Chapter 32: Believe

"Shit what's the plan George? Do we fight or do we just run and hope that nothing happens." Cruz said, freaking out. I think he should be able to stay calm by now or at least not utterly shit himself all the time. I get embarrassed when I think that he's beaten me before. 

     "How should I know? He just got here and I'm not sure that coming up with a complex plan is the idea for right now. We can fight or retreat, what do you guys want to do?" George proclaimed. We weren't sure what to do so Heracles started running the opposite way of the Hydra so we just followed. After the talk we had I feel like Heracles lost all his confidence and was sort of an empty shell compared to what the stories of him were telling me. We put a lot of distance between the Hydra and us that we were practically only a few kilometers away from the city. I could see it off in the distance as we started thinking of a plan. 

     "Hey Heracles, is there anything else you can tell us about the Hydra?" Sophia asked since we only have a bit of information. He didn't really inform us about much aside from it being powerful.

     "Well I tried cutting off a head and two more grew in its place. I have no idea how to get rid of it. I can't be here, I'll only mess up and hurt someone." Heracles said, taking a step back. I guess his trauma isn't helping with his confidence either. George stood up from the place he was sitting and punched Heracles in the stomach. Heracles started to breathe heavily as George asked Chloe to heal him. Heracles seemed fine afterwards, but had this weird atmosphere around him that was bumming me out quite a bit. He did stay so that was the best part of that and honestly I feel like George did the right thing to get him back to his sense, sort of.

     "We can try to cover up the hole by welding it with fire like Vicente's sword. Heracles with his monstrous strength can keep him still long enough while we try to distract it " Chloe suggested. Most of us agreed so we were going to use this plan of action. The Hydra arrived as we got ready to enact our plan. Everything seemed to be going well as Heracles stopped him while I cut off and made it impossible to regrow his head. I proceeded to do the same for a few until I saw Heracles seem to lose focus as I was hit causing me to go face first into the dirt a few meters away. Heracles started to step back as I got up to try and stop it completely, but without Heracles' help I only managed to do that to one head which was due to luck. Heracles was clutching his head a bit and I didn't know what to do so I did what came to mind and tried to talk to him.

     "Heracles! I know you blame yourself and think that you're the worst person, but would your family be happy with how you are right now? If you hate the way you are, then change and try to become better. You need to believe in yourself and try again!" I yelled hoping to reach him.

     "If you can do that, then I assure you that your family will be at peace. You can change for the better so tell me Butcher of Monster, what's to be afraid of! Change and become better for yourself and your deceased family!" George said, helping me get through to him. Something in his mind seemed to click as an image of a lion overlapped with his. He grabbed the Hydra and unlike before where it would squirm, it was now completely still. I finished cutting and welding the cut off heads of the Hydra as it stopped moving all together. Heracles made a huge hole which we put it in, away from the city, to make sure nothing would ever happen with this monster. We went back to the city to rest up after the hard fought battle we just had. Heracles said he wanted to give George and I something before we left so we went off somewhere with him.

     "Vicente this is the Shield of Achilles, I've had it in my possession and didn't want to use it. It can block any attack, but the recoil will probably still hurt a lot. George I have some gauntlets made from a powerful material. You can name them what you want since they're yours now." Heracles said, handing me a shield and George gauntlets. 

     "I'll treasure these, thank you! I think I'll name them the Lion Gauntlets." George proclaimed, proudly. I held the shield and saw how amazing it looked up close.

     "Are you sure we can have these? I mean these will probably help you a lot and it doesn't seem right to have these." I said.

     "I want you to have these as a gift and a show of gratitude. Thank you for all you've done for me and be safe out there. Maybe one day I'll be the one telling your stories." Heracles said, as he lifted his lion skin off his head which was extremely durable from what the stories say. His smile was bright and now he had an atmosphere that was brimming with confidence. I wondered if we really did all that much, but decided to keep the shield since it was a gift.

     "We'll see you some time. We're friends now so don't worry about needing to ask for help. All you need to do is be ready and not be so afraid all the time. You were starting to remind me of Cruz." I said, shivering from the thought that someone like Heracles would become someone like Cruz. We walked into the portal arriving back to the guild hall where we reported everything that happened to the Guild Master. He seemed pleased with our work and wanted to treat us to some food which I instantly agreed to. We all went to a restaurant to eat which was incredible, but people were giving us weird looks since we were in our armor and had our weapons on us. George wanted to try out his gauntlets and was playing around by having them on while we ate which got him a lecture from the Guild Master.