Chapter Text
The young prince Zagreus travels through asphodel, searing heat overwhelming him as he moves from room to room. He's tired, having used both his death defiances in the pretty nasty fight with Megaera at the border between regions, so when the crystal ball sitting at the helm of one of the rafts shows Charon's shop he doesn’t hesitate. Happy for any excuse for a break, though as he rides down the ever-bubbling phlegethon he does idly think he wishes he could see Eurydice. Her area was always strangely just a little cooler than the rest, her food was delicious, and her singing was always a treat. Zagreus was certain he could, and likely has, sat there listening to her for hours before.
The raft of skulls gently taps against the dock and Zagreus realizes that he's been parked across from Charon's shop for quite a bit now. He looks over properly at the boatman who is, as always, unimpressed and unbothered in equal measure. Finally stepping onto solid land he dashes towards the wares on display. A pomegranate, some good food (not as good as Eurydice's, and he misses her again) and a bag. He stares, baffled. A bag. Nothing special, no unique markings, no glowing colors or strong scents. It's fairly pricey too, and he tries to ignore it as he scarfs down the food and takes more time with the pomegranate. However as he's picking seeds out of the fruit, popping them into his mouth by the handful while he feels his chosen boon growing, he can't help but wonder.
What's in the bag?
He finishes the fruit and tosses the rind into the river before turning to Charon with determination in his eyes. He can't help it anymore, he needs to know. It's pricey, sure, but he already bought the rest and he's still got enough coin to spare. It's got no notable markings, yes, but he had realized it's roughly the size of the boons he claims. It's floating a little above the ground like they do too. He steps over to Charon, already determined to buy this thing but hey - a little question never hurt anybody.
“Charon, mate, what's with the bag?”
He gets a drawn out groan in response.
“O-kay, can I at least get a hint? It's quite a lot of coin and I just want to know if it'll be worth the price.”
Another groan, just as unreadable as the last. Zagreus sighs, but is not defeated. He thought this would happen - he can barely understand Charon on the best of days (or nights) so it's no wonder he makes no sense now. He walks over to the bag, and gently sets his own coin purse beside it - watching as one hundred twenty-five obols exactly vanish from inside.
He hears another groan from Charon, somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh but he's not quite sure, as he hastily goes to open it. His fingers barely graze the surface before it tips forward, suddenly losing it's perfect orb shape, and it pops open. Zagreus dashes back a few feet, readying his weapon as he tries to figure out what's coming out from within all this purple smoke. A heavy thud, something cracking, and he sees something large moving in the haze before it falls to the ground.
“Oh now that is just a real shame, I quite liked that one but a cup is a cup I suppose and they can't all be unbreakable.”
As the fog falls to the ground to make sticky purple puddles Zagreus lowers his weapon. Confusion and astonishment show on his face in equal measure as he stares down the god before him. The olympian god before him.
“Um… Lord Dionysus? Mate? How did you-”
“Oh Zag my man! It's been so long, almost too long in fact, you know I haven't seen you claim one of my boons in what feels like ages!”
Dionysus takes this in stride, conjuring up another cup of strange winelike liquid and quickly walking over to Zagreus. He's all smiles and open arms as he pats the younger, and smaller, god on the back before handing him his own cup.
“You know this is just a delight, I don't know how you got me down here man but I am loving it!” He looks around, swaying a little as he does. “Where is here, by the way?” Zagreus takes a sip and makes a face, the alcohol is strong - overwhelmingly so - and he thinks Dionysus must be intoxicated already to be drinking this so casually.
“Asphodel, but wait, you think I brought you down here?” Zagreus looks directly at Dionysus now, nothing but confusion on his face.
“Well yeah, all of us on olympus aren't allowed in your dad's domain you know that. It's not like I could just walk in here.” Dionysus chuckles to himself before taking a hearty swig from the cup, bracing himself on his staff he picked up from the floor.
“No… you can't. But I didn't bring you down here either.” Zagreus looks at the now ordinary bag. He'd have a hard time fitting in there and Dionysus is significantly larger. The staff he has alone is about three times the height of the bag and does not look even the slightest bit flexible. “How did you even fit in that?”
“What was that? You must be joking Zag, how else would I end up down here?” He sees the drunken haze vanish from Dionysus’ eyes as the words sink in. “Well, that's not right. Things got pretty crazy last night but not that crazy.”
“Last night? Did something happen?”
“Oh what didn't happen!” He laughs and the seriousness is gone again, replaced by a loose smile. “It was wild man, absolutely wild. A massive party, all the big guys and gals on olympus were there - I even got Artemis to come! She only came to yell at me for all the noise scaring off her prey but hey,” he takes a quick drink, “You take what you can get with that one.”
“Right, it is hard to believe you'd get drunk enough to just wander down here, and making it all the way to asphodel would be a feat.” Suddenly Zagreus stops, eyes going wide as he turns to the forgotten shopkeep. “Charon, mate, did you… kidnap Dionysus?”
A groan, a plume of smoke, and a clear shake of his head.
“Right, did you even know he was in there?”
Another groan, another shake.
“Hey man, I'm sure Charon there had nooo idea what was going on. I was in a bag! Mixed in with all his treasures I bet-” a deep rumble briefly shakes the ground, “Relax! I'm not a god of thieves- if anything I'd just make sure to leave you a good bottle or two.” He sends Charon a wink and a grin, but there's a hint of nervous undertone.
“I suppose you're right, and you seem to be in good spirits regardless so no harm done.”
“Exactly! Now, how about I give you a boon straight from the source and then get out of here before your dad realizes, yeah?”
“That sounds great! I'd happily take whatever you have to offer, it's been a rough run.”
After a quick selection of boon, and an even quicker goodbye, Zagreus watches as Dionysus takes on an odd purple hue and begins to blur around the edges. His hair and chiton begin to drip like liquid and soon his whole body follows suit - falling into a puddle on the scorching ground. Zagreus watches in silence as the hopefully-wine evaporates into a fine purple mist. Teleportation, he assumes, but it looked nothing like Than's and he wonders if every god can do that. That doesn't seem right though, because then why would Hermes' swiftness matter?
He shakes these thoughts out of his head quite literally as he passes through the next door.