With an open grunt of annoyance, I looked up to meet the king of the Gods in the eye. "What do you want, Zeus?" Unlike with my father, I wasn't afraid to be open about my little grudge against Zeus. Did I still blame him for everything? No, of course not. Nyx lied, and he told me the truth. Striking me with lightning, however, now that I was pretty pissed about. I mean, there are other ways to test one's strength than trying to kill them.

He smirked at my bitterness and tried to put a hand on my shoulder so I would walk with him. I quickly increased my pace to eradicate any more physical contact. Despite this, I let him walk with me, slightly behind.

"You are in my domain, Seth, you know what that means." He had a stupid smile on his face again, so I scoffed and glared slightly. He had control and power over everything in the skies and heavens, so naturally, he knew of everything that happened on Olympus.

"I am glad that you came to confront your struggles and questions with your father." There was no relief or pride in his voice whatsoever, so I wasn't buying his shit. When he tried to coax me back into my mortal form, I sneered at him.

"What is it you really want?" He raised an eyebrow at first, then sighed and crossed his arms again.

"I've come to speak with you about some of your duties, now that you're old enough." He stopped walking, and before I could whip around to face him, he teleported us both with a single spark. Blinking once and exhaling at the sudden move, I looked around to see that we were likely in Zeus and Hera's palace. It was an expensive looking balcony that overlooked all of Olympus, making me breath out a bit at the height.

"Old enough? I'm like 13!"

"You've killed the father of the Olympians, and ruler of the Titans, for good, Seth. Not to mention 12 years of abuse in the foster system taking care of yourself, over a year of training, and somehow befriending Hades."

"Wait- over a year? I thought that was a few months!" I was genuinely surprised, but didn't doubt what he said. He nodded slowly, leaning his elbows on the rail of the balcony.

"Yes. And you're still 13, by the way." He was clearly getting amusement at my surprise, but otherwise seemed uninterested.

"But I thought that I was 13 when I first came to camp half-blood." I hated when people lied, but this seemed more like an unintentional mistake.

"You had just turned 12 when you ran away. The mortals could only predict your age after a while, since your file kept disappearing to hide the abuse. They assumed you were older, when really, you just had to mature faster." I was still bewildered, but now my complicated feelings for Apollo returned. It wasn't his fault, but I didn't have to be okay with it. Looking back, I did realize how much younger everyone looked when I first met them compared to now. Nico's appearance changed the most, but I guess I didn't realize since we first saw each other again in the heat of a war. He had gotten thinner and paler, but also grown stronger. With a small smile, Zeus felt the need to return to his original subject.

"You may not be physically be aged much, but your mind is old enough to be responsible for your duties, Isorreth. I expect you to fulfill these; you have a responsibility over the dark force." Zeus was back to business in no time, so I reluctantly followed suit.

"And what happens when I die? No one controls the dark force anymore?" I questioned, half to piss him off and half out of actual curiosity. A mortal god, minor or not, was unheard of.

"I can't see into the future, Isorreth, but I am guessing that a lord of dark energy would exist momentarily because the dark force would need to be controlled in your life time." I paused to think, considering the future. I already used dark energy to kill Kronos' soul, but was there more? "Your mother and siblings are the only beings with the ability to control dark energy, and most of your siblings don't control it on command." He sent me a worried glance, and I only sighed. Another conflict was coming, that was for sure, and it probably included facing my other side of the family.

"So other than that, what do I have to do to keep you happy and sitting in your mansion, oh shocked one?" I sarcastically replied. He looked unimpressed, and ignored the lightning pun.

"You can feel the darkness, Seth. Be sure that it stays this way: regular, and in a low concentrations. The night is not your duty, but the within may be in the future. Hell-hounds and the Hades spawn are the only ones who should be able to shadow travel. I expect it stays that way. Darkness in high concentrations is dangerous, but Underworld beings can cause changes in this." I nodded, understanding. It was true, dark energy existed everywhere, but in extremely low concentrations making it harmless and seemingly behaving like an absence, like shadows. In reality, if you were to take the dark energy in a large dimly lit room, it could form a pinprick sized ball of darkness in its densest form. That's why I usually manipulated darkness by summoning it, since pulling from my surroundings during the day would usually be a waste.

"Okay. Also, he has a name, you know." I hated that Nico was disregarded as the Hades spawn instead of his name. Nico Di Angelo was one of the bravest people I knew, and he did more than enough to deserve recognition for his aid in the war. Even with his war efforts disregarded, he did so much and pushed through so much shit to still remain standing and sane and alive.

Zeus looked at me, not interested in my anger. "I have no interest in hearing about your adoration for the son of Hades." Now enraged, I let the hate slip into my voice.

"Clearly."

He looked up at me, shocked at how hateful my tone slipped from my tongue. "Isorreth, there was a pact. Even if there wasn't, Hades children haven't done much good for anyone, either."

"Shut the fuck up about oh, Hades broke the pact, Nico shouldn't have existed bullshit! You were the first of the 3 to break the pact by having Thalia, and you kept her alive, so why shouldn't Hades keep Nico alive? Right, sorry, you were too busy killing his mother. And don't fucking address him as his heritage. People are a lot more than who share their blood, and you should know that after your father tried to eat you!" I spat venom through words as I laid down the hard truth. He didn't look guilty, but turned his gaze away from me to stare forward.

"You must move past your personal grudges now, Isorreth. Another conflict is approaching, and you must be ready." He handed me folded piece of paper that was sitting on a nearby table when we flashed in, and I unfolded it to find another prophecy.

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire, the world must fall
An oath to keep with a final breath
And foes bare arms to the Doors of Death

With a sigh, I let out an exasperated groan. Just wonderful! The half-bloods had to fight in another war that they probably didn't have a choice in. Just great.

"The Oracle of Delphi spoke it after rewarding you and the half-bloods." I was so fucking tired of fighting, yet so eager to jump into action if it meant protecting the innocent. "There's also something that you must know, Isorreth." I turned to him, slightly curious. With that, he just... changed. His overall appearance remained the same, but the look in his eyes was different. There was no uncaring or tolerant attitude, but only neutral and seemingly mature expression. As quickly as it happened, he changed back.

Blinking for a moment, I watched him recompose himself before blurting, "What was that?" He rolled his eyes at me.

"That was Jupiter."