8

"Hi there" Percy yelped as he spun around and stared at my beaming smile. he paused after a long moment, squinting at me, before calming down. Which was fair, he had been tormented for a while now by the Ares kids. Not sure how to be honest, Clarisse was honestly pretty cool when you get to know her, she's just really intense. Then again I have the buffer of Silena.

"Uh... Hey?" I just nodded, before asking.

"So, why do you keep getting beat up? You're stronger than basically everyone here" he blinked, slowly before saying slightly annoyed now.

"What? In case you haven't been paying attention, I've been beaten around by basically everyone, I wouldn't exactly call myself all that strong. Who are you anyways?"

"Nick, we technically share a cabin, but I've been spending most of my nights in the infirmary since you woke up"

"Wait, what-"

"Anyways, you killed the Minotaur, I'm pretty sure no one here should be able to do that. Meaning you're the strongest, so why are you weak?" His eyebrows twitched, just a bit violently, as he said back.

"Does it matter? It was probably just luck or something"

"Nah, not a fluke, try again" He actively took a deep breath in, trying to control himself, as I continued on, "Do you have a masochism thing? No shame if you did, everyone here thinks I have one to, which is weird, cause I never actually want to get hurt, it just kind of happens" He sighed before barking out, just a bit to sharply against what was trying to be a controlled tone.

"Listen! Ugh, just stop, I don't know what you're trying to do, but just go away alright?"

"Nah, let's spar" he glared at me, as I just smiled back. I made the decision I liked him when he didn't even so much as look worried, usually my smile had the opposite effect.

"No" I tilted my head like I was thinking about it, as he turned and looked ready to walk away, when-

"Sounds like a yes to me!" I pulled out my sword and slashed at him. He yelped and jumped back, barley avoiding my light swing, stumbling back as he pulled out his own sword, awkwardly, like he wasn't used to holding it. Couldn't be having that, moving forwards, I slammed my blade down on him, as my bonuses were applied strengthening my everything as I slammed down on the blade so hard the sword was nearly flung out of his hand as he cried out in shock.

"H-Hey! What is wrong with you?"

"A lot of things really, now defend!" I struck harder and faster, in fast succession as he stumbled back, his eyes glowering with a mix of annoyance and angry, as I kept attacking, just fast enough that he couldn't defend himself, as I continued to ask.

"So why are you not super strong? Got performance issues? I don't get that one. I'm kind of perfect, well, mostly perfect, it's all in the personality. Still, you know what they say, one out of ten men-" I stopped when Percy growled, like, actually growled, and suddenly as I swung down at his head, his blade not only came up to block mine, but it felt like the full force of a freaking earthquake had slammed into the blade, hard enough that I could feel the bones in my wrist shake from the vibrations, as my blade was flung to the side, barely still in my grip, but my defense was wide open, as his sword came down right at me.

I just smiled, his anger brought out his power, but he only managed strength right now, I was still fast, as I moved in between the blade and slammed my fist into his stomach... before yelping as it felt like I just crashed my fist into cement, as suddenly a hand was wrapped around my wrist as I found myself planted on the ground, with a sword to my neck. I just pouted, I knew it was going to happen, but gods this still sucked.

"What is wrong with you?" I just tilted my head up to look at the angry Percy Jackson, before saying with a smile.

"Nothing, just anger is a pretty powerful motivator, and watching you be pathetic is annoying when you're probably already one of the strongest here" he frowned before his eyes widened, as he realized just what he did, as he quickly stood up.

"Oh- I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean- Well, I really did, but it was like-" I interrupted him as I rolled onto my butt, looking up at him as I said cheerfully.

"It was like you were acting on instincts you didn't know you had?" He blinked before nodding, looking shocked as I said up to him, "That's because you were, you're really freaking strong Percy, you just have been living a life where if you ever used that strength you'd kill someone or break everything. You're body doesn't know how to not hold back unless you're in a position where you don't think about needing to hold back, even subconsciously" That was probably true, and honestly the only reason I could come up with on how he could rip a horn off a minotaur but not accidently crumple a car door when he slammed it to hard. The pouring rain probably helped, but the point stands.

"So... What? You just annoyed me until I unlocked it?" I just shrugged.

"It was a theory, you're interesting, and I saw what you did to the bathrooms, clearly you were pissed during that, so it sands to reason, anger is the trigger right now until you learn to control both your strength and powers" He blinked before squinting at me.

