Chapter Text
Thanatos knew the moment something had gone wrong with Zagreus.
He was with the prince not too long ago, having met with him in one of the farther chambers of Asphodel. The two of them had cleared the room with practiced ease, having done so time and time again, and Thanatos had gifted the younger god a centaur heart afterwards as the prince accepted with a bright smile. From what Thanatos had seen, Zagreus was doing quite well during that run. The prince was a little scathed, a few red marks littering his skin which accompanied the blood the younger had tried to smear away, but he was otherwise unharmed. Thanatos could also feel the presence of the Olympian’s aid around the prince, their boons like a spirit intermingling with the prince’s own aura. If he concentrated enough, the God of Death could distinguish which one of the prince’s relatives had lent their assistance, with Athena’s formidable protection being the most prominent this time.
After Zagreus had thanked him, Thanatos had said his farewell before vanishing from the room. He had returned to his duties on the surface, following his routine without much trouble, and let out a small sigh when he finished his assignments for the time being. He would be able to take a small break before going out again.
Not a moment later, Thanatos had returned to the House of Hades, standing at the balcony that had slowly turned into his own personalized spot in the house. Zagreus had commissioned a table, chairs, and lounger all specifically for the God of Death himself, and Thanatos couldn’t say he wasn’t pleasantly surprised when he had returned to the spot one day to see the things there. He was content with standing, watching the River Styx as it flowed through the realm, but he had caught himself eyeing the lounger from time to time, at least a little tempted by the idea.
For now, he stayed on his feet, arms crossed as usual as he waited for Zagreus’ return. From how much time had passed since he saw the other last, Thanatos guessed the other was well into Elysium by now. He’s probably getting close to the champions as well, the younger god preparing to face them in battle once again. Thanatos hummed softly in thought, knowing how frustrated the prince would get sometimes after dealing with the duo. Thanatos looked to the balcony’s railing, remembering the time Zagreus had stood leaning against it as he told the older god all about the escape attempts that ended by the champions’ hands. The prince had his eyebrows furrowed, lips pursed as he complained about how unfair two against one was and how pretentious the “king” is. Zagreus had beaten the two of them before, though not that that made fighting them any easier when next he saw them, but the prince of the underworld waved his hand in the air as he talked about how the stadium’s king wouldn’t even acknowledge that Zagreus had beaten them before.
Though that memory was from what felt like long ago, Thanatos still smiled ever so slightly to himself at the thought of the prince. Even if he didn’t say so, Thanatos enjoyed listening to what Zagreus had to say, liked to be the one the prince would turn to when he wanted to explain a new tactic he had to escape or had a story about his most recent attempt he wanted to recount, and Than had a feeling the other knew as much.
Everything seemed to be fine as Thanatos stood patiently at the balcony, waiting for the other, and that is when he felt it.
It had happened so suddenly, startlingly so, that Thanatos’ eyes had widened as his breath caught for a moment. He felt as Zagreus’ warmth abruptly disappeared from his senses, like a candle being extinguished by someone smothering the flame.
Thanatos was never sure exactly how it happened, it seemed to come naturally on its own, but he was able to sense Zagreus’ presence, like the life force of the ever-lively prince himself, and he could tell when the prince had fallen and had to be taken back by the River Styx. He was the God of Death, Thanatos had reasoned to himself, so it made sense that he could tell when one had reached their end, but it was with Zagreus that he could tell when the prince was alive. It seemed to be the opposite of what the older god was so well-known for, yet the feeling was there nonetheless. It was like a subtle consciousness in the back of his mind, always there, brighter when the prince was standing next to him, but would flicker whenever the younger would get hurt, eventually fading away when someone landed the final blow against the prince. And then it would relight itself when Zagreus rose out of the river, seemingly just as determined to stay as the prince was to keep going. It confused Thanatos at first, unsure of what it meant, but he soon found comfort in the feeling, knowing it as a sign of the prince being okay when the older god was too busy on an assignment to check in on him. A reassurance that was always there.
