Meg smiled as she looked into Hercules’ eyes. Never before in her life had she met a man with so much courage and virtue. At this moment Meg seemed to feel a glimmer of hope, a hope that perhaps there was good in people, and more especially in men.
“Do you really think you can do it—save all mankind against Hades?”
“Not alone, but with help I might,” said Hercules. “And that hope is enough to keep me going. You see, this is a task that was given to me by Zeus and Hera, my own parents, and so I cannot let them down. I must believe I can do it.”
“Belief…” mumbled Meg. “It is something that can always fail you and when it fails you it will hurt your heart.”
Hercules sighed. “Does not everyone know failure and disappointment?”
Meg smiled. “People like me yes, but people like you, it seems hardly within your vision.”
“No, I have suffered great failure and disappointment,” said Hercules. “I was forced to hold my mortal parent’s dead bodies in my arm. They died because of me, because I chose to return to them after the Olympic Games when above all else I should have remained in Athens. It is just, I was so eager to tell them of my victory that I could not resist. That is a mistake that I feel great pain for every day.”
“But people must die for the hero,” replied Meg. “People must die for you. Is that not what is required?” Meg smiled and reached her hand down and clutched Hercules’ hand. “Hercules, you are a wondrous man full of many gifts and talents, but if you could be known for one thing, what would that be?”
Hercules sighed. “I suppose I would want to be known as a hero. Not a God or a great mortal man, but a hero. I want to give hope to all the common people—that they can, in fact, be a hero in their own way, for I truly believe that there would be no great heroes if there were no little ones.”
Meg smiled. “Well you truly are wondrous!” After Meg had said these words she looked, not happy, but very sad, as if by Hercules’ righteousness she felt all the more evil and miserable. Hercules saw this and wanted to speak, but couldn’t. Instead Meg said a few more words. “Well, it is getting late Hercules. This is where I will leave you. I will eat something for dinner as I walk among my garden. As for you, you may do what you please.”
Hercules then watched as Meg walked away from him, down the stairs. He felt that something was wrong. Something was different than from the first night in her palace. Although they seemed to have grown closer that night she still seemed to him ever so distant. The night previous she had offer Hercules a meal and the pleasure of her company, but now she offered neither. She offered him only the freedom to do what he please.
Before he went to bed on the second night more thoughts drifted through his mind. To be alone on an island as beautiful as this, and to be with a woman as beautiful as her seemed like paradise for any man, and yet he was not content. He was torn between his heroic duty of saving the world and his love towards this woman. The woman above all was no ordinary woman; this he was sure. But he was not yet sure of what side she was on. Was she on Hades’ or Zeus’ side? Right now she seemed like she was on nobody’s side.
He was again reminded of his obligation to Hades—his obligation to discover her weakness. But he did not give into this obligation. He was beginning to feel great feelings of love for this woman and he did not want to, in any way, betray her, but figure out how to save her and the world. And it was this hope that plagued his soul that evening.
After he had eaten various fruits from the trees in the garden he sat down next to a tree. There Pegasus tried to comfort him by running his face in front of him. Hercules ran his hands along Pegasus’ head and neck. “Yes Pegasus, I know you are my friend.
Hercules wished, in a way, that he could be like Pegasus—so carefree and automatically hopeful. Pegasus seemed to not care whether or not they remained on the island or not. All Pegasus seemed to care about was that he was with Hercules and this made Hercules feel good.
******
After the sun set on the second day and after Meg left Hercules in his room, she began to ponder the unfortunate situation she found herself in. She only had one more day—one more day to enact Hades’ plan. But she no longer was motivated to enact his plan. In talking with Hercules and observing his behavior she began to realize that he was not a person deserving of betrayal. He was not like the men that she dealt with so long ago. No, Hercules began to appear to her as an angelic hero, someone who she began to believe could somehow free her from the pain, guilt and suffering she had known for so long. She wanted to get to know this Hercules better, to see if he truly was everything he seemed to be.
Of course, by now she knew that she could accomplish her task tomorrow with ease. She knew when a man had fallen for her and certainly Hercules had. She knew that there was little that she had to do to win men’s hearts. She possessed beauty far grand that most men would give them to her without even thinking. And most men did. Throughout her life all she had to do was walked down the street and she would garnish the attention of all the men present.
That night, once darkness had completely come upon them, Hercules could not sleep and while he sat up against a tree he noticed Meg wandering through the garden.
By now he knew that Meg was not a normal woman. At times he would see her seem bright and at peace with the world. This was whenever she was in front of him. But then at times like this, times of solitude in the darkness, he would see her wandering through the elegant Greek garden with a mournful expression on her face. Her head would be tilted down and she would appear as one of Hades’ wraiths, so much more dark, transparent, and insecure than her normal self, as if light itself would pass through her. And when the light did pass through her she seemed to mourn because of it. This made Hercules all the more want to go to her, hold her, and give her all the joy and godliness that he possessed (even though it was now like a grain of sand in comparison to what it would be in the future).
