It wasn't long before King Megarion and the future Queen of Thebes, Cassandra, arrived at the banquet of heroes with no sign of Hercules or Megara in attendance. Some members of the League offered half-spoken explanations for the couple's absence, but the couple themselves heard their voices.
"Should we go?" Hercules asked, kissing Megara's earlobe.
A soft shuddering whimper escaped Megara's exhausted lips. "Herc, you want people to see me like this ?"
"We'll put your clothes on first," Hercules said, rubbing her bare back tenderly. He gripped her rear with more force, making her squeak. "And no, I don't want anyone to see you like this. That's for me."
"You've got to stop making me ridiculous when people could hear us!" Megara hissed at him. "My brother is out there!"
"Mhmm and your brother's got to know I take good care of you, right?" He ran his hands up her sides and squeezed her chest instead.
"Again? Herc, I don't know if I can keep up with you."
"I'm just stirring you up a bit," he said as innocently as possible. He helped her sit dizzily on the bed and hurriedly dressed himself. "Now you," he said and found her dress to wrap her in it. "I've missed seeing you happy. I'm looking forward to it."
"I'm delirious. That doesn't mean it'll last."
"I'll just have to make you delirious several times a day until it sticks, won't I?" Hercules stole a kiss from the tip of her nose, then helped tie her sashes back in place.
Megara glanced away, overwhelmed by him, and saw Harmonia in her cradle. "We've got to bring her, too."
"You sure? Maybe she needs to sleep."
"She does, but it's better not to leave her. You never know if she'll need us or whether we'll hear her when she does."
Grim shadows darkened Hercules's face. "I think I know what you mean. Fine, we should bring her. But she's going to distract you from having fun."
"Don't worry. These days, I need her to be happy just as much as I need you."
Minutes later, the duo emerged from their room to greet a flock of heroes who had collected around the soon-to-be-married royal pair, leaving space for their re-entry.
The sleeping Harmonia was comfortably leaning against her mother's chest, her face shielded from scrutiny by a blanket tucked inside the gorgon skin carrier. Her warm cheek was pressed to her mother's cleavage, the perfect pillow. Even while the partiers cheered and conversed around her, Harmonia remained in untroubled sleep.
Cassandra and Megarion embraced their inlaws, even peeking in at the little one.
"I don't think I'd have the courage to get through all of this planning without seeing how well you two have handled it," Megarion said. "Weddings are supposed to be fun, right? All of this preparation and waiting is starting to get to my head."
"You're not planning to run away, are you?" Megara asked, patting Harmonia's back through the carrier. "You realize we'll hunt you down because nobody else wants your job, right?"
"Right," Megarion puffed out a breath of laughter.
"Something's different about you," Cassandra remarked, her eyes fixed on Megara's face. "You're glowing."
"What?" Megara pressed a hand to her cheek.
"She's radiant," Hercules agreed and kissed her temple.
"Something is definitely different since the last time I saw you," Megarion said.
"I can't think of anything that could've made a difference," Hercules said in an attempt at Theban snark. He started out with a characteristic smirk, but it swiftly wobbled and broke into a goofy grin. He undermined his attempt at sarcasm completely when he burst into a fit of uproarious chuckles.
This not only brought attention to him but stirred Harmonia from sleep.
"Smooth, Wonder Boy. Smooth," Megara snickered and brushed light fingertips over Harmonia's soft ginger curls. "What matters is we are nearing a greater sense of equilibrium and can enjoy our growing family in peace."
Harmonia yawned a full-body experience that bunched up her limbs and her fists.
"Can I hold her?" Hercules asked.
"I'll allow it." Megara transferred the carrier to her husband and then massaged her shoulder.
Hercules lifted Harmonia to his face and kissed her all over her face.
At first, Harmonia fussed at the many kisses and put her hands on his face as if to make him stop. Then, with a high-pitched chirp, she wrapped her arms and legs around his face and gummed his forehead while holding on to both his ears.
"What does that mean?" Cassandra asked.
