Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing on Mount Olympus ❯ The Strongest Man on Earth ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6: The Strongest Man on Earth

Wu-Fei, Roku and Alexa were returning from the bathing pool when they encountered Duo and Hermes in the company of a despondent-looking blond youth, whose slender build and delicate hands made him appear even more effeminate than Hermes.

“You've acquired another one?” Wu-Fei said disgustedly. “Who's this?”

Duo chuckled. “I won him fair and square. He's collateral.”

The slender youth looked even more unhappy.

“No kidding? Some god bet his son?”

“A cousin,” Duo corrected.

“And not a god,” Hermes added. He was grinning from ear to ear. “Hercules made the mistake of gambling without any money or valuables. He lost big, so we took his cousin Iolaus as collateral until he pays up.”

“It's not fair!” Iolaus spoke up in a light, musical voice. “You know Hercules is engaged in his labors right now. As soon as he has time to earn the money through gainful employment, he'll repay you.”

Hermes snorted. “That's what he said the last time and I still haven't been paid.”

Iolaus' large blue eyes grew moist and he sniffed.

“Oh, please!” Hermes exclaimed. He rolled his eyes. “I'm not falling for that either.” He turned to Duo. “Don't trust him for a minute. If you take your eyes off him, he'll go sneaking back to Hercules, promise or no promise.”

“Oh yeah?” Duo eyed the mournful youth. “We could stick him in Roku's storage space.”

“Where is that?” Hermes looked curiously at Roku.

“Umm…” said Roku. “It's where I keep my stuff.” He stuck his nose under one leg and produced a thick book.

Hermes' eyes went round. “Where did that come from?”

Roku tucked the book away. “My storage space.”

Hermes scratched his head. “I think this must be one of those situations where it's better not to ask too many questions.”

Duo nodded. “Wise decision.”

“We're not putting him in Roku's storage space,” Wu-Fei interrupted sternly. “And I think we should probably establish some ground rules regarding just what Duo gets to do with him.”

“What do you mean by that?” Duo exclaimed, offended.

Wu-Fei just lifted an eyebrow at him.

“I wasn't going to do anything!”

“Right.”

“I wasn't!”

“Sure.” Wu-Fei stepped forward and grasped Iolaus by the arm. “You can stay with me tonight. Tomorrow, we'll figure out what we're going to do with you until Hercules pays his debt.”

“But he's leaving tomorrow to go perform his next labor! I need to help him! I can't stay behind!”

“You should have reminded him of that before he started gambling,” Wu-Fei said unsympathetically. “I don't think that much of gamblers, but I think even less of people who gamble when they can't make good on their debts.”

Hermes grinned wickedly. “If you weren't such a prude, Iolaus, you could earn his debt back in a few days with your pretty face and figure. Or better still, I'm sure Dionysus would gladly pay Hercules' debt for a night of pleasure with you.”

Iolaus paled. “My innocence is not for sale!”

“What innocence?” Hermes staged whispered to Duo. “Everybody knows Hercules has unfettered access to his cousin's backside.”

“Th… That's not true!” Iolaus protested unconvincingly.

“Whatever,” Duo shrugged. “Stay with Wu-Fei, but you better not wander off. Until Hercules pays me back, you're my property. In fact,” he turned to Roku, “can you put a stay spell on him so he can't leave this area?”

“That's not very nice, Papa Duo.”

“Why don't you just make him promise not to leave?” Alexa asked innocently. “Only a bad man would break a promise.” She fixed large blue eyes on Iolaus.

Iolaus flushed as he returned her gaze. Then he swallowed and looked around at the others.

Duo crossed his arms with a smile. “So how about it? Are you a bad man who would break a promise made in front of an innocent little girl?”

Iolaus' shoulders slumped. “Oh very well. I promise not to leave my new companions until Hercules' pays his debt or it is paid for him.”

Duo grinned. “That's good enough for me! Feel like taking a bath, Hermes?”

“That sounds quite pleasant.” The two of them headed toward the bathing pool.

