15
PERSEPHONE awoke in the darkness of her and Hades' private chambers in the Underworld, the blankets of their marriage bed pulled up around her snugly enough.
For a long moment, Hades' wife was frighteningly disoriented. She looked for Hades to her left and right, but her husband was nowhere to be found, nor were there any signs of his demonic little imps, Pain, and Panic.
There were a few terrible moments of panic as the goddess's concern took hold of her heart and it fluttered painfully against her rib-cage. She'd just thrown the blankets off of her when the events came flooding back to her in a flash of knowing so strong that it stole the breath from her lungs. She froze and her eyes widened as she looked towards the entryway, her ears listening for any sounds of any movement.
Hades was sure to have gone after Zeus. She prayed to the other gods if they could even hear her that he had not yet unleashed the Titans. She swallowed and looked towards the entryway.
"Hades?" she called her love's name softly, hoping her husband would materialize and she would revel in the shock in his yellow eyes when he realized she was alive and well.
But Persephone was greeted with nothing but silence.
She swallowed down hard and began to move towards the door, though halted in her tracks as flashes of Zeus and Hades fighting one another in Zeus's temple came to her mind. The feeling of her brother-in-law's thunderbolt striking her heart…could not adequately be described and she was not sure she wanted to.
"Hades?" she called softly again, leaning against the cold stone wall of the room for support.
She began to move forward, though was overcome by a wave of queasiness and her stomach decided she could go no further. She was sick to her stomach.
Already, Persephone could feel the familiar spoils of her stomach rising up in her throat. She stared down at the cold stones beneath her feet for a moment and then threw up everything in her stomach.
Even afterward, she heaved, bile rising up painfully in her throat as it dribbled out of her lips, her morning sickness nearly unbearable. She spat out the last of it and shakily wiped her mouth with the backs of her fingers as she rose to her feet upon hearing someone speaking.
"Persephone," a series of voices called, female voices, a series of ghostly timorous noises.
"No," Persephone whispered hoarsely as she straightened her gait and looked up to find three shrouded and cloaked figures, the Fates, staring at her plainly, their black eye sockets soulless and sunken in and hollow, and the shortest of the three in the middle held the single eye they shared, the Eye of Fate itself.
"You are awake," the three of them eerily started, speaking collectively as if they three Fates were one entity instead of three. "Lord Hades will need you soon," they predicted.
Persephone blinked owlishly and stared at the Fates. Even after a few years of encountering the Fates, Persephone never failed to be taken aback by the Fates' synchronization.
Persephone eyed the Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos warily, daring to have the impudence to quirk a thin eyebrow at the ghoulish creatures who were above even the gods.
Her mind had always wondered at the powers of the Fates who possessed the ability to see that which had been, that which was, and that which would come to pass. But now, as the Fates eyed her, she was now sure they knew what would become of Hades' vendetta against his brother Zeus and the rest.
But Persephone was also certain that there was some unspoken reason the Sisters of Fate had allowed her husband's threat to unleash the Titans to reach this level of apparent urgency.
Whatever their reasons, she thought she was beginning to understand that that which was already set in motion could not be undone, but what mattered was the action taken going forward to change the series of events.
The Fates' ultimate goal was to ensure the good of the Realm, both the physical Earth and the gods' worlds. Persephone stiffened, feeling her heart ready to grow wings and fly out of her chest, aching to be by Hades' side, hopefully, to talk him out of whatever madness was happening now that he had freed the Titans. She would not—could not—let her love destroy him any more. She only wished that she could have told Hades much sooner.
Persephone parted her lips as if to speak to the Sisters of Fate, nearly ready to bolt from her chambers and flee the Underworld.
But before she could move, she could feel the earth's very foundations above them shake and a chill ripped through her body as she could hear the guttural groans of one of the Titans and whatever other monsters Hades had unleashed in his crusade against Zeus.
"Go," the Fates urged her desperately again.
Persephone did not need to be told a third time.
She nodded, her jaw becoming cut like steel. "Where is Hades?" she demanded, feeling that she already knew, and yet, she wanted to hear her suspicions confirmed for herself.
"Above," the Fates hissed, softly. "The Titans have been unleashed, Oh Queen, he means to—"
"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Persephone screamed as she began to act purely on her raging emotions, clenching her fists in rage as her temper was ready to throw her into a fit worthy of her beloved Hades when he lost his cool.
