Chapter Text
When Megaera comes to – okay, this is getting old – anyway, when she comes to, the grass and dirt beneath her is one of the first things she notices. She opens her eyes, and sure enough, a familiar, scarred-up forest surrounds her, Zagreus, and Thanatos. Shortly thereafter, Thanatos and Zagreus wake up as well.
“I’m going to take a guess and assume that this is somewhere where you spent your adventure, yeah?” Zagreus says, “It’s pretty.”
“Sunshine Forest.” Megaera nods, “Unfortunately, I think we’re lost – I don’t see any paths anywhere.” Thanatos looks warily at one of the deeper gouges in a cliffside.
“Tell me, what all lives in this forest?” he asks, not taking his eyes off the cliffside.
“Nothing I would consider very dangerous, and certainly nothing that large.” Megaera reassures him with a light roll of her eyes, “The last time I was here, there were Slitherhens, Grated Yammonsters, Reconstructed Moles… things like that, although I won’t be shocked if things have changed drastically – in fact, I’m honestly a bit surprised those scratches are still there after the Dark Dragon woke up.”
Zagreus hums, inspecting one of the gouges. “What could have caused these?”
“I was never told what caused them,” Megaera admits, “although I never asked in the first place.”
“Well, I’ve never heard of Slitherhens or Grated Yammonsters or Reconstructed Moles.” Thanatos frowns, “Zag?”
“Nope,” Zagreus shakes his head, “not in the slightest. Hmm. Meg, you mentioned that you’d come across chimeras and cyborgs… I’m assuming those would be examples?”
“You could say that.” Megaera nods, “Slitherhens are chimeras, Reconstructed Moles are cyborgs, and… well, I can’t say what the Grated Yammonsters are for certain.”
The rustling of something in the foliage catches everyone’s attention. What could have caused that? They look around, trying to find out where it came from, what it came from, and if the thing that caused the rustling is going to eat them or not.
Everything goes quiet. Even the birds that were in the trees cease their songs and fly away. Another sound, this one more mechanical, alerts the three to the presence of something – or perhaps someone. Slowly, they turn to look at the source.
Standing in front of them is a young-looking boy, an impressive cannon on his right arm. This impressive cannon is being pointed right at them, a beam of sorts seeming to be charging up. The boy studies them quietly, and none of them make a move.
His eyes land on Megaera, however, and he blinks, a look of what can only be described as recognition on his face. The beam dies down, and he lowers his cannon. Finally, the boy speaks, his voice having a somewhat synthesized quality to it.
“…You’re Meg, right?” he asks, albeit a little hesitantly. Megaera nods.
“And you must be Claus,” she replies.
“You’re confusing.” Thanatos blurts out, looking semi-perturbed, if not just completely perturbed.
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Claus shrugs. He removes the cannon from his arm and sets the cannon on his back before turning back to Megaera. “So… not to be rude, but what’re you doing here? Lucas told me you had to go back to – what was your home called – Heck?”
“The Underworld,” Megaera corrects, “and it appears that something – or maybe someone – had other plans.” She pauses. “How are you alive? Unless I’m remembering incorrectly, I saw you die.”
Claus shrugs again. “Beats me. I definitely died, but then later I kinda… came back, I guess?” He looks over at Thanatos and Zagreus. “And your friends are… what, decorations?”
“Zagreus; call me Zag. Nice to meet you.” Zagreus greets with a grin, “And that’s Thanatos.”
“I still can’t figure out how you could’ve come back and not know how.” Thanatos comments, still seeming particularly confused and almost concerned about Claus.
“That’s fair.” Claus shrugs, “Now, where is that…?” Right before he can finish his sentence, a frog with the wings of a butterfly flutters out from the bushes, ribbiting to announce its presence. “Ah-ha! There you are, little guy! C’mere…”
Gently, Claus holds his hands out, and the Butterfrog lands in them, ribbiting again. Thanatos is confused by it, although not as confused as he is with Claus, while Zagreus thinks it looks kind of cute, and Megaera simply acknowledges it as a chimera of some kind.
“We’re trying to rehabilitate the chimeras and cyborgs as best we can.” Claus explains at Megaera’s unasked question, “You know, separating the lion, the goat, and the snake from each other; that kinda deal. This little guy decided it would be a good idea to fly off, so I came to find ‘im. C’mon, I’m takin’ him back to Newish Tazmily.”
