Hercules sat with Megara in his arms on the dining couch. Harmonia fussed and bleated as if she were ill, and now that Hades had been in her presence, Hercules worried that might be the case.
Megara was silent, and he knew it was because her thoughts were whispering darkness to her.
How could his father allow this? His family was vulnerable because of Zeus's own inaction, and now he had allowed Hades to taint a sacred day that was meant to celebrate his bond with his newborn daughter.
He reached around and cradled the back of Harmonia's head in his palm. She was still so fragile that he couldn't imagine anyone thinking Hades should have access to her within a twenty-league radius. Even though she couldn't speak, his daughter's hunger flashed across his aura as surely as her cries hit his ears.
"She's hungry," he whispered to Megara.
"Oh." She was distracted, but by now, throwing a shroud over her and the baby and starting to feed had become ritualistic.
Hercules watched in silent awe from his vantage point. This was so normal; every new mother in Greece must have been doing it, but they were his family. He hadn't realized he'd love the sound of his daughter suckling so much. It was such an innocent sound and something unique to her. His eyes misted over.
Megara caught sight of his tears over her shoulder. It seemed like she was about to ask him a question, but Phil approached him first.
"The other heroes and I were wonderin' what the plan is now that Hades is back," the satyr said.
"You're asking me?" That was new.
"Well, you're the expert on Hades, and you defeated him before."
"Lots of times," Cassandra underlined from the next couch over.
"I'm gonna rip him to shreds; that's the plan." He fenced his wife and daughter in between his arms against any outrages in the world. "My father's content to let him do whatever he likes, but I'm not about to play along. Anything I can do will be done."
"It must have been him who sent me that dream," Megara whispered.
"What? Which dream?" Hercules's mind swam with images of Megara's pale face in their bed. "You mean the one where you saw yourself in the Underworld?"
"He was trying to show me… I bet he even thinks he's offering me something I want…" Megara began to tremble. "He thinks this is a good deal for me…"
Hercules rubbed Megara's arms and kissed her temple. "He's wrong, and he's going to know it, and I'm never letting him take you back there."
"He was able to do that to me without even coming here. He can do whatever he wants to me…" Megara's voice was so low and breathy he could've believed someone was strangling her.
"No, he can't. I'm going to join my family on Olympus to prove that to everyone." He tilted her chin toward him and gave her a long, lingering kiss.
"What about the rest of us?" Megarion asked. "Hades is not exactly averse to collateral damage."
Megara bowed her head. "This is my fault…"
"No. It's my father's fault," Hercules said. "He's the one who saw Hades plot against me time and time again when I was still a kid and treated it as if he were a dog who needed better training. He tried to upend the cosmos, and my father still thinks we can reconcile with him as if nothing happened. I've got to sort this out."
"This shouldn't all be on you," Megara said, her words punctuated by a popping noise from their daughter disengaging from dinner.
"I know, but it is. Or at least, it seems to be right now. We'll see what happens when I check on my relatives on the mountain." He looked around at the assembly. "I've got to go now, but please take care of them for me. I only leave her when I'm sure she'll be safe, and I trust everyone here."
Medusa and Galatea flanked them on the couch.
"We'll stick by," Medusa said.
"We've got to oversee Harmonia getting the rest of her presents, after all," Galatea said. "If Hades wants to pretend he's changed, there's no way he can get away with causing trouble here twice in one day."
"You're going to be all right," Hercules whispered to Megara.
"If you say so," Megara replied. "Hurry back."
He knew that was proof she wasn't convinced, but he decided the best way to dispel that reaction was to prove it wrong.
With one more look around at his shaken comrades and a kiss for both his girls, Hercules departed for Olympus.
The scene there was full of chaos as outraged deities heaped scorn on their king.
Zeus looked sheepish but defensive, which was confirmed by the first thing he said when he caught sight of Hercules: "Son, isn't it true he didn't hurt either of them? He's different! He didn't even try to throw a fireball or kidnap them."
