Of Meeting the Enemy of Our Enemy

"A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him."
Aesop


Hades had been keeping a close eye (two eyes, when possible) on the happenings of Thebes, and currently, he was truly liking what he saw.

The soldiers of Thebes' army were running on their last fumes, but more than that, Wonderboy was reaching the end of his stamina.

An outsider might not notice the small, but telling signs that the legendary hero was actually near to collapsing, but Hades had studied his enemy enough times to notice the changes in his stances or his movements became slower. After all, Herciepoo wasn't a God anymore, he was just a demigod which meant he could be defeated.

Oh yes, everything was going as he had planned. Then again, so he had thought back at the time he had tried to take over Olympus and look how that had turned out? No, he had keep his head leveled and stay cool (well, as cool as a hot-headed Lord of the Dead could stay) and monitor the situation carefully. He was close now, so close.

He occasionally dropped by to the downtown of Thebes just to be sure that the situation there stayed under his control. The city had been taken over by the Cybele's followers, but Barak wasn't up to his game any more. (And what was up with this guys Hades chose as his henchmen, why were they always prone to underachieve?)

And where in the name of Tartarus was the old broad Cybele herself? Now that question made Hades somewhat hesitant, but he tried to brush those worries off.

He got things covered, so there wasn't any reason to worry, right?


As what seemed like ages, the battle still continued and Meg felt her hope diminishing with each passing moment.

"This is hopeless," Meg sighed to Cassandra who nodded gravely.

"Herc and the others will fight to the last man standing," Icarus offered, patting her shoulder.

"That's what I'm afraid of: how can you beat an army of the Dead? You can't kill them, they're already dead!" Meg pointed out, feeling frustrated.

"You got any other ideas?" Cassandra frowned in a speculative manner.

Meg stayed silent for a moment and the her facial appearance shifted.

"I just might. We need to put those guys back to the Underworld where they belong. But we won't be able to do that without some help. Who could open the gates of the Underworld?" Meg asked her friends.

"Well, Hades, but I'm sure he won't be helping us." Cassandra did not understand where she was going with this.

"No, I'm not talking about Hades. I'm talking about the one divinity, who would be able to open any gateway," Meg tapped her fingers anxiously against her arm.

For a moment, Icarus and Cassandra looked at each other, completely lost. Then Cassandra suddenly grasped what she meant.

"You're not talking about Hecate?" Cassandra asked, thinking about the eccentric Goddess who she had encountered more times than she would have preferred: most of these encounters had been less then pleasant.

"Yes, I am," Meg replied, determination evident in her face.

"But she's not exactly on our good side," Icarus carefully pointed out.

"She might not be, but she's not on the good side of Hades either. Consider the enemy of our enemy our friend and so on? Besides, we don't really have any choice at this point, now do we?" Meg looked at them once again, but they had no better ideas to offer themselves either. Cassandra and Icarus glanced at each other, neither of them feeling covninced of Meg's plan.

"If you're really sure about this, then go for it," Cassandra hesitantly agreed.

"Okay, here goes nothing," Meg shrugged, gathering her nerves.

"HECATE! Summoning Hecate!" Meg shouted out.

For a moment, it was completely silent. Then a body of blue smoke appeared and a feminine figure approached them from the inside of it.

"Oh, this better be good," Hecate growled as she saw the company of three standing before her.

"Hecate, I know you know what has been going on here. Hades has unleashed an army of the Dead. We need you to open the gateway so they can pass back into the Underworld," Meg carefully explained, already fearing the goddess' reaction.

"You need my help? Why ever would I help you?" Hecate barked a laugh, dismissing her plea.

"You're a Goddess and you're only one powerful enough to do it! Aren't referred to as Hecate Kleidouchos, meaning the Key-bearer, meaning that you can open any lock you want?" Meg pointed out.

"Hmmm," Hecate placed a thoughtful finger on her chin, more than a little pleased to be called as 'powerful' and be once referred to as a powerful Goddess.

For a moment, she remained silent, pacing from one place to another. Then she suddenly spoke:

"You do know that your father-in-law made an order that every God and Goddess should report to him before involving in earthly matters, especially if they were anything of major importance? So there's like this cosmic 'no divine intervention' policy going on at the moment?" Hecate gave her an amused glance and Meg sighed in frustration.

"Yes, I aware! But this is emergency!" Meg growled back at her.

"Okay, I'll blame it on you, if Zeus wants my head on the platter," Hecate shrugged.

"So you'll do it?" Surprised Cassandra asked of her.

"Fine, I'll do it, but not to help you: I'll do it to ruin Hades' plans," Hecate replied, a smirk which could only be described as 'malicious' on her face.

"I don't care for your reasons, just do it," Meg pleaded.

"I'll do it, but you'll owe me a debt, daughter of Creon," Hecate's smile was predatory making her pointed-out fangs stand out.

Meg felt her guts churning and sudden wave of uneasiness coming over her. She had once before made such a pact with a deity and it hadn't turned out exactly well. Was she out of her mind to be willing to make such a deal once again? On the other hand, her people were at stake and even more than that, the life of the man she loved was on the line. She reassured herself that she had no other choice. She had to solve this matter on her own.

"Fine," Meg replied, feeling her skin suddenly crawling.

"Good, we have a deal then," Hecate stated with a meaningful smile before suddenly disappearing.

Icarus and Cassandra looked worried, but Meg wasn't feeling too sure herself.

"You think she will got this matter covered?" Icarus asked, and Cassandra shrugged.

"Well, she's our best bet at the moment," she tried to offer, trying to sound surer than she actually felt.

But Meg wasn't listening to either of them, she was still debating if she had really made the right choice. She wanted to believe that she had done what she had to, but at what cost? That was the question she was afraid of.


-A/N: Hi there and I'm so sorry for being MIA for longer than I planned. Our son safely arrived at the end of last year, but the last month of the pregnancy and the birth weren't exactly easy for me, so I needed to take some time for myself. And as I promised, I won't be abandoning this story, however it might take a little longer for me to make updates.

Sooo, any thoughts concerning the deal Meg made with Hecate? Yikes! Well, stay safe you guys and hopefully your year has started out well!