This story is not intended to violate any copyrights held by MCA, Universal Studios, or Renaissance Pictures concerning Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. This story is for fun and no money was made from it.
Hercules stood on the bow, looking out over the churning water. So deep, so blue. He remembered the last journey he had taken by sea, from Eire to Sumaria and back to Greece. A journey to defeat a hated foe who wore the face of a much loved friend.
Turning from the rail, he looked at Iolaus, who stood only a few feet away. Gods, even now, he feared it was all a dream. He would wake up to find Iolaus was really gone and he would be alone again, his soul once again plunged into grief’s agony.
The wind blew off the water, waffing the sea salt smell into his face. He watched Iolaus breathe deeply, inhaling the sea air. A soft smile played on Iolaus’ lips and he had a contented look on his face.
Iolaus stood at the bow rail, watching the water churn and the billowy clouds overhead race by. He loved the sea, the freedom that being on the water gave him. He had loved the sea ever since the journey he had made to retrieve the Golden Fleece, when he and Hercules were hardly more than boys and Jason was still only a prince.
He envied the other Iolaus his ability to live in the sea. He envied the peace his twin must feel, the serenity. Much like what he had left behind when he left the Light.
Hercules moved down the bow to stand beside Iolaus.
“Are you all right?” he asked the hunter.
Iolaus looked up at Hercules, sadness clouding his truthful eyes.
“Yeah,” he answered. “I was just thinking and remembering.”
Hercules smiled at Iolaus and turned once again to look out over the water.
Iolaus spared a look at Hercules, wondering what thoughts he must be having. They were sailing for Eire, returning to the land where Hercules had begun another journey, the one to reclaim his soul and sanity. Looking out over the water, Iolaus watched the deep blue pass by, felt the quiet peace that water always brought him wash over him like a warm blanket.
“Tell me what it was like, in the Light. What you gave up to come back.”
Iolaus was jolted out of his reverie by Hercules’ voice, asking him to explain. Iolaus knew Hercules had had this on his mind for a long time. Iolaus would have told him months ago, but he felt Hercules wasn’t ready to hear what he would say. Breathing deeply, he turned calm, blue eyes upward.
“I gave up Eternity, Hercules. I gave up deep, abiding peace. I gave up that healed place in my soul where Skorous had been, rotting inside me all my life. I gave up serenity. I gave up my place as a Guardian, a protector and warrior in the defense of the Light. I gave it all up, willingly, to come back. For even in Eternity, even in Bliss that I can never describe to you, I felt lost. I needed something more. I needed you.”
Hercules still gazed out over the water.
“Do you regret coming back?”
Iolaus, too, gazed out over the water.
“I’ve never regretted coming back to my place by your side. I regret losing the peace I found in the Light. I regret losing my place as a Guardian. I was a leader, Herc. I guess I regret losing that.”
“You’ve always been a leader to me, Iolaus. Before, every thing I ever did was tempered by you at my side, by your opinion. The one time I didn’t listen to you cost us both, then and now.”
Iolaus smiled, fingering the broken amulet around his chest.
“We’re doing ok, Herc. We’re both different now. We’ve been through unbelievable things in the last few years. Our souls have aged because of it, have turned inward to our hearts. But our bond, our friendship, is still the same. It was that bond that brought me back and made it possible for me to stay.”
Hercules thought about the last two years. How Dahok had torn Iolaus from his side, creating a gaping wound he still bled from. It had been a little over a year since they had both returned from the Light. It had been a year of discovery for them both, a year of changes accepted and expected, challenges that had tested their friendship to its core.
Hercules, as always, stood steadfast behind Iolaus, accepting all for the pure joy of having his soul’s center back. Iolaus had gone through some hard and rocky days. He had been overjoyed to be back with Hercules but felt oddly bereft at having been taken from the Light. It had been a place of peace, a place where he could be at ease alone. Every waking moment hadn’t been a war or a question of self-worth or even worthlessness. He had been Iolaus, not Iolaus, friend of Hercules. At times that had felt like a betrayal of Hercules and all they had shared. At other times, it felt right.
