Hercules emerged blearily from the sanctuary he had created with Megara, standing between her and the mob who'd come to call his name at the gates. He didn't know too much about mortals, but there had to be precautions with so many around.
They didn't seem rageful; they were screaming in terror.
A jubilant ripple ran through them as they caught sight of their hero, and Hercules rewarded them with a flex and an awkward smile. "What do you need, citizens of Thebes?" he asked, projecting his voice to be heard over their clamor.
Many voices chorused at once, but the gist emerged.
Firstly, Princess Ismene was kidnapped from the palace, and a threatening message warned her family that she was held in the gorge near the dragon of Cadmus. She challenged the disgraced son of Zeus to witness the wrath of the ancestral beast, lest she sacrifice her sister to its jaws.
Behind him, Megara wobbled and leaned heavily against the wall. "Why… I knew she hated me, but why would she go after Issie like that? Ismene doesn't deserve that…"
"Neither do you," Hercules replied with gritted teeth. "Don't worry. I'll save your cousin. You should stay here and wait. She'll need you to comfort her. Maybe you can set up a welcome-home breakfast for her or something."
"I'd love to, but I'm going with you." Megara took a thick violet length of cloth and wrapped herself in it. "She's my cousin. If I'm part of this whole hero thing you do, there's no more fitting mission for me to take part in. Let's show all of Thebes we look out for family. Except for Antigone." Her eyes narrowed to dangerous lioness slits, making Hercules shiver with desire he would have to put aside for the moment.
"Very well. But when we're out there, you must follow my instructions. I cannot concentrate if I'm worried for your safety."
"I'm a strategist, not a pugilist," Megara said, clasping her dainty hand around a few of his rough fingers. "Let me see what we're dealing with, and I'll give you the best input I can."
Hercules lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. "Very well, my love. Please have mercy on my nerves, though. I can face anything except for your pain."
"I'll remember that," she said with a little smirk that once again made him shiver. He'd have to find some way to handle this.
It wasn't exactly a coping mechanism, but he lifted Megara onto Pegasus, and they flew over the crowd.
"If we get there ahead of them, there won't be so many to watch," Hercules said, the one way he could justify how fast they flew.
Megara was not handling it well.
In other circumstances, when they weren't in such a rush, he would slow them down so she could manage her acrophobia, but there wasn't time. She'd forgive him when they saved her cousin.
Somehow, she mustered the calm to point him in the right direction since his incomplete knowledge of Boeotia set limits on him. They navigated to the gorge before Megara could complain too much about their situation, and Hercules rewarded her by carefully spiraling Pegasus to a landing space at the head of the gorge.
On first examination of the rocky, desolate place, Hercules noted one massive boulder against the gorge wall and a series of stone temple structures carved into the opposite wall. "What am I lookin' at?" he asked when he helped Megara dismount to get her bearings.
"Cadmus tried to set up shop closer to the gorge but ran into issues. Those buildings up there house the mausoleums of all my accursed ancestors. They're overlooking the site where he locked up our immortal headache."
"The dragon."
"And now it seems like Antigone's become part of our collective migraine. Could you, perhaps, accidentally let her die?"
"I'll see what happens, but that wouldn't exactly do wonders for my reputation, would it? I don't think starting with a civilian body count would look so good on the record sheet."
"Call it a warm-up with unfortunate consequences. Whatever happens, Thebes has dealt with this thorn in our side for far too long. She thinks she knows best, and…" Megara broke off, frowning. "I don't see her."
"That's good, right?"
"Not when she's got the only good cousin and an agenda. Our generation has to be different, Herc. We'll erase everyone who won't make Thebes a better place, but we must preserve what's best in all of us simultaneously."
"Agreed," Hercules drew his sword. If he were still a god, he'd see through all obstacles to his goal. He'd know where to find Ismene. "Follow me." He didn't check to see if she was. Instead, he led the way along the gorge toward the mausoleums.
