Chapter 23: Seeing Red

"She's alright?" Mel repeated as Hades walked in venting his anger to the demons as they cowered at his feet in flames.

"Yes, thanks to you our little Nut-Meg made it all safe and sound as a goddess…" Hades said with sarcasm, "…and you are going to pay for it." He took Mel's hand and whipped her closer to him.

"How does it feel to have lost your place on Olympus to the girl who you so despised to have her boyfriend, and are now selling your soul in her place?" He asked, hoping to dampen her spirits even more.

She looked away from the fiery god, "It doesn't matter…I've paid my debt. There's nothing more left for me up there."

"Luckily for you my little Melly-sweet, you will play part in this little charade; I am going to make Wonder-boy wish he'd never helped you out in the first place." Hades whispered into her ear.

"What would you do? I thought you wanted a human to do your dirty work?" Mel looked at him both frightened and stunned.

"Oh but you see Mel, this is my dirty work…plus you women; you lie, you cheat, you steal…but then you get all noble…and fall in love with guys, guys that don't love you back" He said ending his sentence with venom.

"You wouldn't understand. Plus there's nothing left for you, Hercules destroyed the few monsters you had left…what more possibly could you want from me?" She said giving him a hard stare squinting in question.

"Well Mel-my sweet you do have one thing right, yes he may have killed the titans, and the Minator…and the merman…and the hydra…but you see I have one left that I'm dying for you to entertain for me."

"I wouldn't do anything of the sort."

"I figured so, but he is a fiery monster, and you are going to be the main distraction for it."

"And how do you expect to get me to do that?" She said defiantly.

He eyed her up and down, the curves, the black raven hair…and the red dress.

"Well you see Mel," He crept behind her again, and whispered in her ear, "This monster…likes red."

"Oh Zeus, what are we going to do?"

"Nothing Hera, we can't interfere with Hades deals; he has ownership over a human if they grant him such, we'll have to depend on Hercules to save them."

"Wonder boy…but he's still half-human…" Meg said, still not used to the feeling of god-dom. It scared her to think that she might loose him when they were so close to happiness.

"He'll make it, you just watch." Phil reassured the new goddess.

"In the mean time…" Zeus said, "Maybe there is one thing we can do to help our boy…"

Hercules looked in the underworld but saw no signs of Mel, and on his way to leave ran into the one god he despised most.

"Heya Wonder-boy, you know you're little Nut-Meg's up there, isn't that where you should be?" Hades asked with sarcasm, and venom pointing towards mount Olympus.

"Can it Hades, where is Mel? You shouldn't harm her for this."

"Well actually I should…considering she decided to get all noble…and then she fell for you and yada yada, here I am Meg-less and stricken against one more god and a demi-god who's got it out for me SO yea Melaina the little vixen is doing me one last favor."

"..wait…she fell for me?"

"Oh come on Wonderboy, I'd seen it all, the way she gave everything up for your happiness? Sheesh I'd seen it so many times, I can just feel the worms coming back up on me…you humans and that affection…" He rolled his eyes.

"You took away her happiness, her brother?" Hercules challenged.

"So what, the boy was going to die anyway I prolonged it, he didn't die by sickness he died on a boat. Her deal was to stop the sickness, what can I say?" Hades smiled deviously. "Got to keep the soul count up you know…" Hercules realized it was all a ruse; Hades always got a soul in the end of a deal, even if it was through foul play.

"Where is Mel?" Hercules demanded getting angry with the foolish chatter.

"Mel's playing bait, got a good final monster of mine that I'm sure she's dying to see…"

"What did you do?"

"Go find her Hercules, better hurry soon or her dress won't be the only red you or that monster will be seeing…" Hades said before disappearing leaving the gates closed and Hercules outside. The clouds started to form, as if darkness had taken over the sky.

Hercules didn't like the sound of it, by any means he was playing the same game he did with Meg, putting her soul on the line. Mel did a hell of a thing putting Meg on the line, but now that Meg was safe…he couldn't feel an unearthing guilt that he couldn't really be happy as a god with Meg if Mel had suffered. She put herself on the line just the same to save all of them…and here she was messed up in something that probably put her in harms way.

He looked to Pegasus and they rode into the sky high enough to see most of the area…and then he saw it…the large oversized bull.

It was rumored to be owned by a king once, but Hades dealt him a deal in trade for the bull, and now it sat on an isolated piece of land, in the ruins of the once stadium like building that had never been finished. There in the middle of it stood Mel…she looked like an ant to the bull, it being almost twice the size of the minator with fiercely long horns…and what was worse…and no doubt what Hades had hinted towards was her dress.

A red dress, angering the already ferocious Cretan Bull…and a red that would be coming next meant nothing good.