Return to Hades

Disclaimer: I do not own Hercules or any of the characters there within, it's copyright of Disney…etc.

Warning for offensive language and suggestive themes. Nothing too bad I hope, although it had to be done!

The god of the underworld was raging and targeting much of his fury to his two unfortunate minions. The minions were trying their best to keep well out of his way—for nothing they said would bring much consolation to such a colossal loss. Hades had been so close to ruling the cosmos, until Hercules returned, fully empowered, and freed all of the captured gods and goddesses and disposed of all of the Titans as well.

They had failed.

Hades had had everything under control until Megara had given her life to save Hercules at the expense of her own life and thus, according to his deal, Hercules' power was returned to him.

Meg.

Hades ground his teeth. It was she who had dealt him this fatal blow; this ultimate betrayal. The cool blue fire of his skin erupted into raging yellow flames. Why, if she were only here, he would…

"Not raging over me, are you?"

Came a low, lacy voice through the chamber. Hades forced a horrific smile as he turned to the voice's mistress.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my little nutmeg." He snarled venomously and she gave him a superior smile.

"Your plan for the cosmos failed," a gleam of triumph shimmered in her eyes. "We have won."

All thought of pleasantries disappeared in that victorious smile of hers and Hades flared a brilliant yellow. He stormed straight for her, trembling in rigid fury, and even left as only a spirit, Megara trembled and her resolve slipped a notch, but she stood determined to confront him.

"If the fates could grant me the power to bring you to life—I would strangle you with my own hands!" he roared, hands poised, fingers outstretched, as if reaching for her throat. Megara was not moved by his passionate threat and she glared up at him, stretching irresistibly forward as though daring him to comply with his threat.

"I am no longer yours to command," she said wistfully. "I am free."

Hades laughed outright at her comment.

"Now that is where you are wrong. You are now a part of the kingdom of the dead, where I am ruler. If anything, you have fallen completely under my control." He chuckled at the defeated look in her violet eyes.

"Th-that doesn't matter now." She said; her voice weakened slightly before gaining strength. "At least my life had served a purpose and I helped someone I loved. And in a way…it is almost as if I defeat yo—"

Megara did not finish her sentence as Hades struck her hard across the face. The blow drove her hard to the ground. He had long since wanted to do that.

No. Hades fumed. Thiswoman, this minion was not capable of defeating him. And yet there the god stood, back in his realm of the underworld; ruling only death and darkness.

"No, I believe it is you who are defeated, Meg. I seem to recall a young woman who came begging for the life of another loved one…in which she had forfeit her soul to me…"

Megara shook her head to clear it; shook off the surprising sting in her cheek where he had struck her. She stood shakily, glaring daggers at him all the while. She did not wish to return to the darker chapters of her life, she had since tried to leave it buried, but here on the threshold of the underworld, a flood of memory came upon her like a rising storm.

His name was Necius. He was a handsome young man with dark hair and captivating eyes—and he had fallen very ill.

Megara had recalled the stories of the great lord of the underworld and how he liked to make deals, so one night, while her lover lay dying, she stole away from her home and tentatively walked down the steps to Hades lair.

After many steps and slight of breath, Megara was confronted with the great three-headed dog and guardian of the underworld, Cerberus. The beast persisted that she would not enter, but did not attack her. She called out into the darkness for the great lord of the underworld, praying that he might heed her call.

Hades had heard the mortal enter his realm, very much alive. It had been a long time since the last unfortunate mortal had set foot into his domain and lived to tell the tale.

Let Cerberus take care of him, Hades thought, I have no time for the foolish games of mortals.

A moment passed in silence and Cerberus made no sound, but the lacy voice of a woman rang true through the darkness.

A woman? A woman dared to set foot on his domain? And a mortal woman at that?

Hades' interest piqued at last, he rose from his dismal throne and made his way to the gate where his guardian and young guest stood.

Hades was shocked at the young beauty that stood at his gate, albeit she was disheveled and greatly distressed by something or other. She had to hardly have been seventeen. With soft chestnut hair, striking violet eyes, and a figure to rival Aphrodite; Hades felt emotions stirred in him that he had not had in centuries.

