Sleep came as a relief until the dreams began. Megara knew better than to expect anything different, but being with Hercules deluded her on occasion. The voices in her mind questioned whether she could even be a good mother for Harmonia, and they weren't new.

Was she too judgmental? Did she lack patience? Would her daughter despise her legacy?

She replayed the party, and every snide comment toward Icarus returned, as well as the hurt in Hercules's eyes. She was vile. Hercules would be happier if he traded up and found someone with a better attitude.

Though he hadn't condemned her, she knew his emotions so well she could feel them, herself. What she'd said had cut him, and for that, she could never forgive herself.

With four months, if she was lucky, before Harmonia's birth, she was running out of time to "fix" herself. Which god could she call on for a whole personality adjustment?

Then again, that would be a mistake because Hercules would hate it.

Where was he now?

That should've been a question her senses asked her, but instead, it sounded like a mocking voice. She couldn't place the owner of that voice, but it was evident that something outside herself had asked where Hercules was. Someone who found it amusing that he wasn't with her.

This was fine. Her heart was racing, and she was starting to feel cold inside and out, but she knew why he was gone. They'd discussed this. If she opened her eyes, she'd see the breakfast he left for her. Right about now, he ought to be with the trainee heroes at the villa, and he'd return to her soon.

That voice was not convinced.

Hercules must surely be hiding resentment or anger, and that was why he was gone. If he were with her, he'd only be stewing on why he was angry. He needed to hide his true emotions from her.

But no. She'd never met anyone less capable of disguising his emotions than Hercules.

That must be why he was gone. It was the only way to shield her from his emotions. He was too good for her.

Those words were poison to her heart.

She had no answer, and she sank deeper into isolation and despair. They were familiar. They made sense.

The last time she'd felt this way, she had lived in the Underworld… Malaka! No, she couldn't make herself think of that place! The memories were too vivid. It was too easy to imagine that she was there again, among those frigid stalactites and the shadows of pain and loneliness.

For so long, she'd kept herself free of this place, segmented it away in her memories. The waking day was full of glory, pleasure, full of him… Soon, Harmonia would be part of it, and they would double the joy in her heart.

Except… she couldn't visualize either of them anymore.

She heard the drip of water from the ceiling and the rush of slow, spectral rivers, including the one that had once claimed her soul. It mattered little how much she strained to wake. Her consciousness was contained now, sinking far beneath the surface.

If she couldn't remember Hercules or Harmonia, she could remember the faces of her friends. Galatea, Medusa, and Cassandra, especially. They cared about her. One of them was about to become her sister.

But no…

None of their faces came to mind until she envisioned what it would look like when they joined her to give birth. The plan was already for them to be there to help her through the ordeal, but what happened if everything went wrong? They would all watch her as she died…

She saw herself laid out on a funeral pyre, with the tiny bundle that could have been Harmonia laid atop her. Hercules would light the fire, and her friends would lament her in a sobbing chorus.

Death. It was the inevitable answer.

Then she would be lost forever… trapped in a prison of her own making. Yet, this version of the Underworld had shifted from the familiar.

There were the same stalactites, but they were now encrusted with jewels. The Styx reflected off them in glimmering patterns that dazzled the eye the longer she witnessed it.

Beneath the high bejeweled ceiling, an orchard grew. Most of them seemed to be odd fruits she'd never seen before, but one of them bore the most magnificent pomegranates she had ever seen.

Even Cerberus was content to lie with his chins on folded paws as if he were a sheepdog whose flock was safe.

And there were sheep. Cattle, as well.

They even seemed living, as if these herds could be tended and shorn and give milk. No life had ever thrived in the Underworld. What had brought on these changes?

The sneaking realization hit that she wouldn't have been so bitter if this had been her Underworld. She may not have hated being there. Yes. She would be pleased to stay there.

Whoever had given the place a makeover had applied that same energy to Hecate's palace. It was so completely redone as to be unrecognizable. In place of blue, the palace was purple from the curtains to porphyry floors, and amethysts inset into the ceiling. Garlands of violets and lavender wrapped around the columns, which overlooked fields of glimmering orchards and oxen.

It was almost… picturesque…

A throne behind what resembled a secretary desk, lined with plush cushions, welcomed her into it. She wouldn't have to get up for hours. No complaints.

There were souls to sort. Paperwork needed to be sorted and filed. She even had an amethyst signet ring to stamp her mark scrolls with her approval.

She'd be at that desk for centuries, unburdened by petty mortal concerns. It was inevitable.

That commentary settled on her shoulders before she realized she'd allowed it to. It was… not from her, but… it had become the helmet that contained her thoughts.

She tried to remove herself from this dream.

There was nothing she could do.

She was planted in place. She belonged there.

It was almost like a hand was pushing her back into the chair each time she attempted to stand.

"Where are you going, Mama?"

Megara didn't attempt to move again. She was too confused by the question. Who had asked it?

As if in answer, the speaker presented herself. She looked about ten years of age, with a mess of pale ginger curls spilling out of a purple headband. It matched the violet of her eyes and the lavender of her dress. She looked too pale as if she'd never seen the sun, and her rosebud mouth was straining to hold back tears.

"You won't leave like Pater did, will you?"

She wanted to scream.

She had to scream.

She couldn't scream.

The girl's eyes were fixed on her steadily, judging every move.

"Harmonia?" Her own voice sounded disembodied.

"I went to fetch more papyri. Are you leaving because I wasn't fast enough?"

This couldn't be happening. She felt dizzy. Sick. Why would her dreams bring her to this moment? Was she still dreaming?

"Don't you want to go home?" she appealed to the child, who might be hers.

The possible face of Harmonia distorted into tears. "But this is our home! We can't go anywhere!"

"Sure we can." Except that she still couldn't move, even to console the child. "Where is your father?"

The girl hiccupped with tears, the same way Megara did herself. She wiped away tears while her face reddened. "He's on Olympus with his family."

That wasn't right.

"We're his family."

"We were, but then you wouldn't stop bleeding."

She felt bloodless, all right.

"You can't be born yet. There's still time!"

"It's inevitable," says someone else's voice, as if its speaker stood over her shoulder.

She would not turn.

Her vision rattled as if the palace was undergoing an earthquake.

"No! Stay with me!" the would-be Harmonia screamed, but Megara could not run to her.

The vision ended as she found herself wrapped in Hercules's arms. He smoothed sweat-plastered hair back from her face and checked her every vital sign.

Though it was one of the hardest tasks in her life, she wrenched her eyes open. "Mm… alive…" she forced between sluggish lips.

Surprise and relief comingled on his face, which now she couldn't help relating to the one she'd seen to represent Harmonia. She had to wonder… had someone foreseen what she would look and sound like and placed her in a dream?

"You looked so pale… you were green…" Hercules told her, voice cracking in pain.

"It was a dream," she said for them both to hear.

"What was? I mean… what did you dream about?"

"The Underworld… and I think I met Harmonia."