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Leokrate's Revenge

Summary:

More or less the Labours of Hercules with an added character being if Hercules had an extra son that survived when Hera had Hercules kill his family.

Wrote this for my mythology class in college about a year ago and thought it would be fun to share it.

Notes:

The story ended up being a little cut short due to the fact there was a limit on how many words the story could be for the assignment. If people like this I may do an expanded version so people can read the original intention.

Work Text:

The worst day of Leokrates life is the day of his father’s punishment, his punishment for refusing the king and the Gods. That night Leokrates went to see his father Heracles, to speak to him, it was going to be about something mundane but he had forgotten what he was going to say when he saw his father’s eyes. In an instant, Heracles grabbed Leokrate’s left arm and tore it off from the shoulder just as fast as his father grabbed it. Leokrates fell to the ground in shock and the last thing he heard was a scream before he passed out.

The next day Leokrates awoke in the home of a doctor who tells Leokrates the events of last night, filled with sadness he sleeps till the stump of his arm stops hurting. During this sleep Zeus looks down upon the surviving son of Heracles and takes pity on him, so Zeus gives Leokrates the strength of the strongest lion as a gift. The next time Leokrates saw his father Heracles was a few weeks later when he returned from visiting the Oracle of Delphi. When Heracles saw his remaining son he tried to hug him and was surprised by Leokrate's new strength when he was able to push his father out of the hug, Heracles let him know that he was going to do his labors as the gods intended.

Leokrates went with his father to visit King Eurystheus with rage in his heart, after all, it is his father’s fault that he was maimed and that the rest of his family is dead, so he began to make a plan. When Heracles tells the King that he was ready to begin his Labors Leokrates made an interjection, “While it is true my father must complete these labors alone I wish to observe and judge him during them, for these labors are not just his divine destiny but also his redemption for what he did to our family.”

King Eurystheus and Heracles, still feeling grief for what he had done, agreed to Leokrates suggestion and so together as father and son they set out for the first labor, the skin of Nemean Lion. When they came upon the lion they knew the beast’s hide was too thick for any spear or sword, so Heracles tried his club. The lion was fazed by the club but unharmed by instinct and ran into the cave it called home. The cave had two exits, so Leokrates stood at the other end with his father’s club, while Heracles entered the cave from the other side. When the lion tried to leave the cave Leokrates struck the beast, both were surprised by Leokrates strength that it turned back into the cave at such speed that Heracles did not have time to prepare himself and the lion clawed across Heracles’ arm before he could choke the lion to death, this injury left a mighty scar that ached so much so that it slowed Heracles arm just slightly.

The next labor was to slay the Hydra of Lerna, a mighty snake-like beast with nine heads and to their benefit, Heracles’ Nephew, Iolas, joined them on this hunt.
Together they forced the Hydra out of the swamp and Heracles smashed one of the beast’s heads with his club only for two more heads to take the place of the destroyed one. Knowing that brute force will only make the problem worse, Heracles ordered Iolas to burn the stumps of the severed heads before they could grow back, and for Leokrates to protect him with his Javelins. This process slowly weakened the Hydra and as Leokrates readies his last Javelin he changed his aim and threw it right at the Hydra’s neck above Heracles, spilling a small amount of its poisonous blood into his eyes as he severed the final head he cleaned his eyes as quickly as possible, he could still see but it was not as focused as before. Afterward, Heracles and Leokrates collect some of the Hydra’s blood for their future advisories, sadly the labor did not count due to Iolas’ help.

For the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh labors there was little Leokrates could do, but he did not waste the time, for the next year and a half Leokrates would plan and scheme for the fall of his father. Leokrates would occasionally visit his father to bring him food, wine, and olive oil, poisoned of course were used but most did little to nothing to his father. The eight labor would be the first occurrence of Leokrates truthfully helping his father, as both of them disgusted King Diomedes' savage nature and man-eating mares, so they fed the King to them. The mares would be set free on Mount Olympus, where wild animals killed them.

The ninth labor was rather simple to get the Queen Hippolyte’s belt, however when Heracles believed that the Queen of the Amazons had betrayed him and attempted to kill him, he found her and Leokrates together where he explained that he was with the Queen the entire time and gave no order to kill Heracles, Queen Hippolyte while saved banished Heracles and told Leokrates he is welcome to return whenever he wished. For the tenth labor, Heracles must get the red cattle from the giant Geryon, his body was that of three men joined at the hip. When the giant found Heracles herding his cattle he tried to stop him, but as Heracles lined his bow to kill the giant, Leokrates freed the Giant’s Hound. The Hound bit Heracles' thigh and caused him to miss, the giant then hit Heracles with a tree, harming Heracles with its massive force. Leokrates, acting quickly, throws three Javelins into each of the Giant’s necks, killing him.

For the eleventh labor, Heracles must bear the weight of the world so the Titan Atlas can get the Golden Apples of the Hesperides for Heracles. While they waited for the Titan Leokrates realized that the Titan may not want to bear the weight of the world anymore, so Leokrates offered to place the hide of the Nemean Lion on his father's shoulders while they waited, to which Heracles accepted. When the Titan returned he said what Leokrates predicted and his father could think of no way to trick the titan, so Leokrates offered to deliver the Apples while he thought of a way to save his father. Leokrates would deliver the Apple but at a slow pace to where when he returned Zeus had forced the Titan to return to his duties so Heracles could finish his final labor.
Heracles’ final labor was to bring Cerberus to King Eurystheus, while Heracles did this Hera visits Leokrates while his father is in the underworld. She had noticed his lust for revenge and he did to weaken his father, so Hera gives Leokrates a glass dagger that can pierce the skin of any man once. He takes the dagger and now had the final element he needed, when his father finished his final labor, there was a celebration, so Leokrates found a woman whom his father had wrong in the worse way, he had poisoned the dagger with the blood of the Hydra and that night she seduced a drunk Heracles and stabbed him in the stomach. His pain was so great that in the dawn he had built his own funeral pyre but none save for Leokrates would light it, so as his father burned a flash of lighting took Hercules to Olympus and Leokrates was saddened that the funeral ended quickly and now had to find his own way, he would go on to participate in many adventures a man now after the eight years it took to complete his revenge.