And so, the three of them follow Claus through Sunshine Forest. Fortunately, the walk to Newish Tazmily is a peaceful one, as any creatures they come across make no moves to approach. Claus glances over at Megaera, seems to think something over, and speaks.
“By the way, Meg – can I call you Meg? I… wanted to say… thanks,” he says. “You helped my brother out a ton, and even though you didn’t really… do anything right before the last Needle was pulled… you kinda helped me, too. I know Mom was the one who asked you to help, but either way… Thanks.”
Right as he finishes saying this, they finally leave the forest, finding themselves approaching Newish Tazmily. There are some buildings and other such things that are, admittedly, a little worse for wear, but it seems that repairs and construction are still underway.
Nearby, crouching in the dirt and patting the soil around a sapling, there is a young lady with strikingly hot pink hair – presumably the one in Megaera’s pictures. The girl looks up and notices the group; a wry grin grows on her face as she stands up, her hands and knees covered in dirt.
“Well, well, well! Look who the evil twin dragged in!” she greets with a laugh.
“Ha ha, very funny, Kumatora.” Claus rolls his eyes, “I’m not the evil twin, though – I don’t have the mustache and goatee for it.”
“Hello, Tora.” Megaera smiles, “It’s good to see you again.”
“Good to see you, too, Nutmeg!” Kumatora grins, “How’ve you been, Sis? Didja get our letter?”
“I was actually working on replying,” Megaera nods.
“Ah, so that’s what you were writing…” Zagreus hums amusedly. He pauses, blinking in realization. “Wait, did she just call you “Sis”? I thought you only had two sisters…”
Megaera doesn’t skip a beat. “She’s the newest addition.”
“Yeah!” Kumatora laughs, “I punish the people who don’t know what updog is!”
Now, Zagreus knows exactly what Kumatora is trying to do; he’d fallen for it once when Ness told him that something smelled like “updog” during their adventure. It was hilarious, sure, but Zagreus knows not to fall for it. Thanatos, on the other hand, doesn’t; he squints.
“What is “updog”?” he asks with a frown.
“Nothin’ much, what’s up with you?! BWA HA HA HA HA!” Kumatora howls, and Claus and Zagreus join her soon after. It takes Thanatos a moment to realize what he just fell for, and when he does, he merely lets out a long, tired sigh.
“Ah, but what about those who don’t know what snew is?” Zagreus asks cheekily.
“Huh? What’s snew?” Kumatora blinks.
“Not much,” Zagreus grins, “what’s new with you?”
Kumatora’s face lights up when she realizes what Zagreus has just said, and she lets out a loud laugh. “Oh, you shining son of a… Yo, Megsy, would it be a bad thing to wanna be friends with your ex?”
“I should’ve known something like this would happen… You two are going to be inseparable now, aren’t you? Great…” Megaera sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“So…” Kumatora says after a moment, perhaps due to recognizing Zagreus, “That’s your ex… what was his name, Zachary or somethin’? And then there’s whoever this tall, dark, and edgy-lookin’ dude is.”
“Zagreus,” Zagreus corrects, “though I’m not sure how you know who I am…”
“It’s a long story,” Megaera deadpans.
“Anyway, I’m Zagreus – call me Zag if you want to – and that’s Thanatos,” Zagreus finishes with a shrug.
“You do realize that I can introduce myself, right?” Thanatos says blandly, receiving another shrug from Zagreus.
“Nice to meetcha!” Kumatora nods, “Hmm… Do we wanna go into town? Lucas n’ Duster might wanna say hi to ya, Sis.”
Megaera’s face almost seems to light up just a bit at this thought. “I think that’d be a good idea. Let’s go.”
And so, the five of them start making way farther into town; freshly-planted tree saplings line the path in a sporadic yet methodical pattern, and flowers of all kinds are scattered about in the grass as well. Although the town just ahead isn’t in the best of conditions right now, it looks rather friendly.
Sitting up against a tree with his knees up, a large sketchbook resting on his lap and a pencil in his hand, is a younger boy who bears a striking resemblance to Claus. However, upon further inspection, they look different enough to tell them apart. In front of him, there is a cluster of purple flowers; it seems he’s quite focused on what he’s drawing, enough to not take notice of the people approaching him.
“Hey, Lucas!” Claus calls to the boy, “Guess who’s here? You know what, I’m not gonna wait for you to answer. It’s –”
“Meg!!” Lucas gasps, having looked up while Claus was speaking. He drops his sketchbook and, being careful not to step on the flowers, rushes over to Megaera. Megaera crouches down a bit, and Lucas throws himself into a hug with her. “Meg, you’re here! When did you get here, though?”
