Archive of Our Own ^beta

Thanatos was glad to have their husband to rant to about their job when they got home. The begging and pleading of mortals - who had simply no concept of the way that Death worked, who couldn't begin to comprehend it if Thanatos took a millennia to explain it to each and every one - was endless and mind numbing. Zagreus was always happy to listen, though he would always chime in with useless and unrelated comments like, "You're so cute when you rant." Like that had anything to do with it.

Today was just another day. Hades had yelled at them for being lazy and slow, right before telling them they overworked themself and needed a break. Usually Zagreus loved to shit talk his father, but today he was being rather reserved.

Thanatos trailed off as they recognized the look in Zagreus' eyes. It was the look mortals got when they realized they had no choice, that their life was truly over, that they were trapped. Thanatos couldn't help but reach out and gently touch their husband's face, a frown on their own.

Zagreus blinked, obviously pulling himself from his thoughts and reached his hand up to Thanatos', giving him a confused look. Thanatos sighed, removing their hand from Zagreus' face and gently squeezing the hand touching theirs, "What's wrong?"

Thanatos knew it was serious when Zagreus tried to brush it off. Zagreus wasn't one to fake smiles, but the one that stretched awkwardly across his face was not real, "Nothing. Sorry I wasn't paying attention, keep going."

Thanatos sighed, "No." they didn't know how to make Zagreus talk to them. It was never an issue before, as their husband was not the type to hide his motivations or sweeten his words. The same look returned to Zagreus' eyes and Thanatos couldn't stop themself, leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to Zagreus' lips.

When they pulled away, they found a real smile on his face. "What was that for?" Zagreus asked, looking much happier than before.

"That look in your eyes," Thanatos tried to explain, "It doesn't suit you." they didn't like to see that hopeless, resigned look reflected in the eyes of someone they loved

Zagreus frowned, "I don't have a look in my eyes, do I have a look in my eyes? What look in my eyes?"

Thanatos hesitated, "It's a look I see in the eyes of the mortals who... realize they're trapped."

Thanatos immediately knew that their guess was right, as Zagreus almost immediately pulled his hands away, offering a dismissive, if shaky, scoff, "I think you need to work on your people reading skills, Than." Zagreus stood up from their couch and walked over to his bed, randomly moving things around in an attempt to look busy.

Thanatos stood up and followed him, "Zagreus, tell me what's wrong."

Zagreus let out a short breath of air, "Nothing's wrong, I'm fine! Can we just get back to talking about my father's split personality?"

"You're deflecting," Thanatos noted, "Z, please. You feel like you're trapped here, don't you?"

"Well I am, aren't I?" Zagreus asked bitterly, his face angry and sad. Thanatos just wanted to hold him and tell him everything would be okay, but they knew Zagreus needed more than that. "I just, I've been up there a few times... but I mean, I can see my mother now that she's returned but I just-" he cut himself off, looking away awkwardly, "It's nothing, okay? I'm sorry."

Thanatos felt their heart break for their husband. Yes, they knew that Zagreus wasn't happy about his curse, but they had never really thought that Zagreus would want to see the mortal world. they felt the need to apologize, "I'm sorry, Z. I didn't think you would want to see the mortal world, not really."

Zagreus sighed, "Don't worry about it, Than. It's stupid anyway. I'd have what, an hour, maybe two before I died again?"

To an immortal, an hour was nothing. It was like the blink of an eye when reflecting on the amount of time they existed. It had probably been at least two hundred years since Zagreus' last trip to the surface, when he had convinced Persephone to return to the underworld. Thanatos didn't even want to think about the headache they would have trying to explain all the changes to mortal civilization that had occured in that time. Zagreus still lost his mind over the "magic metal book" (aka tablet) that Thanatos now used in place of parchment to track souls.

And yet, Thanatos would do anything to make Zagreus happy. "So?" they eventually said. "Do you want to see the mortal world?"

Zagreus nodded slowly, "I like your optimism, Than, but-"

"If you want to, then let's do it." Thanatos was not going to let Zagreus feel like he was stuck here. Never. "You've died trillions of times. Your father may not like it, but it will be a lot easier for you to leave now. I can see your tether to the underworld," Thanatos reached for the shimmering thread around their husband's waist, "If I strengthen it, you may be able to survive on the surface for longer."

Zagreus' eyes lit up, literally in the case of his red eye, "Really?"

Thanatos hesitated, then nodded decisively, "I mean it is just a theory, but I can definitely strengthen the connection. It's worth a shot anyway, if you really want to see the mortal world."

