Hercules had reappeared in his room, poised over his bed, with the aim of immediately setting Megara at its center and rolling in to join her. But his arms were empty. He stood there, confused, for a solid five seconds.

There was only one thing for it: he'd teleport right back down there and–

No… He opened his eyes, and there was their room.

Something had pushed him back.

Entering the Underworld had presented no obstacles. He'd simply been there and rooted around for Hecate's palace until he found it. He'd been disguised as Dionysus then; had that been what got him in there?

He tried again but was once more denied.

He dropped the act and focused all his will on getting back to Megara. If something or someone was blocking him, it could only be Hecate, and that meant…

"Oh, no, no, no…" he groaned.

He couldn't keep doing the same thing. Instead, he teleported himself to the entrance he'd taken to the Underworld when he pulled Megara from it the first time. If he had to go back to basics, fair enough.

He wasn't giving up.

He spared a glance at the rockslide he'd caused in this gorge in what seemed to be another lifetime. The skeletonized hand of the Hydra he'd emerged from made him smile briefly at the memory of a previous victory. It strengthened him to step back into the darkness, his aura breaking shadows in his wake so that the stony jaws of the Underworld harbored no secrets.

"Hecate!" he roared across the Styx.

The world around him shifted and rumbled. Cracks appeared in the ceiling, and a few stalactites dropped from it. Shades dodged in all directions, but Hercules kept his eyes fixed on the distant shore.

The only figure there was Cerberus. The triple-headed guard dog bowed his head and whimpered at the sight of him.

"Find Meg for me," he ordered the dog.

Cerberus perked up his ears as if glad he was granted an option that didn't end in another beatdown. He scampered off.

"Frequent dier's pass is still available," Charon said, flashing a few tickets from the back of his gondola.

"How about an un-dying pass?" Hercules asked.

Charon scratched his head. "I don't know if I can do that."

"Don't bother." Hercules willed himself to the opposite shore and strode forward. "Hecate!" he called again. "Enough games! I've seen through all your tricks so far, and I'm not letting you get away with this!"

No answer.

Rage boiled through his blood again, that same fury that had consumed him every time someone threatened the ones he loved. He'd threatened to bring the Underworld down.

He'd do it.

Hercules slammed both fists on the ground, making the whole place shake.

The shades had nowhere in particular to flee. They buzzed and drifted in a haze like a flock of startled pigeons.

Hercules kept slamming his fists into the ground, ready to crack the place to its foundations until Hecate addressed him.

Cerberus returned to his side and bowed, whimpering apologetically. He hadn't found Meg, but he'd tried.

"Find Hecate," he ordered.

Cerberus snapped to attention, wagged his tail, and darted off, excited for a chance to redeem himself.

"There's no need for all that," Hecate appeared, hovering just out of reach.

"Where's my wife?" Hercules demanded, casting about in all directions for some sign of her. These Underworld gods never tended to negotiate without a hostage, and yet Meg did not make an appearance. He refocused on Hecate. "Let her go! I'm not leaving without her!"

"Oh, do be reasonable, dear. She'd never tell you so, but I'm afraid the truth is she was homesick," Hecate said with a fake pout. "She's always known this is where she belongs, and I was all too happy to oblige."

"That's a funny way to pronounce, 'I'm such a coward I kidnapped someone who can't fight back.' You should work on your delivery for when I haul you in front of my father to answer for your crimes."

"Oh, please. Zeus knows his boundaries. The girl's always belonged to the Underworld, and her soul has been dipped in the Styx. You can deny fate if you like, but you cannot change the truth."

"Let's go over this one more time." Hercules stalked closer with his sword drawn. "I set her free. She chose me. She married me. She belongs with me. You're still demoted from your original status, aren't you? Well, I'm back to full power. Meg might not have ways of fighting you, but I do. I'll uphold her wishes and take her home, and you can choose how many pieces you'll be in when I do it."

"Just like the child, you are to think this is something you can alter with your sword. This situation is beyond your comprehension. I'm not only the rightful Queen of the Underworld, but Megara was the contracted slave to my predecessor. No matter how you equivocate, she belongs here for eternity."

"She belongs with me!" Hercules leaped into the air and swung for Hecate's face. He didn't even care when Hecate made herself a vapor that his sword passed through.

"Now, how is that a way to handle your differences, son of Zeus? Are you not the son of a just god? Why, then, do you attempt to thwart my rightful reign over the Underworld? Someone has to do it, and your sluggard father won't do it. He won't even come down here to save you if you bring the roof down on your head with your tantrum."

"You just don't get it, do you? I gave up Olympus to be with Meg. I'll give up Earth, too! If you plan on keeping her here, I hope you're comfortable with me moving in, too! In fact, I'd have no problem ripping you apart and tossing you into Tartarus if that's the only way I can be with her. I'm open to options for how I get to be with her, but you don't get to separate us."

"Oh, very well, then I propose a contest! If you can find the monster I've just set loose in Lydia before it kills Prince Megarion, you'll have your wife back. Though I feel it will be rather complicated for you to be with her if you're somehow responsible for her brother's death, don't you think?"

"I've got another contest: Return my wife to me, unharmed, thus resisting your natural urge to be the nastiest waste of immortality. If you can defeat your innate worthlessness, I won't have to find slow, painful ways of eliminating you."

"I'm afraid there are some things you simply cannot change. You should have seen the state of her when you abandoned her." In a blink, Hecate transported both of them into the room he'd left Meg in.

The table remained as before, but the puppet theater was empty, and the chair Megara had been sitting in was overturned. Was that… blood? Hercules dropped to his knees, and his hand rested over the stain on the floor.

It was still sticky. Hecate must have attacked as soon as he left.

He'd been so stupid!

If he'd been patient, maybe he could've sent Meg out of the Underworld with Thanatos. Or at least he could have stayed with her.

"What did you do?" he asked quietly.

"What was that? Speak up, dear."

Hercules pressed his hand so firmly into the ground it left a dent. "What… happened here?"

"She was so upset that you left her behind, you know. You should've heard her screams."

He didn't have to. He could hear them echo in his psyche. "Stop! She didn't do anything to you! Leave her out of this!"

"Oh, but I'm so very fond of her!" Hecate replied with a broad, toothy grin. "We're not quite finished with our partnership, and you've got a monster to hunt! Don't you think it's about time you traveled to Lydia? Unless, of course, you don't care about Megarion? I suppose it's true you only care about your wife… or is it that you only care about lying with her? I can tell you, it would have been almost impossible after that miniature sunspot was born."

Was this how Megara had felt when Hades controlled her?

"They belong to me now, Son of Zeus. If it stops her tears, I'll drown her in the Lethe, and then what? She will rise again, fully devoted to my service, and you will mean nothing to her. I'll teach your daughter to be a witch, just like me, and maybe for fun, I'll send her on little play dates with you. I promise to make her deadly."

The rage in his chest turned hollow and cold. While the Lethe's effects on gods were temporary, they'd be permanent on Meg. If he couldn't get to her in time, she'd be lost to him forever. "Is it… do you actually know that Meg's carrying a daughter?"

Hecate laughed. "I'm sure you'd like to know, but you're running out of time. Empousai love to dine on the flesh of young men, and your family can't afford to get any smaller."