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It’s a relatively easier day for Thanatos.
These were last batch of shades he has to give to Charon. They are held in his sleeve, safe and sound. They all try to talk to him. Some try to coax him to let them go back to the mortal plane, but he eases their fears and their worries, that they will be treated well.
He senses something — Mort carried by someone to somewhere.
The someone is familliar enough.
Thanatos expected, as usual, that Mort should be carried by his partner. This is just another assignment in which Zag would call his name over and over. Than should know that sometimes Zag summons him to show him something, or to say Hi Than, if not to summon him to do an (embarrassing) death dealing blow to the Underworld King, who is technically his boss and future father-in-law.
At the shore of the river Styx in Erebus, Death Incarnate proceeds to helping shades to Charon’s boat, younger and older souls alike. Once the last soul had boarded his brother’s boat, he hears the call through Mort.
“Please work… H-Help! Than…!” A higher-pitched and taut voice calls him.
Oh. Oh no. That’s not— Isn’t that the Princess?
Thanatos shifts in a hurry without sparing a second.
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The death-god sorely wishes he was mistaken. He follows the thread of the voice, like yarn that had trailed off. His scythe already readied to strike, Thanatos swings it across once he arrives.
Heralded by the bell, Death tolled — he did not care for much of these wretches, he needs her to be safe — they fade to dust in an instant. Thanatos quickly scanned his surroundings as to where he’s summoned. He’s clearly in some chamber in Tartarus, an even terrifying thing considering he heard Mel's voice come through. He searches around again.
“Hello?” He calls. “Princess…?”
Silence.
“Where are you?”
He is met with more silence. Perhaps he should call the name Zag keeps calling her.
“Mels? It’s Thanatos. I’m here.”
“…Than-tos…” A soft shaky whisper from the one that called him, the skipped syllable with his name comes out when she’s nervous. Thanatos barely could hear it among the whispers of the Styx. The chthonic god sees where she is now: a pair of mismatched eyes peeking under the small space of an infernal trove. A sigh of relief comes out of Death Incarnate.
“Are they gone…?” She asks, still whispering.
“Yes. You can come out now, Melinoë.” Gliding to where she is, Thanatos knelt down. She sees his golden eyes pierce through the darkness of Tartarus. She laughs, smiles wide when she sees him, then almost sobs at the sight of her savior.
Mel crawls out of the space. Thank the Fates, the kid was small enough to fit under there, and small enough to get out with ease. If Thanatos were standing up, the tiny goddess’ height would just be by the middle of his thigh. She is way too young and too small to be out here.
“Are you mad…?” At me? is clearly left out.
Thanatos does not say anything right away.
He examines the princess instead. Her knees scraped. She bleeds the same as Zag. Her saffron-colored chiton dirty, and she has Mort in her hand. He can picture it how maybe she snuck out with the rat toy in hand. Chased down by wretches in Tartarus. Did Zag tell her how Mort worked? He can think about that later.
This was dangerous. Dangerously famillar.
These siblings, I swear.
She’s always been a clever child, but… she is still a child.
Melinoë must have been so scared.
There is no need to be harsh. Seems like she’s already blaming herself. Already harsher to herself.
“I am not mad at you.” He just says this, softening his cadence, “You kept Mort safe. Thank you for looking after him.”
Mel’s eyes widened, then muttered, “No, Mort protected me… just like in the story.”
“Ah…” Thanatos chortled, recalling Mort’s fable his Mother Nyx told to him. How Mort had been scared of the world, how tiny he was to everything else. Then Mort realized there were creatures he could lord over. Turns out he was one who can also instill the fear into others. Since then, Mort can protect those he’s given to.
At least, it puts Melinoë at ease to hear the soft laugh, then Than says, addressing the tiny rat, “Yes, I suppose he did. Thank you, Mort.”
“And… Mort brought you to me!” She waves Mort around, glancing at him then to the rat toy. “You remind me of him, Thanatos.”