They had survived so much only to have ghosts of past events haunt them at every turn. Hercules had spent every waking moment on the alert, afraid that Dahok’s spectre would rear its ugly head, causing someone to seek vengeance on Iolaus. Iolaus spent every moment in fear that Hercules would kill some villager with a grudge in a frenzy of overreaction to protect him.
It had been so for almost a year. Finally, they both had come to an uneasy acceptance of inevitability. What would be, would be.
They had journeyed again to Sumaria. Iolaus had spent time with his daughter and Nebula. He had marveled at the beauty that Nebula had created in so short a time. It had been a wonderful journey, filled with healing for all concerned. Iolaus had left knowing he would go back, but would never stay.
For Hercules, the healing had been less complete, more wrenching. After a year, he had decided to visit Eire again. To lay old ghosts to rest.
“Tell me about Morrigan, Herc.”
Hercules looked out at the churning sea, his arms resting on the rail.
“What’s to tell? She’s the Druids’ Spirit of Justice. She’s a fire-brand, strong-willed, opinionated and set in her ways. In a lot of ways, she’s a lot like you.”
“Did you love her?” Iolaus always knew how to cut to the chase.
Hercules shrugged.
“I don’t know. I cared for her and about her, but it was different from what I’d felt the other times. The timing was all wrong. I was still in mourning and whatever I felt for her was clouded by what I felt for you. She could never understand what you meant to me, why I couldn’t just let go and go on. I guess in a way, I resented that.”
Iolaus was thoughtful for a moment.
“Herc, you asked me what I gave up to come back. What did you give up, to save my soul?”
“I gave up illumination. I gave up the peace it had brought. I gave up Morrigan and what might have been. But, I’d do it again. I’d lay down my life for you. Illumination was a small price to pay.”
“So would I. There was never really any question, was there?”
They came ashore at the same place where Hercules had after the storm that sank Nebula’s ship. The Captain had sent them over in a small skiff and a crew of two. After reaching land, Hercules and Iolaus had watched as the sailors took the skiff back into the water, rowing toward the ship.
Hercules turned and looked at the rocky shoreline, the hill beyond. Even now, he could hear the chanting and see the rush forward as the villagers ran to greet “The Chosen One”. How he had rebuffed them, wanting only to crawl off and die. Then a Druid named Mabon had changed his life and a visit to a dark cave had been his salvation.
“This is it, Iolaus. I came ashore here.”
Iolaus looked around.
“Its beautiful country, Herc. It was fate you landed here. It was meant to be.”
Hercules put a hand on Iolaus’ shoulder.
“Let’s go, my friend. The village isn’t far.”
The village was much as Hercules remembered it. It had an abundance of cottages set close together for protection. He remembered helping reattach a lot of cottage roofs while he recuperated from the beating Morrigan had given him the first time they met.
Iolaus marveled at how beautiful the people were. Not a flashy beauty, like Nebula, but an outward beauty fueled from a strong, inner spirit.
Iolaus grinned up at Hercules, who stared straight ahead. Iolaus followed his line of sight and saw her. A small, well-built and powerful looking red-head. She stood in the center of the town square, holding the hand of a little girl with long, blond hair who appeared to be six or seven summers old.
“Morrigan.” Hercules said the name in a whispered tone, stepping forward slowly.
Morrigan looked up suddenly, as if she had heard someone call her name. Her face lit up, her smile enormous.
“Hercules? Hercules!” She started at a run, throwing herself into his arms.
Even as she embraced him, her eyes fell on Iolaus, who stood off to one side, trying not to intrude. Suddenly, she pushed away from Hercules, her face a mask of feral hate. She drew her belt knife with such speed that even Hercules saw only a blur.
With a groan of pure fury, she launched herself at Iolaus. Startled by the sudden attack, Iolaus only had time to throw up his arms to deflect the attack. He felt the knife slice into his right arm before Hercules grabbed Morrigan’s hand, wrenching the knife from her grasp and throwing her backwards, to land with a hard thump on her butt.
“What in Tartarus are you doing?” he yelled, even as he clutched Iolaus’ badly slashed arm, trying to stop the flow of blood.