Thanatos had gotten used to the feeling, recognizing the signs that indicated the prince was hurt, or struggling, and sometimes Than would prioritize those moments to appear to Zagreus in one of the chambers to have one of their friendly competitions. He would help the younger god, hoping his arrival would encourage the prince, even if just a little, and would feel more at peace when Zagreus would smile at him in the end.
He had gotten used to the feeling, but what happened just now was like nothing that had happened before. Usually, Zagreus would get hurt only little by little across each room, or he would struggle at one of the region’s final defenses, the bosses he could say, but Zagreus would still put up a fight. The presence in Thanatos’ mind would flicker, but stay strong-willed until the very end, just like the prince.
But this… this was sudden, and brutal, and alarming. As if Zagreus was just fine, and then he simply was gone. There was no fight, no struggle, just warmth, and then emptiness as the feeling vanished.
Thanatos knew something had happened. He didn’t know what, but something had to have happened. He felt as he held his breath, waiting, eyes staring ahead across the river with an unfocused gaze. He waited for the prince’s presence to return, the empty feeling only serving to unsettle the older god more as each second passed.
And then he heard the rushing of water as Zagreus emerged from the river in the great hall once again, and the light returned to the older god’s senses.
Thanatos let out his breath at that, shoulders dropping slightly, but that did little to ease his concerns. He turned his head in the direction of the pool Zagreus would end up in, though he was unable to see the other from where he stood. He frowned to himself, wanting to know what went wrong out there, what caused the prince to return in such a manner.
Zagreus was okay, right?
Thanatos’ fingers tapped against his crossed arms, still staring at the wall that separated him from the pool, and he let out a huff as he turned away from the balcony. He had to see the other.
He walked across the west hall on bare feet, seeing Achilles from the corner of his eye watching him pass. Thanatos knew it wasn’t usual to see him walking, as he usually hovered in the air if he didn’t outright disappear when he wanted to go somewhere. The prince’s instructor didn’t say a word, however, if he had taken notice of the God of Death doing so, and simply nodded his head as the god passed by in greeting, an acknowledgment. Thanatos had a brief thought about how he should try to be a little more social around the house, at least enough to say hello and check in on others rather than appearing directly to his spot on the balcony and vanishing the next moment when he was needed, but he decided that matter could wait. For now, there was something more important that needed his attention.
As he turned around the corner from the west hall, he first saw Hypnos in his usual station, legs crossed as he hovered over his own lounger. He had his back turned to Thanatos, looking to the Styx, and Thanatos did the same as he stood next to his brother.
There, at the steps of the pool, he saw Zagreus sitting up. Thanatos wasn’t close enough to see the exact details in the younger god’s face, but he could see how Zagreus’ eyes were widened in what looked somewhat like shock. His shoulders were rising and falling quickly, as though he were breathing heavily, and his eyes darted from his hands to the pool waters around his waist and then up at the great hall ahead of him. After realizing where he was, it seemed, he lowered his head and carefully stood up, making his way up the steps.
As the prince approached the two of them, Hypnos lifted the parchment paper that stated the prince’s most recent death, quill twirling side to side in his other hand.
“Ah, so those longspears got you again, did they?” Hypnos said in his usual spirited tone. “I warned you about the exalted warriors before; they’re tough ones. You have to make sure they don’t hit you next time.”
Zagreus gave him a small smile, hand raising to brush some of the hair out of his face as he answered.
“Yeah. Next time.”
His attention then turned to Thanatos, expression turning a little confused.
“Than.” The prince said, looking around for a moment to see if something else was going on, though finding nothing. “I don’t normally see you waiting here.”
“No.” Thanatos agreed, eyeing the prince in silence for another moment more. He had hoped that maybe Zagreus would mention what happened, even if it were just a small comment. A correction to Hypnos, something like “oh I tripped up before they got me”, anything to explain what occurred in Elysium. But Zagreus stayed silent, so Thanatos continued. “Something happened out there.”
