as an arrow needs a pulsing heart

a fabrication of the mind

The next several days and nights pass by in relative peace.

So long has darkness reigned in Lord Hades' domain that its inhabitants were left rather at a loss when Hell's rightful Queen returned Underground. All in the House, be they low shade or high charge, now find themselves scrambling. They buzz about the foyer to kiss the Lady's hand, hanging helplessly off of her every word. Chatter, color, and light, in these fast-coming days and faster-coming nights, fill up every crevice, and with them, the Prince's new plunders. From her royal seat—and yes, it is unmistakably hers, perhaps even more now as before her departure—Persephone smiles in her regal manner. Where she treads, one could smell lilies.

In the mortal world, by contrast, the turbulence is ceaseless. The sky itself seems unable to cope with Persephone's absence, by turns shrieking, then hushing to all-chilling silence. Shuffling souls cling to any available substrate to avoid being set adrift, forming quick, grateful lines into Charon's boat. Wondering, plain as the forgotten day, what sort of prodigious event had come to pass, and whether it was worth the icy sermon of tears.

Seeking distraction, Death roams.

In the Queen's gardens, the verdures blur and blend together into vibrant swaths of all colors; a single section puts all the Elysian fields to shame. Wherever one looked, flowers grow—even Earthly specimens that should have long since died. Through the days and nights, Lady Persephone can be found walking among them, humming, infusing them with magic. In her greenspaces, all things living could thrive. Truly, Life's mother.

Death roams this realm that has belonged to both Master and Queen; though this he has always done, he now finds himself stunned by the differences between them. While parted, both Hell and Earth suffered. But now, even as the Queen's absence is so painfully felt in the mortal world, this one flourishes. Exalted joy emanates by her presence alone; the same is palpable in the song of every shade, the way that time flows faster and purposeful, rather than languored in oppressive routine. Death thinks that perhaps time has not truly touched this place since Persephone left it. As if all of the Underworld had been collectively holding in breath.

Even the ever-obdurate Lord Hades—and by this standard, he perhaps signifies the most significant change, with his newly pacified and palliated demeanor. (Though some things, as could be expected, remain as they had been: for instance, the Master's despotic insistence that they all uphold protocol, for even the return of their long-lost Queen is no excuse to slack off). In all though, the House has become more lively—more alive—than Death could ever recall it being, even within his most distant memories. It is nothing short of a miracle, heavens-sent. An act of the divine.

When the Queen smiles her quick, clever smile, Thanatos thinks of roses—silken petals, vestigial thorns. Delicate yet strong, and divinely constructed. They would all toil just the bit harder to be rewarded with that smile. It is not unlike that which she gave to her son. Except when Zagreus smiles, Thanatos thinks of a few things besides—new life; fire and blood; the changing of seasons; the rising of the sun and the hanging of the moon. Intense heat and an undercurrent of static. A beginning, only just unfurling.

The Prince, for his part, revels in his new purpose, taking to his freshly sanctioned position brilliantly and with quite a flair for the dramatic. Given the freedom to keep running rogue, yet having the good fortune to make fighting and thievery a full-fledged career. Somehow, it all ended up so inspired. How odd, Death might muse, is this thing called existence. (But they are each pleased in equal measure.)

The future is ripe on his lips when he smiles, just after Zagreus makes this announcement. Stating proudly: "it's good to be working with you in a more official capacity, Zag." Receiving a rakish, eager grin in return, he adds: "Well, then. Shall we get started?"