“Not too long ago.” Megaera replies with a shake of her head, “How have you been doing?”
“I’m sketching those Tatarian daisies over there.” Lucas says, pointing to the cluster of purple flowers, “They’re part of the Aster genus of flowers, and they’re also related to other daisies! They also…”
He begins regaling Megaera with factoids of this flower and flapping his hands as if trying to take off into the sky, but it doesn’t seem she minds too much. Kumatora is looking on with an amused expression, and Claus simply laughs a bit.
“Little bro loves flowers and birds a lot. Like, a lot a lot,” he tells Zagreus and Thanatos. “Which means that it’s pretty easy to buy presents for him.”
“He’s your younger brother?” Thanatos hums, “You two look rather close in age.”
“We’re twins; I’m older by a few seconds,” Claus elaborates.
“That’s a very interesting flower, Lucas.” Megaera says once Lucas has finished dumping this information onto her, “…But how are you? Recall that I asked about you, not the flowers. I certainly hope your father has been treating you well. The last I saw, he was paying more attention to Claus than you…”
“Huh? Oh! Yeah, things are fine!” Lucas reassures, waving his hands as if to try and reassure her further, “There’re… still some things that need to be worked out, but it’s going. So, um… Who are they?”
“Zagreus and Thanatos.” Megaera explains, “They’re… at least colleagues.”
“Huh… okay,” Lucas nods.
“Oh! We had a birthday the other day! Now we’re actually eleven!” Claus adds.
“Claus, “the other day” was over a month ago.” Lucas deadpans, quirking an eyebrow.
“Eh,” Claus shrugs, waving his hand nonchalantly, “close enough.”
“Anyway…” Lucas clears his throat, “Let’s see, now where did Boney go…?”
As if on cue, a dark brown dog bounds from behind the tree Lucas had been sitting up against, barking happily. His tail is wagging, and an orange neckerchief is tied around his neck. Zagreus gasps.
“DOG!” he exclaims eloquently.
“There he is!” Kumatora announces, “There’s the boy! Hi, Boney!”
Boney runs up to Megaera, nearly knocking her over in his excitement. When he starts licking her face, Megaera makes noises of disgust, although these complaints are brief. Once the licks have ceased, Megaera lets out a small laugh.
“Hello to you too, Boney,” she chuckles as she scrubs the slobber off her face.
“Dogdogdogdogdogdogdogdogdogdogdogdogdog…” Zagreus mutters under his breath excitedly.
“I know you like dogs, Zagreus, but honestly…” Thanatos says, quirking an eyebrow.
Boney, noticing Zagreus and Thanatos, lets out a curious whine as he approaches them. He’s certainly much smaller than Cerberus, not to mention his ears are lying flat against his head rather than sticking straight up. Still, Zagreus crouches down to greet him.
“Hello there, boy. I’m Zagreus,” he says with a grin. “It’s nice to meet you.” Zagreus extends a hand so that Boney can sniff it. Boney does so, and shortly thereafter, he barks, wagging his tail.
“He says you smell good.” Lucas translates, “…Which means either you’ve recently eaten something with your hands, or you just smell like that.”
“Well, since I haven’t eaten anything recently, I can only assume I just smell like food. Although, what food could I possibly smell like…?” Zagreus responds while Thanatos greets Boney.
After sniffing Thanatos’s hand, Boney lets out what can only be described as a mixture of a friendly bark and a confused whine, almost appearing to be scrunching up his nose. He sniffs and chuffs, as well as almost sneezing. Lucas laughs.
“He says you smell funny, Mr. Thanatos,” he explains through his laughter.
“I see,” Thanatos replies blandly. Despite the blandness of his words, it doesn’t seem he’s unhappy.
“…We’ve really missed you, Meg,” Lucas says.
“Especially Duster,” Kumatora snickers.
“Speaking of Duster,” Claus snorts, “maybe I’m outta the loop, but he’s been carrying this weird stuffed animal with him like, everywhere. It’s almost like it’s his kid or something.”
Megaera looks a little hopeful at the mention of Duster, although Zagreus and Thanatos can only guess as to why. “Do you know where he is?”
“C’mon this way!” Kumatora nods, “He and the rest of DCMC are performin’ right now, so we can’t talk to ‘em immediately.”
