The Sea Goddess

by Locita

The sea slammed about them, rocking and shaking the vessel. Iolaus hung on for dear life, "I knew we should have gone by land," he muttered as the cold water drenched him over and over.

He could tell by the way the Sea Goddess in the water before the ship was yelling at Herc that she was mad clear through. "If you chose to accept my offer, mortal, I would have blessed you," she was saying.

As if Herc would love a nasty Goddess like that. She reminded Iolaus of Discord, only worse. When she had first appeared off the side of the ship, scaring the dickens out of the poor crew, she had asked Herc to marry her. It had been sunny and the Goddess with her blond hair and golden mermaid fish tail, had looked pretty. Herc had politely told her that he'd lost his family long ago and he wasn't interested in falling in love with anyone again. That was when the weather began to change --big time!

"Please," Herc was saying. Herc was always so damn polite and truthful. Couldn't he tell her that Hera had cursed him so all his loves would die horrible deaths. After all, it was almost true. Hera and Ares had killed off everyone Herc loved.

Iolaus opened his; mouth to try to explain this to the angry Goddess. Surely she'd pause about making Hera angry. Then the Goddess noticed Iolaus and he froze. He knew that look. It was a preliminary "blast the mortal" look if he had ever seen one. "Watch out" he cried and jumped out of the way wildly. But the lightening bolt from her hand hit him with a fury that plunged him overboard and into the water, driving him painfully down further and further into the murky depths. The last thing he saw was Herc's face in the water, desperately swimming into the deep to find him.

"No, Herc. It's not safe," he thought, then the pain and his bursting lungs seemed to explode at the same time, and blackness took him.

Hercules searched for Iolaus until he could swim no more. He felt something pluck his shirt from behind and joyously thought, "Iolaus!" But then his rapid rise to the surface revealed the Goddess had grabbed him. She negligently tossed him back onto the deck of the ship. "Mourn a while longer, Mortal. My anger is not yet appeased." She cried and then with a splash of her golden tale, she left Hercules and the astounded crew.

Hercules stared at the rapidly calming waters. "Iolaus." He said softly. Then he hung over the rail and gave a shriek of rage that frightened the ship's crew behind him and echoed over the still waters. He covered his eyes with suddenly trembling hands. Iolaus, his dearest friend, was gone. He couldn't have survived that bolt of lightening and he'd been in the water for so long - he had to have drowned. Hercules felt a tear make its way down his cheek and he clenched a fist in fresh rage.

He heard the crew behind him arguing and he realized that he'd endangered them as well.

"We're all sharks bait now," one was saying angrily, "She'll kill us as long as we shelter him."

"He's the son of Zeus," said another, "Do you want to anger the King of the Gods."

"That Sea Goddess doesn't care about Zeus and we're in her kingdom." Said the Captain in thoughtful tones.

Hercules turned and they all fell silent. "You're right," he told them, "My presence here endangers you all. Can you give me a life boat and some provisions?"

And they immediately rushed to comply, eager to be rid of this inconvenient demigod and his sudden feud with the strange Sea Goddess.

Hercules turned back and watched the waters. Iolaus was gone. He couldn't believe it. Iolaus, the only person who really let him be himself. The source of so much friendship and laughter. He counted himself a lonely man - he hungered for a family, but now he realized he was truly alone without Iolaus' bright presence there. Had he ever told Iolaus how much he meant to him. They both weren't ones for words. Iolaus always showed his loyalty with his actions and Herc was reluctant to praise him for fear Hera would concentrate her attention on his friend. Now it broke his heart. Had he ever thanked Iolaus for all the things he did. Had he ever realized how much he depended on him. When they were separate, he realized he was always looking toward their next meeting - Iolaus had been the home he looked forward to.

Hercules stared at the waters that held Iolaus' body and thought of that bright laughing face, dead and cold, to be eaten by fish. It was unbearable. Never to hear that laugh, or his crazy jokes, never to feel that warmth at his side that he could always count on. He wept silently.

When the boat was ready, the crew and Captain all stood about shifting nervously. Hercules wiped his eyes, unwilling to let them see his grief. He felt as though she'd torn his soul in two when she took Iolaus from him. He turned to them.

"I'm sorry this happened." He said, his voice harsh with holding back his rage and grief. He owed these men something. He looked over to the sea and yelled at the Goddess, sure she would hear everything, "Well, now, they are casting me out for angering you - Are you happy now, Bitch? I'll have my vengeance on them and you too!"

