Hercules found himself reluctant to leave Athens despite his equal resistance to visiting it in the first place. He helped clean and rebuild Theseus's palace, then secure the donations they'd collected before the arrival of the Minotaur. He had even stayed to watch as Theseus mounted the head in the same banquet hall he'd tried so hard to destroy. Megara never returned.
Galatea had reassured him multiple times that Megara would come back for her dress, and to return the one she'd borrowed. She continued to reassure him until the neatly folded dress that Galatea had gotten her servants to clean vanished in a puff of smoke. It was replaced not by an equally clean party dress, but one that was charred as if someone tried to burn it.
Galatea, Medusa, and Hercules had stared down at the evidence, but nobody wanted to admit what happened. Theseus had been the one to suggest, "This looks like the work of Hades."
Medusa chewed her lip.
"You know something, don't you?" Hercules asked. He rested his hand on the dress. The holes in it ran from its neckline to the hem. Whoever had worn this dress had endured excruciating agony. "Hades has her. Doesn't he?"
Medusa hung her head. "Listen, I wanted her to be the one who said it. She's in debt big time. She's the one who recruited me. She didn't want to, though. When I was reluctant, she tried to give me a way out. She just had to talk to me. But then I wanted to see you again. And I guess I'm glad I did. My life is completely different now."
"Hers isn't." Hercules lifted handfuls of the dress to his chest so the pitiful thing could droop, still stinking of smoke, limp as a corpse. "I knew something was wrong. I knew there was someone pulling her strings. I just made the mistake of thinking it was a mortal."
It explained everything. Her misery, the way she hated herself, how every time he saw her, there was a monster not far away. A monster that he himself would then kill. Still, in spite of what he knew was a murderous rage, he remained calm. It must be Medusa. "Nobody tells Phil until I've gotten her out of there, OK? He'll say something unhelpful and be a real jerk about it. Hades took Meg so he could torture somebody that I love. He's done it before. I'm done leaving her behind when she needs me more than anyone."
"Aww, you love her?" Galatea leaned her cheek against her folded hands. "I knew you just needed some time alone!"
He had to pause, staring into the eyes of a girl he'd created to be his true love, who was now cooing over the idea that he'd found someone else. He was glad she existed, but he still couldn't believe it. "I'm glad I figured that out, too, but if Hades has her, there's no telling what he'll do next."
"Herc," Medusa set a hand on his shoulder for his attention. "Yes, we know she's with Hades, but you don't know the circumstances. You could literally drag her out of the Underworld, but he will snap his fingers and bring her back. I used to work with him, and I know how he works. Anyone who works with him has to sign a contract, and if he's fulfilled his end of it, they're beholden to him forever. Wherever her debt comes from, you'll have to break the contract, or she'll never be free."
Hercules closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths, which forced him to breathe in a mingled scent of smoke, burnt flesh, and spices. There were even blood stains he could pick out from the scarlet fabric. How much had she been through before she broke down and hurled herself into the shadows? He'd found her there, punishing herself for things Hades had forced her to do. Then she'd tried to rejoin the party, not for her own benefit but because she could tell he was hurting. He'd tried to get through to her but never considered that she wasn't ready. Did Hades have any idea what they'd done that night? Was that why he punished her? Had this been his fault?
"Maybe he just pulled her back in because her job was done. We could be misinterpreting the dress," Theseus suggested. "Medusa: you said you know something of his methods? Could he have sent her here as a distraction?"
"She was supposed to show my sisters and me where to corner Hercules," Medusa said. "Neither of us went along with it. And then she got dragged to this party with us. I doubt even she knew what was going on."
"We all kept her pretty distracted," Galatea agreed.
"It's true. There's also the question of why she'd be so savage with Adonis if her goal were to hurt you, Hercules," Theseus said. "Yes, they had some history, but she was defending you before she said anything about herself. She seems to have defied her master to do so."
"And this was her reward." Hercules stared down at the dress. "What can we do for her?" Hercules asked Medusa.
"We'd have to figure out what she asked Hades to do for her. For me, he let me go as soon as I made a real friend." Her smile widened with a fondness for him that he physically felt through her new power. He thought he was getting used to it. At least, he was calm in the face of what would normally cause rage or panic. His thoughts were never far from Megara, though.
"Do you think she'd tell you once you revealed you knew about her situation?" Galatea asked.
"Meg's not exactly the forthcoming type," Medusa said. "I knew what she was up to the first time we met, and she wouldn't tell me. But I can tell it hurt, and she's never gotten over it."
