"You're certain she's not your wife?" Zeus seemed exhausted with the topic as if he'd been asked to care about something irrelevant for too long. He lounged on his throne beside a pensive Hera, picking grapes off a bunch that rested on a tray beside him.

"The heart knows, dear," Hera told him. "Our son gave his for this woman, he ought to know if it's her."

"But I saw Hecate give her back when Hercules picked the right one," Zeus contested.

"She disappeared when you ordered her released, and the one that reappeared wasn't her. There has to be some divine law about lying to your face."

"Well, there is…" Zeus cringed. "But I banished her to her own domain. I have no power there."

"So summon her out of it."

"I'm the one who sent her there. I made it law."

"Unmake it!" Hercules snapped. "My wife is in danger! I'll go down there myself if you refuse to help!"

"Now, Hercules… don't push the boundaries. You must adhere to divine hierarchy just like everybody else."

A cringing sensation traveled up and down Hercules's spine at that phrase, but he had bigger problems than childhood trauma at the moment. The way Herc's blood was boiling, he knew he was about to make a critical error. "How many other gods are stuck worrying about their mortal wives trapped by a conniving immortal witch? I think I might just be a special case. I'm a god now, but I don't have a domain like the others do. If you don't personally intervene, give me the authority to do it myself."

Zeus sat straighter on his throne, and Hera reached for his shoulder to calm him.

"He's right. It was your decree that parted them, and now he needs to fix this before he loses her forever."

"I was getting to that, dear!" The slight whining tone in Zeus's voice was more irritating to Hercules than he'd expected.

The first time he'd noticed the childish nature of his father, he'd excused it as relatable. Back in high school, Zeus had disguised himself as a convincing student of the same age as Hercules for two days straight. Maybe that hadn't been a good thing.

Zeus cleared his throat. "You can define a domain for yourself. I will grant approval. You are already the god of Heroism, strength, and gymnasiums. What else do you want?"

A wave of pride rushed through Hercules faster than he could roll his eyes at how predictable his base set of titles was. He'd spent so much of his life in a gymnasium by now; he wasn't sure how he felt about being associated with them forever, but he would just have to accept how much sense it made. No title mattered if he couldn't share the news of it with Meg, anyway. "What will get me to her? I don't know where Hecate is keeping her, and I don't have time to search for her when there's no telling what's happening to her right now!" His hands were shaking. He wanted to crush something, but wanton destruction wouldn't save Meg.

"She must have her in the palace she built for herself after the first overthrow of the Titans," Hera said. "Don't fret. I'll show you where it is. The trouble is, she's fooled you once. If she has Megara at her palace, she could hide her in any number of ways."

"Can we talk less about how horrible this situation is and more about how we'll fix it?" Hercules asked, fighting through pangs of nausea to get the question out. The pressure in his head might knock him flat if he allowed it to, and then he'd be useless to Meg. He wouldn't disappoint her, no matter what.

"You'll want something that helps you go down there and show her you mean business," Hera said. "I think Hecate will be watching and waiting for you, son. We may need to send someone else down there to make the first move."

Tension seized him by the biceps. "Look, Mother, I appreciate that forethought, but I need to know where she is and where the punches are going to land."

"I shouldn't tell you where to go in that case. A lack of subtlety could spell disaster in this case. I know someone who has free run of the Underworld whenever he pleases and has a habit of removing his relatives from those environs. For now… I think the best course of action is to do what Hecate expects from you so she won't see what else we have in store for her."

Hercules couldn't hold in his frustration any longer. He started pacing. "You want me to send Dionysus down there, right? This isn't up to him. Her safety is my responsibility."

"And so you must set aside your pride and your need to control the situation so that we as a family can achieve the best outcome," Hera said. "I may not be the biggest fan of Dionysus, but I can acknowledge he is the best candidate for this predicament."

Hercules turned his face away from his mother. He wanted to be the one who came for her. She had been unconscious the first time, but this time, she'd see him there to retrieve her and carry her to safety. Was it his ego, his territorial nature, or both that made him most resistant to this idea?

"You should let Dionysus help you," Zeus said. "He's a good lad, just like you, and after all, you're brothers."

Hercules closed his eyes. "He's the god of theater and madness. Do you really think he can stand up to Hecate?"

"I know I can annoy Hecate."

Hercules whirled around with a squawk of surprise to see his Theban half-brother standing behind him.

Dionysus grinned and raised his hand in greeting. "I'd love to play a role, as it were. But I think I've got a better idea than stomping down into the Underworld and taking the direct approach. Hecate's obviously put a lot of thought into her plan, so why march into her trap?"

"I can take it," Hercules said. "Whatever she throws at me, I'm not afraid."

"Sure, you can take it," Dionysus set a hand on Hercules's shoulder. "But what about the others? I've been in the Underworld often enough to know that it functions like a spider's web. Whoever's at the head of it always gets a sense of what's going on at different points of it. The moment you're down there, the whole Underworld will turn hostile."

"I've fought through that before."

"Right, but were you protecting a vulnerable freed hostage at the time? Or were you alone, being your highly-durable self?"

"I rescued a few people from the Underworld before."

"Great! So you'll know how dangerous it is. That is, it'll be that dangerous if nobody does anything to take the guards from their posts. Give them a bigger problem to solve. You need to stay one step ahead of Hecate."

Hercules wasn't sure when Dionysus had become his favorite brother, but it didn't matter. "That's not what I expected, but…" His shoulders sagged. His way hadn't worked yet. He might as well see if his crazy brother had a better idea. "I'm listening."