Children have this incredible capacity to be so honest. Especially honest with what they deem as a compliment. How kind, if not embarrassing, to be referred the same as Mort. A younger Than used to think he could be and wanted to be just like Mort. Maybe even now, he still strives to be. Doesn’t mean he likes to admit such things.
Changing the subject. Calmly, Thanatos asks, “What are you doing out here, anyways?”
“Followed Zag then… got lost…” How did she even manage to do that? He jumps off that courtyard. Don’t tell me she climbed down. Thanatos could try to keep asking her questions, but she is still scared to hell. The chthonic god could recognize the shameful look-down to the floor. Her feet sputtering cinders against Tartarus’ tiles.
It is clear Mel does not want to be yelled at.
Lucky for her, Thanatos is not one to yell at anybody, either. (Exception being Zagreus... even then, it is quite seldom.)
He reaches Melinoë’s shoulder to try and soothe her, then Melinoë jumps at him with a hug. Back then, he hated these. He makes an attempt to hug back. Well, Than hopes he is better at this. Rubbing her back in circular motion, Thanatos could tell Mels is trying her best to not burst into tears. But she hiccups, and he feels his shoulder starting to be damp.
Gods… she really was so scared.
“Come on. Let’s go home, Melinoë.”
The little goddess pulls away in an instant.
“N-No…!”
“No? Why not?” Thanatos asked, almost alarmed by the reaction. But he hides it well— this possibility that there was more to this thrilling adventure she’s pulled off.
“Erm…Everyone will be mad.” She rubs her eyes, wiping the tears.
Extremely worried for her, perhaps— he could reply for reassurance. But he is now starting to consider something else. This feeling could just be an extreme assumption. She isn’t trying to run away… is she? He hopes not, but Thanatos is always pulled out of the House because of his duties so he cannot know for sure.
It is how he almost lost Zagreus altogether, had he not acted and gotten it together.
Zag cares so much for his baby sister. The last thing her brother wants was to make her feel the certain way he did growing up. It is the same sentiment Thanatos has for the Princess, as well. So do many servants and staff in the House.
So Thanatos tries to word this with care. “Do you not… like it at the House?”
“I like being in the House. Why would I dislike being there?” She says as if it is a matter of fact. A sobering fact. No ounce of deception when she says it. That… That’s good. The House of Hades now wasn’t the same one that Zag grew up in. The one where a young Than knew but not as well as Zag since he’d spent all his time there. The Prince promised before she was born, venting his worries to Than— that Zagreus would not let it be that same place from their past if Melinoë were to grow up in it.
“Nothing. I was just asking.” Than cannot tell her the real reason for his doubt just yet. He wonders if Zagreus would be able to put it into words if she asks. Zag should be able to, but someday, maybe an older Melinoë would come to ask Thanatos instead. He has to prepare for that possibility too. It’s an inevitable and well-needed conversation.
Thanatos sits down now by riverbank of the Styx, an invitation for Melinoë to tell him anything.
She fidgets with Mort in her hand, crouches next to Thanatos afterwards. Looking at the river Styx’s flow.
“I… just miss everyone. Everyone is busy. So I… If I could follow Zag, I can go anywhere you all go too…” She confesses. Somehow, she still shares that same feeling as Zagreus used to. At its core, it is just loneliness and curiosity that spurred her on this then. “Please don’t be mad. I don’t think… I can tell Zag yet. Please… please… don’t be mad.”
It pains Thanatos. It pains him to see Melinoe thinking she is not able to want things.
That everyone would think her badly for desiring so.
She has always been allowed to, but perhaps this is truly some trait in the Hades line they’ve passed down. Or that she’s just as perceptive of her surroundings just like her brother.
There is a precedent that Zagreus hadn’t meant to set. The choices that he has made to make it all better for her, but Thanatos wondered how Mels viewed her brother. It is most certainly a positive light. The Prince of the Underworld adored by everyone, dependable, and trusted by many here. This is the Zagreus she’s come to know. But... there are certain times she hides away, so willingly.