"You could have said that instead of attacking"

"Yeah, but that wouldn't be so funny" His face morphed into a cute pout, as I just smiled.

"Sure, I guess... You're" He clearly was trying to think of a polite way to say strange, instead he switched gears, "... You said you're name is Nick right? I'm Percy" I just nodded.

"Nice to meet you, I'm aiming to pummel you into the ground until you can't think"

"Uh, what?"

"I'm a son of Nike, winning is kind of my thing, so I make sure everyone who is stronger than me is aware of my intentions, that way when I attack them at random hours in hopes of killing them, they can't say they weren't warned" he blinked again, and slowly took a step back.

"I... see... Wait son?" I nodded, "But..." He just stared at me, looking confused, ah the graceful tact of Percy Jackson on full display, how lovely.

"But?"

"Well... It's just, you're..." I just kept smiling, as I watched as he began to actively sweat, clearly not knowing what was a landmine or not, before finally saying.

"Uh, I'm going to go now? Luke wants to train me some more since I've been having trouble with swordplay" I just kept smiling as he slowly backed up, before turning and and fleeing.

Ah, that was fun... Anyways, back to my regularly scheduled program.

I need to go find Silena, I have some gambling I need to get started!

After all, it isn't cheap to bribe the ferryman of the underworld, nor is it easy to find a way back out, but I have a plan for that, just need some more cash on hand before I can really get started.

Past that, Capture the Flag is in a few days, and that's going to be... interesting. I'm going to be on Percy's and Annabeth's team, since I'm in Hermes' cabin, which is fine by me, I don't want to change him being claimed any, but I also didn't want to lose, so it was either being on the winning team, or getting out of it, because I refuse to be on the losing team.

But that's in two days, which means I have two days more worth of time out into the woods to train!

"And... Nick" Annabeth gave me a look, before sighing, she knew that me being on her team was probably a near win condition, which was I was totally fine with, she didn't need to know that Nike's boost only applied to me and not anyone I'm around, though I will be looking into that later, anyways, she knew she couldn't just side line me, so... "Stand guard by the front wall, it's the most likely place they'll come through, you can buy us time to capture the other team's flag"

I just nodded, as I moved into the position she had gestured onto the map, I knew it wasn't likely anything would happen, from this position, it was more likely a secondary party would be coming through, I would stop that one, while Percy dealt with the main group who would flank around and go after the flag, allowing my position to act as a buffer against them getting reinforcements to anywhere they would need it, as well as allowing my team to move on by with fewer people to stop them.

Of course I'd probably get my ass handed to me, I was a lot better than I had started at well over a week ago now, when I first arrived, but I wasn't nearly good enough to be able to beat even one Are's kid, much less a group of them, so I had to hope they would be sending that main force at Percy, while I dealt with the other cabin's Half-bloods.

Before long the horn had been called, as I hummed to myself as the Notices came up.

[Notice: Perk [Son of Nike] has activated, all stats are now increased by 20%]

[Notice: Status Effect [Victory's Blessing: Skill] has been applied]

Ah, I was kind of hoping for Talent to be the one activated, but this is fine, a plus five levels to my skills isn't a bad thing. Actually, since I had a bow and arrow on my shoulders, which had no where near as many levels as my melee skills, it would be a good way to make up the difference there.

Swinging my sword around absently, as I shrugged my shoulders a bad thing, I hummed pleasantly to myself as I waited, as I looked around for a while, wondering when something was going to happen as the sounds of distant combat filtered through the trees.

So, naturally, that's when everything happened.

"Charge!" I just hummed as I watched as many of my friends in the Aphrodite cabin, with bloodlust in their eyes, charged at me...

Ok, maybe constantly teasing and worrying the favorite of the Cabin, Silena, all the time, wasn't in fact a good idea to do right before a competition when they could have their revenge. Aphrodite demigod's aren't the strongest of the twelve, probably closer to the weakest, but that does not mean they are weak, they just have other focuses, but they're all still trained to kill, and as such, this was probably going to hurt.

Still, wasn't not going to give it my all, it was kind of against my literal DNA to concede in anything, so I shifted my sword to the other hand and pulled out my Celestial Bronze knife, and took a deep breath... and then promptly activated all my skills and charged to meet them.

If I was to die, or lose, then it was to be glorious!

[Accomplishment: Capture the Flag!: Completed!

You've played a really intense game of capture the flag, and you didn't do to terribly, your team even won, congratulations... Even if you didn't really do much in the grand scheme of things.

