Alone in the garden, Megara trudged back to where she'd left Hercules. The night had a sort of music about it, and she blamed the Muses. They were already composing a song based on their interactions. The night's chill made her wish she could go back for a second chance with the goddesses, but she would be too embarrassed.
There was her pride again. Her father's tragic flaw, despite his reluctance to take power for himself, was always an unwavering belief that his interpretation of the law was absolute. In some way, Megara had always existed underfoot of the Law, both mortal and immortal. Had she known better, she may have fled all society long ago, but her addiction to things that reminded her of better times and the habits she'd developed as a princess prevented her from severing ties with the city. She was too domesticated to be free, no matter how tough she tried to make herself appear.
Above her, the stars were aligning. Her heart fluttered, not with the apprehension of what was to come, but with the thought of Hercules.
"Malaka," she growled to herself. The Muses wanted her to stop running from the fact she'd fallen in love, but did that mean she had to be comfortable with it?
The air in the garden, perfumed with its ever-blooming flowers, had always calmed her. The statues gave her reminiscences of what it had been to enjoy the embraces of a man she loved… and yet, those memories had shifted. There was the echo of Hercules's sigh while stealing a moment with her in a secret alcove while she corrupted him. The two of them creeping through an alleyway. Snuggled close in the theater… Was she sighing?
Unacceptable.
She had to speak with Hades and sort all of this out. There had to be some way to clear her mind and bluff her way out of giving away a tactical advantage.
Somewhere in this hyper-romantic garden setting had to be a place she could reflect without ruminating on all the things she'd do with Hercules given the chance.
She remembered a reflecting pool not far away. That ought to do it. She walked up the steps and eagerly jumped onto the first of the four submerged pedestals lined up from one side to the other. If anything would clear her mind, it would be focusing on not falling into the water and ruining her hair.
The first three gave her no trouble, but her sandal slipped off the fourth. She grabbed for anything that would balance her, and when she found it, it was strangely hand-shaped.
On the opposite shore of the reflecting pool, Megara pulled herself up on the statue's hand. When she looked up into the welcoming stone eyes of Hercules, she thought she must be losing her mind.
How had the sculptor caught him with such accuracy?
Well, she was successfully distracted now.
Distracted from all thoughts of Hades, or the apocalypse.
"It's nice to see you again," she told the statue, and playfully cuddled back against it. Considering it was made of stone, it couldn't give off the warmth. Being in Hercules's presence always did. All things considered, though, she'd have to try this the next time she saw him.
What was she thinking?
Not much of anything.
Get a grip! Her mind screamed at her.
There were big questions to answer, and if she couldn't answer them, Hades would cremate her on the spot.
She hurried away from the statue of Hercules and the thoughts it inspired. There had to be somewhere in this whole garden where she wouldn't find an excuse to obsess over the man she loved. Or have a crisis because she loved him.
She sat herself on the edge of a fountain and folded her arms to glare into the heavens. It was then she remembered she was holding Hercules's flower as if it were a talisman against bad luck. He really was the sweetest…
Heat interrupted the cool night air.
No. She wasn't ready!
"Malaka!" she hopped off the edge of the fountain to watch in horror as Hades melted both halves of a loving couple away from each other, and lounged on their mangled remains.
"So, what's the buzz, ah, Meg? What is the weak link in Wonder Boy's chain?"
Megara practically vibrated with outrage at the question. "Get yourself another girl, I'm through!" That might not have been the best phrasing. It wasn't as if her contract could be dissolved or renegotiated if her master refused. Anger and love were a terrible combination.
Unperturbed, Hades reached into his ear. "Do you mind running that by me again? I think I must have a piece of brimstone wedged in my ear…"
"Then read my lips!" Megara yelled. "Forget it!" She turned away, ready to storm off into the city and find Hercules. If he hadn't picked up on her hints, this was her last chance to say anything before Hades did whatever he wanted as punishment for her disobedience.
Hades appeared in her path. "Meg, Meg, Meg! My sweet, deluded little minion!" Hades cupped her face until it hurt, then let her go, maintaining a friendly facade while she rolled her eyes. "Aren't we forgetting one teensy but ever-so-crucial little tiny detail?" he asked in a singsong voice. Bursting into a column of flame, he screamed, "I own you!" A scoreboard appeared beside him. "You work for me!" he roared. "A thousand years, that was the agreement!"
The scoreboard helpfully displayed the number.
"You worked down to five hundred in two years! And then, when you were halfway through, what did you do? You started working against me!"
"Do I start working against you at this point, or does Hercules defeat us both?" Megara countered. "He defeated every monster faster than we could recruit them. You know what? I think the Fates weren't clear enough with you. You thought you'd fail if Hercules fought you only tonight when you want your little invasion party. Well, he started fighting years ago. He's fought so many monsters your invasion force no longer has anyone to back up the Titans. You don't have much of an army, do you? The Fates should've told you, but let me: you're going to fail no matter what, and it's all because of him."
"What's that? It's the sound of your freedom! Fluttering out the window, forever!" Hades manifested a group of smoke bats that flew into Megara's face. While she was still coughing and brushing them away, they hit the scoreboard.
