"I fear the Queen's wound is fatal." "I won't let her die!" "LOUD SCREECH" "~ What was that?" "~ I believe it was a Stymphalian bird." "Seize him!" "I am not who you believe me to be." "The Queen is asking for you." "It seems I am forever in your debt." "You nearly died." "Marry me." "~ The city is awash with rumours." "~ Rumours of what?" "That the Queen is to marry Jason." "You're certain?" "Our friend in court assures me the rumours are true." "Leave us." "Surely this cannot be allowed to happen." "Do not make me ask you twice." "Pasiphae?" "I have been weak." "This is what comes of it." "He is your son." "It is only natural you have feelings for him." "Because I held him in my arms all those years ago?" "No." "I will not let that destroy everything we've worked for." "What do you mean?" "If Jason takes the throne, Atlantis will be lost to us forever." "I would see him die before that happens." "Delmos?" "You wish to see me?" "What is it?" "When you appointed me General, you asked for honest counsel." "I meant what I said." "Speak your mind." "Your marriage to Jason." "He is not of royal blood." "I fear the nobles will never accept it." "Perhaps in time their attitudes will soften." "No." "They will sow discontent and it will weaken you." "You think I should give in to them?" "Does that not make me appear weak?" "A young Queen cannot afford such powerful enemies." "There seems little point to being Queen if I must please my enemies before myself." "The throne gives the illusion of power... .. but you need support." "You cannot rule without it." "I also asked you to swear an oath of loyalty." "Being loyal sometimes demands hard truths." "Your union with Jason is a mistake." "Then we will consult the gods." "It is for them to decide whether the union is blessed... not you." "The Queen seeks the gods' blessing for her marriage to Jason." "She fears the people will not accept it?" "She is right to be concerned." "There is much unease." "Bring Jason and the Queen to me at nightfall." "They must make a blood offering." "I can't believe how nervous I am." "Have some wine." "That will ease your nerves." "You can't make a blood offering to the gods stinking of cheap wine." "Fair enough." "KNOCK ON DOOR" "It is time." "Good luck." "It'll be fine." "We know he's of royal blood, even if he doesn't." "That doesn't mean the union will be blessed." "Who can know the minds of the gods?" "They could shatter Jason's hopes in an instant." "Why would you say something like that?" "You fear the gods' verdict." "What if the omens aren't good?" "Do you believe that marrying the Queen is the right thing to do?" "More than anything." "There is no truer guide than your heart." "Exo t'haim' esetai kai esso essetai haima." "Exo t'haim' esetai kai esso essetai haima." "I will take your offering to the sacred grove at Dodona." "The gods will make their will known." "At dawn, you will have your answer." "When we next see each other, we will know if our union is blessed." "No matter what the gods or anyone else says," "I know we are meant to be together." "Let us pray the omens are good." "Even with the gods' blessing, there are still some who will never accept the marriage." "What did the Oracle say?" "We must return at dawn." "Now will you drink some wine?" "Definitely." "Drink up." "Stay here, until I return." "Ei keleai despoina pepoitha." "Monon de tod' alto." "Ara pater panton tod' antipalo popoeken?" "Ar-un suzugian eudaimon." "E phamen uranius." "Tus asteras engelaontas." "We must return." "BLADES SWISH" "BIRDS SING" "FOOTSTEPS APPROACH" "It is as we hoped." "The omens are good." "The gods have blessed the union." "That is welcome news." "Send word to the palace that I have returned." "I will see to it personally." "You dare to violate this sacred place?" "SHE GASPS" "I feared you were dead." "Jason?" "Jason?" "What happened?" "They've taken the Oracle." "We continue to search the Lower Town, but she may very well have been taken out of the city." "Only Pasiphae would do such a thing." "You don't think she means to kill her?" "The Oracle is a servant of the gods." "Anyone who tried to kill her would be forever cursed." "She means to stop the marriage." "With the Oracle gone, you cannot claim the union is blessed." "I don't see how Pasiphae could have taken the Oracle without the help of someone inside the court." "What about the soldiers that escorted her to the sacred grove?" "Their loyalty is beyond question." "I hand-picked them myself." "Widen the search." "Do whatever it takes to find her." "You believe I am the one who betrayed the Oracle, don't you?" "There are rumours you disapprove of the marriage." "Is this true?" "How can I approve when it would weaken the Queen's