Hercules remained unmoved. All he could do was stare for a long moment until he found his words. "Meg's been dealing with so much getting ready for the birth; we barely had enough time to process a dream she had a short while ago. She dreamed she was in the Underworld serving Hades again. He'd remodeled the place and predicted that Meg and Harmonia would die when she had her. He wants Meg dead, so I want him dead. You can try to justify it any way you want, but all I see is a slothful old man who refuses to do the right thing if it means you'd have to expend the slightest bit of effort."
Rage began to build in Zeus's face, but Rhea was there before he could explode. "My grandson is the most dedicated father our family has ever seen, and you appear determined to raise his pedestal even higher. What will you sacrifice on the altar of your pride?"
Zeus pouted at Rhea, made all the more pathetic by his sheer size. "But… Mom…" he whined.
"Don't start that with me!" Rhea raised a hand. "I'm sorry I joined the other Titans in that pit you banished us to. I thought I could help them reform and redeem themselves, but no. Apparently, I should've been out here reforming you! Is this the wages of letting you raise yourself? That you've never achieved full manhood?"
Zeus drew breath, but Rhea was fed up.
"No! It looks as if Hades isn't the only one who needs a second chance! You must learn to change and grow, but this doesn't seem to be working free-range. You have doomed yourself to an eternal childhood, but it is time that I reminded you what it's like to have a mother." She looked around the assembly. "Any objections?"
As everyone there was either her child or grandchild, none of the Olympians offered any resistance to her.
Rhea pointed to Zeus. "I have borne witness to your incompetent leadership for long enough! You must be trained if you ever wish to become a king again, and thus, you will learn at my knee!" As Rhea spoke, Zeus shrank down until he was only a little larger than Harmonia.
He gazed up at his mother and started to cry.
Rhea picked him up. "Until anyone else can make a decision for yourselves, I am the regent of Olympus. You will all swear the fealty you owed to Zeus to me."
Everyone was stunned, but Hercules had seen the care with which Rhea helped Megara deliver their daughter. Someone like that might be a good ruler, even if he was a little worried about his father and hadn't seen Rhea on a throne yet. He dropped to one knee.
"Queen Regent Rhea. Grandmother. I offer you the service of my strength and my sword to uphold order and grace on Olympus. May I be the first to petition your grace?"
"Such a well-spoken boy," Rhea cooed over him. "Hera, he takes after you."
"Yes, he does," Hera said absently, taking that moment to slide down to her knees in the most queenly way possible.
Soon after, the other gods followed her lead.
"What shall I grant you, my beloved grandson?" Rhea asked with the fussing, whining Zeus on her hip.
"I ask that immortality be granted to my wife and child." He remembered a time Selene had requested immortality for a lover but forgot to mention eternal youth and hastened to add, "Like all of us. True godhood, with no caveats or complications."
"Granted," Rhea told him.
Hercules shot to his feet. "Wait, it's already done?" He wanted to go home immediately, but he was sure he would miss something if he did.
"The precedent is set," Rhea said. We have to define parameters, but I don't see how it's fair that this generation is denied the opportunities freely given to their predecessors. You achieve Apotheosis when you reach the telos of your nature. Thus, your beloved and your daughter will do the same, and nothing will stand in their way of doing so."
Hercules's heart sank. It was a good thing he hadn't run off to get Megara's hopes up. "What do you mean by their telos? What's the most perfect form of who they are? They're already perfect to me."
"They have to embody something that will make them divine," Rhea said. "They may define that for themselves, but they will be assured of a place here when they can discover their truest virtues to embody."
"I don't understand… I had a clear-cut path when I got my godhood back. Why can't they have something like that for themselves?"
"Because you were born with a clearly defined telos. You were always going to embody the divine nature of heroism, and so you had to reach the telos of heroism to recapture your divinity. But as mortals, Megara and Harmonia lack this preordained nature. We have to help them discover it for themselves."
It wasn't the best thing he could ask for, but it was better than the stonewalling he'd gotten from his father.
"Yes, my queen," he said, bowing his head. I have one more concern… Hades."
"Don't worry about Hades for now," Rhea instructed. "As soon as you leave, we will see to him." She blew him a kiss. "Pass that on to my great-granddaughter, won't you? I'll be so pleased when she joins us."