Morrigan sprang to her feet, hatred still written on her features.
“What am I doing? How could you bring that... that thing here!”
“What are you talking about?”
Iolaus had regained enough of his senses to realize what was happening.
“Herc,” he tugged at the demigod, trying to get his attention. “Herc, she thinks I’m Dahok. It’s not her fault!”
Hercules turned back to look at Iolaus, who had lost a frightening amount of blood. His face was white as bleached bone. Hercules reached out, catching him as his eyes turned inward and his legs began to buckle. Sweeping Iolaus into his arms, he turned a face both sad and furious on Morrigan.
“It’s Iolaus, Morrigan. It’s Iolaus, not Dahok.”
He pushed past her, heading for the cottage he knew was hers.
“Brigid, baby, go get Laxus. Tell him I need him at our house. Understand?”
The healer paused after he placed the last stitch in Iolaus’ arm. He looked at the blond, seeing a face that reflected a gentle soul that had seen hard times. The features were still handsome, still sharp, but now wore the wisdom of age. In better times, this man must have been a true and free spirit. But even a stranger could see that much weighed on him, reflected in his face even as he slept.
The healer pulled the blanket up around Iolaus and patted his chest gently. This man was a survivor and he would survive this.
Hercules was waiting outside the bedroom door, looming like a large shadow ready to pounce.
“He’ll be fine,” the healer said as he emerged from the bedroom.
“Are you sure? He lost an awful lot of blood.”
“Yes, Hercules, I’m sure. It is a deep cut. I had to stitch it closed from the inside out. The blood loss was great, but not fatal.”
The healer rummaged in his carry sack, pulling out two earthen jars.
“Here, Hercules. The grey jar is medicinal salve. Clean the wound twice daily and put this on. The brown jar is for pain. A pinch of the powder in water or wine when the pain gets bad, but not more than three times a day. Yes?”
Hercules shook his head.
“Yes, I understand. Can I see him now?”
“Of course. He will sleep for several hours. But, if it will ease your mind, by all means. I’ll be back tomorrow to check on him. Goodnight to you both.”
As Hercules started toward the bedroom, Morrigan caught his arm.
“Hercules, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Please...”
Hercules dropped his head without turning.
“Not now, Morrigan. I don’t want to talk to you right now. Leave it.”
She watched this man who once meant the world to her walk away without turning. Iolaus, she thought bitterly, always Iolaus.
The next morning was strained. Hercules had spent the night beside Iolaus’ bed, just watching him and thinking. This had been close, too close. He would have to be more vigilant, watch closer. About dawn, he left the bedroom to answer the call of nature. When he returned, he found Morrigan with Iolaus.
“What are you doing?” he roared as he pulled her away from the hunter.
“Nothing! I heard him call. He wanted some water.”
“You stay away from him! I’ll take care of him.”
Morrigan looked at Hercules as if seeing him for the first time. She saw fear in his eyes. This was not the Hercules she had known. That Hercules had lost everything and no longer had the heart to fear anything. But now she saw fear in his eyes and knew it was fear of losing again and being alone again.
So, she thought almost absently, Hercules has found his heart again. And it was not her.
Nodding, she backed out of the bedroom, pausing only to watch as Hercules sat back down and began his vigil again.
It was near noon when Iolaus finally awakened. He looked around him with a look of bewilderment, wondering where he was. Then his eyes fell on Hercules, who had dozed off in a chair near the bed he lay in.
“Herc?”
Hercules started awake, for a moment disoriented by sleep. But the sound of Iolaus’ hoarse voice brought his focus back quickly.
“Herc? Am I dead again?”
Hercules laughed, despite himself.
“No! No. Just damaged slightly. Here, drink this. It’s only water, I promise,” Hercules added at the suspicious look on Iolaus’ face.
Iolaus drank deeply, surprised at how thirsty he was.
“You lost a lot of blood. That’ll make you thirsty. The healer came and checked you earlier. The wound is clean, no sign of infection.”
“That’s good.” Iolaus slowly struggled to sit up, Hercules packing a pillow behind him. He knew the hunter must be in pain and his arm had to be sore.