position?" "So you would do anything to stop it?" "There are those that conspire against the Queen." "I am not among them." "Pasiphae was sheltering in the Temple of Hecate in the Kalabrian Forest, so we should assume that that's where they've taken the Oracle." "We should keep this to ourselves until we're certain who we can trust." "Our friend in court has served us well." "Does anyone suspect him?" "Not that I am aware of." "Good." "I'm sure we'll have further use for him." "You should return to Atlantis before you're missed." "How strange it is to see you languishing in a cell." "You believe you can prevent the union of Jason and Ariadne." "You are wrong." "The people believe that Jason is not of royal blood." "They will not accept the union unless it is blessed by the gods." "And without you, that cannot happen." "You cannot stop Jason taking the throne." "Only the gods can do that." "Your faith is your weakness." "And Jason is yours." "How does it feel, to know that your own son hates you?" "I do not care what he thinks of me." "He would despise you even more if he knew the truth." "I did what was necessary." "You have betrayed everyone close to you." "You usurped one husband, poisoned the other." "And now you would have your own son killed" "~ so that you can take the throne." "~ That's a lie!" "~ Is it?" "That's why Jason's father took him from you." "And now that child has returned to haunt you." "He is your blood." "You've held that baby in your arms." "You cannot deny your love for him." "I have no love for him." "You lie, even to yourself." "I pity you." "Save your pity for yourself." "Why?" "What do you mean?" "You will find out soon enough." "DOOR SLAMS SHUT" "I will enter the fortress alone." "Is that safe?" "It would be perilous for anyone else." "You and your men should wait here." "We are still no closer to learning who may have betrayed the Oracle?" "I'm afraid not." "Who has access to the inner sanctum?" "Only trusted members of the court have keys." "I cannot believe it was one of them." "Then how is it the intruders were able to gain access?" "It seems we have a traitor amongst us." "It hasn't got any prettier." "I thought you might be hungry." "THE ORACLE LAUGHS" "Do not pretend to care for my wellbeing." "You've come to taunt me." "I will leave the food nonetheless." "Holding me here will change nothing." "It only delays the inevitable." "Such certainty." "Was it your fate to become my prisoner?" "The gods do not show me my own path." "Your power resides in fear and superstition." "My power derives from the gods!" "And yet the gods appear to have abandoned you." "How long do you intend to keep me here?" "Ah." "You are confused." "I do not intend to keep you." "I intend to kill you." "Then you will suffer the wrath of the gods." "I will suffer nothing." "You will not die by my hand." "Who is it, then?" "Who will kill me?" "Bring them here and I will tell them their fate." "They will be cursed for ever." "Nobody would dare." "You think you're untouchable?" "You're wrong." "What it is you mean to do with me?" "At last it is I who sees the future." "How you enjoyed taunting me with your... prophecies." "It must be strange for you, to feel so... blind." "Oh." "You should be glad the gods don't allow you to see your own fate." "RATTLING" "LOW SCRABBLING" "No!" "There are some things it is best never to see." "BIRDS SCREECH" "Those Stymphalian birds won't taste Hercules's blood, not today." "~ Why didn't they take her at the grove?" "~ What's that?" "The Oracle." "Why wait until she returned to Atlantis?" "~ It would have been easier outside of the city." "~ What are you saying?" "I don't know." "There's something strange about the timing of it." "PASIPHAE:" "Did everything go as planned?" "~ It was as you said it would be." "~ Good." "Prepare the shrine, clear your men from the temple." "~ All of them?" "~ Every living soul." "You are to remain in the forest until I tell you otherwise." "You have the key?" "It's all right." "You cannot harm us." "Come." "LOW HISSING" "PASIPHAE:" "Oh, you poor child." "I was promised you could cure me." "And you were told there would be a price?" "Yes." "You will do as I ask?" "You are the first people I have spoken to in as long as I can remember." "Alone in that cave, I have felt like I was losing my mind." "All I know is silence... .. and darkness." "I would rather die than live like this." "Take another's life... .. and I will end your misery." "May the gods have mercy on me." "LOW MURMURING" "The temple is only a short distance away." "Why are they camped in the forest?" "Whatever the reason, I suggest we go around." "HISSING" "One look, and I will put an end to your suffering." "DOOR OPENS" "There's