"Just so you know…" Megara ventured after a few steps, her voice close enough that she didn't have to raise it. Good, she could follow instructions when it suited her. "The dragon of Cadmus has been waiting behind that rock for generations. The last time it was out, Cadmus knocked out all its teeth and shoved it into a cave. It has an immortal head and regenerates over time. The only way it's stayed contained this long is its inability to get out… I bet it's been beating its head on that stone this time."
"It has to be torture if it's immortal and starving for that long," Hercules remarked.
"Don't worry, I'll cry it a river while I think about all the people it's eaten."
"What I admire most about you is that sweet disposition," Hercules remarked, throwing a wry grin over his shoulder.
She huffed a breath of laughter in response and smirked. "You're more Theban by the day."
"What can I say? I've had time to immerse myself in the local culture."
"How cosmopolitan."
The two of them were laughing when they came alongside the entrance to the first mausoleum. The shadows made him retake her hand, and he brandished his sword between them and potential danger.
"Do you smell sulfur?" Megara whispered.
The question made Hercules's whole body tense. He nudged her against the stone wall and attuned his senses to that telltale scent. It did smell like his uncle just ahead. That combination of smoke and sulfur could only come from one place.
"We'll have to stay quiet," Megara advised.
Hercules nodded, his eyes narrowing and his mouth settling into a sneering pout while he thought it over. There had to be a reason Hades was involved in this scenario. What did Antigone have to offer a god? Aside from her sister…
Hercules felt a twinge of pain in his jaw from how tightly he clenched it. He didn't know Ismene well, but Megara cared for her. He'd trust his wife's opinion of the girl and protect her just as if she were his friend.
Maybe she was his friend! Hercules relaxed at the idea he had more friends in his new life than he'd thought.
Voices came from up ahead, and Hercules steeled himself to listen.
"Where are they?" Hades snapped. "You promised he'd come to fight the Hydra!"
"It's not my fault they're slow. Neither of them is all that smart."
Hercules rolled his eyes.
Megara's nails dug into the heel of his hand. She didn't speak, but he knew how affronted she must be.
He'd avenge her upon the traitor, but he would await the best moment with patience in his quickened heart.
Megara tugged on his hand, distracting him from the ongoing spat between Hades and his presumed newest minion. He followed Megara's gesture into the canyon, where he saw the pitiable figure of Princess Ismene, bound in chains to the massive boulder he'd noticed upon arrival.
"It's like Andromeda," Megara whispered.
"Don't worry. You've got a Perseus right here." He winked at her and gave her a quick show of him flexing both arms. Even if he looked silly, this was his best move to comfort her.
Megara smirked and rolled her eyes, seemingly more at ease but still eyeing her cousin's predicament. "They're watching you, big guy. There's bait in the trap, and when it springs…"
Hercules set his hands on her shoulders. "Do you trust that I'm the god of heroism?"
"You were…"
"It's my birthright and my nature. I'm asking for your faith in me, Meg… may I have it?"
Violet uncertainty wavered in her eyes, but Megara nodded. She flickered her gaze up toward the mausoleums again, then whispered. "Ismene cannot join our ancestors today."
Hercules clasped her hands in both of his. "I won't allow that," he swore, then led her back along the canyon wall toward Pegasus. "I'm going down there on my own because if you have to fly away, do it. But Pegasus will get her up here with you as soon as Ismene is free. Understood?" He settled both hands on her shoulders, nudging her closer to Pegasus.
"I'll do what I must," Megara responded cryptically.
Hercules knew if he didn't establish a firm expectation now, she'd swerve past all his recommendations in the future. Well, if this was the first day of eternity, so be it. He lightly squeezed her shoulders, then turned away. Even lacking training, he knew how to extract a hostage from a dangerous predicament.
Sliding down a slope into the canyon, Hercules felt his uncle's eyes cursing him from above.
This was a day to set expectations. As part of that, Hades would learn to accept failure.