"How may I be of service to you, young lady?" he asked silkily, giving her a brilliantly sharp-toothed smile.

"Please," she spoke quickly, "my lover, he is very ill. There is nothing anyone can do and everyday his condition worsens. He is not long for this world. I would do anything to save his life."

Hades nodded sympathetically, thoughtfully massaging his chin with sharp, elongated fingers.

"I see, well you have come to the right god."

A soft smile lilted at the corner of her lips and her eyes lit up in hope as yet another rush of emotion flooded the lord of the underworld. "Now, you said you would give anything…"

She nodded, perhaps a little too eagerly. Hades knew where he could exploit this to better beyond his own means.

"I have just the thing." He snapped his fingers, conjuring up a document which hovered beside his head in a puff of smoke. He snatched it and a quill deftly from the air.

"I want your soul." He said, handing the quill to her which she accepted numbly. She looked up at him uncertainly.

"But my lord…haven't you enough souls in the underworld to satisfy you?" the perplexity in her eyes intrigued and enthralled him.

"Yes, but you see my dear," and at this he stroked her cheek with his knuckles and she could only gaze stricken into his dark eyes, "I want a living soul. A soul little badgered by the effects of time. A soul that is young and beautiful."

Her lips parted and she shuddered away from his cold touch; eyes fleeting between his and the document. She dropped her head, pausing as though considering his words. She agreed at last and he handed her the document which she signed in a lovely cursive.

Huh, so she was of the few enlightened people to be literate, but yet so foolish.

"To seal a deal there must be a physical pact and I know just the one."

The girl had barely had the time to gasp as Hades swiftly caught her around the waist in one arm and tilted her head back with his free hand, adeptly catching her lips in his. She tensed in his arms, but did not fight him. She tasted of sweet spices and wafted the languorous fragrance of chamomile. He inhaled suddenly, sharply; reaching for the depths of her soul in a death kiss. Megara moaned against his mouth and her eyes flew open in a shocking pain, her body tensed and rose a few inches from the floor. Hades held to her tightly, lest she decided to have a sudden change of heart and flee; he snared her soul in his breath as it tumbled, crying bitter tears as it was unwillingly torn from her body to reside within him; a dead spirit that would no longer feel, nor live, as Hades' own immortal soul choked its suffocating bonds around it. Her muscles fell slack against him, her body pressing unbidden against his. Hades felt dizzied by her and released her after a few precious moments of bliss. She stumbled back, holding a hand over her mouth and another over her throat in shock; feeling utterly hollow inside. Her lovely violet eyes opened wide.

"Done." Hades flashed her a fanged grin. "Your lover is healed and you may return to him."

She stared at him in shock, her eyes shimmering in what appeared to be a mix gratitude and perhaps a bit of fear.

"Thank you, my lord." She spoke dazedly, violet eyes filled with misgivings, and hurried off.

Hades admired his own brilliance at how easy that had been. He would have that living soul sooner than later, he would only have to be patient.

In the meantime, he would monitor this lover of Megara and see if he could not intervene to have his living soul while it was still young and lovely.

Megara was helping Necius to his feet and he gratefully obliged, pressing her with many kisses and holding her to him tightly. He ran his fingers through her hair and she pressed against him as though to ensure that he were truly there; reveling in his strong hold.

"It is a miracle," he breathed into her hair as she smiled contentedly from his chest, saying nothing. It was enough to be with him.

"A miracle." She murmured softly.

They spent many happy days together, almost never apart. There were evenings filled with dinner's along the coast, brilliant sunsets down the boulevards, and magnificent plays of the latest of tragedies. All the magic that lovers would share they shared together

It was a few days afterward when Megara came to worry. His attentions of her seemed split between herself and something or someone else. He was constantly distracted and seemed to continuously glance over his shoulder as though someone might be following him. It was one fateful day as they strolled down the square that Megara found the awful truth of Necius.

"Necius, I couldn't help but notice that…well, that you seem to be distracted to the point where you will not listen to when I am speaking with you."

