Leave it to his uncle to ruin the perfect day. Maybe he was jealous because people generally hated him, and he'd been unsuccessful in wooing Aphrodite for untold centuries. No matter the reason, Hercules would put a stop to this.
Hercules checked over his shoulder to see Megara's eyes wide with fear for the second time in a day. He smiled down at her, hoping to inspire calm. "Enjoy the show!" He winked at her, but all she could muster was a shaky half-smile. He'd have to go back and fix that soon.
The creature had uttered his uncle's name.
When he was done with it, his uncle would face his reckoning. "My uncle sent you?" he snarled.
"Uh, he's the Lord of the Dead," one of the blue cyclopean heads said. "Not your uncle."
"Shoulda known better than to come out here unarmed, mister fancy-robes!" the second head crowed.
"And you brought your girl out here to get eaten, too!"
Hercules was beyond hearing them out.
The very idea that he would consume Megara as if she were part of the picnic he'd prepared for her was so infuriating that his body radiated the raw golden power of his godhood. Hercules pulled the tree out of the ground, roots and all. He hefted it over his head and charged at the monster. "You'll never eat another human being again!" he roared.
The Cyclops stepped out of the way, but that would not save him.
Hercules swung the tree wide and swept the legs out from under his opponent. Hercules lined up a second shot when he was still falling and swung the monster into the sky. He shaded his eyes and watched it fly toward the aether. When he decided he had enough time, he checked over his shoulder to see how Megara was doing.
Not well, from what he could see. In the meantime, Pegasus was fanning her with one wing. As he should!
Hercules blew her a kiss, which made her smile. She blew one back, and he hoped she'd be better soon.
How many times a day could the Fates throw peril at one girl?
The biclops fell faster than he'd risen. Hercules had to jog to intercept him, but it was a leisurely run.
He lined up his shot and jumped into the air alongside the monster. Then he slammed the tree into its side.
The double-headed cyclops flopped helplessly back into the hole from which it had emerged. "Tell my uncle the next time he sends someone after me, I'm going down there after him!" His voice echoed back at him. Something ought to have heard him.
Hercules re-planted the tree where he'd found it and made it gleam with his power to ensure that it could remain alive. "Thank you, Gaia. I've returned your tree to you. It served me well. Please re-seal the opening that they emerged from."
Finally, he knelt beside Megara once more. "Are you all right?"
"I'll be fine," she smiled, but he could tell she was shaken. "It's not every day a girl gets to see her man knocking monstrosities around."
"Heh! If you like that, I could arrange something." Hercules sat cross-legged on the ground. He placed a hand on the grass and said, "One more thing, Gaia. Could you close up that tunnel to the Underworld, please?"
There was no audible answer, but the earth closed itself up, and a patch of wildflowers appeared in place of the hole.
Hercules grinned as a thought occurred to him. "Right back!" He kissed Megara's clammy forehead and jogged over to the wildflowers. There were many colors, but all of them would suit Megara. He picked three handfuls, then ran more excitedly toward Megara.
"Gaia won't be mad you picked her flowers, will she?" Megara asked, eyeing the flowers with wary interest.
"Nah, she likes being honored like this." Hercules picked what he considered the prettiest flower from the bunch and offered it to her. "I still have a whole evening to spend with you, and it's going to be perfect."
Megara's delicate fingers wrapped around the flower's stem, and she took a moment to enjoy its scent. "Where will we go?" she asked.
"Not sure… We've done the beach, we've done the meadow, we've seen a play…" With his hands full of flowers, an idea occurred to Hercules. Before he was fully aware of what he was doing, Hercules was tucking flowers into Megara's hair. "That must be what Gaia intended… the flowers look so much better on you."
He loved her blush. She ought to be somewhere guaranteed to keep that smile on her face. Somewhere that was designed with women in mind, where he could have absolute certainty that nobody would do her harm. A flash of inspiration arrived when he had wound several flowers into Megara's hair., "I got it! The best idea! We'll go to the sanctuary of Aphrodite!"
"We'd be safe there?" Megara blinked up at him. "Aren't you a little concerned that she'll give the game away?"
"Aph is the least likely to sabotage us. She's too invested in couples sticking together, so she's bound to love our plans!"
"Then take me."
The phrase struck Hercules in a way Megara probably hadn't intended, but recognition of the double meaning quickly registered in her eyes. She glanced away, embarrassed.
"I mean, there. You should take me there. We should go."
"It's okay," Hercules said with a light chuckle he hoped would put her at ease. "How about we relax here for a few more minutes before we go? We can finish the rest of our picnic like nothing ever happened."
"You don't think we should be worried?"
"I'm scarier than anything Hades can send after us," he said with a shrug. "Besides, the old timer never does more than two things a day unless one of them is throwing himself a pity party. Never learned the meaning of a contingency plan, but still thinks he's the smartest guy in the room."
Megara snickered. "You're pretty good at that."
The praise lit him up brighter than his aura. Hercules sighed and leaned back against the pillows to admire her. "Thanks…" he pulled her down to join him and nestled her close. "I learned from the best."
Though at first, she melted easily against him, Megara glanced around. "If he knew where we were, do you think he's still watching us? He may not do anything about it, but it's still creepy."
Hercules considered. "I think right about now he's smashing and burning too many things to focus. But let's not worry about him. Let him watch us have a good time." He split one of the spinach pies and handed her half. "Life is good when you're not a bitter, nasty jerk with anger management issues."
"Only since I met you." She nudged him with her foot.
"Aww." Hercules arranged her hair over her shoulders so her hair would drape along with the flowers he'd wound through it.
"Would you like to learn how to braid it?" she asked.
"Yes!" he dusted his hands off and scooted closer. He raised his hands to begin but realized he was at a loss. "Where do we start?"
Megara sat with her back to him and pushed all her hair behind her back. "Use your fingers. Divide into three sections, then start crossing them over each other." She reached back to show him with the first two cross-overs. "See? Just keep switching them until you reach the end. I'll wait." With that, she curled her knees close to her chest with a pillow in between.
Her hair was softer than Pegasus's mane right after it had been washed. The flowers couldn't match her natural scent for sweetness. His fingers brushed her skin more than necessary as he finished the braid. "We could easily sneak you into a nymph party," he said, running the braid between his hands. "I could do this for hours…" Though one hand continued to stroke her hair, the other went trailing down her neck.
She turned to look at him over her shoulder. "If you can learn to braid that fast, imagine what else you could learn." Her smile drew him to lean in closer. "I think Aphrodite would be proud of how I've studied her pink scroll and the sacred texts within. Maybe we should go show her how faithful we are."
Starting now, he wanted to learn more, but he wasn't about to do any of that in an open field where his uncle might be watching. "Close your eyes," he whispered. "I'm taking us there and sending everything else to my temple. I don't want you to get dizzy."
Megara closed her eyes and tucked her face under his chin. Her breath puffed against his throat.
He had to get her where they could have some privacy.
A blink later, they stood in the reception room of Aphrodite's most exclusive sanctuary. Eros stood behind the counter.
At the sight of him, he fluttered his wings and ticked something off his list. "Cousin Hercules. We've been expecting you. Please, come on in. My mother is waiting for you."