Work Text:
Shield to a Dreamer
Hypnos had no idea why Ares was so obsessed with his brother, Thanatos was so in love with Zagreus that everyone but the oblivious prince knew. Even the mortals on the surface knew! But from what he had been told about the war god he got the sense he was always whacky. Especially when Thanatos himself explained Ares to him, putting it simply as ‘an obsessive personality for all things Chthonic or dealing with the Underworld.’ Now if you could look Hypnos in the eye and say that was normal, it means you’re probably whacky too
When Nyx first came to Thanatos and he, and said Ares had asked her if he could court her son, the twins immediately knew he must have been speaking about Thanatos, because there was no way he was going after Charon. And even though they still considered Zagreus their brother, they all saw at the feast how Ares had treated Zagreus more like a true brother and brother in arms than just a simple cousin. So Hypnos and Thanatos agreed that she made the right choice in saying no, not like Thanatos was going to agree to being courted by Ares regardless, nor did he have the emotional ability to gently turn the other god down. Even though Nyx probably didn’t do it any better, it still probably worked out better than how Thanatos would have handled it
Regardless, they all forgot about it shortly after, not thinking about it as, according to Nyx, Ares had responded well and merely left. By the time everyone in the Underworld forgot about it, Hermes had arrived one day(or night), shaking in his sandals as he went to Hades and Nyx, carrying a red envelope in his hands. Hypnos didn’t think about it, simply thinking it was some super important letter from Olympus that Zeus wasn’t going to let them ignore. But once the three left Hades chambers, Nyx brought Thanatos and Hypnos to Erebus so they may speak in private
“My children, Ares has declared war on the Underworld and all those who reside beneath the surface, save for Achilles and Zagreus. He will not negotiate or be swayed, nor will he stop until he has Thanatos as his bride. I am sorry, my child, but we do not have a choice”
Nyx had turned her macaroon colored eyes to Thanatos and they softened, though Thanatos’ own aureolin eyes had widened in shock and horror. None of them had thought that it would come to this, they had thought Ares would have given up and moved on!
“Mother Nyx, you cannot be serious, surely there is something you or Lord Hades could do. Is it not impossible for Ares to actually wage a war with the Underworld let alone win?”
“The God of War can wage war on whomever, or whatever he sees fit, he is part of the Pantheon, after all. And he has decided my refusal towards him is worthy enough cause to strike war upon us. He could win, and the Underworld would survive so long as there is a Lord to preside over it, and a child of mine to control it”
Hypnos frowned at that, realizing that if Ares could somehow pull this crazy stunt off and win, that he would only have to let Zagreus and Thanatos live to keep the Underworld from totally falling apart and ruining the natural cycles of the mortals and gods alike. It was a little frightening to think about, honestly. But a part of him was still unafraid, because even if Ares managed to kill all the others down below, the Chthonic were still the most powerful of all the gods, children of Chaos themselves. Surely he must know this and realize his chances of winning are smaller than a grain of sand?
“Then….then what do we do Mother? I do not…I do not wish for others to die, nor can I take his word when he says he will let Zagreus live”
“What we do, my dear child, is get you prepared for your wedding”
And so here they all were a month later, in Thanatos wedding chambers somewhere on the surface to serve as neutral ground. Hypnos was helping Thanatos dress in a black chiton with a belt of silver. Instead of his pauldron he had a smaller version at his hip to hold the belt in place, still in silver to match his sandals and his usual jewelry. Once he’s dressed, Hypnos floats around him to double check everything was perfect before giving a sigh
“Than…I can’t do much to help you right now. But I can give you comfort! I’ll always give you good dreams whenever I sense you’re sleeping and right now…right now I can offer you this!”
Thanatos eyes widen when Hypnos takes off his ever present cloak and holds it out, a faint smile on his lips. Thanatos holds his hands up and shakes his head, even though he wouldn’t mind wearing Hypnos weighted quilt, even for this blasted ceremony
“Brother, I cannot take your cloak. You made this yourself, it means far too much to you, so much so I could never take it, let alone borrow it for a few hours”
Hypnos deflates at that but sighs and rewraps the cloak around himself, knowing he couldn’t convince Thanatos to take it even if he had all of existence to try. Though he honestly wouldn’t want to give it up anyway
“Okay…I just wish there was more that I could do for you! I know you don’t like Ares, you’re in love with Zag, you should be with him! I heard him the other night, cursing himself for not realizing he loved you too. It just isn’t fair!”