Necius was looking elsewhere, obviously ignoring the maiden beside him once again even as she bravely attempted to confront the situation that was becoming more of a problem-habit of late.

"I-I'm sorry, what were you saying, love?" he stuttered, still not meeting her gaze.

"You are doing it again!"

"Doing what?"

Megara huffed impatiently. "I've been explaining it to you this whole time, would it be too much trouble to look at me when I am speaking with you?"

Necius finally looked down at her, his brows knitted together in his own impatience. He was not pleased by the tone she was taking with him, like he was some petty fool.

"Listen babe, I think you are starting to cramp my style. I don't need a girl to constantly nag on me."

Megara felt as though she had been struck across the face. "Listen, that isn't what I meant to—I didn't mean for any offense. It's just…" she did not finish as a gorgeous woman strolled leisurely in front of the both of them. She stopped just before Necius and arranged herself in such a way that flaunted her curvaceous body in obvious imvitation. Megara gripped Necius' tunic in white knuckles, instinctively pressing closer to him as if to stop the terrible complications that threatened to befall her and her lover.

"Hello, Necius." The woman murmured suggestively and Necius seemed to have difficultly in keeping his mouth closed. Megara was too shocked to speak. Who was this woman and why was Necius ogling over her like he had never seen a woman before?

"Necius," Megara began, "who is this—"

"Hey, babe." Necius interrupted Megara, as he addressed the woman in a scarcely controlled dribble. The beautiful woman glared over at Megara, swaying her body irresistibly to the other side.

"Who is this?" Necius looked over Megara as if she were a victim dying of the plague. He ripped her hands from his tunic to free himself as he shied away.

"I have no idea," Necius shrugged, stepping away from Megara and glaring down at her. "Some form of prostitute, no doubt. Away with you, filthy whore."

Necius linked arms with the woman and steered her away; she giggling madly down the boulevard.

Megara felt her heart break; felt her heart shard into a million fragments and tear through her skin in an agony of pain and betrayal. She collapsed to the ground, her garments askew and hair tumbling out on the street, spilling bitter tears on the cobbled stones to form a sad little pool of regret and anguish beneath her.

Hades appeared in the inn room with a grimace of disapproval. There on the ground lay Necius; clearly out cold, surrounded by the debris of the remains of what appeared to be a pottery item; and above him stood a gorgeous and top bare woman, the same from the street that had lured him from his once violet-eyed lover.

Hades had witnessed the entire event. He had not intended it to go quite so terribly. The woman turned at this sudden visitor and gasped, covering herself with a discarded blanket before the god, for her clothes lay torn and forgotten on the floor. Hades grinned at the woman.

"You have a real talent to break hearts, boys."

Pain and Panic, his faithful minions, grinned back at him through the woman's smile before aspirating to their true demon forms. Hades' sickened grimace returned.

"Please tell me that you didn't…"

"Oh no, but he was feeling frisky," Panic provided, "at least until Pain nailed him over the head with a vase." Pain grinned mischievously.

"Only doing my duty, sir."

"Well good. Now, your performance, stirring as it was, has harmed the lady. So now, I want you two to do what you do best." Hades drew a thumb across his throat with implication enough for the demons to exchange knowing glances. "And dispose of the body properly this time. You two made an awful mess of it with the last victim. Let's not repeat any past mistakes, eh?" The demons nodded immediately, swallowing hard. Hades trusted that Pain and Panic would at least be able to take care of this little chore, leaving Hades alone to intercept the girl that stood at his gate, with her soul ready to bear, so to speak.

Even in person, Hades felt a tearing at his own cold heart at the utter crushing betrayal that was so apparent on her face and the broken image of her now red-violet eyes.

"He left me," she sobbed, at once trying to appear indifferent and strong, but not quite succeeding. "He left me for another woman. He did not even know that I had given my soul…" she tilted forward, making as though to collapse on Hades doorstep, but he nimbly caught her out of the air. He then did something he did not know he was no longer capable of; he comforted her. He stroked her soft hair and spoke soft words that were uncertain at first, for he was still rather untried to this consoling notion. She did not refuse his touch. Perhaps because she was so broken she would have accepted anyone's comforting caress, but Hades did not care. His own brush with the strange new emotion of love caused even he, the great ruler of the underworld, to tremble slightly. Suddenly, discomfort and a small fear rose to overtake the new emotion and he drew away from the girl.