“Oh Meg why do you sorrow so?” he thought. He couldn’t imagine why such a beautiful woman, a woman made with Godlike beauty, would be so sad. He knew that there was light in her and this light made her shine with beauty and virtue. But Hercules could not bear to go to her, to distract her from these dark moments of accursed contemplation. What was she thinking about? He did not know, nor did he think to ask.
Hercules got up from the tree and secretly followed Meg as she walked back into the garden palace. Hercules followed Meg until through the palace until he watched as she stepped out into the back courtyard. There, he watched as she approached the fountain, whose water seemed to shine and glitter in the moonlight.
Hercules remembered that Meg did not give specifics about what the fountain was for, only that it was for her use only and he was not to drink of its water or else he would die. He was curious and this led him to watch her. At the moment she seemed slightly different. The light that normally emanated from her countenance was not near as bright. Her skin didn’t look as smooth. It appeared almost cracked. And her hair seemed almost soggy.
Hercules watched as she slowly moved forward to partake of the water of the fountain. She dipped her hands into the water and lifted them up to her mouth. After she partook of the water she was not groggy, as she had been previously. Instead, the water seemed to lift her soul up, to brighten her countenance. This was quite unusual to Hercules.
While she was drinking of the water Meg was brought back to Hades’ words to her before she was sent to the island:
“Every evening you must drink from the fountain in the palace, for if you do not you will lose your beautiful, bright form and became a wraith once again.”
The more Meg drank of the fountain the more she began to realize why the fountain was there. She knew that Hades and his magic alone could not uplift others to great forms or beauty for very long—only a day. His magic was simply not that kind of magic. No. She figured only Zeus and Hera had the power to alter someone’s form and beauty for good. She wanted to go to them,
to run to them and have them heal her, but she remembered Hades’ command that she could not leave the island.
The most plausible reason Hades placed the fountain there because this would make her stay there. Should Hades destroy Hercules and gain control of the world he didn’t want Meg ever interfering. He wanted her to remain apart, to remain on the island of Alcinous.
She began to even doubt Hades’ ability to truly change her form forever. Even if all her desires were to be fulfilled she knew that the only way Hades could grant her her old form and beauty would be for her to remain forever alone on this island. It would be her eternal prison, a place where her beauty, form, and physical freedom would come to mean nothing.
Meg glowed with a powerful brightness after she partook of the water of the fountain. She turned around, after which Hercules immediately again hid himself in the darkness behind the doorway. Hercules watched as she walked away and to her bedroom to sleep. He then scurried back out to the garden where he sat up against a tree. For several minutes he pondered upon the significance of what he saw and of what it meant. Was Meg human? What power was contained within that fountain? Hercules had more questions to ask, but he would not ask them until the morning. No, for now Hercules let his own exhaustion defeat him and he went into a deep sleep.
Chapter 11: Dark Deeds
It is now time that we return for a moment to what was occurring outside the island at this time. While Hercules had been journeying to the island, met Meg, and spent time there on the island, many other works were going on abroad.
Pericles was working more evil deeds. You see, Pericles was now on a new path. While before he thought reforms on all of Greece could be made by building up people’s faith in their Gods, he now believed that no reforms could be made except by dictatorship and war. The great leader that was Pericles was fading away.
It was early in the morning following the day Hercules escaped prison that Pericles had the chief Hellanodikai, who was now his second in command, send forth a summons to all the people in Athens come to the foot of Pericles’ palace where he could stand before them on his balcony and make an announcement before all of Athens.
It was midday and thousands had gathered in the massive courtyard below, while the rest were to watch him from the tops of houses and alleyways.
Philoctetes arrived at Athens just a few hours before and heard the summons for Pericles’ great announcement and there he secretly made an entrance through the crowd. He thought of searching for Milo, but he then realized that Milo already had left for Sparta. So, with his cloak and hood over him he moved over into the crowd and watched Pericles’ next move.
There, after his servants had silenced everyone in the assembly, Pericles spoke saying:
“Hercules, the man who you trusted, the one who took the victor’s crown at the Olympic Games, is a traitor to our people! He attempted to slay me, your leader, and has now fled into hiding! But we must find him and bring him to justice! So, if anyone finds him they are not to be kind to him, not to take him into their house, but to inform me and my men and we will lay hold of him. He will not be set free, but killed for his treachery, for trying to cause the downfall of Athens!” After saying these things, many people were in shock, for they had thought Hercules was a great man for winning the Olympic Games. Pericles looked over the crowd and was nervous at how they would respond. But after a few moments, several claps and cheers began emerging from the crowd. Pericles took a deep breath. He was relieved. He waited a few moments and then raised his hands to silence the crowd.
Pericles found a way to use the lies of this circumstance to his advantage. “In addition to the treachery of Hercules, there is yet another great threat—Sparta. Sparta and its king have been preparing armies for our extinction. So, in order to make it easier for us to find this great, powerful, traitor and repel the war that Sparta will be sure to place upon us, I will, temporarily, have complete control over Athens—as your great King, for I will not let the great Athens fall!”
