"See, Megara and I had a lovely chat before her untimely death this evening," Hecate said in her most honey-dripping voice.

As irritated as Hercules was by her continuing to speak to him, let alone touch him, he found himself compelled to hear her out. Still, he wouldn't dignify her with an answer.

"You see, she noticed that Hades would be occupied for the evening, and he left me in charge. Unfortunately, he still decides the fates of souls, but that could change in a flash. If you convince the Olympians to reinstate me to full goddess status, I could become eligible for his job, and then I'd be free to set your girl up with a work release program. Of course, the Underworld can never fully give up what rightfully belongs here, but if you made me queen, I'd even release her with special witchy powers! Wouldn't that be nice? You're a hero, after all. You know how dangerous the world is, and by now, she does, too. You could be together much longer if she became my protege. I'd even help protect her from Hades if he became a problem in the future."

Hercules's pulse raced in his ears. He wasn't smart enough for this. They had to find Meg and get her to explain why the thought put his stomach in knots, but he still didn't know how to refuse.

"You're forgetting one major step here," Hades snarled. "Wonder Brat can't make you queen if I never let him leave!"

"You couldn't stop me from getting in. That ferry has left the dock," Hercules shot back.

"I'm not letting go of the one thing I have, even if I never wanted it!" Hades declared. "Now, get out of the way! This spoiled sun spot wants to see his pathetic ex-girlfriend, and I can't wait to show him where she is!"

"There are no guarantees you'll have a way to save her," Hecate warned Hercules. "You ought to remember that. I'm the only one who can give you what you want."

"I'll find my own way."

"Good, good! Hades tried to sound friendly, but his mask had long since slipped off. "Now, how much do you know about the River Styx?"

Hecate floated along after them. "I'm sure he passed Alpha Level Underworld Studies at some point in his training, no?"

"Not much to know. Mortals are taught that the majority of us will wander mindlessly down here unless we're given blood to drink, but it's supposed to be a peaceful existence. All I've ever seen down here is misery."

"The dead are dull. Boring. Pointless. They crowd up the place and offer nothing for all my hospitality. But eh, what're ya gonna do?"

"I have some thoughts," Hecate floated ahead. "Under my reign, the shades would be released upon the earth to haunt the places they once loved in life, and I will grant them powers to seek justice against their erstwhile enemies! Murderers avenged from the grave! Scores settled between generations! Witnesses to long-obscured crimes to speak for themselves! Think of the possibilities, son of Zeus!"

"You're just trying to mess with me. I'm not in the mood."

"It's pointless to bargain with him anyway. He's got no power here. Now get out of our hair before I remind you who does!"

Unbothered, Hecate floated away. "When this one screws you over, remember you have options!"

Hades sent a fireball after her, but she vanished before it could reach her.

While he was occupied, Hercules strode off through the fields of Asphodel. If the gods were going to waste his time, he would find his own way. Hades probably didn't want him to know where Meg was, so he'd pretend to be helpful until he couldn't put it off any longer.

He thought he could see a large scoop out of the side of the wall, with stairs leading up to it. No handrails. Meg hated heights. Hades must have designed it specifically to torment her every single day and while she slept.

A way existed to turn a god mortal, or else he wouldn't be in this situation. If he could find it and force it on Hades…

"Hey! You can't just wander around unsupervised!" Hades appeared in front of him. "Your dad is king topside, but down here, I'm in charge!"

"You're not in control of me, so you can say whatever you want, but it won't matter. I've beaten you countless times before, so I'm not sure why you think today would be any different. Save yourself the trouble and bring Meg to me so we can leave."

"Not so fast!" Hades snapped his fingers.

The rock wall behind them slowly separated in half, pulling apart to reveal a chamber that glowed pale, sickly green. "It's a small Underworld, after all, where all your dreams can come true."

Hercules held his uncle's too-gleeful state with one that portended misfortune should he be crossed once more. He followed the river toward the chamber, where it flowed as a waterfall into a whirlpool below.

Though ordinarily, the whirlpool moved slowly, he watched as a skull at the bottom sucked deeply and drew the souls who spun in its grasp lower. Another wave arrived from the waterfall, and while the skull released its pull, the chamber filled up to the ledge with sickly water again. There was something different about this water compared to the Styx proper. It must be something to do with the skull at the bottom.

If Hades had brought him here to find Meg, there was no telling how far she'd gotten by now with the inconsistent flow of the whirlpool.

He knelt by the water, casting a suspicious glare over his shoulder for Hades. This would be an excellent time to push him in.

Hades was merely waiting, poised with a wicked grin, for Hercules to see what he wanted him to see.

Megara floated past him, eyes closed as if asleep, the same as he'd last seen her on his bed, and her mouth contorted in the same grimace of restrained agony.