"I will show you to your chambers."

And he said nothing more as he strode forward and she followed silently behind; cold, weary, and heartbroken.

Hades stood in the doorway to the luxurious chamber as Meg stumbled into the darkness, not truly caring where she was going and collapsed finally onto the bed, her body racking with choked sobs—the perfect image of misery. Hades shut the door behind him, at once elated to have enlisted such a beauty but also somewhat remorseful of his deeds. He shook his head; better not to think too hard on it.

With the ensuing weeks, Megara grew bitter; she was a shattered heart slowly healing, with the absence of a soul to aid in the mending. She strode about with her lips curled in an irresistible pout and was constantly surrounded in the air of a nasty disposition. She lost none of her luster however, to sway others with her seductive beauty and she learned that she could use it to her advantage in the worst of ways. She began to take pride in the harm she would cause, much like the god of the underworld himself.

Strangely, Megara's pain gave Hades pleasure—for misery enjoys company. They moved forward in a relationship where Hades showered her with little gifts and comforts, though she rejected many of his advances—he came to understand that she had grown to detest men and that he was a fortunate exception because he could at least approach her so far as to touch her skin or smooth her hair—purring her wiles away so she would do his bidding. Still those resentful violet eyes denied him of happiness and though she would allow him touch her, she was dead to all nurturing feeling.

He was tired of always playing the bad guy. He only wanted a little tenderness, but Megara seemed beyond repair. If Hades sought love, he would not receive it from her. The day she had returned to him was a day of great weakness and shame and she would turn from him as a reflection of her constant shame, lest she betray her weakness.

Her misery, however, did not seem to dim her intelligence one iota. Her tongue lashed now with many a sarcastic comment or witty retort double fold than what it used to.

Megara also learned to become an extremely competent actress as Hades sent her out on endless missions to gather followers for the Uprising he had planned for nearly eighteen years. She proved to be of great assistance as more and more allies came under his control.

Everything changed, however, on that one fateful day, when Hades sent Meg on a mission to enlist the aid of the River guardian.

Megara's lips curled into a snarl.

"I would gladly give my life for him again. If not to save him, then to watch you fall once more."

"Blasphemous woman!" Hades barked, once again raging that brilliant yellow. "You shall be getting no second chances; I will see to that myself." Megara's lips curled in spite, brows tilting into a cruel scowl which could have easily matched on the intemperate god's own.

"You have lost, Hades." She snapped. Hades, at last resolved in winning some form of prize, gave her a devious smile.

"As have you Meg, as have you." He motioned toward the Final gate which opened at his call with a melancholy groan. Meg was dragged forward. She fought long enough only to ensure that she would have one last word to say and her final words left Hades in an uproar that was even worse than his initial rage.

"It appears that even we mortals yield a power equivalent to that of the gods; betrayal begets betrayal."

I wish first to apologize for the use of offensive language as I usually shy away from that sort of thing—but I wanted to ensure that I got across the sheer wickedness of that jerk of a first boyfriend was for Meg. I suppose we can all be blinded by love at one point or another in our lives. I hope I nailed that particular detail well enough.

It took me a little while to come up with Megara's back-story, but I believe I covered it fairly well with a few areas of interest.

It's the funniest thing! Meg's boyfriend had to have a name, so I thought hard on it for two seconds and "Necius" pops up out of nowhere. Since my brain works in mysterious ways, I decided to go along with it and researched the name later to discover that Necius meant "ignorant". This was all too perfect—the boyfriend was ignorant of the trade that took place for his miraculous recovery! I wondered over it and played the movie again. Her boyfriend must either not have known of it or was a complete and total jerk! What do you think?

Anyway! I hope everyone enjoyed the story and will please, please review!

Blackfire 18