Chapter Text
When Achilles arrived at the courtyard, at what he assumed was the next morning, it was to find Zagreus not only already there and waiting for him, but holding the shield that Achilles had taken from him the day before. He noticed Achilles enter and gave a sheepish smile as he lifted it slightly, as though he would not have already noticed that Zagreus was holding it.
He perked up slightly when Achilles told him that they would be taking a slightly different approach that session, only to grumble when he was instructed to run ten laps. Achilles was surprised at himself when he noticed a chuckle escape him.
“Your speed is impressive.” Achilles watched Zagreus thoughtfully as he jogged towards him once he had finished. “It will be a useful asset to you as we determine your best strengths and how best to use them.”
Zagreus beamed, his chest heaving slightly. His eyes widened and he said, excitedly, “Oh! There’s also something cool I can do when I run- hang on, watch-” With that he turned on his heel and broke out into a run to start another lap as Achilles blinked after him.
It did not take long for him to demonstrate, however. Zagreus frowned for a moment of intense concentration for a moment as he ran before he became a sudden blur of movement for the next, and reappeared a small, but noticeable, distance ahead.
Achilles, perhaps more used to the divine ways of the gods than most, allowed himself a moment of surprise before he began to study Zagreus’ movements more closely as he repeated the action a few more times. By the time he had slowed once again, his chest heaving more heavily than before, Achilles wore a small grin. He was impressed.
“What do you think, sir?” he asked, a glint in his eye. It was obvious that he expected his feat to be impressive to a mortal.
While his cocky attitude would have been likely to spark Achilles’ temper a day earlier, today it just amused him. He bowed his head slightly in acquiescence and to hide his smile. “An impressive display of divinity, befitting the son of such a mighty god as your father.” Achilles was relieved when Zagreus appeared to pick up on the teasing lilt to his voice and laughed bashfully, although he also noticed the way his face fell minutely at the mention of his father. Keen to move the conversation along he continued, “How easily are you able to… dash like that? It seems to take you some effort.”
Zagreus shrugged. He was still yet to entirely catch his breath back. “I have to focus, I guess. I can’t do it too often, though- one after another I mean.”
Achilles thought for a moment. “Hm. Do you suppose that with more practice you may become more proficient? It would be unwise to distract yourself from your surroundings during a fight while attempting it.”
“...Possibly? Do you think I could? I haven’t really tested it too much. I can sometimes dash through objects and appear on the other side of them, though!”
Achilles raised an eyebrow. “Sometimes?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Uhh yeah. Only sometimes. Other times I just…”
“Run straight into them?”
He laughed kindheartedly at Zagreus’ embarrassed expression. He sobered and said, “Well then. Perhaps some practice with it wouldn’t be a bad idea. For today, however…” He picked up the shield that Zagreus had been holding earlier, along with the same training sword that he had given him the day before, and handed them to Zagreus. “We will begin with defensive techniques. I am giving you the sword also so that you can become used to wielding both simultaneously, although you should not underestimate the ways a shield may be used offensively.”
Zagreus listened raptly and nodded.
They began.
The time passed quickly, although it was impossible to tell, but by the end of their second (and much more productive) session Achilles could see that they had made progress.
It had been a productive lesson; Zagreus had listened closely as Achilles demonstrated and explained how to maintain a defensive stance, which Zagreus copied with a seriousness that was clearly supposed to compensate for his attitude during their first session. Achilles then began to use various weapons against Zagreus’ shield, so that he could learn how to use a shield to absorb the brunt force of a blow rather than himself, and they progressed from static positions to instead charging at each other.
Achilles was encouraged by the progress he saw in that single session, although he suspected that it would be a while before they tried the same exercise with the true force of Achilles’ blows. He may be a god, but he was also only a child.
“How are you finding the House so far, sir?” Zagreus asked as he assisted Achilles in packing the weapons away.
Achilles bit back a sigh. There had once been a time when he had no difficulty engaging in small-talk, trained as he was to have the courtesy of a prince. In that moment those times had never felt further away.
“I am still growing accustomed to it, lad, as I am sure you can understand. Being a shade, and living here, is much different to what I was used to in life.”
