Our brunette questions her stance on love, facing the feelings that cannot so easily be dismissed. ASIS chapter 24 is our main focus today. There is a section of the ASIS chapter that covers a meeting between Anna and Megara. I will cover before and after the meeting as Celery Sticks did a good job of giving Meg's POV in the meeting, I wouldn't be adding anything. Hold on tight dear reader!

Ah Tuesday, how you never fail to destroy what little motivation I have for this place. Meg sat on her bike watching the school loom across the car park. Her choice in layers, or lack thereof, had made the ride colder than usual, but sat here, now, the spring air was particularly warm with the sun shining brightly. Everyone had already gone inside for the first lesson of the day, but Meg had chosen to simply sit back and enjoy the peace. With spring coming to an end soon, she would be able to ride on long summer evenings, perhaps even being able to take the redhead out on the country roads. The thought of Anna giggling from the thrill brought a warm feeling to her stomach.

Snap out of it Greek. Don't fill your head with fantasies again.

Meg brought her thoughts into line before she let herself drift off into daydreams. Meg hated daydreaming. The horrible cliché of a love sick girl sat at the back of a class, doodling love hearts with 'Mrs Christian and Mrs-'.

Meg shook her head, I said snap out of it!

There was much that was different now. Ever since Anna had made Elsa's existence known, Meg had begun questioning herself on the prospect of love more often. In truth, it was thought's she didn't want to consider. Feelings that she hadn't given life to since she and Wonder Boy had began dating. Wonder Boy...

Meg rose abruptly from her bike, she wasn't getting into this today, not on a Tuesday of all days.

When will you consider it? When will you finally face your feelings?

It appeared Meg had no control of her thoughts this morning. Perhaps the lack of coffee had affected her powers of self control.

Meg walked the empty corridors. There was something peaceful about empty school corridors during the day. No jocks around with their ape like culture to throw their bland remarks, no cheerleaders with blander personalities to throw her looks that likely took all their brainpower to muster. Most importantly, there were no people to walk slowly in front of her. Meg wasn't sure which was worse, slow moving people or traffic. At least I can comment on the traffic without them hearing. Yes, as much as Meg enjoyed making the apes and the dolls eat their words, she would rather take the peace on some days.

"And that concludes the theorem on-" The class and Philoctities stopped as Meg entered the classroom.

Why is it that I always walk into his lesson in the worst times?

Meg wasn't aware but Phil had been following a similar train of thought.

"Megara. Nice of you to join us this morning."

Meg threw the shorter man a glare, she could almost see Phil have a flashback to the death stare he had been thrown a few weeks back. He had shifted uncomfortably at the glare. "My apologies Phil, you know I got here as fast as I could. I do enjoy our lessons." Meg said with a mocking smile. She took her usual seat in the corner at the back, ignoring the stares from her classmates whilst she sauntered down the aisle.

As much as Meg had been disinterested in the lesson, at least she was honest about her boredom. She had seen her classmates pull out phones under desks, whisper to each other whilst snickering, doodle on their notes with pictures of Phil as a angry half goat man. Meg hadn't minded the last one as much. Still, the combination of Tuesday, the childish classmates and the ever boring lesson had Meg thinking one thing, I can't wait to leave high school. Even if she left with a half decent grade Meg would be content with herself. A bike, friends and freedom were the only things she was concerned with, but that didn't mean she would chuck away all her time at high school for nothing. Guess I'll just have to cram more this time around.

The bell gave mercy after another painstaking forty minutes. Meg could tell by the sigh of relief from Phil as she left that he had been glad to make it through a lesson without a mauling, or a stare of death.

Meg had a quarter of an hour before her next lesson began, quarter of an hour to do... well not much really.

"Hey, Meg! Wait up!"

Meg whirled on her heel to face the voice. She watched Kristoff push through the crowds of slow moving students to get to her. "Reinde- Kristoff," She folded her arms, "How can I help?"

"You seen Anna today?"

"No chocolate devouring redheads have been spotted, I'm afraid."

Kristoff furrowed his brow, "I haven't spoken to her much since last Wednesday. She stayed with Elsa on the weekend in that time."

The mention of the blonde brought back memories of her embracing Anna affectionately. Jealousy began to surge through Meg's veins, she bit her tongue to quell the feeling. "You do realize I went with her last Wednesday, right?" Meg had snapped a little more than she wanted.

"Right, which is the other reason why I'm here. What do you make of this Elsa chick?"

Meg winced slightly at the use of the word 'chick'. Her voice became monotonous, "She seems... good."

"Wow, thank you for that glaring insight into your meeting."

"Maybe you should be more specific in what you want to know. And not use prehistoric slang to refer to the young woman."

