Chapter Text
Melinoe reached the lowest depths of the underworld, she had come through all the underworld with barely any effort, pulse steady and ready to once again bring his grandfather down. It has become a routine so far. She no longer struggled against Chronos’ tricks and began having fun taking down the old titan, contrary to the ire he felt each time she brought him down.
However, unbeknown to Melinoe, her grandfather’s fury would soon turn into a monster cruel enough to snatch the enjoyment from her. This monster was formed many nights before Melinoe had stepped in Erebus for the first time, or was it days? In the underworld it wasn’t possible to tell, but this monster did not care whether it was night or day, for it was but a husk shell, empty and lost in pain.
Chronos was a cruel being, and his greatest invention was a reflection of that.
Once again, Melinoe rose from the Golden river, tainted and no longer resembling the River Styx. She shook her head, golden hairs dripping golden dust. She called out menacingly, with her twin blades Lim and Oros ready to slice “Chronos!” And there he was, sitting in his stolen throne, a desecration to her Father’s working station.
“Ah, granddaughter, we have been waiting for you.” The old titan smirked, standing up slowly and faking strain on his sliced body.
“We?” she asked, humoring him.
“Mhm, yes, my most precious project.” The throne’s foreign gears moved, making the most important seat disappear as usual. However, what would usually mean the beginning of their fight became the presentation of a form rising from the floor, covered in a dusty fabric, worn and almost thorned. “You see, I never agreed with my children's ways. Not how they wished ruled, not how they played or dressed… I did not even like the way they tasted.” Melinoe frowned. Dread started to form on her chest, vigilant of the titan’s moves.
“Nor did I approve of the way they raised their children.” Chronos spat. “And thus, I made what your father never had the decorum to do. I have fixed his child, straightened the godling up. Now, such spat and disrespect are gone, replaced by obedience and respect. Feisty, this one. Worse than you I must say, Granddaughter.”
Melinoe’s lips trembled, shoulders shaking as the fabric came down. Black hairs, spiked and rebellious, opposed to the pair— No, to the eye! that was on his face. Whatever had happened to his other eye? To their mother’s eye, the one they share as a sign of the children of Persephone and Hades. He didn’t look okay. He was missing an eye! His right eye was supposed to be green surrounded by white, not engulfed by a void, and his skin was supposed to be of a soft olive color, not… grey. His chiton was yellow and white, skulls gone.
“Z– Za—” her throat couldn’t push the air out, it had closed as her body was overridden by a feeling of utter dread. Her ears could only register a loud ringing—
“Compose yourself, cousin.”
Melinoe gasped as she broke out of the dazing panic, Ares by her side in spirit. His dreary and yet cheerful voice broke through the mist in her ears taking her hand, and time seemed to stop just enough for him to help her.
“T— That’s– My brother, Lord Ares, that’s my brother—” She sobbed. Why was she trembling? She was the agent of Change, Slayer of Titans, Witch of the Unseen and carrier of the task to bring Chronos down and restore the glory of the Underworld. But said out loud, it sounded just too much.
“I know, my kin.” Ares guided Lim up, having the blade’s point aim at Zagreus. “But right now he is but an obstacle.”
Melinoe turned around, eyes wide and teeth bared “How could you say that!? He’s my brother— He’s my… M-my brother” And this was the first time she saw him in person. What she had yearned for was happening, but this wasn’t how it was supposed to play out.
Ares, tall and imposing, rubbed her hair. Whatever was that for? Wondered the princess “Your brother was the greatest slaughter bringer I had met, I wish for him to see tomorrow so more blood can be shed by his hand, and for him to overcome this, you must bring Chronos down.” He, God of Violent War, was softly speaking to her so she would react and make the right choice.
“But…” She looked back.
“My Kin, the moment you kill him, he’ll resurface from the Pool of Styx,” Ares explained, guiding her sight to the now golden pool. “Then you may take him with you to… wherever it is you live in.”
Right… hm. The Princess of the Underworld thought for a few seconds before gripping her blades. To save her brother, she must free him from the chains of Time, and to destroy time he needed to get past her brother. “Can we make it… not hurt?” She asked, knees bending, oz up and blade forward. With the time finally returning to its normal passing she took a stance.
“That, cousin, depends on whether he’ll try to brutally kill you or not.”
Zagreus looked down at every single moment. He paid no mind to their conversation nor to his environment, or at least he didn’t until he sensed the figure in front of him was ready to fight. He saw nothing but a glow of gold inside the darkness surrounding the world, and he certainly did not see the Princess, who he once knew as “little sister”, standing there beyond the glow.
On his hand laid a foreign blade glowing with the dust of time. It was transparent from the middle to the point, the base being of a pale yellow and the transition smooth and beautiful. One could say it was a piece of art not meant for the battlefield, but Prince Zagreus was not aware of this, and perhaps in his hands he could still feel his loyal Stygius.
His objective was clear, raise your sword and shred the golden light. Hate. Hate was his power, he hated the gold, he NEEDED to purge the gold in the dark. And so his sword pointed at the glow, both eyes shed tears that were always present on his day to day, and he lunged forward.