While they start making their way to… wherever, Thanatos and Zagreus both start internally trying to figure out why Megaera looked so hopeful at the prospect of Duster. So far, though, they can’t figure out what the reason could be. Anything that they think of is quickly debunked in their minds, enough to where it’s hard to come up with anything. By now, they’ve elected to just wait until they find out.
Soon, they find a large stage where five sharply-dressed men are standing, each one with an instrument. A large crowd stands in front of the stage, making it hard to see much of anything, such as the ground beneath the crowd.
“Our time’s almost up,” the man in the front announces, “so here’s Samba de Combo! Tonda Gossa, everyone! Hit it! One! Two! Three! C-C’mon!”
The music begins playing, and while it’s nothing like the Runaway Five’s music or like the songs Ninten likes singing, it’s still pretty good in Zagreus and Thanatos’s opinions. It’s kinda… catchy. If nothing else, it appears that the others are enjoying the music.
The group starts moving through the crowd with Kumatora in the lead; apparently, she’s trying to take them backstage. One of the sharply-dressed men, Thanatos and Zagreus notice, appears to be wearing a wig, although it doesn’t seem very secure right now. In fact, it looks like it could fall off at any moment; it’s kind of irritating, to be honest.
While he plays his deep-pitched instrument, the one with the wig briefly looks out at the crowd, only to spot the six. He fumbles with his instrument, nearly dropping it, though he quickly recovers. It can only be guessed that this must be Duster… probably. Maybe? If nothing else, he recognizes at least one of them.
Finally, they make it towards the back of the stage, where there are far fewer people to navigate around. The music is still playing, so they elect to just wait. So, while they do, Zagreus is given permission to give Boney lots of pets, while Megaera catches up with Lucas and Kumatora, as well as getting acquainted with Claus. Thanatos simply decides to just stand, though.
Eventually, though, the music stops, and the crowd cheers. This indicates that speaking with Duster is finally possible, although they do wait for him to find them. It doesn’t take long for them to notice the one with the big hair talking with the other band members; he notices them, and a wide, crooked smile grows on his face.
“Meg! I… I didn’t expect you to be here,” he says as he makes his way over to Megaera. “How’ve you been? It’s been a while…”
“Not since we last wrote, Duster.” Megaera points out amusedly, “I’ve been fine, though I have missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too…” Duster agrees, a soft expression on his face. It almost looks like he’s about to lean forward a bit when he notices Zagreus and Thanatos. “Oh, I didn’t notice them. Who’re they?”
“I’m Zagreus; nice to meet you,” Zagreus says with a grin.
“Thanatos,” Thanatos says simply.
“Nice to meet you.” Duster nods, “I’m Duster. I’m guessing you’re friends of Meg? Or, at least acquaintances…”
“I’d at least like to think so, yeah.” Zagreus nods, “You and Meg seem to be pretty good friends.”
Megaera stifles a snort. “You could say that…” She clears her throat and turns back over to Duster. “Claus says that you’ve been “carrying a stuffed animal with you wherever you go.” So… where is she now, if you have her with you?”
“Oh, uh…” Duster says with a light laugh, “Well…” He removes his wig, revealing not only his real hair, but also Battie, sitting on his head and having been under the wig.
At this scene, Megaera bursts out laughing, louder than anyone’s ever heard her laugh. It’s a bit jarring, not to mention somewhat uncharacteristic of her, but it’s… huh. Are those snorts in there as well? Huh. Megaera tries to stifle her laughter by covering her mouth.
“Woah, I’ve never heard you laugh like that, Meg.” Duster comments, blinking as he moves Battie from on top of his head into his hands.
“It’s embarrassing…!” Megaera manages to say through her laughter and hand.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed, Meg!” Duster tries to reassure her, “Laughs are laughs, y’know?” He pauses, his face flushing a bit. “It’s… kind of cute, actually. I like it.” Megaera scoffs a bit at this, although she’s still trying to stifle her laughter, not to mention her expression seems flattered.
While this occurs, Zagreus and Thanatos look on, both still trying to decipher Megaera’s relationship with Duster. Are they a thing, and Duster’s just flirting with her? But he doesn’t really seem the type to outright flirt that they can tell… maybe they’re just friends? But then why had Duster been about to lean forward a bit? Does he like her, but she doesn’t know? Questions like these roll through their heads for a good couple of minutes.
“Well,” Zagreus says mostly to himself, “whatever the case, it seems they’re really… good… friends…” As he’s saying this, his eyes fall upon the ring on Duster’s left hand, looking almost identical to the one that Megaera is wearing. “Wait a second. Are they…?! Are you two married?”