Melinoe is so loved in this place, and she somehow thinks, it is not for her. Perhaps she’d seen how hard everyone works in this House, and that she wants to grow up faster than she should. She is still, but a child, of course, it's been alright to depend on everyone around her. A familiar feeling.
This little girl also yearns for something here. Something she cannot quite name yet.
'Please do not be mad...' doesn't seem to be the right phrase for this. She doesn't want to let anybody down. Thanatos recognizes this feeling all too well.
All Thanatos can do is be kind and patient. It is what she needs. The House has been giving this to her too.
Mels may be the secondborn daugther of Hades, but Thanatos remembers what it’s like to be her age.
Than remembers what Zag was like too… Somehow… looking back at it, it all felt so far away.
Many conversations like this was all they had. The comfort of the Styx's flow as a backdrop to such things.
“You’re quite similar to your brother in that aspect, you know?”
“What? How? I’m… so different from him.”
Thanatos reaches for the top of her head, patting it gently. He tries to recollect this story from ages past, “When we were still very young godlings, Zagreus would get so lonely that he always snuck out like this, and I’d have to go find him. But he’d get in a lot of trouble with your father since he isn’t supposed to be out here. He kind of just kept doing it even when he got older… and things happened… But now he can be. Because he’s old enough now, and his job requires him to do so.”
“Big brother used to do that…? Sneak out…?”
To get away from a place that he didn’t want to be in. But that’s the story for when she’s older. Than kept it to himself.
“It was a very long, long time ago. Do not follow in his footsteps.” Thanatos sucked air through his teeth, not exactly wanting to discourage her from that, “Or well… we’re going to have to tell you more about it, someday. Just do not go out here by yourself, I mean. It’s not safe. Tartarus holds wretched shades prisoner here. You know the stories from Lord Hades and the Erinyes. If you really wanted out of the House, I can take you and Zag to Elysium. Could ask Megaera too if you truly want to scope this place out sometime. But for now...”
“For now, I have to go home…” She frowns, completing his sentence.
“Just for now, alright? I’ll be with you when you talk to Zag.” He gives her a smile for reassurance.
“Okay…” Melinoë reaches for him — he knows the motion too well. Than picks her up. “Is it alright to…?”
“To what?”
“To want to be somewhere else? Even if I like the House?"
“Yes. Yes, it is.” It really seems she’s avoiding going home for a bit. “…By now, I believe Charon’s set up shop nearby. Would you like to see him before we go, Princess? We could catch a boat ride… if my older brother will allow it. No guarantee, though.”
“Truly?” The little Princess gives him a big smile, enthusiastic.
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By Charon’s river-market, Death appears while carrying the underworld Princess.
Charon groaned with panic at the sight of the Princess. The boatman then retired it with a judging remark (a loader groan to everybody else) that could only translate to: ‘This is famillar, isn’t it? The way you snuck Zagreus out before when you were kids.’ To which Thanatos replied with an instant “Tsch. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You helped Zag sneak out before…?” She gasps. “You've liked him for that long?”
To Than’s shock and Charon’s delight, Melinoë could grasp the boatman’s words.
“You heard nothing. Shush.” Thanatos holds a finger against her mouth, horrified now by the prospect of what Charon could say to blackmail Thanatos. Charon simply makes a sound that is supposed to be laughter. It sounds terrifying to everyone in the chamber.
Melinoë checks to see what Than thinks to be a very flat expression, gauging the proper response. It is obvious that Than looked so annoyed, she sees the same way his face is like when Hypnos, Zagreus and Megaera would tease Thanatos. She could not help but laugh too.
Death Incarnate would have to let this go, resigning to gently shaking his head in disapproval. He exchanges obols to Charon for some sips of a Hydralite, so Melinoë could heal the scratches on her knees.
Melinoë demanded to get a boatride home as the Princess of the Underworld. Charon obliges, just this once, a free passage. Thankfully, he thought her to be a delight. Thanatos being the victim of teasing, this time. Before boarding the boat, Charon did send word through a shade that the Princess had been found.
