I haven't beaten the game yet, pardon mistakes there.
This was a eight word writing exercise challenge, my words: Ridicule, Stretch, Condemn, Fabulous, Tiny, Tree, Fruit and Rose.
I took liberties with a few of those. I also love the friendship Skelly and Zagreus have, it warms my heart.
Skelly appears near the end.
Disclaimer: I do not own this game but I do own this fic.
Much weighed heavy on his mind while looking up at the expanse of Tartarus. Shades coming and going, most paying The Prince no mind, concerned only with their fate given where they wound up.
In the dreary halls of their home, his father, Hades, sat large at his desk, dark and imposing, making the shades look tiny in comparison.
Zagreus, with a thoughtful hum of agreement with himself, did not envy them.
On one hand, they only had to face his father once to get their condemnation, while The Prince had to deal with the ever growing negativity thrown at him every. single. day.
It would be a lie if he said it did not hurt, to have his father ridicule him for things outside his control. Trying to figure out which was day and night in this place was fairly impossible. And Hades had not given him proper training for the administrative work he had(formerly now) tried to do. It was also not in Zagreus' control that the parchment's with signatures needed for approval or denial seemed to always be growing. Once his father and the shades in the room finished the current load, more appeared in the blink of an eye and the thought on its own gave him the feeling of boredom.
Zagreus stretched, shaking the memory of the feeling away, his muscles feeling some enjoyment from his tension after that fight he and his father had. "Perhaps a visit to Skelly is in order." The Prince pondered out loud. Skelly was an upbeat mystery of a skeleton, unlike his counter-parts he had heard about in Asphodel.
The Bloodless, he had heard them be called by his mentor, Achilles. The Bloodless were only one type of the many monsters that lay beyond the walls of Tartarus. Monsters he had an itch to fight himself, see them in-person, see what lay beyond with his own eyes. Surely by now he was strong enough to venture outside this place, see more land than the plain cold dark of this place; see Elysium, where the grass was green, trees stood proud, land was lush and peaceful. Peaceful as a resting place for the dead could be anyway.
And beyond even the realm of mortals lay Mount Olympus, a place with family he had never met personally, hearing about them in stories and if his father was too close, hushed tones to avoid angering the god. Nyx, thankfully, was one of the best he could talk to about that, even if she was a Chthonic Goddess whose home was in The Underworld, she spoke of what she knew of them, sometimes wrapped in a mystery for him to untangle.\
There being a rift between Hades and his brothers was no secret, Hades himself not holding his tongue when it came to them to the unfortunate souls who brought up the sore subject. Zagreus, when he was younger, had made that mistake more than once.
Olympus sounded to be a fabulous sort of place, too beautiful to be true, with gods, long feasts, and kin he wanted to meet.
Would they want to meet him?
The Prince frowned at that thought popping in, yet it was not a new one. He was still the son of Hades to them(bearing his father did not disown him entirely first) and a Chthonic God born in the Underworld.
All too suddenly, a new thought, companion to the other, gave Zagreus pause.
Did they know he existed?
What happened between his father and uncles was before his time, making it hard for him to imagine Hades letting them know he was even alive, and Nyx was not the type for those affairs. Something felt too off for The Prince, wanting answers to questions he would not get down here. Not even from his bull-headed father.
Someone that could give Asterius a run for his money on that end.
The itch came again, the urge to wield his sword and venture beyond the walls, seek answers to his own questions. The top of the list being his two differently colored eyes. Neither Nyx nor Hades had eyes as green as his, leaving some questions to his parentage. He favored his father too greatly for that to be an issue, yet Nyx was a different story. Even in his own heart, no matter what, he loved Nyx as a mother. Nothing would change that, one of the few certain things in his shaky life right now.
Plans were hatching quietly in his mind, knowing his fathers temper would be on him soon. Zagreus would have to do it alone, not wanting to get anyone else on the receiving end of Hades wrath when Zagreus was the one needing answers. Than would be unhappy, but eventually understand, he hoped. Nyx was supportive and likely not try and stop him yet he worried already for what would happen if his father found out anyone tried to help him in his quest to leave Tartarus(no one may have openly mentioned him, but all knew about the fate Orpheus bore currently because he refused to sing), to make it to Olympus for the truth those gods above had, something he needed all too badly.
There being only so long he could stare at the familiar view of his dark home, Zagreus turned away, heading to see Skelly. One of the few friendly beings in this place. Skelly was questionably happy in a station all his own and cheerfully refused to answer anything or truly hint at who he was really.
"What's the matter, Boyo? You look like one of the Fury's got to ya." Skelly spoke as he rose from his sitting position on the middle of the training room floor.
"If they are anything like Meg, you may be right." Zagreus said while grabbing the infernal arm: stygian blade. It was bright red as ever, feeling alive in his hands.
"Sounds like you could use a round or two with ol' Skelly." The skeleton added chipper, ready to serve his purpose. The Prince, his friend, began to put his training to use in practice against him. Thankfully he felt no pain while the blade struck him over and over, the cast of those diamonds sticking to him. Knowing his end of the deal, Skelly chimed in with taunts, egging Zagreus on to attack harder, faster. It was in The Prince's eyes that something was off and Skelly wanted to make sure he was ready to take on whatever it was. Achilles had done a fine job training him, yet Zagreus had not fought anything beyond Achilles and sparring with a few of the others that were down in Tartarus. Whatever lay ahead for him, he hoped The Prince was ready to face it.
Meanwhile, Zagreus dashed, struck and cast, making use of his special moves with the blade to take down Skelly as fast as possible, considering it practice for foes that would surely lay ahead for him.
His mind was made up. Zagreus needed answers and was going to get them, no matter how difficult or long it took.