FH-TW Part 1-Chapter 4

Faithful Hearts: The Wanderer
A fanfiction based upon the work of Andrea Avrett
by John P. Fadeley
Part 1-Chapter 4
What it takes to be a True Hero

We ran into some slight trouble when we arrived at the Coliseum...namely, we needed to PAY our way in.  Marina was lucky to have Donald conjur up some fake year long pass cards for her, Donald and Goofy...and fortunately, the guards on duty fell for it.
Vincent and I would be another matter entirely.
"Look, buddy, how do I know you're part of the Spartan army?" the guard remarked
So, I acted tough and in charge.  "Look here, son!  I was stationed in Troy...you know the dealy with the giant wooden horse?" I stated, "And now, you're telling me that a CAPTAIN in the SPARTAN ARMY can't be allowed to witness the greatest hero since Achilles?!" 
I really got in his face for this part, "Boy, for this outrage, I oughta' have you deep-fried and fed to the next big monster that hits this city!  Do you want the last thing you hear to be, Ya want pitas with that guy?! "
"Er...no sir, captain, sir!" the guard replied.
"Good man." I replied.
"Hold it!  Who's this guy?" the guard shouted, pointing his spear at Vincent.
"Wha...are you as dumb as your spear is rusted, soldier?!  This is one of the big eggheads of Thebes...Vincentotes!" I snapped at the guard.
"Really?  One of those philospher types, huh? Okay, egghead! Let's hear some philosophy." the guard requested.
++Beep! A drachma saved is a drachma earned.++ Vincent said.
My jaw dropped...that's the best he could come up with?!
"Eh, sounds good enough for me." the guard said, stepping to one side.
++Beep!  Thank you, soldier. Keep up the good work.++ Vincent said as he hovered past the guard.
Once we were out of earshot of the guard, I hissed, " A drachma saved is a drachma earned?!  That's more Benjamin Franklin than Socrates!"
++Beep! It fooled him, didn't it?  Not like he'd know what a penny is, anyway...++ Vincent replied, ++And besides, we're in, aren't we?++
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." I muttered as we finally made to the arena, "We're just lucky he didn't ask about the BEEPING!"
Marina and the others were already at a railing, cheering on Hercules as he was taking down Nightmares left and right with his god-like strength, even giving pointers to some swordfighters in the arena with him.
"Man...that's gotta be one heck of a guy." I said, "You know, I'm starting to think we came here for nothing.  Seems like Muscles down there has this all under control."
++Beep! The fact that the Nightmares are here in such numbers, however, does prove otherwise, Mister Barrix.++ Vincent pointed out, ++After all, you know what happened in Hollow Bastion...++
"Yeah, and I told you NOT to remind me." I said.
The wheels in my head were turning, however.  It would certainly be interesting to learn some pointers from the son of Zeus...could make me a bit more efficient at taking down Nightmares..."Yeah, why not?" I thought to myself.
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Night fell upon Thebes.  Many of the spectators had gone home...but Marina, Donald, Goofy, Vincent and I stayed.  Herc was running laps around the arena...his sixtieth, by my count.  He did take notice of us, smiled, and said, "Hi there!  Be right with ya.  Just a few more laps..."
"Quite a guy, isn't he?" a young lady said.
We turned to face her.  She was a beautiful young woman of...I'm guessing 18 years...leaning against the wall near the dumbells.  She had her long brown hair in a ponytail and she was wearing a mauve colored Greek dress.
"Yep...he thure ith..." Donald said.
"I don't think I've seen you guys around here before." the young lady said, "You new in Thebes?"
"We're just passing through." Marina answered, "My name's Marina."
"Donald Duck." Donald said
" 'Name's Goofy." Goofy replied.
"Jiminy Cricket, at your service." Jiminy replied.
Well, what the heck..."John Barrix." I said, introducing myself.
++Beep! Vincent, Vital Information Necessary CENTralized.++ Vincent said.
I slapped my head and hissed, "IXNAY ON THE ACRONYM-WAY!"
"Well, I guess I can play polite, too." the young lady said with a laugh, "I'm Megara.  My friends call me Meg...atleast they would if I had any friends."
"I find that hard to believe." I said, "You don't seem like the type that doesn't have any friends."
"You know Herc in person?" Goofy asked.
"Ol' Wonderboy there?" she said with her arms crossed, "Oh, yeah...Herc and I have bumped into each other a few times.  I just don't think his nanny goat and pinto like me.  Seems I'm too much of a distraction around him."
"Pinto and nanny goat?" Donald asked.
"I think she means Pegasus, the winged horse, and Philoctetes, the 'Trainer of Heroes'." Marina said.
"That's them, alright..." Meg said with a slight sigh, "It sounds like you guys are big fans of Wonderboy."
"Well, why not?  He only happens to be one of the most legendary heroes around!" I said.
"Are you in love with him?" Goofy asked.
"Goofy!" Marina said with a frown.  That was too much of a personal question, after all.
Meg raised an eyebrow and said, "Me and Wonderboy?  Tsh, everyone's in love with him...but...well, who knows?  Maybe he'll get lucky..."
"Lucky with you?" Donald asked, wiggling his brow teasingly.
"Ease off there, webfoot..." I said.
"Uh-oh...here comes the goat-man...I gotta get going before he finds me here." Meg said, backing away.
" It was nice meeting you, Meg!" Marina called after her.
"Well...whatever..." Meg said with a slight smile.
The "goat-man" Meg referred to was a hairy, round-bodied satyr...and following behind him was the "pinto"...a magnificent white horse with a short mane and tail of blue hair...and a large pair of wings.  A Pegasus!
