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Thanatos regretted many things in his life, but perhaps none so much as the pain he had caused Persephone. He knew in his mind that the situation they were in now wasn’t his fault, but it didn’t stop the guilt eating away at his heart because of the role he played ten years prior.His jealousy and insecurity always got the best of him. He was never good enough for anyone. Not his mother. Not his surrogate father figure. Not Minthe. Not even Daphne.Well, maybe not Daphne. The two had ended their relationship amicably enough, they managed to remain friends through it all even. There weren’t a lot that could say that.He did love her, he knew that without a shadow of a doubt. But he didn’t love her in the way she deserved, the way she needed. He wasn’t in love with her, and that was the key.She had been kind to him, kinder than anything he had warranted. She didn’t flinch away at the aura of death always surrounding him, the coldness of his skin that he shared with so many of the other underworld denizens. She didn’t look down on him because he wasn’t born of Olympus, didn’t have the same kind of pedigree that her previous boyfriend Apollo had.He snorted a sad laugh at that. Lot of good his pedigree did him when he turned out to be the worst kind of God imaginable. He should be in Tartarus for the rest of eternity, and maybe if Zeus ever regained consciousness, he would.But now there was no one. No one around besides a news crew skirting about the outside edges of the temple. Apollo had likely called them to witness whatever farce he had planned.Thanatos wasn’t the confrontational type, in fact he hated it more than just about anything. It’s why his job was so hard at times. The mortals that died were usually at peace once he showed up to offer soft words of comfort and leading them to the afterlife. It was those left behind that caused his chest to tighten sharply.The mothers were the worst. Screaming and crying and begging any God that would listen to spare their child. The children would come willingly, fascinated by his wings and the chance to fly. But the broken sobs of a mother never left his mind.He didn’t know how Hermes could do it, the other God never once acted like any of it got to him. His numbers far exceeded Thanatos’ now and he wondered for not the first time how he could push it all away.Thanatos had been doing this job eons longer than the swift-footed messenger, but yet he somehow couldn’t compartmentalize and force it out of his mind. Even Hades was numb to the numerous shades passing through his realm to be judged.Through the decades he tried convincing himself that the mortals and those raised among them were less than somehow, not as intelligent, not as worthy of the same things the Gods themselves were. And sometimes it worked. There had been years at a time that he had moved through the mortal realm collecting souls and getting back in Hades’ good graces.It unfortunately could never last.During one of his particularly bad depressive spells he had gotten wrapped up with Minthe. And what an absolute cluster that was. Maybe she wouldn’t have been as bad on her own, and certainly the years she spent in the mortal realm alongside Persephone and the flower nymphs had calmed her down significantly, but they were still toxic together. At least until she finally cut Thetis out of her life.Getting used by the two of them wasn’t something he was proud of and it unfortunately brought him to his current predicament. If he had never gotten involved with Minthe romantically, never listened to her and Thetis about Persephone, never gone to Helios and uncovered the damning evidence that set this whole thing in motion.He hurt so many people with his actions, caused irreparable harm. And though there were so many things he regretted, so many things he hated that happened, the worst was the look of pure betrayal Hermes gave him once the truth had been revealed.It was in that moment his heart first started those traitorous feelings. Love.He pushed it away, like he did so many other times before. What had love ever done for him but make him miserable? He loved his mother, but she abandoned him. He loved his brothers, but they were always too busy for him. He loved his niece, but she had spent so little time outside the realm of sleep until recently that he never had the chance to truly bond with her. He loved Hades, the closest thing he had ever known to a father, but he had damaged that relationship so thoroughly time and again that the King of the Underworld barely tolerated him.He loved Minthe, but it had been nothing but a toxic dependency on his part.He loved Daphne, the brightest light to ever come in to his life, but he couldn’t love her in