|
|
Ares stood silently
and unseen amongst some bushes. It felt strange, hiding from his half-brother,
but this time it was necessary. He absently began rolling the large, bright
green stone in his hand- a near exact replica of the stone Hercules was
preparing to crush. The seconds rolled by slowly as Ares waited for the
exact moment.
There! Hercules held
the Cronos Stone in between his hands, preparing to smash it to smithereens.
With a quick flip of his wrist, Ares made the switch- the fake for the
genuine article. The God of War nearly held his breath, waiting for Hercules
to inevitably realize something had happened. But Hercules smashed the
bright stone as the King of Thieves looked on in dismay. Looking at his
prize with satisfaction, Ares chuckled softly. “Dear Brother didn’t notice
a thing...”
He lingered for a
moment. A child’s ball bounced toward Hercules’ feet. The former Golden
Hind walked up to Hercules, not knowing that, at one time, they were married.
Hercules murmured a few words as Serena walked away with her daughter.
“The best thing that never happened to me...”
Ares smiled evilly
and made the trip back to his present.
Four years later...
Iolaus awoke with a
pleasant contentment as the birds chirped joyfully. The sun was high overhead,
peaking through the leaves of the arching trees. Then he realized there
was something seriously strange about that fact. Then it dawned on him.
“It’s past noon!” He shot up.
The lunch fire was
already burning and Hercules grinned at him over the roasting rabbit. “Finally!
I thought you’d never get up!”
“Hercules…” Iolaus
began. “What…? Why…?”
Hercules’ smile didn’t
falter for a moment. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what today is.”
“Uh… um…” Iolaus stammered
as his mind went over a list of Grecian holidays.
Hercules laughed and
rolled his eyes. “Happy Birthday, buddy!”
“That’s today?!”
the blond hunter exclaimed.
“I didn’t let you
sleep in for nothing. You forgot? You’re usually counting the hours till
today.”
Iolaus smiled ruefully.
“It’s the old age setting in,” he joked.
“Naw, you’re not a
day over… over…” The demigod’s wide grin grew mischeivous. “Just how old
are you now?”
Iolaus elbowed Hercules
in the ribs, which ended up hurting his elbow more than Hercules’ ribs.
“Just you wait until you get to be my age, sonny,” the hunter said in imitation
of an old man.
The Son of Zeus passed
over a slab of roasted rabbit. “Here, your favorite.”
“Thanks, buddy!” Iolaus
ate heartily. It tasted better than usual.
“Aren’t you going
to open your present?”
“Present?” He spotted
an object in brightly colored cloth laying by the fire. “Wow, thanks, Herc!
You shouldn’t have!”
“Yeah, I know.” Hercules
grinned again.
Iolaus unwrapped the
small bundle. Hidden inside was a small, iron-wrought pendant in the shape
of a sword. “Wow!” he exclaimed again. “Where’d you get this?”
“I made it.”
“You made it?”
“I know, I know. Not
up to my usual standards. Ever since we stopped blacksmithing, I’ve gotten
a little rusty, but I did my best.”
“Are you kidding?
This is incredible! Is there anything you can’t do?”
Hercules smiled and
shrugged as Iolaus untied his medallion and laced the pendant alongside
it.
Just as they were
preparing to pack up camp, Hercules heard the sound of giggling from the
flower bushes behind him. “Okay, Aphrodite. You can come out now,” he said
with a sigh and a small smile.
In a flash of pinkish
light, the Goddess of Love appeared, scantily clad as usual. “How’s it
going, Big Little Brother?”
“Same old stuff. A
little of this, a lot of monsters… you know.”
Aphrodite smiled then
turned to Iolaus. “Hiya, Curly! Happy Birthday! I got a present for you!”
She kissed him on the cheek. “There you go!”
Iolaus blushed furiously.
“Aw… Well, thanks.”
Aprodite giggled,
but soon grew serious. She turned back to Hercules. “Hercules, I wish I
was only here to give Curly birthday greetings, but there’s trouble.”
“Uh-oh,” Hercules
and Iolaus said in unison.
“It’s Ares.”
The demigod rolled
his eyes. “What now?”
“He went into the
past, Hercules. I don’t know how far back he went. Everyone’s worried about
what he might be doing.”
“Even he wouldn’t
dare try anything, no matter how delusional he may be.”
“You know him, Herc.
He finds ways around the rules without really breaking them. If you could
just see what he’s up to…”
Hercules nodded. “We’ll
see what we can do.”
“I’m really sorry
about this, Blondie. I know this isn’t the best way to spend your birthday.”
“Don’t worry about
it, Aphrodite.” Iolaus assured her with a grin. “I wouldn’t have it any
other way.”
Aphrodite smiled and
disappeared.
They quickly extinguished
the fire and ran off in the direction of the nearest temple to Ares. Hercules
seemed to be very concerned, but Iolaus had his doubts.
“Hey, Herc, are you sure
about this? I mean, maybe Aphrodite is just playing with us.”
Hercules stopped in
his tracks a moment and thought about it. “No, Iolaus, time travel is a
very serious matter for the gods. Aphrodite wouldn’t joke about it. Especially
if it involved Ares.”
Iolaus looked down
the road. “Well, Ares’ temple isn’t too far away now... I wonder what he’s
up to this time?”
The blue-eyed demigod
shrugged. “Just another convoluted scheme...” They continued on, as the
clouds above them whirled and darkened abnormally. Something was coming.
When the heroes arrived
at the temple, it was empty, yet warm from the still burning torches. “Looks
like someone just left here,” Iolaus mumbled.
“Yeah,” Hercules agreed
and looked around them. The wind howled and batted at the heavy wooden
doors. The sky became strangely dark for midday. “And it looks like someone’s
coming back.”
As soon as that last
word was spoken, an immense surge of energy burst from the middle of the
room, nearly pulling Iolaus off his feet. A dark figure took shape and
emerged from the lightning-like energy. Ares, God of War, had returned.
“The Cronos Stone...”
Hercules murmured, his eyes transfixed on the large green gem in Ares'
hand.
Ares’ head whirled
to face his adversaries. “Don’t you two EVER take a day off?!”
“I destroyed that
a long time ago.”
“Ah, little brother,
you thought you destroyed it a long time ago. But I’m afraid it’s
of more use to me whole.”
“What do you need
that for, Ares? You can obviously time travel already,” Iolaus said.
“Ha! Shows how much
you know.”
“The gods aren't allowed
to change the timeline, Iolaus,” Hercules informed his friend. “Not directly.
That is, unless they have the Cronos Stone.” The demigod turned to Ares.
“Do you want to do this the hard way, or the easy way, Ares? I’m starting
to wonder if you remember what it’s like to win.”
“Laugh it up, Hercules.
Let’s see you try to beat me this time...” Ares jumped and kicked Hercules
square in the chest. Hercules flew back a few feet, but got up quickly.
Throwing an uppercut and a few left jabs, the demigod fought back strongly.
One punch propelled Ares into the air, as if a stampede of crazed elephants
had bowled him over. The Cronos Stone flew from his grasp. “Nooo!!” the
God of War exclaimed with his hand extended, hoping to guide it to within
reach.
“Iolaus! The Stone!!”
Hercules yelled.
“I got it!” The Golden
Hunter shuffled around a bit as the Stone remained suspended in the air
for a moment. It slowly began falling and, with an enormous leap, Iolaus
snatched it with both hands. He smiled in victory. Suddenly, the Stone
began to glow wildly and the smile on Iolaus’ face faded quickly. His body
seemed to be fading as well, and before he could reach the ground, he vanished
in a blinding flash of light.
