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Part SeventeenThis guy was nuts . . . first he charges in here with some absurd story of being some sort of past mortal-gone-powerful, claimed to be punished by himself, Hades, and then shows up claiming to be able to bring his enemy on a silver platter. This was crazy, absurd . . .
And then came Hercules and dearest, noble, Nut-Meg . . . sheesh . . .
Hades crossed his arms, refraining from saying anything. There was something certainly going on here, he just had to figure it out. How had this deranged man gotten Herc here? He knew about Cassandra, he knew about limbo . . . was there truth behind his words? He had to think about this . . . it might make sense after all. And if so, who was the greatest threat here? It didn’t take to much observation before Hades realized what Apollo was doing, trying to convince Herc to give over his strength – again – so that he could send the hero to limbo. Nice idea really, it would keep him out of the way and could be a sure way to kill him in the end. If he had thought of it sooner, he might have been able to pull it off, though he was sort of on a time limit . . . but now that the Titans were gone and Hades’s chances of taking over Olympus were slimmer than before. Besides, the Fate’s should have said something about this. Likewise, the thought of Apollo taking Herc’s strength was not only a little discomforting but was, without a doubt, not going to happen. Mortals with power always ended up a bad combination . . .
And then, it hit him. Hades’s was stunned into silence for a moment as he remembered who this miscreant was . . . but so long ago? It took him this long to get back?
It was one of the earlier points in history, Hades was still young and when a mortal came to him, asking to be a devoted minion in exchange for gifts, to separate him from his fellows, Hades was thrilled and granted him the honor. He wanted to be famous, wanted to be remembered in history he said . . . he was given the gift of immortality as well and for the most part was a good little minion.
But he caused trouble. Lots of it. His most memorable deed? Releasing all the souls in Tartarus, after asking Hades for a place where souls whose bodies weren’t quite dead yet could wait, a place to go so that they didn’t hover around the living. Hades had thought nothing of it and at the time, thought it was a good idea. After all, taking care of the dead was his job even it was a rather crummy job . . . but then the souls were released. Their bodies were either dead or they were somewhere past decaying.
This crazy wanted to be a god, this crazy had wanted his own undefeatable army to get him there and “back-ups” to be stored away. Limbo was an excellent place to store them. Hades abruptly cut in to the conversation, seeing the look on Herc’s face already; he had to do something. He was a hero right? He had to save his friend of course . . .
“Whoa, hey are you forgetting
onething here?
You were put there intentionally,
you needed someone to stay for you.”
Apollo looked up menacingly. “There is still no way for her to get back,”
Hades laughed. “Her soul was never harmed, the Fates aren’t about to cut her life line, she can simply step back into her own body. Fine print, read it sometime, you made the rules, if I remember correctly.”
Apollo looked hateful and turned back to Hercules who seemed to be at a complete loss. But Hades was already certain how he was going to do this and leapt at his chance, grabbing Apollo up by the front of his shirt so that he was face to face with him.
“No one messes with the way I run Tartarus . . . are we clear?” his voice was threatening, his eyes flaming.
Apollo could see this coming to an end and knew he had to get out quick. Apparently Hades had caught on and, to his surprise, wasn’t very fond of the idea Apollo had in mind. This was only going to end in disaster and Apollo knew that if he was to avoid entering his lifeless prison again, he had to get out of here . . . now . . . He turned to Hercules and Meg, his smile maniacal.
“You could have saved her you know . . .”
And he cut his words short, disappearing before their eyes. The power to relocate yourself was a wondrous gift at the right moment. Now, they would never find him . . . Hades might, but he could cross that bridge later . . .
Hercules rushed forward as soon as Apollo spoke those words, Meg beside him. But it was too late; he had gone and judging by the way Hades burst into flame, this was more than just a simple annoyance.
“So . . . what just happened here?” Meg said, looking around her cautiously.
“That would have been my FIRST little minion,” he looked about to kill, but nonetheless kept his cool. “Alright, I know we got off on the wrong foot here . . .”
“An understatement,” Meg scoffed.
“You could say that,” Herc growled.
“BUT,” he emphasized, pointedly ignoring them. “I gotta tell ya, that guy will be a lot more trouble than
you two ever were, you see? This guy shouldn’t even be here right now, okay? He’s insane, mad, a lunatic that’s bound to do anything to cause destruction in his name.”
“So why is he back?” Hercules asked, giving Meg a confused look. She shrugged.
“He’s back because he thinks that getting your power will give him the ability to become godlike. He thinks that killing you will raise his chances of pleasing me, which it could, I mean . . .”
“Get to the point,” Meg snapped.
Hades glared. “The point is, that with whole planet thing out of the way and you being this immortal blunder that you are, I couldn’t really take him up on his offer ANYWAY so it wouldn’t really matter, would it? I mean, the consequences if I did wouldn’t mean total domination . . . sheesh, it would mean total destruction and I’m on bad terms with “bolt boy” already so you see . . .”
“So this whole thing about Cassandra; is it a hoax then?” Herc asked, a little hopefully.
Hades rolled his eyes. “Hardly; you think he’s a guy to go that low? Oh no, your little friend is still probably stuck in limbo, wasting her half life away wondering where
you are. Besides, he needed someone to stand in for him, or else he would never be able to regain his body that I apparently didn’t hide well enough . . .”
“Where did you hide it?”
“More like how and – trust me – you don’t want to know.”
“Well, let’s go after him then! If there’s a chance of saving Cassandra-!” Herc had already taken off towards Pegasus but Hades cut him short.
“Hey now, any soul that gets stuck in limbo-land and can’t find their way out goes to Tartarus,” Hercules gave him a look of utter shock. “I’m granting no favors here . . .”