Duster chuckles, and Megaera’s laughing finally stops. “You’re quicker on the uptake than my dad, that’s for sure.”
“Wait, they’re married?” Thanatos gapes, for lack of a better term, “I… huh. How did… When… Huh…?”
“Yup! I performed the ceremony, technically bein’ the Osohe princess and all.” Kumatora says proudly, “It was kind of an improv ceremony, but I think it went pretty okay! I mean, yeah, we were all bleeding all over the place and needin’ a ton of pain killers, but I’d say it went well!”
“Uh huh!” Lucas adds, “It was right after we fought this giant pig chimera-cyborg thing called the Natural Killer Cyborg. I hate thinking about how it looked… brr. But anyway, yeah, there was a really quick wedding right before we went to fight Porky.”
“Yet another thing I missed out on cus I was Porky’s robot.” Claus mutters, although he doesn’t sound disdainful at all.
“Sad that I missed it.” Zagreus laughs, “Sounds like it was great. Congratulations, you two; I’m sure you’re both very happy.” His expression turns to that of a rather chipper one as he continues. “I think it’ll be really fun to get to know you better once you’re dead and down in the Underworld, Duster.”
Duster looks more than a little unsettled at this. “Um… th-thank you??” he manages to say, “I’m, uh… not really ready to die yet, though? I don’t think??”
“Zag, I think that came off more as a threat than anything. We’re on the Surface, and he’s mortal, remember?” Megaera comments blandly, “I understand what you meant, but that’s because I know you.”
“Yeah, I don’t think your tone of voice really helped in that sense, dude,” Kumatora nods with a somewhat amused expression.
“Oh. Whoops. Sorry about that; I guess I didn’t quite think that through.” Zagreus says, “But I am being honest here, really. I would like to be friends; sorry for scaring you, though.”
“Heh! Didn’t scare me!” Claus claims with a smirk, “There ain’t nothin’ in this world I’m afraid of!”
“Except for dragons,” Lucas points out.
Claus furrows his brow, flushing a bit. “Dragons aren’t from this world, Luke. I said in this world?”
“Even though the Dark Dragon was, in fact, in this world? You do remember she’s the size of the Nowhere Islands themselves, right?” Lucas asks.
“Oh, hush…” Claus grumbles.
Thanatos hums. “Megaera, you mentioned the Dark Dragon while we were in the forest… Something about the Dragon waking up, you being surprised the cliffs were still scarred after said event. Tell me, who is the Dark Dragon?”
“She’s, well, a dragon.” Lucas explains, “It’s a bit of a long story, but very long story very short, she’s our friend now!”
“I believe she’s how we managed to get here to the Islands in the first place.” Megaera guesses, “Where is she now? Unless I’m mistaken, she’s also the reason we’ve been able to communicate in the first place.” Lucas nods.
“She likes flying around by herself a lot,” he adds. “Honestly, she could show up anywhere.”
“Like here?” Duster asks, pointing up in the sky.
Sure enough, the large silhouette of a dragon soars above them, a roar announcing its presence. Claus looks a bit unnerved by this, and Kumatora ruffles his hair with a laugh. The Dark Dragon lands, her black scales glimmering in the sunlight.
“Hi, Dark! How are you today?” Lucas greets sunnily, approaching the creature. The Dark Dragon rumbles a greeting as she lowers her snout to allow Lucas to stroke it.
Thanatos is jarringly reminded of when he and his own younger friends fought the Magicant Dragon for the sixth melody, although this Dark Dragon is certainly larger, not to mention she has four legs rather than just two. He almost wants to find a Super Bomb, but with the knowledge that this dragon is an ally, rather than an enemy, he decides to push that feeling aside.
Zagreus, meanwhile, is fascinated by the Dark Dragon. Her scales are so pretty, and she’s absolutely ginormous! Granted, he’s mildly reminded of Lernie, or even the Chomposaurs from the Lost Underworld, but still! She’s incredible!
“She says she could tell you guys got here.” Lucas translates, once he’s listened to the Dark Dragon’s rumbling.
“Well, I’d imagine.” Megaera snorts, crossing her arms, “We saw some of her smoke, and it took us to the Sunshine Forest. Not that I’m complaining, but is she going to explain why?” The Dark Dragon rumbles something, almost sounding to be laughing a bit as well.
