Waiting for Hercules to come home got Megara all fidgety. Playing hostess hadn't been her idea for the morning, but Hercules promised he wouldn't be gone long. He'd stayed long enough to bid farewell to his parents, who would leave while he was gone, and then he'd flown up to the Acropolis.
Her brother seemed to have gotten a good night's rest, and it wasn't so bad with Medusa and Cassandra to help her shoulder the hostess duties. Somehow, she found herself missing Galatea. The squad was incomplete.
"I know someone has to ask it, so it may as well be me," Medusa said halfway through a batch of fried pancakes. "Will someone finally say something about what's going on between you and Megarion?" she asked Cassandra. "I can feel the tension rolling off of you, and it's making my scales itchy!"
"Can't have that," Megara said, shaking her head in mock disapproval. "All of you have been in two separate houses with me while Herc and I went about our business. I'm not going to be the only person with all my secrets out to dry. Spit it out, Cass, we're all ears."
Cassandra sighed, but not in the put-upon way Megara may have expected. She tilted her head and smiled at the ceiling. "He's got this depth to him I'm not used to. Maturity, talent, grace… he has good manners and understands the value of melancholy…"
"Sounds like you should've been born in Thebes," Megara noted with a low chuckle. "Surprised you didn't transfer here sooner."
"My parents were local to Athens, so they wanted to keep me around. If I'd been at Thebes, I probably would've had too many premonitions to get my classwork done, anyway."
"Besides, your premonitions would come true immediately. That would get in the way, too." Megara piled the taganites into a basket and had a sudden premonition of her own. How long before she was doing this to feed a child of her own? The thought was dizzying.
"I guess it was worth enduring four years of Icarus to make friends with Hercules. I don't think I'd ever break out of my teenage angst phase and into my adult angst phase without his help."
"I need to warn you about my brother, though. He may be a pretty face, but he's bound to be king of one of the world's most downtrodden kingdoms. Herc's gone a long way to healing this place, but if you get too involved with Megarion, Thebes will get too involved with you."
Cassandra shrugged. "Can't even get him to acknowledge me yet, so I don't think it's that big a deal. We've had a whole chariot ride together, and you'd think the guy was forged from bronze."
"We Cadmeans are excellent at masking our emotions until they explode. You never know what he's thinking if he doesn't want you to."
"That's not helpful," Cassandra mumbled.
"He's my twin brother, so even though we've spent a few years apart now, I know all about him. He hasn't changed all that much. I know how difficult it was for me to fall in love with Hercules. Even the gods have gifted me songs about it."
"You're saying the gods gifted you songs about your own experience?"
The entire trio at work in the kitchen yelped and pivoted to see a sleepy-eyed Megarion in the doorway.
"I can understand why you'd all be scared of me. I'm terrifying," Megarion deadpanned. "I'm also hungry. Am I allowed to have any of that?"
"Of course!" Cassandra cooed, tilting her head to one side.
Megara glanced at Medusa and rolled her eyes, but the Gorgon seemed to be enjoying the silliness of Cassandra's secret crush. Then again, who was Megara to judge? She'd better not say anything that could be used against her.
"If you like, we could sing the songs," Megara said. "Maybe you can teach Cassandra how to play the lyre."
"I already–" Cassandra began.
Megara cut her off with a look that read play along so boldly that even the most lovesick teenager could read it there.
"Oh…" Cassandra stopped herself. "Well, I've already tried a few times, but maybe you could help me do better, your highness."
Megarion stalked into the kitchen, gave his sister a, "what's your angle?" look, and picked one of the taganites off its pile. "Maybe I will," he said, and turned one of the pancakes over in his hands. "Walnuts and honey in the batter? You girls did a great job."
"Thanks!" Cassandra exclaimed louder than the other two. She won a confused look from Megarion, but he went about his business serving himself breakfast rather than commenting.
"Is that a yes to the music?" Medusa asked. "I'd like to hear a new composition from Apollo and the Muses, especially since it's based on my friends!"
Aphrodite oughta give Medusa some kind of raise for working overtime like this.