the way he should.And now, standing amongst the cold, dead Earth surrounded all around by frozen snow, his mind finally caught up to where his heart had been all along. He loved Hermes. He was in love with Hermes.In spite of everything he had done, all the pain he had caused, Hermes still treated him as a friend, as someone to be valued. He didn’t deserve the other God’s benevolence. He didn’t deserve his forgiveness.But maybe he would after this.Slowly he made his way closer to the temple, mindful of his footsteps and the snow crunching beneath his feet. He would only have one shot at this, one chance to do something worthwhile. And he would. He wouldn’t let Persephone suffer at the hands of Apollo any longer.He didn’t know what the other God’s obsession with her was and quite frankly, he didn’t care. The only thing he cared about in the moment was erasing the look of pure terror from Persephone’s face. No one should face a fear like that, least of all Persephone.He couldn’t say for certain what had happened in the past between the two of them, but over the last decade he slowly put the pieces together. Being banished in the mortal realm, getting to know the small pink Goddess, it had given him plenty of time to think. To repent for his actions.But one thing stood out amongst it all. Her fear of Apollo. A God that so many others loved unconditionally. A God whom’s praises were sung nearly as loud as Zeus’. So many in her position would do anything to gain his favor, but she would always walk away or change the subject when his name came up.He hated to admit that it took him longer than it should have to finally figure it out. He didn’t have all the details and he really didn’t want or need them, but he knew in his heart what had happened to Persephone even without the words never being spoken. What Apollo did.He’d seen it countless times before. The aftermath at any rate. Those souls had been the hardest to take.They may not have remembered their deaths, but something about the horrific trauma those women faced at the end altered their very souls to the core. Confusion, sadness, fear, anger, hatred, hurt; all intermingled into one. Sometimes those shades would lunge at him, not understanding why they were fighting but doing it all the same. Sometimes they would cower and cry, refusing to look his way and flinching at his gentle touch to try to move forward.The only time he ever enjoyed his job was when he had the opportunity to come back and take the souls of those heartless fiends disguised as humans and bring them to their final judgment. They deserved the worst the underworld had to offer and Hades was only too happy to dole out that punishment.And now as stood by and watch Apollo leer over Persephone, tied to that pillar with tears streaming down her face, he knew what he had to do. He couldn’t lurk back in the shadows any longer. Apollo was a God of Olympus but that meant nothing. Not when his soul was as black as the darkest night.Thanatos lunged forward, catching the now golden Apollo completely off guard and tackling him to the ground. The snow flew up in a flurry of white haze, momentarily hiding his identity from the two before him.“You get the fuck away from her!” Thanatos screamed, launching a fist right into Apollo’s jaw.He heard the crack, followed by a string of curses as Apollo fell headfirst. Wasting little time, Thanatos sprung to his feet and raced towards Persephone. The wind whipped up, ice and snow pelting his face like small daggers. He clenched his eyes against the assault, disoriented and unable to see and get his bearings.“Thanatos! Look out!”Her scream was a second too late, the hand thrusting through the sea of white to grab his hair and pull backwards. His neck snapped back with such a force it was a wonder it didn’t break. He was thrown to the hard ground, wind knocked out of him as the cold dug into his spine.There was no time to recover before Apollo was on him, knee painfully buried in his solar plexus while the fingers of his left hand wrapped tightly around his throat. Thanatos tried to draw breath but the firm grip prevented any air from getting in. He struggled, trying to get some kind of leverage to push or roll or anything, but the other God was too strong.“You shouldn’t have come here,” Apollo hissed, eyes glowing with such a fury that Thanatos finally understood the fear so many souls had suffered on a visceral level. The fear Persephone carried in her own heart.“Stop fighting me!”A slap to the face left his head reeling, his vision suddenly blurred.“You shouldn’t have come here,” Apollo repeated once more, words slightly muffled through the ringing in his ears.The pressure on his neck loosened and he took in that first harsh breath of air, throat burning as he did. Apollo still hadn’t removed his knee and he was pinned just as firmly to the ground, but at least he could breathe.