Things had calmed down a lot. It had now been 2 weeks since the war ended, and I had regained a lot of my energy and strength. After getting yelled at by Will 3 times, I had been easing myself back into my pre-Kronos health. Camp activities were on a loose schedule, having Chiron trying to ensure that everyone was getting some form of exercise at least once a day. Annabeth and Percy made it official, and the Hunters had left on their way again. The world seemed to run a little smoother with the gods at peace for the most part, and I got some well needed down time.

At one point, I took Nico with me to the island for a visit. He liked the cabin, and was impressed by the number of bull's eyes in my projectile targets. I had come to return Will and Percy their clothes, but forgot about the mess of blood and first aid supplies in the bathroom. Nico turned to me, worried and frustrated.

"Who did this to you?" And that's when I remembered how stubborn my brother can be. Gods, Nico di Angelo convinced Persephone, Demeter, and Hades to fight in the Titan war; that takes a lot more than it sounds like. That's also when I remembered that I didn't elaborate on Eris' method of training.

"Training accidents, y'know?" I did my best to shrug off the blatant lie, but Nico wasn't stupid. I was more stupid for trying to lie when my father is the God of truth. He obviously wasn't buying it, so I gave in after we stared each other off for a few moments. "Fine, I'm a bad liar, you got me." He nodded, but kept staring, wanting an explanation.

"Y'know how I said Eris began to mentor me in my combat training?" I was hesitant to even mention my sister's name out loud, especially on the island. I didn't know if she felt betrayed, or proud at my combat skills. I had followed through on her advice when it mattered, but also intentionally went against some of her guidelines when I had to. She was the Goddess of Chaos, and I sure as hell brought chaos to Olympus for a length period of time. "Let's just say, learning from the Chaos goddess is more rewarding than it may seem." Nico looked to me, bewildered and trying to decipher what I had said.

"Trial and error, right? Except each error, every trial, I would remember physically. It made getting it right a lot more desirable, I'll tell you that." To be fair, I was telling the truth. Up until that point, I had been training out of anger and anticipation. With Eris, I could use the anger to avoid getting hurt in the process.

"She hurt you if you failed?"

"No," I shook my head quickly, "more like she would keep the same force against me the entire session. By the end of the session, I should be able to go without letting a hit land, and then I would have succeeded. Then she'd either up the power, or throw in something new." I remembered snippets of moments where I was still learning her way of mentoring. She came at me, full force, and gave me advice on how to improve and prevent getting hit or cut. Then, she'd repeat it until I could avoid or block the strike. After that, she'd move on to throw in another type of attack, and randomly remind me of the previously practiced methods. It was efficient. Painful at times, but efficient.

"That's abuse, Seth!" Nico was mad and I could feel the grudge growing in his core from across the room. The shadows danced at his feet from his raw emotion, and I froze where I was to try and calm him before he exerted too much energy.

"I know what abuse is, Nico. You know that," I said calmly. I was unhappy with how cold it sounded, but brushed it off. The boy froze in his rage, suddenly looking guilty. With a frown, I limped over to his side and pulled him close by the shoulders. "I'm not mad, Nico. We're both right. I'll just say this: pain is progress, and I knew what I was getting myself into when I agreed to prepare for the war." He squeezed my hand, eyebrows still scrunched in frustration.

"Why do the Fates have to be so unfair when dealing out pain? You're like, 13. You've lived through more pain than 10 people would in their entire life time. I just... you shouldn't have to deal with so much crap." I smiled to him, heart swelling at his sincerity.

"Well, I'd rather it all be on me than to put it on others." I softly said. He wasn't shocked, and I could tell, but he still sighed and shook his head.

"This is gonna get you killed." I snickered as he glared. He was 100% true, and we both knew it.

"More the reason to do dumb shit now, rather than later."

"How does that even relate to this?"

"'Cuz when I do dumb shit as a ghost, the whole world isn't gonna see." He rolled his eyes with a smile this time, and I lightly punched his arm.

"That's not happening any time soon, or I'll be pissed." he remarked, regaining the stoic expression.

"Gods, you sound like Will. All like: Seth, don't use your powers after almost dying 'cuz it's bad for your health, or Seeeeeeethhhh, you can't get up and walk around on 1 leg even though you've got a perfectly functional arm to support yourself. You 2 are gonna be the death of me, I swear." I mocked my half-brother and brother, making a face. Nico rolled his eyes and threw one of the shirts lying on the chair at me. I was almost done collecting all of the medical supplies to bring back for Will, and then I would stuff the clothes into the backpack. Oh shit. The backpack. I guess my one shoulder can hold it, but Will won't be happy.

"Seth?" I turned to see Nico reading something on the desk. Hobbling over to see what it was, my eyes widened.

"Oh, I forgot about these." Nico had picked up the notepad I had written short entries in right before the battle started. They were for Percy, Nico, and Luke, with the thoughts that I would probably die in the battle. "Before the fight, I was pretty sure that I would die , so I thought I'd leave some notes for you, Percy, and... Luke. I knew that Luke probably wouldn't make it, but I still needed to write it, even if it was for his ghost. You can have yours, if you want. I'll take Percy's back to him."

I ripped Nico's page out for him, which he took to read slowly. Stupid dyslexia. While he stood with the paper in hand, I continued packing up the supplies. With my back turned to him, I bent over the bathroom countertop to reach for some of the stitches laying there. I felt arms wrap around me from behind, and smiled. Turning, I tried to pat his head with my one hand, but couldn't reach far enough.

"Did you mean it?" I felt the wetness on my back where he buried his face, and repositioned myself to stand steadier.

"Every word."