The former King Creon, who had taken up the crown in the interim between Laius and Oedipus, was not in the mood to hear his daughter brag about her impending marriage. When he arrived in the dining hall with Princess Eurydice, his children were eager to bring him up to speed.

Creon remained inscrutable for a long moment, but then he fixed his eyes on Hercules. "Son of Zeus. If it is your intention to marry my daughter, speak up and tell me now."

"Yes, I want to marry her. Someday! I'd like to graduate from high school first, and… maybe I should also be an active, fully-trained hero before we do that. I'd feel like I was worthy then."

Megara nudged him with her hip, which made him blush. "You're already worthy."

"A betrothal, then," Creon said. "I hereby gift her hand to you as a reward for helping to salvage our city in the face of insurmountable odds. As her father, it is ordinarily my duty to provide you with a bride price, but I understand that heroes do not accept payment for acts of heroism."

"Father!" Menoikeus exclaimed. "As the soon-to-be-coronated king, this blatant attempt to swindle a national hero is reprehensible."

Creon folded his arms. "If you wish to throw away our one spark of good fortune in over a century, it is your right as king."

"Sometimes, my esteemed father, the greatest of all gifts we give ourselves is generosity," Menoikeus said. He smiled at Hercules. "Young hero, you've got plenty of options, but it looks like my sister is at the top of the heap for you. We are at a loss currently, but between now and your graduation, we may find that there is something we can offer to pay the dowry price."

"You're already giving me Meg. I don't need anything else. Actually… even asking for Meg as repayment for what happened today would be… against the code of heroism…" he bowed his head. "I can't accept."

"What?" Megara squawked.

"I… I could ask for nothing," Hercules suggested. "Because… that's… what I have?"

From his side of the room, Creon scoffed deep in his throat.

"Can't even get a man to take her off our hands for free," Princess Eurydice sighed. "Nothing has changed, after all."

"Hey!" Hercules lifted his head, and his hands formed fists. "Just because both of you are too blind and stupid to see the value in your own daughter doesn't mean there's nobody who can!"

"You don't have to be polite," Eurydice said. "She's always been a bitch. Even as a baby, she would pull her brother's hair."

"I pulled hers, too!" Megarion interjected. At a sharp look from his mother, he relented with a low apology.

"Okay, so forget me," Megara said, retreating several steps away from Hercules and turning toward her brother. "He should still be declared the hero of the city. It would be a good way for him to start his career. He could stop adding 'in training' as a caveat each time he tried to announce his career path."

"I didn't mean I wanted to break up…" Hercules reached for her shoulder, and Megara shook him off. "He's associated with a nasty little satyr. You should probably have all contact flow through him."

"I'm still here," Hercules reminded her with a cracking voice.

"For what?"

"Because I still want to be with you, I just can't use my status as a hero to take any reward, especially not if that reward is a person."

"I'm not a hero, so where's my reward?" Megara demanded. "How long are you going to leave me here while you figure yourself out? This is what people do, you idiot! This is normal hero behavior, but you're too much of a boy scout to get me out of here–"

Hercules seized Megara by the arms. "Look at me, okay?"

Megara pouted, looking away at nothing instead.

"Maybe… you should do this somewhere else?" Haemon suggested.

"He's already said he doesn't want Megara," Creon said. "If the boy has concluded his business with us, he should return to his master to continue his training."

Hot, rageful tears rolled down Megara's face. "Yeah. This is over, so get out."

"No, it's not." Hercules picked Megara up. "I'm… I'm just trying to do this right. Phil always taught me we can't take rewards for heroism, and you know that. That's why I could help you, and you didn't have to pay."

"So that's it, huh? You don't even care what happens to me here because you have to follow all your stupid rules?" She pushed on his chest, and when that didn't work, she started to pound on it with her fists.

"Hey, hey, calm down. We'll figure this out." Hercules rushed out of the room and set her down in a curtained alcove, blocking her with his body. "Let's talk this through. I'm not abandoning you, Meg. This is about me staying true to my code of heroic ethics so I can get to Olympus."

"And leave me!" She kicked at him, but he stepped out of the way. "Why do you want to leave me?"

"We knew we'd have to figure this out between our city-states, right? This is just part of that. We're too young to be engaged, anyway, right? I mean… you're not the first princess who–"

"So you won't have a problem finding another one?" Her heart wrenched in her chest until she thought it would burst. Lashing out wouldn't work anymore. She covered her face and let her tears flow. "Get out of here! Stop acting like you care about me!"

"Who's acting?" Hercules took her by the wrists. "Everything's going to be okay, Meg. Your brothers are alive, and I'm not abandoning you. I just said no to an arrangement that was going to be between your father and me, but this should be about us. Don't you think it's better that way?"

"If you think my father will let me do anything if he doesn't benefit, you're dumber than I thought." She knew there was no point in fighting his grip, but she couldn't stand to look at him anymore. "I loved you and sacrificed for you, and now all you wanna do is leave me!"

"No, that's not what I want." Hercules pulled her closer. "I want to do this right, and that means following the rules of heroism."