"It means she loves her pater as much as her mother does," Megara said, rubbing the child's back. "Let him go, Moni, Mama likes his face, too."
Hercules blew a raspberry into Harmonia's belly, which she'd helpfully pressed up against his mouth with her monkeying around.
"The Mighty Hercules, God of Heroes, ladies and gentlemen," Megarion snarked.
"Everyone should be as great of a father as he is," Megara said defensively. "Let's get some fruit together. Maybe she'll try it."
"I don't know, but I think she's going to eat my face off," Hercules said. "It's fine; I'll grow a new one."
"How Promethean," Megara squeezed one of Harmonia's chubby legs. "Honeycakes, let's be gentle with our loves."
Harmonia looked at her mother from the corner of her eyes and growled as she grabbed onto Hercules's hair and propped herself up with her toes on his chin.
"I've got this," Hercules said. "Watch." He matched Harmonia's growl and pretended to bite one of her feet.
Harmonia squealed and pulled her foot free. Though she pulled on Hercules's hair in the process, it wasn't enough that Hercules couldn't ease her into a regular cradle position in the crook of his arm.
"See? She hates that."
"I'm glad retirement hasn't completely wasted your talents," quipped Telemachus.
"Oh, no, I'm sharper than ever," Hercules said, tickling Harmonia's belly as compensation for removing her from her perch. "I've got to be so I can keep up with this little damsel."
"I leave that to him," Megara said, wandering away to grab herself some grapes and cheese. "I have difficulty keeping up with anything these days."
"That's about to change," Hercules promised.
Harmonia fussed when she no longer saw Megara close by. She leaned and twisted her whole body to reach toward her, and her fussing only grew louder.
Hercules hurried closer to Megara, and Harmonia opened and closed both hands. "You're not allowed to walk too far away," Hercules translated.
"Evidently not." Megara felt herself light up with her importance. She relieved herself of the carrier, which she set on the couch, then unwrapped her himation from around her curves.
They had dressed so hastily that one of Megara's dress straps slid low on her shoulder. She cast a glance over her exposed shoulder at Hercules and didn't bother to fix it. She walked away from him and draped herself along a dining couch.
Cassandra joined her, a smirk tugging at the edge of her lips at Megara's obvious teasing. "I hope I'm this lucky soon." She cast a look over her shoulder at Megarion, who played innocent. Then she lowered her voice to speak only with Hercules and Megara. "I don't need to have a vision to know why she's like this, Herc. It's only going to get worse in round two, you know."
Hercules's golden features turned silvery. "What do you mean?" He rid himself of the godly golden glow, so his skin was ashy bronze.
Cassandra gestured at Megara. "You've done it again, right? She'll glow for a bit, but she's got Harmonia to look after at the same time. She didn't have anyone else to look after the last time."
Megara draped an arm over the back of the dining couch and offered Harmonia her fingers to grab. "We've had practice this time, Herc. I know what works, and I also know that Harmonia likes you better unless she's hungry. I'll be fine."
"She doesn't like me better!" Hercules joined Megara on the couch. "I… don't want to think I hurt you…"
Megara shrugged. "About half of women die in childbirth, Herc, it was bound to get complicated no matter who I married. But in this case, I would be dead without you, so it doesn't really matter to me."
"It matters to me!" Hercules's aura flared up again, and Harmonia bawled with sympathetic fear.
Megara took the child and snuggled her into her carrier again. "I'm going to be fine. I can handle this," Megara said.
"Can you?" Hercules wrapped both Megara and Harmonia in his arms. "I'll make sure of it. I won't let being with me be what… uh…"
"We won't say that word," Megara said gently. Still, she was remembering the dreams Hades forced on her, and she knew Hercules would remember what she'd seen, too.
There was time for her to bleed and for Harmonia to go with her to the Underworld. They had yet to define their telos, and in the meantime, all Hades had to do was wait.
Harmonia pulled on loose tendrils of her mother's hair into her mouth and cooed happily.