The slots on the scoreboard flipped rapidly to show each tab of the counter displayed the infinity symbol.
"There's no comeback from this, Meg. You don't get to walk away."
"I don't care! I'm not helping you hurt him!"
"I can't believe you're getting so worked up about some guy!" Hades scoffed.
Megara lifted her flower from Hercules. "Well, this one is different! He's honest, and he's sweet, he would never do anything to hurt me…"
"Oh, please. He's a guy!"
"And besides, O Oneness… you can't beat him! He has no weaknesses! He is gonna—" Megara rounded on Hades to gloat on her lover's behalf. The burgeoning hope in her heart died on the vine at the sight of his smile.
He should not be smiling like that. "I think he does, Meg. I really think he does." He took the flower between too-long fingers. It fell to ashes before Megara's eyes. She could only gaze at the place it had been with dread.
Movement in the manicured hedgerows close by caught her eye. Three figures. One equine, one a man, and one too short to be anything but a satyr revealed themselves.
Hades saw none of this.
It was enough to know that they had heard. Hercules would know she had refused to betray him.
Her world went black.
The next thing Megara saw, she was in the Underworld.
Hades stood with Megara's throat clasped in his hand. Around the table stood Pain and Panic, across from Hecate and her winged wolves.
"Well, Hades? Has your girl done anything useful with her daylong hero date?" Hecate asked.
Hades put on his most sarcastic smile. "More than you have, you knockoff hack."
"Come now. You should have involved me years ago instead of enlisting the riffraff of Thebes and the children of Echidna. She won't even talk to you anymore, after the way you've decimated her family tree."
"You've gotta think big picture. Small picture? I hate you, you hate me, we've got this whole bitter rivalry thing… you might've blabbed to get me out of your way…" He hadn't taken his hand off Megara's throat, or she may have interjected. "But tonight? Eh, I'm outta options, you'll have to do."
"That's your big picture? So what's the plan? Your minion doesn't look particularly celebratory. You're not relying on me, now, are you? How sad."
"Well, ya see," Hades threw Megara onto his chessboard, where she landed with a heavy thump and upset multiple pieces. "I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. It doesn't need to be voluntary. I thought my little flower here was a heartless bitch by now, but failing that, she's still the perfect bait to get Hercules on the hook!"
Megara sat on her knees, poised to dodge a fireball. "What are you doing?"
"Well, my little Nutmeg, it's pretty simple: Wonder Brat wants you. I have you. He'll try to take you from me. Then, I'll get him to bargain for you. He'll overestimate your value and ba-boom! No more Wonder Boy problem!"
Don't show your fear.
Megara tilted her head at him.
"And where do I come in?" Hecate asked.
"You are the only demigoddess who wants me to take over the cosmos so you can have the Underworld. Therefore, when I release the Titans from their prison at sea, you will release every monster imprisoned in Tartarus. Spread them around the Olympian foothills. Overwhelm and distract the gods, so there's no way they can fight everyone off. Then, when our Olympian counterparts are weakened, you'll capture them and make them take the places of the monsters. As future Queen of the Underworld, you can do whatever you want with them."
Panic did an obnoxious little dance. "You're really scaring Meg, boss! That means it's a good plan!"
Megara had never better understood why Hades spent so much time torturing his loyal minions. She threw one of the Titan pieces off the board and right at Panic's nose.
"Meg here has played her role perfectly so far. A damsel in need of a hero is the perfect siren call to a hero! Other than real sirens, that is, but we can't get them on short notice. He can't possibly resist!"
He'd have to, or all hell would break loose in the most literal sense.
"I'll await my signal," Hecate said. "What happens if the Titans fail again? They've been dormant for years, and Zeus beat them in their prime."
"Zeus isn't as young as he once was. I'll get rid of his prophesied baby hero and rule the cosmos unopposed!"
Megara stood atop the chessboard. "You realize even when you've taken control, you'll never stop watching your back, right?"
"Excuse me? You are literally the most valuable piece on my chessboard right now, and you think I'm not gonna play you?"
"Don't worry, I know you can't help yourself. But you should consider the fact you're leaving the Underworld and all the other gods in the possession of a powerful enchantress whose power can control people. Don't you think that's a little dangerous for your longevity as king?"
Hades stared across the table at Hecate, then waved his hands. "No, no, no! I know what you're trying to do! You don't get to twist this! It's my show! You're not allowed to rewrite it at the climax!"
"Why not? That's what you've been doing all along, isn't it? Because none of your plans have ever worked, and your insane narcissism keeps driving you to repeat the same failures while telling yourself it was never your fault! But you know what, Hades? All of this is your fault because you're fighting Fate! Do you know what happens to people who do that? I do! Every generation it brings my family a notch lower until finally, we're so low I'm down here with you! I'm done fighting my Fate. Now I get to watch you suffer!"
Hades wrapped Megara in chains and slammed her against the chessboard. "I think I've heard enough, Nutmeg. Thankfully, I don't need words from you for the rest of the night. Your screams will do just fine."