He turned and winked at the startled crew. "Just so she loses interest in you," he whispered. Then without a backward glance, he crawled over the side and climbed down to the little boat. They had given him water, food, a spear, even a sail. But it still didn't look good. There was no land in sight and he had an angry Goddess after him. But at least no one else would die because of him.

He who had once called himself Iolaus woke and breathed. It was a mistake. Water, not air surrounded him. In fear and confusion he tried to kick, but it was a great tail that splashed, thrusting him up in the water, not his legs. He tried to reach out and realized he had no arms to reach with. He was a huge fish. No, he needed air, he was an air breather, a dolphin. Desperately, he made his way to the surface, floundering clumsily in his huge body as he tried to learn to use it.

He felt something touch him and saw another dolphin helping him up. It swam beneath him, pushing up towards life. He broke though the water and greedily took in air. The other dolphin, his savior, laughed happily, glad that he was all right.

The man/dolphin tried to speak and realized that the high pitched squeaking he heard was himself. It was maddeningly hard to think. The other dolphin questioned him, "Are you all right?" and he answered in blind panic, "What happened to me? I'm not a dolphin."

Then he realized he understood the squeaking and had answered back in kind. He could feel the other dolphin too. It was sympathetic. "You must be a two- legged soul. Sometimes they become one of the group," it said, "Don't be afraid. We'll teach you all you need to know."

And as he agreed to follow his new friend to meet the others, the old language that he could no longer pronounce, even in his head, faded away. New thoughts, new colors and concepts flooded him. His dolphin friend was swimming around him and nosing him gently, sending thoughts of kindness and peace to him until he calmed and sent gratitude thoughts back. He forgot what he had been before and concentrated on the more immediate task of surviving. But something important was missing and he would not forget that. He just had to learn enough to survive first.

While the angry Goddess didn't appear, she sent a storm that washed the sail and all his provisions but a few water skins overboard. Hercules bailed water desperately and clung to his little vessel. Part of him didn't want to fight. He was tempted to slip into the waters and join Iolaus, but knew, beneath his despair, that Iolaus wouldn't want that from him. So he tried to stay alive, cursing the Goddess with all his heart. He didn't know her name - she was definitely not a relative, but he didn't care. Why give her the recognition of saying her name.

The new dolphin learned quickly. First how to swim and fish, then the dolphins' ways. Reluctantly, he even learned the joy dance, always done on top of the water, using one's tail to thrust quickly so that one stayed in the air. He also learned games (for the dolphins loved playing) and songs. We was quickly welcomed by the creatures.

In a few days, when he was calmer and able to go about without help, he began to think back to the "before time", to the memories his new mind and body had such trouble holding onto.

He was not quite sure what he had been before. The dolphins called them the "two-legged" ones. Language had changed. He could not shape words or even thoughts very well. Basic wisdom was different.

Air was for breathing and dancing in. Water was home.

Loneliness - that remained the same.

Enemies to fight - a group of good ones, innocents to protect. That was the same as it had been before. But, this was a different group, not two-legged ones. It didn't matter.

They were good and needed protection. That was all he need know. He was linked to them, a link without language. He couldn't remember being linked like this in the before time, except maybe to one being. And memory shot through him!

That one being, that very important part of himself was dreadfully absent. He couldn't say the name. His mouth and tongue could make sound, but not like that. But his goal was clear. He must find that other one. He must! He swam quietly, his eyes alert to danger, his mind struggling to understand better what was missing. The other one, not shaped like he was now. This was someone from the "before time". Someone wonderful and good. A male someone, a great protector of innocence, someone the dolphins would approve of. And the missing one was part of his heart.

He sought now for words and finally met with success when he stopped trying to say them, but only thought them. Heartbrother was as close as he could come to what he wanted to say. It was a term the dolphins used for closest dearest friends.

He noted he could project with those words a picture of a beloved face. The face was almost alien now, belonging to one of the two-legged ones from the dry land, but still as essential as air and water to his life, perhaps even more essential, because he felt so lonely for him.

Anxious and alarmed, he searched, first with his eyes and new hearing, but then with the mind link that bound him to the group.

He immediately identified the group's location. They were feeding in a safe place. That was good. His mind roved further, scanning the waves he couldn't see, seeking the Heartsbrother. And there, he flipped his tail in joy, there he was, riding the surface of the water on something. It was called a boat in the tongue of before. He couldn't pronounce it now, only think it and picture it with his mind.