+1000 Exp for winning

+500 Exp for every half-blood you defeated while in game[Total exp: 5,500]]

[Notice: You have leveled up!]

[Notice: You have gained ten levels, Son of Nike has activated; +10 to Strength and Dex, +5 to all other stats]

"My everything hurts" Michael sighed and just moved around, checking on the third Aphrodite kid of seven that was in the clinic with me. I had managed to take more than I thought down with me, but I still got overrun pretty easily after they started to just pile drive me. They fought dirty when provoked.

I was honestly impressed.

And in pain, mostly in pain.

I let out a short groan of agony as the rest of the campers around me were either gossiping about Percy, since he was claimed, or about something unrelated about the hellhounds that had been let into the camp walls, which gave me an incredible idea for later. Anyways, none of them had been all that hurt since they could actually talk easily, while I had been stabbed twice and if I had the right body, probably wouldn't be having any kids with how hard one of the girls kicked me. Then again, it gave me an idea about how to deal with the guys in their cabin, so it worked out.

In an unrelated note, while they weren't here, there was a number of kids who were currently huddled in their cabin wishing for death.

I'll say sorry or something later, maybe bribe them with money, that usually seems to work for people.

I was humming as I pulled the golden itched ring from my pocket, I had stopped wearing it ages back, same with using my Bone Steel dagger, I had little doubt that Mr. D. couldn't sense the things on me all the same, but no reason to show them around either. I had an idea for when I was planning on bringing the camp into the idea of other mythologies and religions, and that wasn't right now.

Anyways, I rolled the ring around in my hand for a moment before, with my other hand, pulled out a lighter, and sparked a flame onto the ring, only just burning my fingers a small bit.

Sadly I wasn't calling Bryja, I've gotten in touch with her once, she didn't really have much time to talk, but we chatted, Jor was in the background, screaming about something or another, it probably wasn't that important. Anyways, my Draupnir ring had refreshed it's power, so now I'm going to get in contact with someone else, that isn't Bryja. Since it could be used to communicate with basically anyone.

It's sort of like Iris messages, but the ring is a self contained magical item, so I don't have to pay for it, it just has a cool down period instead. Plus, this way Iris wasn't eavesdropping on my call. I wouldn't mind to much, myself, but I have a feeling this one should be something I keep one way, since the person I'm trying to contact wouldn't enjoy secondary company.

Probably, I didn't really know him, but from what I remember from the books... Well, a few things depends on just how this goes.

Still, I felt the magic take hold as I let go of the ring, letting it stay in the air by it's own magical volition, it was really fucking awesome to watch. From the golden ring came off a wave of a golden shimmer, filling the air, before from it changed into the imagine of a throne room, as I put on my best, not me, smile and waited until, from the single man, sitting on the throne, spoke with the cold drawl of annoyance, came the voice of Hades.

"Ah yes, the child that has been... pestering me so over the last few weeks" I nodded, cause, yeah, I had totally been doing that, no shame on the matter. He just sighed, his eyebrows furrowing, just the tiniest bit in confusion, he was really hard to read though to be honest, but that might be because I was looking at him through a Nordic ring. "What means do you want to try and come in contact with me? The revival of a dead loved one perhaps?"

"Uh, no? No one I love is currently dead. I'm contacting you because I figured there are some things you should know about" He raised an eyebrow.

"No? You don't wish to ask about the dead, and instead to tell me something? How presumptuous of you to believe yourself more knowledge than I. Well spit it out then mortal, what did you wish to tell me so bad to use such an unsightly artifact" He was really trying to up sale the arrogance thing, I think he was just socially awkward and was trying to compensate through the actions he sees in his fellow gods when they interact with him.

Oh great, I've psychoanalyzed a god, and now I feel bad for him!

"It's nothing that important I guess, just, you know, letting you know who stole your Helm of Darkness" It was like a switch had been flipped as his entire face just shut down into stone cold silence, as his eyes pierced into mine, and-

[Notice: Status Effect [Terror of the Underworld] has been negated from Perk [Unyielding Spirit]]

Ah, I guess pants pissing terror is something that would count as intimidation, so my Perk triggered to counter it. So, I just kept smiling and said.

"So, is that a yes or a no" He honestly looked shocked, but he schooled his expression pretty quickly.

"Explain now!" His voice thundered and echoed in a way that seemed impossible, as I said.

"I will, but first I want a deal" His expression melted into a look of rage.