"Sure," Megarion said. "It'll take my mind off whatever Father is telling Hercules right now."
"Good, because we're not going to think about it!" Megara's voice had climbed higher than she'd expected. "Let me go get the music and track down the lyre he gave us to go with it."
"I'll come with you!" Medusa charged out the door before Megara took her first step and dragged her along.
"What're you doing?" Megara whispered when they were far enough away from the kitchen. "Don't you need to be in there to help stoke those fires?"
"I've done what I can for now. I want them to have a chance to talk uninterrupted. They both have such retiring personalities. They need space if they're to say anything."
"Uh-huh. And what makes you think they won't chicken out without someone there to encourage them?"
"They'll have to sustain it on their own if it's ever going anywhere," Medusa shrugged.
They'd reached the room with the divine gifts arranged neatly in a line, aside from the necklace Megara was wearing. "Here's the lyre," she said, but Medusa's attention was fixed elsewhere. "Are you planning to wear that armor?"
Megara shot a cursory glance over the breastplate with leather fringe and shrugged. "I'm a pregnant princess. I'm not sure I'll have occasion to unless Hercules remembers he promised to get me training with Phil at some point."
"Maybe it's a good idea. The world is full of dangers."
"Don't I know it?" Megara retrieved the lyric scrolls and extras for learning the chords. "Who knows if it'll fit me once I squeeze out a demigod?"
"Good point." Medusa's snakes did a little dance of amusement while she suppressed a laugh and looked Megara over. "But wouldn't it be something else? Like… a semi-god or… person of divine lineage?"
"Hera didn't dispute the word. I think this is such an uncommon occurrence that people haven't figured out a specific word for it. Maybe once Herc and I have enough, they'll need to invent one for them."
"You think you'll have lots of kids?"
"Have you seen us together?"
"Good point." Medusa followed Megara out of the room this time. She appeared to be conferring with her snakes on something in low, susurrant tones.
Megara was not one to get between a girl and her reptiles, so she distracted herself in the courtyard with the sight of Hercules's terrestrial parents creeping out of the room they'd been staying in, donkey in tow. Country folk would never cease to amaze her. "Taganites in the kitchen!" she called to them. "Might wanna get some before heading out. See if the donkey wants a couple, too."
Donkeys ate pancakes, right?
"Thank you, Meg," said Amphitron. "We'll take a couple if that's all right with you. We'd love to stay, but we've got to get back and pay our farm hands."
"Completly understandable." Megara would be happy to have the run of the house with her husband again, but she didn't give his parents any hint of that.
It was half an hour later, when they'd fed the farmers and sent them on their way down the road to Attica that Megara led her brother and friends into the back garden that was a compromise between Demeter and Dionysus.
It had clearly been devised as a vegetable garden on one side, but it was equal parts party space. Dining benches were set up between patches of cucumbers and lemon trees, and a circular dancing area was framed by a circle of columns entwined with grape vines that continued on the connecting rail.
Shade was provided by a few date palms and a colorful canvas sun shade over a platform with streamers hanging over it. "Suppose Herc and I are supposed to sit there when there's a party on," Megara mused. "It looks like it'd be nice to have the barrier between us and the fans." She fumed the word out as if it were a curse.
"He worked hard for those fans," Cassandra reminded her.
"I know," Megara sighed. "How about you sit up there in the shade and play?" she asked her brother.
Megarion shrugged and took the lyre and sheet music up to the shaded seating area. He looked Cassandra's way. "You want to join me."
"Oh I… was that a question?" Cassandra asked.
"I'm not stupid," Megarion said and kept walking.
Cassandra looked back at Megara and Medusa for advice, but all either of them could do was shrug. She followed Megarion and said, "I don't sing, but I'd like to see the music."
Megarion rested his fingers on the lyre strings. "See that first chord? It's these three strings, and we're going to pluck them so quickly that they sound like one note."
"If you say so," Cassandra responded with remarkable focus, considering the situation. "I'll see how you do it first."
"You're being awfully participatory today," Medusa remarked.
"It's easier than usual. Icarus isn't around, my career is being taken seriously, and I haven't had a doom vision all day!"
