::Chaos and destruction is what Hades wanted from his new blue minion and that is exactly what he got much to his approval. The first night that Hermes flew off to do his master's bidding was to be his initiation and the little messenger passed with flying colours. Hermes knocked over statues and anything else he could push over onto mortal vehicles or property and he loved every minute of it. Pain and Panic helped him as they could, but they mostly sat back and watched their partner do his work because he was too quick and they had a hard time keeping up with him for Hermes would suddenly get an idea and bolt off someplace leaving a trail of sparkles behind him. It was a good thing that he left this trail otherwise the two demons would never be able to find him.
As the night wore on Hermes managed to do thousands of dollars in damage to the material things mortals held dear. Not being able to resist or do much else, Pain and Panic began to toss lit torches onto some roofs of abandoned buildings making more destruction into the night. The little deity couldn't help but laugh watching the petty humans scurrying about trying to halt this new problem. He liked his task of upsetting mortals and was only too eager to do his best for Hades.
Soon the sun began to rise and fearing getting spotted, Panic grabbed Hermes by his Caduceus and pulled the God away from the area. Pain flew in and also pushed at the messenger who was angrily resisting so Pain reminded him what Hades said about staying out of sight. Hermes reluctantly agreed and the trio flew swiftly back to the Underworld leaving behind the flaming ruins.
As they relaxed in the coolness of the Underworld and Hermes gathered his energies he suggested they go to another part of the world that was still covered in the dark blanket of night and cause more mischief. Though tired, Pain and Panic couldn't help but agree and once again the trio flew off on their dark mission. This they liked for no matter if they did something they weren't supposed to do it still worked out in the end as being destructive. There were no set rules to ruining things so this was one mission they didn't have to worry about messing up.
The day soon turned into almost a full week of destruction and Hermes was enjoying himself just a little too much. He seemed to relish the fires Pain and Panic started so he began to copy them and got caught up in the excitement. Many times the demon imps had to pull the messenger away from his work just to keep him out of harm's way or being seen and to get him interested in other things. While Hermes just thought he was doing damage to mortal possessions and annoying the humans, there was another side of things going on that he didn't even realize was happening.
Belit-Sheri knew, though, but she had no clue as to why it was happening. At first it was business as usual for her by checking in new souls and registering them into the Underworld's log, but lately the population began to come steadily and more heavily. She cursed Hermes under her breath for being such a pouty baby and flying off like he did when she yelled at him a few days ago. She really needed his help to keep things organized and now that he was gone she saw just how quickly her work added up, but it hasn't been this busy in decades.
Halting an impatient shade from complaining for the long wait, Belit stood and strode to the waiting room door and flung it open. Her jaw dropped as she saw the room was packed with souls waiting for registry. There were no wars going on as far as she knew or plague outbreaks. What was happening? Grabbing for a young man, she asked him if he knew what was going on above ground to cause all of this. He told her that there's been odd destruction to cities that wasn't natural at all. At first Belit thought it was gang trouble, but the shade said the same thing was happening in other states and countries so he insisted this had to be something of more higher power.
Belit shook her head and figured he was just a dillusional fanatic and went back into her office. She ran a hand through her red hair and glared at the file cabinet where Hermes always roosted. "Stupid doof, you left at the wrong time," she grumbled and grabbed for a pen and called out for the next person in line to enter the office for registry.
Finally at the end of the tedious work day, Belit began to close the place up and filed the remaining papers away for the night. She leaned against the cabinet and looked over Hermes' belongings and sighed. She wished she didn't chase him away for maybe something was truly wrong with him from being out of his time for so long. Her eyebrows lowered and she grunted out her disagreement. He was a male and why should he act any differently then the rest? There was no such thing as a male with virtues let alone a Greek God was there?
Looking down her eyes fell upon the mythology book that the little messenger always seemed to have his big nose stuck in. She picked it up and it automatically flipped open to the page about him and Megara from being used so much. Peering at the illustration she noticed that the ink was slightly smudged around Megara in the shape of a heart. Belit frowned and closed the book and set it back down on top of the cabinet.
Hermes wasn't being disloyal or betraying to Meg, he just simply didn't recall being with her. If he forgot about his wife what else did he forget? Alot! Belit's mind suddenly became filled with countless things that she remembered Hermes asking her, but she never really paid them much attention because she just thought he was being ignorant. Now, however, she was having second thoughts about it all.