"You dare assume yourself mightier than you think, I know who has my Helm, and all you have done is add yourself upon the list that I will punish when your time comes to be in my domain!" Drama queen, honestly.

"It's not Percy Jackson who has your Helm, in fact, as it stands, he doesn't even have Zeus's bolt, well, not yet at least. I swear on the Styx's that I speak the truth" The imagine flickered as the sky above me roared as I felt something... familiar grip onto me.

[Notice: Bond [River Styx Oath] has been created... You have been judged truthful, bond [River Styx Oath] has been resolved]

It was interesting to see Hades' eyes just flicker, clearly thinking deeply about what I said, before with a harsh tone, which really wasn't necessary, spat out words at me.

"What deal would a mortal as yourself want? Immortal life perhaps? A grantee to Elysium perhaps?" I just shook my head.

"Nah, not interested in any of that at the moment, all I want is safe passage into your domain when I wish, I will not take anyone back, nor bring anyone with me without permission, I simply wish to be allowed in the Underworld as well as your blessing, no matter how small it may be" His face twisted in annoyance, but I had covered my basis well enough, it was simple rules that I would not bend without his allowance, I was being a bit greedy, but that just meant I could be negotiated with while having some wiggle room.

So, silence rained for a long, long minute, as Hades thought over my requests, before asking one last question.

"And why do you wish for both my blessing and access to my domain?" I answered truthfully.

"You control the domain in which Tartarus exists, I'm sure you sense the stirring from the depths, all the strongest gods do I imagine. I simply wish for when the time comes, I am at my greatest to be able to defend the world as it is" He simply frowned.

"And you imagine that someone like you can do this with a trip to the Underworld, and a blessing as minor as I deem? How do you know that I do not wish to take advantage of this situation" I just shrugged, looking a bit sheepish as I said to the God of literal terror.

"We all have to start somewhere, and you're not a bad person, or God. From what I've heard, you're also one of the only ones that keeps their word. Honestly, out of all the gods, my respect for you is near the top" It was honestly real sad just how shocked he seemed to be at that, the news he wasn't considered scum by everyone was shocking to him. Poor dude.

"I see... Fine, then we shall swear on the Styx to these deals" I just nodded, and we did, it was simple enough, the thunder split the sky again, but I was getting used to that, it happened a lot here whenever someone mentioned a name of any powerful being. Not a day went by without at least one crack of thunder of some kind. "Now then, telling me this information you seem to think so important"

"Of course, I keep my word. Luke Castellan, Son of Hermes is the one who stole your Helm of Darkness, as well as Zeus's Masterbolt, hoping to plan on a war of the Gods to allow his master to rise and be able to swiftly defeat them. I am telling you this as well because Percy Jackson will be issued a quest soon in which he will come to you, under the false guise you have Zeus's bolt, and to retrieve his mother, which you have taken from him before her time. He has been tricked and will need some guidance to bring him to understand the true culprit, so just call him out on it when he gets there and he'll piece together the rest"

Hades expression was thunderous, thankfully not in the literally sense, used to it or not, there was such a thing as to many thunder strikes, as he learned the name of his little thief, as well as hearing of the plan itself, and how he was the scapegoat in it. Grudges are Hades' kid's flaws, and I have a feeling it was the same for the man himself, I doubt he'd be forgetting this anytime soon.

"You have given me much to think about, and a warning for the tides of the future, for that you have my unwitting thanks, and access for my domain, though you may only interact lightly, so tread carefully mortal, the realm of the dead isn't made for the living" Aw, he's giving me a warning, I think that means we're friends now!

Before I could ask about how new status as besties, the call was cut as he swiped his hands forwards, and with the gesture, the shimmering field acted like it had been sliced, as it fell apart at the seams, with the ring itself, falling to the ground, red hot to the touch. It'll be a bit before I can grab it without burning myself.

I just dropped to the ground, with a grin on my face, as I looked up at the sky, that was, like, super serious and stuff, which wasn't really my thing by nature, but it was also pretty awesome as well, being able to talk to a super powerful god like that was really cool, and it's another step towards my plans. I honestly hadn't expected the blessing thing to go through to be honest, but, hey, I certainly wasn't going to complain.

It was an idea I had afterwards, I mean, if Artemis can give her blessing to random girls, and just instantly make them immortal, twice as powerful, and expert hunters, by just having them accept her deal with hunt with her, then there is no reason why any other god can't do something similar, sure, it's certainly not the same as getting access to a Domain, but it's about the best next thing.

