5 Achilles/Zagreus fic recs

For quite a while I didn't want to make "Hades" rec lists because I didn't know where to start. But then I had some practice reccing other things, and apparently I've now solved this conundrum by deciding to rec everything at once. And by "at once" I mean with a few recs every day so I have time to prepare the next ones. Today's offering: four five short Achilles/Zagreus fics. (Added one later because I almost forgot.)

What a Heavenly Way To Die by PrincepsAugustus
1k, pre-Achilles/Zagreus, pre-canon, h/c
Summary: Hades worries that his son's training isn't going as far as it should. Zagreus worries of what it'll be like to die for the first time. Achilles worries of what it'll feel like to kill with his spear after so long.
or
Achilles gives Zagreus his first experience with death. But tenderly.
Why I like it: Zagreus dies in Achilles' arms and it's tragic and sweet and sad.

There Will Be A Dawn by julomaiboulomai
1.6k, Achilles & Zagreus, pre-canon
Summary: In the first days of Zagreus's tutelage, Achilles is still full of wrath more than anything. His bitterness toward the gods is untempered, and before him stands one of their scions, vulnerable and yet immortal, able to take however much he chooses to dish out.
(Or, perhaps, not so immortal after all. And in the end, very vulnerable indeed.)
Why I like it: A different take on the first time Achilles kills Zagreus, with nice angst/guilt/ h/c.

Bloody-Armed and Brash by red_smear
1.3k, Achilles/Zagreus, PWP, fantasizing
Summary: He imagines heat and breath and sweat, close dodges--the blade shearing through his chiton, leaving him exposed--and here his imagination blurs, bounding ahead without him. Now he’s pinned to the ground--Achilles atop him, victorious at last, his voice rough and breathless, saying…
Well. I’ve never had a god before.
--
For a Hades Kinkmeme prompt: "Zagreus saves up his (plundered) hard-earned gemstones for an Achilles poster, where the shade looks incredibly hot in his prime. Cue Zag fantasizing what it would be like to have met the hero of the Trojan War."
Why I like it: This is hot and I enjoyed it.

Reciprocal by Beromei
1.4k, Achilles/Zagreus, semi-unrequited
Summary: It is not that Achilles does not love him—he does so, dearly. It is not even that Achilles does not love him in the right way, whatever that may mean. There are many ways to love another, and for Zagreus, Achilles could count them. Still, it is altogether different to what Achilles once had.
Why I like it: Depending on my mood this is more bittersweet or ~sad but either way I enjoy it.

for my prayer has always been love by procrastinatingbookworm
1.7k, Achilles/Zagreus, praise kink
Summary: Zagreus makes an open-ended request. Achilles takes the opportunity to lead him to catharsis.
Why I like it: This is both sad and beautiful.

Preview for tomorrow: finally some Achilles/Patroclus/Zagreus.