A crackling sound filled Megara's ears, much like a hearth fire. Her middle was full of a series of tingling sensations, and her heart raced as if making up for lost time.
Hercules stood over her, chewing his lip and checking her forehead as if she had a fever and he was waiting for her to recover.
Was she in a bed? Whose bed? How had she gotten there? Why was sheh alive? She made small noises in her throat rather than speech when she attempted to ask. That felt like flesh. She was parched.
How could this be? The Underworld didn't pack shades into fresh bodies and ship them into bizarre alternate versions of their lives!
"You're thirsty?" He reached into a shelf beside them and pulled out a jar. "I've got wine, if you'd like some. It's spiced, and watered down. Helps me sleep sometimes."
Megara forced herself to sit up, amazed by the ease with which she moved when her spine had been crushed not long ago. She held out a hand, the same one that had accepted that of Thanatos.
"I'll handle it for you," Hercules assured. He put a hand behind her neck and helped her drink, never tipping too much into her mouth at once. It was as if she were an ailing patient in an Asclepieion.
He glowed.
With the wine still in her mouth, Megara stared at him, in awe of the majesty and grace this new form granted him. He'd always had an imposing frame, but there was a fresh ease and assurance about him that made her embarrassed of her own disoriented presence of mind. She must look a mess.
"There, you've got some color in your cheeks back." Hercules gave her a light peck on her cheekbone, making her giggle.
Something else she couldn't control around him, in addition to her voice.
Hercules knelt before her, one hand splayed on her back to support her, and the other took her hand. "I'm so glad you're back, Meg. I thought I'd lost you."
Megara opened her mouth, and something that was almost speech made its way out. She frowned, confounded, until she remembered. Mortals who returned from the Underworld, whenever this was allowed, usually couldn't speak again for three days after the resurrection.
She blinked a few times, uncertain how to communicate this. He must be waiting for her to say something, but how could she?
"Is something wrong?" Hercules furrowed his brow, and gave her hand a squeeze. "You can tell me anything."
No, she couldn't. Megara shook her head, and tears fell from her eyes. This was some kind of divine comedy. Yes, she could come back to life, but she'd be an lunatic invalid for the first few days.
Hercules rested his forehead against hers. "You remember what happened before… we got separated?" he tilted his head forward and lightly kissed away her tears. "I'm going to take care of you now. So if you need anything, I want you to tell me what it is. It hurts me to see you suffering."
She didn't deserve him.
Megara wrapped her arms about his neck. Maybe she didn't deserve him, but she'd take him, anyway. She pressed her cheek to his, and soaked in his aura as if she were basking in the sun on the most luxurious beach in all of Greece.
"I read your letter," Hercules whispered. "And I talked to Thanatos. I know a lot more than you originally told me, and I don't mind that you hid it. I just had to know more about you because I missed you so much. Do you forgive me?"
She laughed at the question and scratched at the back of his neck. Whatever quip she may have had for him didn't even form in her mind. All she wanted was to hold him forever.
"I'll take that as a yes?" Hercules gave her a gentle squeeze. "Let me get Phil in here, maybe he can explain what's going on with your voice. Everything is supposed to be healed, that was my will for you."
She tilted her head in confusion, at first, but then she remembered the crucial fact he was a god. He could will those things now. But how was she here? Where was she?
When he moved away, Megara caught his hand, and whined at him. Pathetic. But there she was, on her feet, clinging to his hand. It was disgusting, how she couldn't let him leave her alone, but without her voice and disoriented beyond comprehension, she couldn't restrain herself from that display of distress.
"I wanted you to stay in bed to get some rest, but you can come with me." Hercules offered his arms. "You can still rest if you come with me."
Did he mean to carry her?
She blinked a few times, trying to decide if she had the humility to allow that. It was her need to be close to him that won out in the end. She stepped closer and surrendered to the warmth of him as he held her close.
Hercules kissed her forehead. "I know it means a lot for you to let me see you needing me," he whispered. "I won't tell. If anyone asks, I insisted." He carried her out of the room, into a familiar courtyard.
Phil and Pegasus stood there, with heads bowed. At the sight of them emerging from the bedroom, both perked up with excitement.
"She's back," Hercules announced, and his voice cracked on the words. "But something's wrong. She can't talk. Everything should be healed, so what's the matter?"
Phil smacked his forehead. "I shoulda thought to warn ya, Kid. The few times the dead came back, they couldn't talk for three days. We've had some exceptions in the past, but that was mostly 'cause Hades actively released them, or the death was reversed as if it never happened. But hey, at least it's only a few days!"
Megara nodded, and patted Hercules's shoulder with what she hoped would be a reassuring smile.