“This wasn’t meant for you, but I can’t have you interfering anymore than you already have. Pathetic though you are.”A rustling noise cut through the ringing and the unpleasant whistling of the wind. Apollo shifted ever so slightly and through the haze, Thanatos saw it.The dagger was golden with an ornately carved handle. It would have been beautiful if not for the sick and unnatural green glow that clung to the edges of the blade. The stench of death hung in the air, so slight that most others wouldn’t have noticed. But Thanatos was all too familiar with the scent, his senses attuned in a way no one would understand.“If Hades ever makes it back here, I imagine seeing your corpse and knowing his wife has forsaken him will finally be push he needs to give up and slink down to Tartarus where he belongs.”Thanatos opened his mouth, trying to coax a few coherent words from his mouth but all that tumbled out was an excruciating scream. The blade slid into his abdomen as if it were nothing, skin and muscle giving way in an instant.The pain was like no other he had ever felt before. It burned with a raging fire of a thousand suns and froze the inside of his body until he certain it must slowly be turning to ice . His heart raced furiously as golden ichor spilled from his stomach, the dagger only doing so much to staunch the flow.He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t scream any longer. The pain was devastating, robbing him of everything but the overwhelming torment.His eyes flickered to Persephone, her face full of anguish at his plight. I’m so sorry, he thought. I couldn’t protect you, couldn’t make amends for the way I hurt you. I’m so so sorry.The tears froze instantly as they fell from his eyes, the world becoming darker as his vision faded. There was nothing he could do, it was over. Apollo had won.The poison worked it’s way through his body and Thanatos knew this was it. It shouldn’t be possible to kill a God and yet, he was dying. Ushering souls for a millennia, there was no one more intimately acquainted with death than he.He just wished in his final moments that he didn’t have to be alone. Why couldn’t he have someone there to hold him through the transition? To stroke his hair and whisper words of comfort while he lay warm and safe in his bed. Was it really so much to ask for when he had done the same for others so many times he had lost track?Why couldn’t…why couldn’t he see Hermes one last time?“Now where was I?” Apollo’s voice warbled through the encroaching blackness. “Ah yes, the arrow. Just wait until you see what I forced Eros to make us.”
I’m so sorry…
The wind stopped howling, the light faded away. And then…there was nothing.
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“Thanatos!!!”The scream echoed throughout the barren waste that had once been so lush and green. Hermes whipped his head around trying all at once to see where it was coming from. The wind blew furiously, snow creating a vast mist that was next to impossible to see through. He hadn’t imagined that scream, it was Persephone without a doubt. But why was she calling out Thanatos’ name? And why did she sound so terrified?“Hermes!”He turned to his left, seeing the blur of pink barreling towards him in the near whiteout. At first glance he thought it was Persephone, but as the woman got closer he saw who she really was.“Daphne?”“We need to hurry!”“What? What’s going on?”“It’s Than! He went to fight Apollo and—” her voice was swallowed by the wind, the howling increasing to a near deafening pitch before suddenly dying down all together.At once the snow cleared, giving him a perfect view of the scene below. Apollo on his knees, ichor dripping from his neck as an arrow that could only be one of Eros’ lay at his side. Words that he couldn’t hear tumbled from Persephone’s mouth as she quickly freed herself from the pillar, but the anger on her face was apparent.Apollo reached out as she ran past, not sparing a second look as she quickly moved forward. She fell to her knees at once, holding her hands over something gray and half covered in snow.The once pristine white was stained gold with ichor and then Hermes felt the lead ball drop into the pit of his stomach. The scream from earlier. Blood. Gray.“Than!”“Take me with you!” Daphne yelled as she grabbed Hermes’ arm.He didn’t hesitate, pulling her to his side and holding her tightly as he flew down the hill below. There was no way. It couldn’t be. No. It couldn’t.Time seemed to stop as Hermes made his way over, feeling like he was barely moving at all. He set himself and Daphne down as gently as possible, more for her sake than his, and ran the last few feet to Persephone’s side.His breath caught in his throat as he stared down at the ground. Thanatos, usually so animated and full of life, was still. Completely still. Deathly still.