The favored shade of Hypnos rests at his side, still as she has been since their somber reunion many moons ago, clinging to what she had twice lost and pining for the night when Sleep Incarnate finally returns to the waking world.

hey hi yes hello how ya doin hades fans, i'm fine and dandy....peachy keen even...... everything is great I love this actually 🥲

anyway I FINALLY got to play Hades 2 and I'm sooooo sosososo normal about the scenario I have for my self insert and Hypnos I swear okay look--

**SPOILERS FOR THE GAME (IN CASE YOU'RE LIKE ME AND EXTREMELY LATE TO THE PARTY BUT ARE STILL AVOIDING SPOILERS LIKE A CHAMP) _{(also sorry it's long, as I have already established I am very normal ksdjfg)}**

So by the events of the second game, Cicilia has been working for the House of Hades for some time now. She and Hypnos are extremely close and very much established as a pair to the rest of the residents.

When Chronos takes over the House, I imagine he's not so much focused on all the lesser shades (of which Cicilia is one) as he is the other prominent figures of the House, so the shades there either escape or are thrown somewhere else... amidst the panic, Cicilia sees Chronos trap everyone in those structures, but never sees what happened to Hypnos.

She holds onto the hope that he's at least still alive, maybe escaped somewhere, and as she flees she searches for him, making it all the way to the Fields of Mourning...but with no sign of him anywhere, and with no way to travel much farther without the help of a god like him, she starts losing hope. Fearing the worst has happened, she lingers there in the fields, lost and alone, mourning the most familiar and comforting being to her. She also sheds her once-human visage _{(I imagine it's the power of gods (specifically Hypnos, in her case) that allows shades to take human form in the first place)} and remains there as a despondent, shapeless wretch like all the other shades there...

...Until Melinoë, during one of her treks to Tartarus, stumbles upon the crying shade and offers to help. When Cicilia tells her about what happened, Melinoë is surprised that she has those connections to the House...and also has to be the one to tell Cicilia that while Hypnos is very much alive, he's been asleep ever since that incident and won't wake up. But she's working on a way to rouse him, and it'll take time and resources, but it's clear that Cicilia cares very much for him, so Melinoë reassures her that she'll do her best for the both of them.

Whenever Melinoë returns to the Fields, Cicilia will be singing a hymn she had written for Hypnos long ago and collecting whatever flowers she can find out there in those desolate fields. She'll ask the Princess for updates and go off on little tangents speaking fondly of Hypnos. Sometimes Melinoë will come back and say that she mentioned Cicilia to him, or delivered him a lavender flower for her, and got a response that made it obvious he's dreaming about his favorite shade...

And then, at some point, after several conversations and updates, Melinoë finally sends Cicilia to the Crossroads with the Tablet of Peace - Hypnos may still be asleep, but at least the two of them can be together again in some capacity.

SO THEN comes the idea/prompt/whatever for this drawing... What if when Cicilia arrives at the Crossroads, she sees Hypnos with all the lavender she's been asking Melinoé to give him... She's touched, but despondent because nothing seems to be working to wake him up... and then what if she decides not to leave his side until he wakes up, and she's waiting there for a very very long time... and sometimes he mumbles something like her name or her song and it's like a pang in her heart, like he's SO close to coming back but just won't...wake up... wouldn't that be so messed up hahaha....... c':