Hercules touched down on Phil's island, his heart no lighter than the last time. He crept toward the satyr's home with Pegasus in tow. "Ah… Ph-Phil?" he called.

"You better have a real good reason for running off twice in a week!" Phil shouted through the door. "You're losing points for this. Lots of hero points!"

Hercules recoiled and looked to Pegasus for reassurance.

The horse shrugged his shoulders.

"I uh… I won a war." It sounded almost like he was embarrassed to admit it, but it was the only redeeming element he could offer Phil. He seemed to have ruined every other part of the trip, even the ones that had started out so well.

The front door of Phil's house slammed open. "You what? A war?" The elation on his trainer's face quickly evaporated. "Did ya start that war and then finish it, or did ya happen upon it while you were chasing that princess?"

Hercules held up his hands so he could win some patience to explain. "See, I went back to Thebes to check on if Meg was still alive, and she was! She is, I mean. But you're actually going to think this is awesome: Athena gave her armor, and she helped me fight off an invasion that almost consumed her family and her city, but Thebes is safe now! The new king even declared me a hero!"

When Phil first locked eyes with his student, his eyes were narrowed, and his face was red. The longer Hercules went on, however, the more his ears tilted up, and his mouth fell open in wonder. "Wow! You did all that?"

"There were plenty of witnesses, too! Meg told her brother to put me in a monument to the victory we had!"

"It sounds like you're makin' all this up! It's too perfect, but I like to hear it, so keep it comin'!"

"After that, her father offered me a betrothal as a reward."

Phil stood as tall as his diminutive stature allowed. "So when's the wedding?"

Hercules folded his arms. "That's just it… I couldn't accept her as payment for an act of heroism, so…" His throat closed over the words that would explain the wound he'd inflicted on the girl he loved. She may never accept him back.

"I'm impressed you finally learned something! What's the problem?"

The answer wrenched itself free of Hercules, though it made his bones rattle. "I betrayed her trust! I think I broke her heart, too… That's all my fault, and I don't think there's any coming back from that."

"Oh…" Phil sat with that for a minute, watching his student crumble right in front of him.

Hercules dropped to his knees and covered his eyes. He was already such a disappointment to himself that even though he'd felt compelled to admit what happened, he didn't want to see what his mentor would think of it.

"I'm sorry, kid." Phil walked over and set a hand on his shoulder. "I guess I didn't think you'd be put in a situation like that without me around."

So he… wasn't the worst thing possible?

"She loved me, Phil, and I wasn't there for her… I don't get it! How is that heroic?"

"You know how most heroes get their wives?"

Hercules's mind was so blank that he couldn't even tell Phil that he didn't know the answer to that.

"They rescue 'em. It's actually expected."

Pain rolled over the beach of Hercules's blank mind like a wave over a barren beach. What had he done?

"I remember the last time a princess tried to get engaged before you were ready. It didn't quite work out for ya then. Maybe it's for the best that the two of you split now. Princesses always want to move too fast with you. Maybe a regular girl is more your speed."

"I wasn't in love with that princess. I'd just met her, and she thought I was cute! Meg and I had a connection, and I was so dumb I threw it away!" He pounded his fist on the ground, which sent Phil, his house, and Pegasus several feet in the air. Hercules didn't even care when all three of them dropped back down with a heavy thud. "I don't get it!" he exclaimed. "What happened here? I know that rule! What did you forget to teach me?"

"Well, you're not supposed to hold people's safety for ransom, which is something I know you wouldn't do. You're also not supposed to force someone to marry you because you did something for her or her family. The rule is to stop you from hurting people by using heroism as a weapon against them. I'm glad you internalized it so well, but I don't think you needed help."

"Well, I need help now! Is there a hero rule about apologizing to the girl you love when you humiliate her in front of her entire family?"

"It better be a big apology! A rejected princess is an embarrassment to her entire family! They'll probably hide her from now on so people forget they've got a reject."

Hercules grabbed Phil by the horn to snarl right into his pointed ear, "Not. Helping."

"Whoa, whoa, okay!" Phil squirmed free. "So she's a princess, which means if her family has it, she has it. But you gotta show her something that means you've gone to a lot of trouble to do something most people couldn't just for her. Can ya think of anything like that?"

Hercules closed his eyes. "No…"

"Well, I'll help. If it makes you a national hero for the most downtrodden city in Greece, you've gotta get in on a cushy gig like that. I've never trained a national hero before, but the exclusivity is a major draw. They'll probably get ya a nice villa in the city and parade you around every time someone presents a threat. I was already planning your debut in Thebes after ya graduated, but since you've already been there, done that, all we have to do now is be more intentional about it."

"Don't you get it? I've blown it!" Hercules groaned. "I have to re-ingratiate myself with her family… But Meg… I met her when she was trying to make herself forget a guy who was cruel to her. What if… what if her next move is to forget me?"

"Hmm. You're right. That would be pretty bad. I'm not really a romantic gestures kinda guy, though."

Hercules let out a deep sigh. "Great. So I'm on my own?"

"No, I wouldn't say that… how about ya ask the big Z what he'd do? He's been married long enough; I'm sure he's got some kind of strategy. If it's good enough for your mother, it should be good enough for a teenage princess."

"Maybe you're right…" Hercules looked toward the sky. "But I'm not sure things are what's important here. I have to do something, and it's gotta be big."

"Well, then better ask yer dad. And when you're finished with that, your geometry homework is waiting for you."