“Sounds like a negative, Mrs. Duster Wesson.” Claus replies with a small, impish smile on his face at the end of his sentence. The Dragon rumbles something else, and Claus hums. “…And she says that you guys don’t have much more time up on the Surface, whichever time and/or space you’re in… whatever that means.”
“I think I understand…” Zagreus nods contemplatively, “We’re from the Underworld; I’m honestly pleasantly surprised we haven’t died yet.”
“Darn… And you just got here, too, Megs.” Kumatora sighs, shoving her hands in her pockets.
“Hey. I’ll still write.” Megaera tries to reassure her, “I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t finish that letter. Although, I have missed seeing you all in person; there’s only so much looking at the photos can do.”
Duster gives a crooked, fond yet sad smile. “I’ve missed your face, too, Meg. Err, wait, what I mean is… I’ve missed seeing you. I mean, like you said, we’re able to write, but… I… um…” Megaera snorts.
“I know what you mean, dear, and I share the exact same sentiment,” she says, pecking him on the cheek. Duster seems a bit bewildered at her calling him “dear,” but his smile returns shortly thereafter, fonder than the previous one.
Guessing that they should leave sooner rather than later, everyone says their goodbyes. Lucas promises Megaera that he’ll send her a bird picture in his next letter to her, Claus mentions that he might join in on the letters, Kumatora says that she’ll miss Megaera, and Megaera and Duster share in a goodbye hug and kiss; Boney gives many licks to not only Megaera but also Zagreus and Thanatos, although Zagreus and Megaera seem to appreciate them more than Thanatos.
“See if you can send pictures of Battie in your own letters, will you?” Megaera requests, “I want to know that she’s being taken care of.”
“I’ll see what I can do, Meg.” Duster laughs, “Safe travels.”
The Dark Dragon, upon seeing that Megaera, Thanatos, and Zagreus are ready to leave, takes a deep breath in, and breathes out, causing their vision to go white.
When the spots fade out of their vision, the three find themselves right back in the lounge. Why, it looks like no time has passed at all! In fact, they’re all in the spots they were standing at beforehand, too! It’s almost enough to make them wonder if that all really happened; of course, they know that it all really did happen.
“Well, that was an event, huh?” Zagreus says after some silence, “Guess we have some more common ground, then.”
“Indeed,” Megaera nods. After a moment of contemplation, she quickly pulls out her letter, finishing what she had been saying and sending it off to her friends on the Surface.
“You know, my friends gave me this Chthonic Companion named Smokey – I coined the name.” Zagreus mentions, pulling out the garishly-colored and eccentrically-patterned plush bear, “Closest thing I have to a souvenir from my time on the Surface, even though it was sent after I came back.”
“I did notice that thing, yeah…” Megaera agrees, “Frankly, it’s a bit hideous.”
Zagreus shrugs. “But it was a thoughtful gift, and it works splendidly all the same. So… I’m assuming that you and Than were the ones who gave Orpheus those anonymously-sourced songs? Than gave the first and you gave the second, right, Meg?”
“From what we heard before we left Dalaam and what we heard in those caves, I’d imagine the first was Than’s, yeah,” Megaera nods.
“Shh. Do you hear that?” Thanatos shushes.
From closer to Lord Hades’s throne, they can hear Orpheus playing a new song, this one very familiar to all three of them. “I know that song!” they all exclaim at the same time. Of course, they look at each other quizzically when they realize they said the same thing at the same time.
“How do you two know that song?” Thanatos asks.
“Ness sang it at one point.” Zagreus replies, “Meg?”
“Heard it in a recording.” Megaera says, pushing a hair out of her face, a tiny smile on said face, “Than?”
“Ninten sang it quite a bit during our adventure.” Thanatos explains, “Not as often as his “Friends” song, though that’s because he was working on it.”
Curiously, they approach where Orpheus is sitting. They say not a word, and neither does Orpheus. Instead, he plays his lyre, singing the familiar song in his usual, somewhat haunting voice.
I believe the morning sun
Always gonna shine again, and,
I believe a pot of gold
Waits at every rainbow’s end, oh…
I believe in roses kissed with dew,
Why shouldn’t I believe the same in you?
The three turn to look at each other as Orpheus continues singing. Such fond memories are brought back to them with this one song, and smiles form on their faces at these recollections. Of all the things they’d have in common, having gone on a long journey with a group of mortals they formed bonds with on the Surface was not what they were expecting.
Perhaps, though, this common ground could spark a new strength in their friendship. Who’s to say it can’t, after all?