They ride across the Styx.
Shifting would have been faster, Thanatos attests. But he sees it, then, Mel had been grinning ear to ear. At the new sights, at the fish that swim past the in the stygian streams, the clinking of the boatman’s supplies… Thanatos sees how everything is new for her. No matter how she tries to restrain the excitement in her eyes, it’s much the same. It’s contagious.
At least, he could give her this moment. No matter if it was a simple, mundane memory.
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At a distance, Prince Zagreus is seen pacing around in the space between the House of Hades and Tartarus. From the looks of it, if they had arrived even a moment later, Zag would have taken off into Tartarus to search for her himself.
Thanatos shifts at the dock to help the little goddess off Charon’s boat. Then he rows away, vanishing into the mist.
“Mels! Where have you been? We’ve looked everywhere for you.” Zagreus exclaims with worry. Oh, the state of him, the way his hair ruffled from the head scratching he’s probably been doing. The way his laurels spark too bright.
Something about this is ironic…
Thanatos plans to reply in Melinoë’s defense that he snuck the little girl out. Zag isn’t going to fall for the lie, of course. He’d known Thanatos for too long. Thanatos glances at Melinoë to see what she decides, she gives a genuine smile and a nod in response. Mels does not want to deceive her big brother Zagreus, and she seems to have thought of the closeness Thanatos had with Zagreus.
It’s unnecessarily thoughtful. How sweet of her. Either way, Zag would not have been mad.
“She-” Thanatos started to say something, then Melinoë stepped in.
She holds Zagreus’ hands, and by instinct, he opens to hold them. “Er— I’m safe, big brother! Mort protected me just like you told me.”
Ah. She’s hidden some of the things he’d want to know. She trusts me to tell him myself then.
“You’ve had Mort with you, all this time…?” His eyes dart to Thanatos immediately.
“Oh, yes. She really did.” Thanatos remarked, crossing his arms.
“Don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad, Mels. I was just really worried, okay?” Zagreus assures her.
“Hahaha. Not you.” Melinoë laughs, then turns to Thanatos who’s behind her. She pleasds, “Thanatos, please don’t be mad at my brother. I stole Mort from his keepsake box.”
“Hmmmm…” Thanatos feigned cold anger, shaking his head. “I’m not quite sure if I should show him any mercy. But who am I to ignore the demands of the Princess of the Dead?”
Zagreus nervously laughs, mumbling, “Haha… both of you…”
Melinoë turns back to Zagreus and whispers very loudly that Thanatos could hear it: “I’m sorry. I really tried to shorten your death sentence and it didn’t work.”
“Don’t worry… I can handle Than. It’s okay.” Zagreus tries to whisper just as loud to play along, then he goes back to normal volume, but unsure of what to say, “What… were you…” Than just completes it in silence, what Zag badly wanted to say yet he cannot and will not do so: What the hell were you thinking? But he’s really trying to find it in himself to restrain it or soften it.
From Than’s view, it seemed like Mel averted her gaze from him. The sway of laurels slightly wilted, the light dimmer. The way Zagreus furrows his brows with concern.
Thanatos tries to hurry it along, saying this. “She’s had a day, Zag. We should get the Princess inside.”
“Right. Okay.” He embraced his sister, patting her back. “…Mels, don’t... go disappearing like that again, alright?”
“I won’t. Promise me you’ll talk to Thanatos about taking me to Elysium though! He already said so.”
“Did he now?”
“Uh-huh!” She nods.
“Well, I guess I’ll be out here to talk with him for a bit.” Zagreus motioned to the entrance of the House, “Mother and Father’s waiting beyond the door. They might have more questions for you than me. Just to warn you about that.”
“Okay…” Then the little Princess bows, so formally, awkward in placement as she’s in the middle of learning formal manners. She walks up to Thanatos, giving Mort back to him. “Er… Thank you, Thanatos, for bringing me home safely.”
