not a monster, Megara, not like my brother is. I merely want that which my wife—my family—deserves, as do I. I tire of the Underworld, Megara, as I'm sure you've picked up on that by now. You seem an intelligent enough woman to know that the Underworld is no place for a god to raise his family," Hades snarled disdainfully. "I do not doubt that my brother will be amenable to talking, the bastard has never listened to a single thing that I've had to say. I have told Per time and time again I will give 'her way' one more shot, but if Zeus will not agree to my terms peacefully, then I've no choice but to let loose the Titans. Maybe then, he will see that the only thing I never joke about in my long immortal life is Persephone," he growled, his voice low and almost dangerously soft. "My wife deserves the best, the highest form of respect, and if Zeus and the other gods will not give my Queen even that much, as a minimum to start, then my brother does not deserve to sit on his throne any longer," he hissed.

Meg's eyes widened as she watched Hades' thick blue hair turn orange.

Whether he was aware of it or not, the longer he spoke of Zeus, the more the god's temper swelled.

Just as Meg parted her lips to speak, to ask him if there was anything she could do that would aid in these peace negotiation talks between her master and his brother, Hades curled his fists and seemingly involuntarily out of a kneejerk reaction, his magic imploded and the forest clearing they now stood in burst into flames.

Meg yelped in fear and got to her feet.

"Hades, stop!" Meg pleaded, her eyes watering from the smoke that was starting to fill the air as the forest clearing around them began to burn at an alarmingly rapid pace. "Please! What has your brother done to possibly deserve this…this hatred?" she cried, not expecting Hades would answer, and it took time before the god did, and when he did, his voice cracked.

"Quiet." His voice was tinny and hollow-sounding. Meg's fear for her own life was so great, that she obeyed. She clamped her mouth shut as Hades continued to speak, though he did not look at her, seeming not to see her at all "You're speaking of that which you do not understand, Meg. My business with my brother is my own, and not yours," he snapped, a bark to his voice that made her flinch away in disgust. He lifted his gaze towards the heavens and began shouting to the stars. "I have done EVERYTHING Zeus has ever asked of me, everything, and still, my bastard brother treats me no better than a bloodthirsty hound. My wife and child will not spend the rest of their lives trapped in the Underworld like rats! I did not marry her to let her suffer this!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

He purposefully avoided Meg's question and decided something just then and snapped his fingers.

A cry of surprise was ripped from her lips as the vines of a tree sprang to life and snaked around her middle, pulling her back until her back rested against the trunk, the rough wood poking through the fabric of her dress.

"I will speak with my bastard of a brother, Meglet, and when he does not listen, as I already know he won't, then he leaves me no choice but to unleash the Titans upon his—our—home," Hades growled. "The rest of the world could burn for all I care. With any luck, if my nephew stays out of our way, all of Mount Olympus will now burn, and from it, a better paradise will arise from the ashes of it that are left by the time my wife and I are finished with it," Hades snarled.

The Lord of the Underworld made to turn away, and as he did so, the handsome features of his light blue face twisted into an expression akin to feral grief as his lips curled up and he made a hiss, a noise Meg was sure that no human man could make. It sent a violent shiver down her spine.

Ignoring Meg's pleas to be freed and unfazed by the mortal woman's salty tears, Hades turned his head and froze upon hearing the rumbling of thunder in the distance, near the temple of the gods. His feral snarl widened.

As the clearing around him went up in flames, his mortal servant still bound to the tree, her world slowly turning to black as the smoke and flames would take her life, Hades realized that Meg had just proven that he could far from trust her. His eyes narrowed in anger as he understood that she was developing feelings for his nephew, and now, it was time to take matters into his own hands, no matter the cost. For Persephone and to ensure the future of their progeny, he could do anything. Even if it meant watching the world around him now burn.

As Hades stalked away from the forest and towards the temple, where he knew, without the slightest doubt in the world, Zeus would be waiting for him, he quenched the fires that were in his path but left the rest of them to burn.

