Chapter Text
For a long time, I felt nothing but the cool movement of my form, reaching out to the earth around me to see where I was, why I was, and who I was.
I remember. A long time ago, I could barely reach anything. It was like I was a little seed untouched by the sun.
I remember it being that way for a long time. Barely conscious of my existence. I was a puddle of mist and confusion.
I also remember the first thing I ever saw. It was a quick flash of an image. In that image I saw a young being clad with armour, crying. I latched onto it, and took it for myself. That day, I think I grew a little.
It must have been years until the next soul walked through my mist. Again, an image appeared. A king, it seemed. There was blood and darkness. I took the image and cradled it. The image must have fed me well, for soon I learned how to reach out. More images were fed to me. One day, those images started to move. Memories, I think the people called them. I noticed that I could not control what I saw, only that when I felt something touch me, I would see a random vision. After some time, I learned to distinguish old memories from new memories.
It felt nice. I was able to… to place myself. I was no longer a little sprout. One memory in particular spoke of a fountain of forgetfulness. I believe that they were speaking of… me? It was interesting… to see myself. There were white tendrils of mist reaching out of a pool as few souls gathered to reach out to me.
Centuries passed and I was no longer a fountain, but something similar to a stream flowing throughout grassy lands with an endless amount of souls willing to offer their memories to me. It was around this time I met my very first immortal.
The son of Nyx, Hypnos. They were a small child at the time when they offered me their first memory. A scene of them playing in my waters. I burbled at the vision, happy to bring them joy. I only took that one memory. Although I had no ears to hear, or eyes to see, I could always feel the presence of the child. I would reach out to them to play, tracing their form and memorising it.
It was not long before another god showed up. Mother Nyx's favourite. Thanatos. He was always too afraid to reach out to me. Afraid of which memory I may take. It seemed Hypnos was the only one immune to my powers. He called me his river. Lethe.
I met more gods as the years stretched on, and I stopped growing, meeting sister rivers on either side of me. I was content with my growth. The Phlegethon and the Styx were kind. In return, I would share the memories I held with them, and be their eyes to see the outside world.
Hypnos was still my favourite. He would often visit where I resided. Elysium, the mortals called it. It seemed his mother put him in charge of watching over me.
Nowadays I feel more powerful than ever before. I don't know when I became sentient, when I learned to process feelings and emotions on my own, but now that I have, I wish to reach out. I want to see. I want to see for myself what lies outside the reach of my domain. I was to see with eyes. I want to communicate.
And
I think I have figured out how.
Sleep Incarnate.
When he next visits, I must try. I have to. I can no longer stay like this.
___
Hypnos clapped his hands together as Zagreus dashed over to speak with him. "Wow Zagreus! You got killed by Redacted again? How about next time, you try dodging their projectiles, or hide behind a pillar!"
"Gee! Thanks Hypnos! I will!" The Prince replied, his voice bleeding with sarcasm. "See you later. Gotta run!" He continued before running down the hallway past Hades' desk. Hades gave a loud grumble as he watched his son jump out into Tartarus once again.
Sleep smiled to himself. Zagreus had long gotten out of the underworld. Persephone had returned with him one day, and things were well in the Underworld. He was sure his advice had helped with all that! Hah. He hummed and finished up the report he was working on. As he set it aside, he looked up to see his mother standing in front of him, frowning in deep thought. Panicked, he fumbled with the folder in his hands, barely catching it right before it hit the floor "M-mother Nyx! Um- uh! What brings you over here? Didja just come to stare at lil ol me?"
Nyx's eyes refocused, and she pursed her lips, fully focusing on Hypnos' face. "Charon spoke to me of your Lethe. He says there have been strange occurrences surrounding it. It is my wish that you check in on the river."
Hypnos stuttered, "Oh! Um- Well! You certainly are putting a lot of-" he cleared his throat, "The Lethe is com… complicated. I will see what I can do! Will you be sending an escort with me like last time?"
Nyx hummed for a moment. "No. You will go by yourself. In the next few hours, if you could."
"Alright then! I'll uh check with Lord Hades and be on my way!" Hypnos could almost hear Hades roll his eyes as Hypnos floated over to his desk.