“No, no, no, no!!”He collapsed opposite Persephone, catching Daphne do the same out of the corner of his eye. “What happened?”“Apollo stabbed him,” Persephone breathed out furiously, hands glowing as she held them over Thanatos’ stomach.And that’s when he saw…the golden hilt nestled perfectly within his abdomen. Without thinking he pulled it free, a rush of gold spilling forth. The blade, same color as blood, dripped with it.“Don’t touch the knife!”Hermes nearly dropped the weapon at Persephone’s cry.“But I—”“The blade, don’t touch the actual blade. There was something on it, some sort of poison maybe? I don’t know. And I don’t know if it can be absorbed through the skin or if it has to go straight into the bloodstream, but just don’t touch it.”“Here, give it me,” Daphne said calmly, as calmly as she could at any rate. She ripped away the bottom of her tunic, carefully wrapping the dagger several times over. “We’ll want to give this to the hospital lab to test, to see what was on it.”“What was…on it? But he should be fine. He’ll be fine…right?”“I don’t know,” Persephone ground out, glowing brighter than ever.“We’re Gods, we can’t die. He might be in a coma until we can—”“Hermes, whatever this is, it’s bad. His heart stopped and I got it started again but if we don’t get him to a hospital fast…”Hermes shook his head furiously. “He can’t die! He won’t! Look, even the poison used on Zeus didn’t kill him. There’s nothing that can kill a god! And why would Apollo want to kill Than of all people? It’s doesn’t make any sense!”“He didn’t.”Persephone said the words so softly, Hermes wasn’t quite sure he heard her properly. “What?”“He didn’t want to kill him. He said the dagger was for someone else, but Thanatos, he…he saw what was happening and tried to help me. He attacked Apollo, but then he…”“Uh guys, this doesn’t look good,” Daphne whispered.The flower nymph slowly lifted the bottom of Thanatos’ shirt, pulling it up towards his chest and exposing his stomach. Where the blade had once been instead was a deep slit, blood oozing slowly like golden tar. The skin around the wound was quickly turning black and bubbling, almost as if he had been burned.“What is that?”Persephone shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this before. He needs a doctor right—”The sound of fighting immediately drew their attention. Hermes saw a flash of purple before an absolutely enraged Ares drew his fist back over and over and over again.“What’s going on?” Daphne asked.“I told Apollo he needed to confess his crimes. It looks like he actually did it.” The venom in Persephone’s voice was clear, but it lasted only a moment before she looked down at Thanatos again.The God’s breathing was rapid, chest barely rising before the air was pushed out. Despite the frozen ground, sweat beaded on his forehead and Hermes could actively feel the heat radiating off of his body.“You need to go now. My powers aren’t going to sustain him long and if his heart stops again, I don’t know if I can restart it.”That was all Hermes needed to hear. He leaned forward and as gently as he could, scooped Thanatos into his arms. Even through both their layers of clothing, he could feel the other’s body burning furiously.“Right, I’m going.”“Stop!” Daphne cried. “I want to go too!”Hermes shook his head. “I can’t carry you both, it would slow me down too much.”“But I—”“Wait.” Persephone cupped her hands around her mouth and bellowed across the field. “Ares!!”The War God was there in an instant, letting the others have their turn with Apollo. His knuckles were glistening, ichor clinging to them and beginning to dry.“What’s wrong? Are you ok?” His face was full of worry as he pulled the helmet from his head, looking at their group.“I’m fine, but I need you to help get them to the hospital. There isn’t time to explain, but Thanatos needs a doctor immediately and Daphne wants to go along with Hermes, but he can’t carry them both.”“Got it, give me Thanatos and you carry the girl.”“What? No.” Hermes knew it was unreasonable, but he couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else carrying Than.“I’m stronger than you and he weighs a lot more than her. It makes sense for me to hold him.”“But I’m faster.”“You won’t be with him weighing you down. In fact you might even be slower than me if you account for his weight. Just hand him to me and let’s go.”