Chapter Text
When Zagreus is back from the surface, his father is, of course, already home and is, certainly, already angry. The only unexpected part is that he isn’t, in fact, angry at Zagreus. Probably. Yet.
Hypnos is standing in front of Father’s desk, a pile of papers in his hands. Next to him, there’s a new Shade, freshly out of the blood pool. The Shade is wearing strange clothing - never once in his wanders around the Underworld did Zagreus see this sort of — tunics? Armor? Probably a tunic. A long tan tunic, open at the front, with a bunch of other strange pieces of clothing underneath.
The new shade is frowning. Hypnos is looking like he’s going to cry, or scream. Or maybe fall asleep. Father is looking downright furious.
“You are wasting my time, Hypnos. You have one job, just a single one job, and you can’t even do that properly! Go away and do not bother me until you find proper orders!”
“They aren’t there, sir, I swear, I double-checked thrice, and thrice again then!” Hypnos whines.
“I am telling you, this is a mistake,” the Shade says. “I should not be here.”
“Look, uhm, what’s your name, Shade, listen,” Hypnos tells the Shade, “I know this is hard. I know you didn’t get to finish your business, say your goodbyes, the stuff. Nobody wants to die, but I promise you, if Thanatos brought you here, there was no mistake. You’re dead. It was the Fates’ will. There’s no going back. I’m just going to find the orders for you and you’ll be on your way to wherever it is you supposed to be now.”
“I’m not supposed to-”
“How dare you waste my time!” Father yells “A mere mortal, dead from a petty heart attack!”
“But that’s what I’m saying,” the Shade says. “I am not a ‘mere mortal’. I am not human. I’m not supposed to be in any Afterlife, let alone this one. And I did say my goodbyes,” he says to Hypnos so softly Zagreus can barely hear it.
“Not human?” Father booms. “Did you check the monster section, Hypnos? What creature are you, Shade?”
“I checked and double-checked every section, your majesty,” Hypnos replies.
“I am Castiel,” says the Shade. “I’m an angel.”
“What’s an angel?” Zagreus asks. Hypnos asks the same question at the same time. They can’t help but grin at each other.
Father looks even more grim than he actually does.
“Get out of my sight, all of you,” he demands. “You,” he points at Hypnos, “pick all of this up,” now that he mentions it, Hypnos is pretty much standing in the middle of a huge pile of discarded papers, “and keep looking for the orders. Check the restricted section, ask your mother for the code. You,” he points at the Shade, “make yourself useful while you’re here. There are a lot of things to do around this place. You,” finally he points at Zagreus, “I’ll have words with you later. If you can’t be useful at least get out of the way.”
“Gladly, Father,” Zagreus agrees.
Hypnos picks up some of the mess (not nearly all of it, Zagreus notices) and makes a run for his mother. The Shade — Castiel — just stands there, looking utterly lost.
Zagreus gathers the rest of the papers Hypnos left on the floor into one semi-neat pile and picks it up. Dusa already has enough work as it is.
“If you stop by the archives with me to dispose of these, sir, I’ll show you around the house,” he tells Castiel. “Or you can just stay here, I’ll be right back.”
“Let me help you,” the ‘angel’, whatever that is, says. He takes the papers from Zagreus as effortlessly as Zagreus was carrying them himself. It’s a small thing, but Zagreus knows that mortals retain the strength they had when they were alive, and this pile? This pile is way too heavy for a human being.
---
“So, these are the archives,” he says as they enter. “Hello, hard-working shades, please keep up the good work!”
He knows better than to try and file all these himself, so he just deposits the pile on the nearest table. “I’m sorry I brought you more work,” he apologizes, “but if I tried to deal with these you’d end up with even more to do.” With that, he flees, gesturing the new Shade to follow him.
“So, where do you think you’re supposed to be, good Shade?” he asks.
“My name is Castiel,” the shade says. “I expected to be taken by the Empty.”
“The Empty?” Zagreus never heard of such a thing. “What is it?”
“It’s a- a place where my kind goes when we die. The nothingness that came before existence.”