someone here to see you." "The gods will have their vengeance." "And you will not live to see it." "Turn around." "It will be swift, I promise." "HISSING" "MEDUSA GASPS" "Why are there no guards?" "It's a trap." "We're walking into a trap." "There's only one way to find out." "DOOR CLANKS IN DISTANCE" "DOOR CREAKS" "(No...)" "There's only one person who could have done this." "She wouldn't." "How else do you explain it?" "She would never do such a thing." "~ Medusa?" "~ Hercules, wait!" "Jason?" "From the first moment I arrived in Atlantis, she was always there for me." "I am truly sorry." "We have to go after Hercules." "(They'll pay for this.)" "Medusa?" "!" "Medusa, it's me, Hercules." "LOW SOB" "Medusa?" "You're cured." "You're cured!" "I couldn't stand another moment alone in that cave." "Pasiphae promised me a cure." "No..." "The Oracle?" "I didn't know it was going to be her." "I swear." "I wanted just to be with you, to look on you with my own eyes." "This is all my doing." "There was nothing you could do." "I should've tried harder." "I should've found a way." "PYTHAGORAS:" "Hercules?" "!" "You must go." "They will make you answer for what you've done." "~ It is no less than I deserve." "~ Don't say that." "~ Hercules!" "Remember the old hunting lodge, in the mountains above the city?" "~ We slept under the stars." "~ Go there." "I'll come for you when I can." "No, I cannot bear to leave you again!" "~ You must, for both our sakes." "~ Hercules?" "!" "I will come for you as soon as I can." "Go!" "Hercules?" "Hercules?" "Where is she?" "Where's Medusa?" "I don't know." "We need to find her." "I've searched everywhere." "She's gone." "She must have fled long ago." "We should return to Atlantis." "Jason has returned." "Where is the Oracle?" "We were too late." "There was nothing that we could do." "She's dead." "I am so sorry." "Surely even Pasiphae would not dare kill her." "She was a servant of the gods." "She was turned to stone, by the Gorgon Medusa." "I want this Medusa hunted down and brought before me." "~ No!" "~ Hercules..." "~ I know Medusa." "She's a good person." "This is Pasiphae's doing." "I do not doubt that Pasiphae is behind it, but Medusa must answer for what she's done." "Please." "I am begging you to show some mercy." "There can be no mercy!" "In the eyes of the gods, there is no greater crime." "Their vengeance will be... unimaginable." "DOOR OPENS" "I thought you might be hungry." "I have no appetite." "You have to eat." "There is nothing more you could do for Medusa." "She is as much a victim in this as anybody." "She killed the Oracle." "She must have been under duress." "Pasiphae must have forced her." "I know Medusa." "She has a good heart, purer than any of us." "It is many months since we last saw her." "Being cursed as she was, it is a heavy burden." "~ What are you saying?" "~ She may not be the Medusa we know and loved." "Don't say that." "Don't you dare judge her." "~ I'm sorry." "~ You know nothing." "~ You are not to blame." "~ Just leave me." "I have never seen him so grim." "Everything that has happened... .. it is all because I agreed to marry Ariadne." "A single decision can have many... unintended consequences." "It is like ripples across a pond." "That's not to say that you're to blame." "Marrying Ariadne." "Nothing would make me happier." "But maybe the price is too high." "Where are you going?" "To try and stop the ripples." "I can't believe she's gone." "I know." "It is too hard." "What is it?" "With everything that's happened, are you sure we should be going ahead with the marriage?" "You think we shouldn't?" "It isn't that I don't love you." "I do, more than I can express, but other people have suffered for it." "The Oracle has paid with her life so that I might marry for love." "If we don't, she will have given her life for nothing." "This won't be the end of it." "You know there are some that will never accept our marriage." "It seems that whatever we do there will be suffering." "Surely that is why we must do what is right?" "You see, I'm no longer sure I know what that is." "The only thing I'm completely sure of is that I love you, with all my heart." "There's no doubt about my feelings for you." "But by marrying you, I put your life at even greater risk." "It is a risk I gladly accept." "We have a responsibility beyond ourselves." "I know that more than anyone." "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't feel the weight of that responsibility." "I know how hard it is for you..." "Then share the burden with me." "Stand by my side as my husband." "Pasiphae fears our union." "Surely that makes it a good thing?" "No good has come of it so far." "Then we will show the good that can come