"That was not the plan." Phil emerged from his hiding place, which had been gods-knew-where along with Pegasus.
"You're telling me this was planned?" Megara asked, looking from one to the other of those left with her in the stadium.
"It was a success." Hercules took her hand. "Whatever you choose to do after tonight is up to you."
"Well, obviously, the circumstances aren't ideal," Aphrodite said. "But normally, you'd have a day or two to consummate it, and then it'd be official. At least we know Meg isn't a slave, anymore. Woulda shot higher, but y'know, lovers don't think clearly when they see one another in danger."
"I know," Megara and Hercules said a once, for the first time equally distressed.
Memories of the night Hades first extracted a signature from her filtered through Megara's mind. It was impossible to imagine her former lover's face when Hercules stood before her. All there was now was him. "That's how I agreed to get involved in this Underworld mess to begin with. I'm so sorry you had to see that."
"Are you kidding?" Hercules set both hands on her shoulders, which steadied him as much as focused her thoughts. "You had to experience it! That's much worse!"
Megara forced a smile to try and brush away his concern. "It was embarrassing more than anything. He does that occasionally, so I'm used to it."
"You shouldn't be. Nobody should be." Hercules stumbled closer to her. "Now that you're free, nobody will ever hurt you again."
"Don't worry so much. I can already tell you I like how freedom looks on me. Protection is a nice bonus, but I'll take never having to go back 'downstairs' until I die and be happy with it. Thank you for doing so much more for me than I could ever do for myself."
Hercules's eyes watered. "You're welcome… and hey, it's just a day. I'll be myself again soon. If I could right now, I'd… well, never mind." Blushing, he glanced between Phil and Hera, but Aphrodite gave him away by giggling.
"I'll help you enjoy yourselves if you're ready tomorrow," she promised.
"I hate to be the one who reminds you of it, Kid, but Hades is launching his master plan in the twenty-four hours you're down for the count. That ain't good news! What're we gonna do?"
"I'm not down. I'm normal…" Hercules laughed with a dark irony worthy of Megara. She was a terrible influence. "I just… need a rest. Then I'll go help."
"I'm not much of a warrior, but I've got a whole squad of cherubs to command," Aphrodite said. Flowers swirled about the goddess, forming the chicest armor Megara had ever seen. In better moods, she'd have joked that she'd like a set made in purple.
Now, she stroked Hercules's hair. "Let's get you somewhere you can relax."
"I'll leave the two of you for now." Hera rested a hand on each of their shoulders. "Know that after the battle, we will lavish praises on both of you. You have helped right countless wrongs tonight."
"Like the kidnapping of your son," Megara said. Nothing could stop her, anymore.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Because it was obviously Hades. Didn't you investigate? Eighteen years, and the lot of you just accepted that your son had to earn his way home when it wasn't his fault he got kidnapped as an infant? Didn't you have a shortlist of suspects even capable of pulling something like that? And shouldn't it have begun and ended with the guy who relentlessly hounded Hercules his entire life?"
"Zeus and I never wished to assume the worst."
"You could've observed the worst. Everything has led up to today. I guess his mask is off now. If you defeat him, show no mercy. He will only return to try again if you give him the chance."
"In light of your… blunt revelations… I shall leave the two of you alone for the moment. I must confer with Zeus. We have to reorient our battle plans." She kissed Hercules on the forehead, then rose back into the air on her stream of rosy light.
"You're always mouthing off to authority," Hercules observed. "Aren't you worried what will happen to you?"
"Up until now, I had nothing to lose. The helplessness of my situation drove me out of my mind. That's not just with Hades. It's been my whole life. I've never backed down, even when I probably should because I'd rather suffer than let something stupid pass me by."
"I like it when you speak your mind. Your words are as powerful as my strength ever was."
"And will be again," Phil was quick to interject. "C'mon, we've gotta get you ready for the next phase of this fight."
"What are you talking about? He's down for now. Leave him alone!" Megara stepped between Hercules and Phil. "We're not doing that. He stays here until he feels better."
"That's so sweet of you, but I've got to fight." Hercules wrapped his arms around Megara's waist from behind and kissed her earlobe.