"Meg!" He reached in to catch her by the hand and draw her out, but something stopped him.

The water froze and then leached the life out of his hand, making it feel as if he'd aged several decades at once. He pulled his hand out of the water in shock, only for the ripples he'd caused to push Megara further down the swirl of the whirlpool.

"Oh, yeah, maybe I could've warned you about that. Too bad I didn't feel like it. Now that you've seen her, you know there's no way you'll ever get her out of there. Hope you had a fun field trip, kiddo, but it's time to get out of here and wait until it's your turn to join the dead instead of barging down here whenever the mood hits you."

"I'm not leaving without her."

"Well, I'm not babysitting you. I'm terrible with kids. So I really must insist you leave or… ya ever hear about what happened with sweet little Nutmeg's cousin? She wanted to marry her brother, and they got married in a tomb. Hanging and falling on your sword. A match made in the Underworld."

That sounded like giving up. It wouldn't get Meg her second chance at life.

"I have a better idea. Let me go in after her. If I can get her out of here and bring her out of the Underworld, I'll surrender to you. But I have to be able to free her. This only works if she's allowed to have her life back."

"You know you'd never get out of there in the first place, right? Even if I let you try, you'll be trapped forever in a river of death.

His terms were acceptable, but Hercules only let that show on his stony face. "Well? You like making deals." He spat the word out. "What could work better for you?" He'd seen enough of Hades over the years to know how to work this. "Going once!" Hercules shouted, holding up a finger.

Megara was drifting deeper in the water. He lost an advantage on his pursuit with every second he allowed to pass.

The skull below dragged the souls deeper. Hercules refused to watch Meg drop lower in the chamber. He would only give Hades evidence that it wasn't him who had pressure to lock down this deal. Hades could wait. He could watch Meg descend until she was lost forever and laugh at Hercules through the whole thing. He would still be there at the end of it.

Hades scratched his chin, half turning away. "Is there a downside to this?" He murmured to himself.

"Going twice…" Hercules was getting so irritated he might drag Hades down with him and end the whole thing.

"Ok! Ok, ok, ok! She goes. You stay." It didn't matter how sick the smile Hades wore could be. Hercules had his promise that he could get Meg out of there.

With practiced efficiency, Hercules dove into the water. He'd braced himself for the hideous chill of the water, but it took fixing his eyes on Megara, dropping further and further away to steady his nerves. He couldn't afford to recoil. She still needed him.

Though unsettled by the way his hands and arms shrank before his very eyes, Hercules rallied his withering muscles to pull himself deeper after her. It was almost as if she were running from him, though he knew she lacked the awareness to. She was lighter than air and barely hung together as herself. As with all the other souls in the whirlpool, he could see outlines of her shift outside the shape of her body until she floated in the triplicate along with the current.

All he had to do was catch her and bring her to the surface. Hades would have to release her then… and if she was free… Thanatos might be able to take her from there… He was losing track of the details. All he knew was he would expire before he ever reached the surface. All he had to do was reach her. She couldn't be alone anymore, caught in that moment of agony and loneliness when she had given everything for him. If he couldn't take her back to the surface with him, he would consign himself to her fate.

In all his striving throughout his life, he had believed himself destined to eternal life on Olympus, or at the very least, a place in the Elysian Fields among other heroes. He'd never imagined himself damned to oblivion along with countless other nameless souls, even in his nightmares. Megara didn't deserve to be here, either. She'd rescued him, given Medusa a second chance at life, and suffered through so much without ever becoming evil herself. They may not deserve this fate, but if they must suffer it, she would not face it alone. She had to know somehow that he was with her.

His hand trembled, reaching for her spectral fingers. He would reach her one more time, give her the last of him. She wouldn't be alone anymore. He'd stay with her here, and cling to her hand. She would know he loved her even if they couldn't escape.

That cold feeling leeched deeper into his bones, reaching for his heart. But he hadn't reached Megara yet. He couldn't die until she was safe.

A shudder wrenched through his trembling, spent body. Not yet.

He reached toward her in one desperate final moment. Fingers worn to the bone closed around hers. He'd done it. He closed his eyes.

The jolt hit that was meant to part his psyche from his body, but the death he'd accepted never came.

Something was different.

Where the world had been green and frozen, he no longer felt its chill. Golden light coming from… somewhere… overtook the gloom. He gathered Megara to his chest, secure in the crook of his arm, with her head resting on his shoulder.

He didn't stop to wonder what was happening to him: the point remained that he could now bring Megara back to the surface. The nearer they drew to the surface, the clearer it became that the light was emanating from his own withered arms. That was mildly interesting, but he only really cared that he would haul Megara out of this nasty place, and she'd be free.