from it." "Let us not be cowed, or dictated to." "You think our marriage weakens me, you are wrong." "I am stronger with you at my side." "You really believe that?" "With all my heart." "You wished to see me?" "I want to set a date for the wedding." "Without the Oracle to speak for the gods, the people will not accept the union is blessed." "I refuse to be cowed by Pasiphae." "If I show weakness, she will only grow bolder." "Perhaps you should take some time to consider it." "My mind is set." "Make the necessary preparations." "Of course." "You're out of bed?" "You were right." "Pointless, me moping around feeling sorry for myself." "What are you doing with the bread?" "This bread?" "Yes." "I'm taking it to give to the poor." "You're giving away our food?" "What will we eat?" "I have no time for your selfish ways." "Shame on you." "Ariadne plans to marry without the blessing of the gods." "That is sacrilege." "You talk of sacrilege." "The Oracle was murdered." "That was never part of the plan." "You must have known that Pasiphae would never let her go." "FOOTSTEPS APPROACH" "It cannot happen." "You must stop the wedding." "How?" "The Queen's mind is set." "You are Poseidon's representative on Earth." "You speak for the gods." "Surely they will not stand for this?" "If you fail, everything you hold dear will be taken from you." "Where have you been?" "I was in the tavern." "I thought you were giving our food to the poor?" "I was, then I went to the tavern." "It's thirsty work..." "Where were you, really?" "I know something's going on." "I don't have to explain my whereabouts to you." "What have you done?" "LOUD KNOCK ON DOOR" "What is the meaning of this?" "!" "~ Search the house!" "~ HERCULES:" "You have no right!" "Seize him!" "Take your hands off him!" "You've been accused of murdering the Oracle." "That's ridiculous!" "Why would I do that?" "The High Priest demands that you answer to the gods." "He is innocent." "Let him go!" "Of course!" "Of course." "How could I have been so stupid?" "That's why they didn't take the Oracle at the sacred grove." "~ Why?" "~ Because they would only take her if the gods gave their blessing to the marriage." "Who would be the first person the Oracle told on her return?" "The High Priest." "Why are you doing this?" "You know I'm innocent." "It is the gods who demand you stand trial, not I." "The Queen will try and put a stop to this, but you must stand firm." "Your Majesty?" "Your Majesty?" "What is it?" "It's Jason." "He's been arrested." "On whose authority?" "It was Melas." "Jason stands accused of murdering the Oracle." "Before Poseidon, you are charged with the most serious of crimes." "I will see you pay for this." "You dare threaten the High Priest?" "!" "What is the meaning of this?" "Why has Jason been arrested?" "He stands accused of murdering the Oracle." "He must answer to the gods." "And why would he have reason to harm her?" "When the Oracle returned from the sacred grove at Dodona... .. she told me that the gods had not blessed your union." "Jason murdered her so that the wedding might go ahead." "That's a lie!" "You were found alone in the temple, moments after the Oracle was taken against her will." "I was knocked unconscious by the men who took her." "You know I was." "Lycidas?" "Is this the man you saw in the inner sanctum after the Oracle was taken?" "Speak the truth." "I heard a cry." "I went to the inner sanctum." "What did you see?" "He was there, a knife in his hand." "I have done nothing wrong." "It was you." "You betrayed her." "You insult Poseidon with your accusations." "I will not stand for this." "Release him." "The most heinous crime has been committed." "The gods have been blasphemed." "You would deny them vengeance?" "I know Jason to be innocent." "That is not for you to decide." "It is for the gods and those who speak for them." "It is for the priests to pass judgment." "I do not seek to deny vengeance." "But it must be brought on those who committed the crime." "You claim to speak for the gods on this matter?" "I speak as Queen, as servant to Poseidon." "You say you are Poseidon's servant, yet you refute those who would do his will." "We all answer to the gods, even you." "But perhaps you no longer think that?" "You believe yourself to be above the gods?" "You are right... of course." "All of us must answer to the gods." "We must all face their judgment." "Before Poseidon, you are found guilty." "In accordance with our laws, you are sentenced to death." "ARIADNE:" "Jason has been found guilty by Poseidon himself." "PYTHAGORAS:" "Perhaps Your Highness could petition Poseidon to show clemency." "ARIADNE:" "There can be no clemency, only justice." "The sentence must and shall be carried out."