Zagreus doesn’t know much about pre-existence but he’s pretty sure no one can go there, because since things exist now, there shouldn’t be any nothingness left. But what does he know?
“So, you know you’re supposed to be dead, but believe you’re supposed to be someplace else,” he concludes.
“That is what I’ve been telling that angry man — did you say he was your father?”
Zagreus realizes he didn’t introduce himself. How rude. “I’m Zagreus,” he says. “The son of Hades — that’s the angry King of Hell you just had the pleasure of meeting. And yes, he’s always like that.”
“I would not expect anything else from the God of the Dead.”
“So, you do know my father?”
“I heard of him. Never had the...pleasure.”
“That’s because you’ve never died,” Zagreus suggests. “He doesn’t care much for the living.” He doesn’t care much for the dead, either, but that’s a different thing entirely.
“I’ve died, quite a few times,” Castiel replies. “I never encountered your father on those occasions, nor was I supposed to.”
Zagreus starts. “What? What do you mean, you ‘died a few times’? How could you not meet my father if you did?”
“There has been a mix-up,” Castiel says, in a tone of voice that suggests he’s said this exact phrase a few dozen times today. “I wasn’t supposed to get here today, either.”
“Okay,” Zagreus decides. “I believe you.” Even if he doesn’t, what’s the point in arguing? On an off-chance the Shade is actually telling the truth, he has to do something to help. “Have you met Thanatos, at least?”
“Thanatos? The God of Death?”
“Yeah, that one. Dark broody guy, a scythe, white hair, cute smile?”
“I do not believe I’ve seen the smile.”
“No, probably not,” Zagreus agrees. He himself saw it, like, five times in his entire existence. “So, you know him?”
“He’s the one who brought me here.”
“That’s right, he did. Did you see him… when you died before?”
“No, I did not. That’s not how it works where I’m from.”
“Where you’re- you have a theory, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Just a minute. Dusa! A word, please?”
“Of course, prince,” Dusa’s excitement is charming and flattering, even if the tiniest bit annoying. “Can I do something for you?”
“As a matter of fact, you can, you’re the best help in this entire house,” he says. Dusa practically beams with pride, he can swear he can see a bunch of little hearts flying around her. “We have a guest. Could you please fix a room for him? One of the spare ones.”
“Of course, prince, it would be my pleasure,” Dusa practically screams with excitement, “I’ll pick the nicest spare room for him!”
All spare rooms are more or less the same.
“Thank you,” Zagreus says, but Dusa’s already vanished.
“A medusa?” Castiel asks curiously.
“Yes,” Zagreus says. “But not like the other medusas at all. Dusa is one of a kind.”
“I can see that,” the Shade agrees.
“If I may ask, sir,” Zagreus says. “You seem to know a lot about us. How come I don’t even know what an ‘angel’ is? Hypnos doesn’t know, either.”
“I believe it is a matter of temporal displacement,” Castiel explains. That doesn’t clarify anything. “As well as cross-realm one.”
“Temporal? Like, time? What do you mean, cross-realm?” They’re in the realm of the dead, but Zagreus doesn’t think that’s what he means.
“In my world, your world is… something that happened a very long time ago,” Castiel explains. “And, evidently, very differently. The Hades I know about never had any children”
“Ah, that, yeah, he wasn’t supposed to,” Zagreus says. “Long story. Are you hungry? Want some fish?”
---
Castiel doesn’t enjoy the fish (to be honest, this magma-roasted Charp isn’t the cook’s best work by far), but a bottle of nectar makes him feel a little bit at ease and gets him talking.
Apparently, an angel is a type of semi-immortal being designed to serve a particularly ridiculous god. Whose name is Chuck. Zagreus met a lot of gods by now, but none of them was named Chuck. Also apparently, Castiel hadn’t served that ridiculous god for a while before his demise, and instead was helping a human in a fight against him. Apparently, it was a losing fight, and Castiel died- killing Death? Zagreus swallowed nervously.