“But—”“Isn’t this an emergency? Then there isn’t time to argue.”Knowing he was right and with a disgruntled sigh, he handed Than over. The man didn’t make a sound, his breathing still coming out as ragged gasps as he fought to continue to draw air.Ares held him surprisingly gentle, doing his best not jostle him and keep him comfortable. It was almost strange, though he had seen his caring nature once or twice before in the past. He didn’t show it often, but it was there.“Grab the girl and let’s go.”Hermes didn’t think twice, pulling Daphne to his side and taking off into the sky. Ares was right by his side, keeping pace as they took the familiar route back to Olympus.“Anyone want to explain what happened and why I can feel death surrounding him? More than usual I mean.”Hermes supposed Ares would feel it given war was his business and death a natural byproduct of that. How many souls had Hermes ushered back to the underworld himself that were a result of some great battle or another that was directly influenced by Ares? “I don’t know exactly. I didn’t see it, but Persephone said he was trying to help her get away from Apollo. I guess he saw him taking her to the temple and restraining her so he jumped in.”Daphne nodded. “She said he pulled out a dagger and told Than it wasn’t meant for him but stabbed him anyway. There was something on it, but we don’t know what.”“Do you have the dagger?” Ares asked.“Yeah, I’ve got it wrapped up in a cloth in my bag. We can give it to the hospital when we get there.”“Give me the cloth when we get there. I’ll give it to Hephaestus and see if he can run some tests too.”“What is he going to be able to do? Doesn’t he do metalworking and work on computers?”“Yeah, all that nerd shit.”Hermes sighed deeply. “You know it’s not all the same, right?”“Man I don’t know. It can’t be that different. He can scan it or something and make his computer do the work. It’s worth a shot anyway, you never know how long the hospital could take with tests. Or if we can trust everyone there.”A silence hung over their group for several seconds. They were all thinking the same thing. Apollo’s son. Who knew how many others he could have in his back pocket that may purposely try to sabotage the results.“I think we should try,” Daphne spoke softly. “There’s no harm letting Hephaestus have the cloth and if he finds an answer before the hospital lab does, all the better.”Thanatos gave a choking cough, gasping for air while ichor bubbled up inside his mouth. Thinking quickly, Ares adjusted the smaller God in his arms, draping his head over his shoulder but mindful of the wound to his stomach.“We’ve got to hurry,” he mumbled under his breath, pushing himself faster than before.Hermes willed his body to speed up, going beyond anything he ever had. They would make it in time, they had to. *** It seemed like an eternity before they finally touched down outside the emergency room. Ares’ feet barely hit the ground before he was off running, barreling through the doors and not caring who was in his way.Hermes didn’t register landing or letting go of Daphne, racing on his companion’s heels and into the hospital. He saw Ares barking orders at the hospital personnel, doing his best to explain what happened in a clear and concise manner while also relaying the importance of getting him treatment as quickly as possible.His intensity as well as overwhelmingly powerful demeanor seemed to do the trick. An aide ran to get a stretcher and was back within seconds. Ares laid Thanatos on his side, trying to keep him from asphyxiating on his own blood.Hermes knew they were talking, could see their lips moving, but they might as well have been doing nothing and standing silently by. All he could hear was his own blood pumping furiously through his body, a strange white noise that drowned out everything around him.A hand on his shoulder made him jump, spinning around to face a somber Daphne. She slipped her hand down to his and pulled him over to a set of chairs, out of the way, but still within sight of Thanatos.Why was he freezing up all of a sudden? He’d seen far worse than this and he’d never been affected. So why couldn’t he do anything besides stare uselessly ahead?And he knew why. The souls he ushered to the underworld were nameless, faceless beings. Technically, he knew who they were and what they had experienced, and Hermes always did his job with the utmost care, but he didn’t actually know those shades. There was no personal connection, no stakes. But now with Thanatos being wheeled down the hall with a handful of panicked doctors and nurses, everything was at risk. He could lose his friend. Sure they had had their ups and downs, but things had been really good as of late. They’d hang out after work and grabbed drinks, play video games at his apartment even though Than wasn’t particularly good, talk on the phone for hours on end at times. They’d grown closer, Hermes feeling something in his soul he wasn’t quite sure how to describe. The only thing he knew for certain was it would destroy him if he lost Than. The god should be invincible, not broken and barely holding on.