Though, the reason I think Hades gave into that, is that I think it might be because this is the first time Hades has been treated with any real level of respect, not fear, in ages. Men are like that, give them one compliment and it'll make their day, I can only imagine the effect it would have on a god who's had to deal with being the social pariah of his entire family, given no respect and no one to really talk to outside of his wide and a bitchy step mother, for thousands of years, just because he had the bad fortune to draw the stick for the Underworld.

[Notice: Perk [Hades' Blessing] has been granted to user!]

[Notice: Hades' Blessing has increased all stats by five!]

[Notice: Hades' Blessing has increased Skill [Intimidation] by ten levels]

[Hades' Blessing]

You have talked to Hades and have come to an understanding, he gives you a lick of his power, you give information.

+150% faster leveling in fear based skills.

-You now gain per level thirty-five mana instead of twenty-five (This will update to match total level)

-You now gain per level sixty-five Stamina instead of fifty (This will update to match total level)

-You now can enter and leave the Underworld unopposed.

-You have gained Status Effect [Eyes of Death]

[Eyes of Death]

Through focusing on a person in front of you, you can glean insight on where to strike to deal the most lethal blow.

Ah... Huh, nice! My body felt all tingly with all the new mana in it, I feel all warm and fuzzy.

not what I was expecting, but then again, I hadn't really been expecting anything at all, so that's what you get for giving a socially starved god some attention... Cool! Now that, that's all sorted out, it's all out of my hands to see what happens next. Somethings are bound to change, Hades will no doubt tell Percy and the gang about Luke being the Traitor, so the end of the first book will have changed, but Luke will no doubt still be able to escape all the same, and so I just have to spend the next few days around Silena, and make sure Luke has no opening there.

I like her, so Luke can go find another traitor to spy on the camp, she's staying on my side.

Anyways, minimal shift in the plot, and I get a blessing out of it, and free access to the Underworld, which is what I need anyways. So all in all, that worked out pretty well, I'll have to wait until Percy is back in the camp, plus I want to see if I can kill Luke on his way out, so I need to keep an eye on him. I probably won't succeed, but Annabeth was to suspicious of me right now, and I need to quell that before she does something stupid for someone so smart.

A heroic act should be enough to do it.

Bah, this is all to serious!

Planning, is like, seriously boring!

I wonder where Silena is? I wanna introduce her to Charles, or at least make them hang out, it'd be funny to see if I can watch the moment when the sparks start to fly. Both parties involved should know by now to just go with what I want, or I make things... difficult.

Apparently my natural state of being is difficult, so when I'm extra me, I'm extra difficult, and people just give up saying no to me. It's really handy, and apparently I'm something called a 'sick stubborn son of a bastard' I think the only reason they didn't say bitch is so Nike wouldn't smite them, but my point stands!

I think...

What was I thinking about again?

Oh! Right, playing match maker, that'll be fun!

"So..." I gave her a look, she just stared back at me as we walked away from Cabin Nine.

"What do you mean so? You kidnapped me and then brought me to the Hephaestus cabin, demanded a duel to the death in yugioh, I didn't even know this camp even had yugioh cards, and managed to make an entire tournament bracket, forced basically everyone to play it, and shoved me into the arms of Beckendorf, like, five times for no reason" Ok, well... when you put it like that, it sounds bad.

"They were willing! I think I might have accidently started a cult actually, those teenagers seemed really interested in figuring out how to make actual duel disks, which, I mean, that would be sick, and it's not like holograms are hard with magic, but still! They were totally willing!" She gave a sharp short giggle before schooling her face, trying to look stern again, she was failing.

"You glared at them until they started picking cards... I still have no idea where you even got those from!"

"Stole them from the brain children, they have a bunch of games like that in there, good for strategy exercises I think is the reason. I just like it cause it's fun" I even knew how to play! That's pretty rare for me when it comes to games, even if I normally win anyways despite not knowing what the hell I'm doing. It's nice, this time I knew what was happening instead of being told that I won.

"Those kids are going to try and skin you alive for that, I hope you know" I just shrugged.

"I'll just challenge them to a game of chess or something, then they'll get pissed over losing instead of me stealing" Athena kids are weird like that, Silena just rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"You really have to stop just making other issues for people to get mad about instead of the earlier thing they were mad at you for" I just shrugged.

