"Mother! Puh-lease! Don't do this to me." Iphicles begged.

"I'm sorry, Iphicles," Alcmene said briskly. "I promised to take Hercules and Iolaus on a picnic today, but Jania's mother is ill. Her husband is going to fetch his mother-in-law to look after her, but I need to stay with her until he gets back. I don't ask you to look after Hercules very often, but today I need your help." She bustled about the kitchen wrapping food in linen cloths and packing it into a large basket. "Hercules, dear, stop playing with your breakfast and eat."

Hercules had piled his thick oatmeal into a volcano and was busily digging a crater in the center. At his mother's request, he dutifully started scooping up small spoonfuls from around the base of the mound and poking them into his mouth.

"But why do I have to look after Iolaus, too? He's nothing but a little troublemaker."

"Because he's Hercules' friend and I promised to take him with us. And," his mother added firmly, "he is not a troublemaker. If you would bother to get to know him better, you'd find he's a very nice little boy."

Iphicles snorted. "Nice. That's not what the other kids call him."

"I don't care what the 'other kids' call him. They call your brother names, too. Pay no attention to them."

"That's your fault," Iphicles snapped before he could stop himself. "Everyone knows Amphitryon was not his father. That you...."

"Iphicles, that's enough."

"They call him a bastard and they call you a w...."

"I said, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Alcmene caught back the hand she had raised to slap her older son good and hard. She bent over the basket she was packing to hide the tears in her eyes.

Jania had stopped eating and stared at her, she had never heard Alcmene raise her voice before. Hercules paused with his spoon halfway to his mouth and looked from one to the other, puzzled. There was that bad word again and he was sure Iphicles had been about to say another one. He looked at his mother's stiff back and his own blue eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry, Mother." Iphicles was appalled by what he had nearly said. His mother nodded her acceptance of his apology, but did not turn around. Silently, he returned to finishing his breakfast.

Scooping the last bit of oatmeal into her mouth and swallowing, Jania asked. "Where's Olaus?"

"He'll be here soon, dear." Alcmene brushed away a tear and tucked the last package into the picnic basket and covered it with a fuchsia tablecloth..

"Do I have to take this baby along with us, too?" Iphicles grumbled sullenly.

"I not a baby." Jania looked at him reproachfully from big brown eyes nearly hidden under a thick mop of dark, brown hair. "I three. Where's Olaus?"

"Yes, you do, Iphicles." Alcmene's patience was wearing thin. "Hercules, stop that!" Hercules was slapping his spoon on top of his volcano and watching the oatmeal splatter across the table. "Olaus...I mean Iolaus will be here soon, Jania."

As if on cue, the kitchen door swung open and a curly blonde head peeked around the jamb. "Can I come in?"

"Of course you may, dear." Alcmene smiled down at the small blonde boy.

"Hi Iolaus." Hercules waved his spoon at his friend

"Olaus!" Jania slid out of her chair and ran to him, throwing her arms around his waist.

"Hey, be careful." Iolaus curled one hand protectively around a small lump under his shirt and used the other to pry Jania loose.

The little girl poked at the lump curiously. "What you got in there?".

'Show ya."

Hercules climbed down from his chair and joined the two children by the door. Iolaus reached into his shirt and gently lifted out a small round ball of bristly fur. Jania and Hercules had to look hard to see that it had a tiny head and four very short legs.

"Oooo," crowed Jania, "it's a...a...what...what is it?"

"It's a baby porkypine, see." Iolaus held it out for his friends to examine. "His name is Porky."

Jania backed away. "Oooooo. Bad! Prickles!"

"It's okay, Jania," Hercules told her reassuringly. "He's just a baby; he can't hurt you. Where did you get him, Iolaus?"

"Found him yesterday, when I was hunting. He was all by hisself. I think his mama was eaten by a dragon."

"A dragon?" Jania looked about nervously as if a dragon might be lurking behind the kitchen door.

The little porcupine peered calmly up at the faces that surrounded him and then curled up peacefully in Iolaus' hand and fell back to sleep.

"I hafta look after him 'til he's all growed up or he'll die." He looked up at Alcmene shyly. "Can I keep him here, please. I never know when my Dad...."

"Of course you may, Iolaus, I'm sure Hercules wouldn't mind looking after him when you can't be here." Alcmene said hastily. She had already guessed that things were not always pleasant around Iolaus' house. "Have you eaten?"

"Whatcha got?"

"Oatmeal."

"Yeah, I already ate."

"Then you'd all better get started. I have to get to Jania's house so her father can leave."

Iolaus had lifted up the edge of the fuchsia cloth and was peering into the basket. "Is there honeycake in here? Porky likes honeycake"

Yes, Iolaus," Alcmene laughed, "I packed extra. There's plenty for Porky...and you, too. Iphicles, you wipe that scowl off your face. You'll have a good time if you want to. It's up to you."