Belit ran to the bookshelves and scanned them in hopes that she could find something...anything about time displacement, but all she managed to come up with was science fiction and she doubted that would be of much help. Mortals didn't really know much about time travel and really couldn't write about it all that great either. She sighed and headed back to her work area and sat down heavily in the chair, resting her elbows on the desk and her chin in her hands trying to think of what she could do.
Zeus would know what was wrong with Hermes, but she really didn't feel like going to Olympus to ask him about that let alone why it's taking so long to get Hermes back home to his own time. Even though the King of the Gods welcomed all deities he seemed to have a problem with any beings from the Underworld going to the mountain top. Another male and his stupid ego getting in the way of something constructive, she concluded then smirked thinking back to Hermes. He was being stubborn and childish about her chasing him out of the office and perhaps it was only because he really is guilty about liking her for more then a friend.
The small clock on her desk chimed the hour softly bringing Belit back into the present reality and made her drop the subject about Hermes and confusing behaviour. She sighed and gathered up her things getting ready to call it a night. As she stepped to the door and took one last look around to make sure everything was in place, her eyes caught the wilting flowers in various vases around the room given to her by Hermes. With him gone the room also wasn't as bright and cheery as it used to be either nor as clean now that he was absent from Personnel. He did do a good job in helping keep things neat and organized and he now proved the phrase to be correct that you don't know what it is you have until it's gone. He'll come back, she decided to herself as she shut the door and made her way home.
Hermes on the other hand was grinning wickedly and hovering at Hades' side. They were both going over the tricks and destruction he was doing up on Earth and the more Hermes bragged about the more the Dark Lord was pleased. Hades rubbed his hands together and glanced at the counter on the wall that tallied the souls he housed down in the Underworld. It was at an all time high and Hades was pleased. He slapped Hermes on the back and gave him a wide, pointed toothed grin, "Well m'boy, seems like you're doing a great job and are back to your old self again. All this chaos and death seems to suit you well my fine feathered friend."
Hermes blinked behind his purple glasses and adjusted them, "Ah, death? No way, man, like that's so uncool and just ain't my style. I dig annoying mortals and damaging their junk, I don't wanna kill them."
The blue flame on Hades' head flickered orange and he was about to spout off at him, but he held his tongue. He didn't need Hermes refinding his virtues along with his memories so keeping quiet and maybe keeping Hermes in the dark about the deaths was a good idea. If worse came to worse there was always the Lethe water, but hopefully it wouldn't come to that. Knowing the blue nut the death toll was just by mistake not purposely, but that didn't matter for at least it was happening.
Hades began to pace the room with Hermes hovering close at his side. He glared at the little deity, but relaxed knowing if he wanted Hermes to stay he would have to put up with his quirks as well. He couldn't stand this nut no matter how he tried. He was just too flighty! With a sneer, Hades purposely stopped walking and Hermes flew right into him. "Would you watch it already fly-boy?" Hades snarled and shoved the messenger backwards. "What's with you, helmet on too tight again?" he asked while banging his knuckles hard on Hermes head shoving the winged helmet down on him.
Hermes growled and flew back from him and tried to pull the helmet off. A smile played on Hades' features and he continued his thoughtful pacing. At least he got Hermes out of his face for a little while. Now he could begin to think more of what trouble he could cause with the little messenger. The possibilities were endless and of course they had all of eternity to pull them off. He could always have him deliver phoney messages to peaceful countries to make them go to war. That would be a blast and he made a mental note to have that plan carried out soon.
Giving Hermes a sidelong glance, Hades made his way to his stone chair and waved his hand producing a big cigar and lit it with a flame from his thumb. Taking a long drag and puffing out smoke rings he then beckoned Hermes to come over to him. "Did you ever give that mythology writer the 'doom service' you talked about?"
A huge smile crossed Hermes' lips and he nodded vigorously, almost knocking his helmet off. "Oooh yeah, baby! Like, I found an old cassette player in a closet down here and I tortured him with those zany hits from the 70s! Man, did that cat scream!"
Hades winced. Music? Oy, this guy really had problems. Reaching out, Hades yanked the little God by his staff and pulled him close and stopping him from singing Disco Inferno. "Listen you bozo, you're supposed to torture him, not play music!" he snarled through clenched teeth.
Hermes winced and lowered his eyebrows, "Eh, like, if you don't think that music ain't torture, babe, then like you got a problem."