"We'll figure this out," Megara told Hercules. "Moni should be even easier than me. She's got no complicated history and is already semidivine. She's got you on one side and the distant influence of the ancestor we named her after in the deep history. That's more than half."
"But I know you. We both know that you're amazing, and you've accomplished so much more than the average mortal."
"Can we discuss this later? We're here to celebrate other people's relationships, and we're among friends we don't know very well. Not everyone needs to hear about our business. We need to figure this out on our own time."
The look in Hercules's eyes reminded her that this was his top priority at all times, but he relented.
The party went on, with Hercules doting on both Megara and Harmonia, offering them everything it seemed they liked. After an hour or so, both Megara and Harmonia had their fill of the party.
Harmonia had the luxury of smacking her lips and pressing her face against Megara's chest, searching for food.
"It's time the little princess got some sleep," Megara said. She departed after many quiet, respectful farewells and retreated into the bedroom at the back of the villa. The bedding was still rumpled, making her giddy despite her fatigue.
Megara helped Harmonia latch and held her in an embrace as she fed. It had been painful at the beginning, but now she found comfort in the steady pull the girl demanded. The two of them descended together into sleep, content to be in one another's company.
Chapter 10: In LawHarmonia reached into a stream of falling confetti, her eyes a wide violet wonder. She cooed and clapped, half-catching confetti between chubby wiggling fingers before they burst back out and made her giggle with delight all over again.
"Can you say, Aunt Cass?" Megara whispered to her.
"Ka! Ka!" Harmonia exclaimed, flapping her arms like a baby raven.
"Close enough," Megara snickered.
Megarion and Cassandra paraded past in a hail of confetti, and Megara lifted Harmonia's arm to make sure it looked like she was waving.
Queen Cassandra and King Megarion eagerly waved back at their niece. It was such a relief to see them married off, Megara felt a cold tear roll down her cheek.
She'd thought her brother was dead for years, and now he was not only a king, but his line was assured to be blessed by the gods with a queen whose powers would help forestall doom. Not that doom was in large supply now that the Divine Hercules defended his city with a passion.
Hercules wrapped his arms around his family and rested his cheek on Megara's hair. She could feel the damp in her hair so she didn't question it when she heard his voice crack. "I can't believe Cassandra looks so happy," he whispered.
Overhead, Icarus and Kiki landed on opposite perches over the small courtyard between Cassandra's Oracle Temple and the palace. Their baskets of confetti were emptied, but it seemed that Icarus of all people was also happy on this day.
"I like this makeover," Megara murmured to Hercules. "He doesn't look like he's about to murder anyone."
"He wouldn't," Hercules said, but even in his saying so, he didn't seem sure. He absently rubbed Megara's belly and Harmonia's back. "Have I mentioned I love you all today?"
"Shh, everyone here knows us, don't make it obvious how many of us there are. I'm not ready for the attention."
Neither was her brother. Cassandra and Megarion had learned one major lesson from the coronation: they hated all the attention.
While the celebrants in the courtyard were numerous, most of them were either relatives or old schoolmates of the royal couple. The celebration was not limited to the acropolis of Thebes, but rather than appearing in person, the duo had opted to sell commemorative royal wedding merchandise.
Megara had noticed sets of matching plates with pithy taglines such as, "Your purchase was foretold," and "We foresee your satisfaction is guaranteed." At least someone in Thebes was making a drachma or two off something other than her husband.
It was a holiday in the city, so most major industries had closed to enjoy local feasts sponsored by the crown. They'd have fond memories of this day and goodwill toward their king, but he wouldn't have to present himself in their midst. It was such a smart move, Megara was tempted to take credit for it.
She didn't need the attention, either.
The completed wedding procession led into the palace, and Hercules held Megara and Harmonia back while the crowd streamed in. "See, that's Tempest," he told Megara, pointing to an amazon with an impressive ponytail that resembled Pegasus's crested mane. She wore blue and red armor over what looked like a frilly gown, and long earrings wound with gold.