Her breathing felt tight and she saw spots. A delicate sandaled foot jutted out and she kicked the opposing wall, unleashing her fury and fear repeatedly against the stone wall.
"Indeed, child," the Fates agreed in their collectively hoarse voices. "Lord Hades is now beyond our aid and refuses to heed our counsel and if he does not listen to reason, then he will willingly fall into madness, my Queen."
"I'm going after him. I have to." Persephone's sky-blue hardened, turning an almost wintry icy hue of blue.
The Sisters of Fate looked at one another as a determination so fierce flashed across Persephone's beautiful pale pink face that the Fates knew without a shadow of a doubt in their hollow hearts, that she was the true driving force behind Hades' actions, the Queen of the Underworld. They knew that she was now the only one who could cull Hades' madness driven by his grief. Her back straightened and for a moment, Persephone became the Goddess her mother had always hoped she would and lamented she would never be the night that she had married her love.
"I will not abandon my husband to whatever fate Zeus and the others on Olympus have for him."
Before the Fates could respond, Persephone turned on her heels, having to pick up the skirts of her long dress to avoid tripping over the hem.
"I…if you could please ensure that Pain or Panic feed Cerberus, I…thank you," Persephone blurted out, her words clumsy and blunt as she did not know what else to say to the powerful deities.
She turned her back suddenly and ran from their chambers with wide eyes, hoping to breach the surface of the Earth before anything else could happen.
HERCULES stared straight ahead of him, unable to take his eyes off the monstrous cretins that towered over the god who, by rights, if he was to take this deity at his word, was his own uncle. Meg's terrified shriek reached his ears and tore Hercules' heart apart. He knew then without a shadow of a doubt in his mind that this was the god to whom Meg had sold her very soul. Unable to breathe and his jaw going slack, Hercules turned questioning eyes towards the god that bore such a striking resemblance to him and stared. The god turned his head coldly to regard Hercules, and the vengeful glower on the god's handsome pale blue face nearly chilled the blood in his veins to ice.
Hercules stared in disbelief and horror up at the monsters the god seemed to hold at his disposal while they waited for the command to rave the city of Thebes.
"Nephew," the god spoke, chuckling with mocking, a thing that he seemed to do so naturally. "It is nice to finally meet you at long last. I have looked forward to this moment for years now," he muttered with a wide flourish.
Meg, still on her knees, said nothing. She merely sat and glared at him. Her stare held the god's fearful starel, for the power she knew her master held over herself but also the entire city of Thebes. Yet there was also hatred and contempt for the god for his wickedness and cruelty. For a moment, Hercules felt pride swell in his chest.
Despite the months of pain she had lived in and existing at an abdominal level of pain and abuse at her master's cruelty that he did not even wish to imagine, there was still fire in Meg's soul.
But it was then that Hercules realized something was wrong, for Meg would not bring her gaze to face him.
Beside him, he felt Medusa stiffen and he could hear the Gorgon muttering to Adonis what they were looking at. He heard Meg's former lover suck in a large breath through his nose and mutter to himself under his breath.
"σκατά," he heard Adonis hiss through clenched teeth.
Shit indeed, Prince, Hercules thought bitterly to himself.
Hercules begrudgingly agreed but did not take his eyes away from the god, the fingers of his sword hand twitching as he itched to pull the weapon against the god who claimed to be his own uncle.
A shiver ripped through him at the thought of this vengeful god and him sharing blood.
"Hades, please," Meg answered in a trembling voice, though Hercules thought he heard the faintest twinges of a haunting dread in her hoarse voice.
"Quiet," the god whom Hercules now knew to be called Hades commanded and held up a hand to stop her from speaking. He snapped his fingers and conjured a length of rope that shot forward of their own accord and bound Meg's wrists together with enough force to make Meg cry out in pain as the edges of the rope dug into the skin of her wrists and caused them to bleed. Meg's concern for Hercules was so great that she dared not speak a word.
"Let's get on with this, Meg, shall we?" Hades snarled to his servant, rhetorically. "Neither of you moves, they don't move, do you hear me? Nobody else needs to die today save for Zeus. His head is going on a pike at the entrance to my realm, make no mistake about that," Hades spoke in a low voice that Meg could only describe as a low and vicious growl. "I trust your time on Earth as a mortal has been…" Hades paused and glanced angrily down at Meg, who flinched under the intensity of the god's smoldering gaze. "More than adequate, Hercules, wouldn't you say?" he knowingly smirked. Again, Meg dared not to speak.