As he said just that, Thanatos was able to catch split second of fear, the prince’s demeanor flinching and then easing up so quickly that Than hardly saw it happen. But it did happen.
“I-“ Zagreus faltered, eyes looking to the side. “I was caught off guard. That’s it. I… I’m fine.”
He gave Thanatos a small smile, the older god guessing he was trying to reassure him, but Thanatos could see through it.
“I think I’m going to rest a bit before heading out again.” Zagreus then added, already taking a step to the side in the direction of his chambers. “I’ll see you two later.”
Thanatos watched as the younger god left, not having anything to say, or rather he didn’t know what to say, and soon the prince disappeared from sight as he reached the hall to his room. Orpheus met the older god’s eyes for a second, having seen Zagreus walk by as well without so much as a nod. He and the prince were close friends, yet even if they weren’t, everyone knew how social the young prince always was with everyone. Even after his countless failed attempts to reach the surface, the prince would still make the rounds to check in on everyone.
“Huh.” It was Hypnos’ voice then, Thanatos turning to look back at him as his brother continued looking towards the prince’s chambers. “I guess it did get to him more than he let on.”
“What?” Thanatos asked, eyebrows furrowing. “What did?”
“His dreams. Or I suppose nightmares.” Hypnos said, shoulders lifting in a shrugging motion.
“He’s had nightmares?” Thanatos asked, and when his brother nodded, he continued. “About what?"
“Hey, you know dreams are personal.” Hypnos answered, crossing his arms as he leaned back in the air with a pout, though he didn’t look any more intimidating than before. “Whether they’re good dreams or not, I don’t go snooping around. You should know; you hated when I did it when we were kids, and that was on accident!”
Thanatos sighed at the memory, shaking his head lightly at the thought.
“But you know about the nightmares?”
“I’m aware he had them, yeah. But I don’t know what they were about.”
“I see.” Thanatos said, voice going a little quieter. Was that the cause?
“He seemed fine this morning, though! Evening? Afterwards, when he woke up.” Hypnos continued, going back to his usual posture. “Before he went out, he was telling me about how he was going to try to make it through Asphodel without getting hit. He told me he’s gone through Tartarus without a scratch before! I really think he’s been taking my advice to heart.” He looked to be a little proud of himself as he said so, though Thanatos resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
That did go along with what Thanatos saw when he met with Zagreus earlier, however. He remembered the prince’s warm smile, the gratitude on his face as he accepted the centaur heart, the confidence he had as he held Stygius, the tip of the blade resting on the ground as the prince waited until Thanatos inevitably had to return to his work.
Thanatos hadn’t noticed anything different during then.
His frown grew, but he didn’t know what else to do, not needing to stay at house any longer without Zagreus around either. He muttered to Hypnos about jobs needing to be done, and with a flash of light, he shifted away to return to work.
…
Thanatos tried not to let his mind wander as he moved on from one assignment to the next. He had hoped that work would distract him for at least a short while, to keep his thoughts away from the prince, but that proved to be unsuccessful. He worked methodically, hoping he could at least fall into some type of rhythm, that maybe time would go by faster than it felt. Maybe it had worked for a little while, but Thanatos could tell the moment Zagreus left the house for another escape attempt.
From that moment on, Thanatos couldn’t stop thinking about the other. Was Zagreus all right? Was this just a “bump in the road”, as the mortals say? Was last run truly just a slip up and nothing more? Were the nightmares really the cause? Were the nightmares bad? Bad enough to frighten the prince? He recalls how Zagreus flinched for that fraction of a second when he asked what happened. It had to be something. He’s never seen Zagreus do that before.
As he stood alone on the surface, having sent another mortal on their way, Thanatos thought about returning to the prince once more. He usually does not appear so soon after they already had one of their competitions, but he knew seeing the other again would be the only way to get his mind to calm down so he could focus again. There is nothing wrong with checking in on the other, he told himself, and lifted his scythe up as he prepared to depart. It was easy for Thanatos to locate the prince as he closed his eyes and focused his attention on the prince’s presence in his mind. He could also tell Mort was with Zagreus as well, knowing the small plush helped connect the two of them, regardless of how far Thanatos was from the prince.
