Chapter Text
His mother was plotting something. Zagreus was sure of it. The last few times he’d seen her she’d had a familiar smile on her face. She looked just the way she had when she’d suggested the plan to bring the family back together at a dinner party. And now, as Zagreus emerged from the Styx and strode down the Great Hall, she was deep in conversation with his father–conversation that fell abruptly silent as Zagreus approached.
Frankly, he didn’t know whether to be excited or nervous. Possibly a bit of both.
“Zagreus!” his mother called when he was within earshot. She was all smiles and sunshine as he walked up to the imposing desk his father worked at. The god in question was his usual dour self though the effect was softened somewhat by his large hand laid lovingly across his wife’s.
“Mother. Father,” he said with a nod at each of them and a hopeful smile.
“B—Zagreus,” Hades caught himself.
“Do you have a moment to talk?” Persephone asked.
“Er—yes. What is it?” Zagreus said, caught off guard.
His mother smiled reassuringly. “We received a message from Mount Olympus. It seems now that Olympus and the Underworld are back on speaking terms, some traditions are being reinstated.”
“Traditions?” Zagreus repeated.
Hades made a vaguely irritated noise. “Today is the Winter Solstice,” he said as though that explained anything.
Seeing the confusion on Zagreus’ face, Persephone jumped in to explain.
“The Winter Solstice marks the midpoint of winter, when the days begin to lengthen, signaling that spring will come again,” the queen said kindly. “It’s also the shortest day and the longest night of the year.”
“Well, that’s… interesting,” Zagreus said, who had only the vaguest conception of what winter, spring, day, and night were. “But what does that have to do with a message from Mount Olympus?”
“It was an invitation,” Hades rumbled. “To join them on Olympus for… a meeting.”
“To join them? But I thought—We can’t—At least I certainly couldn’t—” Zagreus stammered.
“Quit your rambling. It is possible to visit Olympus on one night of the year, the night of the Solstice, though I have not had cause to do so in some time. In recent years, I found the realm runs just as smoothly without my relatives’ insight , but nonetheless, they have seen fit to issue an invitation for a meeting of all the majors powers so that they might coordinate.” It was clear from his voice that Hades did not find this to be a good idea.
“And to catch up and to gossip and to spend time together,” Persephone added.
“Oh,” Zagreus said, still reeling from the realization that his father had been to Olympus and never seen fit to mention it. “Are you going, Father?”
“I have been persuaded that a gesture of good will might be in order given recent events. And there is always the slim chance that one of my relatives might have something valuable to say,” Hades said.
“Mother talked you into it, didn’t she?” Zagreus said.
Hades turned his face away with a huff. “I value the Queen’s insight.”
Zagreus couldn’t hide a smirk. “Alright. Do you need anything from me while you’re gone then? Will someone else be guarding the entrance to the Underworld?”
“Not quite,” his father said. “You will be accompanying me in your capacity as Security Specialist.”
Zagreus startled. “I—? Really? You’re serious? Is that even possible?”
“I’m always serious, boy.”
“It will be a good opportunity to update the Olympians on the changes we’ve made to the Underworld of late,” Persephone said. “Who better than you to provide an update on the Underworld as a whole given that you see so much of it? You also work closely with the Olympians as Security Specialist so this will give you a chance to confer with them and coordinate your efforts.”
Oh, so it had been his mother’s idea. That made much more sense.
“Will you be alright running the Underworld on your own?” Zagreus asked.
Persephone laughed. “Oh, I’ll be just fine. It’s only for one night. You sound just like your father—” Both Zagreus and Hades recoiled. “—The pair of you worry too much.”
“Well, if you’re sure!” Zagreus said, growing excited now. “I’d be delighted to go.”
“Curb your excitement,” Hades said. “This is a business meeting, not a social event.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Persephone said. “Have a good time, son.”
He nodded, bouncing in place on the balls of his flaming feet. “When do we leave?”
“As soon as I finish this parchmentwork.”
“How are we getting there?”
Hades waved him off. “Enough with the questions. Go and wait in the Administrative Chamber. I’ll be along shortly.”
“Right, sorry,” Zagreus said, in too good of spirits to let them be dampened by his father. He smiled at his mother. “I’ll see you when we get back?”
“Count on it,” she said. “And give our relatives on Olympus my regards.”
“Will do, Mother,” he said and sped off down the hallway to the Administrative Chamber.
Thanatos was in his usual spot, staring down at the River Styx, when Zagreus approached and skidded to a halt outside the door to the chamber.