Kristoff laughed, "Fine, do you think Anna is safe around her?"

Meg looked up for a moment to gather her thoughts, sighing, "Honestly? I couldn't tell you reinde- Kristoff." I've really got to watch that.

"How do you mean?"

"I don't know... they're happy together. The whole world could probably see that. And Elsa doesn't appear dangerous physically, but-"

"But?"

"But. It seems like there's more to her than she's letting on. She's not as innocent as Anna would like her to be. I think Anna might have seen that herself this weekend."

Kristoff's tone had turned from curious to outright suspicious, "What did she do to Anna?"

Meg's lips curled slightly at the boys overprotective nature, "Calm down reindeer boy," Dammit, just continue, he probably didn't notice, "I don't think anything serious happened between them. But Anna was much quieter after she came back. She said something about 'Not knowing where they stand.'

Kristoff's eyes widened slightly for a moment, "You don't think they...?"

A flash of fury swept through Meg at the inference, "I don't know reindeer boy!" Meg paused closing her eyes for a second, sighing, "Look, I trust Anna enough to not do something stupid. I also trust her enough to tell me or you if anything serious did happen. She'll speak up soon, I know."

Kristoff cocked an eyebrow at her, "You know?"

Meg simply rolled her eyes, "Go find her yourself. She'll probably spill."

Meg turned to walk towards her next lesson.

"Oh, Meg?"

"What?" She said, not turning, but slowing her pace to hear what he had to say.

"It's reindeer king."

Meg felt her cheeks turning slightly red at being caught out on her reckless mouth.

Stupid reindeer boy.

Meg had thought that getting Philoctities out of the way first might make the day more bearable, she had been wrong. The rest of the day had moved about as slowly as it could have done. By the time lunch had rolled around Meg was certain that some cruel God was stretching the day to be it's longest. She had made her way out of her lesson before anyone could stand.

Meg made her way towards the car park. There's not a chance in hell I'm going to the Mutton Man's gym class. The day had been quite enough, if it was being stretched, she may as well enjoy it at home. Plus, there was no way she was going to endure the cafeteria food on top of everything else.

Meg took the helmet over her head before switching the ignition and pushing off. Something about cutting class whilst going for a ride never failed to spark a thrill. Being on late lunch hour, traffic was fairly quiet. It meant Meg had more chance to enjoy the road without having to worry about some moron in a car potentially knocking her off. It also meant that her journey was faster, too fast to really enjoy.

Guess I can grab some food on the way. Meg spotted a shop, pulling over next to the pavement, considering what to get. Her phone began to ring, the redhead had been the caller, "Gingersnap? What's up? Please tell me you aren't actually in need of a prosthetic leg."

"Nope, not today. But I am in need of a hot chocolate. Are you busy?"

"Never too busy for you, short stuff." Meg eyed the shop, thankful she hadn't stepped in to fill herself before Anna had called.

Meg heard Anna giggle adorably down the phone, "Good, did you leave yet? I know you like to skip last period sometimes. I can pick you up if you want."

"You know, I don't think I've ever actually been in your car before. Please tell me you know how to drive, and then pretty please tell me you're not going to make me listen to pop music."

"Hey! I'm a good driver! And there's nothing wrong with pop music!"

Meg laughed, rolling her eyes, The Muses would disagree, "Whatever, Gingersnap. I'll text you my address. Call me when you're outside."

Meg sat on her bike, a slight excitement bubbling in her stomach. She enjoyed the meetings with the redhead, but she had been surprised that Anna had invited her this time. Usually Meg was the one having to drag Anna from her routine to come have a bit of fun.

I wonder what she's up to... Crap, I should actually be home if I want to find out.

Anna pulled up outside Meg's house, the pop music had been bearable... just. Though Meg was annoyed that one of the catchier tunes with repeating lyrics had became firmly lodged in her head. It would take many hours of her own music to remove it from existence. She turned to Anna sat in the drivers seat who had been bobbing her head along to the beat of the song, "Hey, thanks for the drink out."

"No problem! Kristoff was the one who kinda pointed out that I don't really know that much that's going on in your life."

"Gingersnap, you don't have to feel obliged to do this."

"I know, I know! But he had a point, you've gone out of your way to cheer me up and get me back into some kind of social life."

Meg grinned sheepishly at the recognition, "All the same, Gingersnap, you've got enough on your plate without worrying about me and Wonder Boy."

"You... You think you'll give him a shot?"

Meg's heart spiked for a second, taken back by the forward question. Meg paused to realign her thoughts, "That's not a question I can consider at the moment. He's got a lot to change. And when did this become about me and him getting back together?"

Anna's lips pulled to one side for a moment, "Uhhh..."