“You two better get in bed,” Wu-Fei said to Roku and Alexa. “I don't want your mothers yelling at me for letting you stay up too late.”

“Yes, Papa Wu-Fei.” Roku and Alexa went to their room.

Wu-Fei turned to Iolaus. “Well, since you promised not to leave, you don't have to stay with me, but I'd recommend it just in case Duo gets curious or Hermes falls asleep. Although to be honest, Duo would probably leave you alone if you were really against it.”

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness,” Iolaus said mournfully. He trailed forlornly after Wu-Fei into his room.

In the morning, they were awakened by a deep booming voice. “What ho, the lodge!”

Quatre sat up with a groan. “Who the hell is that?”

“Let's pretend we didn't hear it,” Trowa moaned. “We just went to sleep.”

“Hello, within!” the voice boomed again, shaking dust from the cornices.

“In God's name, shut up!” Treize roared. “Have you no trace of decency in your bones?”

A prolonged silence followed.

“I beg your pardon,” the deep voice rumbled at a more reasonable volume, “but I seek the one called Duo.”

“Somehow, I knew it would be his fault,” Quatre grumbled.

In ones and twos, the entire party dragged themselves reluctantly outside to see what was going on. They found a tall, incredibly muscular man standing on the lawn in front of their veranda. He was dressed in a simple, short-sleeved tunic that revealed the bulging muscles in his arms and legs. His jet black hair flowed in long rippling curls over his wide shoulders. His clean shaven face was handsome, but his open expression gave the impression that he was not the sharpest tool in the shed.

“Hercules!” Iolaus cried. He dashed past Wu-Fei and ran to the handsome newcomer.

Hercules clasped him by the shoulders. “Are you well, Iolaus? Please say you forgive me for placing you in this unfortunate position.”

“I'm all right,” Iolaus assured him. His eyes were shining with devotion.

“Geez!” Duo grumbled. “He could at least try to show a little dignity.” He strolled out onto the lawn, scratching his butt. “Did you come to pay up?”

Hercules flushed. “I do not have the sum I owe at this time…”

“Then what the hell did you wake us up for?” Duo complained. “You could have told me that after breakfast.”

“I was concerned for Iolaus…”

“Not good enough! I'm tacking on interest for showing a lack of courtesy.”

“What?!” Hercules' goggled. “You can't do that!”

“Yes I can. Next time, think twice before you drag a man out of bed at the crack of dawn.” Duo clapped his hands. “I need breakfast,” he called out. “Bring us all the usual stuff, please.”

“I think his offense deserves more than a little interest added on,” Treize growled. He regarded Hercules darkly. “I think you should demand double.”

Hercules' mouth dropped open.

“Don't be mean, dear,” Zechs said soothingly. “Hercules should not be blamed for showing concern for his friend. He knows nothing about us, so how was he to know that the young man has nothing to fear from us.” Zechs picked Alexa up and gave her a warm kiss. “How are you this morning, sweetheart? Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, Mommy.” Alexa wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

Zechs looked at Duo. “So I take it you won Iolaus from Hercules?”

“Not exactly. Hercules just didn't have anything else of value that could serve as collateral.”

Treize snorted with disgust. “You lost your lover gambling?”

“He is not my lover!” Hercules exclaimed indignantly. “Iolaus is my cousin.”

“It's still indefensible,” Treize stated flatly.

“I'd have to agree with that,” Heero spoke up for the first time. “Gambling without money is pitiful.”

Hercules straightened his shoulders, trying to recover some dignity. “I admit I displayed poor judgment last night, but I do not think Iolaus should pay the price of my mistake.”

“You should have thought of that last night,” Hermes snickered.

Hercules glared at him. “This is your fault, Hermes! You said it was a sure bet!”

“And you were foolish enough to believe me. Whose fault is that? Everyone knows I can't be trusted when it comes to gambling.”

Hercules could not come up with a response to that. He turned beseeching eyes on Iolaus.

Iolaus embraced him. “I don't blame you, cousin. I will rest easy among these gentlemen until you can ransom me back.”