“Hail, Zagreus. You seem in a hurry,” the god of death noted.
He laughed. “Than! I’m just excited.”
“Excited? What by?” Thanatos raised one eyebrow.
“It’s the Winter Solstice! Mother convinced Father to take me with him to visit Olympus.”
Than’s eyes widened. “I’d heard rumors of a meeting between the major powers in the dead of winter, but I’d thought they were only that—rumors. It seems I was mistaken. I’m afraid I don’t have many memories of the days when Lord Hades was on speaking terms with his Olympian brethren. You’ll be careful, won’t you?”
“Than, when am I ever not careful?”
Thanatos sent him an unamused look.
“Alright, alright!” Zag said, trying not to laugh. “I’ll be careful. But it’ll be fine. I’ve met the Olympians before, remember? They came to visit.”
“They were on their best behavior then. And this time, you’ll be entering their domain,” Thanatos said. “Just… Don’t let them push you around, Zag.”
Zagreus smiled. “I won’t. Trust me. It’ll be good. I’ll tell you and Meg all about it when I get back?”
Thanatos nodded and gifted him a rare smile. “I’d like that. I’ll let her know where you’ve gone next I see her.”
Zag grinned. “Thanks. Kiss before I go?”
Thanatos rolled his eyes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Zagreus accepted it happily.
“Bye, Than. Be back soon.” He darted into the Administrative Chamber.
The hard-working administrative Shades let out murmurs of discontent at his abrupt entrance, and he cleared his throat apologetically.
“Sorry, don’t mind me,” he said and made his way to the Eldest Sigil at the back of the chamber at a more subdued pace.
Curiously, he touched it, and it glowed an angry red, seeming to give off a sense of refusal. He had expected as much.
Was it really possible for him to visit Olympus? He’d never made it much farther than his mother’s house on the coast, but his mother and Thanatos had both seemed to think it was possible. And certainly he seemed to tolerate the surface better at night than the day. Maybe there was something to this Winter Solstice business.
Lord Hades entered the chamber and the Shades hurriedly attempted to appear as busy as possible. Their king paid them no mind as he strode to meet his son at the back of the room. His expression was unreadable.
Zagreus cleared his throat. “So… All ready?”
“Yes,” Hades said brusquely. “Stand on the Sigil, and don’t go wandering off.”
Zagreus complied. “What do you—“
Hades pointed at the Sigil, and there was a flash of darkness, and then Zagreus was somewhere else.
“Oh,” he said. He recognized where he was almost instantly. A snow-blanketed clearing just beyond the gates to the Temple of Styx. He shivered.
A moment later, there was a flash, and his father appeared beside him.
Without warning, he slammed the end of his spear, Gigaros, against the icy ground, and Zagreus jumped. The hilt of the spear opened a hole in the ground, and from it emerged a grand chariot pulled by four black stallions.
Zagreus wanted to know if it was from the same makers as the Macedonian Tau Lambda, but he held his tongue as he climbed aboard. His father joined him and took the reins, and the chariot took off at an increasingly rapid clip. Zagreus couldn’t be certain, but he thought it was much beyond the pace of mortal horses.
The scenery began to blur as the chariot reached a supernatural speed, and it occurred to Zagreus that he didn’t know how far it was to Olympus or even really where it was.
“How far away is it?” Zagreus asked.
“Not far enough,” Hades grumbled. His eyes were fixed on the horizon, not looking at his son.
“Oh,” Zagreus said. He gazed up at the star-scattered winter sky and breathed in the chill night air. So this was midwinter. The trees were all bare, and the air was sharp and cold. There was an incredible stillness that settled on the landscape like a thick blanket.
It was peaceful. It was quiet.
Zagreus cleared his throat. “So… Looking forward to seeing the rest of the family?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t hate all of them.”
“I can in fact.”
“All of them?” Zagreus said, raising an eyebrow. “Alright, I know there’s bad blood between you and your brothers, but what about… Athena?”
“Meddlesome. Too smart for her own good. And she inherited her father’s vengeful streak,” Hades said icily.
“Ares?”
Hades scoffed. “Even more meddlesome and vengeful than Athena, but lacking her occasional common sense.”
Zagreus frowned, thinking hard. “Artemis?”
Hades sighed. “I tire of this conversation. Remain silent until we reach our destination, and be on your best behavior, b—Zagreus. Don’t allow your relatives to cloud your judgment once we arrive.”
“Fine,” Zagreus said and turned away from his father to gaze back out at the landscape rolling by.