"Don't say things like that," Megara whispered. "The Fates are… I mean, they're lovely. But they like to take bets."
"All I'm saying is that the Fates have done something nice for me, and I appreciate it."
"Better," Megara said and turned her attention to the lyrics sheet. "We'll start with the slow one. It's been a while since I sang. You two go through the chord progressions, and I'll try to learn the words."
Medusa read over Megara's shoulder. "This is so sad."
"My opinions have changed… But experience has been a harsh teacher."
"It's fine, but I only had kind of an idea what you were going through. I always knew it was similar to my struggle, but betrayal and isolation aren't identical."
Megara flipped the pages of lyrics and music. "Some of these words are things I know I've said. I wonder how many times they were listening in over the years."
"Looks like just enough," Medusa said. "You're really okay sharing all this with us? It looks so personal."
"I want to sing these for Hercules at some point. The best way to get ready for that is to practice when he's not around. Might as well start now. I think at some point, he'll see that the emotional journey was worth going through because now I'm certain where I wasn't before. But it makes him insecure."
"He's a bundle of insecurities," Cassandra said from the platform. "Always has been. But he's getting better. We all have you to thank for that. It's no secret."
Megara nodded. "I have far more to thank him for." Not that she was in the mood to talk about how she died unless Hercules was all right discussing it. Let them think he won godhood by defeating Hades if it suited Hercules. She was fine talking about it, but she hadn't even asked him how he felt about people knowing details of the Underworld business.
As the morning waned into noontide, the small party studied and practiced the music gifted by the gods. Megara had to admit she enjoyed the thrill of the sassy song. It brought out her favorite parts of herself. But there was something to the slower, more contemplative song that drew out the side she was less likely to show off and polished it into the greatest form of itself.
The welcome reminder of a time when she'd taken pride in her talents bolstered Megara against the needy ache of wondering when Hercules would return. A small voice in the back of her mind mentioned how grateful she should be that she had something to distract herself when obviously Hercules would soon busy himself outside the home every day. She pushed that thought away, not yet ready to deal with it.
When Hercules followed the sound of Megara's voice to the back garden, he had a violet drawstring bag slung over his shoulder. "Meg!" he called down in a singsong tone inspired by the last chord he'd heard her sing. "Got some surprises for you!"
Megara abandoned her sheet music in Medusa's hands and rushed over to him. "I missed you so much!" she announced.
Hercules hopped down from Pegasus and, with the same momentum, lifted Megara into his arms. "I'm so glad it's mutual." He kissed her fully, then remembered they were being watched and set her down. "Like I said, got something for ya." He set the drawstring bag down on one of the garden benches and spilled out its contents to reveal a collection of Megara's possessions spanning from her childhood to her senior year of high school. "Maybe we can display a few of these."
There was her doll, the one she'd saved from the fires of Artemis when she achieved her first moon cycle. It had been well cared for, with replacement hair stolen from the fringes of the gynaikon's tapestries and dresses that she'd pieced together from various sources. A theater mask she'd made herself for the starring role of Queen Harmonia was painted much like her own features, but the difference was a hairstyle that might've made Hercules laugh if he wasn't hopping around anticipating praise.
"Thank you. I'm definitely surprised you thought of this. I take it your talk with Creon went well?" she asked him, trying to steady herself.
"I'd say it went well for me, but he might not think so." Hercules pointed to a golden dress clasp. "What's that a symbol of?"
Megara picked it up. "My mother, Eurydice, was fond of the tale told of our ancestors who sprung from the teeth of dragons. She had a few of these commissioned to promote our draconic ancestry."
"Oh, yeah," Megarion said from his platform. "I think I oughtta thank you personally for killing our great-great-great-grandmother. The Hydra's always been a royal pain, after all, and it's because of her we even showed up to be royal pains, ourselves."
An odd look crossed Hercules's face. "I uh… you're– you're welcome? And I… never want to think about that again, thank you." He scrambled through the assorted childhood mementos for anything to drain that thought from his memory and retrieved a bundle of half-written songs. "Maybe you could finish one of these and sing them instead of the one I heard you singing when I landed."