Iphicles and Hercules took the dirty dishes to the shelf while Alcmene scrubbed the oatmeal off the table. Setting the dishes in a pan of water to soak she turned to the children. "All set?"

"I gotta pee!" Jania wailed. Alcmene took the little girl by the hand and led her out of the kitchen

Grinning, Iolaus set Porky on a chair and jumped on Hercules' back. The young demigod allowed himself to be wrestled to the floor; he rarely used his already formidable strength for fear of hurting someone. Iphicles watched with disgust as the two boys rolled around the floor until the wrestling match turned into a tickling contest with much shrieking and giggling "Right. My weirdo little brother, a grubby little thief, and a baby. Oh, yeah, I'm gonna have a great time."

"There they are." The God of War said to his companions. They watched from their hiding place among the trees as the four children headed down the road on their way to the nearby lake. Ares chuckled to himself. This was such a brilliant plan. His baby demigod brother would be so grateful when Ares rescued him from the 'bad men'.

"Which one, Lord Ares?" the taller of his two companions asked.

"The smaller one with the light brown hair. Grab him at the first opportunity and bring him to my temple. Mind you don't hurt him. Here, Boreas, you'll need these." He handed the man two long heavy leather straps and a chain.

Boreas snorted. "He's just a little kid. I think Patios and I can handle him." He exchanged an amused look with his partner.

"He's a very strong little kid and, trust me, you will need these. Remember the plan. You kidnap him, but don't hurt him; I rescue him, okay. Your gold is in a bag in the back of the altar in my temple. And don't mention my name."

"We got it, don't hurt him and don't mention your name. Right." Boreas shot another look at Patios that clearly said the gods might be crazy, but they paid well.

The two men took the chain and the straps and left, moving parallel to the trail the children were following.

"Okay, this is far enough. Iphicles stopped under a wide-spreading tree at the edge of the lake and set the basket on the ground. "I'm going swimming. You guys can come with me or go further down and fish."

"I want to eat."

"It's not time to eat yet, Iolaus."

Iphicles stripped down to his shorts and made a running shallow dive into the cool water leaving the younger children to do as they pleased.

"Want to go swimming, Iolaus?" Hercules asked him.

"Uh, uh." Iolaus shook his head and looked at the water nervously

"Fishing?"

"Nah, Iphicles scared all the fish away. Let's go exploring."

"Okay." Hercules agreed enthusiastically

"Me too, Want to go with you, Olaus." chimed in Jania looking at Iolaus adoringly.

"Okay, you can come but stay close to us and don't get lost." Iolaus checked to make sure Porky was settled comfortably in his shirt and led the way, Jania and Hercules falling in behind him. .

"Hey, where are you going?" Iphicles called.

"Splore," Jania sang.

"Well, don't get lost."

"Hah," Iolaus said scornfully. "I never get lost."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. The jolly little woodsman." Iphicles muttered acidly, and dove back under water, promptly forgetting all about his little charges.

"Now?" Patios asked.

"Not yet. We don't want to have to chase them. Let's wait until we get 'em cornered somewhere." Boreas watched the children as they turned off the main road onto an ancient forest trail intent on a game of tag unaware of the presence of the two men. "This trail ends at the ruins of an old temple in the forest."

"And?"

"They's kids, ain't they. What kid could resist exploring a ruined temple? It'll give us a chance to get close enough without being seen to snatch the kid."

Boreas and Patios slunk from tree to tree staying behind the children but keeping them within sight.

The forest was hot and still even in the shade of the trees, and the game of tag soon exhausted the children. Iolaus and Jania strolled along chatting amicably but Hercules seemed preoccupied.

"What's the matter, Herc?" Iolaus asked finally, pretty sure he knew, but wanting Hercules to say it.

"Iph said that bad word, you know, the one the people in town call me and you."

"I know. I was listening outside the door."

"He started to call mother a name, too."

"I know."

"Do you know what the name was?" Hercules looked at his new friend. Iolaus seemed to know everything worth knowing.

"Yes."

Hercules waited a few minutes and then asked. "Well, are you going to tell me?"

"No. You gotta trust me, Herc." Iolaus said wisely, "you don't wanna know."

"Okay." Hercules did trust Iolaus. If he said Hercules didn't want to know then Hercules didn't want to know.

"It's okay, Herc." Iolaus said after a few moments. "It isn't true, anyway."

"But why would Iph call Mother a bad name?"

"Because he's crazy." That was the truth as far as Iolaus was concerned because Alcmene was the nicest person in the whole world and anybody who called her a bad name would have to be crazy.