The trees had turned to hilly plains, and in the distance, a mountain stretched impossibly tall, up to the heavens. His heart leapt. He’d never seen a mountain before, let alone the Mount Olympus. It was incredible. He wasn’t going to allow his father’s ill humor to ruin this experience for him.
The chariot drew near the base of the mountain and began its ascent towards the peak where Zagreus could just barely make out a warm glow. His stomach lurched with both excitement and fear. He half expected something terrible to befall him before they reached the summit, for the Styx to claim him, but he felt fine. Just nervous and a bit disbelieving.
He chanced a glance at his father and found his expression dour as ever. If his father was anxious to be returning to Mount Olympus after all this time, his serious visage showed no trace of it.
Fair enough. Even to Zagreus, his son, the Lord of the Dead’s thoughts and feelings were frequently inscrutable.
About halfway up the peak, the glow at the summit came into focus as a blindingly bright palace of gold and ivory-colored stones. Its statue in the garden back home in no way did it justice. The columns that lined the entryway broke through the cloud layer and continued going. The pediment was engraved with a relief of several of the Olympians feasting. As they drew nearer, Zagreus could pick out some of the details: Lord Zeus, front and center, with his lightning bolt; Dionysus lounging and pouring wine; Hermes in mid-flight with his winged shoes flaring out.
Zagreus squinted, trying to make out more details, and winced. The glow of the gold was so bright it was burning his eyes. He looked away, blinking frantically in the hopes his eyes would adjust.
“Don’t stare at it,” his father chastised him. Hades’ gaze was fixed firmly on the black stallions pulling their chariot. “You’ll burn your eyes out of your head.”
“Would I really?” Zagreus asked, shocked.
Hades scoffed, rolling his own non-burning eyes, which didn’t answer Zagreus’s question.
He decided to take it in in glances just to be safe. Even ignoring Olympus, the view was incredible. So much green and white! The leaves of the forest they’d passed through peaked through the dusting of snow, and an icy blue river cut through the trees before spilling into the rolling plains that led to the base of the mountain.
They made swift progress up to the peak. Zagreus alternated admiring the scenery and the Olympians’ palace. As they drew nearer, he could make out more and more details. Shining sconces held torches that glowed unnaturally bright. The golden columns bore elaborately decorated capitals, carved in the shapes of scrolls and acanthus leaves. If he strained his ears, Zagreus could make out the distant sound of music—a lyre and voices raised in song. A joyful, uplifting tune.
“That’s different,” he murmured. “You don’t often hear music like that back home.”
Hades continued to ignore his son who sighed. Well, they were almost there. His other relatives, though not without their flaws, were at least a bit more chatty than his father.
At last, the chariot came to a stop, and Zag’s stomach jolted, excitement suddenly bordering on anxiety. He steeled himself and clambered out of the chariot—or more accurately, jumped. The vehicle was Lord of the Dead-sized, a not insignificant drop for Zagreus.
Speaking of which, the palace at the peak of Mount Olympus was mind-bogglingly vast up close. It made Zagreus feel even smaller than usual as he struggled to take it all in, shielding his eyes against the glare with one hand.
“Are you coming, Zagreus?”
Hades was already standing in the entrance as Zagreus gaped at the enormous columns, the intricately carved relief on the pediment, and the gleaming white and gold slabs of marble that made up the floor.
“Right, yes, coming.” Zagreus hurried to catch up with his father, crossing the distance in a series of quick dashes.
Hades raised an eyebrow at him. “Watch yourself. I doubt your relatives would take kindly to being collided with.”
Zagreus bit back a reply that he was aware of that and he knew what he was doing. He wasn’t so careless with his abilities. He hadn’t ran straight into Hades after all.
Then they emerged into the central room of the palace, and all of Zag’s annoyance turned to pure amazement. It was a lavishly decorated and brightly lit space so vast that it put the Great Hall to shame with expertly crafted sculptures dotted about and colorful paintings adorning the walls. In the center burned a massive hearth that flooded the whole space in shades of red, orange, and gold. Against the far wall, at the end of the hall, was a half circle of thrones. The largest sat in the very middle and appeared to be carved out of solid gold and etched with lightning bolts. Zagreus had no trouble guessing who it belonged to.
Best of all, the space was filled with people–with other gods and goddesses. Plenty that Zagreus recognized and more than a few that he didn’t. They were talking and laughing and drinking. A group of young women in the corner were the source of the music, singing and strumming lyres. Zagreus didn’t know them, but judging by their appearances, they were sisters.