A noise escaped Meg as she struggled against her bindings as much as the vines of the tree would allow. It was as much a sob as it was a bitter laugh at the realization that this was how she was to die, after all.

An abrupt bitterness seeped its way into the pit of her stomach as she realized Hades had never cared for her, not as her master, he cared only for his Queen from the looks of it.

Meg had thought that her death would have been less painful than this. Meg felt as though the darkness was closing in around her, threatening to pull her under as the smoke from Hades' fire that he had started filling her lungs.

She turned her head to the side and coughed, beads of sweat forming on her scalp and dripping down at the sides of her cheeks as the searing heat from the fire was too stark a contrast to the otherwise coldness of the night air.

She had thought she had known pain in her life but never like this. This agony as the flames crept closer and closer to where she was pinned was far worse than anything she had ever experienced, far more urgent. Even in the embrace of black as the flames began to nip at the edges of her dress and reach for her toes, searing her skin, Meg could feel a pair of strong scaly hands working deftly to rip the bindings of vines that held her bound away from her.

Meg coughed as she struggled to focus her vision through the haze that was now clouding in front of her eyes. She would have wanted to scream, though as she heard the familiar shy lilt of a young woman's voice, speaking to her, and just for a fraction of a second, Meg let herself relax, never mind that they were within minutes of burning to death if they did not flee the scorching forest. Medusa stood in front of her, terrified, clinging to her forearm.

"I-I saw the fire, I couldn't just leave you here! We need to go, now, Meg, hurry!" she whispered hoarsely, and Meg felt Medusa's scaly hand grasping onto her own and pulling her away from the flames, her vice grip rather strong.

Meg's face looked around wildly to the left and right for any sign of how Medusa could have found her, her expression showing silent disbelief at what the Gorgon had just done for her, her lips parted but no sounds were coming out as they reached the edge of the woods just as the rest burst into flames. Medusa made to lead Meg towards the city of Thebes, hoping to lead Hades' servant somewhere safe, to the home of someone hopefully a friend to Meg where she could be treated for any burn wounds.

However, before the young Gorgon could take so much as another step forward, an arrow yanked one of the locks of her hair away and pinned the snake to the nearest tree.

The blood and brains splattered against the tree and Medusa's small shriek filled the air as she clamped a hand near her right ear, where her now missing lock of hair was quite obvious.

Meg whirled around, still dizzy and coughing, to face Hercules and Shorty the Goat, blinking owlishly in disbelief. The cantankerous Satyr with permanently furrowed brows of suspicion was in front of Wonder Boy, using a large metal shield as a reflector to be able to look the Gorgon in the eyes and not risk being turned to stone, while Hercules' head was turned sharply to the left and had an arrow notched, the tip of death itself pointing directly at her head.

"Back! Get away from her now, or it's your head on a pike in front of the city gates. Speak to or go near the lady, and I promise, your head will be removed from your shoulders before you can even blink. I'm warning you once," Hercules warned, a dangerous growl to his normally mild-mannered quiet voice as he kept his head turned to the left. He dared not look directly into the monster's yellow eyes for fear of being turned to stone, yet he could still see the outline of the Gorgon's live hair out of the corner of his peripherals that gave him enough of a target to see.

Hercules, Phil, and Medusa, all collectively froze, their breaths caught in their throat as Hercules moved as quick as lightning with Phil right behind him, Wonder Boy, and his trainer ready to ignite a war against the young Gorgon, but Meg was even quicker and hurriedly moved to step in front of Medusa, now shirking away from Hercules in fear.

"Stop!" Meg hoarsely shouted, though her plea quickly erupted into a violent coughing fit.

Meg looked towards Hercules with no small amount of delight brimming to life behind her eyes.

She stayed silent and heavily breathing, doubled over at the waist as the worst of her coughing fit subsided, but she was thankful even as fresh tears filled her eyes, that he'd come for her. He must have seen the fire and thought the worst, she thought, a warm feeling resting in her heart as she struggled to see him through her tears.