"Hades, stop this, please!" Meg begged, forgetting her place, but immediately fell silent upon Hades shooting her a threatening look and one of the behemoth monsters behind her let out a terrifying shriek she knew would haunt her dreams for likely the rest of her life.
"Hercules." Hades straightened his posture and began to pace a leisurely line back and forth in an authoritative way, the god's handsome and placid features contemplative. "I've watched you for quite some time now, Meggie here has been…keeping a close eye on you." Hades' hoarse voice wormed its way into Hercules' confused and muddled thoughts once more as he could barely tear his gaze away from the colossal Titans just behind him. "What is it that you were hoping to gain by earning my brother's favor? A place among the gods on Olympus? Hmm? Family? Duty? Honor? All those noble virtues mean nothing to a bastard like my brother. Is that what Zeus promised you, so you've, what, put your own life in peril to try to become a hero?" Hades hissed, bearing his teeth at Hercules.
Hercules' temper swelled and the words were ripped from his lips before he could stop himself. He could tell by the glint in this Hades' black eyes that the god was lying to him, he felt it.
"If you've heard so much about me as you seem to, Uncle, what else do you want from me? What else do you need to hear?" he shouted.
"That you put your god-given strength to good use, boy! Join me in taking down the All-Father. Even now, I wish for nothing more than to run one of Zeus's thunderbolts straight through your heart like your wretched father did to my beloved wife, my queen? To run a thunderbolt through your heart and watch as your last breath is plucked from your lungs? I took you for a warrior, nephew, instead, what I find in front of me is a coward, what a waste and a disappointment to the gods you will make," Hades growled angrily through gritted teeth. He paused as he tilted his head to the side and watched as Hercules' eyes widened in fear as the boy hastily went to Meg's side and held her.
Meg turned her face to Hades and then dropped her hands to the ground. She understood why Hades was making a big spectacle of himself, what the Lord of the Underworld had planned for Zeus and the other gods on Olympus.
Her heart ached to think that Wonder Boy's own father had killed Persephone, she had no ill will towards Hades' wife, but she would beg her master to stop this if that's what he wanted to hear.
"Please. Please, Hades," she implored the god desperately. "I beg you. Please. Don't."
Frightened tears began to stream down her face as she unconsciously let her hands travel to her wounded thigh as the wound pulsated and seared white-hot flashes of pain that went up and down her leg.
It hurt, but the pain grounded her and kept her mind focused on the horrific reality of their new situation.
"Meg, you are in no position to ask me for anything, sweetheart, you didn't even want to get close to your Wonder Boy in the first place, remember, you begged me to let you off, that you wanted nothing to do with him, and now to find you getting worked up over this boy is truly pathetic, Meggie, my sweet," Hades snapped, his tone rising to match his furious mood.
Meg could only sit there trembling at the thought of the horrific destruction that was to come once he let loose the Titans on the city of Thebes. Hercules' anger was growing as his mind raced to find an escape.
He needed to get Meg and the others out of here and somewhere safer, but as he looked at Meg, the look of heartbreak and anger and remorse on Meg's face was almost too much to bear as he struggled to process his uncle's words. Meg had been under Hades' influence this entire time, ordered to get close to him as a distraction.
His stomach lurched and he gnashed his teeth together as Meg looked at him through red-rimmed eyes that were quickly filling with tears, trying to gauge Hercules' reaction.
"Meg? I-is any of this true? Was it a farce to you all this time? Did Hades truly save you only to throw you into a pit of monsters?" Meg flinched as she looked up and saw sadness in his eyes and angst as his mind was struggling to comprehend it all. Hercules was looking at her now as though he did not know her.
His winged horse sniggered out of fear and anticipation and Meg could only hold her breath. She felt the color draining from her face and she did not even bother to hide it.
Everyone was listening to them, to the sound of both their hearts breaking, at least.
"I…at first, y-yes, I-I didn't want anything to do with you, b-but please, just…just give me a chance to explain," Meg pleaded as she swallowed a lump in her throat, not even caring as her tears began to slip from the edges of her eyes. Her words left Hercules red in embarrassment and utter humiliation. Wonder Boy's look of bewilderment quickly changed into one of furrowed confusion and hurt. She heard Hercules sniff and it took everything she had within herself not to avert her gaze to look into the man's blue eyes to see the hurt that she knew she had caused.
"You…you used me," he growled, his voice turning combative as he gritted his teeth. "You kissed me, Meg…why?"