Unbelievable! Hades shoved the goof away from him and started to wish the cigar he puffed on was a bottle of vodka instead. He needed to be drunk around this little idiot if he was going to put up with his flightiness. "Look, go bother Cerberus or something, ok? I'm starting to get heart failure here," he muttered and inhaled deeply in his cigar and let the smoke sift slowly out through his nostrils. His bluish flame of hair began to flicker with orange and no matter how hard he tried to keep his cool, he just couldn't control it this time and the Dark Lord suddenly exploded in a burst of flames, scorching everything in his wake.
Hermes zipped swiftly out of the way, but the flames still singed his toga and he hovered in a corner trying to pat out the fire. After he got it out he glared at Hades over the rims of his purple tinted glasses, "Hey, man, like, that was so uncool! You need to chill out."
Hades glided to him and grabbed him by the strap of his garment and yanked him to eye level, "Listen my fine feathered friend, if you are going to be my main minion you gotta start doing things correct-a-mundo and stop acting like such an idiot! This kind of stuff might have been fine for old Bolt Boy, but they will not work for me!"
Hermes grunted and pulled from Hades' clutches and brushed himself off and reluctantly agreed to do whatever it was Hades wanted. Hades shoved him just for good measure and stomped back to his chair to sit down before he ended up setting the whole Underworld on fire. What a moron! Oy, if this keeps up I'm gonna have to give him that Lethe water anyway just so I can reprogram him better, he thought angrily to himself.
Cowering in the corner while all of this was going on, Panic and Pain trembled hoping their master wouldn't spot them, but seeing his anger was more focused on Hermes then anything they knew they were safe and could exit without being seen. They slipped through the door and sadly Panic looked up at his counter part. "Th-the boss told Hermes he's his main minion! Do you know what that means?"Pain rubbed his chin and pondered that for a moment, "Uhhh...that Hermes is the best thing to come around since they put the pocket in pita?"
"No you moron!" Panic cried and slammed his fist down on Pain's head. "It means we're out of jobs thanks to Mr. Light-in-His-Boots!"
The purple imp's eyes widened as Panic's words sank in and his mouth sagged into a frown. "B-but I thought we were Hades' number ones? How could he do this to us?"
"I don't know," Panic replied and began to sadly walk away from the War Room's door. "I just know for sure I ain't going to help Hermes anymore in his Earthly raids. He can do them alone since we don't get any credit for them anyway."
Pain jumped in front of him and waved his hands in protest, "We get credit for them alright! When a screw-up happens we get blamed! Now that Hermes is around we're getting pushed farther and farther from Hades. It's not fair and the only time Hades pays us any mind now is when something messes up!"
Panic flattened his long pointed ears and nodded slowly, "Yeah, we get our behinds fried for that bald creep! Oh man, what I wouldn't do to get him out of here and back to Olympus where he belongs so we can be Hades number one imps again!"
"That's it!" Pain cried almost knocking his friend over in his excitement. He reached forward and grabbed the little demon by the shoulders and shook him. "Don't you see? We get rid of the geek and things will be back to normal for us again!"
The green imp scratched his head and thought about that. It sounded easy enough, but there was no true way to launch such a plan without getting in trouble. Feeding Hermes to Cerberus wouldn't prove anything and neither would locking him in the place Hades kept the person who created Barney the Purple Dinosaur for that matter. They needed a way to get rid of Hermes for good without it lashing back on them.
Suddenly Panic found a faint thought in his mind. If they sent Hermes back to his past all would go back to normal! His ears perked up and he nervously began to skitter around until Pain hit him in the head to stop him. Panic grinned widely and stated his plan, "Listen, we have to somehow get him back to his own time again. Don't you remember what Zeus said that day he brought Hermes here?" Pain shook his head, but Panic was mostly making a statement that really didn't need an answer. "He said that once Hermes goes home everything that happened while he was here will be erased as if he was never here! Oh, we gotta go find Zeus!"
Pain smacked his counterpart again and glared at him. "What are we going to do? We can't just waltz up to the Big Guy and be like, Hey, we got Hermes prisoner down here in the Underworld and we need you to get him out already. You know we aren't allowed on Olympus anyway!"
Panic lowered his brows and thought about it and winced imagining he and Pain being used as target practice for aiding Hades in hiding Hermes even though it was their job to be naughty. No, they couldn't go to Zeus and there was no way they would go hunt down Cronos. Suddenly he perked up again and began hopping up and down, his claws clicking on the stone ground. "Belit will do it!" he cried.
"Belit? She paid us to keep our mouths shut about where Hermes is and now look at what happened. She won't be happy to see us, Panic."
