Hey everyone! Chapter five is finally out! I don't have much to say, so read, and enjoy!

Chapter Five

The boot camp was like a tiny version of COU. Kyra lead Nico through the different areas, pointing out what was what, and Jordan walked silently behind them, nudging Kyra and pointing at anything she missed. There was just the one barrack for the campers to sleep in. There was a public bathroom right next to it, and only one shower.

The camp itself only had three training areas - a small field for sword-fighting, two targets for archery practice, and a small, fenced off area for power-practicing.

By the time Nico had seen the boot camp, it was a lunch break for the prisoners. There was no dining hall, so everyone was milling around the camp, sad-looking sandwiches in their hands. As they passed, Kyra would hastily introduce Nico, and tell him their names. There were only seven other prisoners - and Nico learned their names pretty quickly.

There was a tall, hulking, black boy named Darreck, who looked about 17 years old and had a huge scar across his nose. A tiny, brown-haired, buck-toothed, 10-year-old girl named Zorrie always seemed to be hanging around him.

When he was being introduced, Nico had tried to address Darreck, but it was Zorrie who had spoken up. She looked up at Nico, two feet shorter, and glared. Her tiny frame stood in front of Darreck protectively and her eyes shot daggers at anyone who looked at his scar. Her glare said one thing clearly. 'You touch him, I'll rip your arms off.' Zorrie was incredibly scary for a 90-pound ten-year-old. For that matter, the hulking Darreck seemed was incredibly gentle. He normally worked as a medic during battles - and rarely fought directly.

There was a pair of identical twins - Penny and Charlotte, both 14 year, hispanic girls who both looked like they belonged in the Ares cabin. They were huge, and tough-looking.

There was a short, middle-eastern, super-hyper boy called Dominic, who kept twitching and jumping as he spoke, his eyes flitting backwards and forwards every other second, as if waiting for someone to jump out at him.

There was a tall, lanky boy named Ray, who was covered in freckles, and finally, a lithe, athletic looking girl named Garyn who talked nearly as much as Miles, although with none of his cheerfulness.

Nico's reception at the boot camp could not have been more different from his reception at COU. All the kids at COU had welcomed him with open arms - literally. At the boot camp, everyone had more or less the same demeanor as Kyra and Jordan - angry, hopeless, and broken.

"Well what did you think we'd be like?!" Snapped Kyra when he voiced his thoughts. "You try training nonstop in an underground prison with no escape. You wouldn't be all happy-smiley either."

Nico couldn't argue with that. He glanced around at his seven newfound companions. They milled around, some talking quietly amongst themselves, other brooding alone. It was such a stark contrast from the lively scene he had been at just the day before.

Suddenly, a huge, ear-splitting ringing sound tore through the camp. The prisoners all immediately stood up. Twitchy little Dominic dropped his sandwich mid-bite, half the color draining from his face, and the talkative girl, Garyn, immediately fell silent. Nico could see everyone tensing up at the sound of the bell.

"What was that?"

"Blackwood." Muttered Kyra. "It means lunch is over. Back to training."

As if on cue, a flash of golden hair caught Nico's attention. Lucy was striding towards them. There was a large sword strapped to her back, and in her hand, a rolled up her, five other older campers followed, all nine prisoners immediately jumped to their feet, forming a straight line.

"C'mon!" Kyra muttered frantically, pulling Nico into the line. "Get in line!"

Jordan took his place in the line next to Nico. He still hadn't taken off his hoodie, but his hands were clenched into fists with anger as Lucy walked along the line. She surveyed the line of prisoners, her queer, grayish-purple eyes moving up and down the line.

"Hope you worms had a good lunch." she barked, her voice harsh. Hey eyes fell on Dominic, who had a bit of sandwich on his shirt. He flinched as she locked onto him. Without warning, Lucy drew her whip, and slashed him across the arm. Dominic let out a tiny whimper.

"You're disgusting." she sneered at him. "Sometimes I wonder why we even keep you worms around."

Dominic said nothing, but Nico felt a flare of anger. He wasn't normally the crusading, do-gooder type, but this was ridiculous.

"Hey, leave him alone!" She shouted. He moved to march up to Lucy, but Kyra and Jordan grabbed his arms in sync.

"Are you crazy?!" Kyra whispered frantically.

