Work Text:
Zagreus quickly jumped from one of the staircases onto the floor of another room in Tartarus. He quickly turned his head and, not finding the person he was looking for, ran forward, continuing his search. The young man didn't know how long he had been running through the rooms looking for his friend, but he knew for sure that he had been doing it for too long, which was, to put it mildly, not good.
Unfortunately, this was not the first time Cerberus had run away from Hades's house. For some reason, the dog simply couldn't stay here for too long and tried to run away by any means necessary. No matter how Zagreus, Hades, and Persephone tried to stop him or persuade him to stay, he would still run away from Tartarus to the Fields of Mourning, where corrupted shadows would attack him. Of course, Melinoë would free the family pet from these parasites by fighting them, and after that, he would return back down.
He should have returned.
Zagreus immediately knew something was wrong when his sister came back, but Cerberus was still not there. One might think he was taking too long to descend, but before, it used to take him a few minutes, and his sister didn't exactly descend very quickly. Of course, the head of security tried to find an excuse for the situation by asking if Hecate had finally created a quick way down to the house, but receiving a negative answer, he ran off to find his friend without a second thought.
Even though Melinoë tried to run after her brother to help him search, he immediately stopped her, saying it wasn't necessary. Their parents already knew about their daughter's arrival at the house. They were, of course, already waiting for her, and it wouldn't be very nice to keep them waiting too long, as the search for the family pet would most likely take too long. And…
As much as the young man didn't want to admit it, unfortunately, Cerberus still hadn't accepted Melinoë. No one, of course, directly told the girl this, but the guardian of Tartarus still considered her a stranger and even dangerous. He needed a little time to understand that it was Melinoë and that she was actually a member of the family too. Of course, this would take a long time, but it seemed his sister didn't mind waiting for the family pet's comfort.
After running through a couple more corridors without stopping for a minute, Zagreus examined every corner until he heard a quiet whine. Without thinking, he sped up and, turning a corner, saw Cerberus in the center of one of the rooms that Chronos had recently restored with his own power. He had placed all three heads on his paws, pressing all his ears to his head. The young man, having examined his friend and found no injuries, breathed a sigh of relief.
"CERBERUS! There you are! I was beginning to think I wouldn't find you. You wandered quite deep, little one."
Zagreus said and, smiling, approached his friend, who turned away and continued to lie on the floor, whimpering.
"Incredible, but you hid so well. I'm even surprised, because you're not exactly small."
Approaching Cerberus, he lightly patted his back, causing him to involuntarily flinch.
"Alright. Enough playing. Let's go home."
The young man said, at which the guardian of Tartarus… quietly whined and moved slightly away from his owner's hand. He blinked in surprise, tilting his head in bewilderment.
"Cerberus. I understand this place is quite… interesting, but I don't think Father would be happy if your habitat moved here. After all, it's too far from the house and too dirty here. Mother would definitely get tired of washing the dirt off you."
He said, smiling slightly nervously. Cerberus only whined again at this and covered his snouts with his front paws. After standing and waiting for a while, Zagreus sighed heavily, walked around his friend, and sat down opposite him, crossing his legs.
"You don't want to go back there either, do you?"
He asked in a quiet voice. The dog growled softly and looked guiltily at his owner with all three pairs of eyes. The latter, sighing tiredly, continued.
"I understand you perfectly, my friend. Our home has become… something else during this time. Foreign."
The young man said slowly, looking somewhere to the side. The guardian of Tartarus said nothing to this, continuing to look at his interlocutor.
"It's too quiet there, too empty, too cold, too… not right. Everything is so foreign and unfamiliar. Sometimes you have to force yourself to go there. Especially because of our new resident…"
Shivers involuntarily ran down Zagreus's spine as he remembered Chronos. Yes, he and Melinoë claimed he was harmless and that they could communicate with him calmly now, but his gaze… The man looked at everyone as if he were mentally returning them to his time trap. Not to mention the eternal complaints.
"I perfectly understand your feelings and your reluctance to return, but…"
Here he carefully placed his hand on Cerberus's paw, patting it slightly.
"You and I just need to get through these difficult times. They will pass quickly, and you and I won't even notice. Then we will live as before: you, lying on your favorite bed, listening to Father's grumbling, and me running up and down the floors, checking security."
The young man said, smiling. The dog moved one of his heads, snorting in displeasure and yapping. Apparently, his owner understood something and, after thinking for a few minutes, replied.
"Cerberus, Chronos will not hurt you, Father, or anyone else anymore. Not only because he's kind of become good. But also because, firstly, he has some kind of restrictions that Hecate and Melinoë put on him. Secondly, because now we know what he's capable of and can fight back if something happens."
After this, Zagreus slowly stood up from the floor, shaking off the dirt that had stuck to him. The guardian of Tartarus watched him closely, still pressing his ears to his head, showing no desire to leave this room.
"Let's go. I think our parents and sister are already waiting for you. They're worried about you and, probably, have been beside themselves. And I probably can't carry you in my arms all the way home."
He said, gently stroking one of Cerberus's heads. He, after thinking a little, growled and slowly, reluctantly, got up from the floor. Shaking his body a little to get rid of the dust on his fur, he walked towards the exit of the room, causing his owner to breathe a sigh of relief.
"That's great. I just managed to find one of the satyrs' bags. Of course, during the war, for some reason, they made them less often, but I still managed to dig up a little."
The young man said, and upon hearing this, the dog involuntarily wagged his tail, quickening his pace, looking forward to his favorite treats upon arriving home.