It was a sight more fashionable than the rumors about amazonian culture would have led Megara to expect, but seeing the woman wave affectionately toward the royal couple gave her a hint that this was not a typical Amazon.
"I'll introduce you later," Hercules promised.
A small clutch of pale individuals with dark hair and clothes to match stood in the only shadows anyone could find in the courtyard, stoically staring after the party until the raucous cheers had dampened behind marble walls.
"Ohmygosh!" Hercules ducked behind Megara. "That's Electra. Don't let her see me!"
"Uh, Herc. I know there've been some changes recently, but I still can't hide you, ya big ox. What's the matter with you?"
"That girl got so angry with me she summoned an army of furies that almost ripped Athens apart!"
"Oh, yeah? Were you too nervous to hold her hand?"
"No… that's… I'll tell you later."
"Maybe I should chat with her and try to alleviate any bad blood. I'll take Moni. Nobody can be angry at Moni."
"She's mean, Meg. And she thinks heroes are lame!"
"Aww, did the mean goth chick say something edgy?"
"Meg… I just…"
"That's what they do, Herc. They're frustrated because being too creative and intelligent ostracizes them from people, and with hormones that make them feel too much at once, they have to cope somehow. Now, it looks like she never moved out of that phase, but I used to drink my share of pomegranate juice, too. I'm an artist, after all, it's practically inevitable."
"Oh, then… you wouldn't have liked me back then, either."
"I wouldn't say that. Just because I didn't believe anything existed outside the darkness didn't mean I couldn't appreciate it when I saw it. But… I think I recognize this chick."
"You do?"
"Yeah, her brother Orestes was on my humiliation tour of Greece when my father wanted to get me married off."
"She has a brother? What happened to him?"
"Oh, I got along too well with his sister so his mother didn't like it, and… to be honest, that family had enough issues without me joining in. Orestes ran off and good for him. I think being alone with all that drama turned Electra into… this."
"Oh. That maekes way more sense. But you got along with her?"
"Thebes is a popular topic in gothic circles. She had lots of questions for me and I was dramatic enough to indulge her curiosity."
"So do you think she could stop her from going crazy when she sees me?"
"No promises, but I'll give it a shot. For now, let's not try to make contact unless she seeks it."
"Gotcha. Can we sneak past them?"
"You? Sneak? Good luck, Wonder Boy. But you could always teleport us if it matters to you."
"Moni got sick last time."
"I wasn't ready that time, I didn't cover her eyes."
"I'd rather not take the chance."
"Cool, so we'll walk past your ex and act like everything is fine, and then it will be."
"Oh, no, you're not walking." Hercules lifted her into his arms.
Harmonia squealed with delight as she rose into the air and clapped shouting incoherent syllables of joy.
All this incandescent happiness caught the attention of the darkness dwellers.
"Hey," Megara said while Hercules shrunk in around his wife and daughter. "Babies don't yet know how dark the world can be," she said in a monotone.
"Yeah," Electra said, though her eyes were focused on Hercules. "Especially when they're made with incorrigiable rays of sunshine."
"That's the truth," Megara said. "I've been well, and I hope you have, too. You should join us at the party, by the way. I ordered loads of pomegranate juice and spinach pies, so you'll dine like kings. Or you, know, stay out here and be angry or whatever."
"Thanks, we'll do what we want," Electra said.
"How's Orestes?"
Electra was taken aback by the question, and she looked away. "He's still looking for our little sister, but… I think he's having a good time island hopping along the way."
"Maybe sometime you should join him. You could find Iphigenia together."
"I could look for her," Hercules offered.
"No, you won't!" Electra shouted.
"Sometimes the things we're most afraid of are what we need the most," Megara said. "Have a good night, Electra."
As soon as she sensed the end of the conversation, Hercules rushed his family into the palace. He held his breath until they were safely stretched out on the dining couch directly beside Megarion and Cassandra's. "Are you both okay?" Hercules asked then.
"You're the only one going through it," Megara remarked. "How're you feeling, Moni?"