Meg leaned back, shocked. "I—I… my heart broke for you because I—"
But Hercules suddenly cut her off, his demeanor furious.
"Because, what, you felt 'sorry' for me? You let me think that I had an inkling of hope with you because of your pity?" Hercules felt his breathing increase. "You would willingly go off with your Prince if he asked you…Phil was right…I never should have trusted you," he snapped with an angry bark to his voice that made Meg look up in surprise and hurt.
"Hercules, no, that is not true!" Meg cried, her voice trembling. "How could you say that? No, your Nanny Goat isn't right, he's never been more wrong! I love—" she started to say but Hercules cut her off, too heartbroken to listen.
"Stop, Meg, I…I don't have the comprehension for this right now." Hercules' voice cracked as he tore his gaze away from Meg and looked up at the much bigger problem now staring him in the face.
At least four colossi Titans and then the matter of his own uncle. He took a step forward, shaking his head and grasping for the feeling of the cold air that one of the behemoths seemingly made entirely of ice seemed to be emitting. Meg's betrayal came crashing down on him in full force like a tidal wave.
Hercules felt his eyes tear up in both anger and heartbreak. The edges of the demigod's mouth twitched and he was trying too hard to control it, to prevent Hades from seeing it, but the more he tried, the more he failed.
Hercules glowered at his uncle, glaring viciously his blue eyes reddening at the rims as he drew his sword. Zeus's son was ready to pounce and tear the Lord of the Dead limb from limb.
"Hear that I accept now whatever challenge you give me. In your defeat, you will watch as I send these monsters back to the depths of hell they spawned from, and I swear I will send you back to the dead to your Underworld and you will never resurface again and you will never see the light of the sun. I will trap you in Tartarus myself, Uncle."
"Hades, please!" Meg screamed, nearly hysterical as she shouted at her master in shock. "You cannot do this!" She trailed off as Hades sharply turned his head in her direction as she struggled to get to her feet.
"Here!" Meg could hear Medusa's frantic voice beside her as the young Gorgon bounded forward to help her to her feet. Meg was grateful Medusa did not let go as the adrenaline that had flooded her body previously was beginning to fail her, and she was starting to feel the pain spread in her leg.
She was not sure how much longer she could remain standing before her leg would give out.
Hades said nothing, merely eyeing Meg angrily for a moment.
Before Meg could react, Hades drew his knife against Meg, grabbed her by the end of her long ponytail, and grasped her around the waist, holding her close to him with his arm. He pressed his blade to her throat with his left hand.
She would serve as the human shield if negotiations with his nephew went sideways.
"Go," Hades shouted, and he turned his head to watch as the Titans began to stalk in the direction of the famed Mount Olympus, the earth trembling beneath their feet as the colossal monstrous goliaths began to wreak unnatural havoc upon the earth. Once the Titans shambled off towards their respective destination, he turned his wrathful glare upon Meg. "Don't move, kitten, nobody moves, you don't move, I don't move," he growled threateningly.
Hercules' heart was in his throat as he watched the chaos unfold itself upon the innocent city of Thebes and the surrounding lands as the walls of the city were torn down with one crushing stomp from the Mountain King.
Lythos, Hercules thought the two-headed Titan's name was if he remembered the stories of the creatures Mother and Father would tell him as a boy when he could not sleep. The screams of the dying and injured as the Thebans scrambled to evacuate the city as the giants stalked their way toward Olympus rang in his ears and haunted him.
The Titans raved their path through Thebes without even giving a chance for the Thebans to recuperate, much less ready to stand their ground and fight for their home. The ambush that followed as the Titans set Mount Olympus for their destination was a brutal slaughter. Hercules felt his blood churn revoltingly as he roared in anger, a furious blood yell that he was sure even the Titans could hear over the resonating screams of the Thebans as they perished.
When he looked back towards Meg, to find her now held at knifepoint and completely and utterly at the mercy of his own uncle, a burning rage hit Hercules squarely in the chest so suddenly that he did not have time to properly sort through his emotions as he realized with a churning feeling in his stomach he would have to choose whom to save.
Meg, who still held his heart despite her having betrayed him, or the Thebans, who were now bloodied and dying in the hundreds, perhaps thousands, as the ruthless Titans wreaked havoc upon the city he'd worked so hard to save.
His conflicting emotions began to wage war uncontrollably within him, but it was as he looked upon Meg's terror-stricken face and was met with such paleness and fear, and remorse that he realized, he would always choose Meg.