Megara squeaked, shocked by the heat that rolled down to her toes and back again. Had he missed her cheek? Why was she so ticklish?
"You make so many adorable noises…" Hercules rested his chin on her shoulder. "I'm glad you chose to stay with me for now…"
Phil took several steps backward. "Uh… you two are…"
"Engaged," Hercules sighed in delirious bliss. "Unless she wants to break it off now that she's free."
"No, I plan to stick around. I like that you don't try to shut me up, and I count seven goddesses who've blessed us being together in one night. That's gotta be some kind of record. I'm not one to spit in the face of good fortune; I've never seen it before, and I kinda like it."
"I love the sound of your voice," Hercules gushed. "And you're always saying something interesting, so I pay attention!"
"Does that mean you're ready to hear me tell you that you're in no state to fight anything, and you'll be killed if you try?"
"No, but I like that you said it. This isn't even the first time I lost my strength." Hercules fixed his eyes on the sky. "I relied on my cunning then, but… that time, there were a bunch of other heroes around, and it was just Hecate. She gave up pretty quickly, and there wasn't an apocalypse on…"
"Listen to me, Hercules. I didn't want you to do this for me, but you have. Now Hades isn't looking. The obvious solution is to hurt me so you can get your strength back."
Revulsion registered on Hercules's face. Though his hands were sluggish, he wrapped them about her waist with steadying authority. "I won't hurt you. You've been hurt enough. I won't watch you suffer after what just happened. All along, it's been you who carried this burden. Alone, and in secret. Now, it's all out in the open. I would've given up worse to protect you. Hades lowballed me."
Megara tried to laugh through her horror, and Hercules did the same. They were both so tired. "How do we get through this, then?" she asked. "That's twenty-four hours where you won't take your strength back. This is the moment you'll need it most."
"There are worse things." Hercules couldn't muster the strength to hold her, but he leaned himself against her. "Can we just sit for a minute? I'm not really in the mood to strategize…"
"I'll patrol with Pegasus," Phil offered. "We'll see if there's anything on the horizon and… give you two some time."
"Thank you." Hercules might have drifted off to sleep while Phil and Pegasus flew off for all Megara knew. He shook himself and took deep breaths. "I never noticed how energetic I was before. It's like my body is working so hard to hold itself upright that I'm putting myself to sleep."
"Sounds like you need some quick energy. Maybe some electrolytes? You've gotta have some of that sports drink you've been hawking for the last few months lying around, right?"
"Uh… Yeah! Yep, it should be around here somewhere…"
Megara looped his arm over her shoulder and supported him with an arm about his middle. "Come on, I'll get you the best seat in the house." She carefully guided him past the scorch marks on the sand, hoping he wouldn't notice how the marks corresponded to the contours of her body. "Theoi, you're heavy," she huffed.
"Sorry… I'm trying."
"Any chance you could fall and squash me? Then you could go back to normal."
"Please don't talk like that, Meg. It's not a joke."
"I'm not joking." Megara settled him on the seat reserved for the highest-paying guests. "How're you feeling?" she checked his forehead as if he had a fever. "I'm already going to look for something to drink. Can I get you anything else?"
"If you've got a spare ego lying around, I'd like one of those, too." He smiled queasily up at her, and the two of them laughed.
Megara kissed the top of his head. "I've got enough of that for both of us. Give me a second." She ran into a back room of the stadium, and found exactly what she needed: every flavor of Herculade. She gathered an armful and rushed back out onto the field.
Hercules was staring up at the sky, watching as the planets aligned and a light shone down the line toward the Earth. He didn't respond at first when she reached him, but she knew he'd seen her when he said, "I'm supposed to be there to help save the world." The implication hung in the air, though he would never have admitted it, that he'd given up his ability to participate in the battle to protect Megara. Any fallout he didn't stop would be her fault.
"There's still time." Megara set her collection of sports drinks on the sand by his feet. "Which one's your favorite? There's white or red grape flavors, lemon, fig…"
"Pick one, it'll be fine…" he smiled at her. "You should have one, too. You're getting all fussy and flustered…"
"Sorry." There would never be enough apologies to cover for this. She picked a random cup and offered it to him, then remembered his situation and opened it for him, too.