“But who then shall accompany me on my journeys?” Hercules heaved a deep sigh. “I do not require assistance in my labors, of course, but the companionship is most welcome.” He sighed again, looking woebegone.

“This is supposed to be the strongest man on Earth?” Heero exclaimed disgustedly. “Geez, I'll go with you just to get you to quit whining.”

Hercules blinked at Heero in surprise. “You will?”

“Yeah, now shut up and eat. Breakfast is here.”

“Yay!” Roku and Alexa cheered. They dashed for the tables where servants were just now setting out trays of food. The pretty young serving girls smiled at the two youngsters. One girl poured a goblet of milk for Alexa while another filled a shallow soup dish with milk for Roku. Duo and Hermes plopped down next to the kids. Everyone else quickly settled around the tables, munching the tasty fare hungrily, except for Hercules and Iolaus, who watched uncertainly.

Quatre glared at them. “Quit acting like martyrs and eat.”

A little hesitantly, Hercules and Iolaus joined them. Iolaus sat so close to Hercules, he was practically in his lap.

Duo leaned toward Hermes. “Maybe they need a little private time before Hercules goes away.”

“You think?” Hermes chuckled.

“I will not allow you to debase the noble affection I share with my cousin,” Iolaus said stiffly. “Our companionship is wholly honorable and decent.”

“Right,” Duo said with a straight face.

“Perhaps we should mention,” Trowa spoke up casually, “that Duo can hear the thoughts in your head as clearly as the words issuing from your mouth.”

“Imagery comes through best,” Duo added.

Iolaus absorbed this information for a moment and then his face turned bright red.

Hercules appeared momentarily confused. “What troubles you, Iolaus? I do not understand.” He looked around at the amused faces staring at him and Iolaus. He blinked uncertainly at Duo. “Do you mean to say our private thoughts are…?”

“Not private,” Duo finished for him. “So why don't the two of you finish eating and adjourn to the room down on the end there? I'm sure you have a few, ah, wholesome and honorable goodbyes you'd like to exchange before you go off on your next journey.”

Hercules' face turned as red as Iolaus'.

Hermes began to laugh. “They act like it's some big secret and absolutely every knows they're a couple. So go and share your love, as Duo suggests, so Hercules can be about his labors. The sooner he gets it over with and acquires some coin, the sooner you can be together again.”

The two cousins looked at each other. It was pretty clear to everyone they were desperate to be alone.

Hercules' cleared his throat. “Perhaps a moment or two alone to, ah, discuss the situation is, ah, called for.”

“Yes,” Iolaus agreed, still flushed. “I would like the opportunity to, um, reassure you about this momentary separation.”

They quickly scurried down to the room at the end.

“They're being naughty,” Roku announced. He resumed lapping milk from his bowl.

“There's a surprise,” Heero grunted.

“Are you sure you want to go with him, Heero?” Wu-Fei asked. “What if he spends the whole time pining for Iolaus?”

“I'll knock some sense into him.”

“You don't suppose he's the kind who starts spouting poetry?” Trowa wondered idly.

“If that happens,” Heero growled, “I'll bitch-slap him into the next century.”

Hermes nearly choked on his grapes. “I would give every thing I own to see that!”

A dozen or so handsome young gods appeared, strolling across the grass from the direction of the main hall.

“Good day, Lord Zechs!” they called. “We have come to spar, as you promised us.”

Zechs stood up with a smile. “Welcome, gentlemen. As you can see, I'm almost done with breakfast. Give me but a moment and my companion and I will join you for a pleasant morning's diversion.”

Treize lifted an eyebrow. “How did I get involved in this?”

“Do you want me to spend the morning alone with a bunch of handsome men with whom I was flirting last night?”

Treize paled. “No!” he exclaimed instantly. He jumped to his feet.

The group of gods arrived at the veranda and one of them addressed himself to Quatre. “Master Sorcerer, Apollo wonders if you would care to join him in his chariot. He and his sister Artemis propose to take you and your companion on a picnic in Thessaly.”