Meg ran up to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him with her as Hades disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
“It’s going to be okay,” she whispered to him. “She’s a strong person,”
Herc nodded and they were off.
* * *
Cassandra figured that if they were out in the open, they might not only be able to spot Icarus but perhaps Hercules as well. Apollo was trying something to lure him into limbo, or so she figured, and using her as bait. What a nasty shock for him when he found out that she had escaped.
“You know, the entire time I kept hunted you and kept you in that cave I doubted myself. I didn’t really feel like me, you know? It was strange, but I guess it makes sense now. Do you think Hercules is going to forgive me? I really didn’t mean to hurt you . . . the other lady . . . or Icarus . . . and especially
not Megara . . . I just –”
Cassandra placed a hand over Adelphos’s mouth. “You had a tough life, a max amount of brothers, you idol my best friend, and you feel like an idiot; I get it. You’re voice still squeaks and its annoying me, now stop talking.”
He cowered under her gaze and a gave a nervous smile and a nod of his head. With that taken care of, she looked to the sky again, crossing her arms. Where to go? It wasn’t just like the solution was going to pop out in front of her . . .
“Ah . . . Cassandra, I see you’ve met Adelphos . . .”
She whirled around, spying Apollo. Rage flared within her and she rushed at him, not taking the time to think about where he had come from or how he had gotten there. He gave her a brief smile, disappeared, and popped in front of Adelphos.
“It comes down to this, farm boy . . . fame, glory . . . you could have it all . . .”
“Get over here, Adelphos,” Cassandra called. “That’s Apollo, that’s the one who has been manipulating you . . .”
“I can give you power,” cooed Apollo.
Adelphos wrenched himself away. “I never wanted to listen to you! Because of you . . . I’ve . . . I’ve hurt people!”
“Oh, how touching,” sneered Apollo, shoving Adelphos to the ground. “You sound just as worthless as you look . . .”
Cassandra helped Adelphos come to his feet, keeping her eyes pointedly on Apollo. Just then, a shadow flew over top of them and Pegasus landed feet from them, Herc and Meg leaping off. Apollo looked to be enjoying himself thoroughly however and bowed mockingly to them. As long as he could make some impression before Hades showed up, he could be off again . . . Hercules came towards him, pointing his sword at Apollo threateningly.
“Get away from them,” he growled.
“And what, exactly, do you plan to do to me? Rip me to shreds?” Apollo laughed sarcastically and then dove for the knife at Adelphos’s side, kicking the frightened boy backwards. In another swift movement, he caught Cassandra up in his grip and held the knife to her throat. She sighed exasperatedly. “One more swing of that sword, Herc, and you’re little friend here goes straight to the Underworld . . . and we’ll just see if she finds a way out of that one.”
Hercules stopped short, his hand going limp as he looked at Cassandra desperately . . . but she wasn’t looking back. Her eyes had gone green and were swirling. Her body became limp for a moment until the moment had passed. She flashed Herc a grin and threw her head down as a shrill cry echoed through the skies.
”HANDS OFF MY CASSANDRA!”Apollo had little time to react as Icarus came free-falling through the air, unable to gain control of his wings as he descended. He smashed, full speed, into Apollo with a terrible cry of fury. Herc rushed over to help hold him down and Meg took it upon herself to called Hades.
“Hades, Lord of the Dead, how are ya-?” as the dark god appeared, he stopped instantly as he looked upon the scene. “Well, for once, something worth my time!”
Clapping his hands, he shot what looked like gold lights from his fingers. “We won’t make this mistake again, will we?”
Hercules and Icarus were shoved roughly aside, both watching mesmerized as the golden lights wrapped themselves around Apollo’s twitching body. He screamed and cursed vividly and Hercules watched as the mortal man was stripped of any remaining power he had. When that was done, he was pulled abruptly to Hades who glowered at him.
“FIRST offense, tricking a god, SECOND offense, ticking off a god, THIRD offense, doing stupid things in the name of a god!” Apollo, for once, seemed frightened and meek, and was whimpering quietly. “The history books of no room for people like you buddy! You can count yourself LUCKY if I’m the only god you have to deal with, let’s go!”
Without another word, Hades was gone and it was quiet again. As the group tried to sort through what had just happened, a warm wind blew in bringing with it the scent of rain. It was done, the trouble was over; it was hard to believe it was finale.
Cassandra came to her feet a little unsteadily and nearly fell back again as Icarus glued his arms around her in a tight embrace. At first a look of disgust graced her face but it gradually softened.
“Oh Cassandra . . .” Icarus said in a broken voice. “I thought I was going to
lose you!”
Cassandra reflected on all that had happened, all that could have happened and with a mix of exhaustion and the quiet, stillness in the air, felt suddenly accepting of the embrace. After a moment, she closed her eyes and tightly returned it. The thing was, she was thinking she would have lost him to.
As Hercules and Meg joined them, they all stood together. Rain began to fall softly and before any remark could be made about going home Cassandra turned from them and glanced over her shoulder.
“Hey, Adelphos!” he had been leaving quietly, feeling like he had suddenly been forgotten. A light appeared in his eyes as he stopped and listened to her. “Get over here, there’s someone I think you wanted to meet.”
He seemed stunned for a second and then quickly obliged as Cassandra poured out the story of what really happened. Together they departed, a new and strong bond uniting them all, though no one spoke. Even Icarus was quiet as they trudged through the hills.
Cassandra couldn’t believe it was over but here she was, again with her friends and her murder. She smirked to herself and shook her head.
Sometimes the future was truly
just unpredictable . . .