Then he was speeding in the direction of the Heartsbrother. For enemies were there, the sharp toothed, ever killing ones. Sudden fear propelled him with new strength and he arrived in a full killing fury. The brothers and sisters of the group had given him full instruction on how to deal with the ever- killing ones. He plunged deep and hurtled up, hitting them full force with his body, killing each one he hit instantly. That was good and so was putting a minimum of the madness inducing blood into the water.

He broke air, breathed, saw that his heart brother was killing the killers with a long detachable tooth - what did he used to call it, ah, yes - a spear. It was less efficient than his own method and the killers near the boat were mad now with blood lust.

He shrieked out and plunged again, killing more of the killers, until the water stopped churning completely. He broke air again, and to his complete horror, his Heartsbrother jumped and brandished the tooth at him, yelling out war words he couldn't quite remember.

But the intent was clear. He could taste the anger in the water, mixed with killers' blood. His Heartsbrother hated him. He was outside the group, not part of his Heartsbrother anymore.

He cried out, more injured by this rejection than by any of the shark killers. The noise startled his Heartsbrother and the man dropped the tooth into the water.

And the dolphin realized his brother would have used the tooth on him - he was enemy now, worthless, unbeloved.

New pain ripped through him, even as he dove and clumsily retrieved the tooth in his mouth. Quickly, he carried the tooth to the surface and threw it toward his brother. It landed at his poor unfinned feet with a clank.

His brother hated him. His soul was dying of it. He must have become something awful like the killers. All joy in the water or dolphin songs and dance was gone and he knew what he must do.

Sadly, he considered swimming below and not surfacing, drowning would be less violent. But then his Heartsbrother would not know for sure he was dead and might still be afraid and angry. No, he must reassure his brother. He floated next to the boat and turned over on his back, exposing his soft belly to the cruel tooth.

His Heartsbrother gasped out something fearful and questioning in the tongue he should know, but it no longer mattered. He waited steadfastly for death and mourned. The soft high cry of his sorrow was the only sound but the waves lapping at the sides of the boat thing.

Something touched his belly and it was not the tooth. It was his Heartsbrother, stroking him gently. The horrible anger and fear were gone. Belly still exposed, he hazarded a look with one eye, afraid and heartsick with the bitterness of being rejected.

His Heartsbrother was kneeling there. The kindness and goodness so essential to him were shining out of his blue eyes. His Heartsbrother spoke, and finally he was able to understand the foreign yet familiar language. Maybe it was because of who was speaking.

"I'm sorry, big fellow." The hand touched him tenderly. "I thought that bitch had sent you with the sharks to kill me. Forgive me. You've saved my life and I've hurt your feelings. You're the only friend I have now, that Iolaus is gone." The blue eyes above him had moisture in them and he knew it was salty like the life giving water of the ocean.

Tears. He remembered tears. They meant sorrow. His Heartsbrother was weeping and mourning for him - he hadn't rejected him, he just hadn't recognized him. He'd thought him a shark, one of the ever killing ones. He didn't realize he'd changed and he thought he was dead - Iolaus! That was his name. And his Heartsbrothers name was Herc. How could he have forgotten!

Joy surged through him. He suddenly swam around the boat thing, chatting amicably at Herc. With a powerful thrust of his tail, he launched himself and danced the joy dance for his brother in gratitude and love. He was not rejected! Herc loved him and mourned for him. It was okay.

Herc smiled at his antics. And that was good. It was part of his purpose in life to make Herc laugh. That and to protect Herc.

He couldn't talk with Herc; Herc didn't know him, but he could protect him. Excitedly he finished the dance. His brother looked hungry there on that boat. Iolaus plunged deep, fishing for something succulent that a two-leg, a human would be able to eat in its delightful raw state. He triumphantly found a fish of a type he knew Herc liked and quickly brought his offering to the air, flipping it at Herc's feet.

Herc looked surprised. "Thanks, Big Fellow" he said and used a smaller detachable tooth, a knife it was called, to clean the fish.

Iolaus thought furiously. There were types of sea weed good for humans and tasty. He dove again and returned minutes later with a specimen he recognized as edible to humans. As he presented this offering, Herc's eyes began to sparkle with delight. "Say, you really are taking care of me, aren't you?" he asked. Iolaus chattered rapidly back. He knew he wouldn't be understood, but hoping for another of Herc's smiles.