Lucy turned to him, her eyes glinting with malice. "Lookie here. Looks like we have a newbie." she walked over to him scrutinizing him. Nico held his ground, glaring back at her.

"I know you." She said. "You're the Taco boy. You just arrived yesterday."

Nico let out a low growl, resisting the urge to punch her. But she was armed - he was not. She had backup - he doubted the other prisoners would lift a finger to help him fight back.

"Shame, you ended up here. I think Tyrell liked you." she sneered. "But I'll have you know I don't tolerate worms talking back to me."

She drew her whip, and Nico instinctively raised his arm as it soared towards him. The whip fell across his arm, slicing into his flesh. Hot, stinging pain exploded into his arm. Nico gritted his teeth as the pain intensified. He refused to make a sound - give her the satisfaction of knowing she hurt him.

Grabbing his arm with his other hand, Nico felt warm blood beginning to flow. He slowly raised his head, glaring at Lucy. She smirked at him, her eyes sparkling with evil. Then, she turned to Kyra and Jordan.

"Are you two his baby sitters?" she asked patronizingly. The two stared at her in stony silence. "Keep him in line- understood?"

Neither of them responded, and her eyes narrowed. She reached for her whip. "Answer me. Understood?"

Kyra gave a tiny nod, but Jordan just stood there. Lucy reached up and ripped off his hood. "Jordan Blackwood, answer me!"

Nico's eyes widened, seeing Jordan's face fully for the first time. He knew why Jordan felt familiar now. Jordan and Lucy looked exactly alike. They both had vibrant, golden hair, pointy features, and a splash of freckles across their noses. They could have been twins if Lucy wasn't so obviously older than Jordan.

Jordan Blackwood. Lucy Blackwood. They were siblings. Full siblings.

Jordan glared at Lucy, his eyes the same purple-ish gray color as hers.

"Understood, Jordan?" She growled.

Jordan's hands were curled into fists, his jaw clenched. There was a vein throbbing on his forehead. But grudgingly, he gave a small, cold nod.

"Good." said Lucy. She turned away from them. "Now get your sorry excuses of soldiers to the sword fighting field. I'm tired of looking at you worms."

The group slowly began to shuffle towards the field, and Kyra turned to Nico.

"What as that for?!" she snapped. "Are you insane?! Why would you piss off Lucy?! Look what she did now." She gestured at his arm. It had stopped bleeding, and Nico could see the long, shallow whip cut.

Nico didn't respond. He was staring at Jordan, who had yanked up his hoodie again, hiding his face.

"Jordan, is Lucy your-"

Jordan's mouth curled into a growl, though no sound came out. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a black sharpie. Pulling up his sleeve, he scribbled something onto his arm and showed it to Nico.

In messy, angry handwriting, Jordan hand scrawled, "She is not my sister. And she never will be again."

Jordan was glaring at Nico, as if daring him to respond.

"Family isn't blood, Nico." Said Kyra, looking at Lucy's retreating form. "And if you ever call Lucy his sister again, I will maim you." She shot a glance at Jordan. "That cool with you?"

Jordan half-smiled.

-oO0Oo-

When they reached the field, Nico watched as the group began to take swords or knives, each picking a dummy, and attacking it.

"We get our swords from one of Lucy's dogs." she said, pointing at thee five campers, who were handing out the weapons. "If you're lucky, you get to train with your own sword."

Kyra got her sword - it was made of celestial bronze, which stood ot among all the stygian iron. Nico noticed it was much longer than an ordinary sword. Jordan got a small dagger, and they gave Nico a generic sword. His own short sword was nowhere to be seen.

"And now, we just train." Said Kyra, walking off towards a dummy. "Until they say we can stop."

Nico stared at the two of them in disbelief.

"You seriously do what she says?!" He said with incredulously, "You don't even attempt to resist?!"

"Trust me, shrimp, you'd much rather fight a dummy than what Blackwood has in store if you act up." Kyra muttered darkly. Nico let out a frustrated sigh.

"All you've ever talked talked about is how terrible this place is, and how impossible it is to escape! Yet, you don't even try to not be bullied?!" He almost shouted, the frustration in his chest exploding out.

Kyra's body stiffened. Instinctively, Nico knew he had broken her last nerve. Then, she just took a deep breath through gritted teeth, gave him a deluxe-death-glare, and turned away from him. She walked over to another dummy, her sword in hand.

