The wide arc of Hades's spinning swing caught Zagreus in the ribs, sending him flying across the clearing and crashing on his side. Zagreus pushed himself heavily to his knees, bracing his weight on Stygius. His vision swam red. He took stock of himself, certain that he was one hit from death. "Than, help!" He gasped out, brushing a finger on Mort's head.
He was greeted by silence. "What did you think would happen, boy?" Hades sneered at him.
"I thought he'd come," Zagreus spit back defiantly. "Than's not afraid of you. You wouldn't punish him anyway."
Hades actually paused at that, heaving out an exasperated sigh. "Look, boy. Unlike you, some of us abide by rules around here. Thanatos signed a pact when I took over management of the Underworld."
"But why. . . ." Zagreus's question was interrupted by a flash of green light, as Thanatos nonetheless appeared, looking oddly winded for a god who could teleport, hair disheveled, robes torn and scorched.
Hades's eyes widened.
"I got you, Zag," Than said, his voice resolute but his eyes distinctly sad, and then he was casting, his signature shadow appearing over Hades's head.
"Thanatos! Stop!" Hades yelled, sounding to Zagreus more frightened than he had any right to be. It wasn't his first defeat nor his first death, far from it: he had been killed a solid handful of times, and awoken unharmed in the House each time.
In the next moment, several things happened very quickly. Hades took a frantic, panicked shot at Zagreus. Thanatos threw himself in the path of the flying fireball, the impact of it knocking him into Zagreus and sending them both sprawling in the snow. And Than's curse took effect, instantly sapping all of Hades's health.
"What. . . have. . . you. . . done. . . ?" Hades gasped as he sank into the Styx and disappeared.
Zagreus gathered Thanatos from where he lay, bleeding golden blood into the snow, cradling his shoulders in one arm and stroking his free hand through his matted hair. "Than," he whispered. Thanatos stirred at his name, glassy eyes wandering over Zagreus's face. He gave a small, resigned smile and raised a trembling hand to Zag's face. "Good-bye," he whispered, cryptically, and then he closed his eyes as the Styx rose and washed him away.
"See you at home?" Zagreus spoke aloud to the empty clearing. Thanatos was a god, and gods appeared in the House when they died, emerging out of the pool of Styx. Yet something felt final in Than's good-bye. Something somber and unsettling.
- O -
When Zagreus died of natural causes, his first, oft-trodden steps coming out of the pool were wildly derailed. One second he was climbing the marble stairs, when the ground opened up before him without warning, pitching him straight into Erebus.
"HRRRRNNNGHHHHH!" Charon all but screamed at him, pummeling him soundly with his sturdy oar.
"What? Stop! I- what?" Zagreus dodged frantically, but for once Charon left no sporting pause between attacks, and smashed Zagreus to death in twenty seconds flat.
So that was another large sign that something had gone terribly wrong, Zagreus mused, making his second trip up the stairs.
Deciding to skip the walk past his father, he dash-shifted through the wall into the west balcony. Thanatos was nowhere in sight.
"BOY! What were you thinking?" Hades's voice rang through all three hallways. Hades never mentioned their battles on the surface or his defeats. Zagreus gulped and returned to the Great Hall. It was empty of the usual procession of shades. Hades sat glaring, flanked by Nyx and Achilles.
The fear spreading through Zagreus's veins felt a great deal like satyr poison.
Hades did not wait for Zagreus to find words to ask. "Thanatos has been banished to Tartarus as a result of your idiocy," he announced furiously.
Zagreus flared up in an answering rage, his feet catching flame and singeing the floors. "You really banished him? How dare you?" Stygius materialized in his hand.
Hades drew a large hand over his face, exasperated. "No, you fool. The Pact banished him!"
Zagreus froze mid-swing. He stood there, blinking, finally remembering Hades's earlier comment. Thanatos signed a pact. "But. . . why him?"
Hades groaned loudly, burying his face in both hands. It was Nyx who answered, grimly. "All of the Chthonic gods signed pacts swearing no harm to Hades, when he became king," she explained. "A foreign, Olympian god, come to rule. You can imagine he was not welcomed with open arms. And in turn, Hades bound himself to the Underworld, so that we may be assured of his loyalty."
"But why didn't he tell me?"
"Child, we all thought you knew. It was all explained in the employee introductory papers, given to you on your first day in the administrative chamber."
Zagreus's feet sputtered out, Stygius vanishing from his grip. He turned to Hades. "Then why did you try to attack me at the end?"
"To end the battle quickly!" Hades yelled. "For the faint chance that Thanatos would put a stop to his foolish curse!"
"And the punishment?" Zagreus forced the words out, barely audible.
"Banishment to Tartarus in chains."
Zagreus flinched, horrified. Thanatos's worst fear come to pass: Helpless and chained once again, as when he was tricked by knave-king Sisyphus. Nyx and Achilles were flinching too, and even Hades grimaced. It was like a Wringer gripping his throat, constricting the air from his lungs. He remembered Than's words on a different fateful day: Go lock me up in Tartarus. Apparently he had not been speaking rhetorically.
"I'll amend his pact," he gasped out. "Same as I did for Orpheus and Achilles. I can find five diamonds pretty easily now-"
"It doesn't work that way, lad," Achilles broke in. "The godly energy required to confine mortal shades is meager. It will take vastly larger sums to undo a binding upon a god as powerful as Death Incarnate."
"Be that as it may, boy, go look for a way to fix this!" Hades thundered. "Charon and Hermes are working overtime, and the mortal world is in disarray! You've spent all your time ransacking my realm. Now go make your trips useful."
Zagreus did not seem to hear the insults. His eyes were taking on a desperate, fevered light. "I'll find him," he whispered. Then, more forcefully, "I'll find Than, and I'll free him!" He dashed away without a backwards glance.
- O -
Author's notes: Hmm, I seem to be expanding into other fandoms.
I love Than. He's so angsty! But one thing that's never convincing for me is, how can they angst about dying/injuries when death is so temporary? What can we do that's more threatening and permanent?
My brain: How about getting thrown into Tartarus (with a side of past trauma)? :)
So here we are. And I haven't a clue where to go from here. :)