Chapter 31: Helping Heracles

"Jeez you guys can't take this mission by yourselves! Control yourselves and help Heracles fight the Lernaean Hydra. It's terrorizing people and although it's part of his labours...eh it'll be fine." The Guild Master said. George and I were fighting to do this quest, but we were forced to take this quest on as a team. Heracles was a famous hero and although he is doing labours because he killed his wife and kids due to an episode of insanity. George went to get Dean and Sophia while I went to get Chloe and Cruz. We met up at the teleport gate and went in to see how far we have to go to reach where Heracles is. We were met with a man who was pretty buff. Although he wore a lion skin cloak that covered his face, a bit of his light brown hair was showing. He was carrying a club, bow, shield, and normal iron sword from it's looks. I couldn't see his facial expression, but I could feel an immense sadness coming from him. He gave me the same feeling of power equal to King Arthur or maybe even more.

     "Hello there I am Heracles. I wanted to meet you, but the Hydra is a bit far away from here. I got to say you all look really powerful, but I still don't know if it'll be enough." Heracles said. I couldn't believe that this guy was so powerful and couldn't beat the Hydra. George brought out his hand to shake since it was something he was taught.

     "Hello nice to meet you Heracles. My name is George Salazar. I look forward to-" George started screaming when Heracles shook his hand. Once he let go, I saw George's hand red with the tiniest bit of purple. Everyone looked at each other and silently agreed to not shake his hand. I decided to see if a fist pump would be too much.

     "My name is Vicente Cortez. Nice to meet you, Heracles." I said as his fist hit mine, I felt a bit of pressure. It didn't hurt or leave any marks which honestly surprised me. George only looked at me with a glare as he still felt pain while Chloe was healing him. We all started heading towards where the Hydra was to scout what we would fight. It was a huge beast with multiple heads and I started to feel a bit dizzy as we got closer. 

     "Use skill: Alchemist's Human Adaptation." Chloe used a skill which seemed similar to Shiro's spell. I felt way better instantly even Heracles was impressed so we all got closer. The Hydra started breathing a green flame which was coming towards us fast. We had to split up a bit and retreat to fight it tomorrow. 

     "So that's what we're up against. I can why you have had trouble with that monster." Dean said, licking her lips. She always enjoyed a good challenge to fight against, but was tactical about it. She did have a smile which George only looked at and shivered for a bit.

     "Yeah, I feel like all of you aren't taking this seriously. If you aren't going to fight with everything, then you could leave." Heracles said, in a tone that was completely serious. We went back to a camping site that we set up between the place we arrived and where the Hydra was. Night came pretty fast, but one person had to stay up and watch because the Hydra was coming more and more to the place we arrived. I was forced to take the first shift and while I was staying up, I saw Heracles come out of his tent and sat on a branch from a nearby tree. Heracles had a pendant in his hand and soon after George came out too. George and I just stared at Heracles while he didn't notice or care.

     "What's that pendant?" George asked, trying to break the silence. I felt a bit uneasy as soon as he asked.

     "It's the last remnant of my family that I have." Heracles said, as I immediately remembered what happened to his family.

     "What happened to you-" I punched him in the stomach as George sent one back at my stomach.

     "Why the hell did you do that Vicente." George said, clutching his stomach as I held mine.

     "I killed them in a moment of insanity. I am the worst person in the world. I can't sleep anymore or I will see my family bloodied and my figure standing before them as I scream." Heracles said. 

     "You aren't the worst person Heracles. It might feel like that, but I can assure you that there have been worse people. You seek repentance for the bad things you have done. We were just dealt bad hands at life even Vicente over here can tell you that." George said, which was surprising since he's always making jokes. 

     "I KILLED MY WHOLE FAMILY! WHAT COULD BE WORSE THAN THAT!" Heracles shouted at us. 

     "I killed my sister. The last bit of family that I had and I didn't realize it until it was too. I was a piece of trash after my family got murdered. I tried for redemption, ask George over here. The rest of the 10 and Chloe helped me get out of that place I was in." I told him. Heracles turned his head to George to see if I was lying.

     "I was in a pretty bad place, but in a different way. My parents gave me to someone else to be their slave. I was sold several times and stabbed and killed people to get food to survive. I did everything to survive to get through the day. My slave owners worked me to the bone and had no remorse for their actions unlike you." George said, with a look I've never seen. Heracles simply looked at his pendant as all sat in silence. We heard a snapping sound as we all looked towards that direction. We all immediately shouted to make sure everyone woke up and got ready. The Hydra had arrived at our location faster than any of us expected. We weren't as prepared as we needed to be when the monster arrived. We weren't sure on whether to retreat and hope that it doesn't move faster towards the city or risk it and fight.