"We can write to each other," Hercules said hopefully. "You don't have to push yourself, I think I can understand you fine. I'll still get you anything you need and you can take all the time you want to rest. That's my room in there, you can take over until we figure something out."
Megara shook her head. How could she tell him she was afraid to sleep alone?
"I insist, I don't need a big fancy bed, but you've been through so much. I want you to have the best."
He wasn't getting the point. Megara curled up in his arms and wrapped both arms around his neck. She hid her face in the crook of his neck, and shivered.
"Oh, you… want to stay with me?" he sounded so shy, she almost missed the note of pleasure in the undertone of his voice. It echoed now, and reverberated through her. "I'd… I'd like that. I kinda think I should have asked if you'd keep me company because I'm a little scared to be alone. Too many nightmares."
Was he being sincere or offering her plausible deniability for why she couldn't stay away from him. If it were on him, she wouldn't have to be embarrassed. Theoi, but she loved him. She wished she could say it, but she'd have to hold it in for now.
"I think this calls for a celebration," Phil said. "With you two both alive and Hades defeated, even the gods should be partying on Olympus!"
Hercules nodded, and set Megara down. "But Meg doesn't like parties, and she can't even talk right now. So it's probably for the best we celebrate privately before we invite anyone else to join in. Thebes has lost a lot of people I didn't drag back from the Underworld. I can't see putting them through a celebration while they're in mourning."
"You can distract people from their grief," Phil countered.
Megara was still stuck on something. She pressed a hand to Hercules's chest for his attention, and gave Hercules a look of confusion when she had it.
"He's not coming back, Meg. You're finally free. And free forever, I mean, not just for now. He's at the bottom of that vortex he tried to lose you in. If he somehow got out of that, he'd never be the same."
She raised a brow at him, and shook her head.
"You're trying to tell me I'm crazy, right?" Hercules chuckled. He grinned at her and winked. "Well, I learned from the best. People do crazy things when they're in love. Don't you think?"
She gasped.
For a celestial being such as him, after attaining the telos of his lifelong quest, here he was concerned with a petty mortal. She held his gaze, her lashes lowering with an intoxicating need to kiss him.
He seemed to feel it, too. He held her hand against his chest and pulled her closer to him.
Her hands rested on his arms, and moved forward, ready to surrender.
A thunderclap from above alarmed them both.
They braced themselves against one another in alarm as the bolt of thunder Zeus threw down to them hit much too close for comfort.
"Join the celebration!" Zeus called from the clouds.
Megara glanced at Hercules for direction, but he was just as confused as he was. The one thing he seemed sure of was how he gathered her close to him. A cloud formed under their feet, and lifted them off the ground.
"Are you ok?" Hercules whispered.
Since she couldn't properly answer, she pressed a cheek to his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He rubbed her back softly to reassure her as they flew into the sky toward Olympus. The glow of the gates was golden, like the light that shone from within him. If not for the fact she was accustomed to his glow, she might have gone blind.
A multitude of gods had lined up on either side of the stairs to cheer Hercules on. They passed wine about, or was it ambrosia? Either way, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Hercules stepped down from the cloud, then extended a hand to help her down.
If she could have, she'd have told him how gallant he was.
"I'll go on ahead, all right?" His fingers lingered on hers, and even as he stepped away, he kept his smile turned her way. Only once he dropped her hand did he turn toward the other gods, and let them embrace him into their fold.
He didn't say goodbye, and she couldn't. For now, he might believe he was coming back to her. But once he was where he belonged, he'd never return.
Bereft of the glow of his golden aura wrapped around her or the brilliance of his smile to warm her from within, Megara hugged her arms against the cold. This was a grand moment. Hercules would become a god that would be celebrated throughout Greece and beyond. The cosmos deserved him, forever. She'd had him for a night, at most, and she'd scarcely deserved it.
She followed at a distance while the gods embraced her beloved. She'd remain in sight of him as long as she could before the gates closed forever between them
Hera and Zeus were the last to greet their son. Megara had never considered how much he took after his mother, but then again she'd never thought of Hera much once the idea of marriage slipped out of her mind. With Hades it had always been about Zeus, and all the things wrong with him, and a million snide comments she let roll off her back to focus on her freedom.
But they were people, and they loved him. They'd been robbed of eighteen years to hold their son, and now they'd have an eternity.
Megara stood at the foot of the stairs, hands folded politely as she took in the final moments of seeing Hercules in person. She'd never have enough of him, but that was all right. The world could have him now, and she would have to be content. At least she had been part of his story.
"You were willing to give your life to rescue this young woman," Hera said. They'd been watching? How humiliating.