He shrugged and grabbed Pain by his pudgy arm and ran with him down a tunnel leading to Personnel. "So what? She's the only hope you and I have and she's much more understanding then Bolt Boy. Don't forget, our jobs are at stake here!"
Belit-Sheri was sitting at her desk writing in a large book when she heard the door open. She sighed and set her pen down and mustered up the cheesiest grin she could for the next poor soul to wander into her office. She waited and nothing entered through the door. Grumbling, she stood and was about to head to the door to slam it shut when she tripped over two imps. Not being in any mood to play games she reached down and grabbed them by their necks and hoisted them into the air. "What do you creeps want?"
They flinched in her grip, but Panic managed to squeak out, "P-please, we know where Hermes is and we need your help!"
"Y-yeah, Belit," Pain added. "H-hades has him and the blue guy's his minion now. You gotta get him back to his own time!"
"Ugh! I was trying to get him back to his own time before you dolts!" Belit shouted and threw them down to the floor before heading to the door and slamming it shut. "Things would have went fine if you guys didn't stab me in the back! I paid you to keep quiet about him until Zeus came for him and look at what you did. It's your own fault that Hades has him so for that you're gonna have to figure this out on your own." She glared coldly at them and made her way back to her desk and heavily sat down. "Now, if you excuse me I have work to do."
Pain and Panic looked nervously at each other. This isn't how it was supposed to happen. Panic flew up on Belit's desk and dropped to his knees. "Please, Belit! We can't do this without you! We only told Hades where Hermes was because he threatened to toss us in the fire pits for all of eternity and I'm sorry, but my life is more important then some money." He blinked in shock as that came from his mouth, but he managed a convincing smile to Belit hoping she'd buy his plea.
"Y-yeah, Belit, please!" Pain chimed in and landed on the desk next to Panic. "Won't you help your little blue boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend? He is not my boyfriend!" she growled and backhanded the purple imp right off her desk. "He's a pal, yeah, but that's as far as anything went, got it?" She smiled satisfied that Pain was cowering and then she glared at Panic who flinched and put his arms up over his face. "What does he want with Hermes anyway? I mean, it's not like Hermes would willingly join him if you know what I mean."
Panic swallowed hard and shuddered slightly. "W-well, Zeus said that the longer Hermes is here and out of his own time the more he'd forget th-things." He then paused and looked timidly around as if he feared Hades was lurking in the shadows someplace. Taking a deep breath Panic continued. "H-hades wanted to use that against Featherfoot and bend him into something bad so he'd want to stay down here and mess up the past b-because if Hermes never gets home that could mean alot of good things for Hades."
"Like another Olympus take over," Belit sighed and shook her head. It really wasn't Hermes' fault that he was getting forgetful and his forgetting Meg wasn't intentional afterall. She felt horrible for jumping to conclusions like she did and for doubting the little messenger. She also felt guilty for waiting so many weeks to ask Zeus what was taking so long in finding Cronos.
Glaring back at Panic she asked him if he knew about why Zeus hasn't contacted Hades and Panic eagerly nodded his head saying that Zeus has been trying to get messages down here all the time, but since the present Hermes couldn't deliver them and Iris refused to come down to the Underworld, Zeus sent cherubs to which Hades captured and locked up.
Belit-Sheri slammed her fists on her desk and grabbed Panic by the neck and reached down for Pain. "Fine, if that's the kind of game Hades wants to play then I'm going to be the longshot that takes the trophy. C'mon you guys, we're going to Olympus now and explain everything to Zeus. Nobody messes with my past or future!" The imps squirmed in her hands not willing to go, but with a snap of the Goddess' fingers they disappeared and were on their way to Olympus.
Hours later Hades found himself busy plotting the next act of chaos with Hermes when a sudden flash of lightning followed by a boom of thunder filled the War Room. Both Dark Lord and messenger flinched and looked up to see Zeus and Cronos standing there with a scowling Belit cradling two frightened imps in her arms.
"You! What did I tell you about barging in here with uninvited guests, huh?" Hades cried and stormed forward, his hair crackling in orange. He grabbed for Belit, but Zeus deflected him and pushed him back.
"Easy there, Hades, she's only trying to right the wrongs you yet again did with time," Zeus said as calmly as he could.
Cronos stepped forward and poked Hades in the chest and grumbled, "You can't keep doing this, Hades. Hermes needs to go home and he needs to go home now."