Thankful, and ashamed that Wonder Boy had to discover her new friendship with the Gorgon this way, but she supposed there were worse ways. She looked at Hercules as though Wonder Boy were the answer to her fervent and desperate prayers, her handsome hero, and here he was in all his glory. She stepped forward and lowered his notched bow and arrow and jutted her chin out slightly defiantly as she all but glowered at Hercules.

Thankfully, Wonder Boy was quick to recognize that the terrified young Gorgon behind her was not a foe, and at Meg's gentle touch of his arrow's shaft, Hercules quickly lowered the weapon and lowered the hood of his cloak from around his face as well, revealing his handsome and chiseled features to the pretty Gorgon, but still, he did not look.

"Who are you? What are you doing out here with Megara? You will answer me!" he snapped, unable to keep the edge out of his voice or the furrow of confusion between his brows deepening.

Meg was the first to answer.

"Medusa, Hercules, she's uh…a friend. We…er…serve the same master."

She was amazed at how easily the truth, for once, left her lips. Hercules numbly nodded, still not understanding but nor did he allow himself to show any sort of remorse towards the creature as he kept his face turned yet stretched out a trembling hand and wound his fingers around Meg's forearm. He gently pulled her close, so she was facing him. She felt a searing sting on her cheek, and when she touched it, she winced. Her cheek had been burned.

Hercules flicked his gaze towards the Gorgon, who was parading her back to him and Phil to prevent her gaze from accidentally turning them both to stone. He regarded the otherwise pretty Gorgon with scrutiny in his blue eyes, uneasy about how someone, even someone so sweet as Meg, could befriend a Gorgon.

Foul creatures, the entire race of Gorgons, Father had warned him of encountering her kind when he had visited the temple of the gods shortly after leaving home. They were evil and deserving of no fate other than death.

"Y...You're a Gorgon," Hercules breathed, feeling his eyes go wide and round as a dinner plate. He could not help but state the obvious as he looked down towards his trainer for confirmation, at a complete loss on what to do next.

Phil threw a withering frown at Hercules, which he quickly shook his head to and motioned with a curt jerk of his head and a slicing motion with his free hand not holding the shield to do her in. There was no need to trust this dame at her word, Hercules could almost hear Phil's words in the Satyr's beady black eyes as a myriad of emotions, all of them un-trusting of Meg and her companion, flashed through the Satyr's eyes in the span of a millisecond.

"Kid, are you listenin' to this broad? She ain't right, Hercules, I'm tellin' you, she's touched in the head if she thinks this Gorgon could be a friend," Phil demanded, glaring at Meg incredulously as though she had lost her mind, before flicking his gaze back to Hercules, whose expression was confused but contemplative. Phil, without waiting for Hercules to respond, whipped his gaze back towards Meg and bleated an angry retort. "No one's ever been friends with a Gorgon, nobody can unless they're blind, kid, Gorgons like this one are dangerous. Why you think they tell folks to aim for their heads, Herc, it's cause they ain't got a heart to pierce!" he grunted, narrowing his eyes in rage.

Hercules could only watch as the Gorgon's spine stiffened as she straightened her posture and clenched her fists. Though he could not see it, he imagined this Medusa's gaze was stony.

When she spoke, though, her voice was soft and timid, even, a striking contrast from the grotesqueness of her outward appearance, at least he imagined her to be, though he could not look her in the eyes.

"Well-spotted. I am a Gorgon, Satyr, you are right about that. And you killed my Hydra, it's...Hercules, isn't it?"

Medusa's blood churned and so did Hercules's. Tears began to prick and sting at the edges of her eyes, while mistrust and wrath burned bright in Hercules's eyes.

"It would have killed the entire city of Thebes if I hadn't," Hercules fired back, eyes narrowing in incense and despair.

"Please!" Meg interrupted, nearly stomping her foot in frustration as she tugged on a lock of her hair. "There's no time for any of this, Wonder Boy, I-I promise I can explain, but for now, could we please just go somewhere else not burning? Medusa won't hurt any of us here, she's harmless, she's my friend!" she begged, her voice shaking.

