Chapter Text
Something... changed. Could anything change?
Nothing pulling on his foot anymore, nothing stopping his body from just flowing in the currents.
Schhhhhhhh. River’s noise was still there.
Schhhhhhhhhhh.
Moving in the river.
Tossing.
Head upside down. Head upright. Or maybe not. There was no downside or upside anymore.
Schhhhhhhhhhhh.
Tossing his body.
Schhhhhhhhhhhhtt- crash. Pain. Like… different pain. From…somewhere on him surely. Air. Cold. No movement. No wait- shivering.
He didn't understand.
Schhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Air in his nostrils.
Choking.
Burning in his throat.
Zagreus didn't understand at all.
It was too much. He was on a solid surface. Why would he be on a solid surface?
This was all wrong.
But what happened? What else could there be than flowing and burning and rushing? He didn't know. He didn't want to know.
Everything inside of him burned.
Everything spins.
It all spirals down, down,
Down.
Only the constant noise: schhhhhhhhh.
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Hades had almost thought it necessary to call for Styx again, as a bigger wave came rushing towards the house. He didn't step back, ready to plunge Gigaros right into it if this was an attack. If Styx would dare to play games, oh she would not be able to handle his foul mood.
The wave ascended, reaching over the steps, then splashed onto the house. A thud could be heard, although not a loud one.
Zagreus had been within it.
Nyx was ready to show Styx what it meant to make an enemy of the Night, if she would just drop Zagreus with violent force. But streams of the river had lowered him like hands, descending unnaturally slow, slower than a liquid would fall, which made quite an eery picture. Although Styx didn't present herself as fully formed Goddess again, she had placed Zagreus in the hall. Then the streams retreated back, down the stairs into the rest of the river, until everything looked the same, except they had Zagreus back.
Their Zagreus was back.
Lying on his back on the floor, not moving an inch. The rasped breaths weren't audible enough, his body too weak for the shivers to be noticeable, but a trail of blood run from a corner of his mouth, before he coughed up even more. No one knew if that was the Styx or Zagreus' own blood.
Thanatos thought Zagreus might panic. Or break down and cry. He had pictured the prince holding on to him. He had imagined him beaten, tortured, dead. He had thought of him screaming "Why didn't you help me? Where were you? You could have saved me!"
Death had not pictured him like this.
But on the stairs, their Zagreus was back.
Zagreus had never really rested. He barely slept. Now he didn't move a single limp. No turning of his head. It seemed so unnatural.
Maybe it was the shock, that made them wait so long. Maybe it was the presence of Hades so near to him or just the hope Zagreus would jump up on his own, with a laugh and a greeting. Maybe it hadn’t been long at all, just seemed so painfully stretched, but Thanatos just stared at the prince for a moment.
„Child?“ asked Nyx, quite concerned.
You can have what’s left of him.
There was no physical injury. He didn’t come in parts they needed to put together. His pale skin looked as perfectly chiselled as always. It was almost a positive surprise. Except one the same note everything seemed to be wrong with him.
Nyx got no answer, and suddenly a concerned Thanatos switched places and kneeled beside Zagreus, who was, from one second to another, surrounded by a myriad of other worried close ones. Thanatos gently laid his fingers on a warm cheek, whispering “Zagreus? Zag?”
The prince’s eyes were closed, but without the distance they could finally see his moving chest, then the goosebumps on his skin. An awful small cough or choke or just something they really didn’t like left him and some more droplets of blood spilled from his lips.
“Is he… cold?” asked Megaera. Had Zagreus ever been cold? The flames licking at his feet where right there, flaming up in the smallest ways, and his skin seemed as warm as ever, but she could swear she saw him shiver. She shook his shoulder in a less gentle way, desperate for him to wake up. He was unconscious, right? Just asleep? Except then he shouldn’t cough at all.
“Come on, Zagreus, no time to sleep now.”
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Sounds. Under all that rushing. Other sounds than rushing.
Parts of his skin prickled differently.
He didn’t understand.
Did he want to?
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Thanatos was tempted to scold Megaera for her rough handling, but he saw two slits of eyes open just the slightest, squinting, then blinking, a painful noise reached him. Did it hurt him to open his eyes? If so, he shouldn’t do it. Or maybe he should, because Thanatos just wanted to see those mismatching eyes again and never look away.
A pair of eyes closed again, not moved in the slightest by Thanatos’ selfish wishes.
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There had been something…. Something other than red.
He didn’t know what. How unsettling.
Why was there ever something not red?
Ah. There it was again.
Familiar burn, familiar red.
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“Maybe he needs rest,” suggested Achilles, tempted to pick up the small body and wrap him in a blanket in his chambers and never let him know any discomfort again. But it was Megaera who immediately hoisted him up like he was a lightweight and went straight to the boy’s room, not bothering to wait for anyone or hear more opinions about it. He seemed cold and apparently she was wrong, it might be the right time to sleep.
Hypnos knew Zagreus was not asleep. Of course he knew. And although he was a big advocate of sleeping, he’d rather his best friend would show everyone else he was awake too. But he couldn’t bring himself to chime in, could only watch in shock and fear as Meg passed him with a totally limp Zagreus in her arms.
One of Cerberus’ massive heads nuzzled Zagreus while whining at him. The arm that hang lifeless was moved up by Cerberus snout. Only Thanatos and Megaera where close enough too see a twitch of fingers in the soft fur. It was the tiny spark of hope they clung too, before Thanatos gently moved Zagreus’ arm to rest on his upper body, accompanying two of the people that meant the most to him into the prince’s chamber.
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Shifting.
Rushing.
Hurting.
Oh.
Something, some part of him, didn’t burn anymore.
Then it must not be a part of him after all.
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Nyx had the urge to join them. To fix it all. To do whatever it took to bring back the restless, cheerful Zagreus she raised. But she didn’t know how. And she understood it would be better to give Megaera und her son a moment alone with Zagreus. Not a long moment, but a moment nonetheless. Neither of the two knew how to give the other much comfort in the absence of their companion and they should be able to get some time alone.
“He will be alright again, right?”
Hypnos fearful question was met with silence, until she recalled her task, taking care to sound comforting: “Of course he will, son. It’s Zagreus, after all.”
“Yes, the lad will be fine.” Achilles wasn’t sure why he said that. As just another shade between these literal Gods he mostly didn’t feel like speaking up. But the broken look in Hypnos’ face and the urge to reassure it to himself had brought it forth.
It was a good sentence to end the conversation for the moment, an optimistic one to echo in their minds.
It’s Zagreus, after all.
That’s what echoed in Hades’ mind, as he retreated back to his desk, petting Cerberus absentmindedly on the way. Was it? Had that lifeless body on the floor been Zagreus? Wasn’t his wretched boy the exact opposite to that? How often had he scolded him for his reckless running around, unsuccessfully willed him to stay still, just to be truly disturbed by the image of this small motionless body. They might have thought finding Zagreus was all they had to do, but it felt like the beginning. He angrily glared at the Styx, flowing like it always did, like this was just another day (-or night-). Oh no. ‘This isn’t over for you, wretched little river Goddess’, he thought.
This wasn’t over at all.