Most of the Olympians, aside from Ares, had taken up a spot in the chamber, and Megara wasn't sorry to see the god of war keeping his distance from an event like this. Dionysus was right at home, doting on a goddess who appeared to be Ariadne based on his comment on finally sharing his city with his wife.
Aphrodite had brought Medusa as well, and the reappearance of her friend only served to make that strange feeling Hercules could always conjure in her re-intensify where it had begun to fade.
"I know pregnant women are expected to glow, but I'm impressed," Medusa observed. "You're like a completely different person."
Megara shot a glance over her shoulder at Hercules, and no words were necessary. Both Aphrodite and Medusa were deeply in tune with the feelings rolling off Megara, which required no explanation.
"How have you been keeping yourself occupied, Medusa?" Galatea asked, cutting through the haze that was choking all reason from Megara's mind all over again. "I haven't heard much from you."
"I'd rather not take up this evening with an announcement like that," Medusa said, and even her snakes expressed her shyness.
"We all want to know!" Megara said. "Come on, the music hasn't even started yet. Give us something."
"All right…" Medusa took a deep breath, looked up at Aphrodite for support, then said, "I'm going to be an oracle of Aphrodite from now on. There's going to be a new sanctuary on my island and everything. It'll ultimately be dedicated to Aphrodite, but I hope to attract a small community to live on that island with me, and maybe it'll be part of the matchmaking service, you know? And one day, someone will show up on the island just for me."
"That's wonderful!" Hercules exclaimed.
"I concur!" Galatea squeezed Medusa's arm. "There was nothing to be embarrassed about there! It's about time you got the appreciation you deserve! We should all have a party when the sanctuary opens, and maybe your perfect guy will show up to celebrate, too! I can't wait!"
Megara smirked at Hercules over the fact Galatea had invented a party for Medusa and then invited herself to it.
"You think people would come?" Medusa asked.
"Um, to a party at a sanctuary for moi on an exclusive island?" Aphrodite had to laugh. "Yeah! People will be there. Great thinking, kiddo!" The goddess's voice had a quality to it that reminded Megara of a proud mother praising her child. At least one part of her brain worked.
"We should plan for it then," Medusa said. "I already have more friends than at any other time in my life. This will be an excellent opportunity to make even more."
"Oh! We have to make it a hotel!" Aphrodite exclaimed. "With hot springs! And a fashion boutique!"
Medusa clapped. "We'll have a big statue of you made of pink marble, and it'll be in the ballroom where everyone can leave offerings of flowers, and then during the parties, we'll all put on the sacred flowers and dance!"
"Someone's gotta have some papyrus in this palace. Let's get those ideas down before we forget 'em!" Aphrodite squealed. She and Medusa ran off, practically skipping.
"I'm so glad this world is full of creative oddballs," Galatea said.
"Aphrodite is a better goddess than I ever gave her credit for."
"But not as great as you will be," Hercules whispered to her.
Megara's eyes shifted toward the many gods in attendance, but none of them seemed particularly inclined toward revenge.
Someone at the far end of the hall strummed a kithara, and then another player echoed with a lyre. Megarion and Orpheus had appeared, and Megara's heart soared on behalf of her brother playing with the greatest musician in all of Greece. This must be an epic moment for him.
"People of Thebes!" Orpheus's voice drew the attention of every guest to him. "I'm here with your king to celebrate your future! Please welcome the heroes of the present and the future to your city! We've prepared a song for you. Join in when you're ready!"
The duo only waited long enough for the cheers to dim to half-strength before they started playing.
At first, all Megara could detect in the lyrics was the usual joyful praise ordinarily reserved for Hercules. Hero business was predictable by now but always pleasant.
That was up until the first reference to a font from which everyone could draw their heroism. They would return to its cooling waters for clarity, wisdom, and inspiration. There was something odd about this turn of the song. It sounded much less like the usual self-motivated heroic anthem, but there had to be something her mind wasn't grasping through the happiness impairment.
The heroes to be inducted into the League had remained silent during the first verse, but they joined in during the chorus in praise of the Muse of Heroism.
Who was that?
They all looked directly at Hercules, or so she thought.
Hercules moved her on his lap so that between her hair and the veil covering it, she all but eclipsed him.
Nothing in the expressions of the heroes changed, and they didn't attempt to shift their gazes to rest on Hercules. They hadn't been looking at him in the first place.
She'd never had so many eyes on her in a way that didn't mean something terrible was about to happen. At least, not without the plausible deflection of them looking at her only because they were looking at Hercules and she was standing beside him… It made her squirm, and all she wanted to do was escape.
"It's going to be all right, Meg," Hercules whispered. "Everyone who knows us adores you, and the ones who don't know you will love you soon."
"I… don't want to take that chance…" Megara whispered back.
