Chapter Text
Zagreus felt like he should be the god of panic.
He entered the arena, a feeling of terror rising in his chest. Helli had to be here somewhere. Panic filled him even further when he spotted his beloved ox: not in the arena, but in the doorway leading to Asphodel. He noticed Than being there too, but when their eyes met Zagreus realized that Death Incarnate didn’t seem to notice the loose ox standing beside him.
Before either of them had time to react, everything happened all at once. Helli attacked Thanatos - wait what? – at the same time that Megaera of all Furies appeared in the arena. Megaera hadn’t noticed the commotion in the room behind her, thank gods.
The bad news was that that meant that Zagreus had her undevoted attention.
And now it was Zagreus’ job to keep it that way - until Thanatos could lead Helli to somewhere safe. While being a confused, terrified mess of course.
‘’Tch. You’re here already, Zagreus. This must be a new record, no?’’
Zagreus was pretty sure he was Panic Incarnate now. He was desperately not trying to show it though and forced a sarcastic smirk.
Thanatos was the bright spot in this whole situation. Zagreus was pretty sure he would have already be taken by the Styx due to a heart attack if he had to do this alone now. He also felt a sting of guilt though, having dragged Than into his mess as well. In the midst of his panic-turmoiled brain, one thought still stood out clear as day: he must not mess this up. If not for Helli’s sake, for Than’s sake.
Focusing on Than gave him the clarity he needed. Right now, Zagreus decided, the best course action would be to buy Than enough time to bring Helli somewhere safe. So Zagreus decided to do what he can best: bullshit his way out.
‘’Oh hey Meg, nice to see you again,’’ Zagreus forced himself to sound casual. His hollow voice echoed through the arena. ‘’Did you do something new with your hair? A new conditioner or something? It looks so silky, even from here.’’
Megaera scoffed. ‘’Oh please Zagreus, what do you know about hair in the first place. Your crown looks so careless it looks like you stumbled into a bush and just left the mess in your hair.’’
Zagreus smiled. She took the bait so well. ‘’Ah come on, Megaera, you are hurting my feelings,’’ he said exaggeratedly, but his playful smirk never faded. ‘’I feel like our friendship has taken a toll ever since we have to fight each other. I just tried to be nice, that’s all.’’ This was the truth. He and Megaera used to be really good friends, but lately there has been a bit more… tension between them.
Zagreus dared to steal a sneaky glance behind Megaera to see how Than was doing. To his relief, Than appeared to have constrained Helli with his powers. Megaera was firing back her answer just when Zagreus noticed that Than was holding something in his hand in the corner of his eye. Something big. Something familiar. What the? He looked back into the magma of Meg’s eyes before allowing himself to register what it was exactly.
''Tch. Don’t try to act all sorry here, Zagreus. You are the one who is in complete control over the situation. You make the choice to fight me every time you decide to try to escape. Besides,’’ Megaera gave him a knowing look and Zagreus took the chance to awkwardly look away at Than again. ‘’You and Thanatos seem to be getting along very nicely despite this whole situation.’’
Zagreus didn’t have the luxury to feel embarrassed over the remark. He stiffened when he realized what Thanatos was about to do. Than is holding his scythe, his blood running cold. His attention faltered. He is going to kill Helli… and I can’t do anything. Zagreus cursed himself for being such a bad father. He swallowed and remembered he had to answer to Megaera still. If he didn’t want to mess this situation up more than he already did.
What did Megaera say again? Something about not getting along with each other in this situation? He couldn’t remember. Whatever, he was just going to wing it. For Helli, he thought.
‘’That doesn’t mean anything, Megaera. So don’t use that then as an excuse to let our relationship falter -- you still mean a lot to me.’’ This was the truth too, Zagreus did care about his friendship with Megaera. It couldn’t hurt to be a little honest right now. A little heart-to-heart should take up some time right?
Besides, he’s been meaning to clear things up with Meg: she is one of his dearest friends.
To his surprise, Megaera looked stunned. Maybe she thought he didn’t care about her? He tried to sneak a glance at Thanatos and his scythe again, but Megaera quickly recovered. Zagreus’s heart weighs more with the second.
‘’This is surprising, Zagreus, even from you. I didn’t think of you as a two-timer.’’ Her stunned look was replaced by a look of… appraisal? Respect? Zagreus was so confused. Why would he be a two-timer?
‘’Wait, what do y—’’ Megaera cut him off before he could finish.
‘’I’m impressed how straight-forward you - our little, shy Zagreus - sometimes can be. I’ll consider your words later. After I whip you back to home of course. And who knows,’’ Megaera batted her long eyelashes and smirked menacingly. ‘’maybe I will continue whipping you there.’’ She twirled elegantly with her huge bat-like wing. Their conversation was over.
Zagreus didn’t have time to respond. With a wild look, he automatically took on a fighting stance and raised his sword, ready for battle. It was all just muscle memory, while his heart was aching for his ox son.
‘’I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’re going down,’’ Zagreus muttered to himself, his voice cracking ever so slightly.
~*~
Thanatos was just barely aware of his surroundings. He was surrounded by a purple haze and from its sweet taste Thanatos thought bitterly there had to be some divine intervention going on here. He was seeing double. Otherwise, why would there be two angry oxes facing him right now? As Helli breathed out, more purple smoke emerged through its huge nostrils.
Zagreus’ voice echoing from the arena was the only thing that was keeping Thanatos grounded. Even though he was talking about Megaera’s hair or something. Thanatos would never admit that that amused him a little bit.