The vortex filled with a new flow of souls and stygian water, but Hercules pushed through its downward momentum against the current. Rather than allow the flow to push him down, he pushed through to the cliff's edge.

His hand gripped the solid stone, and he dug his toes into the rough, jagged cliff face for leverage. With Megara securely draped over his shoulder, he lifted himself onto the shore.

"This is impossible!" Hades gasped. "You can't be alive. You'd have to be a…"

"A god?" Pain and Panic helpfully supplied.

His new aura burned off all dregs of the Styx from them both, leaving him feeling more vital than ever. If he were a god now, nothing would stand in his way. He would bring Megara back to life, and tell her everything. How proud he was of her for surviving so much, but how it wasn't all up to her anymore. How she helped him navigate the apocalypse when he wouldn't have known how to face it without her. How she was free now, and he would never let anyone hurt her again.

He fixed his eyes straight ahead. He'd return to deal with Hades once Meg was safe again. Now that he was immortal, there was nothing Hades could do to him, but until she was reunited with her body, he held dominion over Meg. He had to get her away from him.

As if he knew how much it would annoy him, Hades jumped into Hercules's path, waving his panic-fueled hands. "Hercules! Stop! You can't do this to me! You can't!"

Hercules hit him with a backhanded punch and kept walking. Finally, he had the means to shut that guy up.

Once again, he locked his eyes straight ahead. On the way out of the Underworld, he draped Megara across his arms in a bridal carry. It was how Phil had taught him to carry an unconscious damsel, giving him the logic it would give her the most dignity, and if she could feel anything, she might be comfortable that way.

Through the tight focus Hercules imposed on himself, he heard Hades talking but filtered out the words. He couldn't afford to let Hades annoy or distract him. Megara took priority. The longer they stayed in the Underworld, the more chances Hades had to steal victory.

As determined as he was to keep his cool, Hades kept talking.

Hercules put his head down, imagining just charging his way out of the Underworld.

Hades clamped his bony fingers around Hercules's shoulder and pivoted him around.

Forced to look him in the face, Hercules had to work even harder to suppress his urge to punch. He couldn't let go of Meg. It would be too easy for her to get snatched away when she had no awareness or autonomy to fight for herself.

Who did Hades think he was kidding, dancing around with his overly friendly expressions and simpering voice? It wasn't as if Hercules had just met him. This was the guy who'd tried to kill him since before he could walk. He'd tried to take everything from him over and over again.

"Maybe he'll blow this whole thing off?" Hades asked. "Meg! Meg, talk to him!" He lifted Megara's spectral head off where it rested against Hercules's arm and pressed his cheek against hers.

Shocked disgust hit Hercules in the gut. How did Hades have this level of audacity? Didn't he have any idea what Hercules could do to him now that he'd reached apotheosis?

"You've always been a smooth talker, Meg. Wake up! Tell him what you'll do for him if he lets me off the hook!" He lifted Megara's face toward Hercules's, literally puppeteering her to try and make her kiss him. Ever since they met, Hades had been using Meg as a puppet, and now? The abuse had never been so blatant.

"That's enough!" Hercules pivoted to yank Megara free of Hades's grasp and conserved his momentum to slam his fist into Hades's face.

The loathsome slimeball collapsed to the stone below, splayed out on the ground and dazed.

"You're done messing with Meg. I'm taking her now, and once she's conscious again, she's free. I'll protect her from everything, not just you. But I'll start here." He held Megara secure against his shoulder, leaving his right arm free.

He snapped a stalagmite off the wall and brought it down on Hades so hard it shattered. Before Hades could rally, Hercules bent down and yanked him upright, only to grab him by the throat. "This is for everyone you've hurt because of me." He held Hades's face under the water as a fresh flow of souls rushed into the vortex.

His conscience kicked back in, reminding him that heroes weren't meant to be vicious. He resumed his exit strategy from the Underworld, wishing he could do that trick where gods could appear and disappear. Who was supposed to teach him these things?

"You can't leave!" Hades snarled, all pretense of pleasantry gone. "You promised you'd stay! So let go of the girl and let her figure out how to get home on her own because you're a hero, and you promised you'd stay down here!"

Hercules shrugged. "As an immortal? What do you expect me to do, spend eternity beating your worthless carcass into a pulp? I might even take you up on that if I didn't think I'd eventually get bored."

Hades erupted with crackling yellow flames. "You're just like your father! You think you can do whatever you want, but you can't! And you're not getting away with this!"

"Watch me." Hercules crossed the distance between himself and his uncle in a panther-like leap. This time, his punch carried the momentum to send Hades flying into the vortex below. It was just in time for the skull to slurp the water further down.

He didn't stick around to see how deep Hades fell. His uncle's voice echoed as he went down, and Hercules decided that was no longer the sound of a him problem.