Meg rolled her eyes, "Never mind, Gingersnap."

Meg shifted uncomfortably, thinking over what had happened between herself and Wonder Boy. Not here Greek. Meg moved for the door handle as quick as she could, "Thanks again, I'll text you later or something?"

Anna made a sound of affirmation before smiling at Meg.

Meg's mind was racing, her thoughts running rampant. The meeting between herself and Anna had brought up a lot that Meg hadn't expected. I was so sure that she was going to ask me... Ugh, I told you to stay out of the fantasies.

Meg barely registered her father asking after her when she walked through the front door. She made some kind of response but she hadn't been entirely sure what it had been. Her thoughts were too busy being consumed by Anna and Hercules. She made her way into her room and sat on the edge of the bed, hands clenched into fists, everything was so messed up.

When Meg had split up with Hercules she had been certain that things would turn much simpler. There was no more trying to guess what he had been thinking, enduring his polar opposite personality, there was only herself to worry about. Now he wanted to try and make good, after so long? After giving someone more damaged than he had been such a hard time? The rage was building more and more within her core.

But... he might still be that damaged. Anna's words on how Hercules might have been scared came back to her. Even still, that doesn't excuse him. Anna didn't need him being a complete ass to her.

The redhead was a completely different story to Hercules. She was as sweet as he had been at the start, maybe more caring too. Someone that selfless couldn't flip their entire personality as Hercules had.

Thoughts of Anna cooled the rage, but confused Meg even greater. There was no denying that Meg had... feelings for the bubbly redhead. The jealousy she had felt when she had been at Anna and Elsa's meeting confirmed that. But was it right to feel that way? Meg had always kept an open mind on her sexuality. But in truth, she had never really thought it through until Anna came into her life. Now in a manner of months Anna was playing havoc with those feelings, completely unintentionally.

It's just a silly crush, she had told herself, just your protective nature getting mixed up with hormones, not love. But the more she had told herself that, the more her feelings had said the opposite. Would someone she was just 'concerned' about have sparked a three day assault on teachers, jocks and texts? Would an overprotection lead to such undeniable feelings of jealousy?

Ugh, friends, freedom and a bike. Why can't be life be that straight forward?

Meg moved to sit at her desk in front of her laptop, attempting concentrate on anything more than her thoughts on love. It's not like I haven't considered asking her... It appeared that Meg couldn't control her thoughts. Meg's mind was in for the long haul.

She's way too innocent to pick up on anything. But it's not like it's completely outside the realms of possibility, right? Meg's hopes had been peaked when she noticed the implicit desire Anna showed toward Elsa. As much as the redhead had maintained her own and Elsa's innocence, Meg hadn't been blind to the way Anna had returned the affection Elsa gave at their meeting. The weekend appeared to have only increased the feelings with whatever it was that happened. Knowing that Anna was open in her sexuality, or so Meg guessed, had started the fantasies of being with the redhead again.

Stupid crushes.

Then there was Hercules on the other side. It wasn't like she didn't miss Wonder Boy. It was tough to disconnect from the sweet, dorky boy who gave her many happy memories. Who used to carry her books, open doors for her, tell her about Greek mythology. There were days when Meg wanted nothing more than to call him up and see if the skinny gentleman still existed deep down. But the wound was still too fresh, anger over his flip in personality, in his lifestyle too much to handle.

Maybe it's just easier to be alone... at least you can't be hurt that way.

Meg sauntered down the hallway, There is no way I'm putting up with the angry goat today. Meg passed the window of the schoolyard, there was a boy sat by himself on a bench buried nose-deep in a large book.

The hell is someone doing reading during class time?

Intrigued, Meg found the closest entrance to the yard and approached the boy. Meg could only see the top of his ginger hair he was so engrossed in the book. She stopped in front of him, crossing her arms. The boy was too busy with the book to even notice that she had been there. Meg cleared her throat to get his attention.

"O-Oh I-I'm sorry, can I uh- can I help you?"

Meg cocked a curious brow at the stuttering ginger, "No need to apologize, just wondering who cuts class to read a book?"

"O-Oh, um- I'm not cutting class. I-I'm pretty far ahead of the history schedule. T-The teacher gave me the lesson off whilst the class did some coursework."

Meg sat next to the ginger boy, hoping it would calm him, "Name's Megara," She extended her hand toward the stuttering boy, "You can call me Meg if you like."

The boy nervously shook the ends of her fingers, "H-Hercules"

"So tell me Hercules, what book could possibly be so interesting that you feel the need to read it during a free period?"

"O-Oh, well, um- it's on Greek mythology," Meg gave Hercules a curious look, but inclined with her head for him to continue, "I-I'm reading about the hero, Perseus."

