Chapter Text
Hades rules his House with an iron fist. Thanatos has always known this: his Lord did not tolerate any disrespect, slack, or – god forbit – foolish antics. There was a certain atmosphere to him, mostly a dark and deathly one. Everybody knows their place and keeps it that way. Which makes the contrast between the Lord and the Prince even more pronounced. Blood and darkness, Zagreus’ utter foolishness might be the only force in the Underworld matched for his father’s otherwise relentless reigning. And it might very well only work out in only the Prince’s favor. Thanatos let out an irritated scoff. The Lord’s mood only worsens when Zagreus leaves to try to reach the surface yet again. And in turn, the inhabitants of the House are also on edge. The further Zagreus climbs up, the more grim the mood of Hades becomes, and in turn, that of the rest of the House’s inhabitants too. Even Hypnos knows to keep his blabbering mouth shut then. Thanatos knows he should resent Zagreus for this, but he hates to admit that the Prince of the Underworld is a weak spot for him somehow.
Which coincidentally is why when Zagreus comes to him smelling like literal shit, asking him to come and meet him in his room, he actually does follow him. Though Thanatos would never admit that of course, even to himself. He only followed him because when he narrowed his eyes and asked him why he should follow him, Zagreus responded with a big smile.
‘’You’ll see’’, he only said, with a wicked glint in his eyes. ‘’It’s a surprise.’’
Blood and darkness, Thanatos thought. What is he up to now? Zagreus walked in front of him, strutting with a slight spring in his steps. He had a bad feeling about this, yet he followed him dutifully. It does not matter that Thanatos is literally death personified, that boy was going to be the death of him.
As they walked through the House, Thanatos shortly met eyes with Meg’s. He didn’t know what expression he made. It must have been something sour since Megaera looked at him, eyebrow raised. He only shook his head and looked away. They were in front of Zagreus’ room already. Zagreus turned around.
‘’Alright, we’re here!’’ Zagreus scratched the back of his neck a bit. ‘’I do have a fair disclaimer first though, Than’’. He looked at him with the same puppy eyes as Cerberus when he knows he did something wrong.
Thanatos’ expression did not falter. Zagreus smiled up at him sheepishly.
‘’Ah come one, Than, don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything to do you.’’ He chuckled a bit to himself at this. ‘’Though I do not think you will like this surprise very much. But I am very excited about it and just really would like to show you.’’ Zagreus smiled and looked away. Thanatos felt his pulse fasten.
He let out an internal sigh and found his control back. ‘’Zagreus,’’ he began stiff. ‘’If this is about something against the rules of the House, I can’t help you with it or anything. You understand that, don’t you? I cannot knowingly disobey Lord Hades.’’ Not again, he thought.
Zagreus positively beamed at his words. He took Thanatos’ hands just when his pulse had slowed down. ‘’Oh but Than, that’s perfect!’’, he said, squeezing his hands a bit. Somehow, that didn’t reassure Thanatos at all.
Zagreus flashed him one of that maddeningly smug smiles, before placing one of his hands on the door handle and pushed the door open. With his other hand still holding Thanatos’, he nudged him into his room quickly and immediately shut the door to his room. Thanatos did not have to wonder for a moment why Zagreus was so eager to close to door, especially when the door was usually left wide open. Because there was a huge cow staring at him in the middle of the Prince’s bedroom.
Lord Hades would never get this House under his control while his son was here too.
~*~
While Thanatos was processing the longest sigh in his life, his free hand massaging his forehead, a small part of him did admit it was a pretty cow. She was big, had a smooth, creamy white color and mighty, straight horns. Though that small voice could also have been Zagreus continuously praising the animal standing and shitting in his bedroom. He wasn’t sure, he was still not ready processing all the different layers of foolishness. And he also smelled shit. He finally let out what felt like his most tired sigh ever.
Zagreus stopped talking and looked at him from behind the cow. ‘’So, erm…’’, he started awkwardly. ‘’Cute animal, right?’’
Thanatos cut him short. ‘’Zagreus. Why are you showing me a cow?’’
‘’Well you see, actually, it’s an ox! It’s just castrated and that’s why maybe—‘’
‘’An ox it is then. It does not matter. Why is it here?’’