"Let her go!" The command escaped his lips as a low growl, his broad and muscular chest nearly vibrating from the sound. He glowered darkly at the Lord of the Dead, his once kind sky-blue eyes darkening and becoming the eyes of a seasoned warrior, someone harder, and someone ruthless.
He let go of his gentleness and his timidity, for it would do him no good here with his Uncle.
"Get away from her, and don't make me say it again," Hercules threatened, his voice low. "Move away from her, and fight me instead, Uncle," Hercules ordered loudly, as Hades remained steadfast in place, though it was clear by the look on his uncle's face that the Lord of the Dead knew Hercules was making no idle threat. "FIGHT ME!"
Hercules could feel Meg's pleading eyes on him as he gripped his sword and it took all of his willpower not to tear his gaze away from Hades. He could feel the distress emanating from Meg in waves. Hercules clenched his jaw and turned his head away for the briefest moments, trying to shake off the rage and hurt he was feeling at her betrayal.
"Let Meg go and stand down, then find another of your own kin who would willingly vouch for you in front of Father and the others after what you've just done, Uncle, stop this madness, please! Your wife, Hades, think of her, she wouldn't want this for you, would she?" Hercules shouted, the fingers of his dominant hand twitching as he itched to pull his sword and defend Meg's life, though he did not want to fight his own uncle over it.
"LEAVE MY WIFE OUT OF THIS, BOY! You have no right to speak her name and no idea what loss is, nephew, but you're about to! You and my bastard brother both! Your father has stolen everything from me, now it's only right that I return the favor!" Hades roared at the top of his lungs, losing what little shred of self-control the Lord of the Underworld still possessed. Meg flinched the moment she heard Hades let out a low and inhuman growl from deep within his throat and felt the god tense. She knew the god would lunge for Hercules in a mere matter of seconds.
Hades was consumed with grief and was past the point of being able to be reasoned with, she realized with a jolt. He was going insane. She felt Hades begin to lower the blade from around her neck.
Her eyes widened in shock and horror as she realized what he was about to do.
With a reflex of protectiveness urging her on, Meg turned and shoved Hades backward with all her strength just as Hades made to throw the knife in hand straight towards Hercules.
Frantically, Hercules lunged forward hoping to catch Meg as she staggered backward after shoving Hades out of the way with her own body. The blood drained from his face as he could only watch in horror the tip of his uncle's own knife bury itself deep within Meg's chest, a few inches below her heart.
Meg crumpled backward and winced in pain, making no sound.
"NO!" Hercules screamed in horror and watched as Meg fell to the ground. Rage flashed in his eyes as he brought his sword up at the ready and was now fully prepared to take his uncle's head if it came to that. Before he could charge at the Lord of the Dead, Hades turned on his heels and, in a twist of his black woolen robes, vanished with a loud deafening crack, the sound of his magic drowning out Hercules' anguished and furious blood yell at losing Meg.
Hysterical, Hercules fell to his knees and took Meg in his arms, tears streaming down his cheeks at seeing the gushing stream of blood now flowing down her front. Meg's limp form leaned back in his arms. Hercules did not think he could bear seeing the fear and bewilderment in Meg's lavender eyes as Meg stared up at him in shock.
Hercules did not think he could stomach the fear in her eyes as she stared up at him. He held her tightly in his arms, the god's knife still protruding from her chest, buried deep. Meg's eyes began to swim with tears as if she could not even focus on Hercules' face. He grew even more panicked and his chest grew tight as he spoke her name.
"No, no, no, Meg, stay with me, please," he begged, pressing his forehead to hers and trying to will some of his own strength into Meg that he sensed was failing her. Meg raised a shaky hand to touch his cheek and summoning enough strength in her throat that was quickly filling with blood, she managed to speak to Hercules in a faint voice.
"It's better…this way…Wonder…Boy…it's...no less than I...deserve for...for tricking you like I did. You're...more important than me," she hissed through gritted teeth as she squeezed her eyes shut in pain. "I'm...sorry..." She whispered, for one brief moment, seeing him through the haze that was starting to take over her line of sight. Her fingers lingered on Hercules' cheek and then fell limply to her side, leaving streaks of her own blood down his jaw.
Hercules felt bile rise in his throat and he thought he was going to be sick. He did not nearly let himself look, but he knew that he could never forgive himself for being such a coward if he did not look at her wound, at the damage that he had caused. If he'd not gotten angry with her, she might not have felt the need to try to save him.