Under normal circumstances, she might have screamed and run for a hiding place, but she remained buoyed by a giddiness that was quickly fading.
Galatea took her hand and squeezed it. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, girl. Soak up the love. You deserve it."
The voice that should've been there to remind her of all her faults was silent. Where had it gone?
In its place was a golden light that felt less and less foreign to her every time it took hold.
"Every time this League assembles, they will sing for their goddess," Hercules whispered in her ear. "And eventually, even my father won't be able to keep her off Olympus."
Megara's eyes found Zeus, then, currently embroiled in a quiet exchange with Hera. She could guess what they were talking about, and her stomach twisted over the thought.
It seemed to trigger the child within her as Harmonia went tumbling and squirming in her tiny world. She really hoped she hadn't inherited her mother's proclivity toward anxiety.
"Are you insane?" Megara whispered to him. "We'll be dumped right into Tartarus for that!"
"No, you won't, not after today." Hercules steadied her with an arm across her chest that helped to stabilize her heartbeat.
The song came to an end with a roar of applause that rang in Megara's ears. What had he done? Why did he seem so proud of himself?
Though she didn't want to look in his direction, she noticed Zeus approaching her, and her fears spiked.
"I'll… go find Theseus," Galatea said. "He sang so well…" she darted off while Megara's eyes burned holes in the back of her head for abandoning her.
"You have nothing to worry about," Hercules whispered to her and kissed her earlobe. "My father knows he owes my life to you."
Zeus's smile was awkward, but with Hera at his side, he seemed like a spoiled child whose mother had forced him to apologize for bullying another child. "So, ah… Megara," he said, dragging out the syllables of Megara's name the way he might say a foreign word he was afraid to mispronounce. "You're doing well?"
"Yes," Megara responded.
"Good… you look almost like a goddess tonight."
"And you will be one soon," Hera added, despite the way Zeus jerked with barely contained resistance. "We want to hold a council on Olympus to alter the terms of apotheosis for a mortal. Hercules has made several coherent points which we must respect."
Megara nodded politely. It would be too easy to say the wrong thing, so all she said was, "Thank you."
Throughout this exchange, Harmonia had yet to stop squirming around. Either she had just learned how to move, and it was the most fun she'd had in her entire existence, or Megara's racing heart was making her anxious. She had to calm herself down.
"You must be the lovely Megara of whom I've heard such glowing reports." The woman who stood over Megara radiated power. Having shared a bed with a god for months on end, there was no mistaking that her power had an ancient quality to it. She sensed it the same way she might recognize how many years her wine had been aged before it was served to her.
If she were ever going to be ready to speak to the wife of Chronos, this was not it. Hercules had driven all the sanity out of her mind, and where was she to find it?
"She is," Hercules said. He still had his arms around her, and that was the only thing containing her in something like sanity.
Laughter sprang from her before she could stop it. Unintentional and impossible to retract! Urging herself not to panic, she rallied her mental faculties and extended her hand. "It is my great honor to meet you," Megara replied, bowing her head. That gesture had the added bonus of disguising her dissonant smile. There was protocol for speaking with queens from other city-states or even foreign ones, but how about divine, semi-primordial ones?
Rhea took Megara's offered hand and bowed over her to kiss her forehead. "You have the grace and humility of one I am not ashamed to welcome into my family," the goddess said. "Hubris is such a tacky quality in a mortal."
Years of princess training surged back to the surface like a buoy on stormy waters. "My lineage is littered with the graves of those who indulged in hubris," Megara replied in all the reverence available to her in her current state.
Hercules squeezed her shoulder in silent praise.
"Has Hera offered her support to you in your upcoming trials?"
"I…" Megara looked at Hercules. "Am I in trouble?"
"No! No, everything is perfectly fine." Hercules stroked her knee.
"I was referring, of course, to the upcoming birth," Rhea said. "It has been many years since I offered my aid to a woman in such straits, but seeing as this child would be my great-great-grandchild, it would be my tremendous honor to offer a blessing."
Megara covered her mouth. She would not laugh. When she'd swallowed that initial response, she moved her hand so she could smile cordially at the goddess. "My daughter and I are both honored."
"And me, I'm honored, too," Hercules said.
Rhea shifted her attention to her grandson then. "I saw how desperately you flew to rescue her when the battle was over. I am glad that the two of you can be together now. If you ask me, our family has been too small and exclusive for too long. Thank you for bringing us a greater bounty." She parted from the pair, leaving them each with a regal blessing gesture and bringing Zeus and Hera with her.
"Please tell me that's all the party we have to participate in for the next thousand years," Megara grumbled.
"Not even close," Hercules whispered back. "But you've done so well thus far… it'll only be a little while longer. Promise."
"You owe me for this."