Megara let out a shriek as she went flying through the cool night air. Her arms blindly tried in vain to catch something, anything, that she could hold onto. Her desperate fingers only fell through puffs of milky clouds. Megara slowly began to realize that the faraway ground was quickly becoming not so far away. She began to see that dark green blobs became forests, forests became trees, a vast green stretch soon became fields, fields became individual blades of grass… She shut her eyes and waited for the impact. Suddenly, she felt a wide, soft weight beneath her, and with a start, realized that she had stopped falling. Almost at once, strong, familiar arms wrapped around her shoulders, and a voice exclaimed,

"Peg! What are you trying to do? Kill Megara?" Meg held onto the winged horse’s mane even tighter. Hercules’ comforting voice whispered in her ear, "Don’t worry Meg, I’ve got you! I won’t let Pegasus pull that stunt again." Opening her eyes a crack, Megara let out a sigh of relief.

"Peg, once I’m on firm ground, I’m going to kill you!" Pegasus whinnied slyly. He nose-dived once more toward the ground, and Megara could do nothing but hold on tight. In less than a second, he changed his direction again, upward to the sparkling stars. Keeping her eyes tightly shut, and feeling Hercules’ arms grow closer around her, Meg thought grimly, Gee, tonight might actually be romantic if Peg would stop trying to terrify me. It had been Meg’s idea for a private picnic under the stars. Hercules had thought it was a great idea, and earlier that morning, he had suggested to bring Pegasus along to watch for reporters. It seems everywhere we go, we have to be incognito, thought Meg. Slowly raising one eyelid and looking backwards, she saw Hercules’ honest, handsome face watching her. Oh well, it’s definitely worth it. Hercules seemed to be sensing her thoughts.

"Meg, are… are you happy, here with me?" he asked, his wide blue eyes looking to her hopefully. Meg thought about all that had happened in a few weeks time. Meeting Hercules, trying to find Herc’s weak spot, attempting to seduce him, and then falling for the sweet-faced lug herself. Hades, the god of the Underworld hadn’t been too thrilled with Megara after that. When Herc learned that she actually worked for Hades, he was so full of despair that he practically killed himself fighting a Cyclopes. And then he saved me from death…Meg thought, inwardly filled with happiness. My one true hero. Meg turned to face Hercules. "I have never in my entire life been as happy as I am now." Hercules grinned an ecstatic smile and hugged Meg tightly, forgetting about his strength. Meg gave a choked gasp, and managed to say, "Wonderboy, Meg can’t breathe…." Hercules loosened his grip, and his radiant grin seemed to light up the sky. "And Meg, I promise, nothing, nothing in the entire world will separate us."

The Underworld smells bad, thought Ophelia. I’m going to have to talk to Hades about the decor, too. Drab views, rock hard seats… And gray is SO out of style! It was probably a strange sight to see a young, pretty mortal in the dark, interminable caverns of the Underworld. Ophelia stood out from the gloomy stone walls with her just beyond shoulder-length black hair, her angular, searching face, and small, curving body. But what separated her from most mortals were her eyes, which glowed with a greenish gold flame. When she was calm, they formed a mellow green, but when angered, they smoldered into a blinding fire. Tapping her foot against the cold stone of the floor, she impatiently waited for Hades, the lord of the Underworld, and her boss, to show. Just because he’s a god, he thinks he can be late for anything. Suddenly, Ophelia felt cold, bony claws wrap around her ankle… Stifling a shriek, she spun around, and saw a maroon devil tugging at her skirt, while a turquoise one was hugging her ankle. Aggravated, she lashed her foot out and exclaimed, "Panic! Get off of me, you little twit!" Panic flew off her leg and hit a wall. The maroon devil, named Pain, held onto her skirt, refusing to be thrown off. "Wait! Wait Ophelia! Hades is busy… he doesn’t want to…!" yelled Pain, desperately, holding on.

"Yah! He’s busy. Very busy. SOOO busy! Please, please, please….. don’t bother him. He might…" Panic’s eyes darted around the room, "He might HURT us!!!"

"Well, boo hoo." Ophelia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Leaning over, she scooped Panic into her arms. Looking deep into his beady eyes, she said, "Let me tell you this - If you two numb skulls don’t let me see Hades… *I* am going to hurt you!" Dropping Panic to the ground with disgust, Ophelia thought aloud. "We had arranged an appointment. What on earth could be so important that he stands me up now?" "Maybe… maybe he’s moping!" suggested Pain. "Moping? What could he be moping about?" wondered Ophelia. "That girl… ya know, the daughter of Demetrii!" said Panic. "You mean Demeter?" Ophelia was becoming curious.

"Yah, that’s it!!!" "Really… what’s her name?" Ophelia did her best impersonation of being uninterested. "Uhhh…. Hmmm…. Persimmon?" pondered Panic. "No! It was Perseverance!" argued Pain. The two then began to have a scuffle, rolling about the floor, arguing over who was right. Ophelia rolled her eyes. Whatever Hades was so intense with could wait. They had made an appointment, and Ophelia was planning to keep it. Ophelia quietly began to walk to Hades’ throne room. The only sounds were the screams of Panic and Pain as they argued, and the soft thuds when Ophelia’s sandals hit the stony ground. It was getting hard to see, but Ophelia had been through these passages many times, and knew her way blindfolded. Poor Hades, thought Ophelia. Maybe being in the Well of Souls got to him. She shuddered as she thought of that seemingly unfathomable pool that contained millions of millions of floating dead people and lost souls. Ophelia had seen it only a few times, but the horrible feeling that well had given her chilled her very soul. I suppose it was a good thing those nitwits Pain and Panic came to his rescue.

In the dim light, Ophelia could tell that she had entered the main chamber. And then she saw him. Hades. Or as she was used to calling him, Ol’ Fireball. The god was standing, his back to her, leaning over a crystal ball of some sort. Ophelia had seen it before, and knew that it saw the present. Inside the ball was a young woman, who Ophelia guessed to be the woman that Hades was fond of. Hades, sensing Ophelia’s presence, hastily turned around, hiding the ball. "Ophelia! Hi, how ya doin’? I thought I told those two worthless idiots of mine to keep you outta here!" Hades demanded, his flaming hair turning the slightest bit pink. "Well, actually, they did try to stop me, but they’re pretty easy to outsmart." admitted Ophelia. "Oh well, it doesn’t matter." Hades interrupted. "I have a rather large job for you to do… Feeling up to it?" Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "Depends on the payment." Hades waved his hand in the air. "Of course you’ll receive pay. Now then, perhaps you’ve heard of the lovebirds of the year? Lil’ Sunspot and Nutmeg?" "Hercules and Megara." Ophelia mused thoughtfully. "Who hasn’t heard of them?" "Well, a few months back they played a very nasty trick on me. A very nasty trick." Hades said slowly, in a tone that made Ophelia shudder. "Yah well, what are we going to do about it?" Ophelia asked sweetly. Hades grinned, the smile stretching across his face, displaying rows of pointed teeth. "Now you’re talking! Listen to me, and listen closely…"