Thanatos narrowed his eyes and the amount of Helli’s reduced to only one and a half. That’s some progress, he thought as he huffed his hair out of his face. He was Death Incarnate and would not be overpowered by a damn ox, regardless of whatever power was possessing it now. His scythe appeared in his hand, the familiar feeling of death resting heavily in his hands. Thanatos ideally didn’t want to kill Helli for Zagreus’ sake, but this was far from an ideal situation. He would be quick. Helli will be reborn somewhere in Elysium. They could visit him there still every now and then. Thanatos raised his scythe and a circle of dark energy swirled around Helli’s legs. The cow – ox - was stuck there, despite struggling with all his might. More of the sweet aroma was released, but Thanatos held on.
‘’You and Thanatos seem to be going along very nicely despite this whole situation.’’
Megaera’s voice. Thanatos’ concentration wavered and Helli almost broke free. Thanatos quickly recovered, but couldn’t do anything about how hard is heart was beating. What are they talking about? The relationship he and Zagreus have wasn’t a secret exactly, but it was also something nobody in the House spoke of. Zagreus paused long before giving his answer.
‘’That doesn’t mean anything, Megaera. So don’t use that Than as an excuse to let our relationship falter -- you still mean a lot to me.’’
That Than. This time Thanatos did let go for a split-second. Did… Zagreus just say that their relationship doesn’t mean anything to him? Was he really hitting on Megaera just now? Thanatos noticed the rage building up in him and – no. He has to control himself. Even though his hands are shaking and his vision starts to get blurry.
But then, oh no. Megaera is talking about how Zagreus is a two-timer and little and shy. He gritted his teeth. Who the hell gave her the right to talk like that about the Prince of the Underworld? Megaera was still talking. ‘’After I whip you back to home of course. And who knows… maybe I will continue whipping you there.’’
Something in Thanatos snapped in that moment. Het turned around, eyes glowing with fury, with the full intent to use his mighty scythe on Megaera, when – he got slammed on his stomach by Helli.
Only then Thanatos realized what a mistake losing focus was: Helli got free.
Helli got free. He had him and now he is free again. The ox was storming away from Thanatos, just some collateral damage for the wild beast. Thanatos scrambled to his feet, floating, ready to chase.
‘’Than!’’
Zagreus’ voice. Helli was closing in on Asphodel’s entrance. He mustn’t get away!
But before he gained any speed, a strong hand held his arm – and him – in place.
‘’Zagreus! What are you doing? Let me go!’’ Thanatos was trying to break free from Zagreus’ iron grip. When did he get so strong? ‘’It’s Helli! I had him! He broke free but he can’t be far. Let me go so I can chase after him!’’
But the message didn’t come through, Thanatos understood as he looked at Zagreus. He was badly hurt from his fight with Megaera, all bruises and dark red patches on his skin. But within his eyes something still burned fiercely. Something like horror. Maybe something more emotional.
‘’I can’t let you do that, Than.’’
What in the Underworld? ‘’What are you saying, Zagreus. I thought you wanted me to help you?’’ Thanatos was faintly surprised by the angry timbre in his voice. Okay, so maybe he is bitter about Megaera’s exchange with Zagreus, so what?
Zagreus’ grip tightened. It started to hurt a little. ‘’Helping, yes. Not killing him, for Hell’s sake!’’
So that’s what this is all about. Thanatos transported out of Zagreus’ grip and floated towards him. Too close. Too angrily. ‘’Zagreus.’’ The words came out of his clenched teeth. ‘’That beast already was dead. We are in the Underworld. You are the Prince of the Empire of the Dead.’’ He floated closer still so their fuming faces were only a few centimeters apart to emphasize his next point. ‘’So what exactly is the problem here?’’
Zagreus bared his teeth and let out an irritated growl. ‘’You know just as well as I do why I wouldn’t want that, Than. His memories would be gone, his afterlife would be resetted. All our time together… it would be meaningless!’’
‘’So what do you want me to do then, Zagreus? Lure him back to you with cookie crumbles and promises of lots of hugs? This is a wild beast.’’ He couldn’t handle it, suddenly he was too frustrated. ‘’Forget it, Zagreus. You go help yourself. I’ve got more important business to attend to than some random cow running lose.’’
And then, because he is pitiful and hurt and reached his limit, he added: ‘’Maybe Megaera will whip some sense into you.’’
‘’What the Hell does that mean, Zag, I defeated her,’’ Zagreus starts. But he doesn’t want to hear it anymore. Thanatos transports away.
And so Zagreus fumes, sighs and enters Asphodel, chasing his lose, adopted ox son.
~*~
At first, Zagreus thinks it’s his anger with Thanatos that let him clear the rooms of Asphodel so easily. But after a few rooms he realized that there are significantly less enemies standing in his way. And it’s like the enemies that are left, are more interested in hurting each other or themselves. Oh, and it has been a while since he got some divine intervention from his aunts and uncles right?
At one point the situation has gotten so suspicious that he had stopped thinking about his argument with Thanatos. Because look, when he enters a new room he can still see sizzling remains of some of the enemies. And over there it looked like there was a huge explosion only very recently.
Surely this isn’t Than’s doing? No, Zagreus knew better. This wasn’t Than’s fighting style.
Something is very wrong here.
He doesn’t even bother asking Charon about a loose ox, because even Helli could storm through an Asphodel as thinly inhabited as this one. Besides, his deadly look threw him off.
So Zagreus decides to ignore all that and focuses on keeping moving forward. In this case, that means beheading a certain Lernie nine times.
He gets on the raft, sailing away on magma.
When Zagreus arrives in the arena, his feet are met with bones. Snake skeletons.
He looks around at the massacre.
Vanquished Lernie.
Holy shit.