"Iolaus," she began, her gaze locking with his. "Do you remember back at the palace in Attica when I asked you to stay, to let everyone continue to think you were the king so that we could be together?"

"Of course I remember. It would have been easy to keep the charade going. But-"

"And then you asked if I could go with you, lead your life?"

"Yes, another impossibility."

"But don't you see, Iolaus, it's not impossible! We're nearly there now!"

They had reached the clearing and Iolaus turned to her and grasped her hands in his.

"What is it, Niobe? What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that I love you, Iolaus!" She replied, the tears threatening their dams again. "And I won't leave you! And I hope you won't leave me again! Just think about it-the two of us together. We could travel far from here, far from any bad memories this place holds for us! You wouldn't have to live my life and I wouldn't have to live your life; we could live our life…together."

He didn't know how to respond at first. His place, his destiny, he believed, was with Hercules. Together they did what they were fated to do. Could he leave that? Even for Niobe? She'd convinced him she would not return to Attica, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. If he didn't go with her, where would she go? Would she make herself a life somewhere else, with someone else? At that moment, Iolaus realized that, rather selfishly, he had been somewhat comforted by the fact that even if he weren't with her in Attica, neither was she with anyone else.

"Iolaus? Please don't abandon me again," she said softly, seeking his chest for refuge.

His arms closed tightly around her. If he went with her, how could he ever explain to Hercules? But if he stayed, she would take with her the very last piece of his heart that was not already hers. He pulled away slightly and opened his mouth to speak.

"Iolaus! Get away from her!"

Both Iolaus and Niobe jumped at the booming voice. They looked up to see Hercules running towards the clearing.

And Discord panicked.

"Iolaus, please! Let's go now! We haven't any more time!"

"But Niobe, I have to talk about this with Hercules," the hunter said gently. "He's my best friend."

"More of a friend than me?!"

Iolaus shot a surprised look in her direction. He could never have imagined her saying such a thing.

"Iolaus, " Hercules was now upon them. "Iolaus, don't listen to a thing she says!"

"Iolaus, can't you see?" she countered desperately. "Your best friend is trying to tear us apart! He doesn't want you to be happy, ever!"

"Iolaus, she's lying! This whole damned thing is a lie!" said the demi-god. "My friend! This isn't Niobe!"

"He's the one who lies! How could he ever know what we've shared!"

"Hercules, what are talking about? What do mean, she's not Niobe?" Iolaus questioned, desperation creeping into his own voice.

"Don't listen to him, Iolaus! He's crazy. Hera must have control of him!" she suggested.

"Oh, now come on," Iolaus began doubtfully.

"It's not like it's never happened before!" she shot back at the demi-god.

"How do you know?" Iolaus asked, puzzled.

"Everyone knows!"

"Iolaus! She knows because she's an immortal!" Hercules pled with his friend.

"Liar!" she cried.

"Hercules, what…what are saying?" Iolaus was cast headlong into a valley of confusion so powerful that he could barely see straight.

"It's Discord, Iolaus!" Hercules returned. "She's working for Ares!"

"Hercules that's impossible!" Iolaus said watching Niobe, the fire in her green eyes threatening to explode like a volcano any second.

"Damn you, son of Zeus!" she suddenly shouted as she ran towards Hercules ready to kill him herself.

As she hurled herself at his chest, the demi-god easily grasped her wrists and managed to hold her at bay. He didn't know for how long. She was a goddess, after all.

"You've ruined everything for me! It was going to work too! Loverboy over there was ready to run away with me, or at least who he thought I was!"

"Niobe..?"

Iolaus thought he was trapped in some horrific nightmare. The way Niobe was talking, and she was attacking Hercules! He couldn't move from his spot. For one thing, he didn't know whom to help! Hercules or Niobe. And then, suddenly, it wasn't Niobe.

"I had a deal with Ares!" the goddess continued to shout as she metamorphosed back into her true form. "I lure Iolaus away from you so Ares can destroy you! "

"That's Ares," Hercules replied, "always thinking of others."

Iolaus felt sick. He reached a hand out behind him to steady himself against a nearby tree.

Discord wrenched free of Hercules' grip.

"In return, I was to accompany Ares into battle! But because of you, everything's ruined!"

"This isn't my fault, Discord," Hercules said grimly. "Who do you think told me about this little charade? Who's the only other person who knew about it?"

Discord seethed with betrayal. Her fists clenched. Her shining green eyes blinding. Then she looked up towards the sky overhead and cried "Ares!!!!"

"Sorry, sweetheart," Ares' mocking voice suddenly filled the little clearing.

"We had a deal, Ares!" Discord shouted, her eyes still on the sky. "We shook on it, for Zeus' sake!"

"Rule number one, my dear," Ares continued, obviously enjoying baiting the angry goddess. "If you're gonna hang with the big bad god of war, you've gotta learn…don't ever trust me! And rule number two, keep your mind on the task at hand!"

"What are you talking about?" she questioned, stomping her foot angrily on the ground. "I was perfect! Iolaus was absolutely convinced that I was Niobe, and that I loved him! How can you say I wasn't focused?!"

"That's just it, my dear," Ares concluded, his voice now only a low rumble that rolled over the hills around the clearing. "You're acting's pretty damn good, but not that good-I think you were enjoying yourself just a little…too…much!"

