It had been over a week since Heracles' encounter with Gaia. It was now evident and clear to him that he felt something strong for the woman. Ever since he walked out of that shop, Gaia had always been on his mind and he always felt a strong urge to see her all the time. He was currently trailing a good distance after the woman in a market. He had been keeping watch on her for the past week, ensuring she was safe like Lord Asmodeus had ordered. However, he soon found pleasure in the whole idea of protecting and keeping watch of her for the next six or seven months to come. He had been tasked to keep watch on her until she at least gave birth. This greatly pleased him. At least he could savor the good moments of watching her from afar if not closely.
His gaze followed her as she moved about examining the vegetables displayed on the tables. From afar, he saw some men who seemed suspicious to him. They had been trailing after her for some time now. This put the latter on urge and he tightened his fist and frowned. He observed the men for a while and noticed they only moved when Gaia did. His hunch was right. They were indeed following her.
He followed the woman and the trio, keeping vigilant watch on them to not to lose track of them. Gaia on the other hand, went about buying and bargaining here and there, still not haven taken note of the fact that some men had been following her for some time now. Once she was done, with her bags in both hands, she walked to the street where she stood and waited for a taxi.
"Hello beautiful." She heard someone say and she instantly turned to find a man walking towards her. Something about the way he spoke and smiled rang the warning bells loudly in her head. She moved back about three steps but hit her back against a wall. She turned to it and found another man smiling sheepishly down at her. Gaia frowned and darted her eyes between the duo. It was very clear to her now that the duo were up to no good.
Quickly, she pushed one aside and dashed for the road, dropping her bags to the floor. Gaia ran as fast as she could hoping to reach salvation but she only turned her head to look behind and found that three men were now chasing after her. What do they want from her? She pondered with a deep frown while she continued running.
"Oh baby, where do you think you are going? Come back here to papa." She heard one say. She imagined him say it with a very devious smile, flashing his brown teeth in satisfaction and felt disgusted. The woman looked around her in panic, saw a narrow pathway lying between two large buildings, and dashed for it not even sure where it lead to. Gaia in her state of panic found that she had made her way to the end of her journey. The narrow path lead to nowhere but a giant wall staring down at her. "No."
Her shoulders dropped. She turned around and her face fell at the satisfying looks on the men's faces as they neared her. Gaia's eyes welled. What was she going to do, cornered here in a place like this? Her heart was thumping hard against her chest at the danger upon her head and her child's. She caressed her belly.
"Aw, is baby feeling sad?" The man to her right spoke, earning himself mocking laughter from the other two. He neared her and sharply inhaled the sweet flagrance of the spray she wore around her neck. Gaia drew back but the man was quick enough to grab hold her left hand. She gasped and tried to peel herself from his strong grip, but the man would not budge. He smirked down at her.
"Don't touch me, you bastard." Gaia warned and spat on another man in his attempt to grab hold of her other hand. Annoyed, the former wiped the spit from his face and sent the back of his hand flying to her face. Gaia screamed, drew her head back and squeezed in her face, awaiting the pain to quickly shoot after the hit- but the slap never came.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you to never mess with women?" A very deep yet familiar voice sounded in Gaia's ears. Her eyes shot opened only to find her savior in the person of Heracles.
"What the hell? Who are you?" The man spoke and tried to yank himself from Heracles strong grip. Heracles had walked in just in time to grab hold of the man's wrist before he could deliver his slap.
"Let go of me." The smirk that was once on the man's face was now on Heracles' lips. He held the man's collar and lifted him high above the ground. The man's legs dangled in the air with the veins on his forehead bulging. "Let…let go." He struggled to speak.
"Sure. Your wish is my command." Heracles announced and tossed the former over to the wall. The remaining men watched in puzzlement as their counterpart crashed into the wall with a thud and fell unconscious. The one whom was still holding unto Gaia's wrist abruptly let go and stormed towards Heracles. However, Heracles suddenly disappeared from sight, appearing right behind the former and smacked him hard on the head. The man fell limply to the ground unconscious.
"Your turn." Heracles announced and turned to the last one with his legs trembling in fear. A devilish smile formed on Heracles' face as he walked steadily to him. "Pow." He made the sound of a fired gun and instantly disappeared from sight. The man on impulse turned to his back and met with a strong punch in his face. The blow sent him tumbling to the ground with the corners of his lips oozing off blood. Heracles walked to the man struggling to crawl his way to the exit on the ground and grabbed his collar. He lifted him above the ground and teleported to the rooftop of a very tall building and dropped the man to the floor.
"I could throw you off this building, but I won't because I'm not a monster like you. Keep my face in mind and the next time you think of harassing another woman again, you think twice and remember this face." He threatened and materialized himself back leaving the man behind in panic.
Once he materialized back, Gaia screamed from fear and drew back from the man. Heracles halted in his advance and stared at her, seeming hurt by her action. All he did was try to protect her but Gaia could not instantly interpret it as such and only allowed the fear to take control of her. He understood her and shrugged. She had just witnessed him teleport twice and it was not something that was usual to humans. He could not help but wonder what she thought of him now. He sighed and walked towards her. Gaia kept backing away until her back hit against the wall. He was now towering over her and the woman shook her head wildly, trembling from both fear and shock and soon fell unconscious. Her body was only about to fall when Heracles swiftly caught her. He stared down at her face, noticed the trickle of tear from her right eye, and sighed.