"Yes!" Zagreus pulled them in for a hug, clinging to Death - ironically - like they were a lifeline.

Thanatos smiled and hugged him back. Now how to tell him that it's not the mortal world he saw before? Thanatos sighed and broke the hug, "We're going to have to go over a few things before we go..."

If Zagreus was shocked to learn that the mortals no longer believed in the gods, he was downright appalled by the disguise Thanatos made him wear. "Mortals really wear this?" He asked for the third time, before they had even left his bedchambers.

Thanatos nodded, reminding themself to be patient - which was not Death's strong suit - "Yes, Zag they do. I told you, the mortal world can change a lot in two hundred years."

"Mortals are weird," Zagreus muttered, tugging on his t-shirt sleeve. Thanatos was about to snap at him until Zagreus suddenly met their eyes and grinned excitedly, "This is going to be so fun!"

All of Thanatos' frustration immediately melted away. Right. You're doing this for Zagreus, they reminded themself. Thanatos gave a small smile back, "Ready?"

Zagreus nodded, though he immediately looked nervous, "Wait, I might be dressed like a mortal but mortals don't usually have different colored eyes, right? And theirs aren't red or green, I'm pretty sure. And my feet," flames flared out from under Zagreus' bare feet as though to draw attention to themselves, "I'm not exactly going to blend in, am I?"

Thanatos nodded, “No, but how do you think I get around up there?”

Zagreus frowned, confused, “I don’t know? Death magic?”

Thanatos snorted, “No. Zagreus, I have wings.”

Zagreus pouted, “Which I can’t even see right now.” Zagreus absolutely adored his wings.

Thanatos rolled their eyes at their husband’s antics, “I know, I did that on purpose. I use your father’s helm.”

That didn’t seem to help Zagreus’ confusion, “But that makes you invisible? Do you never interact with the mortals?”

Thanatos smirked, “It can do other things aside from just make me invisible. Even just wearing it hides all godly aspects of me from the mortals' eyes. It is not hard to extend that to you as well.”

Zagreus crossed his arms, looking way too adorable in his mortal outfit, "So this is unnecessary?" He asked, gesturing to his mortal getup.

Thanatos shrugged, "Not entirely. You want to see the mortal world, right? You need the full experience." On a totally unrelated note, you look amazing right now.

Zagreus narrowed his eyes like he was trying to determine whether or not Thanatos was messing with him, but he eventually shrugged, "Okay, why not." He smiled softly, his excitement shining in his eyes, “Can we go?”

Thanatos couldn’t help but smile back, “Of course.” They summoned the Helm of Darkness and placed it on their head. It immediately vanished from sight, invisible as usual. “Remember, no speaking about the gods or anything relating to them.”

Zagreus nodded, his eyes blazing with excitement and a hint of a challenge. Thanatos laced their fingers through his and leaned down for a quick kiss, which Zagreus happily obliged. They pulled away and tilted their head, “Teleport?”

Zagreus nodded, “Yeah. Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.” Thanatos grinned and the two husbands disappeared in a plume of black smoke.

Zagreus closed his eyes as he felt the two of them dissolve. He had never been more excited for anything - save for when he met his mother for the first time. The way Thanatos described the mortal world was both beautiful and horrifying. Not that he hadn’t already known his husband’s feelings towards the mortals, but now that he had the chance to see for himself it felt different. It felt real.

When they landed, Zagreus took a deep breath before he opened his eyes. The mortal air even tasted different. His eyes widened in amazement as he saw just how many mortals surrounded them; living, breathing mortals. He turned his head in fascination, taking in the view of the city - at least, he was pretty sure that was what Thanatos had called it. The buildings were tightly crammed together, stretching much higher into the sky than Zagreus had thought possible for mortal architecture. And they were beautiful, unique and semi-colorful - nothing like his father’s palace in the Underworld.

Zagreus gripped Thanatos’ hand a little harder. He looked at his husband, already overwhelmed by the sight. “Where are we?” he asked.

“You wouldn’t know if I told you.” Thanatos smiled at him, content to stand in the middle of the stream of constantly moving mortals and just hold his hand, “Does it live up to your expectations?”

Zagreus let out a little laugh, “I haven’t even been here a minute!”

Thanatos laughed along with him, their voice melodic and soothing, “And?”

Zagreus blushed, “It’s beautiful.” He had to push up on his toes to press a kiss to their cheek, “Where to first?”