Exchanging looks, they began to stir.

It took Hercules a moment to find his voice as he emanated a tense exhale through his nose.

"Medusa, uh, if you could please go with Phil back to our camp, Phil will get you something to eat. I-I want to talk with Meg alone for a moment a-and thank you, for...for saving Meg's life." He glanced towards Phil, who looked as though he wanted to protest every bit of Hercules's command, but after the demigod shot him a withering look of daggers, he assented and barked at an order for Medusa to follow him, muttering curses under his breath.

"C'mon, lizard lips, if you're comin," Phil barked, ignoring how Medusa's cheeks flushed a deep dark green at his insults. "Nothing's gonna be solved just yet anyway, come, and don't make me say it twice or I'm leavin' you out here in the forest to burn, you hear me?"

Medusa frowned at his harsh tone of voice, hesitating, but reluctantly let the Satyr lead her out of the woods and away from Meg. She shot her new friend a pleading look. Meg grimaced as she turned her attention back towards Hercules, not wanting to take her eyes off Medusa and Shorty the Goat until they'd left her line of sight completely.

Once it was just the two of them alone, Hercules turned and gently took her wrist in a firm grip and began to lead her away from the forest, just as the weeny spritzes of rain began to fall and moistened her face.

It would quench the forest fire that was still burning.

Feeling some hope swell in her chest, Meg halted in her tracks, not letting him go any further.

"I…I shouldn't have left the city alone," Meg whispered, shamefaced, furiously blinking back the onset of tears as she looked towards her left, where in the distance, she could hear the low rumbling of thunder in the same direction the temple had been in. She wondered briefly if Hades and Zeus were meeting at the temple to talk, but did not let herself dwell on it too long as she forced her attention back to the current matter at present.

Meg let out a haggard breath as Hercules was looking at her hesitantly, worried.

"Let me see the wound. Y-you're hurt," Hercules murmured.

Meg stared, thinking that Wonder Boy's already soft and timid voice now sounded even softer than before. She shook her head and refused him as she took hold of the skirts of her dress and stepped back.

"No, I—I'm fine," she stammered, backing away from Hercules as he approached, a strange look of determination blazing in his eyes. "I-It's not as bad as it looks," she tried to add offhandedly and tried to shrug it off. Meg made to turn away, but before she could, Hercules' hand was resting firmly on her shoulder, keeping her pinned in place.

He was looking at her as though she were easily the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, but his eyes which were now glistening with unshed moisture remained stuck on the burn on her face that marred her cheek that would blister and scar, and become infected if it were left untreated at all.

"What…what happened, Meg?" he asked timidly, still not quite looking directly into her gaze. "Why were you out here in the woods alone? Is this where you were supposed to meet your master? D-did he do this to you?" he demanded, a muscle in his jaw twitching tensely as he suddenly almost sounded angry with Meg at the fact.

Meg blinked as she could only stare at Hercules. It was not the question she had been expecting.

"I…" she stammered, unsure of how to respond to Wonder Boy's question, and felt a churning feeling in the pit of her stomach. She bit at the wall of her cheek, knowing she could not keep lying to him.

Meg lowered her head in defeat and kept her lashes lowered, suddenly not wanting to meet his gaze.

"Yes. He…didn't like that I…said no, that I wanted to… to leave his service. His temper, uh, ignites like a solar flare, I just didn't expect that he would set the whole forest on fire," she said, ashamed. Her expression twisted and contorted into a pained grimace as she instinctively reached for Hercules' hand. "I…I wasn't thinking, Wonder Boy. I was stupid, I was a fool to meet him out here alone. I-I'm sorry that I made you worry and that you had to come and look for me," she apologized, her hoarse voice barely above that of a whisper.

Hercules nodded, though his lips were still pursed tightly together which told Meg that he was angry. However, mostly, she hoped that he was just relieved she was still alive.

