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"Hey Hypnos? I've always wondered about something."
"Ask away! I'm an open book here!"
"Well, I was thinking,"
"-A dangerous pastime for you–" Hypnos smirked.
"And well," Zagreus continued "I know that Mother Nyx creates companions for each of her children, and was wondering if you had one?"
"You mean Sheepy?"
"So you do have one? May I see them?"
"Oh, I don't have them anymore. I gave them away!"
Zagreus tilted his head. Chthonic companions were important and not given away easily. "Who?"
"My eldest son, duh!"
Zagreus stood there with wide eyes. There was absolutely no way. "You-"
"Hahahah! You should see the look on your face right now!!!" He wiped tears from his eyes "hahah! Priceless! I need a sec!" Hypnos tried to catch his breath and stop laughing.
"Hypnos mate! That's an awful thing to joke about!"
Sleep giggled, "One moment I have them right -- hihi -- right here!" He summoned a sheep plushie into his hands. "They usually stay in my realm with my son. He won't mind it missing for a moment."
"Hypnos, that joke was only funny once. I don't know if I could handle you actually being a father. I mean, you sleep all day? How would… could you-"
"Oh? You think I couldn't handle a kid?" He grinned. "Say, why do you think your father assigned me this job, hm?"
"Because it's an easy greeting role that lets you sleep on the job?"
"No silly! It's ‘cause I'm the only one in the house that can deal with crazy kids and angry people who are confused why they're dead! I oversee child soul relocation in the underworld."
"You? Good with kids?" He asked again. It sounded incredulous.
Hypnos' eyes lit up "Here. I have an idea." He handed Sheepy to Zagreus. "Next time you're out there, summon me, and I'll send my son to help you on the battlefield."
"You're joking, right? You're making this up."
"Say hi to him for me! Now shoo."
Zagreus turned to leave.
"Wait, I almost forgot!"
"Hm?"
"Only call on me once, and be nice to him! He'll stay after the battle for a bit to talk."
"Just once, got it.... Will he... be okay if I summon him?"
Hypnos shrugged. "Byeee"
Zagreus was convinced Hypnos was messing with him. He held up the chthonic companion. "Well, there's only one way to see if he's bluffing. Let's go for a run, shall we Sheepy? I'll take you all the way to the top!"
Zagreus chose the bow and arrow for this run. He wanted to practise his long distance shots. Maybe even equip Thanatos charm and go for a hitless run? Well, no harm in trying hitless anyways. He took the butterfly brooch and clipped it to the inside edge of his chiton. Sheepy, he safely tucked into his usual companion place, ready to go.
"Hey boyo? What's that sheep thing ya got there?"
"This is Hypnos' chthonic companion that I'm borrowing."
"Borrowing?"
"Yeah, to prove something I think. He said to only call him once."
"Sleep can fight? Wowza! I've never seen him hurt anything before!"
"Me neither. Well, wish me luck, Skelly! I’ll tell you how it goes." After turning up the heat a lil, Zagreus jumped out of the window and landed in tartarus.
He had made it halfway through Tartarus when he heard the familiar toll of Thanatos appearing. The chthonic companion in his pocket released a similar chime in response as Death appeared.
Thanatos eyed his bag suspiciously. "That's not Mort, is it?"
"Sheepy"
"How did you-" enemies started appearing. "We will continue this conversation once our little competition is over."
______
"Eighteen to sixteen! I win, Than!"
"Hmph. Here then." Thanatos handed him a centaur heart and the familiar feeling of health washed over him. "Now will you tell me how you acquired Hypnos' chthonic companion? He never lets it out of his sight."
"I'm borrowing it. He said to only summon him once and that he'd send his son in his stead? Thanatos? You never told me Hypnos..."
"He's messing with you. If he had a child he would have told mother Nyx and myself about them already."
Zagreus nodded, "that's what I thought, but then he handed me Sheepy and told me to 'be nice to them' or something."
"Well, I can only suppose he has something planned then."
"Can Hypnos even fight, mate? No offence but all I can imagine him doing is putting his opponent to sleep."
"He..." Thanatos paused as he searched through his memories. "He... can. We used to spar as children. He was quite proficient. I haven't fought him since then."
"Does he have a favourite weapon?"
"He changes it up every few centuries. He might help you, or he might just appear to laugh at you for trusting him. Tell me how it goes, Zag. See you at home."
"Love you Than!"
"Tch- bye." Thanatos pulled his hood to hide his face and teleported off.
Zagreus chuckled and continued on his way to the surface.
As he travelled, he picked up more Athena and Ares boons and easily faced off against Lernie, continuing through to Elysium. He was almost tempted to use Sheepy against the two Champions but held back. He would take them to the top.
The prince walked into the temple of Styx. He finally got the Athena and Ares duo boon as well as Ares’ aid before he demolished some satyrs. Before long, he was standing before the mighty Cerberus. "Hey boy! I got you a snack!"
Cerberus wagged his tail and gingerly picked up the sack, dragging it away to some corner to eat the contents.
The doors then opened, and he took a few steps out into the now soggy snow. The air was crisp with the smell of flowers and spring around the corner. "Here I come, father. You ready, Sheepy?
"You carry Hypnos' summon with you, boy. You expect Sleep Incarnate to help you, hmm?"
Zagreus shrugged and gave an awkward laugh, dropping into a fighting stance. "I'm just as curious as you are, honestly."