“Do you want something for the pain? The healer left a powder and a salve to put on the wound.”
“I’m alright, Herc. I’ll save the pain-killer for the redressing. I’ve got a feeling I’ll need it worse then.”
Iolaus looked at Hercules for the first time and grinned.
“You slept in that chair, didn’t you?”
Hercules smiled sheepishly.
“Yeah. I didn’t want you to wake up alone. I thought... I needed to be here, ok? I was afraid to leave you.”
There was a long moment of silence between them, a moment that spoke volumes about the way they needed each other to be totally complete. Finally, Iolaus broke the silence when his stomach growled loudly.
“Guess I’m hungry,” he giggled.
“Guess so. I’ll get you something.”
Iolaus looked past Hercules and pointed with his good arm. Morrigan stood in the doorway, a tray with two bowls and bread on it.
“Come on in,” Iolaus beckoned when Hercules remained stoically silent.
Morrigan came forward slowly, not knowing exactly what to say or do. She set the tray down across Iolaus’ lap.
“It’s only a sweet gruel we make out of oats. There’s butter there, and bread. I’ll bring you some apple juice, if you’d like.”
Iolaus smiled, “I’d like that, thank you.”
Morrigan hesitated for a moment and added, “I’m sorry, Iolaus. I’m so very sorry. I had no right to do what I did. I should have known.”
Hercules suddenly rose and stalked from the room.
Iolaus felt badly for Morrigan. He knew it had been a gut reaction that had caused her to attack him.
“It’s alright, Morrigan. I understand, better than you know. I’m not the one you need to talk to. Herc went through a lot while I was gone. He’s still not over it and may never be. Where I’m concerned, he tends to have tunnel vision now.”
She found Hercules in the kitchen, talking to Brigid.
“So, Brigid, what have you been up to? You’ve gotten a lot bigger.”
The little girl beamed at Hercules.
“I’ve got a lot of new friends. My birthday is soon. Are you going to come?”
Hercules hesitated. Would he still be here? He decided to be truthful with this little girl who reminded him so much of his own, long dead daughter.
“I don’t know. Iolaus will be up and around in a day or two. If he wants to leave, then I’ll have to go, too.”
“Is he your brother? He doesn’t look much like you.”
Hercules smiled, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.
“We don’t have the same parents, no. But we’re brothers here,” Hercules put his hand to his heart. “He’s someone I value very much. He was gone from me for a while but he came back. So, now, I want to be with him for a while. I have to get to know him again. Understand?”
Morrigan saw her chance and stepped forward.
“I do, finally.” She said, putting an arm around Brigid. “Brigid, why don’t you go see if Iolaus needs anything? He was awake just a while ago.”
They watched as the girl hurried off to do her mother’s bidding.
“Iolaus said I should talk to you.”
“So, talk. I’ll listen. I can do that much.” Hercules said the words in a flat, cold tone that tore at Morrigan’s heart.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say. I made a mistake. I know the time has passed that we could be together, but I’d like us to be friends, at least.”
Hercules looked at Morrigan. She was the first woman since Serena that he had felt deeply about. But his world was a deep, dark well when he met her and the feelings he had had for her never bloomed fully.
“We can do that, yes.” Hercules answered. “But you need to realize Iolaus is a part of me, the best part of me. If you want my friendship, then you’ll have to make peace with him. For all of us.”
Hercules, at Iolaus’ prompting, had decided to stay for Brigid’s birthday. They had waited the three weeks, allowing Iolaus time to heal more.
Hercules had reached an uneasy truce with Morrigan. He had even found himself wondering what might have been. He had thought about his children and longed for more. Yet, he knew, Morrigan would not be the mother of those children. He was sad about that, because she had played a large part in his healing but she would never be able to accept Iolaus’ place in his life.
Morrigan stood in the back doorway of her cottage, watching Iolaus. He was in the garden, doing some sort of exercise the likes of which she had never seen. Though his arm was healing, it was still sore and a little stiff. Iolaus had taken to doing these exercises the last few days to loosen it up.