Having received that reward, he began to examine the boat that sheltered Herc. There was an anchor rope hanging from it. The boat was far from land and the shallow country that proceeded land. Only water could be seen with the naked eye on each horizon.

Iolaus thought. He must take Herc to land. He belonged to the land and it protected him. Even though it would mean parting, it was the right thing to do. The land would nourish Herc, but the sea would kill him eventually.

He grabbed the rope in his mouth and began to pull in the direction that he knew instinctively would lead them back to Greece. The land he could no longer live on but that had born both of them. He pulled again, harder, and the boat began to move.

Herc came to the front of the boat. "What are you doing, Big Fellow?" he asked companionably.

Iolaus laughed. Herc never had called him big anything before. It was a good joke. He tried to explain, hoping his good intention would communicate itself.

"Are you trying to take me toward land?" Herc asked.

Iolaus did a joy dance again, to express his approval.

Hercules laughed and seated himself. Iolaus grabbed the rope and swam. And he sang. A joy song that was ancient as the sea yet somehow in his blood, a paen of praise and thanksgiving that he was with Herc.

Herc covered his ears, but Herc always did that when he sang. So Iolaus continued to sing, even as he used his jaws to move the boat to his goal. The song drifted and soared and the waves beneath them resonated with its tune.

Other dolphins appeared. Some that he knew and others he hadn't met yet. Soon gray fins surrounded the boat. They sang too, and Iolaus understood that the song, so ancient, had been lost to dolphins for generations.

They danced the joy dance for him and Hercules.

"You are King," they proclaimed.

"King?" asked Iolaus.

"Only a true King could remember the joy song." They sang.

"Looks like you called some friends, Big Fellow." Herc observed dryly from his place on the boat.

Iolaus thought about what a king did in his old world. They imparted wisdom and protected the weak. He could do that. He could protect the dolphins and any humans stuck like Herc. And when Herc was safely ashore and gone, he'd be horribly alone again. It would give him something good and useful to do.

"I agree" he told the dolphins, "I will protect and any wisdom I have, I'll share gladly."

The dolphins laughed.

"What game are you playing now?" asked a female, swishing her tail at him provocatively.

"I am taking my Heartsbrother to land where he will be safe," he told them all.

"Yes," the female said, pleased, "protecting the land herd is a good thing. They have souls like we do."

"Can we play too?" the dolphins asked.

So Iolaus showed them what to do. While he by himself could move the boat slowly, many dolphins could make it go incredibly fast and everyone wanted to help. Soon a great press of laughing dolphins pushed the boat, some helped pull the rope with Iolaus and Iolaus led them.

His heart soared. He could hear Hercules laughing and he laughed back.

Soon the shore could be seen. The dolphins were all excited at the new game. They had made the boat move very quickly. As they came closer to shore, Iolaus stopped them.

There was danger here for both boats and excited dolphins. The shallows hid sharp rocks and they could get beached.

Then he sensed something. Something evil was coming toward them rapidly. Killer whales. He sensed the cruel purpose that was bent on his friend. The Sea Goddess was still pursuing him with her vengeance. Herc was in danger and his new people were in danger.

"Go now, quickly. Killers are coming." He told the dolphins. And they realized his wisdom and fled swiftly in all directions but that of shore and the danger.

He took the rope in his mouth again and began to pull Herc deeper into the shallows, skillfully bypassing the rocky places that presented danger. He could feel the rapid approach of evil behind him and the push of the monstrous self-involved will behind it.

The Sea Goddess was an enemy who killed without eating. No dolphin would honor such waste and wickedness, to kill (and kill souls at that), for play.

Iolaus realized that the dolphins could hear his thought and he sent a quick warning about the Sea Goddess, even as he turned to face the first onslaught.

A great white shark was hurtling through the water, even as he danced into the air, flipping himself and diving full strength on the beast's back. It broke with an audible and satisfying crack.

Quickly, he fled back to the rope and gave it a quick pull. He was almost close enough that the tide would bring it to shore, but he had to get it past the danger of the rocks.

Soon, more of the killers approached, blood hot with desire for the taste of his dolphin flesh and Herc' human flesh. Herc was becoming aware of the danger and had grabbed the spear.

"Big Fellow," he called, and Iolaus laughed grimly to himself.

"She's at it again," Herc said, "I should have known she'd try something else. Go, Big Fellow, leave before she gets you, too."

