[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/gR6oFps.png[/img] [h2][b]"Hercules"[/b][/h2] [i]Fruz Estate, Western Farms[/i] 
[@ReallyDumb][@Yankee][@SSW][/center]
The Faker's gaze looked to the world outside, a smile toying at the edges of his lips in response to the Berserker. A few moments passed in silence before he shook his head, a low laugh leaving his throat. "...no, not at all. The two could not be further from one another. If it is born from hate, then it is far simpler. Hate has an 'end', boy. It has a focus, a finitude to it. You might scream, and rage, and curse, but when the object of your hatred is gone, though the hatred itself might linger, it will fade with time."

His expression sharpened, a fog entering his eyes as a hand came up to rest against glass. "Love, love is different. Love does not have an end, it does not fade away. If you wish to save something you love, your work is never truly done. No...perhaps that's a poor way of putting it. Rather, if your work is truly done, it means that the outcome is fixed, it means that the thing you love has been deprived of the chance to evolve and change. Love is never complete, that is its beauty and its terror."

Finally, the spell was broken, and he looked away from the glass. Now, he looked to the boy king with all of his attention. A question had been asked, and so out of gratitude to his Master and out of caution for the boy, he would answer truthfully.

"The name 'Hercules' was not always mine. I had another name before, a name I left behind, a name that sounds like that of a stranger's now." The words were calm, measured. Each statement was truthful. Indeed, his name had not always been Hercules, but Hercules' own name had not always been such; indeed, he was born Alkeides, and took the name Hercules to cleanse himself of his sins, of the curses of his father's wife. "I am Hercules, and in this I can be happy. I have the power to save the people before me, I have the power to slay the monsters before me. I am, without question, a hero."

That smile across his face became melancholy, a low breath leaving him. For a moment, the grandiose figure seemed small.

"...and yet, this was not my choice. Becoming a hero was something I was forced to partake in, something that I did to escape the curse placed upon me. By becoming Hercules, I defied my fate, I became a great hero and shattered that curse."

This was the story of Alkeides becoming Heracles. One destined for greatness, a man who was set upon the path of a hero before he was born, to atone for sins he had no choice in. Crushing the curse of Hera, he became something great.

This was the story of Commodus becoming Hercules. One destined for greatness, a man who was set upon the path of an emperor before he was born, and who found escape in the name of a hero. Crushing the curse of a crown, he became something terrible.

"But, seeing you, and seeing my contractor who bears a curse of the same make, I can't help but think that, if I was given the choice again, I wonder..."

Those last words did not leave him. 'Would I have been happier being a human?' 'Would I have been happier being a king?' 'Would I have been happier being Emperor Commodus?' He could not say those words. He could not think those words. He could not reject the strength that Hercules was. 

Because, Hercules could defeat the people's enemies. Hercules could save the people's lives. Hercules could make the people smile. Emperor Commodus could do none of these things. Emperor Commodus was a small, weak man, who could only run.

"...that is enough for now. Boy, let us greet these kings. It is only right that ones who believe themselves to stand above the masses bear witness to the sky above the sky."

And so they went.
[hr]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/gR6oFps.png[/img] [h2][b]"Hercules"[/b][/h2] [i]Banquet of Kings, Academy[/i] 
[@Froppy][@wug][@ReallyDumb][@Yankee][@SSW][@Reflection][@BB][@Crusader Lord][@Phlogistinator][@Aoko Aozaki][@Phonic][/center]
Yes, indeed, the time had come! Kings of the earth and sky, now you shall bear witness to something beyond such trivial mortalities! 

"Fuahaha! The great Hercules has arrived to grace this gathering!"

The great fool arrived, alongside those he had allied. There was none of the emotion from his conversation with the boy king, there was merely bombastic spectacle, the desire to put on a show. 

"As tribute, I have brought the spoils of war, the Nemean Lion, reborn and slain once again!"

The object that had been hefted over his shoulder was haphazardly thrown forwards into the middle of the gathering, the pelt of a lion. Or-

...wait, no. 

No, that was definitely a lion costume.

That was definitely a random adult male civilian who had been stuffed into a lion costume.

[color=fdc68a]"...h-help...m-m-me..."[/color]

A hoarse, choked plea left the costumed salaryman, who was evidently just barely still conscious. A lion paw shakily raised itself up off of the ground as he began straining to crawl in the direction of Timurlane, desperation splayed across his face. 

"Hya!"

A mere moment later, though, the hero bravely stepped into action, delivering a chop onto the back of the salaryman's lion's neck, at which point the beast collapsed. 

...shit, was he dea- okay, okay, he was still breathing. We're good. Phew.

"Fuahaha! That was a close one, he was coming right for your throat! No need to worry, though, the Nemean Lion is nothing of note when the great Hercules is present!"

After having saved Timurlane from that inevitable, lion-based demise, he struck a pose, awaiting the applause that was to come.