"Hey, look!" Jania had skipped ahead of the boys and had stopped in a small clearing where the trail ended. A narrow pathway wound through the grass to shallow steps that led up to a shabby but still elegant pink stone building half hidden by the bushes that had grown up around it and shrouded with heavy vines

"Wow," Iolaus exclaimed, "it looks like an old temple. Let's go inside."

"Maybe we'd better not." Hercules said worriedly. "It might make the gods angry."

"C'mon, Herc. It's deserted." Iolaus ran up the path, one hand gently cradling the little porcupine. Hercules and Jania followed reluctantly.

They crept cautiously up the steps. The heavy, silver-chased, slightly tarnished door swung open easily at a touch. The interior was dim and cool. The children looked around in amazement. The walls were covered with murals and friezes of grown-ups engaged in strange ritualistic practices. A huge candelabrum hung from the high ceiling and walls sconces were embedded in the stone between the tapestries that surrounded a small shrine. In the center of the shrine a bronze statue of a beautiful woman adorned a raised flower-bedecked altar.

"That's Aphrodite." Hercules said.

"How do you know?" Iolaus asked him.

"I don't know how I know, but that's Aphrodite. And look, those flowers are fresh. We'd better leave."

"Ah, Herc. She's not here and she won't mind if we look around. She is the Goddess of Love and she's s'pose to be nice."

There was no one in sight and emboldened, the children moved closer for a better look. Next to the altar stood a small ornate desk and chair and on the top of the desk lay a parchment scroll, a quill pen and a cake of ink.

Iolaus set Porky down on the altar where he continued his nap unperturbed. "Look at this!" Excited, Iolaus ran around the desk, slid into the chair and picked up the scroll.

"Iolaus, I don't think.." Hercules began.

"Herc. It's only a piece of parchment and there are plenty more here." He pointed to a pile of scrolls in a basket that sat against the wall.

"Well, okay," Hercules said doubtfully, "but what are we going to do with it?"

"We are gonna write a story. I always wanted to write a story."

"But I can't write."

"But I can." Iolaus said importantly. "You can help, and I will write the words."

Hercules and Jania crowded in on either side of the blonde as Iolaus spit on the cake of ink and stirred it with the tip of the quill. He rested his chin on his hand and thought hard.

"Let's see. We got to have a beginning. I know." He started to write, reading aloud as he did so. 'It wus a dak and stomy nite'.

"Oh, that's be-yoo-ti-ful." Hercules exclaimed admiringly.

"Every good story starts like that." Iolaus grinned, pleased with his friend's praise.

There was a tremendous clap of thunder that made the three children jump.

Outside Boreas and Patios were waiting behind a tree at the edge of the clearing when night fell without warning. The sky was filled with streaks of lightning and the sound of thunder. Rain pelted them, soaking them instantly.

"What in Tartarus?" Boreas looked up. "There wasn't a cloud in the sky a minute ago."

Patios glanced uneasily into the darkness of the forest. "Yeah, maybe we pissed off some god. We'd better get outa here."

"Don't be such a wimp. We're working for Ares, remember?"

Hercules ran to the door and pulled it open. "It's raining and it's night." He looked around at Iolaus uncertainly. "Did you do that?"

"I don't know. Wait a minute." Iolaus dipped the quill into the ink again and added to his sentence. 'with halestons'.

Outside hailstones the size of rocks began to fall. Hercules and Iolaus stared at each other and then at the scroll.

Patios was still looking up at the sky when a big hailstone hit him on the nose. "Ow-wow!" he yelled.

"What was that?" Hercules heard the faint cry muffled by the sounds of the storm.

"What was what?" Iolaus asked intent on examining the scroll, turning it over and over and checking the underside. "I didn't hear anything."

"I heard a yell."

"Your 'magination. Hercules, I think this is a magic scroll or somepin' and everything I write comes true"

"That's silly." Hercules forgot all about the cry he had heard and rejoined Iolaus at the desk.

"Well. How you s'plain the hailstones, then?"

Hercules had no answer to that. "If this is magic scroll," he said slowly, "then it's real dangerous. We'd better put it back."

"Are you kidding?" Iolaus looked at him incredulously. "Just think, Herc, we can write a story and make it all come true."

Hercules wasn't sure this was a good idea, but if Iolaus said it would be okay, then it was probably okay. "Okay," he said, "let's just be careful, huh?"

"Sure. What next?"

"Don't you think we should stop the storm and make it daytime again?"

"Oh, okay." Iolaus wrote. 'It wus daytime and the stom wus over'.

Instantly, bright daylight poured through the open door. The rain stopped and the birds began to twitter among the wet leaves.

"Ooo." Jania ran to the door. "Make a rainbow, Olaus."

"That's not hero stuff, Jania, we got more 'portant things to do."

"Pleeze, Olaus?"

