"Oh, child. Is selfishness not what brought your family back together, returned the Underworld its Queen? Its absence is not necessarily a virtue. Whether it is too much or not is debatable and, I think, for you to decide."

"Come on, Nyx, surely you can just tell me that it's fine so I never worry about it again!"

“No, child.”

"Oh well. I tried. Guess I am going to have to be mature about it and think through the consequences of my actions to figure this out, right."

"You will. I have confidence in you and your abilities. You have grown very much, in the time I've known you."

"You mean since I was born, died for real as an infant, and then was brought back to life by you?"

"Yes," says Nyx, and it's kind of hard to tell, but she sounds just a little amused.

That's probably where Than got it from.

"Well, thank you, Nyx. I... think I have a lot to think about. And, I guess, figure out? In terms of... godly powers? I don't suppose there's some instruction manual on this, like, 'So you turn out to have a godly domain after all, how to figure out what to do with it'?"

"Would that there were, but no. Yours is a journey like one many gods have taken, each unique, and with different conclusions. But, tell me, would you prefer to be told what you are and what you can do, or would you rather find out yourself?"

He opens his mouth then closes it again, again. "Damnit," he repeats.

"I wish you well in your journey, child."

"Thank you, Nyx."

He should probably... you know what, do his job, thinking on his feet works way better for him.

Thinking on his feet works way better for him. He stops by his room to get dressed and, more relevantly, get some form of instrument of death. The sword, this time, just because it's his favourite.

He slices through the hordes of dead in Tartarus, the Asphodel Meadows (like only 5% as deadly as they used to be now that all the lava's gone but at least all the other security measures installed since then more than make up for its lack), and the Fields of Elysium. Zagreus did meet other Elysian heroes than Theseus and Astorius, eventually, although Theseus continues to be his most common encounter up in the coliseum. He also continues to vehemently deny that Zagreus might be anything other than a stain on the earth even though it has been known that he is Queen Persephone's firstborn and legitimate Prince of the Underworld for literal centuries, now, by every shade everywhere in the afterlives. The satyr rat problem has been much reduced in the Temple of Styx, and it has been agreed by all parties that Cerberus is a good enough deterrent to anyone who is not Zagreus anyway so they just skip that part. Then Zag sees his father again (the fields are not icy since Persephone is currently up in Olympus) and kills him.

There's something about bringing thoughts and feelings to words that just makes them way more real.

He's bored. He's so bored. Not on a moment-to-moment basis, if the security measures around were so easy to deal with that he actually got bored while dealing with them that would be a pretty large problem, but on a deeper, more meaningful level? This is beyond tedious. This is meaningless, he can feel it now that he's paying attention, and he does a dozen more consecutive escapes just to make sure he's not imagining it. It's almost like precognition, he knows what to do and how to do it, he knows where to go and whom to kill, he knows which kicks to dodge and which to parry and which to tank. He doesn't need Olympian help, anymore, because his bloodstone can wipe out an entire roomful of skeletons and his sword strikes can literally create craters on the ground and the only way to contain his phasing through walls is by making this actually a poor tactical choice.

He's bored, because he's the god of escaping the Underworld. He's the god of getting the hell out of the most secure place in the world. He's the god of dying and not staying dead, ever. He's the god of always coming back, coming through, coming out. He's the god of...

He's the god of...

He's the god of life, and of blood, but also he's the god of...

...rebirth.

When Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, returns to her realm for the season and is reunited with her husband, she is very soon accosted by her son.

"Zagreus! It's good to see you, my son."

"Mother! How was your stay with the Olympians?"

"Oh, same as always. Bright, loud, vibrant, utterly exhausting. It's good to be back."

"It's always good to have you back. You make this place better with your presence."

"Such a flatterer. Did you learn that from your cousins?"

"Of course not, it's just in my nature."

She laughs. "In the blood, is it?"

"It's still my favourite song of theirs, I confess."

She leans forward to whisper conspiratorially, "Mine, too."

He shakes his head. "Anyway, there was something I had to talk to you about..."

"Yes, I thought there might be. You had an air about you. Is everything alright?"