The nature of the Empty as described by Castiel eluded Zagreus. She was a place and a being, much like Hades himself, but even more angry and needlessly vindictive, evidently. And, evidently, joyously cruel, as well. And as prone to sleeping as Hypnos. And— Zagreus much preferred his own family’s ridiculousness over this.
“So, you made the deal with the Empty,” he prompts. Castiel did not explain what the deal was for, but from his own experience with people and deals Zagreus could suggest it was probably for a loved one’s safety or comfort. “And from the fact that you think you’re supposed to be there I understand that you did achieve happiness, right?”
Castiel nods, but doesn’t elaborate. It might take more than one bottle of nectar to get him to talk about it.
“Okay, so this is what we’re going to do now,” Zagreus says. “I’ll go talk to Nyx. She might have some good advice, she always does. But if she doesn’t, I’ll go try and find a way to get to your world. I mean, how hard could it be?”
“I am grateful for your help,” Castiel says.
“Oh, don’t thank me yet,” Zagreus tells him. “You can thank me when you’re back with your friends.”
“I do not expect to be back with my friends. Getting me back to the universe I came from would be quite enough.”
Zagreus doesn’t waste time convincing him; he’s been through this with other desperate Shades, he’ll just prove himself by action. “Go get some rest,” he tells the Shade. “If Father yells at you to be useful, pretend you’re helping Hypnos. Or help him, really. He can always use some help. I’ll go see what I can do.”
---
Nyx doesn’t offer a ready-made solution as Zagreus hoped.
“I am pleased to see you show so much compassion, child,” she says. “But if there is a way, I have no knowledge of it, but I do know you will do everything in your power to find it.” She does, however, suggest to talk to Chaos, and that’s at least something. Zagreus would have come up with that by himself, of course, but probably not right away.
“I have noticed the disturbance in space-time continuum,” Chaos tells him as soon as Zagreus drops through the gate, “and feel that the order of the world is damaged. It is a rather pleasant sensation, but if the disturbance continues, that might damage the fabric of existence. I do not desire to see existence perish.”
“We have a new Shade in the palace,” Zagreus tells them. “He insists he isn’t from this world and was brought here by mistake. Could that be the cause?”
“I believe it is, indeed, the cause,” Chaos says. “You must strive to bring the misplaced being back where he belongs.”
“Thank you,” Zagreus says. “And if I may impose on you a little longer, could you maybe give me some directions? Where do I start fixing this?”
“There was no gateway between the two realities prior to this event,” they reply. “I’ve set one up for you. The door out of your father’s realm now goes to the other reality. There will be no getting to the surface of this world until you complete your task.”
He won’t see his mother until Castiel is back where he belongs. Oh, joy.
He thanks Chaos properly and picks a random boon without looking.
It turns out to be his downfall; he doesn’t get past Meg this time, even though Thanatos helps him with some wretches.
---
Back home, Father is yelling at Hypnos again. “Our filing system is there for a reason, and this is what happens when you mess with it,” he yells. “This is what happens when you don’t pay enough attention!”
“I didn’t mess with it, your majesty,” Hypnos whines. “I have no idea what happened!”
“That is precisely my point! You have no idea! This is your job! Nothing should be beyond your knowledge!”
“Father, I don’t think it’s his fault,” Zagreus tries. “This isn’t a paperwork error.”
“What do you know, about it, boy?” Father yells. When he uses this particular tone of yelling, there’s no reasoning with him at all. “You have no idea how paperwork is managed! Out of my sight, the both of you!”
“Well, that was productive,” Zagreus mumbles as they flee together in the direction of the archives.
“I swear it wasn’t my mistake,” Hypnos says.
Zagreus hurries to reassure him. “I know. It’s something beyond paperwork. Chaos says the fabric of the world has been damaged. I don’t think anyone could do that with a missing paper. And also, you never lose important documents. You sometimes miss people coming in, that’s right, but you’re very careful with papers.”
“That’s right, I am,” Hypnos replies proudly, and just like that he’s his usual sarcastic self again. Zagreus leaves him to his devices and goes to seek Castiel. They have a lot to discuss.