"Why did you not let me come with you? I would have come with you, I would have spoken to your master on your behalf, Meg, I wouldn't have let him hurt you, you know you can trust me," Hercules told her in a trembling voice as he observed the young woman whom he already knew himself to be falling hopelessly in love with precariously as if she were some wild and unstable creature he'd caught and did not know what to do with now that he had her here.

"I…" she hesitated, trailing off. Meg had thought that she had all that she wanted to say planned out in her mind whenever Wonder Boy would ask after her, but her prepared statements and half-truths vanished from her mind the moment something in Wonder Boy shifted and almost seemed to snap. He was almost glaring at her, which in itself was intimidating, but Meg could not let herself become fazed by his sudden display of aggression.

His blue eyes were ablaze with some emotion Meg couldn't quite place. Anger? Desperation? Concern?

Whatever it was, Meg found herself swallowing.

"I couldn't let anyone else get involved," she whispered, horrified to hear that her voice lacked the conviction to sell the argument she wanted to make.

But it was the wrong thing to say, as Hercules lifted his gaze and she watched as the man's breathing quickened and he cut her off, his demeanor suddenly angry as he stalked towards Meg.

"I needed to get involved, Meg, your master, he could have killed you and he very nearly did!" Hercules winced as he heard his voice increasing in volume to match his anger. "You aren't thinking straight, Meg. Your master hurt you."

Hercules shook his head to himself as gruesome and horrific images of all the unspeakable horrors Meg could have suffered at the hand of her faceless and nameless cruel master ran through his mind.

Hercules had trouble shaking the images away and it was another moment or two before he spoke.

"I don't want you going anywhere without me again, Meg, and I don't want to argue with you about this!" he shouted, his anger swelling.

Meg flinched, hearing just how furious Wonder Boy was with her at seeming to disregard her own life so flippantly as she was sure it looked. He sounded so angry that, if she had not known Zeus's son, she might have pitied anyone else who dared to contradict Wonder Boy right now.

Hercules grimaced as she shot him a pained look and stepped away as he cautiously tried to approach with his hands raised, only wanting to help. Meg didn't deserve to be yelled at, especially so soon after a near-death and frightening experience for her, but Hercules knew that Meg needed to take his words very, very seriously.

"Meg, it's clear to me now that your master, whoever he is, is not a good man. He's hurt you, and he very nearly killed you. Tell me his name, Meg, please," he begged, hating hearing the faltering crack and dip in his voice as he begged Meg to tell him the truth. "There is no choice to make, Meg. I can't—I—I won't—let him get away with nearly killing you."

Meg shirked away from Hercules' snarling and foul mood and shivered, clutching at herself as now that they were away from the previously burning forest which was now put out thanks to the rain, it was cold, the unforgiving rain continuing to pelt down against her bare arms unrelentingly, not caring if Meg grew sick.

"I-I'm sorry, Wonder Boy, I—I didn't mean to…to scare you," she whispered, her eyes widening as she realized her voice had turned small and meek. She did not sound like herself at all. Meg averted her gaze and awkwardly cleared her throat and spoke up.

He nodded, his blue eyes still suspicious.

"His name, Meg," Hercules urged, trying to be kind while also imploring the young woman to finally tell him the truth.

There was a pause. A beat. Then—

"No." Meg's voice, if it was at all possible, had turned even more soft and timid, and she tried to walk away from him, but Hercules darted in front of her and rested his hands on her shoulders, preventing her from fleeing the scene. She stared. All the color had drained from Wonder Boy's tanned complexion, leaving him as pale as a ghost.

"Don't, Meg," he growled, glaring at her. "Please don't leave me, not a third time. Why are you protecting your master? What is it that you're keeping secret from me?" Hercules demanded.

Meg closed her eyes, and the tears that had been gathering there since Hades had set the forest ablaze now spilled over, clearing a path through the grime and ashes on her cheeks.

"I—I never meant for it to h-happen like this, Wonder Boy, it was just…I had no choice when he…came to me, and, well, I guess, perhaps it wouldn't be so terrible to tell you but I…" Meg sagged as she folded her arms over her chest and pointedly looked away from Hercules.