"I wouldn't either," Galatea said, gazing at what had once been her own dress. "How long do you figure she's been stuck with someone who treats her like that?"
"Too long," Hercules snarled. "I'm going to put an end to it."
"What about getting to Olympus?" Phil asked.
"This is what heroes do, isn't it? When have I ever encountered anyone who needed help more than her? She was there the first day I left to become a real hero. She's always been there. I need to be there for her."
"What does that look like?" Theseus asked. "Do you wait for her to appear, kill the monster that'll be there with her, then try to make her discuss her contract?"
"Are we relying on Hercules for guile?" Galatea asked.
Not a single one of his friends could hold back laughter. Once they were all laughing, they only laughed harder.
Hercules dropped Megara's dress on the table between them. "We're not here to laugh about how hard it is for me to lie, or why maybe I'm not the best with words. We're here to find real solutions for someone who's helped all of us. She's even saved some of our lives. If I can't just charge into the Underworld to get her back, then you have to tell me what else I can do, or I'll fall back on Plan Alpha."
"I think Hades will try to get her talking to you," Medusa said. "Listen to the questions she's asking. Give as good as you get."
"I'll make an effort to visit you in Thebes," Theseus promised. "Perhaps the next time we see her, you won't be alone in trying to get answers from her. You have friends, Hercules. We won't let you down."
Hercules let Theseus's words fuel him all the way back to Thebes. He stopped off in the graveyard right away. The edges of his letter were singed. There was still no reply. He could be patient, but not if it meant he had to imagine all the reasons Megara couldn't answer him. He tucked the letter back into the bottom of the jar, hoping that if she came for it, she'd be comforted by his words.
He meant them now more than ever.
The next few weeks in Thebes, monster after monster assaulted him between public engagements. It was almost as if Hades was intent on growing him into a legend faster than Phil could chart the course. There was scarcely a day he had to go find a monster to slay. Each one he slayed added to the glory he built around himself.
The occasional visits from Theseus helped ground him, but there was only so much a friend and fellow hero could add. The gap where Megara should be only seemed more impossibly wide when he got a mansion. It was cold, beautiful, and empty. Tourists passed by his house every day, but he was rarely there.
There were volcanoes to plug, sea serpents to strangle, and harpies to cage. All of Greece had problems, and he attacked them all from their epicenter. Still, he frequently checked the jar Megara had left in the graveyard, hoping to catch her leaving something there.
He kept leaving little notes for her, hoping that if Hades wouldn't let her write to him, she would at least know he hadn't forgotten her.
As the months dragged on, he'd begun to despair that he'd never see her again, until he stood bloodied over the fallen carcass of a second Hydra. He'd spent hours in this stinking swamp outside the city of Lerna. When he'd flown over the region, he'd thought how beautiful it was with its sparkling springs, but when reports of a gargantuan swamp serpent led him beyond the outskirts, there was no doubt where it would hide.
By this point of his career, the terror of facing monsters had dampened into annoyance. He still caught the occasional rush when something was vicious enough, or outlandish enough, but the majority of monstrosities were easily defeated. He just wished there weren't so many of them. Hercules craved those evenings at school when he and his friends had wound down at the Speedy Pita or got hyped up for a concert. His whole life was consumed with pleasing strangers, steadily transforming from man to commodity.
With an audience, he was happy to show off. Their adulation was never enough. Once the echoes faded, he returned to his big, empty house. Phil loved every second of it. He lived for the attention his pupil could bring him. Sometimes, it made Hercules check out of his own body. He went through the motions others expected of him so they'd believe he was perfect.
There was no point disguising the facts: he was on top, but others had risen this high before. One day, the Fates could snip away all these shallow bonds in seconds. He could fall, never to rise again, and his family would not try to reach him a second time. He'd never be good enough. Now, he'd defeated a monster without an audience. Yes, he'd protected the people of Lerna from encountering it, but would it bring him any closer to Olympus?
The acid-spewing Hydra had been two steps more difficult to vanquish than the one outside Thebes. He'd had to jump up on its back so it couldn't hit him with its acid spew, but thankfully, he'd recognized the species after the first few head slices. It never grew as many heads as its predecessor. He gazed up at the sky, agonized by the questions of when he'd prove himself. Had Zeus even watched this fight? Was he getting as sick of the fighting as his son?
Hercules ignored Phil on the way back out of the swamp. He didn't even ride Pegasus toward the city. "I'll just grunge on you, too, buddy," he sighed to his friend. "You two get back to Lerna and find a place to sleep before we go back to Thebes. I don't want them to see their hero like this."