"Of course." Nico muttered, "You just run away. No wonder you've been stuck here for seven years."

Kyra froze in mid-step. That was the last straw. Without warning, she whirled around. Her face was dominated with a furious rage as she charged over to him, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, and yanking him upwards so they were eye level.

"Don't you dare talk to me about escape, shrimp!" She roared, her voice was filled with rage.

Nico's eyes widened. Jordan was standing behind them. He waited for Jordan to once again jump in and tell Kyra to calm down, but he didn't. Nico had crossed the line.

"You have no idea how much I've tried. You don't have one freakin' clue!" her voice cracked with emotion. "You don't know...the things they did to me...to Jordan! They- they tortured us, in ways you'd never survive! Don't you dare tell me we never tried, you little-"

"Hey! What's going on over there!" Lucy's voice suddenly shouted harshly.

Kyra's eyes were still burning with rage, but she said, "Nothing." Her voice was quivering with anger. She let go of Nico's shirt with a look of disgust on her face. "Absolutely nothing."

Then, she turned on her heel, and walked away towards a dummy, which she promptly began to pulverize.

Nico stood there in shock for a moment, staring dumbly after her. As she slashed the dummy mercilessly, he could see her shoulders shaking, whether from rage or from sadness, he couldn't tell.

As Jordan walked passed him, he stared at Nico for a moment. Then, he just shook his head at him in a 'One day you'll get it' kind of way, and walked off to join Kyra.

When he reached her, she dropped her sword, and hugged him, leaning on him for support. Her shoulders were still heaving. For the first time, Nico realized how much the two depended on each other. He again wondered what Tyrell and Lucy had done to make them like this. So miserable. So devoid of any hope.

"What're you staring at, newbie?" Lucy's harsh voice cut through his thoughts, "Get back to work!"

"No." Said Nico bluntly. The word was out of his mouth without him even thinking about it.

For a moment, Lucy looked surprised, then the expression was replaced with one of anger. "What did you just say to me, newbie?"

"I said no." He repeated, his voice deadly quiet. It was obvious no one said 'no' very often. Most of the he campers had stopped what they were doing, looking at him with expressions of disbelief.

"Start training Di Angelo, or I'll make you start." Said Lucy, her eyes alight with malice. Nico remembered what Kyra had said, if they refused to train, Lucy would make them face something worse, but he held his ground, glaring at Lucy definitely.

"You asked for it, Di Angelo." She said. Then, she snapped her fingers, and the ground began to churn. A skeleton hand burst from the dirt, followed by an arm, a shoulder, a neck...within moments, a skeletal warrior had emerged from the ground.

Nico almost laughed out loud. "That's it?" He said, snorting, "That's the big scary thing you'll make me fight?"

"I wasn't finished." Said Lucy slyly "Can you guess who's skeleton this is?"

She snapped her fingers again, a look of concentration coming over her face. This time, a thick, white, almost opaque colored mist erupted from her hands, swirling and shimmering slowly I'm midair. Lucy flicked her fingers outward, and the Mist began to move, drifting slowly over to the skeleton. It began to coil around the monster, cocooning it from head to toe. For a second, the Mist just stayed there, shimmering eerily around the skeleton. Then, it slowly began to recede, sinking into the ground, revealing a girl standing where the skeleton had been just moments ago.

Nico's eyes widened. The girl was about an inch taller than him, with olive colored skin, almond shaped eyes, and thick black hair, that lay in a long braid down her back. In her hand was was a celestial bronze sword. She donned silver colored clothes that seemed to glow like moonlight. Nico knew this girl.

"Bianca?" He choked out with disbelief, "What-how-?"

The rest of the world disappeared. All Nico could see was his sister, standing before him. His mind was reeling in shock, the blood draining from his face. A powerful ache began to grow in his chest, a mixture of joy, and terrible, painful sadness. A huge lump had formed in his throat, suffocating his breathing.

Bianca's eyes narrowed, her face twisting into an angry scowl. She raised the sword, and charged at Nico. Nico jumped out of the way, his eyes going even wider with shock and fear.

"Bianca, what are you doing?!" He shouted with alarm. Why was she trying to hurt him?

Quick as a flash, Bianca, had turned to him again, and struck at him. Nico just barely managed to block the blow.