"Darkness" Hades threw off his coat and vanished into thin air. Zagreus watched for his father's footprints, the heavy falling of his feet a dead giveaway. He drew his bow back and prepared to fight. He would wait for Hades to use his first death defiance before doing anything drastic.
Soon enough Hades dropped to his knee and drew power from the Underworld, regaining all of his health and then some. Round two. As Hades threw a projectile Zagreus raised his hand to the Sky. "Hypnos cmon this better work!"
Hades looked up at the sky, putting the battle to a momentary pause as they waited a moment and nothing happened.
"Hahahah." Hades let out a deep chuckle. "Seems he's asleep, boy."
"Damn it all, Hypnos." He rolled out of the way of Hades' attack before he noticed a cloud swirling into existence above the arena.
Hades seemed to notice as well but continued to relentlessly attack him. "Give up, ta this rate he won't be summoned in time to save you."
The clouds continued to gather as the two Underworld royalty slashed at each other’s necks. Red and gold from boons clashed against the silver and black of Gigaros. Red blood was scattered upon the snow.
A small child with three pairs of wings formed from the clouds above the mess. He grinned, twirling his father's scythe in his hands. "Papa said... tha big one was my opponent, huh?"
Hades looked up just in time to see a scythe swing straight in front of him and he barely dodged. "Who are you-"
Zagreus used the opening to summon Ares' Call. He could feel the power as he turned into a spinning weapon.
The Call prompted a message as Ares' voice boomed across the field. "My little Nightmare! Turn him into minced meat!"
Now Hades was getting attacked from both sides, an unpredictable scythe from one and his knucklehead son from another. He managed to land a blow to the back of his father’s knees and the little godling bashed Hades from above, using the blunt force of the Scythe handle to force Hades to fall over. They learned teamwork quickly and eventually Zagreus took him down. "Dammit... Hypnos." The Styx took him.
The child floated down, barely hovering over the snow. Zagreus stood before him, and they stared at each other. There were a few things that stood out to him. One, there was a godling in front of him that resembled Hypnos that was carrying a scythe twice his size. Two, the child was probably only a few years old. They looked like a five year old. Third, said tiny godling had left the battle with Hades unscarred. Fourth, Ares recognised the child. How did War know of this child and Hypnos’ own family not know? There was no way. Absolutely no way Zagreus should have been accepting all of this so easily.
The child blinked their honey coloured eyes and flapped a few pairs of his wings nervously. "Papa said uh... I should... mm..." the kid seemed to close in on himself.
Zagreus blinked. "Papa?"
"I don't like being... outside very much... safe in papa's realm. No scary Nyx."
"Nyx?"
The kid tilted his head. "Can you only repeat... what I'm saying?
"Repeat...I… no. I'm sorry I'm just processing this.... you.... right." Zagreus rubbed the back of his head and swung his bow over his shoulder. "Thanks for helping me take down my Father Hades."
The kid perked up, floating a lil closer. "Was I helpful? Papa said I could help but... I'm still learning from him."
Zagreus nodded. "Very helpful. Say. My name is Zagreus, god of... blood? I think. What about you?"
The kid swung his Scythe experimentally. "I'm the god of Dreams and Nightmares. Papa does most of it for me though cause I'm still learning!
"Dreams and Nightmares? I thought Hypnos was in charge of those."
"Too many dreams to take care of by himself. Papa was lonely." It was said all too casually and Zagreus felt a pang out guilt. He wondered if he could help.
Morpheus blinked and his eyes turned crimson. "Oh! Papa told me to do one more thing before I go back for my reward!" His face split into a grin. "I think he said 'Send you back'. "
With a quick twirl the little god of Dreams sliced Zagreus in half, taking his health with him. As the styx moved to retrieve him, he saw a glimpse of the god's bloodlust filled grin. What an interesting being.
I’ll sleep when I'm dead, hm?
_____
Zagreus dashed out of the Styx and was still drenched in the cold liquid when he grabbed Hypnos by the shoulders. "Hypnos you've got some explaining to do!" Hypnos was mid conversation with Thanatos, but he didn't care. He needed answers now while his thoughts were still running.
Hypnos feigned innocence and looked down at his list. "Does this have to do with the way you died?" He laughed "Oh! Oh my! Says here you were killed by my Scythe!"
Thanatos' eyebrows rose "Your dream scythe?"
Zagreus shook Hypnos. "When did you get a son!"
"Imma pause you-hrk- right there canyoustopshakingmeplease!"
Zagreus ceased his shaking, stepped back, and put his hands on his hips. "Well?"
"I think he was clear enough in his introduction! Cute, right?"
"Your 'son' beat Hades and sliced me in half!"
"His second kill ever!" Hypnos faked tears. "I'm so proud~"
Thanatos rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you saw, Zagreus, but it's obvious you fell for one of his hallucination traps. He can make you see whatever he desires. Don't overthink it."
Hypnos grinned wide. "Can I have Sheepy back? I'm about to go on break and need to give it back to its owner."
"You mean you're going to cuddle with stuffed animals like a child." Thanatos corrected with a flat voice. "I'm going."
Hypnos watched as the green light faded before he rose from his seat, floating inches from Zagreus' face. The casual grin ever present of his face, he whispered. "No one will believe you, Prince. Hades would never bring up something that happened in one of your battles. Thanatos is oblivious. Megaera doesn’t believe anything about me. I could outright tell Nyx about Morpheus and she still wouldn’t believe you if you asked." He backed away, taking Sheepy in his arms. "It’s my break time now. See you later, Zag!"