He'd been walking alone for about half an hour when he reached a spring untouched by the fungal stench of the Hydra's territory. There was a cluster of nymphs playing in the water, and all of them shrieked at the sight of him. They vanished or fled, anything to get away from him.
For the first time since he started his career, Hercules slumped down, alone, and cried. He might as well be the monster. Hadn't he spent years trying to find peaceful solutions to local monsters? Theoi, he'd even dated one! This wasn't right. Glory wasn't about brutal savagery in combat. He was better than this. Unless he didn't hold himself accountable and do better, then, he really would sink to the level he was sinking to.
"Father," he said into the cool mist of the springs, "when do I get to go home? How much longer does this go on?" he caught sight of his reflection and recoiled. No wonder the nymphs had fled. "How am I supposed to do this job and look good doing it?" He picked the first stone that fit into his fingers and skipped it across the spring. If nothing else, it dissipated the vision of himself.
"I don't know. You seem to be pulling it off fine to me."
It was Hercules's turn to scream. How was it that the Hydra only made him focus harder on the combat, and the sound of the girl he loved rocketed him back toward his awkward adolescence?
"Sorry. I was sure you saw me by now." Megara knelt beside him. "I didn't realize I'd have to walk out this far to find you."
Hercules shied away from her. He wanted to do the opposite, but the amount of monster guts and probably a layer of acid put him off. He wasn't about to hurt her if he could help it. Not to mention, he must look like a barbarian back from the hunt. "Meg, I… I wasn't expecting to see you here, either." He lowered his face toward his knees. "How'd you find me?"
"Everyone was talking about you fighting another Hydra. I happened to know where it lives, so I beat the crowd."
"Show's over. Thing's dead. Where've you been?"
A silence lingered between them. She wasn't about to answer. Why couldn't she tell him about Hades, yet? He eyed her curiously. There were no burn marks or any other kind of scars to mar her perfect skin. She moved slowly, carefully, as if measuring every motion. Were they being watched?
"You've been busy," she told him softly and dipped a jar the nymphs had abandoned into the water. "I bet you've hardly had time to breathe between battles."
"How'd you escape from the Minotaur?"
The jar slipped from her hands. Her fingers were trembling.
Forgetting the mess, Hercules reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze until he felt her relax. "I've been so worried about you."
She didn't move. "I knew you'd be all right. You always are. Nobody's greater than you."
"That's not true…" He moved his hand away. She was so pristine, like an idol of Aphrodite.
"Let me help you get cleaned up. When your fans get here, they'll want to see their shining beacon of divine kleos."
Hercules shook his head, releasing a deep sigh. "I feel less and less like I've earned any glory."
Megara dipped her jar into the water and brought it back out, full of pure gleaming spring water. Then she dropped cloths in the water and poured some of the nymphs's bathing oil in along with it. "Forgive me. Did someone change the definition of glory while I wasn't looking? Didn't you just single-handedly slay your second Hydra? You're on a winning streak longer than my hair."
He watched the light play in her hair. He wished he wasn't so disgusting right now so he could play with it.
As if she hadn't noticed, Megara dipped a linen cloth in the water until it was soaked. "Let me handle this for you. You've been working too hard." She walked into the water, up to her hips, and gestured him in. "Come join me."
"I'll ruin the spring…" The excuse fell fast, but he was not above biting his lip at the thought of being in the water with her.
"It's blessed by Poseidon. Last I checked, most of your uncles like you." She held a hand out to him. "It's best if you dunk in the water. It'll help you feel better."
He wasn't any good at arguing with her. He eased into the water beside her, trying not to react to how cold it was. "You don't have to do anything for me." He should be the one on task, ready for the next fight. He should tell her what he knew about Hades and declare himself her protector no matter who was watching.
"What's really bothering you? Is it that you think people will see you not looking perfect or that you're too close to the situation to see how impressive you are?" Her smile was mild. She looked exhausted.
"Little of Column Alpha, a little of Column Beta."
"I want you to duck down into the water, and when you get back up, leave that thought in the water."
"Huh?" He still couldn't believe this was about him. Her problems were so much bigger.
"Can you do that for me?"
He was underwater and back out again in seconds.
The water splashed her, making her sputter and struggle to maintain composure. Something about her in this unguarded moment was so… cute. "Great idea! Now it's your turn!" he put his hands on her shoulders. "This time, we go down together, and you forget what's bothering you so we can talk."
She looked uncertainly up at him from under her hair. "All right." She braced herself on his arms. "But you'll have to deal with me when my hair's a mess."