Hades glared at him and swatted his hand away like a gnat. "Fine, fine, but I think you should ask him yourself if he even wants to go home. Hey, Blue Boy c'mere." Hermes flitted to his boss' side and held his three-pronged staff tightly in both hands just in case he needed to protect his master. "Blue Boy, these three stooges want to take you someplace else to live. Someplace far from here and away from me. Do you want to go?"
Hermes lowered his dark blue eyebrows and shook his head. "Ah, no man, like, this is where I belong." He then spotted Belit and flew to her and poked her on the top of her head with the end of his staff. "You're that nutty chick that was telling me all those lies wacky stuff like that. Eh, you told me Hades is not to be trusted, but babe, he's so kicky!"
Hades rolled his eyes hearing Hermes and shrugged. "So you see, Zeus, he doesn't want to leave. He's perfectly happy here if you know what I mean. Now, why would you want to force him into doing something he doesn't want to do?"
"Hades you know he can't stay here!" Belit shouted and dropped the imps to the floor and grabbed Hermes by the front of his black toga. "Look at him! He's not even the same! He's not smiling and acting all stupid and fun. You could mess things up royally if he isn't allowed to go back home and you know it! Just because you have ideas on what you hope things will be like by messing up the past doesn't mean it's going to happen that way."
"She's right, Hades," Zeus continued. "Now let Hermes go home." He then nodded to Cronos who waved his hands causing a big yellow portal to open up in the War Room. "Come on, Hermes, play time is over," Cronos nodded to the portal. "Time for you to get home and correct this fiasco."
Hermes flew back and hid behind Hades. "No way you square! I ain't going! This is my home and I ain't leaving it!" He then flew around to Zeus and whacked him hard in the head with his staff. "That's for kicking me outta Olympus in the first place. Do you think I really want to go through that again?"
"Kicking you out? Hermes, Hades is making lies up to you so you won't go back to your own time." He reached out to grab the messenger, but he was too quick and he zipped out of reach, taunting the King of the Gods.
Cronos glared at Hades. "Calm him down and get him in that portal right this instant! It's bad enough it's your fault he's here in the first place, but...OW!" He winced in pain and rubbed his head while looking around to see what stuck him.
Hovering about three feet away was Hermes, forked staff in his hands and a nasty look on his face. "Beat it you square! I ain't leaving anyplace! Like, this is my home and you cats can't make me go."
"Hermes you dope! You don't belong here. Don't you get it? Hades tricked you now like he did back from the time you are really from," Belit stepped in. "You belong over a thousand years in the past. This isn't where you belong and if you stay you are going to mess up alot of things and break some people's hearts from your own time."
The blue messenger snorted and flitted to her. "You're just a nutty chick. The same nut that keeps telling me we're married and that Hades is one gone cat." He then lowered his glasses and looked at her over the rims. "I don't dig chicks, babe, especially nutty ones like you and for sure I ain't gonna listen to you."
Belit grabbed for him seeing he was being impossible, but he gracefully flew out of her reach and stuck his tongue out while flying back to Hades side, resting his elbow on the Lord of the Underworld's shoulder. A smug look formed on Hades' face and he chuckled. "See, he doesn't wanna go! What can I say? Now, will you clowns scram and let me and my Messenger God get back to what we were doing? We're very busy."
Cronos inhaled deeply and grabbed Hades by the shoulder and once more commanded that Hermes be handed over and suddenly a full blown arguement ensued. Belit shook her head at how stupidly difficult this was turning out to be. How hard could it be to grab a small deity and shove him through a portal? She glanced to the pulsating yellow light and frowned for it looked like it was getting smaller. Continuing to look at it she found she was right. The portal was indeed getting smaller.
She knew that this was starting to get critical. Belit didn't know much about time travel and wasn't sure if the portal was something that Cronos could make whenever he wanted, but she wasn't willing to find out. Something had to be done now and fast if Hermes was ever going to get home to his own time frame. However, with the heat of the arguement it would seem hopeless that any of them would listen to her, especially Hermes.
Suddenly an idea hit her and she trotted towards Zeus and grabbed him by his arm and pulled at him until he turned his attentions to her. "Belit, can't this wait?" he asked gruffly.
Belit-Sheri shook her head, "No, it's urgent! I have an idea." The Goddess kept pulling until Zeus finally stepped from the arguement and she was able to tell him her thoughts in private and with a little luck and Divine Intervention this plan would work.::
Chapter Sixteen