"I'm here, I'm right here where I'm standing, I'm not anywhere else, and I don't want to be, Meg, so please, just tell me," he pleaded.

Meg clenched her fists and drew in a deep breath to try to calm her racing nerves. Hercules waited with bated breath, watching as Meg seemed at war with herself, but after a moment, she let out the breath she had been holding in one long heavy and looked up at him, her expression pained. Her lips parted as if she meant to finally reveal the name of her master who would so cruelly leave her to burn to death, but no sounds went past her lips.

"I—if I tell you, you have to promise that you'll help your father reach a truce and that you will not kill him, no matter what happens, no matter what your father says. You have to promise me, or I won't tell you his name," Meg whispered. She thought she owed Hades that much at a minimum, considering the god's wife was pregnant.

Hercules stared in disbelief.

"My-my father? My father...knows your master? None of this is making any sense, Meg, so please, help me to understand. Who is it, Meg?" Hercules coaxed, stepping forward and draping his cloak over her shivering shoulders.

She tried to open her mouth to answer, to tell him that her master was Hades, but as she did so, her stomach twisted in uncomfortable knots and she felt like she was going to be sick.

She saw spots in her vision and her body swayed, and her head grew light. Meg tried to take a cautious step forward but before she could, a sharp shooting pain ripped through her head. She reached for Hercules who darted forward, catching her, and holding her in his protective arms until she steadied herself.

Their eyes caught each other's gazes. For a moment, it was almost as if there was nothing between them, but then they were reminded of the dangers Meg had narrowly escaped as Meg erupted into another violent coughing fit.

Unwilling to be patient any longer, Hercules scooped Meg into his arms despite her quiet protests that she could manage to walk on her own and began to carry her back towards his and Phil's campsite. Learning the name of her master would unfortunately, much to Hercules' dismay and chagrin, have to wait until tomorrow morning.

As he walked with Meg in his arms back to their campsite, he let his mind wander and become lost in thought. He would make her tell him the truth tomorrow. Why had she not told him just now?

The anger and frustration were bubbling within his broad, muscular chest and rising to the surface.

Whoever Meg's master was, he wanted to kill him, no matter what promise Meg would force him to make, he wanted to set the man on fire as her master had tried to do to her. He wanted to watch the ground turn red with his blood. He was not a violent man by nature, but this?

He gritted his teeth as he felt the urge to kill pump through his veins and his anger jump a level to dangerous proportions. Her master had crossed a nonnegotiable line by leaving Meg alone in that burning forest to burn to death.

Hercules was so preoccupied with the raging tempest of a storm that was brewing in his mind that for a long time, as he reached the edge of the city and spotted his campsite in the distance, he did not notice the intruder, paused just behind him.

But when Meg fell asleep in his arms, letting her head rest back against the crook of his elbow, breathing heavily, Hercules turned his head at just the right moment and caught a glimpse of a man that made him freeze.

It was the same god from his dreams of watching Meg's death, that cloaked and shrouded figure donned in entirely black woolen robes. Even half-hidden under the hood of his robes, his face was handsome, Hercules noted bitterly.

Sharp angular features that could cut like a knife and a wild shock of thick tousled blue hair that seemed to flicker. Yellow, catlike eyes that, unnerving though they were, were also strangely hypnotic, in a sense. The god looked up and caught Hercules' gaze, just for a moment, and stiffened, his mouth half-open as if he meant to speak up.

But Hercules only stared blankly at him before turning back to Meg and bent slightly to kiss the burn mark just underneath poor Meg's right eye, finding it beautiful, but then, everything of Meg was. He brushed away a few dark curls of her hair and tightened his grip on her limp form in his arms, almost possessively, protectively so.

He did not know who this god was, but he tried to convey the warning with just a single look in his direction.

Meg is under my protection, you cannot touch her, and you cannot have her. Go back to the shadows, and leave Meg here on earth where she belongs with me.

When Hercules looked up again, the intruder had gone.