Hades looked over his paperwork at Sleep. Before Hypnos could even say anything, the God Of the Dead spoke up, "I expect you to be back soon. Throw my son into the styx if you run into him out there. The brat deserves it."
Hypnos smiled and saluted. "Got it!"
Sleep left the main hall and turned down another hallway and down a staircase towards the doors to the House of Hades. Upon getting there he stretched out his hand towards the door. "In the name of Hypnos, open sesame!" Wow. If only Zagreus had the power to do such a thing. Maybe that would be the piece of advice he'd give Zagreus next he saw him.
Outside the gate was the room that Zagreus would always land in first. It seemed that the Prince's practising courtyard was right above the entrance, and some of the workers in the house of hades had almost been jumped on by said Prince. Hypnos thought it was funny. Megaera did not. He walked towards the dock that Charon always visited to drop off shades. He floated to the edge of the river, watching as the blood red water churned every which way. It wasn’t long until his older brother appeared around the bend, and Hypnos waved to the boatman in greeting.
"Charon! It's so good to see you! I'll just be joining you on your way up. I need to check on my Lethe."
The man hrnnnnnnn-ed in response, voice filled with worry.
"Wow… is it that bad? Your boat almost got capsized?" Hypnos stepped onto the boat. "But Lethe Is always so kind and gentle!" He argued back.
Once again, Charon let out a series of groans. He reminded Hypnos that it was a river, not a person, and had to be treated as such. Sleep pouted, but continued to listen to his brother's worries about the river.
Sometime during the ride, the heat from Asphodel got to Hypnos, and he fell asleep. The swaying of the boat did not seem to help either. As his eyes closed, his realm opened to him, welcoming their creator back from the waking world. Over the last millennia, he had fashioned the centre of his realm into something Picasso would someday glimpse into and draw inspiration from. Half built cities with stairs leading nowhere, roads that curl out into the expanse, and greenery that even Demeter would not be able to identify. Creatures that shifted in and out of dreams also found themselves resting in the in-between.
Hypnos floated down to the edge of a fountain and beckoned dreams to show themselves to him. His realm, ever shifting, was built of dreams. As he beckoned a few more serious ones closer to him, masses of chaos split from the side of buildings and structures to greet their Lord. Hypnos cradled a nearby dream and peeked into it. Such a nasty dream, but maybe with a little twist of his essence… There! He shifted the nightmare into a more neutral lucid state and the orb seemed to shudder into a calm. Now for the ne- he felt a tug from the waking world, and responded. As he rubbed his eyes, he woke up to a violent shaking and a distressed noise from his brother.
"Hey- hey. I'm awake! You don't have to shake me so hard-" He looked up, watching as his brother frantically tried to keep the boat steady and his passengers safe. Fish were flying out of the water onto land and the tendrils of mist that usually kept to the surface of the Lethe's waters was thick and seemed to be spreading everywhere in Elysium. "It's like Lethe is trying to get attention, throwing a tantrum." He muttered to himself as gripped the edge of the boat, pouring his magic into it in order to make it float just above the wild waters.
Charon calmed his passengers and looked at Hypnos questioningly, once again telling Hypnos that it was a river. Not a person. River gods can't gain sentience. He stopped at his regular doc and sent off a few shades into the glade. In the distance, the brothers saw even thicker fog.
"How long has the fog been like this?" Hypnos asked, looking at his brother.
“Grahhhhhhhhmmmm” Charon held up 3 fingers in response.
"I'll… see what I can do."
Charon huffed, smoke pouring out of his mouth at the action. He told Hypnos to be careful, and that he admired Sleep's attempt to calm the river. He also said that Nyx's request may be impossible, and to not put himself down about it if he failed her. Wow. Since when did Charon lose faith in his younger brother?
Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, Hypnos floated off into the fog, closer to the centre of Elysium where Lethe was the strongest.
_____
There! There he is! I can feel his presence nearing the edge of the Styx. She says that he will be here soon.
I raise myself to reach out to him, water splashing up towards the device that is carrying him my way.
A few days(or nights) ago I decided I was sick of waiting. I wanted to reach out. At first I tried communicating with shades, sending memories as messages. The shades in question were now… how to put it- husks - now. My powers were too much for their little brains. Soon after I had tried communicating with Charon, but it hadn't worked. It was like there was a dark shield around him and touching him was not pleasant… I could still take his memories, but not give any. but… I still needed to get his attention, so I did the only thing a frustrated being could do.
