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Thanatos is tidy.
Thanatos does his job, unlike some members of the House. He only rests, as he is now, when all of his work is completed.
Through the slit in the lounge wall, he glares at his brother. Hypnos has his sleep mask over his eyes again.
He drums his fingers on his ambrosia bottle absentmindedly. The tag on it flits against his hand. “Enjoy the drink!” is written in Zagreus’ terrible, terrible handwriting. He wonders if the sloppy handwriting is why Zagreus was removed from his bookkeeping post. Probably not.
Zagreus gave it to him before his most recent escape attempt. Last he saw, Zagreus was running around Elysium, screaming at the Bull of Minos.
He ponders whether to open it in the lounge. Such a luxurious gift should be enjoyed in private.
Before he can decide, he senses a powerful force on the surface.
A death, close to the Underworld. Very, very close. Normally, he would let the dying in question be guided away by Charon, but he decides to go in person for once. It would spare him to think about the ambrosia, at least.
He stowes the bottle away. For another time, he determined, and teleported aboveground.
The first sensation is cold. It stunned him to silence first, to see how Demeter had blanketed the world in a creeping death, but now it elicited barely more than a shiver.
The second sensation is curiosity. Normally, he materialized directly near the dying. Now, he was alone with only snow for company. There’s blood on the ground and crumbled rocks scattered between chaotic footprints. They eventually lead to a straight path. The length between each footstep says their owner was in a wild rush.
Through the trees is a lush clearing. A small hut stands, surrounded by a verdant garden and a clear, flowing stream; the scene is totally unlike the surrounding winter in every way. Zagreus is gritting his words out as he stumbles.
Zagreus, he realizes, was shockingly accurate with his description of the Queen’s home.
“Hello, Lady Persephone.” Death is not exactly an eloquent speaker.
“Who goes--!” Persephone swings around just as Zagreus collapses into her arms. “Oh. Thanatos.”
“Yeah. I sensed someone was dying, I just didn’t think it was… him.”
“I see.”
He could cut the tension with his scythe.
“I can take him back.”
“Did you know?”
“What?”
“Did you know about Zagreus? That he was alive, looking for me, all this time?”
“Of course, we’re… Lady Persephone, it’s not my place to meddle in the affairs of you or Lord Hades.”
“I know. I don’t mean to blame you, I’m simply in shock. My son has been alive all this time, and he’s… I told him not to come back, you see. He wants me to return, but I’m happy here, you understand, and the more he comes here the greater risk is posed on Olymps discovering us.”
“He’ll come back. I’ve known him for his entire life, and he’s the most stubborn person I know.”
“He gets it from his father. I suppose I’m holding you, however.”
Thanatos nods. “I’ll be going.”
“Thank you for taking care of him.”
Zagreus is surprisingly light.
He wonders how many times Zagreus has died violently out in the Underworld. Judging by the times he’s seen the prince crawl out of the River Styx, it was a large number. Every time, he was alone.
Zagreus mumbles to himself about rats.
“I haven’t picked up a god from the surface in a long time. I guess for immortals, this is like a bad nap.”
Thanatos attempts to be sneaky, but floating around with the prince of the Underworld in your arms isn’t exactly the most inconspicuous situation. The House is filled with the usual bustle of shades who couldn’t care less about others, though, so he blends in decently well until--
Ugh.
He tries to float past silently, but Hypnos jumps awake anyway. The god of sleep had picked up a knack for sensing when other deities were nearby, in case he was about to get scolded. “Hey there, Than, whatcha got there? Ooh, wait, if you’ve got him , then he wasn’t brutally murdered?”
“No.”
For someone whose eyes are closed half the time, Hypnos’ has an incredibly piercing gaze. Damn brothers. “Gonna taaaalk?”
He feels the heat creep up his neck and unceremoniously dumps Zagreus into the Styx. “Natural causes.”
Hypnos flips through his clipboard. “Wowza, you’re right. Natural causes! You hardly ever see those nowadays!
“Agh, blast!” Zagreus yells, already stepping out of the Styx with blood-covered everything. “I’m going to-- oh, Than.”
“Hi.” He ignores the hole Hypnos is boring into his shoulder. “I was just scolding Hypnos. I need to get back to work.”
“Ah, wait.” Zagreus hands him yet another hefty ambrosia bottle. “Mort really helped me out back there with Asterius.
“Uh, thanks.”
Thanatos really wishes he could kill Hypnos.