“Here,” Daphne said softly as she pressed a cold bottle of water into his hands. She sat down with her own, along with a clipboard full of papers. He hadn’t noticed she’d gotten up from her seat, let alone gone to the vending machine and to the information desk in the middle of the room.“Thank you,” he replied, unscrewing the cap and taking drink. The water soothed his throat, helping to chase away the burn he hadn’t realized was there.“Of course. Than said the rush of air always dries his throat out when he flies, so I thought it might be the same for you.”“He’s really lucky to have you. He needed someone good in his life.”“He’s my best friend. I think I’m pretty lucky to have him too.”“Yeah he—wait. You said…friend?”“I did.”“Oh, I thought…” Hermes trailed off awkwardly, not sure how finish his thought.“Nope. Not anymore. We broke up a few weeks ago. It was…honestly it was mutual. We’re such good friends and maybe we might have been something more if I hadn’t spent all those years in the mortal realm as a tree. But too much happened during those years.”“I thought he stayed there and watched after you though?”“Oh he did. He was there every day, when he wasn’t helping souls he was by my side. And he was the first face I saw when Persephone finally woke me up. But it wasn’t the same. The world wasn’t the same. He still loved me and I still loved him, and we really gave it a good try. But what we had in the beginning was gone.”“You love him, huh?”“Of course I do. I’ll love him until the day finally comes when he has to bring my soul to be judged. But it’s not the same as being in love with someone, you know?”Hermes supposed he did, in a way. He loved his mother, but that didn’t really count because she was family. And he had partners in the past, boyfriends and girlfriends that he had loved, but once the relationship ended that was it. He certainly didn’t keep a friendship like Daphne and Thanatos had.“What’s that you’ve got there?” Hermes asked as he took another swig of his water, wanting to change the subject before it could get anymore uncomfortable.“Hmmm? This? It’s Than’s intake forms. Someone needed to fill them out so they have all of his information. But I’m not really sure who to put for his next of kin.”“Wouldn’t that be his mom? Or one of his siblings?”Daphne snorted. “Yeah right. Even if I did put his mom, she doesn’t give a shit about him. She wouldn’t come.”“But…he could be dying.”“Doesn’t matter. She doesn’t care about him. I don’t think she cares about any of them, but Than’s the one she gave away to Hades without a second thought. We can’t depend on her and honestly, I don’t know that we could trust any medical decisions she would make on his behalf.”“That’s…I don’t know what to say.”“Yeah,” Daphne nodded sadly. “It sucks. He actually has a mom and she’s garbage.”“What about Charon or Hypnos? Or doesn’t he have other siblings too?” Hermes asked, racking his brain to try to think of the numerous other children Nyx had.“Charon’s not leaving his post. As for Hypnos, they probably have the closest relationship and he’s not a bad person, but it’s nearly impossible to get ahold of him. And yeah, he’s got other siblings but he never talks about them. I don’t think he’s seen them for centuries.”Hermes sat back, gently tipping the water bottle from side to side and watching the liquid slosh up against the inside. He never realized how truly alone Thanatos must be. An impressively large family and yet he was by himself in the underworld. “You should put yourself,” Hermes muttered.“What?”“List yourself. As his next of kin.”“I can’t, we’re not related.”“Put down that you’re his fiancé, they’re not going to check. And no one can prove you’re not.”“That’s not going to help. Not when he has actual family.”“It might since you know there’s no way anyone is going to be able to get in touch with any of them. And I’m willing to bet you know more about his medical history than his actual family does.”“I don’t know how I feel about lying though.”“Don’t you think Than would rather have you back there by his side when he’s allowed visitors than to be completely alone? Or worse yet, what if his mother actually did drag herself here? Do you think she’d be any comfort to him at all?”Daphne shook her head. “No, you’re right. Ok, I’ll put myself down. But once he’s awake we explain this properly.”