"I'll stop doing it when it stops working. You'd people would learn to just, not let me use games to decide my problems"

"It's just an Athena thing, they refuse to admit anyone is smarter than them here, especially when it comes to games that involve strategy. You just keep on insulting their pride over and over every time you do that" I nodded.

"Yeah, that's why it's fun!"

"You're ridiculous"

"And hot" She smirked.

"Don't get a head of yourself" I pouted... before...

"Fine... and cute?" She considered that one for a long moment, giving me a look, before shrugging.

"... Ok, you can have that one" I pumped my first up in celebration.

"I'll take it!" She laughed at that as we headed around to... somewhere, I don't know, I just liked walking about.

"Seriously though? Why drag me over? And why Beckendorf? And don't say you have no idea what I'm talking about, we both know what you were doing, my mother's the Goddess of love remember?" Right, I wasn't very subtle was I? Maybe I should have stopped after the third push... Nah, this was funnier.

"Why not?"

"That's not an answer" I... hmm... Eventually I sighed and said.

"Cause, honestly, your crush on Luke is weird, he's, like, five years older than you, and I think Charles is nice" She turned bright red at that.

"I- huh? Me? No! I-I don't-!" I just gave her a look, and she deflated.

"You're not fair, no one knows about that! Not even my siblings! You make no sense sometimes, you know that?" I just hummed.

"Only some of the time? I'm not trying hard enough then" She rolled her eyes before looking away, still a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, whatever... Look, it's no big deal, I know it'll never happen, but nothing wrong with it is there?"

"Probably not, I don't really get it. I mean, he's hot, but... I don't know, not my type. Plus, it's clear you're not really working on looking to get over it, you're just sort of mooning from a distance, which is weird to watch, and as your friend, getting more and more obvious by the day" She blushed again at that, and gave me a smack on the shoulder before saying.

"Gods, just... shut it ok? Ugh, this is so embarrassing! Is this revenged for the capture the flag thing?" I smirked at that, glad she caught on to a bit of the whole reason this was happening.

"Partially? I do think you two would just be good together though. Just a hunch"

"And since when were you an expert in the heart?"

"I'm an expert in all things winning and successful, and I can tell a winning relationship when I see one. I wasn't sure until you to started talking, but it's there. And you can't say Charles doesn't look nice, he just also has a good personality to" She sighed, looking away for a moment, before saying.

"Gods, fine, whatever. I know if I don't agree you'll just drag me along anyways, so I'll talk to him some more, so can we stop talking about boys now?" I blinked before grimacing.

"Oh, gross, we're having girl talk" That got her back to smiling.

"It's in your DNA, but I think we can both agree to not talk about boys anymore? Unless you happen to have your eyes on someone...?" I just shook my head.

"Nah, no boys or girls. I'm not interested in all that" She just pouted.

"Ah, you're no fun, you get to tease me and I get nothing!"

"Yep"

I got smacked on the shoulder again, but I was smiling, it was nice.

I was going to miss this.

I spent the next day or so, half hanging around Percy, he was a off put by me, but with everything that was happening, I really wasn't the weirdest thing in his life. We got along fine, and I finally explained to him about the whole, man in woman's body thing, he just sort of accepted it, looking a lot less confused after that. He really wasn't stupid, just... slow on the uptake on somethings.

He reminded me of a sea otter, it was cute.

I wouldn't say we were friends, more like he was on the receiving in of most of my torment because I wanted to see what he'd do. In a mostly unrelated note, he was coming into his powers and strength nicely, when he knew what to do and a goal to focus on, actually using them seemed like second nature to the kid. It was honestly impressive.

And honestly annoying, damn him and being a prodigy and all that shit.

And damn Silena for not letting me mope about not instantly being as strong as a child of the big three. According to her, in less than two weeks I was on par with most of the camp. Apparently my jumps in power, aka, gaining well over thirty points in all three of my physical stats, basically doubling them, wasn't in fact normal, and I should just take I could get. Which was just ridiculous, that was not a winning attitude!

Silena then told me not everything had to do with wining, and it really shouldn't be one of my main vocabulary words.

That hurt me more than I think it should have, but it hurt and it hurt deep.

I questioned her betrayal... and she shoved a smore in my face, so I forgave her pretty quickly after that, but I will never forget what transpired that night for the rest of my life!

Past all that, I saw Percy off for his whole quest thing, told him to say Nick said hi to Hades, he looked weirded out at that and very concerned that I knew exactly what was happening without anyone telling me. I had that effect on people, especially after I got said God's blessing. People were kind of just scared of me now, I think Intimidation as a skill was just sort of always on, so I always scared people when I did anything slightly strange or demented, which was apparently quite often.

