“You guess correctly,” Thanatos nodded his head once towards Aeëtes.
“I suppose you’ll tell me if you’re here for my soul?” Aeëtes cut straight to the quick, wanting to know why the god had showed up on their ship. Hecate had never mentioned him, like she had Hermes, so he didn’t think that they had much of a relationship. Thanatos let out a low laugh that sounded like rocks falling.
“No.” His smile widened. “I’m not here for your soul. However, I’m here because you were put on my list earlier today.”
Aeëtes blanched at that, the blood draining from his face as he heard Thanatos. If he had been on Thanatos’s list, that meant that at one point today during the battle with Scylla, the Fates had determined he was to die. Fate sometimes had several different ways of playing out, and it looked like his life had been saved. Still, it was no small feat to hear that you evaded death.
“You look pale.” Thanatos tilted his head to one side.
“I bet you tell that to all the girls,” Aeëtes scoffed, his humor overriding his shock. There was a beat of silence before Thanatos burst out laughing, clasping his hand over his stomach and nearly doubling over.
I certainly didn’t think it wasthatfunny,Aeëtes mused to himself as he watched the rather stoic god lose himself to borderline hysterics.I guess he doesn’t hear a lot of jokes from his traveling companions, seeing as they’re dead.
“Goodness, I am glad that I made the trip.” Thanatos straightened and mimed wiping a tear away from his eye although Aeëtes didn’t see it.
“You did feel the need to make the trip,” Aeëtes pointed out, leaning back against the railing in a way that he hoped seemed casual. “Apparently, to see me.”
“Yes.” Thanatos didn’t elaborate further. Aeëtes waited a few more moments before he shrugged, chewing on his lip. They were both standing on the bow of the ship in the fading moonlight, and it wouldn’t be long before someone discovered that the God of death was their latest passenger.
“Was there…a reason for that?”
“Yes,” Thanatos sighed, sidestepping to take a seat on one of the barrels nearby. He was much too tall to use it as a chair, and as a result, his knees were nearly bunched up to his chest. Aeëtes stifled his laughter since it felt improper to laugh at Thanatos, but he committed the sight to memory regardless. Thanatos rolled his shoulders back as if he was shaking them out or preparing to go for a run. When he turned and leveled his gaze on Aeëtes, it was solemn, and Aeëtes felt his blood run cold again.
“I get glimpses into people’s fate lines when they end up on my list. That way, I know when and where to collect them. I saw your fate line briefly before your path changed today.” Thanatos paused, as if he was waiting for Aeëtes to react, but he kept his face calm, and Thanatos continued. “Your line was wrapped around another one—the line of another immortal.”
Aeëtes couldn’t help himself as he jumped to attention, his eyes getting wider as he stared at Thanatos. He could feel his heartbeat increasing in his chest and his palms getting sweaty while his whole body seemed to flush.
Could he be saying…?
Thanatos studied Aeëtes and when he saw his reaction, a smirk slowly spread across his face. This was the response that he had been hoping for.
“I see. So you already have an immortal on your mind. Would you like to ask me whose line it was?” His expression was one of pure devilry that could’ve given Hermes a run for his money. Aeëtes felt himself blushing like a schoolboy, but there was no point in hiding anything from a god.
Aeëtes took a deep breath, feeling his entire universe condense down to a single point. He was almost too nervous to speak. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The words tumbled out of him before he could recall them; he felt a sting of shame in his response, chastising himself for denying Hecate, even when she wasn’t there. He had promised to pursue her, no matter the cost, and it seemed that he was already failing.
Thanatos sensed his inner anguish and extended a hand, a cool stream of dark, navy power undulating from his fingers. It wrapped itself around Aeëtes and squeezed, and he found himself immediately calmed. Thanatos’s power was one of rest and ease, which was incredibly useful when it came to telling someone that it was their time to die.
“Would you like to ask me whose line it was?” Thanatos asked it again, his tone kinder, as he could sense Aeëtes’s anguish. This time, Aeëtes did not falter.
“Was my life line intertwined with Hecate’s?” His voice shook when he said it, but he needed to know. His heart was practically in his throat. Thanatos’s face changed again, twisting into a wide smile, one that would almost seem cruel under different circumstances.
“Yes,” Thanatos answered simply enough, but Aeëtes felt as though he had grown wings. He couldn’t stop from laughing, a wholly joyful and undignified sound, as he clapped his hands together. He knew that anything could change—fate also had planned for him to die today—but therewasa future for them. That was all that he needed to know. After he took a few seconds to collect himself, he turned to face Thanatos, his brow furrowing.
“Did you…did you come all the way here to tell me that?” He took a step closer to Thanatos, feeling like the tension between them had eased.
“I will admit, I came on my own volition.” Thanatos looked almost bashful, as if a personal visit instead of a professional one was uncouth. Aeëtes had to admit that he did prefer the former given Thanatos’s line of work.
“I wanted to know who this man was. The man who had his fate line wrapped around my aunty’s.”
Aeëtes raised his eyebrows slightly at that, surprised to hear the God of the dead speak so affectionately. The kinship between Nyx and Hecate was no secret. Logic would assume that it meant that Nyx’s children and Hecate were also close. Aeëtes pursed his lips for a moment, waiting in silence as Thanatos continued to stare at him.
“So. Um.” Aeëtes coughed awkwardly. “A coin for your thoughts? Am I up to measure?”
Thanatos grinned at that. “Taking coins is more my brother’s thing. I couldn’t possibly know just by looking at you. You are handsome, though.”
“Thank you. You’ve seen…well, you’ve seen everyone. I guess you’d be a good judge of that. Except you do see people on their deathbeds, so maybe not.”
Thanatos let out another small chuckle at that, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “I like you. I think you’re good for her.” The statement was short enough, but it made Aeëtes feel like he was shining so brightly, he could give his father a run for his money.