“I am at your service, Princess.” Thanatos plays along with the formal tone, handing back Mort to her. “You can always talk to Mort if you ever need company.”
She smiles, excitedl. She's quite adorable, actually.
The Princess runs off from them now.
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Zagreus and Thanatos see her unlock the door with her touch. Shaking the earth, the gate opens just for her.
The little pitter-patter of her steps muted with the grass of the garden. The voices of the Underworld King and Queen, distant. Zag being left behind. Thanatos already knew the two questions he’s going to ask.
“…Than. In what state, did you find her? Do you know why she’s gone out there…?” And there, he says it. The way Than sounded it out in his mind. Zag wants the answers, his sister did not want to give him.
“Found her in the middle of Tartarus. A bit scared but she was very brave, and clever enough to call me through Mort.”
Zagreus paused to collect the information Than laid out for him.
“The wretches in Tartarus… How the timing couldn’t be any worse. Meg’s in an assignment outside of Tartarus this time.” He grits his teeth, in anger and in horror. His lips thinned, then he shook off the building anger in him. “I’m glad you were able to come to her aid. It was through Mort then, if I gathered correctly…?”
“It had been rather dangerous. I did not give her Mort. I gave Mort to you. My bond had with her been stronger than I thought. So in the end, I guess it worked.” Thanatos pondered.
“Ah… so that’s how it…” Zagreus realizes at that moment. Than could see what his partner’s thinking. The blame he might put in himself, had it gone a different way. Had Death Incarnate not showed up. Had she not taken Mort. Had she been in even worse danger. Had she actually died. That was not something he'd want her to ever bear. It seems to sink in later as it always has with Zag. Thanatos has to stop this dangerous thread of thoughts, shearing it off like Atropos with their fated weavings.
“Hey… ” Thanatos cups his cheek, looking straight towards him, “It’s important, right now, that she’s safe and sound, Zag. Like I said, your sister’s clever. She made it far into Tartarus, almost unscathed. Just scratches on her knees. Meant she’s avoided all the traps and hid very well. She was out of the way. Mels asked for help, and she knew that wasn’t a detriment. You taught her that.”
Thanatos sees Zagreus finding the attempt to cheer him going through, he smirks.
“Mate, I think… I think my so-called optimism’s rubbing off on you.”
“Tsch…Do not call me ‘mate’ after everything we’ve been through.” Thanatos scowls. That is so annoying. The emphasis on the term being on purpose.
Zagreus comes off it then, bursting with a loud laugh, and gently he says, “Thank you, love. Thank you… Really. I am still grateful that you were there for Mels.”
The Prince leans closer to him, giving his partner a kiss on the cheek.
“The Princess is very impressive for someone so small. Not to be underestimated.”
“Oh She's amazing. Seems this might have gotten you closer to Mels, then? The tiny thing did always calm down when it was your turn to babysit her. Hey, I think that’s why she’s enamored by Mort.” His lopsided smile brings Than some comfort, at least.
Thanatos is not going to say that she had compared Mort with him today, though.
“As for why she did what she did… well, she was… just lonely. I think. She’s just a child, after all. A child, the only goddess her age, living in this House. Of course, she’d be lonely and curious. And… you know what that’s like. That seems to be all. I will let you know anything else that comes to concern."
“Ah… I… guess that makes sense. At least, back then, I had you as a childhood friend. You were just a bit older than me, but still. Guess we should plan around the limitations then, get her out of the House with supervision to meet new people…? That thing she said about taking her in Elysium… does that count?” Look at him, already making solutions for things. Well-intentioned as it is, Mels did just have a strange day. It must have been overwhelming for Zag too.
“Slow down, Zag.” Thanatos holds his lover's hand. “One thing at a time.”
“I… really should just see what happens from here… don’t I?”
“She’ll have all the time in the world to figure this all out. Just like you did. All we can do now is... look after her.”
Taking deep breaths, they both head inside, trying to be ready to report the events to the Underworld King and Queen.