Inexorably drawn

Chapter 6

    There's no place to run anymore. The exits are all closed. Left and right, menacing floating skulls lunging forward with their broken jaws and sharp teeth are moving closer and closer. Zagreus frowns, clenching his Malphon fists with might.

"One step closer and you're dead."

The already dead enemies mindlessly come closer as if mocking the Prince's confidence. Their ghastly sounds fill the chamber, triggering the Prince even more.

He dodges one of their brave attacks, then swiftly punches the attacker off the area. The rest lunge at him, but only manage to barely scrape through his well sewn clothes as he travels right through them. His body focuses on one thing now: The manifestation of blood vials, the power that he has been able to use perfectly since he has a kid. His aim and control of the blood vials is flawless, perfectly working along his speedy creation of them.

"I warned you." His fist opens, summoning a red vial that he shoots right at his enemy. It happens so quickly that the other is unable to respond. Taking the hit is not what hurts the most, but the bloody explosion afterwards that warps and damages the enemy's body like a living bomb. "Gotchu." He grins, jumping to the side to avoid another lunging skull.

He grabs it, shoving it right on the ground with all his power. Even as the shortest amongst the mighty gods, his height matters not for as he makes up for it in raw strength which he gained overtime by training alongside the infamous Archilles. The Numbskull cracks in half and disappears into thin air, getting the muscular Prince's hand dirtied with its wretched dust.

He takes care of the rest rather quickly since they are very sensitive, even if they are skulls.

"I hope no more Numbskulls show up." He says to himself as he walks over to the exit that opens up at last.

So far he hasn't managed to give any invitations to the gods even if he's half-through Tartarus. Something tells him that the first god is in this room and it surely isn't the Sneak that has stabbed right through his gut.

"Argh, blood and-"

It teleports back, laughing at its successful sneak attack on the tense Prince. Right as he punches at it, it teleports behind him, stabbing his shoulder.

"This isn't how I wanted things to go Sneak." He coughs up blood, wiping it off with his already bloody fists. "Let's play dirty then."

Sneak backs away, admiring its fine work on the Prince. That's a bad choice however. Any second of relaxation is easily used as an opening by the bloodlust driven god. His legs propel him at Sneak, closing the distance quick enough for him to land a heavy blow on the head. It cries out, stumbling back as he relentlessly uses it as a punching bag.

"Don't come back." He growls, charging up his next blow that makes Sneak fly across the room and hit the wall forcefully.

It grunts, sliding down and disappearing just like the rest of the enemies.

"I'm stronger." He mutters, looking down at his bleeding body.

A message is finally summoned in the room as soon as the wretched disappears. The sound of revelry alarms him, giving away the fact that this message comes from Dionysus himself.

"I hope this lives up to your expectations, mate. In the name of Hades! Olympus? This is an official message! Should be a good time, Lord Dionysus!"

His mind is filled up with the power of the Olympian gods. Before him, Dionysus appears as a faint illusion to deliver the message. He is laid back like always, sipping red wine in a fancy thin bronze cup. His long wavy hair compliments his naturally drunkish nature. The god appears shocked at the unusual gesture as if someone dumped cold water on his hot face.

"Hoh I'm excited! That is something really special, I can tell!" He lazily grins and the message ends after his small chatter.

Zagreus nods, continuing on his way out of this room. He finds himself shaking under the sound of Death's bell as soon as he steps inside.

"Thanatos?" His voice is hopeful and confused as he didn't expect his favorite face to appear so soon.

"It is I." Death flips his hair, approaching the Prince slowly. "Missed me?"

Zagreus grins, bumping his fists together.

"Sure did! Let's do this."

Before he finishes talking, Thanatos had already trapped and killed four enemies, forcing more to crawl out of the hard floor.

"Unfair." Zagreus huffs jokingly, smashing through their fearful enemies.

Having to deal with Zagreus is nothing unusual to them, but with death as well who barely flinches at their touch? It feels almost like they are simple walls of grass, barely capable of cutting their field of view ahead.

Thanatos observes Zagreus as they count down their kills.

He's really fast with those fists.

A flow of adrenaline paints a satisfied smirk on the Prince's bloody face. He enjoys the sound of his enemies falling apart more when he knows he is ahead of the god of death himself. Little does he know however that Thanatos is busy admiring him other than killing the growling enemies beneath him.

"Ha. Haha, twenty five kills! How much did you get?"

"Ten."

His blant tone makes the Prince chuckle victoriously while looking like a maniac. Thanatos averts his gaze with a small smile, throwing a Minotaur heart at him.

"Take this."

The proud god of life grabs the heart, keeping it close to him like how he does with Mort.

"Thanks."

Thanatos nods, looking skeptically towards the other, specifically his bruised neck.

"About last time." He gulps. "Sorry if I causes you any trouble Zag."

Embarassed, Zagreus scratches the back of his neck, trying to brush it away.

"It's fine Than. Don't worry about it. I would love to do that more with you."

Oh no. Was that too far? He's probably too busy for that anyways.

"Me too." He clears his throat, looking down at the stupidly smiling Prince.

He extends his big hand and cups the other's hair, ruffling it.

"...Oh." He exhales, unsure of why he was urged to do that. "You had dust on your hair." He quickly makes up an excuse and withdraws his hand.

He feels more emotional than before around Zagreus ever since what he experienced on the human world. A strange need to engage in more stuff with him. To learn more things about him and see more expressions the Prince can make. This liveliness and change that Zagreus causes used to be unwanted, but now he is getting close to begging for it.

"Thanks Than." He chuckles, standing on tip toes to reach the god's lips. He pulls him down a bit, sparking a look of surpise on Thanatos's flushed face. "You had some on your lips." He winks teasingly before letting go of the white haired god.

"I swear you're unbearable sometimes Zag." Thanatos shakes his head, trying to gain control of the situation. "See you at the usual spot."

He teleports away, but this time it feels more like he ran away than he returned back to his calling duties.

There's more invitations to give. I can do it all on this run and then finally focus on Than...I can't believe we've kissed more than one time in a single day.

A rare phenomenon for Zagreus. His own heartbeat speeds up each time he sees or even just hears the notable death's bell. He's found himself wanting to be with Thanatos more and more, but in a more intimate way that he is embarrased to admit even to himself.

I need to focus on my run. I can't let myself be bothered by all this.

His firey feet start moving again, leaving behind burning ashes and blood with every step, most of which isn't his.