"Come on, Iolaus, one little rainbow will make her happy and we can get on with the story." Hercules looked at him imploringly.

"Okay." Impatiently, he wrote, 'a butiful ranebow 'peered in the sky'.

An impossibly, brilliantly colored rainbow appeared suddenly, stretching across the sky from horizon to horizon and disappearing among the treetops. Jania cooed delightedly and sat down on the wet steps to admire her present.

Hercules and Iolaus returned their attention to the scroll. "Now what?" Hercules asked.

"If we're gonna be heroes, we need monsters to fight."

"What kind of monsters?"

"Er...big ones" Iolaus' eye fell on Porky still sleeping on the altar where he had been put.

"He sure sleeps a lot." Hercules observed.

"Yep," Iolaus grinned. 'but this'll wake him up.

He bent over the scroll with his tongue stuck between his teeth and spelled out the words 'Herc and Iolaus faced a giant porkypine with two magic swords'.

They both looked over at the altar. Porky, startled into wakefulness, was so huge he rolled off the altar and lay, bewildered, on his side on the floor, two gleaming swords tucked under his front paws.

"Oops." Iolaus wrote quickly. 'Herc and Iolaus had magic swords'. Two bright swords appeared in their hands. Now there were four magic swords. Iolaus wrote again. 'The porkypine dint'. Nothing happened.

"Didn't what, Iolaus. You gotta say didn't what."

Iolaus added. 'dint have no, I mean any, magic swords'. Porky's swords disappeared leaving him more confused than ever.

"Now what do we do?" Hercules asked.

"I don't know," Iolaus admitted. "We're s'pose to kill monsters, but we can't kill Porky."

The two boys looked at their swords and then at the porcupine. Porky had climbed unsteadily to his feet and now stood swaying in the center of the temple looking around, puzzled by the change of viewpoint.

"Hey," Iolaus said, "where's Jania?"

Jania was no longer sitting on the steps watching her rainbow.

"I'll find her, you figure out what to do with Porky."

Hercules dropped his sword on the desk and brushed past Porky, who looked down at him bemused, on his way to the door. At the edge of the trees Jania stood, staring into their depths. "Whatcha doing in there?" Hercules heard her chirpy little voice ask.

Coming closer, he saw the two men standing, half-hidden, behind a tree. One had his finger to his lips attempting to shush the little girl. Hercules pushed Jania behind him and faced the two strangers. "Who are you and what do you want?" he demanded courageously, with only the slightest hint of a quaver in his voice.

Boreas nodded to Patios. "That's the one. Let's grab 'im."

They seized Hercules, who immediately began to struggle, kicking Patios soundly in the shin. Jania began to scream. Hercules rammed an elbow into Boreas' midsection causing him to grunt and double over in pain.

"Ares was right, this little kid is strong!"

"Shut up, you fool, youre not suppose to say that name."

"Oops! Sorry."

Between the two of them, they managed to wrestle Hercules to the ground and were tying him securely with the leather straps and the chain, when Iolaus burst out of the temple with a wild yell, brandishing a sword in each hand.

"What in Tartarus." Boreas slung Hercules over his shoulder. "Let's get out of here."

"It's just a little kid."

"A little kid with a two really sharp-looking swords. Come on, let's go."

The men ran back along the path with their struggling burden. Jania howled louder as Iolaus came to a halt beside her. "Olaus! Bad mans! You gotta save Herclees!"

"We will, Jania. But they got longer legs and they can outrun me. I gotta think." That only took half a minute and Iolaus' face lit up. "Got it. C'mon." He ran back into the temple and grabbed up the scroll.

'Porky followed Herc'. Porky immediately shuffled out of the temple and ambled down the path in the direction the two men had taken.

"He can't catch 'em. He's too slow." Jania wailed, big tears still rolling down her face.

"They'll slow down when they find out we not following. Maybe Porky can scare 'em a little while we put our major plan in action"

"What's our mager plan, Olaus?" Jania sniffed

Iolaus grinned. "You'll see. C'mon, we'll save Herc."

Jania followed as he ran out of the temple carrying the scroll, the quill and the cake of ink. The swords were tucked under his arm. "Watch this." He spit on the cake of ink again. Putting the quill to the parchment he wrote 'the grate waryer Iolaus jumped in his golden charyet...cheryat...cheryot, and whipped up his prancin' steed and wint to the resque of his frind Herc'.

Iolaus immediately found himself standing in a chariot hitched to a magnificent white horse. The horse pawed the ground and tossed his long mane, eager to be off. "Wow, c'mon Jania, let's go."

Climbing aboard the chariot and pulling Jania up behind him, Iolaus picked up the reins. "Uh-oh, I can't see."

"You're too short!"

"I am not too short," Iolaus declared hotly, "The chariot's too high."