"Perseus?"

"Your kidding? He's one of the most famous Greek heroes, the tale says that him and his wife were turned into stars to be immortalized, living in eternity together."

"Sorry, 'Wonder Boy', haven't heard it."

"Perseus was sent by a cruel king to kill Medusa, a gorgon who-"

"I know her, the woman with snakes for hair, can turn people into stone, right?"

"R-right! So he cut's off her head and goes on all these adventures. He threw a discus and killed someone who tried to kill him and his mother once."

Meg simply smiled as the dorky ginger boy went on to explain all about a tale he had clearly read many times.

"So, pretty cool story right?" His stuttering had been washed away the moment his passion took over, it was too cute for Meg to handle.

She grinned at the boy, "Pretty cool indeed."

She stood, accidentally brushing his hand, "S-Sorry!" Hercules looked as though he had committed the worst crime ever known to man.

Meg chuckled to herself, "No need to worry, now come on."

"W-Where are we going?"

"You can tell me all about your heroes whilst you keep me company, alright?"

"O-Oh, a-are you sure?"

"Sure. I have a feeling we're going to get on, Wonder Boy."

It had been the same dream she had many times, when she had first met Hercules. Whenever times were tough and thoughts came back to Hercules she would be awoken after reliving their first meeting. It wasn't like a nightmare that made you jump when you awoke, in fact quite the opposite, Meg would always awake with a smile on her face. But then, just as it always did, reality caught up with her, her smile soon faded.

Today would be Wednesday, another day, more dreary lessons, more riding, more confusion. Meg groaned, turning to face the clock on her bedside table. It appeared that she would be missing first period without choice, unless she wanted to walk in and out of the classroom in a matter of seconds.

Meg fixed her outfit for the day on the bed, going through her usual routine of cleaning, grooming and trying to keep her eyelids open. Her house was empty, it gave her the ability to not worry about her father questioning why she was still at home so late. She glided into the kitchen to grab a quick cereal bar from the cupboard, it wasn't exactly the most filling of breakfasts but it would hold her stomach somewhat at bay until lunch.

The roads were quiet on the way to school, late lunches and mornings shared the same benefits it seemed. She brought the speed of the bike down to a steady crawl when she entered the car park, hunting for the nearest open space. While late mornings meant no traffic, it also meant that any chance of getting near the school was out of the question. She had wanted to put her bike between the ever increasing number of smaller cars. They barely took up any room in the bay, if they all just moved a bit closer together, there would be space for several bikes, not that many people rode anyway. Meg ended up towards the back end of the car park, but the fast journey time meant that she had arrived earlier than she expected. There was still half an hour left of first lesson.

Meg made her way into the school, still unwilling to waste her time with first lesson. She instead chose to wander the hallways, something she hadn't done as much lately. She passed a familiar looking window to see a flash of ginger hair, Surely not? Meg moved back to the window, sure enough, there sat Wonder Boy, though there was no book in his hands this time. Meg carried out the exact same steps she had done in her dreams many times, stopping in front of the large muscular boy crossing her arms. Despite there being no book, Hercules was still too distracted to notice Meg's arrival. She cleared her throat.

Hercules practically jumped out of his skin, "M-Meg?"

"Hey, Wonder Boy."

"L-Listen, I'm really sorry. I'm working on making it up to Anna, I swear!"

"Wonder Boy,"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Tell me the one about Perseus again."

Tales of Spring: Love takes many twists and turns, it can be hard to distinguish crushes from the real thing. Megara has been a cool headed character, to an extent, and she makes references in ASIS about not wanting to deal with her feelings. After the meeting between herself and Anna I imagined that Megara would be in a very thoughtful state. I tried this time to let Megara show what hides beneath the bonnet, so to speak. As silver tongued, protective and absolute she can be at times, she still deals with the same emotions of everyone else.

This chapter marks the end of the Megara section. I had a bunch of fun writing as her, exploring the confidence that seems so odd to me at times. Hell, after the second chapter it even began to leak into my own life! Let's just say that I perhaps got into a few clash of words with people, and then made them eat said words. Towards the end I did run out of ASIS content for Megara so the canon has been out of sync this chapter more than most, but I will edit it if Megara makes a return in future ASIS chapters. The next section might be a while off, there's a lot I'm juggling at the moment. But as for the next section, well let's say the king of reindeer will be the star of the show.

My apologies for the longer note this time, I've been good at cutting these down lately. But with it being the end of a section I felt a bit more explanation was needed. Anyway, follow my profile or Tumblr(umbra-sedent-mortis) for updates. Stay strong, keep an eye out, and thank you for reading!

Umbra Mortis