“That sounds nice, but what about Roku and Alexa?”

“I'll look after them,” Duo volunteered. “Hermes and I were going to help Dionysus pick grapes. They can go with us.”

“Pick grapes?” Alexa squealed. “Do we get to eat them?”

“Maybe a few,” Hermes said with a wink.

“What about you, Wu-Fei?” Duo asked. “Want to pick grapes?”

“No thanks. Hephaestus offered to take me to meet Poseidon.”

“Have a care!” one of the young gods said quickly. “Poseidon is always on the lookout for interesting creatures to add to his collection. He might find your attributes too fascinating to resist.”

“I'll keep that in mind, thanks.”

“Say Heero, do you mind bringing Iolaus to us out in the vineyard before you and Hercules leave?”

“No problem.”

“Thanks.” Duo grinned at Hermes. “Shall we go?”

“Let's do.”

“Duo!” Zechs called. “You better take good care of Alexa.” He favored Duo with a stern frown.

“You might want to remember that Zechs also piloted Wing Zero,” Wu-Fei reminded him. He tilted his head toward Quatre. “All those Zero pilots are a little nutty.”

“Hey!”

Duo nodded quickly. “I'll remember that. Let's go, kids. Dionysus promised us fresh bread and roast chicken to go with the grapes.”

“Yay!” Roku and Alexa bounded away happily alongside Duo and Hermes.

“I'm not sure it's a good idea leaving my daughter in Duo's hands,” Zechs said nervously.

“She'll be fine,” Wu-Fei assured him. “Roku is with her.”

“That's true.”

Zechs shook off his nervousness and turned to the waiting gods. “Shall we go, gentlemen? Have you an arena for such contests or will we simply find an open glade?”

“There is an arena for sparring matches. It's on the way to Hephaestus' forge, if you care to accompany us, Master Dragon.”

“I'm not a dragon,” Wu-Fei growled, but nevertheless, he stepped down onto the grass to join the others and he, Zechs and Treize left with the group of gods.

Quatre turned to Trowa. “Shall we go look for Artemis and Apollo?”

“Sure. A picnic sounds like fun. See you later, Heero.”

And Heero was left alone to wait for Hercules and Iolaus to finish saying goodbye.

It was late in the morning when he and Hercules dropped Iolaus off with Duo before they set off on Hercules' next task.

“We have to go capture some wild boar,” Heero informed them. “Hercules doesn't think it will take too long.”

“Indeed, it should not,” Hercules said. He turned a sad smile on Iolaus. “I will proceed with all possible haste to complete this labor and return to you, dear cousin.”

“Don't return without money,” Duo said pointedly, “or you won't get him back.”

“I know,” Hercules nodded mournfully. With slumped shoulders, he departed with Heero.

Iolaus looked after him, uttering a long, wistful sigh. “Does it not break your heart to separate such dear companions as me and Hercules?”

“Nope, not at all,” Duo replied cheerfully. “What breaks my heart are an empty purse and an empty belly.” He shoved Iolaus toward the nearest vine. “Start picking. We're picking grapes for the next wine pressing. This is highly important work.”

In fact, the vineyard was full of cheerful men and women, talking and singing happily as they plucked grapes and dumped them into a vat for pressing. Several maidens were in the vat, stomping the grapes to crush them in the old way. “Bare feet make the best wine!” Dionysus had assured them. All in all, it was great fun as people took breaks to eat, drink, dance and sing in between plucking the plump red grapes.

Roku had switched to his human form so he had hands, and he and Alexa were pretty thoroughly streaked with bright purple stains on their hands and faces. They were eating as many grapes as they tossed into the vat, but no one seemed to mind.

“There will be a great feast tonight!” Dionysus sang out. “Tonight is the Feast of the Grape, when we celebrate laying down the new barrels of wine!”

“Hurrah!” Hermes cried. He threw an arm around Duo's shoulder. “We celebrate by emptying as many of the old barrels as possible! There is no greater feast than the Feast of the Grape.”

“Too bad Heero's going to miss it.”