"Alright!  One more lap, kid!" the satyr called out to Hercules.
"I gonna take a shot in the dark and say THAT'S Philoctetes." I said.
The satyr finally noticed us and asked, "Can I help you folks?"
Goofy answered, "We came here to have a few words with Herc, Philoctetes."
"Sorry, but the champ's busy tonight.  Come back some other time." Philoctetes said, "And call me Phil."
"Hey, Phil!" Herc said as he slowed down from his lap around the arena.  He turned to us, wiped some sweat from his brow, smiled and said, "Sorry about before, but you know how it is.  Rule #45:  A hero has to stay in shape. Right, Phil?"
"Darn right, kid." Phil said.
Good grief, he was bigger in person!  Practically a mountain of a man!  Just by looking at him, I knew this was one guy NOBODY wanted to tick off...not unless they had a serious death wish.
"We really don't mean to interrupt your training, Hercules, but there's a few things we'd like to talk to you about." Marina stated.
"How about it, Phil?" Hercules asked, "How's about a short break?  I've been working all day with the Olympics."
Phil rolled his eyes and groaned, "Oh, alright...but remember these two words I'm gonna tell ya: Ya got five minutes!"
This "Trainer of Heroes" was no good with numbers.
However, judging by the look he was giving Marina, I had a feeling he fancied himself as quite the ladies' goat-man.  Then, I remembered hearing about how satyrs tended to take advantage of beautiful ladies...the very thought of Phil hitting on Marina brought my blood to a boil.
"Whoa....on second thought, you can talk as long as you want." Phil said to Marina, "Say, babe, hows about you and me splittin' a pita later on?"
Looking at Marina, I could tell she was not impressed. "No thanks." she said.
Feisty and willing to speak what's on her mind...I was beginning to like Marina more by the minute.
"Uh, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Hercules asked us.
"About the Nightmares, for one thing." Jiminy started.
"When did they start appearing here in Greece?" Marina asked.
Herc scratched his head for a moment, then listed, "Well, I guess it started when I took on Nesis, this centaur River Guardian...then my first big fight with a Hydra...after that, there's been countless numbers of Nightmare-possessed monsters.  I mean, I've been trying my best to show all of Greece that I'm a true hero!"
"By becoming famous?" Marina asked.
"Is there any other way?" Herc asked.
"Well, yeah." I said.
"That's great!" Herc smiled, "I'd do anything to reunite with my father Zeus on Mount Olympus."
"Well...I might not be an expert on what it takes to be a true hero...but I do know that if you want to be a true hero, you have to look inside your heart." I said.
"But..." Herc was disappointed by my answer, "I don't understand..."
"Don't worry.  It will come to you." Marina said, "You'll understand soon.  I'm sure of it."
I had to hand it to Marina...she truly sounded confident.  A smile began to form on my face...she was something else...
"Don't feel so glum about it, Hercules." Goofy said while patting the legendary hero on the back, "It's as easy as it seems."
"I hope so." Herc replied, "I've been fighting all those monsters, hoping to earn my way back up to Olympus...but it turns out I've done it all for nothing."
"But you haven't!" Marina said, smiling that beautiful smile of hers, "What you've done today in the Olympics is one way of being a true hero.  To help others follow their dreams.  I would probabley say you're halfway there.  All you have to do is go the rest of the way, even if you have to push harder than you ever have before."
There was strength and conviction in Marina's voice.  I truly believed what she was saying.
So did Herc, it seemed.  He got up, smiled and said, "You guys seem to be experienced in the hero business, but from the looks of it, you came down here to have a bit of training, right?"
"You read our minds." Marina winked.
"NO NO NO!" Phil shouted at us, "You want the proper training, you should've been here earlier today...no, more than that!  You should have signed up weeks ago to even join the Olympics!  So, I've got two words for ya: YOU'RE TOO LATE!"
"Aw, c'mon, Phil!" Herc defended, "I'm in my time-off for the Olympics...and besides, these guys know what it takes to be a true hero.  I might even learn something new along the way."
"What? From these amateurs?!" Phil insulted, "Neither of them have an inch of muscle among them!"
"Oh, yeah?!", I snapped while flexing my left arm, "And whadya call that, horn head?  Flab?!"
"And this chick here is far from being close to an amazon!" Phil continued.
"What's that supposed to mean, ya nanny goat?!" Marina frowned.
"Watch it, toots!" Phil growled, "I mean, who's the trainer of heroes here?  You chowderheads or me?!"
Hercules, thankfully, stepped in to defuse the situation before it got any worse.  "Look, in all fairness, how about we see what they can do first? Then I can help them out from there." he suggested.
"Oh, alright..." Phil said.
"Great!" I said.
Jiminy suggested that Marina go first "Me?" she asked.
"Don't worry.  I'll go easy on you." Herc laughed a bit.
With that, Marina took a deep breath and held her hand out.  An ornate looking sword filled her hand, with a spiraling rainbow handle and a small circle adorned with two smaller circles like ears at the bottom of the handle.
"That's a neat trick!" I said.
In response to Herc's statement, Marina replied, "Good, because I know I can't stand a chance against the strongest guy around."
++Beep! There are three types of people, Miss Marina: The Wills, The Won'ts, and The Cant's.  The Wills accomplish everything, The Won'ts oppose everything, and the Can'ts won't will themselves to even try.++ Vincent stated.
"Will you shut up?!" I shouted at Vincent.
With that, the fight between Herc and Marina began...