Zagreus shifted his weight. ‘’I found him in Elysium actually.’’ He looked away and absent-mindly stroked the fur on the back of the ox. ‘’I heard a faint moo and followed the sound of it. He reminded me of something Mother told me about, called farmers. I thought it might be nice to bring him here. It reminds me a bit of her, you know’’. He realized what he said and smiled guiltily. ‘’Oh, I didn’t mean that the ox looks like Mother! It’s more what Mother does on the surface, that reminds me of those farmers and their animals. I guess you could see the ox as something to strengthen or Mother-Son bond. Sharing experiences and all’’. He walked around the ox a bit to put his hand on the animal’s head. He scratched his own hair with his other hand and smiled at Thanatos sheepishly. Zagreus fully faced him now, the ox slightly in the middle of them, blissfully oblivious to all.
‘’Some rules don’t have to be written and you know just as well as I do how bad of an idea it is to smuggle an ox into the House’’, Thanatos said. ‘’I do not approve of this, regardless of your intentions. Someone will find out that there is an ox in the House eventually.’’ The animal had now moved around a bit and was eating the corner of Zagreus’ bed sheets. His eyes were only an empty, black void.
‘’I should let him die and guide him back to Elysium’’.
He looked back at Zagreus, who was staring at his feet. He had a pained look on his face. Thanatos felt a little bad for him: he was so excited after all. Why did he have to be the one who had to tell him that this was such a stupid thing to do?
‘’I just thought… I guess I knew you would react like this’’, Zagreus began before hesitantly meeting his eyes. ‘’It’s just that, this ox means a lot to me already, Than. I see it as the thing that binds Mother and me, even though we cannot be together for very long. So I thought I would like to share this secret with you too, regardless of what you think… Because you mean a lot to me as well’’. A small blush tinted Zagreus’ face, but he still met Thanatos’ gaze. Thanatos was suddenly very aware of his own heart beat and had to look away, embarrassed to look Zagreus in the eye while he said those words.
But somewhere in the back of his mind – or was it his heart? – the memory of how Zagreus left him for the surface without saying even goodbye, still stung sourly. It helped though. It made Zagreus’ words not overwhelm him completely.
‘’I… I appreciate that Zagreus. I won’t help you taking care of this cow. But I also won’t say anything to Lord Hades, or anyone in the House for that matter. Don’t make me regret that.’’, Thanatos said. Zagreus smiled a sweet, tender smile for him.
‘’Thank you, Than’’, he whispered, stroking Thanatos’ forearm softly with his thumb. Zagreus knew how much he liked those little acts of affection, even though Thanatos never showed it.
‘’But I still have many questions Zagreus. How do you intend to hide him in the House? Surely not by just keeping him here in your chamber and hoping for the best?’’, Thanatos asked, putting his own hand over his. He thought he heard a faint thumping somewhere.
Zagreus’ eyes sparkled with excitement, hinting that he had yet another genius idea ready to go.
‘’Oh, you were wondering how I want to hide a huge ox in the House! I’m glad you aske—‘’,
Thanatos didn’t allow him to finish. He placed a hand over Zagreus’ mouth and roughly- a bit too roughly perhaps- shoved him against the wall to keep him there. He felt Zagreus confusion and his breath quicken as their bodies were pressed against the wall, but Thanatos didn’t focus on that. He pressed his finger on his lips to quiet him and listened closely. He did hear something, he knew for sure now. Down the hall, he could faintly hear Megaera being frustrated over something. He couldn’t catch everything she said, but he couldn’t possibly miss a frustrated scoff about ‘’where Zagreus is’’ and ‘’why me’’. Then he heard Nyx talk, a low, powerful rumble. Even though his Mother’s voice sounded more powerful, somehow he had more trouble understanding what she was saying.
The only words he heard loud and clear were ‘’in his room’’. Thanatos looked down at Zagreus in horror and he could tell by his shifting, desperate eyes he heard it too. Megaera was coming this way. And there was a semi-illegal ox in the room. She would never be as merciful as Thanatos. He carefully removed his hands from Zagreus’ mouth and asked him in a low voice ‘’What do we do now?’’. Megaera’s angry stride already echoed down the hall. Zagreus opened his mouth and the only thing he managed to say with a strained voice, was ‘’Helli is gone’’. Thanatos couldn’t ask him what he meant because Megaera’s was already knocking on the door, fast and hard. She didn’t wait for an answer and opened the door. Thanatos heard Zagreus gulp, along with what he was about to say.
