#and b) melinoë growing up without the love and support that they would’ve given her

[goldenjuniper]

zagreus & melinoë fic brewing on the mind (zag is rescued, finds out mel found a way to break their curse, and has some realizations)

zag is elated to find out that mel can now traverse the surface freely but it quickly dissipates when he asks melinoe how it is and she just wrinkles her nose and says that it's overrun with chronos's minions and that the only mortals you'll find are ones heaped in rotting piles

now zagreus has had limited experience with mortals but he's incredibly saddened; one, by the fact that all mel knows of the surface is the pain and suffering brought upon by war, two, that mortals are in such a grave state

mel observes her brother as his face falls and his laurels sputter and she's curious because to her, this is nothing (the plights of mortals are nothing in the grand scheme of things, and even if she's had a dour time every time she goes up, how could she mourn what she never experienced?)

she voices these to zagreus who then makes an even more agonized expression before wrapping her in a fierce hug

they're both siblings who've lost a lot, but it’s only zagreus who knows the gravity of what they’ve lost and melinoë who’s been given the sole responsibility of fixing it