Morrigan watched the slow, deliberate movements. Each was so precise, a part of a whole. She marveled at how beautiful the exercises were, almost like a slow, sensual dance.
She also marveled at Iolaus. He was a beautiful man, as muscular as Hercules but not nearly as bulky. Although small, he was extremely graceful and fluid. And his smile was like a small sun, lighting up the darkest soul.
She had been prepared to hate him because, even if he didn’t know it, he had, in some odd way, taken Hercules away from her. But she couldn’t. He was not the monster she had encountered in Greece. He was a man, a true and brave soul who justly deserved Hercules’ devotion.
“So, what is that you’re doing, then?” she asked as Iolaus finished and began to walk toward the house. He smiled and took the towel she offered him.
“It’s exercises I learned a long time ago, when I went East to Chin,” he answered, toweling the sweat from his chest.
“East? To Chin? What is that?”
Iolaus laughed gently, his eyes looking past her to another time.
“A long time ago, I had a wife and a son. I lost them both. When they died, I needed to find a way to find peace again. I went East, to the land of Chin.”
“Alone?” Morrigan asked, a bit incredulous that Hercules hadn’t gone with him.
“Alone. I learned many things there. How to slow my heart to give the appearance of death, how to hold my breath for as long as twenty minutes. Even the rudiments of levitation and mind control.”
“Then why did you come back?”
“Hercules,” Iolaus said simply. “I found peace in Chin but I was still at odds with some part of my existence. My Chin Master counseled me to return home. That my other soul was there and my true peace was at his side.”
“I think I understand now. You and he are true soul-mates, only complete together. And no one, not even a wife or lover, can fill that place or come between it.”
Iolaus sat down at the table and poured a mug of water from the wooden pitcher.
“Hercules has pulled me back from death, more than once. He refuses to let me go. And the last time, I had to come back. I couldn’t leave him alone.”
Morrigan sat, dumbstruck. A bond so strong it could stare down death and win. How could she have been so egotistical as to think she could compete with that?
“Why did you come here?” she asked, finally accepting that Hercules was lost to her forever.
“I wanted to meet you. I wanted to say thank you for pulling Herc back from the brink of insanity, for saving his life. For being at his back when I couldn’t be.”
Morrigan reached over and put her hand on Iolaus’, who grasped it firmly in his own.
“You were always at his back, Iolaus. You never left his heart.”
They sailed on the morning tide two days later. It was time to go home and Hercules was relieved to be going. He had not enjoyed his return to Eire. Too many memories, so few of them good ones. He had looked forward to leaving and now longed to be home again, safely home.
Once again, he stood at the bow rail, a strong wind blowing his long hair. He looked down at the water and saw dolphins shadowing the ship.
“Sailors say dolphins following a ship are a harbinger of good luck,” Iolaus said as he joined his friend.
“The gods know we deserve some. Maybe things are starting to look up.”
“Maybe. I liked her, Herc.”
“You’re a forgiving person, my friend. She tried to kill you.”
“And you can’t forgive her?”
“No, I can’t. I’m sorry. When she attacked you, it was Sumaria all over again. I was so afraid I actually threw up later.”
Iolaus laughed. “You care about me so much I make you throw up? Thanks, buddy.”
Suddenly, Hercules saw the absurdity in it all. Iolaus was mortal and mortals die. Enjoy him while you have him, he thought. Looking at the innocent expression on Iolaus’ face, he began to laugh. He laughed so hard that he cried and his sides hurt, but in that moment, something black and heavy was lifted from his heart.
“In honor of all,” he thought as he put an arm around Iolaus.
“In honor of all,” he said aloud. “The past is the past. It’s time to get on with our lives and enjoy the gift the Light gave us.”
“I agree. So, when we get home, can we find a festival with lots of pretty girls and gallons of ale?”
Hercules saw Morrigan from time to time. He made peace with her and she stopped trying to make him love her. She accepted Iolaus, and even came to like him. Iolaus, being Iolaus, just let things sort themselves out and accepted the results.
finis
Melinda is not online at this time, but if you would like to give her feedback on this story, email it to me, Quiet Wolf, and I will pass it on to her.
Author Index
Home
The Iolausian Library