“That's ok,” said Hermes. “He should be back in time for the Feast of the Full Moon. Artemis and her maidens will dance for us.” He winked at Duo. “It's a sight to see, even if the maidens guard their virtue more tightly than Iolaus.”

“A duel! A duel!” someone cried. “Come and see! Ares and one of the visitors are dueling!”

“Oh no!” Duo exclaimed. “I hope it's not Zechs. Ares looked kind of upset last night.”

“Mommy?” said Alexa, her blue eyes getting very round.

“Let's go see,” Duo said quickly. He picked up Alexa and dashed off in the direction from which they could all now here the clashing of swords. Roku and Hermes raced after him.

They came to a wide dirt arena surrounded by a low fence. Standing around the outside of the fence were several young gods, cheering excitedly. Inside the arena, Treize and Ares faced each other with heavy bronze swords. Both men were stripped to the waist, their skin gleaming with perspiration. Ares' heavily muscled torso appeared to give him the advantage, but Treize swirled around him with light, quick movements, his sword diving in to engage and deflect Ares sharp hacks and jabs. He didn't look tired at all, but Ares was breathing heavily. Zechs stood close to the fence, watching the match closely.

“Mommy!” Alexa cried. She dashed to his side and clasped him around the waist. “Is Daddy ok?”

“He's fine sweetheart,” Zechs said calmly. “It will be over in a moment.” Even as he spoke, Treize slipped in a deft twist and flip and Ares' sword spun out of his grip. It jabbed into the sand several paces away.

Treize bowed politely to Ares'. “Well fought, Sir. I enjoyed that.”

Ares stared at him, utter disbelief on his face. Around the arena, the audience broke into loud cheers, many exclaiming they had never seen Ares' defeated before. Treize accepted the accolades with a slight smile. Ares' mouth worked in angry silence for several seconds and then he stormed from the arena, shoving people out of his way as he left.

Hermes laughed delightedly. “Ares will be gloomy for months now. He hates losing a fight. And to a mortal no less. He'll never live this down.”

“Serves him right!” Iolaus sniffed, standing at Duo's elbow. “He is always belittling Hercules' accomplishments.”

Treize strolled over to Zechs and Alexa. “Did I take long enough?”

“I think so,” Zechs said. “You managed to avoid disarming him too quickly at least three times, it looked like.”

Treize nodded. “He relies too much on his strength.”

“The big ones always do.” Zechs stared appreciatively at Treize's bare chest. “You look good like that.”

Treize smiled back. “Not in front of the baby, my love.”

“I'm not a baby!” Alexa protested.

Treize patted her on the head. “I know.”

“There's going to be a feast tonight, Uncle Treize,” Roku informed them.

“A feast? That sounds nice.”

Zechs finally looked down at Alexa and recoiled in horror. “What happened to you?”

Alexa looked at her hands and giggled. “It's just grape juice.”

“We'll take a bath before dinner,” Roku said.

Zechs shook his head sadly. “How do you manage to get so dirty so quickly?”

“I don't know.”

“It's straight to the bath for both of you.”

“Right now?” Roku exclaimed. “It's still morning. We'll just get dirty again. Besides, we're not done picking grapes.” He grabbed Zechs by the hand. “Come help!”

“Yes, Mommy, come help!” Alexa grabbed his other hand and they started pulling him toward the vineyard.

Zechs through a desperate look over his shoulder at Treize.

Treize smiled back. “I guess we're picking grapes.”

“Yippee!” Roku and Alexa shouted. They tugged Zechs to a run.

Treize fell into step with Duo, Hermes and Iolaus, his shirt flung over one shoulder.

“So why didn't you just whip Ares' butt in the two seconds it probably should have taken?” Duo asked.

“Fencing is an art,” Treize replied gravely. “Performing it well is a joy unto itself. Finishing too quickly takes all the beauty out of it.”

Duo grinned broadly. “I've said the same thing myself, but I wasn't talking about fencing!”

“You're a lecher, Duo.”

“And proud of it!”