Megara was so flattered to be mentioned by the queen of the gods she didn't mind that nobody knew her name. In time, maybe Hercules would forget her name and she would be the memory of how he became a god. Eternity was a long time.
Zeus was speaking, but Megara couldn't hear his words over the rushing of her ears. This was the end. Hercules had brought her back to life, but now she wasn't sure what to do with it.
She'd never love again, and she had no family. Maybe she could trust a friend someday, but… This wasn't about her. Now that she had served her purpose, she knew how to walk gracefully off stage like a true Theban. She'd be a footnote, someday, but at least her name would be next to his.
The gates of Olympus opened to admit him, emitting a light so brilliant that Megara had to shield her eyes. This was it. The other Olympians flooded around Hercules to congratulate him once more and draw him into the eternal light. It would shine all the brighter now that he was part of it.
These were good things. He was finally somewhere that deserved him. And yet.
She lacked the voice to tell him, but it was said that the gods could hear mortals invoke them, even in their minds. Closing her eyes, she sent him all the congratulations she could muster. It was her farewell, but she wouldn't say it. You'll make one heck of a god, she gushed to him, and then turned away, forever. She meant it, but now it was over. She hung her head as she finally had to contemplate the journey down the mountain.
Her feet were heavy with each step she took away from him. She didn't want to leave, but only gods could live on Mount Olympus. She'd been an idiot for ever thinking there was more to their future than goodbye.
The Fates had an odd sense of humor. She'd been left once by an ingrate, who probably never should've impressed her in any way. But then that had brought her to Hercules in a way neither of them would have planned. Now she was left by someone she didn't deserve, because something much better awaited him.
She folded her hands behind her back, not looking up as she approached the edge of the mountain. It wouldn't be any better to look down, but at least there was a well-trod pilgrimage road up to the gates. If she was lucky, there would be a halfway station that wasn't completely demolished by the Titan invasion and they'd take her in for the night. After everything, she was just so exhausted. Once she was out of his glow forever, there was no telling when the tears would stop falling. She'd need somewhere to hide until she learned how to be alive again.
"Father, this is the moment I've always dreamed of," Hercules said. His voice echoed to her, and she tried not to let those words crush her heart.
She walked a little faster to get away from the words, confirmation that she no longer mattered.
A hand closed around her wrist, stopping her midstep.
She checked over her shoulder in alarm, only to find that Hercules was the one solemnly standing behind her. What was he doing? He should be through the gates by now, embracing his destiny! Without a voice, all she could do was stare.
There was pain in his eyes, but she didn't think it was for himself. He must have heard her, after all. He searched her eyes, though for what she could not guess. Despite her confusion, Hercules apparently found what he was looking for. "A life without Meg, even an immortal life would be empty." Hercules raised both her hands in his, brushing his thumbs over her knuckles. "I…" he drew a breath to reassure himself he knew his answer, and lifted her hands to his lips.
This couldn't be happening, could it? She smiled at him through the tears streaming down her face. If it was happening, she wouldn't stop him.
He released one of her hands to cradle her to him, and said, "I wish to stay on Earth with her."
Megara sank into his embrace, gratitude overflowing from her heart along with all the love she had for him.
"I finally know where I belong." Hercules laughed softly with his declaration, as if he were just as surprised by it as anyone else. He rested his cheek atop her head, but then he gasped.
Megara was alarmed as well, but Hercules stroked her back to calm her.
"One more thing. She came back from the dead today, and she can't speak. I want to hear her voice again, Father. If you could grant that to her. Hades isn't around, anymore."
"Of course." It was Hera who spoke.
"Thank you, Mother." Hercules then turned back to Megara to watch her curiously. "What do you think, Meg? Do you think you can put up with me if I stayed?"
"Yes!" Megara hopped high enough to wrap her arms about his neck and clung to him. She blotted her tears in the cape that hung about his shoulders and forgot altogether to care about whether the gods found her display undignified.
Hercules swung her in a circle as they clung to one another, but when he set her down, he leaned his head lower, his lips forming a silent invitation to a kiss.
Every other time they'd attempted it, something had intervened to interrupt them. A sense of urgency spurred them both, though it did not impair the sincerity in the shared gaze they held as they drew nearer. His lips brushed softly against hers, as if still asking permission.
Megara was not so gentle. She stroked a line up his arm, then about his neck. He didn't notice until she pulled him closer. Never had she ever experienced such unbridled joy. He belonged to her, had given up everything to be with her.
Nobody had ever loved her with the intensity she loved them. For once, she wouldn't hide behind sarcastic witticisms or regal dignity. All she had was his, unreservedly. If the Tapestry of Fate was theirs to reweave, she'd make sure their threads were intertwined, forever.