---
Zagreus knows it will take more than just another bottle of nectar to get the entire story out of Castiel.
“I’ve learned that we need to get you back to your reality,” Zagreus tells him. “Otherwise, the fabric of the world might be damaged.”
“I suspected something like that might be the case,” Castiel says. “Existence is a very fragile thing. How do I get back?”
“It should be easy enough,” Zagreus brags. “Chaos opened a gate to your world where the exit to the surface used to be. They say it will stay there until you get home.”
“Oh. That’s- that’s good.” He doesn’t sound especially happy.
“Excuse me for asking, sir,” Zagreus tries, “but… do you really want to go back there? Was it a good place for you to be?”
“It was.” Castiel smiles a dreamy smile Zagreus finds slightly familiar, for some reason. “It was the best place, for a time. But there’s nothing left for me there except for the Empty. Nothingness. When I go back there I will, in practical terms, cease to exist.”
“Nobody wants that,” Zagreus agrees. “But what if we find a way to keep you from the Empty?”
“I’m not sure there’s a place for me anywhere else, either. But I will, of course, strive to go back. You said it was easily done?”
“Not-” Zagreus has to think up something. He doesn’t like the determination this Shade is showing, it looks like he intends to go straight for the nothingness if left to his devices. “Not that easily. It requires a bit of preparation. I have to check the way, first.”
“Oh.”
“I’m going to try and get to your reality. You mentioned you said your goodbyes, but is there anyone back there you’d like to send a message to? Or someone you want me to check up on?”
Castiel looks as if the question is causing him physical pain.
“I left some friends back there,” he says after a minute’s hesitation. “If you could make sure they’re all right, I’d be very grateful.”
Zagreus listens carefully as Castiel describes those Winchester guys and promises to bring news from them. After that, without further ado, dashes across the hall, through his room and out of the window.
---
Than shows up in Elysium, not a second too late. He doesn’t ask any questions, just helps Zagreus with a bunch of crazy chariots, gives him a quick peck on the lips and vanishes, like he always does. Zagreus lingers in the place for a bit. It’s like any other place in Elysium, they all blend together after a while, but each time Than shows up, the particular spot becomes just a little bit special. A place where they were together, for a bit.
He doesn’t encounter neither of the friendly inhabitants, except for Asterius. Well, most people wouldn’t consider him friendly, either, but Zagreus knows they have an understanding. Killing each other repeatedly, sure, but in a friendly way.
When he gets to the place where Cerberus usually guards the exit, his beloved pet isn’t there. Did Father learn what’s going on and decide to give Zagreus a bit of a break? Zagreus doesn’t waste much time wondering, he picks up a bit of life power from Charon for some spare change, just in case, and opens the door to the other reality. He’s trying not to feel much awe.
---
The other reality looks kind of like the labyrinth. Only sort of cleaner, and, notably, without the rats. Probably no fountains, either, Zagreus thinks with regret.
“Hello?” He yells. “Anybody out here?”
No one answers, so he walks down the corridor and tries a couple of doors. They’re locked. He could easily break them down with his sword, but it wouldn’t be polite to start his first minutes in a new world by breaking stuff.
“Anybody out here?” He yells again, and feels a cold metal touch his neck.
“Don’t move,” a voice says. “Drop your weapon.”
“Okay,” he agrees, “I’m not moving.” The sword drops to the ground with a loud noise.
Out of the corner of his eye he can see his attackers. There are two men there. If the Fates are kind, these are the Winchesters Castiel was talking about. The men look angry. They feel just a bit scared, Zagreus can feel their fear.
“What are you?” The taller one asks. “This Bunker is warded against pretty much everything”.
“Well, I’m quarter human, I guess? Three quarters god. Achilles says I’m a god of blood, but that’s ridiculous. I’m not a god of anything.”
“How did you get past the wards?” The guy holding the blade to his neck demands.
“I didn’t notice any wards.” He really didn’t.
“I don’t think there are any wards against his kind, Dean,” the tall guy says. “A part-demi-god? I didn’t even know those existed.”