Tears came to Hypnos' eyes, fearing for the unknown future Thanatos was about to face, fear of a life without his brother by his side. His brother wasn’t at his side to begin with but Hypnos knows he couldn’t go without seeing Thanatos at all. Thanatos sighs and pulls his brother into a hug, as if Hypnos is the one that needs comfort and not the other way around
“Brother, no matter what happens, I will be alright. I will write to you often and come visit you as often as I can. Try and do your job and don't be a burden to Mother while I’m gone”
Hypnos barely registers that Thanatos is technically scolding him, all he knows is that Thanatos is willingly hugging him so he clings to his brother tightly as he starts to fully cry. Thanatos swears to never tell anyone that tears come to his eyes as well. They stayed like that, for awhile, until Nyx came into the room through a sheer purple curtain
“My child, it is time”
Hypnos let go of Thanatos and looked at him with concern as Nyx put the black veil on Thanatos, attached to a tiara made of skulls that would be revealed once Ares would pull the veil back. Nyx gave Thanatos a butterfly kiss on his veiled cheek before they linked arms, Nyx looking at Hypnos
“Child, join the others, stay near Zagreus. Be of comfort to him. I will join your side once I have brought Thanatos to Ares”
Hypnos nodded quickly and spun as he floated towards the chamber down the hall where the ceremony was to be held. Zagreus was towards the back and glaring at Ares, his eyes laden with emotions but it didn’t matter at the moment if his glare wasn’t at top notch. Ares was staring intently at the spot Nyx would bring Thanatos out, his eyes wide in excitement and anticipation. Hypnos held Zagreus hand in comfort and Zagreus gave him a squeeze in return
Hera was there as well, being the one who would officiate this wedding and she looked as beautiful as always in a shale green dress with peacock feather decorations. Ares was wearing a chiton the color of blood that reached just under his knees, gold sandals, and gold arm bands. Though he wasn’t wearing his armor, or had his weapons, he still had his war paint on and changed his metallic laurels for ones that where the color of obols
‘Why is he wearing red and gold? Those aren’t Than’s colors, isn’t the groom supposed to match the bride's colors?’
Hypnos was probably wrong, anyway, as he’s never really seen a wedding before so he just shrugged it off. He looked over when seeing Nyx and Thanatos enter, he and Zagreus holding each other's hands tighter as Nyx and Thanatos walked down the aisle. Once reaching Ares' side Nyx kissed the top of her son's head and went to the others to watch. Ares held his hand out for Thanatos to hold, and to Thanatos credit it only took him a millisecond to hold his hand back. Hera finally looked at Ares and rose a brow
“Are we forgetting something?”
Ares looked at Hera and seemed to straighten before looking at Thanatos again, a soft smile on his lips
“My apologies, pardon my enthusiasm”
Ares lifted the veil but when seeing Thanatos his eyes widened. And rage started to darken his expression
“What? Thanatos? What are you doing here? Is this some kind of trick? How dare you do this?”
Though Ares doesn’t shout, or yell, or scream, his even and calm voice is heavy with the sounds of anger and betrayal. And to Thanatos credit he looked incredibly confused
“Trick? I am your…bride, like you demanded with the threat of war. You are getting what you want yet you are still upset? How dare you ?”
Ares scoffed and quickly stepped away from Thanatos, Nyx floating over to put a protective arm on Thanatos shoulder as the other deities murmured in confusion themselves
“Ares, calm yourself. I do not understand myself, you asked me for blessing to court my son and I refused. You threatened to destroy the Underworld for my son, and I conceded. You now have Thanatos as your bride. What more can you ask of me?”
