Eris: Daughter of Hades

The Kidnapping of Hercules

In Hades' bedroom, Eris lays in her crib, not far from her father, in a deep slumber as she dreams. But then she woke up from her dream and yawned. A small ball of light appeared above her, and she giggled with joy. When her small hand touched the ball of light, it showed her Pain and Panic flying as they carried her cousin Hercules through the clouds.

Eris smiles at the image of Pain and Panic before touching the ball of light again. A bolt of lightning almost struck the imps, causing them to fall. The Imps and Hercules landed on the pathway on a mountain near Mt. Olympus.

The fall caused Hercules to cry, and it, in turn, caused Panic to scramble around in panic. Panic then stops his scrambling and holds one of Hercules' arms.

"Hurry! Let's just kill the kid and get it over with, okay?"

Pain opens the vial and puts a baby bottle nipple on it before feeding it to Hercules, "Here you go, kid. A little Grecian formula."

"Look at that! He's.. changing," Panic stated as Baby Hercules's glowing fades as he drank the potion. "Can we do it now?"

"No, no, no, he has to drink the whole potion! Every last drop," Pain told him.

Eris touches the ball again.

"Who's there?" Amphitryon, a mortal man, called out.

Pain and Panic run away, dropping the empty vial. It breaks, and one last drop falls into the ground.

Amphitryon rounded the corner and found baby Hercules crying. He pointed to Hercules and said to his wife, "Alcmene, over here."

"Oh, you poor thing! Oh, don't cry," Alcmene soothed Hercules as she held him in her arms.

"Is anybody there?" Amphitryon called out.

Pain and Panic look from behind the bushes.

"Now?" Panic asked.

"Now," Pain replied.

The two Imps crept from out behind the bushes and transformed into snakes.

"Oh well, he must have been abandoned. For so many years we've prayed to the gods to bless us with a child. Perhaps, they've answered our prayers," Alcmene said to her husband.

"Perhaps they have..." Amphitryon reads Hercules' name from a medallion on his neck, "Hercules?"

Pain and Panic as snakes attack, but Baby Hercules catches them. He giggles happily, hits them several times against the ground, ties them into a knot, and throws them far away. Amphitryon and Alcmene stare with their jaws dropped. Hercules waves goodbye to Pain and Panic before he looks at Alcmene and Amphitryon, and giggles.

Pain and Panic continued to fly through the air before they hit a tree. The two Imps hit the ground and unknotted as they returned to their imp forms, "Help, help, help!"

"Hades is gonna kill us when he finds out what happened," Panic said.

"You mean if he finds out!" Pain told him.

"Of course, he's gonna f--" Panic stopped talking as Pain's words sunk in, "If," He repeated, "If is good."

The ball of light slowly faded away before nothing was there. Eris yawned as her eyes became heavy before she returned to her slumber.

The Muses sat atop a vase with sad faces for the tragedy of Hercules.

"It was tragic. Zeus led all the gods on a frantic search," Calliope said.

"But by the time they found the baby, it was too late," Terpsichore added with her head hung low.

"Young Herc was mortal now, but since he did not drink the last drop. He still retained his godlike strength-" The vase they sat on depicted Hercules with his hands wrapped tightly around the necks of Pain and Panic as snakes, "So thank his lucky star!" Melpomene sung.

The Muses walked toward a vase depicting Zeus and Hera standing on a cloud with Pegasus beside them. The three all appeared sad about what happened to baby Hercules and hung their heads low. Below them, in a house silhouette, were a cheerful Alcmene, Amphitryon, and Hercules.

"But Zeus and Hera wept because their son could never come home. They'd have to watch their precious baby, Grow up from afar," Melpomene continued to sing as she and the other Muses walked toward a vase with Hades on it. He had a wicked smile as the map of Greece depicted his victory. Above him was Hercules lifting Alcmene and Amphitryon's house with ease to retrieve a ball, "Though Hades' horrid plan was hatched before Herc cut his first tooth, the boy grew stronger ev'ry day, and that's the gospel truth!"

"The gospel truth...." The Muses sang together.