"You can make it smaller." Jania pointed out.

"Huh, did you ever hear of a great hero in a small chariot." He scribbled a few more words onto the scroll 'There wus a big stewl for the hero Iolaus to stand on'. The stool appeared on cue and Iolaus hopped up on it, and helped Jania climb up behind him.

Iphicles was floating contentedly on the surface of the lake when the world went black. Great streaks of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by the crash of thunder. An astonished Iphicles scrambled out of the water, and stood shivering under the tree gazing open-mouthed at the fierce storm that had come seemingly out of nowhere. The rain was followed by a shower of hailstones that sent him deeper into the cover of the tree.

"What in Tartarus?" In the blink of an eye it was broad daylight again. Alarmed, Iphicles pulled on his shirt and pants and ran off in search of the younger children. He raced down the forest road calling their names but receiving no answer. Ahead he saw an unbelievably enormous gray animal waddle out of the woods. It ambled down the road in the opposite direction and disappeared around a bend.

Iphicles slowed his pace. He crept forward not wanting to meet the creature face to face should it decide to turn around. When he reached the point where it had entered the roadway, he noticed the faint signs of the old forest trail. Following a hunch that wherever that animal had come from Hercules and Iolaus were somehow behind it all, he veered onto the trail and broke into lope.

He heard the sound of pounding hooves long before he could see the horse that made them and was thus able to avoid being run down by a speeding golden chariot, pulled by a great white horse and driven by a pint-sized...golden haired charioteer?

"Iolaus!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Iolaus heard and reined in the horse, while Iphicles ran to catch up with him. Iolaus' curls were wild and wind-blown and his face pink with exhilaration.

"Hi Iph," he called cheerfully. "Hop on. We gotta save Herc."

"Save him from what?"

"Bad guys," sang Jania.

"What bad guys and what in Tartarus was that big...thing I saw."

"Oh that was Porky." Iolaus answered matter-of-factly. "C'mon. We wastin' time. The bad guys might be eatin' Herc right now."

Iphicles briefly wondered if he had fallen asleep under the tree and was now in the middle of a really weird dream, but he climbed aboard the chariot and barely managed to grasp the edge and hold on before Iolaus slapped the reins against the horse's rump. The chariot leapt forward and tore off again at a breakneck speed.

They were rapidly nearing the end of the path. "Iolaus, slow down. We have to turn." Iphicles yelled.

But Iolaus paid no attention, only whipped up the horse even faster. At the last minute, the horse miraculously turned. The chariot slewed, tilting up on one wheel with the children clinging to it and then righting itself, barreling down the road in the wake of the horse. Iphicles opened his eyes and waited for his heart to start beating again. The chariot lurched at a wild pace down the road and Iphicles sent up a pray to the gods for a safe deliverance.

Far ahead Boreas and Patios had stopped for a break. Hercules had proved to be a handful even tied up and Boreas had secured a gag over his mouth to prevent him from yelling and biting. Even so, his constant struggles had exhausted the two men.

"Whew," wheezed Patios, moping the sweat from his brow. "How much further?"

"Not far. A...I mean, you know who, should be showing up anytime."

"Shhh." Patios looked back down road, "someone's coming."

"Well, go look. If it's that little blonde hellion with the swords, off him. A...er...he said not to hurt this one; he didn't say anything about the others."

Porky loped along the roadway, having no idea where he was going or why. His first mommy was just a dim memory; he missed his new mommy, who had given him such a warm cozy place to sleep, fed him delicious little tidbits of food and scratched his chin. He was feeling very frightened and alone and hungry, so when he spotted the man on the road ahead he broke into a slow, happy gallop.

Patios backed away. "Boreas! Boreas!"

"What, what?

"It's a...a...I don't know what it is, but let's get the Tartarus outa here."

"It's that little blonde runt again, isn't it? You should be ashamed of yourself. A grown man scared of a little kid. I'll take care of him, you grab the other one."

Patios did as he was told and slung the wriggling Hercules over his shoulder as Boreas drew his knife and started back down the road. He even grinned at Boreas' frightened squawk and sudden white-faced reappearance.

"Run! Run!" The two men fled.

Outrunning Porky was not difficult as his best gait was a rather fast waddle and they soon outdistanced him only to be stopped in their tracks when a tall black-leather clad man jumped onto the road in front of them.

"Halt, you varlets. What are you doing with that helpless child?" thundered the God of War.

"Halt, you what?" Patios asked his partner.

"Varlets. It means bad guys, stupid."

"Oh."

Ares tried again. "Hand that sweet, innocent child over to me and I will let you go unharmed this time."

There was a noise on the road behind and Patios looked at Boreas. "It's coming!"

Area lost patience and grabbed Hercules off Patios' shoulder. "What's coming?"