I made a mess. I rose my waters, splashed at the edges of my domain, and searched for any god that would travel through my fog. And it worked. Charon had brought Hypnos to me. Something told me that it would work if I tried communicating with Sleep. The god easily wove memories that I had stolen into dreams. He should be able to receive my calls. He is my only hope.
As I felt him grow nearer to my source, I wrapped my mist around him, pulling him closer.
____
"Wow! I think this mist uh… really likes me!" Hypnos exclaimed to nobody in particular. He shook his arm to move the fog, but it clung to him, his floating form being pulled in different directions. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Be patient!" He landed on the grass by the fountain that used to hold the entirety of the Lethe, sticking his hand into the water. The water flowing out of the fountain started flowing backwards into the basin, gurgling at the touch, forming into something. The fog thickened and blinded Hypnos from seeing anything but the white waves of the Lethe. He gasped in surprise as he felt his realm scream at him to return. The tug seemed to be caused by the river itself, so he conceded and dropped into Slumber.
Oh gods it was a mess. Dream orbs flying everywhere, the realm bending in towards him. He was immediately pulled into the closest dream.
As the dream built around him his eyes grew wide. He had never seen a dream like this. He had visited dreams personally before, stepping into them, but he hadn’t been pulled into a dream so harshly in centuries. It was alarming. Images kept flashing through his vision, a few words at a time, as if the person who he was watching was using a few scrabble prices to communicate. He groaned and held his head as the dream around him spun quickly.
"Stop" he commanded his realm. "I hear you… whatever you are… just… slow down. I can't understand how quickly you're-" a vision of a young Hypnos playing in the lethe appeared, followed by a stolen memory of a mother holding her child. Hypnos blinked once, twice, then three times. He purses his lips, much like his brother and Mother Nyx does. "I see. So you're… you're the Lethe." He mumbled. Visions of people cheering appeared around him.
He chuckled. "I knew you were throwing a tantrum! Suck it, Charon!" He threw a fist into the air. Visions of confusion circled him. "No offence to you, Lethe. I'm also just trying to process all this- you. The fact that you can dream? Wow. Like… that means you're sentient! You can think. How long have you been able to do that?"
Images of memories from around a century ago started circling him. "I see. And you… wanted to be known? Why?" Hypnos really couldn’t fathom why the ancient river god would want to reach out, especially when he knew what sort of memories the river held. In response to his question, visions and memories of loneliness started to flash viciously and tried to cling to his arm as the dream started to fade.
“You… You are lonely? Geez! I didn’t know river gods could feel loneliness!” An exasperated sigh of mist blew in his face. He crossed his legs as he sat there mid-air. “How about this? You seem unsteady in my realm. How about you let me go figure something out about you getting some lungs, yeah?” his realm started to swirl as the dream got heavier. “In the meantime, I will carry some of you with me in case you need to talk, mkay?”
The dream around him crumbled, and Hypnos stepped out of his realm. The mist of the Lethe had started to calm and return to the river basin it had climbed out of. He opened his eyes and gasped for air as he sat up in the fountain. He vaguely remembered falling in as he was harshly pulled into his realm. Hypnos floated out of the fountain and stretched, Lethe’s mist falling off of him as his feet left the water. Landing on the pale blue grass by it, he grabbed a empty ambrosia glass from a pocket within his duvet and scooped up some of the misty water.
“Hahah!” he laughed, the sound echoing off of the walls of the chamber. “The birth of a new God or goddess. I wonder how they will react! The god of Oblivion.” A sort of craze seemed to pass over his features as he thought of what he may be able to do with such a god.
______
Charon watched as his younger brother stepped off of the boat. Sleep had always been obsessed with the river, referring to it as His Lethe, and speaking of it as a being. River gods were born as godly beings before they turned into rivers. The Lethe had never had a godly form, so it was therefore not conscious. He was certain. He whispered words of luck and safety to his brother as he floated further into the mist.
Charon grabbed the brim of his hat and pushed it up slightly to see further. As soon as Hypnos stepped onto Elysium, all the mist started to swarm around his brother and the Lethe beneath him calmed at the arrival of his brother. Was it just something he was imagining? No. The river recognised Hypnos, he was sure. His previous certainty wavered.
