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Honestly, the worst part about breaking out of Hades was the travel in-between the floors. At least there was something to do when he reached each floor--there was fighting to do, and friends to talk to, and he got to hear from his family again. In between the floors, Zagreus just got to dwell in whatever delightful stew he’d been blessed with.
About three-quarters of the way between Asphodel and Elysium, when the grass beneath his feet started to turn from brown to green, Zagreus stopped and sat down. The heat of Asphodel had finally left, but he’d only accepted boons from Demeter, and he’d welcomed the heat as an escape from the way those blessings made him feel--an icy, numb anger. It was one thing to feel the tumultuous moods of Poseidon when he accepted his blessing, or the blood-lust from Ares. But Demeter… her influence on Zagreus’s mind was worse than the rest. It was so bitter… it was grief.
And accepting only boons from her had been a mistake. Now, with no enemies to take those emotions out on, Demeter’s grief settled on him like a boulder. Why was he fighting? What was the point?
So, for the first time, Zagreus sat down in between Asphodel and Elysium, and considered giving up.
He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, shivering slightly, before there was a lavender flash nearby.
“Zagreus,” Thanatos said.
“Hey."
“What are you doing?”
“Sitting.”
“You never sit.” Thanatos sat down in the grass across from him, staring deep into his soul. Zagreus looked away.
“Guess I do now.” Zagreus absent-mindedly pulled out a tuft of grass and shredded the pile, blade by blade. The area around him frosted over.
“Blood and darkness, Zag,” Thanatos said, concerned. “Are you alright?”
“Tired of hitting my head against this damn wall. Don’t know why I keep doing this.” Zag threw some grass off to the side and it shattered into ice crystals against a rock. Thanatos touched the edge of the frosty circle.
“Demeter?” He asked, sighing. Zagreus nodded. He leaned in closer to Zagreus, so that he had no choice but to look at him. “You’re doing this for your mother, remember? To see her again.”
“What if I never see her again, Than? What if I can't figure out a way to fix this? What do I do then?”
“You will. Zagreus, this isn’t you. You need to snap out of it.” Thanatos reached over and placed one of his hands on Zagreus’s. His hand, which normally felt cold, was warm to him.
“What do you mean?”
“You only accepted blessings from Demeter this time around, right?”
“I was trying to get her to like me more,” Zagreus mumbled. “I feel bad for her. For what Father and Mother did to her.”
“It’s not your fault your parents made the choices they did. Listen, Zagreus. Without the influence of another Olympian to dull it, Demeter is overtaking you. You need to fight it.”
Zagreus couldn’t fathom fighting, right then. Thanatos gripped his shoulder harder, and Zagreus hiss in pain.
“Focus on me, Zagreus. You can do this.” Zagreus had never heard so much emotion in the man’s voice before. It tugged at him, finally, and he closed his eyes, focusing on the faint heat from Thanatos’ hand. Slowly but surely, the warmth washed over him, and he opened his eyes. The frost around him was gone. Demeter’s influence had shrunk to a hard ball of ice in his chest, still there but not overwhelming. He couldn’t sit any longer.
“Good.” Thanatos stood up along with him. “Are you alright to head up to Elysium now?”
“Yeah. Blood and darkness, I wasted so much time.”
“You didn’t mean to. I should go. I’ve got to get back to work.” Thanatos lifted his scythe.
“Than, wait,” Zagreus exclaimed at the last moment, grabbing his arm. Than paused and raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, Zagreus?” He asked.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Thanatos disappeared in a flash of lavender light, leaving the silhouette burned into Zagreus’s mind. He shook his head to clear it, and continued on towards Elysium.
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It was with relief that Zagreus came across a link to Artemis. She understood him. Or he thought she did. Honestly, he wasn’t sure that she understood anyone at all.
Still, her influence brought him focus, as it always did.
“Fight, Zagreus. We will hunt together soon.” Her voice blazed through his head, along with it a sharpened mind. The only thing that mattered was the next hunt, the feeling of satisfaction as his sword brought down another of his father’s Wretches.
Or… it usually did. Zagreus found himself hesitating before moving onto the next room as an undercurrent of an emotion he wasn’t used to receiving from Artemis coursed through him.
“What is that?” He muttered to himself, trying to pull the feeling out from the rest of the emotions he’d received from her and Demeter. She was a loner, right? So why did he feel… connection? Connection to him? Couldn’t be. He hardly knew her. He’d never spoken to her except in thanks, and there was no reason that he’d get that feeling from her over any of the other Olympians.
He checked the pouch on his belt, the one where he stored all of his loot from his escape attempts. He had one nectar left. He’d been saving it for if he saw Sisiphyus again, but…
A few rooms later, he found her again. As he sometimes did, he wondered if his intentions caused the gifts he received. Did he find a boon from Artemis because, subconsciously, he wanted to find her? The answer didn’t matter, really. He pulled the nectar out of his pocket and touched it to her symbol.
“Lady Artemis, I know I don’t know you, really, but you’ve helped me a lot as I try to get through this. Thank you. Please, I don’t expect anything in return. You’ve done more than enough to help me.”
The nectar disappeared in a flash of green light. Artemis’s voice was in his mind again. “Er, thank you Zagreus. I have a… person I wanted to share something like this with, actually.” There was a pause, long enough that Zagreus thought she was done. “We’re friends, Zagreus. Or, as close as I get to friendship. I’m helping you because of that. And er, don’t call me Lady? ‘Artemis’ is just fine.”
“Got it,” Zagreus chuckled under his breath as he accepted another blessing from her. So that was that connection feeling. Artemis had a person. Must be something new, which is why he hadn’t felt it before. He couldn’t help but feel happy for the goddess. She may be antisocial, but out of all his relatives he felt like she was the most level-headed, even more than Athena. Good thing they couldn’t read his thoughts or he’d get flayed for that one.
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Zagreus was stabbed through by Theseus, one of his least favorite ways to go. He could still hear echoes of the man gloating, just barely, as he stepped out of the pool of Styx and shook the blood-like liquid out of his hair. Hypnos jolted awake and chirped happily about something, presumably some unthoughtful remark about Zagreus’s mode of death this time around, but it was hard to pay attention with the weight of his father’s presence bearing down on him at the end of the hall. Zagreus hunched his shoulders against it and went to find Achilles, hoping for some guidance on his last escape attempt.
Achilles was gone. Hades’s presence almost felt smug behind him. Zagreus clenched a fist and turned to head back to his room, but as he did he saw Thanatos out of the corner of his eye, staring out over the balcony. Zagreus hesitated just a moment before joining him.
“I wanted to thank you, again, Than. For helping me out back there. I know you didn’t want me to leave, but--”
“I never said that.”
Zagreus’s brow knitted together. “But you--”
“You don’t listen, do you, Zagreus.” Thanatos’s voice was hard. “Forget it.” He disappeared in a flash of lavender.
“Damn it all.” Zagreus gripped the railing. It used to be so easy with Thanatos. Why did he always say the wrong thing now?