"That!" yelled Boreas as Porky hove into view around a bend.

The two thugs fled into the woods. "Next time you feel like taking a job for the gods." Patios grumbled, "don't."

Areas stared open-mouthed at the sight of a very large, but obviously very juvenile porcupine ambling up toward him along the road. Behind the porcupine he could hear the sound of pounding hooves and his mouth dropped even further when a golden chariot driven by Hercules' little blonde pal pulled up behind Porky and came to a halt. At the sight of his new mommy Porky also stopped and gazed adoringly at Iolaus. Jania's little face was flush with excitement and Iphicles looked about to faint.

Iolaus looked at Ares distrustfully and produced the scroll. "Let him go."

"But I...I rescued him." Ares began and stopped. 'Why am I explaining this to a kid?'

"Untie him, then."

Ares undid the straps wound around Hercules' body and pulled the gag from his mouth.

"He didn't rescue me." Hercules yelled, immediately. "I heard them. They were working for him."

"That's not true. I...I..." Ares stammered 'Curse these stupid mortals. Couldn't they ever keep their mouths shut?' "Okay, so what." He wrapped one arm around Hercules' neck and pinned him tightly against his leather vest. "I'm taking my little brother with me to raise in my temple and there's nothing you or Zeus can do about it."

"That's what you think." Iolaus wetted the quill and using Jania's back for a desk, started to write on the scroll.

"What are you going to do, write a note to your mom?" Ares sneered.

"No, I'm going to send you somewhere where you can't bother anyone ever again." Iolaus told him sternly and wrote 'go to Tart'rus'.

Ares' laughter died in his throat when he found himself in a huge dim cavern. He still held Hercules clutched against his chest and the chariot, the horse, Porky and the other three children were there, too.

"Uh-oh." Iolaus said. His voice echoed from the high ceiling

"Way to go, Iolaus. You were supposed to send just him to Tartarus." Iphicles rolled his eyes in disgust.

"I don't like this game any more, Olaus. I wanna go home." Jania wailed.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's finish it. It's getting boring and it's lunchtime anyway."

"How are you going to finish it?" Iphicles asked.

"The way stories always end, of course."

Iolaus wrote on the scroll 'The End'. Instantly everything went black.

"What in hell did you do, kid?" Ares voice sounded hollow in the emptiness.

" I don't know," stammered Iolaus.

Iolaus, Iphicles and Jania felt their way down from the chariot and edged carefully toward the sound of Ares' voice. He wasn't exactly the comforting sort, but he was the only adult they had.

"Look!" Iolaus exclaimed.

In the distance a pinpoint of light appeared, bobbing as it came closer. The children clustered behind Ares and watched, terrified. Ares, placed in the unaccustomed position of protector, stood firm, chin high, ready to face whatever sort of terror was approaching. A lean, dark figure carrying a candle came dimly into view and Ares let out a sigh of relief. "Uncle Hades."

Hades fixed the group with a piercing stare and the children backed away from the fearsome sight of the dark God of the Underworld. Even Porky tried unsuccessfully to hide his outsized body behind Iolaus.

"Who did this?" Hades demanded and Iolaus swallowed a lump in his throat. Everyone except loyal Hercules pointed at the blonde.

"I did it." Hercules insisted bravely.

Hades paid no attention to this and turned his riveting eyes directly on Iolaus, who cringed, suddenly feeling like a very small boy and not a big hero after all. "It's not my f...fault." Iolaus stuttered, his teeth chattering with fright. "It was t...this scroll." He held it under Hades' nose.

"You did this...with a scroll?"

Iolaus' golden curls bobbed in the candlelight.

"Do you realize what you have done?"

Iolaus shook his head, unable to speak.

"The whole world...everything...is gone. There is nothing left but this cavern in Tartarus and there's no light here."

"Maybe I can fix it?" Iolaus offered hopefully.

"How?"

"Uh.."

He was saved from having to come up with a plan by a flash of pink light and the appearance of the Goddess of Love, one hand on one shapely hip, the other holding a pink candle in an elegant gold holder. "So this is where everybody went. Whoa, Uncle Hades, forget to pay the light bill?" She giggled.

Hades sighed and rolled his eyes. "As if I didn't have problems enough already. What do you want, Aphrodite?"

"Well, my scroll, for starters, Unc. Ah, there it is." She plucked the scroll and the quill out of Iolaus' hand.

"You left a dangerous thing like that laying around where anyone can find it?" Hades looked disbelievingly at his niece.

"Well, duh, of course not. I was working in my private sanctuary, and I had to leave to fix up a little love problem in Thessaly, and geez, like, no one ever comes there. I left it unguarded for just a few minutes and..." She tried out a very stern look on the children, but broke into giggles instead. "Anyway, I'm totally behind on my paperwork and Daddy says.."