Zagreus’s eyes went wide as pomegranates, trying to take all of this in.
“Brother Hades! Favored Nephew!” came a booming voice that Zagreus had no trouble recognizing. “Come join us!”
Lord Zeus, in all his grandeur, was waving them over from across the room.
Without a word to each other, Zagreus and Hades made their way over to him.
“Lord Uncle Zeus,” Zagreus said. “Thank you for your gracious invitation. I am honored to finally visit Olympus in person.”
“Ah, the pleasure is all mine, Nephew!” Zeus cast a side glance at Hades. “Though your Lord Father might have told us you were coming!”
“It was a last minute decision,” Hades growled.
“Well, never mind that! I’m glad you’re here. Both of you! I simply must introduce you to my wife, young Zagreus!” Zeus gestured for Zagreus to follow him and cast a glance back at Hades. “And try to enjoy yourself, brother. It isn’t every day you get to bask in the splendors of Mount Olympus!”
Zagreus thought he could hear his father’s teeth gnashing from where he stood, but he followed Zeus a short distance to a goddess he had never seen before. She was tall and slender like a calla lily (though how Zagreus knew what a calla lily was he wasn’t quite sure) with pale golden hair wound into an intricate circle of braids like a crown on the top of her head. She was dressed in a silk green gown with an odd feathered shawl draped over her shoulders. The feathers didn’t belong to any bird Zagreus had never seen. Actually, he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a bird, much less one with feathers patterned with eyes .
“Nephew, meet my lovely wife, Hera, the queen of the heavens!” Zeus boasted, wrapping an arm around the goddess’s waist as she turned to face them. She had piercing eyes, halfway between blue and green, and beautiful but proud features.
“A pleasure,” she said coolly. Her blue-green eyes flickered over him as though sizing him up. She was a far bit shorter than her husband, but still much larger than Zagreus.
“The pleasure is mine,” Zagreus said. “I’m delighted to finally meet you. My name is Zagreus, the—”
“The son of Hades,” she finished. “Yes, I gathered as much.”
Actually, he’d been about to say the prince of the underworld, but that was close enough. It was difficult to get a read on Hera. She seemed bothered by something, but he didn’t think it was him. He hoped it wasn’t him.
“Yes, exactly,” he said awkwardly.
“Did Lord Hades himself come with you?” she asked. “It has been a considerable amount of time since he last graced Mount Olympus with his presence.”
Zagreus nodded. “Yes, he’s here as well.”
“Good,” she said. “It has been too long since our family was all together.” She cast a glance at her husband who was conveniently looking in another direction.
Oh. So it wasn’t him that she was upset with. It was Zeus. And possibly Hades.
Zagreus cleared his throat self-consciously. “Yes, but isn’t it wonderful that so many of us are here together now? It would be a pity if someone were unable to enjoy it. I for one am just grateful to be here at all. For most of my life, I never even thought it possible to set foot on Olympus.”
The goddess paused for a moment, and Zagreus held his breath.
“That would be a pity,” she agreed. She offered him a subtle smile, and Zagreus returned it wholeheartedly. “I see you take after your mother, Zagreus. She too has a way with words to set the heart at ease.”
“I like to think so,” Zagreus said. “It certainly wouldn’t be a trait that I picked up from my father.”
Hera smirked. “Indeed not.”
Zeus let out a booming laugh. “Very true, Nephew! Speaking of my brother, I had better go make sure he isn’t getting into any trouble. Say, wife, why don’t you show young Zagreus around?”
Zagreus winced internally, but Hera didn’t seem particularly miffed by the suggestion.
“Very well,” she said. “Do try not to antagonize him too much, won’t you, husband?”
“Antagonize? I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” he said and went off in search of his elder brother.
“Have those two ever gotten along?” Zagreus asked after a moment.
The goddess considered this. “Once, when the world was still young and they had a common enemy. But since he was defeated and the world was divided between the three brothers, relations have been strained.”
“A common enemy?” Zagreus repeated. “You don’t mean…?”
“Their father, yes,” she said. She offered Zagreus a rueful smile. “Our family is no stranger to conflict, you see.”
“Yes, I… have gathered that.”
“Come,” Hera said. “Shall we say hello to my sister?”
“Your sister? Do you mean Demeter?” Zagreus asked, looking around for her.
“My other sister,” Hera said, not unkindly. “Though I have no doubt Demeter will be along shortly, if only to voice her displeasure at Lord Hades’ presence.”