When Hercules and Megara returned, the palace was in severe disarray. Guests fled in all directions, screaming and running in terror of the Furies.
"I've seen this before," Hercules said, scanning the banquet hall while blocking Megara from the action with his body. "These things only appear when someone is very angry. We need to be on the lookout for someone with a whole lot of rage who's trying to make a point."
"It's Antigone," Megara said.
"What? Your cousin?"
"That's her. She's such a bitch. The fact we're not bothering to cry over the guys who tried to get us killed with their stupidity and arrogance is burning her up. What do we have to do to make this stop?"
Eurydice ran past them, her arms flailing as she screamed as if she were on fire. A fury flew close by, not even putting in the effort to properly chase her.
Hercules grabbed this fury by its tail and swung it into another one, making both pop out of existence. "That's only going to slow her down," he told Megara. "We've gotta calm her down."
"Would it work if we killed her?"
Hercules stared at her for a long moment.
"Hypothetically."
"I've never tried that method," Hercules shrugged. We probably shouldn't reach right for murder."
"She did, so why shouldn't I? She never did this before. She's only getting worse, and she's targeting my family and ordinary people alike. She's gotta be stopped, and she won't let us stop her the normal way."
"If you kill a family member, the Furies will target you for a completely different reason," Hercules reminded her.
"Antigone should be getting targeted by her own monsters by that logic. She's getting away with it, and she's been allowed to get away with too much for too long!"
Not far away, Haemon was wrestling one of these beasts while Menoikeus slashed at it with his ceremonial sword.
Megarion had taken to stuffing large serving platters into the monsters' mouths to block them from biting anyone.
Another Fury swept down from the ceiling toward Hercules. It met a swift fate, and then Hercules turned back to Megara. "I'll get as many people to safety as I can! You can confront Antigone!"
"You don't think we should reverse that?" she asked.
"Nah. I think you oughtta be unleashed for once. Go give her a piece of your mind! I'll catch up after I help your brothers!"
Megara didn't wait for him to change his mind. She darted through the palace to her room, where her armor was waiting in a line against the wall. She wasn't used to running. Her feet hurt, and her party dress made her feel even more vulnerable than usual.
A shadow covered her as she ran.
One of the furies had followed her from the party.
She didn't have time to take it slow. She dove into her room, and a set of monstrous jaws slammed shut behind her. The fury with its head stuck in her door couldn't get any deeper in, but it kept trying to force its way deeper.
Megara picked up Athena's shield and crouched behind it. How was she going to reach Antigone now?
The creature's wicked eyes fixed on Megara, making her more aware than ever that she was small, squishy, and edible.
Antigone had done this. Antigone, with her myopic view of the world and lack of empathy. This was a new low for her, but she didn't doubt it was her who'd brought these monsters into the palace.
"You're not getting away with it," she told the Fury. Maybe Antigone could hear her through this creature.
It roared back at her.
It wasn't about to let her out.
A spear propped against a corner of her wall reminded Megara that there were other ways to get her way. She took the spear and approached the monster while crouching.
She'd never used her weapons before. They were always a warning that she wouldn't have to wield them in earnest. This thing wasn't giving her a chance. She lined up her spear in the direction of the monster. "Get away, or I'll stick this up your nose!" she shouted at it.
The beast roared at her.
Megara shoved the spear into the roof of its mouth, and the fury vanished. There was no hint of blood, only further signifying how it had been a witch-forged conjuration all along.
Megara tightened her hand around the spear. "Athena, show me the way," she whispered, then rushed through the palace to where she surmised Antigone was hiding: her bedroom.
"Tigs!" she shouted through the door. "Stop being such a bitch!"
"Go away!" Antigone shouted back. "None of you understand! Do you think today's a day of celebration? You don't know what I'm going through, and you don't even care!"
"That's right, bitch, I don't!" Megara drove her spear into the door as hard as it would go. "People are dying out there because you're a selfish nitwit, and you've got to knock it off!"
"Who says?" Antigone snapped back. "If you honestly think just because you've got a new boyfriend, you're not the same conniving little backstabber, you have no sense of shame!"
Megara would have to work with her power set. She wasn't Hercules, so beating things down wasn't going to work for her. Instead, she yanked her spear free and wedged it into the door jamb of Antigone's bedroom. "All you've done is prove that the only member of your immediate family who deserves to breathe is Ismene. You're a worthless sack of–"
Something hit Megara at the waist, and they just kept going.
Her spear and helmet clattered to the ground below her, and her arms flailed helplessly. The monster carried her high into the air, beyond the walls of the palace, and over the sea.
For the first few moments, all Megara could do was stare in disbelief, but then, the Fury let her go.
Antigone would have planned this. This was the fate of her cousin, who hated heights the most.
Megara couldn't get cleanly snapped in half and leave it at that.
The sea rushed toward her, and all she could do was scream.
Closing her eyes would do no good. Her mind would not go blank. She had to watch as her doom approached, and she would feel it in every bone that would shatter on impact.
A popping sound not far away reminded her of what would soon happen to her boy. She squeezed her eyes shut and begged the gods to make her a bird or a fish, anything that could better cope with her fate.
Something warm and powerful broke her fall.
It knocked the air out of her, but she was only using it to scream, anyway.
Was she dead?
Was it that easy?
As Megara felt the wind whip into her face, she also heard a triumphant whistling noise. It was almost like a bird. Was she a bird now?
A brilliant blue mane in her face brought her back to her senses.
Hercules's horse, Pegasus, had come for her alone. He seemed quite proud of himself.
"Thanks…" Megara felt herself return from the brink of surrender to death, and her resolve reshaped itself. "Take me back to the palace, please? I've got a score to settle."