Aaah…this is the life! Phil thought as he lay in a hammock, putting his hands behind his head and letting his gut hang out for the rest of the island to see.

Truthfully, there was no one on this chunk of paradise but him, some goats, and a group of nymphs, but that would change soon enough. As soon as word got out that he’d helped Hercules go from a wet noodle to a superhuman to a god, everyone would revere the great Philoctetes!

Not to brag, but he was kind of a living legend, which is what he told those nymphs he’d been unsuccessfully chasing around the island for years. Forget Odysseus, Perseus, and what had become of Theseus. His work with Hercules would be what the world would remember. When the Underworld finally got his goat, he’d wind up in Elysium for sure. And boy, would he have stories. How many satyrs actually got to visit Mount Olympus? He’d witnessed Hercules’s glory and seen the mighty Zeus and Hera in the flesh. Sure, he felt a little bad about leaving before saying goodbye to the kid, but that business with Meg was not one he wanted to get roped into. Geez, Zeus looked hopping mad when the kid had asked to stay a mortal. And who could blame him? After all Phil and Zeus had done for the boy? The nerve! He was just going to try to forget the kid had ever made such a bad call of judgment. Zeus had said no, and his word was final.

Phil closed his eyes and was just drifting off when he heard the birds start to chirp madly. He opened his eyes with a start and looked around. A familiar white figure was flying over the Aegean Sea.

“Pegasus?” Phil scratched one of his ears. “What are you doing back—”

He spotted something slumped over the horse’s back and froze. What was that? And why was Pegasus coming in at such a sharp angle and landing way too fast? Phil bleated, jumping out of the hammock seconds before Pegasus crashed into it and collapsed on the ground. The horse had a gash on his left side and was breathing heavily, which was alarming, but even more so was the woman he had been carrying with him. As soon as Phil saw the red hair, he knew who it was. That dame.

“Oh, no,” Phil said, backing up. “No, no, no! What are you doing here? What do you want?” His face grew deep red to match his auburn bottom half.

That woman was trouble, and he’d had enough trouble to last three lifetimes.

Red lifted her head to look at him, and Phil noticed how pale her face was. She had bruises on her legs and burn marks on her arms. What trouble had she gotten herself and Pegasus into? Hadn’t Hercules just saved her from Hades himself?

“Phil,” Red said, her voice hoarse as she tried to dismount Pegasus. “I—”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Phil cut her off. “I don’t care what happened. This shop is closed, sweetheart.” He looked at Pegasus. “I’ll patch my friend up here, and then you two are on your way back to Thebes or wherever it is you were headed before you clearly got into some sort of scrape.” Red didn’t argue, and curiosity got the best of him. “What happened to you two, anyway?”

Red’s eyes fluttered open, then closed. “Hercules told me to come find you first, but I didn’t listen.” She tried again to dismount and winced in pain.

Phil’s eyes widened. “Hercules put you up to this? Wait till I get ahold of that kid! Telling you where I live! Sending you with his horse!”

“He was right,” Red tried again, pulling herself slowly off Pegasus’s back. “I need…help.” She stumbled toward him.

“Too bad!” Phil said. “Find someone else to do your dirty work, whatever it is. You caused me enough trouble. Why, I…”

Red reached for something in a satchel around her waist and pulled out a double flute. Phil’s eyes widened with recognition.

“Wait a minute,” Phil said. “Is that…Athena’s?”

Before Red could answer, she collapsed at his feet.

What choice did he have after that? He couldn’t let her just die again.

Okay, so maybe he considered it for a split second, but no one could fault him for that.

The two of them were in bad shape. He brought them home to patch them up, but his door was the size of a tack compared to the rest of the joint. Living inside the hollow head and shoulders of a statue had its challenges. He found Pegasus shelter under a cluster of trees nearby, and thanks to some TLC, Pegasus was recovering nicely. But the redhead was taking longer to come around. Red was out for a full day before she even started to stir, but at least by that point, his burn remedies were starting to work their magic. He’d had to deal with a lot of training mishaps over the years, so thankfully he’d gotten really good at emergency care. She’d be up and running soon. In the meantime, he could do some housekeeping and stick close by. The place certainly needed a good dusting.

He was just about to polish one of Jason’s old swords when he heard Red gasp sharply, then start to cough. He made his way over to the bed with a glass of water.

“Drink this. You’ll feel better.”

Red took a long gulp, then looked up at Phil, confused. “Thanks. Where am I?”

“My place,” he said, motioning around the oddly shaped room with artifacts piled almost to the ceiling. He was a bit of a hoarder, but how could he part with things like the mast to the Argo? It was proudly displayed, of course, hung on a rope from the ceiling.

Red’s signature smirk made a quick appearance. “You felt guilty, huh?”

“What choice did you leave me?” Phil asked, his face growing hot. “When you barged in like that, bleeding all over the place, I couldn’t just leave you there.”

Her violet eyes widened. “Where is Pegasus?”

“He’s fine. Patched him right up. He’s already sailing around the island, taking some test flights. Good as new.”

“Oh no.” Red started frantically removing blankets and pillows. “Where is the flute?”

“Hanging right behind you, along with your satchel,” he said, pointing to the wall. “Got to say—I’ve been really keen to get an explanation about how you got it.”

Red opened the satchel and removed an orchid and then a small hourglass with pink sand. The bottom was a quarter full, and the sand on top was falling at a steady pace. “Oh no. No. No. No. No. No!” She looked at Phil in alarm. “How long have I been here?”