Iolaus lifted his snout to the air and shrieked out a war cry of dolphin defiance - Leave Herc in danger - NEVER! Better death than abandon Herc. He quickly drew the boat into even shallower waters. The tide was beginning to catch the boat and help draw it towards land.

Suddenly he was conscious of a large presence coming straight at the boat at incredible speed. Before he could move to defend Herc, it had crashed into the side of the boat. The little vessel reared into the air and flipped on its side, smashing on impact. Herc fell into the water where death waited with eager jaws.

Iolaus uttered a dolphin's war cry of sheer rage and attacked the behemoth, a gigantic white shark. He slammed into its belly, a crippling blow and even as he felt the impact, fire ripped through him. Another shark had just sliced into his unprotected side.

Shrieking madly, he turned and struck his attacker full force, then realized he was now leaving a blood trail that would madden even a dying shark. He scanned the area with shaky senses, but no more sharks remained. He found Hercules clinging to the side of the boat. Gently, he nosed him and realized he had been on time.

He swam beneath his Heartsbrother until Herc was resting on his back. He knew he didn't have the strength to flip the sinking boat back over. He must take Herc to safety now, while he still had the strength. Herc clung to him, those powerful arms wrapped around him and Iolaus laughed in dolphin. Usually, Herc was the one who ended up carrying him. And he swam abruptly for shore, knowing that his time was short.

The joy song rang out in him. He would die, the wound was bad, but his Heartsbrother would live and this gave him an exalting strength as he swam, even as his eyes began to mist and the Other Side started to beckon. As he weakened, he sent this thoughts towards the dolphin group, to let them know he wouldn't be able to serve as their king and to thank them for all their help. He felt their dismay at losing him, and their immediate mourning. "Farewell," his mind whispered softly and he turned his attention to his last, but most important task.

Finally, he reached his objective. After bypassing and further wounding himself on sharp rocks, he deposited his friend on land and lay still, beached. In this slight water his own body weight conspired with the wound to kill him that much faster.

Hercules woke and realized he was lying in the sand. Land - he was on land! He lifted his head and spat to clear his mouth. By the Gods - he was still alive. The dolphin had saved him. He could only vaguely remember the boat capsizing and a terrible wrenching that threw him hard into the water.

He looked and saw a still shape in the water.

"No!" he cried. The dolphin must have been trapped in the shallows saving him. He stood up, shaking, and stumbled into the water. The land beneath his feet seemed to heave and he fell several times before he reached the beast's side. The creature's eyes were closed and the great gash in its side looked really bad.

"Big Fellow," he asked, "Why, why did you risk so much for me?" He knelt next to the quiet creature and stroked the great head.

"Does everyone who loves me have to die. First Iolaus and now you." He laughed sadly, "You know, your just as brave and stubborn as he is . . . ."

He fell silent. The dolphin opened an incredibly blue eye and looked up at him. It made a soft noise of greeting and then closed the eye once more.

"Iolaus disappears into the water and then you show up," Herc said and observed for the first time the strange purple mottling of the skin and the dragon-shaped black spot on the creature's breast, right where Iolaus' medallion would hang.

Something broke loose inside a demigod's heart. "IOLAUS!" he shouted.

Wasn't there a legend that drowned sailers returned as dolphins. Had Iolaus' soul somehow chosen to return as a dolphin. Had the angry goddess turned him into a dolphin as part of her punishment. Whatever it was, he was sure that faithful soul dying before him was Iolaus.

"No," he whispered and put trembling hands on the great head. He rested his tear-stained face next to the great eye. "Iolaus, please don't leave me". He begged. It was a prayer and the beast that was his best friend gave a soft cry, as though he completely understood and was really sorry not to be able to comply.

Hot tears of fresh grief began to flow at the injustice of it all. They dropped down, a seemingly insignificant shower on the agonized form beneath him. Hercules closed his eyes and hugged Iolaus. The wet mangled skin beneath him began to twitch and then writhe. He looked up. Was this the final death agony? "Iolaus." He whispered and realized the form his friend wore was shrinking and changing before his astonished eyes.

Slowly, seemlessly, he changed from dolphin into wounded man. Blue eyes misted with pain gazed up at him for just one moment. Iolaus gave him a sweet smile before closing them again. The waves now kissed blond hair, a cold caress. Herc looked at the wounds from the shark attack. They had shrunk to Iolaus size, but he was still bleeding. Even now, bright red blossoms mixed with the moving waters.