"What's so wrong about this arrangement? My father wasn't going to rush us."

"I can't take payment for heroism, you know that."

"But can you… pay with heroism? Isn't that how you'd support yourself if you became a hero? With acts of heroism?"

Hercules frowned. "I… guess… so?"

"Unless you plan to accept charity? And then what are people paying or bartering with you for? You think they're going to line up just to watch you flex?"

Hercules blushed. "Well… I… no. I don't think so. Phil never really explained the details to me. I just know I have to show up and do the things I've got to do."

"Is Phil collecting all the profits for you? Because you can't get your hands dirty with gold?"

"No…"

"If your principles are more important than me, fine. Get out of my life and don't look back. This chance won't come back around, and it's probably already gone."

"I thought… nothing would keep us apart. You seemed so sure about that. I thought we were solid."

"And then you went and showed me I can't trust you. This was the next step. The most logical way we could be together and with my parents' approval. We wouldn't have to sneak around or lie or anything! It would be official. You'd be part of the family. But you don't want that."

"Yes, I do…" Hercules set his hands on her shoulders and squeezed, not tightly enough that it would hurt but enough that he steadied her and got her attention. "If I do this one thing… It could jeopardize everything."

"Yeah, it's pretty clear where your priorities lie." She couldn't let him see her heart breaking any more than he already had. She had to surround it with walls of anger, or he'd watch her crumble.

"I don't think you see it yet." Hercules took her by the chin. "Meg, if I do this for you, it could jeopardize everything, but I'll do it for you. None of that glory is going to mean anything if you're not there to enjoy it with me. So if this is how we start, then we should start now. Can you forgive me for not knowing what I had to do right away?"

She frowned at him, but it slowly developed into a pout. "You're lying to me."

"I think you know me well enough by now to know I can't lie. You're upset, though, and I get it. That's on me. Give it a minute and listen to me, please. You threw yourself into battle for me, even though you have no training, and without the protection of the gods, we both might've ended up dead. I shouldn't have seen this as my reward for heroism. Even if that's how your parents see it, it's not just me who got us through that battle. It was mostly your decisive thinking that pushed us through it so fast. This is your reward, or... it would be, if you still wanted it."

"What I want is to know you're completely on my side and that I can rely on you. I can't have you making calls like that without consulting me, and I will not be thrown away again. Understood?"

"You're right. I'll never do that, and I'm sorry it looked like I did. You're right, and I'm sorry." He searched her eyes for forgiveness. "Do you not… love me anymore?"

She released a heavy sigh. "Maybe I shouldn't. But I do. And I also wish you weren't such a Wonder Boy. You've got to get over all these rules, you know?"

"But… the rules are all I have. Phil's the best hero trainer ever, and he's trained the greats! My father assigned me to him and everything."

"So, which of those students he trained became a True Hero and ascended to godhood?"

"Well…" Hercules paused. "I don't exactly…"

"What if all these rules aren't enough, and it takes something from the actual hero, not the trainer? What if you've got more to you than these stupid rules and regulations, but you're letting him dictate your actions? You have the power, the instincts, the heart, and the determination. What does he have? A big mouth?"

Hercules laughed helplessly, then cleared his throat. "Well, more than that, but… I see your point." He took a step closer and offered his hand. "I'll talk to your father, Meg. But nobody asked what you wanted until this happened. "Do you want our engagement decided by your father?"

"That's how it is for princesses. It's either through our fathers, or it never happens, and we die alone. I don't want to die alone."

"And I don't want you to die." Hercules took her hand since she hadn't pulled it away and drew her closer. "I'll make it right, Meg. But this starts between us. Are you ready to be engaged? After a couple of days?"

"I've learned everything I have to in those days. But now I'm a little stung. I didn't realize I'd fall into second place so quickly."

"You were never in second place," Hercules whispered, much closer to her face than she'd expected him to be. "Do you want to try this again?"

"Try what?" She watched his mouth, waiting for the moment he would close the distance.

Hercules hesitated. "At the end of my training, I'd like to marry you. Will you wait for me?"

"I'll promise myself to you right now. I'd give myself to you today, but I'm still irritated with you. So maybe it's not so bad that we have to wait a little longer."

"I'm sorry." Hercules kissed her but didn't linger. He smiled at her. "And I love you. Also… I've got one more year of school left, and then that summer, we're going to amp up the training. It'll be intense. We'll put in so much work, Phil thinks it'll coincide with a growth spurt, and then, I'll be… Is something wrong?"

"You realize if it's just between us, my father's going to find another arrangement for me by the end of a year, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not a daughter to him; I'm currency, but only if he can get rid of me. As long as I'm here, I'm less than nothing; I'm a drain, an embarrassment. Sure, my brother's going to be king now, but my father is the one who will have an ultimate say over who I marry. You probably threw away the only chance we had."

Hercules smacked himself in the forehead.

"Try again, that wasn't hard enough."

"I get it, I'm sorry. But you've always skirted the rules since I knew you. It's your brother who'll be in charge now. He won't treat you like that. I know him well enough. He'll treat you well."

"You wanna see how well this goes? Fine. Lead the way."