“A day, why?” He pointed to the hourglass. “What is that thing timing?”

Red slowly swung her legs over the side, noticing the bandages on her legs. “I’ve got limited time,” she said, sounding frustrated. “And I’ve now lost a whole day lying around here!”

“Hey. It’s not like you had an invitation! You showed up. You want to go? Go! I’ve got stuff to do.” He took the water glass away from her bedside and shuffled across the room.

“No, Phil, wait.” Red sighed and slowly tried to stand up. “I’m sorry, okay? If you hadn’t been here when Peg and I landed…”

Phil folded his arms across his chest. “You’d probably be on your way back to Hades!”

Red closed her eyes as if to block the thought. “You’re right. I owe you one for saving us. And if I had just listened to Hercules and come to you first, I probably wouldn’t have nearly died at the hands of an Empusa.”

Phil fell to all fours. “You two faced an Empusa and survived? How?”

Red raised her chin defiantly. “Hercules gave me a slingshot and I improvised the rest.”

Phil started to laugh hard. “A slingshot and wit? Against an Empusa? You needed fire-resistant armor! And at least three swords, and a bow and arrow to pierce its wings. And a killer escape plan.” He waved a hand knowingly. “Those things lure innocents into caves and trap them there.”

“Yeah, learned that the hard way.” She paused. “Look, I’m not the best at asking for things.” She flipped her hair back, and Phil immediately knew she was starting to feel like herself again. “But that’s why I’m here. So I don’t screw up again.” She looked down at the floor, then back up at him. “Would you consider helping me?”

“Me? Help you? With what?” He shook his head. What was he thinking, even indulging her? “I can’t. I am retired.”

“Congratulations. Look, this wouldn’t be a long-term gig. We’re talking eight days tops. The abridged version of whatever you did with Hercules.”

Phil snorted. “Help you be a hero? In eight days? Not possible. No way. Sorry, lady.”

Red threw her head back in disgust. “What was I thinking bargaining with a satyr? I’m out of here.” She grabbed her satchel and flute and headed to the door.

“Good!” Phil snapped. Some thanks she gave him. Let her leave. Eight days…couldn’t be done. Phil scratched his right horn. “Hey. Why do you only have eight days, anyway?”

Red stopped at the door, not looking at him. “I’m on a quest for Hera.”

“You’re on a quest for Hera?” Phil laughed hard. “You wish!” He turned around, grabbed a rag, and polished a gold shield. The aegis displayed Medusa’s head, another one of his most prized possessions.

Red turned around, her eyes flashing. “It’s true!” Phil continued laughing as she opened the door. “Just forget it. Pegasus and I are out of here.” She made her way outside. Phil followed, watching Pegasus trot toward her. Red touched his mane, and he snorted softly. She attempted to pull herself onto his back, wincing in pain.

“Hey, kid, if you want to stay and recover longer…” Phil started to say, but Red shook her head.

“It’s fine. Don’t want to overstay our welcome. Thanks, Phil,” she said as she tucked the flute into her satchel. She patted Pegasus’s mane and braced herself to make another try at climbing onto his back. “It’s time to go.”

Phil suddenly realized that if she left now he’d never know what this all had been about. “Hey, this quest you’re supposedly on. What is it, anyway?” Red didn’t say anything. “Come on, I did patch you up. Least you can do is tell me what Hera asked you to do.”

“Hera asked me to find her the double flute of Athena. Once I did that, she said the rest of my quest would be revealed, but I haven’t heard a single thing.” Red looked up at the sky for answers. “I guess I thought you were the guy to have by my side no matter what was next, so I came here. It was a stupid idea.”

Phil almost fell over. Red had just paid him a compliment. “But what’s the quest for?” he pressed. “Gods don’t just go around asking for favors without giving you something in return.”

Red pushed her bangs out of her eyes. “Hera said if I proved my worth, she’d make me a god so Hercules and I could be together.”

Phil nearly fell over again. “Holy Hera.”

Red nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”

Phil slumped onto a crumbling piece of the statue he lived in. “That means you and the kid could be together. Like forever.” He thought he noticed her fidget. “No wonder you came to me for help. You can’t do a job like this on your own.”

Red gave him a look. “Hey, I did survive the Underworld without you, if you’ll recall.”

Whether she was up for the task or not, no one turned down a god, especially not one offering that kind of payoff. If Hera had given her a quest, maybe she saw something in Red that he hadn’t. “Have you looked the flute over for any hidden messages or a note written on the strap?”

“No.” Red retrieved the double flute from her satchel and turned it over in her wounded hands. “I don’t see anything.”

Phil thought again. “Have you tried playing it?”

A strange look came over her face. “I doubt that would help.”

“How do you know? Can you play?”

Red hesitated. “Yes, but…”

“Blow a few notes through the thing,” he said impatiently. “Maybe Hera has to hear it.”

She sighed and looked uncomfortable as she stared at the instrument. “Fine. But don’t expect much.”

The first note came out rather loud and pitchy, but then she seemed to find her footing, quickly playing a few notes that were kind of nice. She didn’t play long enough for him to get a sense of her skill. When she was done, she held up the flute and made a face. “Happy?”

“No.”

Red, Phil, and Pegasus turned around.

Athena, god of war and wisdom, stood before them in the flesh.