"Heh! Deal!" He waited for her to look ready, then pulled her close and ducked under the water with her. For just a second, nobody could watch them, and they were alone in each other's arms. This was what he'd been missing since the party in Athens. Her. Hades might be using her, but he didn't care as long as she kept showing up.
Their heads broke the surface at the same time, with Megara's hair forming a curtain over her eyes. Hercules gently brushed it aside and curled it behind her ear. "I missed you… I was so worried about you, but when we didn't find your body, I decided to trust you'd come back to me."
"And then I did." Megara moved away from him and seated herself on the steps down into the water so she could sit half in and half out of the water. "Let's get back to you. I wish you could see how you shine."
"It's the water." He ran a hand through his hair, expecting to look awkward, but there was something about the way Megara's eyes fixed on him as he moved that told him she didn't see him like that. "But thanks." Memories of their brief moments together in the shadows of Theseus's party rushed through his mind. If he got permission, maybe he could learn a little more from her.
"I get the impression I might have corrupted you in some unintended ways. You weren't supposed to absorb that trait from me. Only one of us gets to hate ourselves at a time."
"This isn't your fault. It's just been so long that I'm fighting and lonely, and…" Theoi, her hair…
Megara paused, arms raised to wring the water from her curls. "Go on. You're fighting a lot and lonely?"
"But I can't go home…"
"I hear tell they made you a real pretty home recently. You should invite me over."
"Please, come home with me every day." Was that too much? He covered his face.
"I'll think about it. Come a little closer."
He hadn't wrecked everything? Hercules moved closer, still finding it difficult to believe she hadn't already been repulsed.
"You're wondering why I didn't run away when the nymphs did." She pulled a cloth from the jar and started to brush it along his arms.
He didn't answer. She knew she was right.
"I know who you really are, and I'm grateful you can pull this side out of you to protect people. But I'm also glad that you're gentle all the rest of the time." She moved her cloth along his hand, working between calluses and leather-rough palms to work the blood from the crevices.
"It's a good thing?" he prompted. He could stand there indefinitely, letting her work his hands clean. The moment she released his first hand, he moved the other for her to start there.
"I've seen it a few times. It only appears when you need to protect other people. When Adonis was attacking you, nothing happened. This side of you is the necessary weapon you wield as a hero. I'm proud of you."
None of the times his father had said this to him could mean half as much as it did coming from her. "You are?"
"I didn't have anything to do with it. It's all you. But seeing how you can take down every threat that squares up to you and you can summon the rage you need to take down monsters. Like a lion protecting his family."
Hercules leaned closer. "You know, I killed a lion with an invulnerable pelt. I wore it so the Hydra's acid didn't get to my skin, but now Pegasus had to carry it somewhere else to get it washed."
"I'm glad you survived. You had to be very clever to get through that, didn't you?"
"Well, yeah, I guess. But don't give me too much credit. It wasn't that brilliant." He watched as Megara dipped the cloth back into the jar and then trailed it up his arm.
"You never get credit for being clever. But I think that's because people stop at the things that are easiest to notice and forget about what you're really like under all that muscle."
"It's not pretty, trust me. Lots of blood."
The two of them laughed, and for a moment, it seemed nothing mattered besides the two of them. It had been so long since the pressure was off his shoulders. He wished he could kiss her, but he still wasn't sure of himself. Why was she here? How had Hades decided to allow her out of the Underworld? It didn't seem like there was another monster coming, and she was working overtime to soothe his bruised ego. That didn't seem like it fit in with anything on his uncle's agenda.
"You're getting picked up soon, hm?"
"Probably? I sent Phil and Pegasus off. They know to give me time alone sometimes. This time, I was particularly mopey, so I don't think they have any interest in hurrying back." He was running out of ways to dance around the Hades situation. It was going to come tumbling out soon, and he had to pick the perfect words for when it did. "I'll take you home if you're ready," he offered. Maybe she'd tell him something about where Hades was keeping her.
"I can never go home," she whispered. The flatness of her eyes revealed the truth of her words. "When's your birthday?"
The sudden shift from the tragedy of her life to some bit of trivia about himself caught Hercules between his emotions and his reason. "I um… it's Skirophotion thirteenth. When's yours?"
"Not important." She rose from the water, giving him the perfect view of how the water made her dress cling to the shape of her legs.
His throat was dry.
"What's important is I'll see you on your birthday, and I'll make an effort to write to you until then. Keep your head up, Wonder Boy."
It took everything in him not to chase after her, but he let her go. She knew her situation better than he did. But now he knew something, even if she didn't mean to tell him: His birthday would be important this year.