Zagreus nodded but frowned slightly. Had Achilles offended him? Perhaps he should have given the polite and vague response that had likely been expected.
“Sir, if you don’t mind me asking… how long have you been a shade?”
Achilles was surprised but thought about it. “Well, it’s difficult to tell. But it was quite soon after I had materialised in the house that your father agreed to hire me, and not long after that he introduced me to you.”
Zagreus stopped. Confusion turned into realisation which turned into horror. “You mean father didn’t summon you from Elysium? You came straight to the House after you…?” Achilles did not know where this was going. All of the blood had drained from Zagreus’ face. “I didn’t realise, sir! I wouldn’t have asked you all of those questions yesterday if I’d know you had only just-” Zagreus cut himself off and Achilles took the opportunity to speak.
“Don’t worry about it, lad. I thought we had agreed to speak no more of it, you have already apologised.” Achilles was regretful enough about how he had handled himself and was keen to avoid any more of a reminder.
“I’m sorry, sir,” Zagreus said, nonetheless, and shook his head. “Usually when father wishes for me to have lessons in something he looks amongst the shades in Elysium, sometimes Asphodel, for a teacher. They don’t always agree but many of them have something to gain when agreeing to a contract.” He gave him a fleeting look of curiosity and Achilles felt his heart clench in his chest, but he merely shook his head again before he moved on. “My other teachers had all been in the underworld for a while before I met them and liked when I asked questions about their lives so I just assumed…”
He looked ashamed and it made any lingering resentment Achilles felt over the questions that Zagreus had fired at him the day before disappear. He gripped his shoulder, loosening his grip slightly when Zagreus startled. “Thank you for explaining, Zagreus. I appreciate it. However, there is no need for us to discuss it again. It is forgotten.” He looked relieved and Achilles had the impression that, although he no longer doubted the good intentions of the apology he received the day before, this one was the more genuine of the two.
But still his mind was stuck on something. He put the last of the weapons away and closed the chest before he asked, “What made you think that I had been dead for a while? I thought you said that other shades who were in the war had been through here recently.”
Zagreus blinked. “Oh. Well, it can be pretty difficult to know how much time has passed here, or to really keep track of what goes on the surface. It’s kind of distant. We don’t even really know what time it is,” he laughed. “Besides, we still don’t know exactly how long you’ve been dead for. Who knows how long it took for you to be processed? Father has been complaining about the backlog that war has caused for what must be years now - although I can find out for you, if you wanted?”
“That’s alright, lad,” he said quickly. Zagreus knew less about the war than Achilles had originally assumed and didn’t seem to know the details of how Achilles died. He felt a relief spread through him at the thought.
A few moments of silence between them was broken when Zagreus asked what Achilles was going to do now. He could feel the pull in the back of his mind that told him that he was nearly due in the West Hall to begin his shift. It was the same pull that kept him bound to the House of Hades and he felt it settle as he had signed his pact. Although it was a constant presence it was easy enough to not notice, especially when he was where it told him to be. He had already begun to think of it much like the tide, that it came in when he was due to carry out his duties to the House and went out when it was time to rest or take a break.
“I can walk you there?” Zagreus asked, brightly.
“So what lessons have you had before this?” Achilles asked as they entered the East Hall.
“So many!” Zagreus laughed. “I think it’s so that I’ll stay out of everybody’s way, not that many of them lasted for very long. I was supposed to have Lyre lessons but Orpheus was banished from the House before we could start. My etiquette teacher was more stubborn than the rest though, he wouldn’t give up no matter how annoying I was.”
Achilles chuckled softly. “Etiquette teachers are like that.” He waited until they had passed the Master’s desk and were safely in the West Hall (once Zagreus had finished petting Cerberus) before he continued. “Did many of them not stay long?”
“Not when I could help it. A lot of the things they tried to teach me were pretty boring - they either gave up when it turned out I was no good at it or they just got tired of me,” he shrugged but then widened his eyes and looked at Achilles. “Not all the time though! Some of them left when I finished my lessons with them or if there was nothing else they could teach me.”