It was a lot of fun!

That was a few days ago at this point, and now I was just chilling, doing basic training and lightly threatening Luke every now and again, he wasn't scared of me, but he definitely thought I knew something, which was accurate. I mostly did it cause it was funny, and because I like messing with people, people who deserve it makes it even better!

Over those days beyond that, I learned a Mist Control skill from bugging Chiron until he taught me, he was cool, being a horse in general instantly made a person cool. My Mist Control was very small and at most I could lightly confuse people at the moment with the skill, but it'll be fine. I got commended on my Control, which was expected, Control at it's base was just barely before thirty, which was pretty good for a newly discovered demigod.

Past that, I did a lot more sparring, literally as much as I could get, considering I'd really be needing the skills, and while I still lost concisely against Ares' kids, because they were literally designed with murder involved, I could hold my own against basically any of the other older teenagers here.

It was pretty cool, and very fun.

I barely lasted a minute against Luke still, but it was progress that I wasn't instantly being destroyed.

All in all, by the time my third week of camp came around, and about my fifth week of being alive, I was pretty happy with my progress.

Here, look at it!

Name: Nicholas King

Heritage: Demi-God of Nike

Age: 12

Level: 31

Mana Points: 1,225/1,225

Stamina Points: 2,415/2,415

[Physical]

Strength: 62

Dexterity: 60

Constitution: 40

[Spiritual]

Power: 28

Control: 29

Luck: 25

[Mental]

Perception: 45

Intelligence: 54

Wisdom: 48

Points: 85

Cash: $491, 68 D

Pretty cool right? I thought so at least, though while my mana and stamina, unlike everyone else here, was pretty even, I had a whole lot less of it than everyone else, which was pretty annoying. The average I've seen here from the older teens was about three thousand mana, and about eight thousand stamina, and my level was nearly double some of theirs. Then again, I probably had one of the higher kill counts in the camp from a monster stand point, and probably the highest kill count in terms of humans.

I'll take that, anyways, my point in all this being, I basically just sat out the entire first book for the most part, the Summer Solstice came and went, the world didn't end, Luke vanished about two days before it, and I sadly didn't get to try and kill him.

I still had to sleep in the end, as annoying as it was to admit, and he slipped away at night, the only time I wasn't ready to kick his ass!. I was annoyed about it, and complained to Chiron about it, he got very startled about the news that everything he knew about one of his longest term campers was a lie and in fact a traitorous scumbag, which means he ran off at some point, meaning I had no one to bitch about, which I personally thought was very rude.

I tried to use Mr. D. as a substitute, but he just somehow got me wrapped up into another card game, which was infuriating cause I still couldn't do anything more than tie with him, and I sort of... you know... forgot about Luke, since I was to busy describing all the ways in which I would like to use Mount Olympus to murder the God in front of me, he seemed to find my comments very interesting, and amusing, which just made me even more mad in the end.

I think I scarred two satyrs for life who were forced to play with us to make it four player.

It was the only enjoyment I got out of that game.

Oh, I also got permission to leave camp to go to the Underworld, so that's cool. Mostly I just asked him, he blinked, before agreeing, saying it was on me if I got killed. I assume that's his way of showing he cared, I think... He's surprisingly hard too read, so he might be more worried about losing someone he likes torturing via a children's card games... I should never introduce him to yugioh, that would be a special kind of hell.

Afterwards from that, I went around, snatching some things, Hermes's Cabin was in an uproar about needing a new head counselor, and while it would be funny if i tried my hand at it, literally no one would listen to me, I was to 'self-destructive' or whatever that means, and to young. Besides, I didn't have time for something like that, so I just let the words pass me on by as I moved around, collecting items to bring with me.

Snatching a bag that could hold more than it was suppose to, nicking a few piecing of armor I could wear under my cloak that would fit me, a few vials of Nectar that had been snatched from the Clinic by some of the more thievery inclined kids that thought their hiding spots were actually good, and a number of other simple things I would have liked the first time I had been on the road.

Hygiene stuff. As well as a few changes of clothes, those would come in handy, staying in the same stuff was gross after a while. Plus blood stains are pretty hard to hide.

With the cash I had on hand, and a number of other things, which included as many knives as I could shove into my bag without people wondering why all the daggers had gone missing, I should be set to get pretty far. I had plans of course, which would help make sure I would get as far as I could within the fewest amount of days, after all, I had a lot cash on hand now, thanks to a number of illegal gambling rings, which was an incredible help in getting funds.