But now, Hercules realized, he had a chance. He tore off his shirt, wadded it up and pressed it at Iolaus' crimson side. The he clutched his friend into his arms and turned from the sea that had betrayed him to the land. His eyes scanned the coast desperately, looking for smoke, some sign of habitation where he could find help.

And for once luck was with him. A group of villagers appeared on a hillside, pointing at him and waving.

"I hope to the Gods they aren't scavengers." He muttered, knowing that such types preyed on ship wrecks and would probably kill or sell them both. He carried Iolaus toward them. The gasps and sympathetic cries the wind carried to his ears told him he had found decent folk.

"Help." He cried through swollen lips. An old woman with a basket started giving orders like a general. She made him put Iolaus down on the grass. Then knelt and poured wine on his wound. As Hercules watched anxiously, she competently took needle and thread from the basket and began to sew the gaping hold together. Iolaus didn't move and Hercules watched every rise and fall of his chest with trepidition, unconsciously breathing in time with is friend.

When the woman was done sewing, there was a new scar ready to add to Iolaus' collection. She poured more wine onto the wound , along with oil and herbs. Then she cut a strip of cloth from her voluminous skirts and made a soft bandage.

She looked up at the Son of Zeus and gave him a grin, "Now my son, your brother should live. It is your turn to be cared for."

Hercules started for a moment and then flashed her a smile. "Yes," he thought, "Iolaus is my brother." He opened his mouth to thank her and the land beneath him began to spin. He felt kind arms grabbing him before he sank into unconsciousness.

Iolaus woke to a red mist of pain and fever. He was in a nice soft bed. He could hear a fire crackling and smell the pleasant aroma of fresh baked bread mixed with wood smoke. Then he realized he was back in his body. "Herc!" he cried and struggled to sit up and look around. He was on a bed on the floor of a wood hut. And he was alone.

Tears sprang into his eyes. He'd failed. Herc hadn't made it. He lay back and wept quietly, heartily uncaring what happened now.

He didn't hear the door open or even the soft intake of breath. Then strong hands were touching him and he heard a well-loved voice say despairingly, "Iolaus, what's wrong. Are you worse?"

He opened his eyes and it was Herc. Very much alive and looking down at him in anguished concern.

"Herc!" he choked and to his mild horror, he began to really weep. And what was worse, Herc held him cradled in his arms. And he couldn't stop crying, either. He tried shakily to explain "You were in real danger, Herc. I thought the sharks got you. And I was a dolphin and I didn't know how to swim at first. I couldn't talk, Herc or remember simple Greek or anything. And you didn't remember me. You hated me." That was the worst of all.

Hercules smoothed his hair away from his too hot cheeks. "Iolaus, you saved me. It's okay - we're safe."

"No more boat trips, Herc. I can't take the aggravation." Iolaus gasped out and looked up at his friend through tear-blinded eyes. Hercules was smiling at him affectionately. He looked happy. His friend - his Heartsbrother. The memory of the joy of the dance was suddenly with him and Iolaus felt it banish the gloom. Herc was alive - that was the important thing.

"Let me up, Herc." He chided and Herc propped up the pillows so he could sit up.

Then Herc brought soup and fresh bread to him. Iolaus watched him, feeling tired and still feverish, but centered now and calmer. He tasted the bread. How good it was.

Herc began to spoon feed him the soup and Iolaus decided (just this one time) to let him play nursemaid. He looked so pleased to be doing something and Iolaus wasn't really sure he could use his fingers yet.

"How did you do it, Iolaus?" Herc asked him.

"I remember hearing the Sea Goddess hiss that she'd turn me into something that would suit my personality. I guess I'd be a dolphin." Iolaus explained. He looked at his friend. "It was really confusing, Herc. Dolphins think so differently and their bodies are different." He smiled, "Gee, its great to be able to talk to you in plain Greek."

Hercules grinned.

The door opened and an old woman in dark robes entered. She smiled. "I see your brother is awake, young man." She observed.

Startled, Iolaus looked at Herc's face and saw an answering smile.

"Yes," said Hercules, "My brother is better."

Iolaus lay back on the bed, immeasurably pleased. Yeah, Heartsbrother, he thought, like the dolphins say.

"Best brother and friend anyone ever had," said Herc.

Iolaus grinned at him, "I was thinking the same thing." He said and realized, it was true. They were bound together with a tie closer than blood. Not even the Sea Goddess had been able to break it.

The end.



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