Achilles contemplated this as he took his place between the administrative chamber and the sculpture gallery. Was his position less permanent than he had thought? What would happen when his lessons with Zagreus drew to a close? There would inevitably be a time when the godling would surpass Achilles’ own skill, especially as their earlier session had demonstrated the presence of innate skill in his immortal blood, even with no prior instruction. As for the teachers that had ‘given up’ on instructing Zagreus, it was difficult to imagine him to be insubordinate enough to drive him away. The prince seemed enthusiastic enough about their lessons for now but what if he decided they were no longer worth his time?
He was about to say something else when the hall was suddenly filled with a flash of green light and the sound of a bell being struck.
Achilles jumped forward, ready to attack with a tighter grip on his spear, but faltered when Zagreus shouted, excitedly, “Thanatos!”
Lord Thanatos had indeed just appeared at the balcony that overlooked the river styx. The hooded figure turned, elaborate scythe in hand, as Zagreus ran towards him without hesitation.
“Hello, Zag,” he said coolly as Zagreus came to a stop a few feet away from him. Thanatos lowered himself to the ground from where he had been hovering slightly in the air, although he still proved to be twice the height of the prince, and began to walk through the West Hall, closer to where Achilles remained standing at his post.
Zagreus trailed after him, his face one of shock. “Than! You cut your hair!”
Thanatos looked back at him sharply. “Yes, Zagreus. Some of us have duties to carry out, as I’m sure you can recall, and it is more practical this way.”
Zagreus pouted. “I liked it better when it was long.”
Achilles winced. Thanatos’ yellow eyes turned even colder from behind his pale bangs.
“Ah, yes, because I certainly value the opinion of a child with mismatched eyes who is too stubborn to grow an inch.” Zagreus flinched and glanced at Achilles before he looked away again, embarrassed. Thanatos caught sight of him. “You must be the new shade that Mother Nyx told me about. He hasn’t taken to pestering you already, has he?”
Zagreus looked miserable now as he stared at his feet. Achilles took pity on him. “No, Lord Death. I asked him to accompany me as I walked to my post so I might ask him about his previous areas of study. It seems as though he has had little prior instruction in combat but his current rate of progress is proving to be impressive.” Thanatos stared at him impassively but Zagreus looked up at him with a shy smile.
“Your soul was not one that I collected myself was it, shade?” Thanatos asked after a beat of silence. What an disconcerting thing to be asked, Achilles thought.
“I do not believe so, my lord.”
He inclined his head slightly. “My condolences.”
They both watched as he turned and left the West Hall, presumably to report to Lord Hades.
“He’s not usually like that.” Zagreus said, shuffling his feet. “He hasn’t been here for a while, he used to be here a lot more often.”
Achilles felt uneasy. “Thanatos is usually at the House more often?”
He frowned. “Well, not often. Not since he came into his godhood anyway. But he’s been here even less since-” he hesitated. “Since something happened with one of the souls he was sent to collect. I wasn’t allowed to be there, but there was a big trial at the House. Father doesn’t usually intervene with the shades personally like that so it must have been serious.” He stared at where Thanatos had disappeared around the corner.
If anything Achilles now felt even more unsettled. He scrambled for anything to say that would change the subject, which was probably why he settled with, “What was Lord Death referring to? When he suggested you were too stubborn to grow?”
It was the wrong thing to say.
He flushed a deep red and his gaze snapped away from where it had been staring after Thanatos and towards the ground instead. “Oh, uh, you caught that? It’s just my height, really. It’s a bit of a running joke.” Achilles might not have known Zagreus for long but he knew a lie when he heard one and the boy wore his heart on his sleeves. He looked quickly at Achilles and away again as he took a few steps towards the Main Hall. “Anyway. I suppose that I’d better…”
Achilles softened and nodded. “Of course, lad. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Once he was alone he sighed and cursed himself. He hadn’t decided that he would broach the topic with Zagreus, although he knew that mentioning the conversation with Nyx would be best to be avoided. However, it now seemed that Zagreus would be reluctant to discuss the topic no matter how Achilles brought it up.
He settled into his post for what felt like was going to be a long shift and tried to push it from his mind. When his mind refused to move on from this mystery, and why he had become so interested in it, he wondered if there might be some better way of organising his thoughts than letting them run relentlessly around his head.