Bellerophon stared at him incredulously. He slowly lowered his sword. “Perseus?” he gasped.

Perseus’s mouth opened wide in a glorious smile. “Yes! I can't believe I'm seeing you again!”

“How are you ... what ...” Bellerophon shook his head. “Are you a ghost?”

“A ghost? No! No, I'm very much alive. I can go about unseen thanks to this,” he said, and pointed to the helmet. “It's the Helm of Hades.”

Bellerophon brought a hand to his chest. He looked quite pale. “Oh, is it?” he said, his voice incredulous.

Perseus smiled even wider and threw his arms around Bellerophon. It felt so good to be back in Bellerophon's company, even if he didn't seem to be in the best state.

“By the gods, you scared me,” Bellerophon said as Perseus released him from the embrace. “My heart's beating so quickly. What are you doing here, Perseus?”

“It's rather a long story,” Perseus said.

Behind him, Pegasus whinnied. Perseus looked over at the magnificent horse. “Oh, hello, there,” he said. He held a hand up, his palm extended to the animal, and Pegasus walked over to him. The horse brought his face close to him and sniffed his hand, then allowed Perseus to stroke his snout.

“How did you do that?” Bellerophon asked. “He wouldn't let me come near him.”

“I don't know,” Perseus said. He stroked the animal a bit more, and then turned back to Bellerophon. “What do you say we have some food?”

Perseus unpacked bits of meat and fruit from his pack, and sat on the ground. He patted the grass beside him and Bellerophon, still looking quite in shock, sat beside him and accepted a bite of food when Perseus offered it. Pegasus serenely drank from a small pond nearby.

“I still can't believe it's you,” Bellerophon said. “How did you come to be here, and in possession of such wonders as that helmet?”

Perseus told him what had transpired with Polydectes and his mother, and everything that led up to him being gifted the weapons of the gods by Dentromedon. Bellerophon shook his head in awe at his adventures, and Perseus noticed him shifting around and rearranging his tunic over his crotch during the more libidinous sections of his story.

“What about you?” Perseus asked. “What caused you to try and bridle Pegasus?”

Bellerophon sighed. “I was sent here on a mission by King Iobates of Lycia. My father decided I was too soft from palace living, so he bade Iobates come up with a quest worthy of a hero, and Iobates did.”

“What is this quest?”

“I'm to slay the Chimera, the monster that terrorizes the Lycian plains.”

“I've not heard of this beast.”

“It's a thing of nightmares. Spawned by Typhon and Echidna, it has the head and body of a lion. But a goat's head springs up from its back where no head has any right to be, and its tail is a giant serpent.”

Perseus thought about this. “Well, that does sound... unpleasant. But not insurmountable.”

“And it breathes large jets of fire that extend for miles.”

“Well, shit.”

“Exactly.” Bellerophon hugged his knees. “I consulted the wisest oracle in all of Corinth, and he told me the only way to defeat the beast was with the aid of Pegasus. But even with such aid, I still don't know how I would begin to get past the monster's fire. And on top of it all, there's something even worse.”

“What?”

Bellerophon's cheeks reddened. “It shames me to say, but ... it turns out I'm something of a coward.”

“I can't believe that's true.”

“No, it is. Just the thought of facing the monster fills me with dread to the point where I can't move.”

Bellerophon looked away, and Perseus could see the shame on his face. His heart swelled in his chest with a desire to protect this man, whom he had thought of almost every day since last he had seen him. He reached over and squeezed Bellerophon's hand.

“Do not despair,” Perseus said. “I think perhaps courage is something that we find, rather than being born with.”

Bellerophon bit his lip. “And where does one go to find it?”

“That, I don't know,” Perseus said. “But I think we'll find yours. Together.”