Ares calmed instantly at that because he was now laughing, a look of surprise and relief on his features, it made Nyx and Thanatos more confused but Hypnos was now worried
“I apologize, it seems I was not clear when I came to you the first time, and this is truly all my fault for not clarifying. Though you are to blame as well for not asking me which son I was speaking of”
“I believe Charon would destroy you if you ask for his hand, Ares”
Ares stopped laughing at that instantly, his eyes holding rage once more
“You truly are pathetic. As a goddess, as a powerful being, as a Chthonic deity you are all powerful, awe inspiring, and a grandeur. My respect for all things Chthonic runs deep, and if you or one of your children asked I would wage war in your stead without question. But as a mother you are pathetic”
Gasps were heard in shock, not only at the fact that someone would so blatantly disrespect Mother Night herself but that the disrespect was coming from Ares himself!
“You have more than one son, or do you simply forget he exists? Have you neglected him so much that you only remember him when you need to ‘reprimand’ him or yell at him when he ‘isn’t’ doing his job? So again, how dare you ?”
Before Nyx could even attempt to respond, Ares rage turned towards Thanatos again with a soft growl
“And you! I have heard the awful things you have said to him, how can you call yourself his brother? Do you not hold any respect for him? He is not just a parchment pusher, he is more than that! He is a God!”
Bellowing the last of his sentence, it clicked for Nyx which son Ares had been talking about, it clicked for Thanatos why Ares was wearing red and gold, it clicked for Hypnos that he was suddenly very screwed
“My apologies, I did not think you would hold affection for Hypnos. You are closer to Thanatos, it was natural for me to assume he was the object of your desires”
Ares merely scoffed when hearing that, his lips curling into a sneer as Nyx at least had the decency to look down out of shame
“I see no reason for you to apologize to me. I am not the one you have neglected and abandoned for who knows how long. You should be apologizing to Hypnos before I decide I should just take him now. He is my bride, after all. He is my war prize”
Hypnos snapped from his shock stupor at that, realizing fully what was going on as he floated over quickly, shaking his head
“Wait, wait, wait! I am not a war prize, buddy! And mo-Mother Nyx and Thanatos aren’t neglecting me or being mean to me! They mean well and they love me! They just want to make sure I’m living up to my potential and doing my job, that's all! You’re overreacting and no offense, but why do you want to marry me anyway? I don’t think we’ve spoken more than two words to each other”
Ares turned to Hypnos and all the rage left his body, his eyes melting to show compassion and love as he took Hypnos soft and small hand into his own large and calloused one. It seemed, to Ares, that only the two of them were in this whole world
“My darling dreamer, I have learned all I can about the Chthonic, especially tales and stories about Lady Night and Lord Death. But when it comes to you…you are deserving of worship. When my kin told me about how he lived with the three of you I was filled with envy, wishing to be in his place. When he told me about you, my heart melted in love like Aphrodite had melted it herself. He humored my questions and told me everything about you and shared my fondness for you. But rest assured his affections for you cannot reach the levels or intensity of mine”
Ares glared harshly at Thanatos and Nyx as he continued his little speech
“But when he told me how you were treated by everyone in the blasted House I became enraged on your behalf. I could not and still cannot understand how they can speak to you in such a manner. You are a god, and not only that, a most powerful god. One that can put all the other gods to sleep indefinitely with a simple flick of your wrist. And they have the nerve to neglect and abuse you? I will not stand it for another moment”
Ares took a soft breath, to calm himself as Hypnos kept staring at him in confusion and awe and, honestly, he was feeling a little flattered. Even though he was always pretending that his family was in the right and that they were only looking out for him, it did hurt him to be constantly told to go away and shut up and act right. His job was hard! Doing two jobs that never ended was hard! Why was it that only Zagreus, and now Ares, seemed to realize this?
