Roman Chronicles: Book 1, Apollo: Chapter 9: The Sword

I have good reflexes is all I can say. I pulled out my knife in a second and parried Hades' strike. I had seriously dodged a bullet. Hades growled and brought it down. You know how a vampire doesn't want blood but he tries it and can't get enough? Yeah, that's what was happening with me. Once I defended that first, I kept jabbing at Hades' weak spots. Hades seemed to know where my Styx spot was. He kept on stabbing in the direction and I kept blocking him. Finally, he started glinting with an aura of black light. Darkness surrounded his sword, and he struck down with such force, I felt... nothing. I opened my eyes. Nico's sword was under his double-blade. A bead of sweat traced a path down his face. I let out a sigh of relief. Nico released his sword, and Hades lifted his. "Very well. You may leave. But do not come back." Then I heard: "Cereal, anyone? Oh, look! Kids to pour cereal into!" She shoved mini boxes of cornflakes into our mouths. I gagged. She frowned and put on a mamma's pout face. "Don't like cereal? A shame. Goodbye!" She pushed us out the door. I landed with a THUMP on the cold, rocky ground. Worse was: Nico landed on me. "Ow! Can you get up, please?" He asked. I replied back, "I would be able to... IF YOU WOULD GET OFF OF ME! Hint-hint." Nico sighed and pushed off me. I grunted, and he brushed the obsidian dust off of him. He unsheathed his sword and took out a bottle of (it looked like) liquid gold. He poured it on his sword, and the scratches and dents faded and popped back up. We got back to camp and a naiad suddenly swooped in to take a picture of me. She handed the photo to me. I know I wasn't that photogenic, but I looked hideous. "This is a horrible picture!" I shrieked. Nico looked at it. "Relax. You look fine." I stared at it in disgust. I was wearing horrible shades of make-up and my ugliest clothes. Green overalls and a long-sleeved black T. The naiad took the photo. "They're doing a test. Someone has stolen something, and Chiron is trying to match up clues. Now, gimme that." She tugged it from my hand. Nico and I sat on a log eating a piece of cinnamon toast. (I did at least. Nico was just biting into the lemon bars. Every now and then his hair would catch smoke.) He chewed the lemon bar. I asked him, "What are you eating?" He stared at me. But he said, "Ambrosia." He shoved the rest in his mouth. "Why is that all you eat?" Nico stared at me. Again. "It's all that has a satisfying taste." I looked at him. Then I asked him, "Why is your hair smoking?" Nico sighed. "If you eat to much, you burn to ashes." I stared at him. "And... you eat it breakfast, lunch, and dinner?" Nico nodded. A wisp of  smoke curled off his hair as he bit into another piece. He handed one to me, and I looked at it. I sniffed it. It smelled like lemons. I bit into it. It was nothing like I had expected. A brownie with a glob of whipped cream, ice-cream, cherries, sprinkles, and it tasted extremely fudgy. I ate the rest. I stood up and walked to my... wait, Nico's cabin. I looked at the obsidian-and-diamond door like it hadn't been there before. I walked to the dinner hall and waited for dinner to come.

Nico had a large plate with an even larger lemon-bar Ambrosia thing. He was cutting into it with a knife. He speared a piece with his fork and nibbled it. "Will you ever turn to fire?" Nico nodded. "Yup. One day." He bit it calmly. I stared at him. "What.... what does it taste like to you?" He looks down. "Bianca's cupcakes she used to make." I looked at him. "Who's Bianca? Your mom?" He looked to me darkly. "My mom is dead. Bianca is my sister." I nodded. "Oh. Where is she?" He takes his sword and stabs it into the ground. "My. Sister. Is. Dead. Now. Shut. Up." I shut my mouth and ate my pie. I walked out and leaned against the big house. Nico came out with his sword in his hand. One of the tips had the tiniest drop of red stuff. Nico had a shocked expression on his face. He looked down at his sword and threw it on the ground. Then, he darted to the woods unarmed. Annabeth came out, a vivious look in her eyes, "Where'd he go? Nico." I looked at her. "Nico? Oh, he was just here." Annabeth stared at me. "Which direction did he go?" She asked. I looked at her again. "Why do you ask?" She looked at her feet. "He just cut Percy on the hand." I stared at Annabeth. "For that you want to hunt him down?" She nodded. "It may not have brought harm, but it was disrespectful." I looked to her. "Not telling. Here, have some Ambrosia."