Harmonia giggled, then drew her face into the most serious expression she'd ever made in her life. She looked for all the world as if she were ready to join the pomegranate club in the back. She babbled in low, irritable tones that startled both her parents.
"What–?" Hercules sputtered, then started to howl with laughter.
Her little act got the attention of Cassandra and Megarion, who both began to laugh at the same time as Megara lost control of her own laughter.
Only when her audience was fully enthralled did Harmonia break the act with a brilliant toothless smile and chirp as she reveled in her success.
"It looks like we have another brilliant little actress in the family," Megarion said. "Good to know she's going to win over any situation she gets into. I'm the proudest uncle who ever uncled."
"Would you like to hold the little charmer?" Megara offered.
"Oh, no, she screams when she's too far from her mother," Megarion said. "I'll admire her from afar."
"I look forward to many performances in the future," Cassandra said. "Maybe she can give the rest of our family acting lessons so Megarion knows how to smile sometimes."
"Hey!" Megarion objected, but Cassandra only hid her face in her hand to laugh.
"I'm happy for you two," Hercules said. He looked up, and Megara followed his gaze to the form of Icarus, perched in a high window.
Icarus glided down from the roof and landed gracefully before the royal couple. "My dear Cassie– I mean, Cassandy-wandy– I mean… Cassandra." Icarus took a deep breath and bowed. "I've given you a rough time as a friend in the past, and can never fully make up for everything that happened, but know this. I've always wanted your happiness, and though you've found it without me, I can't help but be happy allong with you today." He unwrapped the bundle to reveal an elaborately patterned bolt of cloth wrapped around a golden rod topped with a pair of wings. "I made this on a machine my Dadalus and I invented. It's the first of its kind, anywhere in Greece. An automated weaving machine blessed by Athena. I hope that someday, we can rekindle our friendship."
"This is so generous, Icarus," Cassandra said. "I'm glad that you'd share something this important with me. Thank you for being so considerate."
Icarus got slowly to his feet and smiled. "Good… This is way more dignified than Plan Beta would've been."
"Yeah, so how about we leave it on a win, eh Ick?" Hercules asked. "You did an awesome job."
"That's right, I did!" Icarus left the bolt of fabric neatly rolled back up at the side of Cassandra's couch and rushed back through the party with his wax wings extended. "I did great!" he cheered, and knocked into one pillar, but righted himself and kept going until he'd run all the way out of the party.
"Why would he leave now?" Megara asked.
"Give him a minute," Hercules replied.
Seconds later, Icarus dove back down through the windows, flew between the hanging lamps, and extinguishing a couple in the process. He rained down rose petals on the celebrants, continuing to cheer himself on.
Harmonia caught rose petals between her hands, and instantly stuck one in her mouth.
Megara plucked it free. "Maybe it's time you tried something biteable that isn't me, huh?" she asked. "Herc, can you–"
"On it." Hercules departed and brought them back a small platter topped with bits of different cheeses. "Which one would you like, Moni?"
In answer, Harmonia reached for a handful of cheeses, but only managed to snag one between her pudgy fingers. She brought this captured morsel to her rosebud lips and growled ferociously like a cat who'd snared a mouse. She peeled a sliver of cheese off with her one front tooth, and paused, then howled with confusion at the taste of it.
"I know, it's a new taste, but it's got to be similar to how mama tastes," Megara said.
Harmonia narrowed her eyes at the bit of cheese, then stuffed the whole thing into her mouth along with several fingers.
"Oh, thank goodness, she likes cheese," Megara sighed. "She can stop trying to bite through my skin every day."
"Does that mean your milk will go away?" Hercules asked.
"No, it won't have a chance. The next one will need it."
"Next one?" Megarion asked.
"I foresaw this," Cassandra said. "But I didn't want to tell anyone before they were ready to mention it. Congratulations, you two. And thanks for not upstaging us."
"Thanks for protecting our privacy," Megara said. "Hopefully, in a year's time, we can have a play date between royal cousins."
"We will," Cassandra said with a knowing smile. "It will be awesome."