"Never mind what Daddy says. We haven't got time for your problems. What are you going to do about this mess?" Hades snapped.

"Okay, okay, don't get your shorts in a uproar, Unc. Let's see what these kids have been up to." She unrolled the parchment and scanned it quickly. "Oh my, it's a good thing spelling doesn't count. That's quite a vivid little imagination you got there, babycakes." She bestowed a sunny smile on Iolaus, who blushed. "But don't you worry, sugar, 'Dite can fix."

"That's a relief." Hades said. "So get on with it. You can start by turning on the lights."

"No problem." She turned back to the children who cringed. She might be nice, but she was, after all, a goddess. "You." She beaconed to Iphicles who turned white with fright.

"M...m...me?" Edging forward in spite of himself.

"Yes, handsome, you. You're just the right height. Turn around and bend over a little."

"Wh...what for?" Iph stammered while doing as he was told.

Aphrodite plopped the scroll onto his bent back."To write on, silly. What...did you think I was going to eat you?" With a flourish Aphrodite wrote a few words on the scroll and the cavern was lit again, "There, done."

"Fine." Hades growled. "Now put the world back where it belongs and get these kids and that...that..." he pointed at Porky, "whatever it is...thing out of here. Oh yeah, " he threw a dark look at Ares, "and take your brother with you." He blew out his candle and disappeared.

"I will leave on my own, thank you very much." Ares told her huffily and also disappeared.

"Well," Aphrodite said brightly, "the crowd's dispersing. Are you kids ready to go?"

"Yes." The children shouted in unison.

Aphrodite wrote a few more words and the children, along with Porky, the horse and the chariot were standing on the temple floor.

"Whoops. We'd better get rid of him." Aphrodite nodded at the horse. "Unless you want me to call up a shovel so you can clean up after him." She wrote again and the horse and chariot disappeared along with the swords that were still lying on its floor. "What's next?" She asked.

Iolaus pointed at Porky. "Can't you make him little again?"

"Oh, the poor thing, he looks scared to death." Porky was huddled miserably on the floor, shaking, confused and frightened by all the comings and goings. "Not your average fiercesome monster, huh?" she asked Iolaus. "Not to worry." She scribbled a few more words on the parchment and Porky was his normal size again. Iolaus picked up the trembling creature and tucked him into his usual place in Iolaus' shirt, where he settled down happily and was soon asleep.

"Anything else I should know about?" Aphrodite asked brightly.

"I guess not," Iolaus thought over what he had written on the scroll.

"Olaus! The rainbow!" Jania ran to the door with the boys at her heels. Sure enough the rainbow still stood in the sky as beautiful as it had been when Iolaus had made it.

"Oh, that's awesome. Iolaus, did you do that?" Aphrodite looked at the scruffy little boy as if seeing him in a whole new light.

"Yeah, it was a present. For Jania."

"That's so sweet and it's so pretty. What say we leave it for a bit. It can't do anyone any harm."

Jania just smiled her thanks.

"Okay, little bits, time to go. 'Dite's got work to do."

"Can we come and see you again?" Hercules asked shyly.

"Sure thing, but make sure I'm here before you come in, okay?"

"Okay."

Alcmene was waiting on the porch with an anxious frown when the children came running down the path to the house. "Thank goodness, I was just beginning to worry. It's been a strange day."

"You didn't have to worry 'bout us, Alcmene, we was just fine." Iolaus told her with a grin. "Look what we caught." He was holding up an impressive string of fish for her inspection.

"What do you mean strange day." Iphicles asked.

"Well, there was that eclipse. And that awful storm"

"What eclipse? What storm?" asked Iolaus.

"The eclipse of the sun. And a terrible storm, with thunder and lightning and hail. You must have seen it." Alcmene looked at him, puzzled.

"Oh, that eclipse. That storm."

"Did anything else happen today." Hercules asked her uneasily.

"Well, there was this odd feeling I had; I don't know quite how to explain it. I thought I had dozed off, but when Thaddeus arrived he said he had felt it too, like time had gone by and we were not aware of it." Alcmene shook her head. "And then there's that rainbow." She looked up at the colorful arc which still sat in place. "I've never seen one act quite like that. It's been there for hours."

"Pretty, isn't it?" Iolaus grinned at her.

"Olaus made it." Jania chirped.

"What?" Alcmene looked from Jania to Iolaus.

No one said a thing, so Alcmene went on. "Well, the good news is, Jania, you mom's much better today, and now that your grandmother's here, you' ll be able to go home tomorrow." Jania just smiled, torn between being pleased and disappointed. "So, are you children hungry? Shall I cook your fish for supper?"

"Yes, please," answered Iolaus, promptly "We're very hungry."

"I don't see how you can be hungry." Iphicles said sulkily. "You ate most of the lunch."