~*~
‘’Zagreus, you here? I’m coming in’’, Meg said while already opening the door. Damn Megaera and her obtrusiveness, Thanatos thought to himself. As Megaera walked into the room, Thanatos remembered the position he and Zagreus were in. Zagreus was still pushed on the wall, one of Thanatos’ hands on his shoulder, leaning closely. They looked guiltily to her.
‘’… You’ve got to be kidding me’’, she exhaled in a tired voice. There was no way they could ever explain this, Thanatos observed. So might as well go with it then. He removed himself from Zagreus and hovered to a more respectable distance.
‘’It is what you could expect if open the door without waiting for an answer first, Megaera’’, Thanatos said matter-of-factly. ‘’What is it that you want here?’’
Megaera knew better not to ask further and just rolled her eyes. It was clear that she wasn’t here voluntarily.
‘’I just got a message from Nyx’’, she said looking at Zagreus. He still looked as if he saw a ghost. If he wouldn’t have grown up seeing them, that is. ‘’She only has a bit of advice for you: don’t mess with the bull, or you will get the horns. Whatever that means. I guess you will have to watch out for Asterius. If you can even make it that far’’, she scoffed.
‘’Don’t even think about telling me to say something back at her. I’m not a messenger, and this is a one-time only thing.’’ She didn’t even wait to get a response from either of them and just walked out the room with big, angry steps.
Thanatos understood her frustration: it was weird of Nyx to suddenly ask this of Megaera. But the implications of her message were loud and clear. He looked at Zagreus, mortified.
‘’She knows’’, he said gravely. Was there a chance that this means that Lord Hades knows as well?
Zagreus pulled him out of his thoughts before he could stress too much about it. He froze him with a horrified look and shook his head. ‘’Yes, but Than, didn’t you notice? The ox is gone.’’ Thanatos gulped and looked around him, confused. Zagreus was right: there was no ox. How the hell could they lose a huge ox?
‘’But…’’, he only managed. If Zagreus was an idiot, that would make him the other half of the idiot. He had to set this right before it went completely out of hand.
‘’There is only one way she could have gone’’, he said. He nudged his head to the Arsenal Room and Zagreus caught on. But when they stepped into the open space of his weapons arsenal, there was no ox to be seen. Skelly appeared out of thin air. Zagreus ran up to him, urgently.
‘’Skelly! Thank gods you’re here mate! This may be a bit of an odd question, but have you seen an ox here lately?’’, he asked, his face looking slightly mad. Skelly laughed at him.
‘’Ahh how funny! I just saw one running of to Tartarus. Thought it was you for a second, boyo. Ha! Don’t look at me like that, I didn’t mean it that way’’. Skelly smiled his skeletal smile and Zagreus thanked him. He turned to Thanatos. He heard. His mouth has become a thin line but his eyes stood determined.
‘’You go to Tartarus and search for him, Zagreus. Make sure he doesn’t make a mess of things there, or it will stand out for sure. I’ll go and talk to Nyx about what she knows. I’ll catch up with you after that.’’ Zagreus nodded feverishly.
‘’Okay, okay, good plan. We can do this’’. He said it in a way which let Thanatos to believe it was more to convince himself than Thanatos. ‘’We can find Helli’’. Thanatos stared at him. Did he actually name the ox? After hell? ‘’I’ll explain it later’’, he smiled sheepishly.
When he was about to float away, Zagreus grabbed his arm. Sometimes, Thanatos realized, he forgot how strong Zagreus is.
‘’Wait’’, he said, urging him down. Thanatos obliged. He was still a bit taller than Zagreus. Zagreus stood on his red toes and left a kiss on his cheek, right at the corner of his mouth. It was short, but the feeling of his soft lips still lingered when he pulled his face away a little and whispered, ‘’Thank you’’ in his ear. It was intoxicating. Thanatos was suddenly irritated why he has to be so damn sweet and didn’t just kiss him on the mouth. So he grabbed his chin before Zagreus backed down and kissed him, properly. He felt Zagreus hesitate a bit, before melting into his touch and kissing him back. ‘’For good luck’’, Thanatos told him, stroking his cheek.
And with those words, they both went their separate ways on their quest to damage control the ox that went loose in Tartarus.