As opposed to what Philoctetes thought, the people rang out in cheers. “A king! King Pericles! King Pericles!” The people all cheered loudly for this evil man who had declared himself king over the people.
Philoctetes, however, leaned on his cane and mourned. He wanted to raise himself up above the people and reveal to them all Pericles’ lies and deceit, but he knew, because of his hideous form he could not. Everyone would see his face and at least part of his furry body and think him some terrible beast or devil. Above all, however, he wished Hercules were there, to reveal the evil of Pericles. But, as for his own strength, there was little he could do. He heard the cheers and watched as Pericles was crowned great King of Athens. Then he snuck away into the darkness.
The rest of the day was a gloomy one for Athens and their future. They were no longer a democracy and for the entire day hundreds of Pericles’ soldiers scoured the city looking for Hercules, or anyone who knew Hercules.
During this time Philoctetes had retreated to the only place he could think of retreating—the house he stayed at before with Milo. He had been to that house before and, as he expected, he found it empty. He knew Milo had already gone to Sparta. Philoctetes then made himself some dinner from what food he found left in his house and when Pericles’ soldiers came by searching for Hercules he didn’t answer the door, but hid himself. He hid himself quickly underneath his hood in the corner of the room. The soldiers looked inside, but moved onto the next house, saying, “Come on, this one is abandoned!” And by doing this Philoctetes was able to hide until he could decide what to do next, or until Hercules returned.
For many hours that day and night Philoctetes thought of Hercules and hoped and prayed that he was okay. He said, “My boy Hercules! May you survive what may linger there on the island!” It was then, after this, that Philoctetes stayed into a deep sleep.
******
It is now time to return to Hades and what evil he did while Hercules and Meg were on the island. You see, Hades knew that, by placing them on such a small island, he could easily monitor their every move from his abode, and this is what he did. From his underworld throne room he looked over his giant globe and watched everything with exactness, knowing that what occurred between Meg and Hercules was the key to everything.
“A wraith woman and a God man,” said Hades. “What an odd combination? And yet everything is working so far to perfection.”
Hades knew that he had some time before he would visit Hercules and Meg on their island and so, the next night, he secretly flew off to pay a visit to Pericles.
It was late at night and Pericles was sitting upon his newly created throne so desperately concentrated on catching Hercules and destroying Sparta. These were the only two forces, in his mind, that could oppose his ultimate rule of Greece.
Then he watched as a thick mist of smoke crawled along the ground towards him. He was confused at what this was and at first thought that someone had started a fire. But he quickly knew that this could not be the cause. No natural smoke crawled along the ground like this.
Pericles stood up and drew his sword. “Who is there? Who does intrude upon the king’s lofty place?” Nobody replied.
Then the smoke seemed to gather together into a figure as Hades appeared before him, dressed as he always did and with his black staff in hand. Pericles looked Hades in the eye and stumbled backwards against his throne. He yelled for his servants, “Help! There is a great imposter!”
Hades smiled. “They cannot help you, for I have made these walls insulated from any intrusion or sound.”
“How can you do this?” asked Pericles. “Who are you?”
“Who am I?”
“You have created statues and temples of all kinds of Gods in this, your great city of Athens and you don’t recognize me? Why, I am the greatest of all the Gods—Hades, God of the Underworld! It is because of me that all the other Gods have left this world.”
Pericles saw his staff and feared it greatly. He got himself
up from his throne and said, “Then Hades, if that is who you are, what do you want? Why have you come to me in the dark hours of the night?”
Hades again acted friendly and craftily. “Well, firstly to congratulate on your kingship. You see, I have a kingdom like yours, only it is not here on the mainland.”
“You would seek to use it to destroy me?”
“No, of course not,” said Hades. “Because I feel that we can be great friends. You see, we both have much in common. We both desire to see Hercules destroyed and Sparta in ruins.” Pericles was silent. “Pericles, I have foreseen what will become of you should things remain the way they are. You see, I have great fates on my side and they showed me that it would not be you that would be revered and it would not be the great Gods that would be worshiped, but this Hercules. After all you have done for the people, they would not remember you, but Hercules!” Pericles suddenly perked up and like so many men, began falling into Hades’ trap. “Pericles, you have done well. You have seen what evil Hercules is capable of and have seen how Sparta is a great threat to you. But there is one thing you have yet to do—something that may give you a great advantage in this war.”
“What is that?” asked Pericles.
“Why, kill the King of Sparta of course!”
“You kill the King and the rest will tremble in fear and, without a leader, are ripe to fall to your hand,” said Hades. “I will make a great deal with you.”
“What deal?” asked Pericles.
“If you go and lead an assault against Sparta and kill its King, King Archidamas, then I will kill Hercules, a man that is far too powerful for you to kill,” said Hades. Pericles looked up at Hades for several moments. “But you must decide fast, for we haven’t all night.” Pericles looked at Hades for a moment and then a smile grazed his face. He wanted to kill Hercules and saw no downside to this deal.
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