“We will.”Silence fell over the two, Daphne scribbling away on the seemingly endless paperwork while Hermes let his eyes wander across the waiting room. There were a few others filling out forms like Daphne, patiently waiting to be seen. At least none of them seemed to have life-threatening injuries like Thanatos.Life-threatening.The words echoed hollowly in his ears. It still didn’t seem real. How could a god be dying? Even when the six traitors took down Kronos, he wasn’t killed. And the same for Ouranos. Kronos hadn’t killed his own father when wresting his power away.How had Apollo of all gods managed to find something that would actually kill? He’d known Apollo for a long time, had been best friends for longer than their relationship had been strained. And in all those many, many years there had never been any indication that the Sun God had access to something so powerful.Sure, he was also the God of Medicine and his son was a highly trained doctor, but to be able to get his hands on something that could actually kill another god was something else entirely. It shouldn’t exist, whatever it was. And he was afraid it would make it that much harder to actually determine the poison and an appropriate course of treatment.His eyes scanned the room once more, landing on Ares in a far off corner. He was speaking quietly into his cell phone, expression grim. Hermes couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he figured he had to be talking to Hephaestus. That was bound to be an awkward conversation.As far as Hermes knew, the relationship between the two brothers was fairly strained. Not that he could blame either one. They both were in love with the same woman and given that Hephaestus had won her heart, it drove the two further apart than they had been before.That being said, Hermes knew Hephaestus was good and noble through and through. He may not always like or get along with his brother, but if there was any way he could help Thanatos and bring Apollo to justice for his crime, he would. “You know, Than really looks up to you.”Hermes glanced over at Daphne, the nymph carefully turning the page and continuing to fill out the forms. She kept her eyes cast downward, focusing on the paper.“What do you mean? Why would he look up to me?”“Because of how good you are at soul harvesting. Your numbers are usually double his and he wants to be more like you.”“More like me? Are you sure? I thought he was bored with the job. Hecate is always complaining about how lazy he is.”Daphne gripped the pen tightly, the plastic warping slightly before she loosened her fingers. “He’s not lazy. Not at all.”“I know that,” Hermes replied gently. “But he’s been doing this way longer than me, he should be smoking my ass, not the other way around.”“I started going with him you know,” she said after a moment’s pause. “Yeah, Hades said something about you helping out a bit.”“I don’t know how much help I was, but Than seemed to like having me there. I think it made the job a little less…painful for him.”“What do you mean?”Daphne stared at the papers for another few seconds before glancing up and making eye contact with him. “Do you know why it takes him so long to bring a soul back?”Hermes shook his head. “Because he spends time with them. Comforts them in their final moments if they’re all alone. Or if he’s there to take a child, he plays with them. Tag or hide and seek or rock, paper, scissors. Something to take their minds off of what is happening in the moment.”“He does all that?”Daphne nodded. “One of the last times I went out with him to collect, it was bad. She was a young girl, barely sixteen. She… she had taken her own life.”Hermes swallowed hard. He did his best to push the deaths out of his mind, think of anything else rather than what was happening. But there were times it was simply impossible to do so. “That’s terrible. I’m sorry you had to see that Daphne, it’s never easy.”“She was so young and beautiful, with a full life ahead. Or she should have. She was being forced to marry her abuser and instead of spending the rest of her life being assaulted, she left the only way she knew how.”Hermes closed his eyes, brows furrowing together. Souls like that, good people pushed to the brink and so full of despair, were the most painful calls to go on. Those evenings would usually find Hermes back at his house nursing several bottles of beer in an attempt to forget.“He sat with her and cried. Held her in his arms and told her how truly sorry he was that she had to suffer like that. He’s such a good person, a g-good man,” Daphne’s voice started to warble. “W-why would Apollo do this? Than doesn’t deserve this!”Hermes reached over and put an arm around Daphne’s shoulder, letting her lean against him. She sobbed into his shirt, admissions forms completely forgotten. Hermes felt his own cheeks grow hot and wet, traitorous tears burning down.“He’s not going to die,” Hermes said, doing his best to comfort. Though whether he was trying to comfort Daphne or himself, he didn’t know.