With a single thought, Thanatos felt as he shifted away from the surface and back to the underworld, light swirling around him as he reappeared. The first thing he noticed was the high heat, letting him know he was in Asphodel, though it seemed to be one of the earlier rooms this time, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the prince standing a few feet away with his lips slightly parted in surprise.
“Hello, Zagreus.” He spun his scythe behind himself, holding it behind his back as usual as he tried to follow in his natural pose, expression neutral.
“Than.” The prince said, voice soft as though he was unbelieving at first. “You’re here.”
“I am.” He turned his head as he felt the underworld’s forces being summoned to the room, the floor lighting up with sigils. “Shall we?” He added, looking back over his shoulder to see Zagreus nod.
And then the fight began.
Zagreus darted off to one side of the room, so Thanatos looked out to the other side, marking one enemy after the next as his abilities turned each bloodless, wave maker, and numbskull to dust. He would look over towards Zagreus from time to time, checking to see how he was doing, and though the prince seemed to be taking care of his side of the room all right, he was most certainly fighting differently than usual. Thanatos could see how the swing of his sword was more hesitant, how he sidestepped out of the way more rather than dashing forward for the final strike, how his eyes seemed to dart from one enemy to the next, trying to keep all of them within his sight, as impossible as that was given how many there were.
Thanatos finished dealing with his half of the room first, his scythe spinning in one last circle as the final bloodless fell before him. He turned to Zagreus once more, seeing the prince had almost dealt with the remaining few left. Zagreus had casted one of his bloodstones to his right, the stone crippling one of the bloodless, and he had his attention set on the one directly in front of him, swinging his sword as his opponent staggered. Thanatos was going to leave the prince to it, letting him have the points to even out their scores, until he saw one of the bloodless further back, behind the prince and preparing to lunge towards him. Something told Thanatos he couldn’t let that happen now, alarmed at such a thought, and he quickly shifted to appear behind Zagreus. He swung his scythe just in time to block the sneaking bloodless’ attack, the sound clashing. Thanatos was able to pick up on the sound of breath quickly inhaling, knowing it was the prince behind him, and he quickly dispatched the skeletal foe.
As he turned around, Thanatos saw as Zagreus drove his sword into the last enemy that was still in front of him, marking the room finally clear as the opponent crumbled onto the ground. When he turned to face Thanatos, though, his shoulders were raised in apprehension, eyes wide as he looked to where the bloodless Thanatos had taken care of once was. When he looked back up to the older god, he seemed to realize what had happened.
“Oh…” Zagreus said quietly, lowering his sword as he let his muscles relax. “Thank you, Than.”
There was no smile, or silly joke about how he had it covered, and Thanatos’ expression softened, worry hiding in golden eyes. He lowered himself to the ground, wanting to be closer to eyelevel with the prince, and Zagreus hummed in quiet confusion.
Thanatos wanted to reach out to the other, to ask if there was anything he could do, anything to make the prince feel better. Something was going on in the prince’s head, something that was hiding his usually ever-present optimistic smile.
“Zagreus…” He spoke, but he was never good with words, and his voice went silent.
After another moment passed, Zagreus gave the older god a small smile.
“Thank you.” Zagreus said once more, leaning his weight slightly on his sword. He looked like he was doing okay, but Thanatos saw the tired look in his eyes, even if he was trying to hide it. “I should probably get going now, huh?” The prince chuckled softly, looking back to the rafts that would take him to the next chamber.
Thanatos felt his left hand fidget at his side, wanting to pull the younger god closer. Instead, he could only raise his hand, placing it on the prince’s bicep.
“Stay safe.”
The prince nodded in return, and though Thanatos did not want to, he let go of the prince’s arm as the other turned to leave. Thanatos stood in Asphodel, watching as the prince stepped onto the raft and continued on his way through the underworld.
It was the first time Zagreus was the one to leave the room first.