The boatman sighed and purple fog spilled out of his mouth as he thought through the different possibilities. He stepped off of his boat and started to restock one of his wells while he waited. Then Zagreus passed, then passed again, and again. Charon was starting to get worried.
______
“What’re you staring at, mate?”
Charon explained with a sigh. “Gahhhhh hrrrrrrrrrrrghhh”
“...looking at the scenery? Elysium has been weird lately. Half the exalted seem to be asleep when I encounter them, and the mist from the Lethe seems to get worse the further into the fields I go.”
“Hahh?”
The Prince scratched the back of his neck “Yeah. Say. Have you seen Hypnos? He wasn’t there the last several runs I completed”
Has it been that long? “Hrrrrrrrr…. Haaaaaayyppppnnnn…” He pointed out into the mist. He tried to sound out the name, a hard feat, having no lips. In truth, the Son of Hades could just communicate with Charon if he created a mental link, but the little prince didn’t seem to understand how.
Zagreus nodded and looked up at Charon. “You want me to check up on him for you? The mist doesn’t bother me too much. I could-”
“HRAHHH!” It was too risky.
“Oh- um… sorry to have offended you? I think?”
Charon rolled his eyes, well, the lights in his eyes. His real eyes had decayed long ago. He shook his head and placed a hand on Zagreus' head. “Hahhhhhh…”
A moment of understanding passed over Zagreus’ face. “I see. I’ll be careful then. See you around, yeah?”
Charon nodded at Zagreus as they ran off to the next chamber. He then made his way over to his boat. He always had a few groups of souls he needed to transport, and maybe he would run into a certain speedy god.
_______
“There there, my little Lethe!” Hypnos swirled the contents of the bottle before attaching the jar to hang from his hip. “This way, you can reach out and talk to me whenever you want!” He suspected Lethe could not hear him, but he was sure they could feel his presence. Hopefully this would do for now. Charon was right ahead, and for now he wanted to keep his goddess safe by his side. His little secret. “Hey Charon! Sorry for taking so long! Took a short nap while dealing with my river’s lil tantrum! Seems they just missed me. Hah! Can you believe it?” He waved at his brother as he floated onto Charon’s boat. “Shall we go back? I’m in need of a real good nap after using all that energy.”
“Haaahhhh?” His brother asked.
He grinned “Yeah! I’m fine~! You can go tell Mother that it’s all been taken care of. Hypnos was useful today, yup yup!” Charon eyed him suspiciously, but pushed the boat of the land back towards the House of Hades. The ride was smooth and allowed Hypnos to think more on his master plan which he would call ‘Life to Lethe’.
Hypnos had brought life to beings before, the prime example of this being his own children. He had many children, but the first child he had ever created was his son Morpheus. Then he created Phobetor(The beast) and Phantasos (objects), and so on, the Oneroi being a sort of accidental thing. His secret family. Lethe was now part of that family, and he’d do his best to appease and befriend the new god.
_____
Zagreus hadn’t been able to get through Elysium for almost a week due to the fog that the river Lethe had caused. Fighting was next to impossible when half the opponents were impossible to see, and he kept tripping over collapsed shades. It was chaotic. Eventually he ran into one of Charon’s side shops where he found the old being staring out into the mist with a worried look in his eyes.
The next few days after that he had spent searching for the god of sleep but to no avail. Even when the mist had cleared, he searched. Nyx had told him that Sleep was not to be worried about, and that he would return on his own. That just made him search harder until eventually…
“Hey! Welcome to the house of Hades! You died to that ‘Redacted’ again, huh?”
“Hypnos mate! Where were you? I’ve been looking all over for you!”
Hypnos flushed at the statement. “I uh- I was just dealing with the mist flooding problem in Elysium! Took a while, I guess.”
Zagreus tilted his head. “You can do that?”
“It’s my river, silly! Of course I can!” Did Zagreus really have so little faith in his abilities? “Well, now that the mist has cleared, why don’t you run along. I have a lot of work to catch up on!”
Zagreus saw a shimmer of something on Hypnos’ belt. “You’re sure-”
“Yup! Good talk!” Hypnos made a shoo-ing motion with his hands. He had some napping to do.