"Fussy is cute on you," Hercules whispered as he watched her. "I don't think anyone's gotten fussy over me since I was a little kid."
"Get used to it." She blustered at him as she handed him his cup.
Hercules waited for her to pick one for herself, then clinked their cups together. "To the end of the world," he muttered.
"To the beginning of your legend," Megara corrected him. She put an arm around him as they both drank, and he leaned on her shoulder. On any other night, she'd have cried for joy at the perfection of sitting with the man she loved to stare up at the stars. Now, she wept for the fact she'd been responsible for his current diminished state.
"You're free, Meg," he whispered close to her ear. "I know it took longer than you wanted, but I don't regret freeing you. You deserve to make your own choices. Even if that means…" He drew in a pained breath.
"No." Megara set her empty cup down and looped her arm around his neck. She pressed her forehead to his, and then she spoke. "Wonder Boy, I'll never leave you. Now that the choice is mine, I choose you because I…" She was so close to saying those words.
It was clear from how his eyes widened, and his mouth hung slightly open that Hercules was waiting to hear them.
"Here." She hadn't thought through her impulses, but she didn't back down. Megara guided Hercules to lie across the VIP seats and rest his head in her lap. "See? You'll be comfortable for a little while."
"Can I stay here forever?" Hercules slowly reached back and slid his hand over the curve of her knee.
"Sure thing." She combed her fingers through his hair and scratched gentle circles into his scalp.
"I can tell you something important," she said as if that had been her plan all along. One thing Hades told me was the prophecy that got all this started. He said it was foretold if you should fight, he will fail."
"But I'm not fighting… If the prophecy says I have to fight, then…" Hercules lifted himself on his elbows. "I'll come back to you, but the world needs me. I can't relax."
Megara chewed her lip. "The world will need you after today, too. We can't lose you." The way she clung to his armor made her feel pathetic. She'd seen paintings and sculptures of women clinging to soldiers so they wouldn't go off to war. How had she become such a cliche? She already knew not to show this much weakness.
"You won't lose me," he whispered, covering her hand with his. "All I need to do is fight, right? That will halt the whole operation."
Phil swooped down on Pegasus into the arena. "Kid! There's a rampaging cyclops on the edge of town, and he's coming this way!"
Hercules jolted all the way to his feet. "I've gotta…" He drew his sword, stumbled, and dropped it.
"Careful." Megara knelt beside him to pick the sword off the sand. She dusted it off with her sash, took his hand, and settled the sword into it.
"Thank you," Hercules's face was luminous with his smile.
In the distance, a roaring voice screamed his name. "Come out! Face me!"
Hercules groaned. "Already…?"
"You already told the gods about the invasion." Megara stepped in front of him, hands pressed to his chest as if that could hold him back. Even in his diminished state, he was an abnormally strong man, if lethargic. "Let the Olympians take care of this. You're not in any condition to fight Hades and the Titans, so rest now. Someone will show up to take this guy down."
Hercules shook his head. "I've been called out into the ring. I promised Thebes I wouldn't let the city down. Now is my chance to prove it. The city is waiting for me. I need to show myself. Think of all the people he'll hurt if he doesn't find me in time. He could work his way through half the city before he gets here, and then what? I have to go."
"We can go out there together, and if I get hurt, then you can finish the fight at full power!"
If she could lift one of those weights somehow, she would let it fall on herself. Damn, that would hurt, but it might be enough! Except she knew there was no way she could move it. Next idea. She could climb onto one of those vaulting things and then let herself fall!
"Phil, I'm gonna need you to stay with her and make sure she doesn't hurt herself." Hercules squeezed Megara's hand, kissed her forehead, then strode to Pegasus. "I'll keep the big guy busy until we figure something out to stop his rampage. See you when this all blows over!"
The words froze on Megara's lips before she could form any argument for him to stay. She watched him fly away and did nothing to stop the tears that fell. If she never saw him again, what was the point of her freedom?