#shoutout empadanazul for making me think about zagreus

[hibiscus-percy]

Don't imagine Zagreus when Melinoë was born. Don't imagine him seeing her and immediately knowing he would do anything to protect her. Don't imagine him being excited to be a big brother; to give the love and attention and patience he never really had growing up. (Sure, he had Mother Night, but he never understood why his father hardly ever paid attention to him for anything other than to enforce his lessons. Something always felt off..) Don't imagine the joy he felt, posing for that family portrait.

Don't imagine the fear he felt when the House got attacked by Time itself. Don't imagine him doing everything he could to protect his family; his newborn baby sister.

Don't imagine him thinking, for all those years, that he failed.