Beautiful Lily

Hercules

Henry blinked and he appeared in a new forest. He looked around him in search for Hercules, but he was nowhere in sight. A noise suddenly startled him from above and he looked up to discover a man riding a flying Pegasus. Hercules! Henry quickly emptied Mat out into the open and the yoga mat uncurled itself before him.

"Come on Mat! We've got to catch up to that Pegasus!"

Henry immediately hopped onto the floating mat and they took off like a bullet in the air. Mat and Henry dodged and swerved to avoid lingering branches from the trees as they made their way to the open clearing in the sky. Above the tree line, Henry could make out a tiny speck in the distance; Hercules and the flying horse.

"See that speck? I need to speak to that man!"

On Henry's command, Mat took off in a flash. The wind was whipping so quickly at his face that he regretted not packing a pair of goggles to protect his eyes. Mat flew Henry over to Hercules in almost no time at all. As Henry got closer, he noticed Hercules' wardrobe; various animal skins all with different shades of tan that covered the majority of his body, leaving only his muscular arms and legs exposed. His long straight hair flicked against his massive shoulders and his focused and chiseled face faced toward the abrasive winds undeterred by the clouds that whipped past. Hercules looked every bit the hero that Henry pictured in his mind from the book he read.

"Hercules!" shouted Henry from Mat towards the iconic figure.

Hercules glimpsed over at Henry then did a double-take. His piercing sky-blue eyes stared at Henry as he shouted back, "What the... Who are you? What are you doing up here kid?!"

"I'm not a kid. I'm a teenager! I came searching for you so that I could talk to you!"

Hercules hesitated on the idea of talking to this stranger riding a strange contraption, but curiosity got the best of him. Questions flooded Hercules' mind, like how was he able to find him? And how is he able to fly? Could he perhaps be a deity of some sort? And if so, could he have a message from his father, Zeus? So Hercules gestured to Henry to wait a moment and that he was looking on the ground for a safe place to land. After a few minutes, Hercules spotted a safe clearing and both he and Henry landed softly onto an open grass field.

"So... you know who I am, but I didn't catch your name," said Hercules giving this unique young man his undivided attention. "What's your name, so that I don't have to keep calling you 'kid' all the time."

"You know what's funny?" said Henry walking a bit closer to Hercules, "My mom still calls me kid too sometimes, so I'm actually kind of used to it. The name is Henry."

Henry extended a friendly hand to Hercules, which Hercules took and shook gently.

"Henry, huh? What kind of god are you? Are you related to Aeolus in any way? Because most people don't approach me from the air unless they're a god of some sort," Hercules asked as he petted his Pegasus who was grazing in the field as they walked.

"No, I'm not a god," corrected Henry as he commanded Mat to return to its cloth casing.

"If you're not a god, then how did you get that?" Hercules said pointing at Mat.

"It's my mother's yoga mat. I enchanted it so that I can visit you and ask you questions."

"You have magic?" said Hercules unbelievably.

"You know, you sure do ask a lot of questions for a guy who's in such a rush."

"Well, you interrupted my flight to Thebes and I was making good time too. I think for that interruption I deserve every right to question. Especially since every day I'm getting closer and closer to achieving my dream. You see, I'm on a quest to-"