"Stop!" He said desperately as he dodged another blow. Bianca didn't stop though. This time, she kicked him in the chest. Caught off guard, he fell to the ground, landing hard on his back. His sword skittered out of his hand. Bianca loomed over him, her sword raised.

Nico felt like a scared ten year old again, staring up at his big sister, panic rising in his throat. His eyes burned, threatening to fill with tears. Bianca stared unblinkingly at him, oblivious to his terror. Nico managed to look into her eyes. They were black, cold, and empty, totally void of emotion. There was no cruelty in them, no anger, no emotion at all. They were just empty.

The rest of the world came back into focus. Nico knew Bianca would never look like that. He was suddenly aware of the crowd of people watching him, and aware of Lucy, with her hands outstretched, smiling maliciously. Realization of what was happening dawned upon him.

Lucy was a Daughter of Hecate, she could manipulate the Mist. The thing Nico was fighting was nothing but a skeleton, shrouded in Mist to look like his sister.

A rush of adrenaline pumped through Nico's body. On pure instinct, he rolled over, away from Bianca, and grabbed his sword. His limbs were moving on their own as he leapt up and skillfully dodged a stab. His arms swung forward on their own, and before he could even contemplate what he was doing, he stabbed Bianca in the stomach.

Bianca froze, her eyes going so wide that he could see the whites around her irises. The blood was draining from her face, turning it ghostly white as she slowly looked down at her torso, where Nico's sword still remained. Deep, shockingly crimson blood was beginning to soak her clothes. She looked up again at Nico, but this time, her face was brimming with shock, fear, and sadness, like a small child who had just been betrayed by her best friend. Her eyes were suddenly full of tears, and her lips seemed chapped as she opened them. Her voice strained, she slowly managed to choke out,

"Nico...mi caro...how..." She breathed in a short gasp, "How...could...you?"

And with that, the light faded from her eyes, as she slowly sank to the ground, hitting the dirt with a final, mundane thump.

Normally, Nico would never show his emotions with so many people watching him. He would put his walls up, and walk away with a poker face, but this time, he didn't have the strength nor the resolve to do any of that. Instead, he felt his knees buckle. In the distance, he could faintly hear someone screaming - a horrible, guttural, sound of pain and misery. It took a second for him to realize the cry was coming from him.

White Mist was again beginning to shroud Bianca, covering her limp body like a shimmering veil. It swirled around her, then slowly sank into the ground once more. When it all faded away, nothing remained except a pile of bones where Bianca had been. The bones of the skeletal warrior Lucy had summoned.

Nico's chest heaved as he sucked breaths of air in and out. He suddenly realized his face was wet with burning tears.

'It wasn't real.' He told himself over and over. 'It wasn't real, it wasn't real, it wasn't real. It was just a trick of the Mist. I didn't kill Bianca. I didn't kill Bianca."

But the face of his sister was still burned into his mind, the expression of shock, and utter betrayal on her face. It was so real. Her last words echoed through his mind over and over again. 'Nico, mi caro, how could you?'

He could hear Lucy yelling at the others to get back to work, and from the corner of his eye, he could see campers giving him looks of sympathy as one by one, they slowly went back to what they were doing. He bowed his head again, wanting nothing more than to shadow travel into a dark corner somewhere and stay there, shutting out the world, but he didn't have the strength to shadow travel an inch right now.

Kyra and Jordan had come back. With a firm hand, Jordan half-helped half-dragged Nico to his feet, the same look of sympathy on his face. Nico met Kyra's eyes. She gazed at him with a completely unreadable expression.

"Who was that, shrimp?" she said, her voice completely cold and level, "Your girlfriend? Your beloved girlfriend? Or was she your best friend? Or your sister? "

Nico winced and Kyra nodded. "Your sister then."she said, her lip curling. Nico looked up. She was still angry at him.

"I'm sorry." he said quietly, swallowing his pride. "For saying you never even tried to escape...You're right. I don't know what you and Jordan went through."

For a few moments Kyra said nothing, her expression going back to being unreadable as she stared at him. Then, she let a long sigh.

"C'mon, let's just get back to training." she said in a resigned sort of voice. She and Jordan walked back to the line of dummies, and this time, Nico followed them.

Phew, that was intense! I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter (which makes me feel kind of evil). Hope it gave you all da' feels. Anyway, Please review and tell me what you think.

Stay awesome!

~Silver