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"Here goes then," Zagreus reached out towards the sphere which had the symbol of Ares "In the name of Hades, Olympus this is an official message. Lord Ares, please consider our proposal once you're able to decipher it."
A moment later, Ares' voice is heard from the sphere. "My, what is this my kin?" The god of war examines the intriguing message, "Some sort of invitation for me, I presume. Not just for me... This symbolizes all the others, here? Most intriguing... I shall investigate the meaning of this as quickly as I'm able, then. But first..."
Zagreus makes his choice from the boons War has presented to him, before giving his thanks and heading off to the next chamber.
After meeting up with his fellow Olympians, they gathered that the message was an invitation to a feast at the Underworld where Lord Hades had news he would like to announce with their presence.... Well, present.
Ares was most intrigued, but not so much for whatever news his uncle wished to impart. He has always been fascinated with the underworld and its inhabitants. He didn't much care if the others would spend the occasion exchanging niceties and displays of formality, Ares saw this as an opportunity to get to know Death incarnate.
Of course, he was aware that his cousin and the primordial god share an intimate relationship of sorts, it wasn't as if it was in a their nature to be exclusive to one another. Ares have longed wish to get to know Thanatos intimately, but the Chthonic god would often reject his advances due to his busy work of reaping souls of the dying. Perhaps this was his opportunity to see if his proposition would be rejected during this feast of recreation.
That was provided he wouldn't be distracted by Night herself. He's only heard of her ephemeral beauty and the way the mortals present her in statues of temples left a lot for the imagination. She, he knew for sure, was willing to make his acquintance if Zagreus' word was to be trusted.
Eager to have his expectations come to fruiton, the god of war decided to come to the feast earlier than the others.
"Welcome to the house of Hades... Oh! Quite an early bird, aren't you?"
Ares blinked, having been lost in his thoughts on what he was looking forward for that he almost missed the underworld denizen greeting him. Upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn't just any denizen but...
"Lord Thanatos?"
It couldn't be, could it? He may have been out of it for a while, but he heard the greeting and to that extent, the god's voice. It was a pitch higher than usual, and with a smile... He's pretty certain death incarnate rarely smiled if at all. Upon closer inspection, he realized his mistake.
"Pretty close; that'd be my younger twin. I'm..."
"Lord Hypnos, sleep incarnate." Ares placed his arm across his chest, and bowed his head. "Forgive my blunder. I mean no disrespect."
Hypnos blinked, "Oh, psh, an— Heya! Welcome to the house of Hades, single file please—honest mistake I'm sure. There's no need— oh, sorry, no cutting in line—to bow your head like that." he assured, in between greetings.
"But you're a Primordial god," Ares paused, as Hypnos greeted and welcomed more shades coming in who barely acknowledged him. He raised his brow, getting to his next point. "as such, much respect should be due to you."
"Maybe," Hypnos shrugged, flipping his hand. He released the parchment he held, letting it hover on its own. "But right now, I'm —Oh, death by heart attack, huh? Well, you'd be surprise how that happens often— just the house greeter. It's not as much exciting as working on my domain, but hey, somebody's got to make sure the new shades feel at home."
Ares thought about the shades lined up and waiting for their turn in... Whatever it is the line was for. He can imagine how anything would be better than doing this. Hypnos seemed genuine enough in his greetings, but Ares also believed him when he said that handling his domain was the more exciting job. As much as he wanted to ask how a primordial god could be demeaned into being a 'house greeter', the god of war had a feeling that it would be a lot to unpack. Perhaps it's a question to be asked once he's gotten to know sleep incarnate all the more.
At that moment, it was possible that Athena didn't horde all that wisdom after all.
"Well, my lord, as you say I am rather early for this occassion dear uncle has invited me to, I wouldn't suppose I could get you to entertain me?"
Hypnos looked away from another group of shades he was greeting to look at Ares owlishly, as if he's still surprise the olympian hasn't made himself scarce yet as was the norm for anyone he greets.
"Oh, but I shouldn't really leave my post..."
"Is it leaving your post if you're keeping a guest of the house company?" Ares smirked, "Perhaps you would be inclined to show me your more interesting area of responsibility. I'll be sure to let dear uncle know I've made it a special request."
Hypnos considered the invitation, before smiling. "Well, if you're really sure..."
An hour later, or in whatever way one was able to tell time in the Underworld, the rest of the Olympians arrived with Dusa and Zagreus running about the house welcoming them while doing what they could to manage the procession of shades. Since nobody saw Ares arriving with the group, they figured he was running late considering the ongoing war up on surface level which would explain the numerous shades coming from the Styx.
It didn't explain why Hypnos wasn't around, though.
It was only after Arphodite and Dionysus made a request to have a tour of Elysium did they discover that sleep incarnate was cuddled up asleep in the arms of the god of war, having their own little tour of the dreamscape.