Alcmene laughed. "He's just a growing boy." She took the string of fish and disappeared into the kitchen.

The children lolled about the porch, tired but happy. They had gotten back to the lake just in time to rescue their lunch from the ants, and had spent the afternoon swimming and fishing and playing near the edges of the lake. No one mentioned going into the forest again.

Iolaus sat on the edge of the porch and Jania sat down by his side and put her arms around his waist. "I hafta go home tomorrow." She said a little sadly.

"Hey, watch it, you're squashing Porky." He pulled the protesting baby porcupine out of his nest and cradled him in the crook of his arm, gently scratching the creature's neck and cooing to him.

"You were so brave today, Iolaus," Jania squeezed him tighter.

"Yes, I was. Stop squeezing me."

"But I lub you."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"No you don't. I don't want you to."

"Why not?"

Iolaus sighed patiently "'Cause you're a girl and I don't like girls."

"Why not?" Jania asked again, dropping her arms and looking at him indignantly.

"'Cause I'm a boy, that's why."

"That's dumb."

"Is not. Look I'm way too old for you anyway, you should get someone more your own age...like four."

"That's okay, 'cause I 'sided I hate you anyway." She kicked him in the shin hard and stomped into the house.

"Ow!" Iolaus rubbed his aching shin. "Girls."

Hercules, who had been listening with great interest to this exchange, came over and sat by his friend. Iphicles had fallen asleep on the bench that rested against the outside wall of the house.

"Iolaus?"

"Yeah?"

Hercules regarded the rainbow for a long time and then reached over to pet the porcupine. Iolaus waited quietly as his friend mulled over whatever it was he wanted to say. Finally, "Ares called me his little brother. Why did he do that?"

"I don't know."

"Iphicles is my brother, but he doesn't like me very much."

Iolaus said nothing because there was nothing to say to this.

Hercules went on. "Do you think he's my brother...Ares, I mean?"

Iolaus appeared to ponder this for a long while. "Nah, he couldn't be. He's really old and...mean. He couldn't be your brother, you're too nice."

Hercules smiled. No one but his mother had ever told him he was nice. The two friends sat in companionable silence petting the little porcupine, while the sun sank below the horizon until Alcmene called them in to supper.

Much later, Alcmene opened the door to the bedroom the boys were sharing for the night. Iphicles was lying on his back in his cot sleeping soundly. Hercules and Iolaus lay snuggled together in the center of Hercules' bed like two tired puppies. A gray ball of fur lay on the pillow on top of Iolaus' head, his tiny feet tangled in the silky curls

She crossed the room and pulled a light blanket over her older son and touched his cheek gently. Even in sleep Iphicles had a scowl on his face. She sighed, wishing she knew the magic words to bring peace to this tense, angry child, and crossed the room to the other bed.

Hercules was curled on his side, one fist under his cheek, his face smooth and untroubled. Alcmene looked at him sadly as she brushed back a tendril of honey brown hair; she knew perfectly well whose son he was and knew also how difficult and lonely, his life was apt to become. She had told no one of what she knew and each day faced alone the fear that his father would someday come to claim him.

Iolaus stirred as she tucked the blanket around him and gently ruffled his curls. Perhaps he would be the one who would stand by her son's side throughout his life and be the light by which he would always find his way back from whatever dark place his demigod heritage might lead him. Somehow she knew that this would be Iolaus' destiny and that made her feel both relieved and sad. Sad because his young life has already been filled with so much undeserved unhappiness, and relieved because she understood how desperately Hercules would need someone in his life that he could trust implicitly. If Iolaus were part of Zeus' plan for his son, then she had much to thank him for.

Porky picked up his head at the disturbance and yawned, showing his little pink tongue and tiny teeth. Alcmene smiled. Porky had dined well on fish and honeycake before lapsing back into his natural somnambulant state. She scratched the small creature's chin as he nuzzled her fingers contentedly before burrowing deeper into Iolaus' curls and falling instantly back to sleep.

When Alcmene entered her own room, Jania was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling, sniffling softly.

"What the matter, dear? Your mother's going to be fine. You'll be going home tomorrow." Concerned, Alcmene sat down on the bed beside the little girl.

"I know." Jania sniffed. "It's not that. It's...it's Iolaus. He doesn't like me."

"Oh, I'm sure, he does, Jania."

"He said he doesn't like girls."

Alcmene laughed gently. "Jania, that's just because he's seven. You wait a while; when he's older, Iolaus will like girls just fine."

Jania looked at her hopefully. "You sure? You promise?"

"Oh, I promise."

Jania was satisfied; Alcmene always told the truth. She rolled onto her side and nestled into the warm blanket. "G'night, Alcmene."

"Good night, Jania."

THE END

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