"What's wrong with it?" Cassandra asked. "I thought we were doing a good job with it!"
Megarion shifted his eyes in Cassandra's direction with a skeptical sideye at her use of the word "we."
"I um… that song makes me nervous," Hercules admitted with a breathy chuckle. "It's something that's probably a me problem. I don't wanna be a buzzkill."
"You haven't heard it all the way through. I promise both of these songs are about how madly in love I am. I could even sing them to you when you're ready to hear them, and I think I've perfected my performance. It could be ready for your birthday next year."
A sudden realization hit Megara that since his birthday had been a couple of weeks ago, they'd have a baby the next time they celebrated it. She may not be in the shape she'd like to be when the time arrived.
"Or for your birthday," Hercules suggested. "When is that, by the way?"
"Our birthday's not too far off." Megarion shot his sister a sly look, promising to reveal the answer even if she didn't feel like it.
Megara shrugged. "The first of Maimakterion. It's only close from a certain point of view in that it hasn't already passed this year."
"I uh… if you want to sing it on your birthday, I'll allow it, but I'd hate it if I made it awkward."
"I wouldn't allow it," Megara assured him. "By the time I'm singing to you, too many other feelings would crowd out the awkwardness."
"Depending on what Father plans, I could be there, too," Megarion said. He'd come down from the shaded platform with the lyre of Apollo under his arm. "I think if we do something big, I'd like to compose a ballad. Something's been scratching at the back of my mind. "Maybe I wasn't here for it. I can't understand how you two met without my sister pushing you away."
"She ah… she kinda did. But I didn't mind." Hercules shot her a look, wondering where she wanted to start a story like that and whether she wanted to tell it at all.
"I was on a mission for Hades," Megara admitted. "Right outta high school, I sold him my soul because some lowlife convinced me he was worth it, and I couldn't let him die without doing everything I could to help him."
"So where is he now?" Cassandra asked.
"I hope I never find out."
"Wait, you're telling me you went missing because of Theron?" Megarion wrinkled his nose. "Holy Hera, Meggie, I thought you had taste."
"Well, obviously, I do!" Megara waved in Hercules's direction. "But things were complicated at the time, and I thought we were in it together. Except when we weren't."
"I told you I hated that guy," Megarion huffed. "He always made such nasty comments about the teachers, and I think one time he cut the strings on my lyre so I couldn't play the accompaniment."
"Oh…"
"I told you about that," Megarion continued, arms folded. "You said I was imagining things and jealous that you were spending time with someone else for once."
"I get… really defensive of the guys I'm in love with," Megara said. "I'm sorry I was wrong, though."
Hercules curled an arm around her waist and kissed her temple. "Meg's actually a sweetheart under all the personality prickles. When I met her, I was confused because she was running away from a centaur, but when he caught her, she wouldn't ask for help."
"A centaur?" Medusa gasped. Her snakes twitched. "No…"
"Was it the one that used to live in the Ismenus?" Megarion asked. "Nessus, I think his name was?"
"That's the one," Megara shuddered. "Nasty brute, but then again, they all are."
"And I killed him," Hercules said. "First monster takedown out of high school. I should've guessed there'd be something special about that mission. I only even showed up because I heard Meg scream. And then there was this gorgeous girl fighting off a creature so many times her size… Couldn't allow it."
"Good job projecting that scream," Megarion said. "Theater class did you some good, after all."
"Aside from the talent of talking people into whatever I want?" Megara raised a brow at him. "Centaurs excluded. They're too distracted by their own urges."
"But you were so cool under pressure!" Hercules gushed. "I remembered how brave you were, trying to fight Nessus off even though you were so much smaller. And then once the fighting was over, I got a good look at you…" A blush spread from the tip of his nose to the shells of his ears. "But anyway… I uh… I told Creon not to mess with any of us. You're both under my protection, and I won't let him get away with abusing either of you. I swore on the gods that I'd bring down their wrath on them if he did."
A blue streak approached them from the sky.
"Wonder if that's why Hermes is here to see you."