"Sadly the pieces all reform after a few seconds," he says, mock disappointed. He hops off the raft and walks over to the gate to push it open, then climbs up the stairs behind it all the way to a temple up a hill. He opens those doors, too, and the inside of the new temple is quite unlike the previous rooms.

The walls and floors are all metal, and there are large bronze cogs jutting out of holes on the ground, slowly rotating. The room they're in is not large, but it's largely empty, except for a few peculiar items by the right wall: a decorative fountain about as tall as Zagreus is, with blood-red water pouring down from one cup to another; a wide, shallow stone basin on top of a stone pedestal filled with a faintly glowing purple liquid; a large glass case with what looks to be a collection of curious trinkets on display; and another fountain made up of a single basin on the ground filled with clear water.

".... Huh!" she says, golden eyes looking at the array of items before them. "How adorably tidy. I'm rather charmed. Oh, look, the glass case changes for whoever opens it! That's so clever."

"Oh, does it? I ordered it from the contractor a while ago, it comes in handy."

Zagreus walks over to the clear water fountain, kneels by it, and cups his hands to collect and drink some water from it. Its effects are immediately felt, many of the bruises and cuts he's suffered from the shades his father sent to stop him in Asphodel healing up and even some of the dirt on his skin and clothes disappearing.

"Did you not know the details of what it did? Huh. Well I think it's brilliant, it must be marvelously convenient for anyone transporting tools for construction work or something." Her eyes turn towards the fountain he drank from. "And, aw. You tired it out. I think it's supposed to refresh shades, not gods, Zagreus," she teases.

"I'm sure it will restore itself in no time," he says, shrugging and walking over to the purple basin. He looks into the water and his eyes unfocus, as if he's looking at something beyond its bottom.

“It will, the structure is completely fine. It’s just empty of healing energy and needs time to refill. And the one you’re looking at is a... shop? A very small one.”

"Yep," he says, reaching into a small pouch attached to his belt for a few coins. He drops them into the purple liquid and they dissolve into nothing, and then a vial tinted blue and red floats up to the surface from nowhere. He grabs it. "Centaur's soul, painfully useful."

“Like the little heart Thanatos gave you! Aw, but his was better.”

"His was better," Zagreus agrees, looking away from the pool and blinking to refocus. He thumbs the vial open and drinks its misty contents, and then the vial itself fades away. And now over to the glass case.

She of course can’t see any of the contents of his glass case, but she does gaze with fascination at it anyway. It’s so neat! She wants to try to figure out how to make something like it.

After some humming he unclips a little rose-shaped pin from one of the folds of his chiton and grabs a small vial filled with what looks like blood. It's attached to a string, which Zagreus wears like a necklace. "Alright, we're good."

"Okay! That's to get Ares's attention, right? And the flower was for Aphrodite."

"Yup. They feel flattered if I wear their trinkets, although uh not if I wear more than one at once." He winces a bit when he says that.

"... Ah. Yeah. Jealous gods, aren't they. Well if I give you a trinket that will help me more easily find you, I will not be offended if it's not the only one. ... I guess they might be though. If they see it. Which they might."

"Probably better not to risk it," he agrees.

She gives a heavy sigh, but does not mention that she may or may not eat like half of the Olympic pantheon if she gets the chance.

The minor god walks along to the other entrance to the temple, and when he pushes the doors open the sight that welcomes them is a lush and verdant garden with a snaking path amidst the greenery. The river of forgetfulness follows lazily beneath the trees, and there are stone benches here and there for one to sit at and enjoy the breeze.

"Oh, it is very pretty. ... Why isn't the entire Underworld this pretty."

"Only the greatest souls come to the Gardens of Elysium," Zagreus recites.

"... So??? It doesn't diminish the coolness of their VIP lounge for other places to also be pretty. They can be pretty in different ways, even, this is not the only way something can be pretty."

Shrug. "I think the Asphodel Meadows used to be rather pleasant before the flood."

"R̗̞̣̟͈̘͘ͅṛ̠̩͔͕̖̀r̞̮͈r̮̹͉̦̕rr̜̙̪r͏̦̻͓̖̦̻͔r̴̦̰̞̙̣̼̺g͙̺h҉͙͇͖͇," she growls, annoyed. It is... not a sort of growl that gods, shades, or mortals can make, though it certainly resembles it enough to be intelligible.

"I'm helping you get out first, but then I might come back and personally fix it."

...she's a puddle in his shoulder skulls, how in Hades's name did that manage to sound hot.

Whatever. "I'm sure the shades of Asphodel will be very grateful."

"They will be once I'm done with it, because I will in fact take their opinions into account and take requests!"

"Careful, you might end up making Asphodel more pleasant than Elysium."