And then there was silence.

Ares was gone, and the unlikely trio stood alone in the small clearing, the breezes floating softly through the trees. Slowly Discord turned to face Iolaus. The expression on her face was a mixture of anger, defeat, anguish, and grim determination. In a voice that was devoid of any tone, she told him: "Mortal…this was nothing personal. Don't think that it was. If you do, you'll never get over it."

And then, in a flash of red flame, she was gone.

Hercules glanced at his friend, still supporting himself against the tree. His face was pale, his sunny smile vacant, and his blue eyes haunted. He continued to stare at the spot from which Discord had vanished for several more minutes, without speaking a word.

Finally, pained by his friend's raw emotions laid bare at the whim of a god, Hercules ventured a few steps towards Iolaus and placed one of his large hands on the smaller man's shoulder.

"Iolaus, are you alright?

His friend favored him with that deep, blue gaze but still said nothing.

"Come on, Iolaus, I know it's hard, but we have to talk about this!" the demi-god gently prodded.

He knew that Discord was right. If Iolaus saw this as anything more than the gods using mortals as toys, he probably would never get through this.

Iolaus looked back to the empty clearing once more and then spoke slowly: "Well, let me think about this. I've just experienced the greatest 24 hours in my life, because I spent it with Niobe. I had realized how much I had missed her. Her smile, her kindness, her passion….And I was reminded how good if felt to hold her in my arms and…be…with her. I remembered how much I loved her, Herc!"

The demi-god watched his friend's expression as he turned to face him again, and continued: "But it wasn't even Niobe. It wasn't Niobe's lips I kissed, or Niobe's heart I felt beating against my own, or…or Niobe that I…made love to. Hercules, how could I not have known?!"

At this last statement, Iolaus laughed bitterly and quickly turned and headed out of the clearing toward the road ahead, crying as he did: "Oh gods! How could I not have known?!"

Hercules took off after his friend who had broken into a full run. When he reached him several paces down the road to Thebes, he caught him by the shoulder and turned him around to face him.

"Not now Herc! I can't…I…oh gods, what have I done?" he stopped struggling against Hercules' grasp and looked up at his friend weakly. "What have I done?"

Weary and defeated, he slumped down on the side of the road, his back against a tree.

His friend slid down beside him and placed a hand on his arm and said, "My friend, you have done nothing. This is simply the work of the gods. It's what they do best-meddling in and disrupting others' lives. They play with us as though we were no more than a piece of twine to a cat. And they don't care who they hurt. We both know this, Iolaus."

"But Hercules, this is different. It's not that simple. I should've known it wasn't Niobe!"

"How Iolaus? How were you supposed to know that this woman who acted, looked and felt like Niobe wasn't actually Niobe?" the demi-god countered.

Iolaus looked up at his friend and said, "You knew, didn't you? I mean, maybe not exactly what was going on, but, you knew that something wasn't right about her."

Hercules looked down at the ground and remembered the foreboding feelings he had the night Niobe had showed up on Iolaus' doorstep, and the bad vibes he felt when he held her hand.

"Iolaus, I may have had some misgivings about the situation but, it was just like a feeling you get from some sixth sense…it was just a feeling."

"Why didn't I have that feeling?" his friend asked desperately.

"I don't know, my friend. Where the gods are concerned, nothing is ever black or white," Hercules tried to comfort his friend. "But, for the most part, I think the reason why you never saw a red flag go up, was because you so wanted her to be Niobe. You needed her to be Niobe."

Iolaus sighed.

"I can't argue with you there Herc. But still, if I loved her that much, shouldn't I have been able to tell…in our most intimate moments…that she wasn't?"

"Iolaus, Discord was using Niobe's own body to deceive you. How could you ever have known?"

His friend leaned his head back against the tree.

"I just think I should've been able to tell."

They sat in silence for a while, neither one wanting to break the solitude.

"Well…" Iolaus began at length, "I guess this gives new meaning to the phrase 'love is blind,' huh?"

Hercules dared to believe that the twinkling in his friend's eyes was the beginning of his coming to terms with what had happened.

"I suppose so."

They were silent a while longer and then Iolaus continued, "You know Herc, I always thought Aphrodite'd be the first goddess to use her immortal feminine wiles to take advantage of me."

And with this he laughed, earnestly.

Hercules heaved a huge sigh of relief and knew by the sound of that laughter and the sunniness that was creeping slowing back into his friend's face that he would be alright.

"Yeah," the demi-god chuckled, as he helped his friend to his feet. "That's my sister!"

"Half-sister," Iolaus was quick to point out, his eyes gleaming.

The two friends began their journey back to Thebes in the cool night air. The sun had completely set and a bright full moon had taken her place. The stars shined like a million points of light, each one an inspiration and a promise of tomorrow.

"You know, I haven't been to Attica in a while," Iolaus mused, still watching the stars above him. "I think…maybe I should go and see how Niobe is doing, now that she has the entire kingdom to run. And, I also think we need to talk…about a lot of things……"

Iolaus' voice, more than a slight trace of hope in it, trailed off and he returned his gaze to his friend.

"I think that's a great idea, Iolaus," the demi-god said with a smile, laying a comforting hand on his friend's back as they headed towards the lights of Thebes.

The End

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