“He’s standing right here!” Zagreus complains. “Can we please talk? Without that thing at my neck? Because dying really, really hurts, and I might die, anyway, from just being here, and what do I tell Castiel if I die without talking to you?”
The hand holding the knife at his neck starts shaking so hard it breaks skin. Zagreus doesn’t take it personally.
“How do you know Castiel?” Dean — Zagreus is reasonably sure this is the Dean Castiel was talking about — demands.
“A bit of a long story,” he says. “Could you maybe remove the knife? I don’t like scratches, they itch.”
Dean seems to notice Zagreus is bleeding. “Sorry,” he says, and finally, puts the knife away.
“Thank you,” Zagreus says. It never hurts to be polite. “I’m Zagreus, son of Hades. Castiel got to my father’s realm by mistake.”
“Hades? God of death?” The tall guy — Sam, Zagreus guesses — asks.
“God of the dead. Than is the god of death.”
“Aren’t all old gods dead now?” Dean asks. “How come you’re alive?”
How does one explain something he doesn’t quite understand, himself.
“Another reality?” Zagreus tries.
“Chuck destroyed all other realities,” Sam says.
“Your Chuck sounds like a huge asshole,” Zagreus says.
“He’s not ours, and yes, he was.”
“He is yours, in a sense that our reality isn’t under his control. He can’t destroy it.”
“Doesn’t matter, he’s not a god anymore,” Sam says. “Nothing is under his control.”
“That’s good, right? Congratulations.”
“Yeah,” Dean says. “That’s good.” He doesn’t sound especially happy.
Zagreus doesn’t have to think about the answer. “He asked me to tell you he’s fine. He asked to check if you’re okay. I’m working on bringing him back here.”
“So, he’s okay? Walking, talking, not sleeping and watching nightmares?” Dean demands.
“Why would he be watching nightmares?”
“The Empty—”
“He isn’t in the Empty,” Zagreus says. “He’s in my father’s house, by mistake. But no worries, he’ll be back in no time.”
“And when he’s back,” Sam asks carefully, “will the Empty take him immediately?”
“Depends on what his deal was, I suppose,” Zagreus guesses. He doesn’t know how this world works, but he has some idea about mighty beings and deals. “If the terms of the deal aren’t fulfilled anymore, he might not, until they’re fulfilled again.”
He intends to give them some hope. Instead, he sees their faces fall.
“So, basically, when he comes back here, he can stay, until his deal comes into play?” Dean asks. If Zagreus weren’t raised by his father, he’d be terrified of the murderous expression the man is wearing to— to mask heartbreak?...
What is going on with these people?
“Yes,” Zagreus says. “He’ll be free to do whatever he wants, as long as he doesn’t run into the thing that triggered his deal again.”
“I see,” Dean says, and his expression becomes even more grim.
“Dean,” Sam says, like a warning.
“Not now, Sam,” Dean replies and turns to Zagreus. “You tell him,” he says. Takes a deep breath, like speaking hurts. “Tell him we’re fine. We defeated Chuck, everyone’s back where they should be, Jack is God now and he’s good at it. And tell him—” another deep breath, like ones Zagreus takes when using his last Death Defiance. “Tell him there’s nothing for him here. What he said to me back then? He shouldn’t have said it. He should have kept that shit to himself. I didn’t want to hear it and we don’t want to see him ever again. Can you do that?”
Zagreus nods. He is stunned by the intensity of the pain Dean is emanating.
“You do that,” Dean says. “Now, how do you go back?”
“Just stab me,” Zagreus tells him. “I’ll die and go home.”
“Are you sure?” Sam asks doubtfully. “It will hurt, won’t it?”
“I’m used to it,” Zagreus insists. “Any blade is okay, go ahead.”
Dean’s strike is carefully calculated to be as painless as possible; Zagreus knows those only come from a lot of experience and compassion. Experience in killing and compassion for the killed. Must be an extremely painful combination.
“You tell him to not come back, won’t you?” Dean demands as Zagreus fades away. “We’re free to live our lives any way we want, and we don’t want him in them.” Are those tears?