His throat tightened, and it was now a chore just to force the words from his throat as he blinked back tears.
"Oh, Meg, why…why did you…y-you didn't have to…Hades was my problem to deal with, Meg, not yours!" Hercules wept as Meg's head rested back against the crook of his arm and her eyes slowly closed. "No, Meg! Don't go to sleep, stay awake!" Hercules bellowed, his body shaking with force as if he thought he could force Meg's body to heal itself that way. From somewhere behind Hercules, Medusa, Phil, and Adonis's eyes all collectively went wide at hearing Hercules' desperate screams over the reverberating tones of the Titans still wreaking havoc upon the land.
Medusa and Phil tore their gazes away from what was left of the city of Thebes to find Hercules hunched over Meg's fallen body. Medusa's eyes grew wide with alarm as she prayed to the gods if the vicious bastards would hear her that Hercules would not know the pain of losing the one who held his heart. Medusa took Adonis by the hand and together, they ran to where Hercules was cradling Meg, dropping to their knees, both fearing that her life was lost.
Medusa and Adonis fell silent as Meg's hushed voice reached their ears, though her words were meant for Hercules and Hercules alone.
"People…always do…crazy things, Wonder Boy, when…when they're in love. You...should go, you...haven't got much time. Stop...Titans...H-Hades, you can...still stop him, j-just...leave me here and let me bleed, it...it will be good for me," Meg croaked, weakly trying to crack a smile to lighten his mood, her voice becoming fainter and fainter as she kept her eyelids closed, though Medusa could only look on in horror as her friend's breaths were slowing down.
Feeling Meg's chest rising through her dress and hearing the gurgling in her throat, Hercules came back to himself and realized it was not over yet. She was still fighting and she was still alive. He gingerly laid Meg down gently on the ground and took hold of the hilt of Hades' knife. Medusa attempted to help by reaching for it with shaky fingers.
"No! Don't pull it out!" Hercules ordered, knowing she might very well bleed to death if the knife was drawn from her body by anybody less than an experienced surgeon.
Medusa quickly withdrew her hands back into herself and awaited further instructions from Hercules.
Hercules grabbed the hilt of the knife and let out a grunt of effort as he summoned just a little of his overwhelming godlike strength and snapped the hilt of the knife in two. Hercules shrugged out of his cloak and tore a large strip of the light blue cloth and began to shove them into Meg's wound, hoping it would stop the bleeding until he could get her into the care of a more than capable physician who could surgically remove it.
"We need to get her to a doctor now," Adonis shouted, the color in his tanned complexion draining as he heard Medusa frantically whispering to him what was going on. Hercules tore his gaze away from Meg and had been about to scoop the young woman up into his arms, though feeling Phil's hand on his thigh stopped him and he looked to his left. He could barely see his trainer through the tears that were now blurring his vision and stinging his eyes.
"Go, kid, you gotta stop the Titans an' Hades before things go from bad to worse, you can't let all those innocent folks die for the sake of one girl, kid, no matter how much in love with you you may be," Phil advised, an edge to the cantankerous Satyr's voice that Hercules hadn't heard before. "Me an' Medusa here, an' the Prince I suppose," he grunted, barely sparing Adonis so much as a second glance, "will look out for her, champ, I promise, kid. We'll see to it she gets the help she needs, Hercules. You got my word."
Hercules hesitated, the indecision eating away at his soul, wanting to stay with Meg, but knew that he could not let Thebes or the rest of Greece, for that matter, suffer this.
He glanced over his shoulder out of fear but forced himself to hold it back. He had made it this far in his quest to become a god and be worthy of a place on Olympus, and now, he had to finish it.
Even if it meant going against his own Uncle.
His heart sank to the pit of his stomach at the very notion and he loathed the thought of having to leave Meg behind even for a few minutes, but he had no other choice. He looked down at Meg and tried to offer her a reassuring smile, though her eyes were flickering open and shut, barely perceptively. Hercules still hoped she could see it.
"I…I will come back, Meg," he told her softly. "I promise. Nothing and no one, not even my uncle is going to take you away from me. You're going to be all right," he swore vehemently. Before his resolve could falter him, he bent and kissed Meg on the lips, hoping the taste of her kiss would not dissipate, wanting to keep it with him, always.
And then, he bolted from the woods, taking to the skies on Pegasus, the beginnings of a plan already forming in his mind.