And finally, I was ready to head out, I hadn't exactly gone around and said what I was going to be doing, mostly just ignoring that part. I don't think I'm the type of person who's all that great at goodbyes. The idea left a bad taste in my mouth, but I was to stubborn to give up on the idea, so instead I took a deep breath, and when I found Silena, I said.

"So, I'm heading to the Underworld and-" She looked very unamused as a hand came up and placed itself on my mouth, as I just blinked and looked at her with faint confusion at the action.

"Nope, no, shut up. I do not want to hear this today!" She's been pretty stressed out since the news about Luke was broken to the camp, constantly in a terrible mood, I don't think she's been sleeping much. I couldn't really blame her, it was pretty shitty for my cabin as a whole, it's why no one called me out on my blatant stealing. Just... the warning of what was happening, of what was coming, was bad on everyone.

Still, serious time, uh... I reached up and took her hand from my mouth, and said.

"Listen, I got some things I need to do, and it's not as crazy as it sounds, I have a plan" She snorted, just a bit to harshly at that, in a way that genuinely hurt, like, in a way that I wasn't putting on or making a joke about, that put a pang of something in my chest that ached. But I just continued on, "And I'll be as safe as can be, but it's something I got to do. I mean, chances I'll die are pretty low, so it'll be fine!" I sounded cheerful, which was good it's what I was trying for. She just glared at me, a very uncommon look on her normally peaceful face as she said back with more venom than I was used to from her, which was any at all.

"What? What's the plan? Do something stupid again, go annoy another god until they do what you want? Or piss someone off and hope they don't try to kill you? Nick, there is nothing you need to do right now but pull yourself together and stop acting like an idiot" Ow... "You need to get over yourself and help the camp, we need people right now, not someone constantly trying to act special, and getting into trouble, and being a pain in the ass, thinking you're free from responsibility!"

I opened my mouth, then just closed it, my chest felt funny, so did my eyes, it was weird. I think I was having an emotion.

I didn't like it.

Taking in a long, deep breath, I closed my eyes for a moment, and when I opened them, Silena did look somewhat sorry, but I didn't want... I just couldn't deal with this right now, so I said softly, before turning and leaving, walking away quickly and quietly.

"I'll see you later Silena" She called back at me, but I just... I don't know, I just couldn't.

I don't know why, and it was stupid and ridiculous, and I felt just as much of an idiot as she had called me, and it was totally on me, I knew I didn't really... show people what was going on in my head, and it was on me if I pushed them away with how I acted but... Fucking hell if that didn't hurt like a bitch to hear from her.

As strange as it was, she was probably my best friend, and while there were plenty of other people here I liked, I didn't want to say anything else to them now.

I think I'm certain now about something.

I really, really, fucking hate goodbyes.

Their stupid.

Catching a cross country flight was easy enough, well, I say easy. The ca ride I took, involving the Gray Sisters was both equally terrifying as it was fucking awesome! It was more than enough to take my thoughts about camp out of my mind for a good far amount of time.

But... on the other hand apparently magical bags are not, in fact, immune to x-ray technology. That was a very awkward conversation and a solid five minutes of me just using the Mist to convince him to do the test again and again while I was trying to figure out a way to make him let me be like he hadn't noticed the bag in the first place.

I think I might have gave him brain damage or something, because by the end he sort of just let everyone in our very backed up line through. I really hope that none of them had any plans, but in the end, I boarded my flight, and the only terrorist on it was me! So it worked out fine in the end, plus I even got two levels in the skill from repeated use, so that's cool.

I burned through most of my money though, but I did cross a few hundred miles in a few hours, so I counted it as a win. Debarking was easier, and I didn't even get attacked which was also cool. Plus I was in Las Vegas now, which was lowkey really awesome! There was so many pretty and bright colors that it made my ADHD mind go crazy with just how much there was to look at, which was really cool.

Anyways, I was on something of a clock, so with that I moved onto my next step, I managed to snag a cabin that didn't ask to many questions about a twelve year old in larp gear wandering around a massive dangerous city, the man driving it probably saw weirder things nightly anyways. And from there I was deposited at the foot of a massive building, called the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

Yep, I didn't really need to be here, but it will make my life easier in the long run, plus I wanted to say hi to some people.

So with that I walked into the door without a hint of concern, and-