Hercules had just enough time to study a map of northern Greece while he donned the armor he kept in his locker. Phil would not be happy that he was going to Thebes this far ahead of schedule, but he was not in the mood to consult his trainer for advice, so Phil would just have to deal with it.

The closer he got to Thebes, the more he worried. He couldn't tell where one army started, and another began, but there was no mistaking a massive force as it marched toward Thebes. The girl he loved was trapped in there somewhere, and he'd have to sweep the whole place looking for her.

No, that was dumb. He'd find her in the palace, with her family, and… He knew Meg to be a runner. If she didn't want to be someplace, she wouldn't be there.

That was good, but in context, it meant she'd be harder to find. Maybe impossible to find. What happened if something terrible happened to her but he coudln't find her in time?

The city stretched out before them, forcing a "Wow" out of him before he realized how impossible it would be to find one rebellious teenage girl in all of that. Even the distinctiveness of her hair or her attitude couldn't make identifying her any easier in a mass of people like this. People were already lamenting as if they'd lost the war, and they were mourning their dead.

He noted that there was a high school much like his own near the acropolis of Thebes, but this one looked more like a barracks. A barracks for screaming children.

He flew low over the school, wondering what he could do for these people. He'd only come here for Meg, but he couldn't stand the idea of abandoning everyone else to this fate. Now he was here, what would a hero do?

"Hercules?"

That was her voice!

Where was she?

Hercules brought Pegasus back around. Had he imagined her voice? No, that was real. Where was she?

The theater was almost empty, but all the actors wore masks. Had Meg mentioned she was an actress?

The director stepped up to block him from the stage and explained that the show had to keep going because it was sacred. A demigod could appreciate that, but he still wished he could hold her.

The director had said she was starring in this play… did that mean she was the girl onstage? He saw her hair poking out from behind the mask, and she waved. Thanks be to all the gods… "Are you okay?" he asked her.

She hadn't responded since her costar started the play again. Fine, he'd talk to her when it was over. He had time to wait now. She wasn't in immediate danger, and if danger came, he'd destroy it.

"Where'd you come from?" A feminine voice asked from too close. "You're so cute. I can't believe I never saw you before."

Hercules jerked away from the source of that voice and saw a pretty girl with golden curls well-arranged around her face. She wore a short red chiton, and she'd brushed some red makeup around her eyes. "Uh… A-Athens," Hercules said and scooted a little further away. "I'm Meg– Megara's boyfriend. Nice to meet you."

"The princess?" the girl laughed softly. "Everyone knows she's engaged."

Hercules's stomach twisted. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. The decree went out this morning. She's going to marry King Eteocles."

No, she wasn't.

"I'm not sure you heard correctly," Hercules replied to her. "Anyway, the play's still going, so we should be quiet."

She was too close again. She smelled of roses. It made little spots pop in front of his eyes. He thought he could suffocate on the scent.

"Nobody's really paying attention. The actors think Bacchus will save them, but we all know that's a lie. We're all doomed here, aren't we? You flew in. You must've seen the armies."

Now, his heart was burning. He'd come here for selfish reasons, but the conflict was bigger than either him or his love. This was something more people would die for if he didn't do something about it, so shouldn't he step it up? But how?

The woman's arms snaked around his, and Hercules let out a small, boyish squawk of fear. "Some of us want to run away, Athenian… Would you help us run away?"

"I'm… I'm gonna make sure nobody has to!" He squirmed free and ran down the theater steps toward the stage as soon as the play ended. He jumped onto the stage and lifted Megara into his arms. "I missed you! I'm so sorry I let you go, but I'm here now!"

Even in his arms, Megara kept a hand on her mask to keep it in place. "I'm happy to see you, too," she said.

"Will you take that mask off so I can kiss you?" Hercules lowered her so she could stand on her own feet, and maybe feel more comfortable unmasking, but she kept holding onto the mask as if afraid it would slip off.

Her sleeve slid down her arm, and a fresh set of red bruises appeared. She hadn't had those the last time he saw her.

Hercules's heart stopped, and then, all at once, it was racing. "Who did this to you?"

"Oh!" Megara rolled her sleeve down over the bruises and stepped away. "It's… it's nothing… Why did you come here? Is it because of the war? Where's the goat man?"

"He's not important, you are." Hercules hovered his hands near her shoulders, afraid to grasp onto her and bruise her again. "Meg, tell me what they've been doing here. I heard you're…" he didn't want to say the word, but he forced himself to squeak out, "engaged?"

"Don't worry about that. I don't plan to go along with it. It's just sort of… legally binding."

"I don't like the sound of that…"

Why wouldn't she take off her mask?

Megara folded her arms as if she were cold. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bothered you. I should've let you live your life. This has nothing to do with you…"

"Yes, it does. I love you." Hercules set a hand on her shoulder and lifted the mask off her face.

Dark bluish-purple bruises dotted her throat, and one of them covered her cheek. Her eyes were bloodshot, staring at him in horror behind a tear-reddened face.

It was so much worse than he'd thought. How had she gone about her day like that?

"Meg… tell me what happened." He took another step toward her, but she scuttled backward and covered her face. "This isn't your fault. It's my fault I let them take you away. Who hit you?"

He'd kill them. If it was one person, that was easy, but he'd kill anyone who'd done this to her. It was no wonder she kept trying to run away. Had she decided to love him because he might protect her from this? If so, he'd done a terrible job so far.

"You're not Theban, you don't understand," said the guy behind the hero's mask. "This is our darkest day in a long time, but we can handle it. Leave Thebes to the Thebans."

"You seem to be doing a great job so far," Hercules snarled at the other guy. "I'm here to talk to my girlfriend, so back off, okay? The next person who gets too close to her loses an arm."

"Excuse me." One of the musicians, who looked shockingly similar to Megara, waved the hand that wasn't holding his lyre. "If you don't mind, she's my sister. She um… told us about you. Meg needs you to get her out of here. Now, please."

"Megarion!" Megara scolded.

Hercules raised a brow. "Your parents were real creative, huh?"

The Meg twins snickered at that.

"Now I get it," said her brother.

"I told you so."

"I don't need more telling. Just get out of here."

"This thing isn't over. What about you and Meno and Haemon?"

"We're men. This is a war. Get out of here."

"I'm going to stop the war," Hercules said. "But your brother's right. I won't let this city crumble, but I need you safe before anything else." He offered his hand. "I also need you to tell me everything. But I'll give you time, all right?"

She looked at his hand and sighed. "Yeah… if you can get me out of here…" her eyes shifted to her brother, "but don't abandon everyone else…"

"I'm a hero… in training. We'll figure this out. I promise."

"Where do you think you're taking our princess?" the actor stalked closer. "You don't know how to keep a Theban girl in line. She's too wild for you. You'd have to–"

For the second time that day, Hercules lost his temper. He hurled the actor off the stage and let the chorus jump out of the way or catch him, whatever they preferred.

"C'mon, Meg!" he opened his arms for her, and with one more look back at her brother, she ran into them.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into his ear, then kissed his cheek.

"It's not you who needs to be sorry, but the list keeps growing." Hercules carried her to Pegasus. "Now, hold on. I've got somewhere special in mind."

When they took off, Hercules thought Megara would be fine clinging to him. Except, once they got high enough that she could look down and get a good view of the city, she started screaming.

Whoops.