Well, apparently Ares knew how hard it must have been for Hypnos to do two jobs that both demanded his constant time and attention and trying to juggle that with both his mother and brother coming down on him hard was almost impossible to manage. Ares smiled at him faintly and squeezed his hands as he gave Hypnos all his attention
“So you can see why I was upset when Lady Night not only refused to let me try and court you but also forbade me from going near you again. I thought she was trying to be even more cruel towards you by isolating you from one of the only two people that actually cared for you, but it seems I was wrong. It is also possible she was just trying to protect her child, in the way that mothers do. But do not be mistaken, just because I seem calm now, I will still wage war on the Underworld should anyone try and stop us from being wed”
All the flattery Hypnos was feeling, no matter how small, got washed away the moment Ares brought up the fact this marriage was supposed to stop a war. He grew a worried look again and looked at Nyx, trying to silently beg her to do something! And do something she did. She silently took the tiara from Thanatos hair and settled it in Hypnos curls, being sure to be careful of his sleep mask. Once it was in place, she took Thanatos hand and led him over to Zagreus side, Thanatos looking too guilty and stunned to stop her or try and stay by his brothers side
Hypnos stared after her in longing, wanting her to come back and defend him so easily as she had Thanatos but Ares gently grabbed him by the chin so he would look at him. Once Hypnos was facing Ares again he took the veil off and tossed it uncaringly to the side
“Black is not your color”
Hypnos couldn’t help but to snort a bit, able to tell that Ares was trying to soothe him as Ares easily put Hypnos in the correct spot before Hera who was slowly becoming more and more impatient to get this show on the road already. The treaty and contacts had all been signed by Hades and Ares stating that no war would be started and no revenge would be had on either side should something go wrong and as long as the wedding happened. So all they had to do now was get the damned thing over with, without anymore interruptions
“May I finally get this wedding started, son?”
“Yes mother, I am sorry for the interruptions. And I apologize for the inconvenience towards you”
Hera merely sniffed at Ares' attempt at soothing his mother before she started the ceremony. Hypnos was panicking internally, unable to tell if this was going to be a good thing or not. Ares did say he held great affection for him but he also admitted to Hypnos being a war prize. Was he going to be worshiped? Was he going to be hurt? Was a thousand other things going to happen once Hera finished her speech?
Hera finished her speech. And the only way he knew this was because Ares was giving him a loving, soft, and brief kiss to try and not overwhelm him. Ares brought Hypnos arm out of the quilt so they may link arms and he led him down the aisle with a proud smile, not caring about the others varying reactions
“Come, my bride, we will take my chariot to our home where we can be alone”
Hypnos gulped thickly at that and if Ares noticed how he began to quake on his arm, he made no comment. Outside the temple, it was one of Hera's he thinks, Ares led him to a white chariot with rose gold edging with depictions of vultures on the sides. Ares brought Hypnos onto it before looking at him with slight unease
“I know how fond you are of floating everywhere, but whilst my chariot is in motion I must insist that you have both feet on the ground”
Hypnos sighed softly, unable to hold back a pout as he uncurled his legs and stood on the chariot firmly. As soon as he did the chariot was zooming off, Hypnos shrieking in shock and Ares laughing as he held him to his chest to reassure him that nothing would go wrong. As Hypnos looked up at the war god and saw him so relaxed, so happy, with the moon light shining on him, well…who could blame him?
Who could blame Hypnos when he looked at Ares and actually saw someone kind and thoughtful instead of cruel and bloodthirsty? Ares looked beautiful like this and he's been so kind to Hypnos already, and more protective of him then he can remember anyone else ever being. Sure Zagreus tried to help him and get the others to cut him some slack but no one was really listening to Zagreus much lately, except for Achilles but Achilles has always been kind to Hypnos
So Hypnos decided that if Ares was going to be his husband, then he should learn to enjoy it. Things could be worse, he could be married to Zeus right now for crying out loud! Quickly shaking those thoughts away he slowly laid his head on Ares shoulder and gave a faint smile, starting to feel tired
“Are you feeling tired, my little dreamer?”
Hypnos made a soft noise to show he heard but it wasn’t quite a yes or a no, causing Ares to laugh
“That is alright, sleep as much as you want, and I will be here when you wake to care for you and heal the wounds the others have given you”
Hypnos sighed in response and went to pull his sleep mask down, fully confident in his own ability to sleep while standing up and in the arms of his new husband when a thought occurred to him
“If I’m your little dreamer, then what are you to me?”
“I will be your shield”