A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in ages. School got in the way of writing. So, here's the next chapter. (2 chapters on a night! Lucky you!) Some quick comments before I get on with the story:

Sedna and the Ah'Teiya are NOT related to Native Americans, or have anything to do with Avatar.

I'd like to see a character that has no hint of a Mary Sue—and IdiosyncraticInk, she's a murderer. There's her negative. And she's not ashamed of it. It'll come up later.

And this is the end of this A/N. I'm getting into the swing of the story, so these chapters might be longer now. Please review, yaddah yaddah, and here's the story!

"Why?" I asked Nico. He shrugged slightly. "Is it because you truly want to learn, or is it because you want to impress your father?"

He stood up and glared at me. "I do not need to impress my father. He is already proud of me for what I did in the Titan War. I want to learn for my sake." I simply smirked at him, slightly amused at his reaction.

"The Gweld symbol isn't just one-way. I can see into your mind easily—your pathetic, untrained mind. I doubt you would be able to perform even a simple creation spell that the smallest child performs with ease."

"Lies!" Nico shouted, throwing his sword at me. It would have been a fatal hit, had it have connected. I side-stepped the blade and it sunk in the ground behind me. With a shout of frustration, he ran at me with another knife he had. I took another step to the side, held my leg out, tripped him and I kneeled down on Nico's back.

"Lesson one: don't let your anger get the best of you," I told him as I stood back up. Flipping over, he looked at me, a disbelieving look on his face.

"You mean you're going to teach me? Why? One minute you're refusing outright, and now you're going to teach me what you know?" I had to admit, it sounded crazy, even to my ears.

"Well, I don't really don't have much of a choice if you're going to try to kill me in my sleep. And besides, it's an even trade. You teach me about this camp and your society, and I'll teach you my ways. We might want to ask our father though. I don't really want to incur his anger by teaching you. I'll be committing blasphemy by doing this anyways," I replied.

"Oh. We can deal with that tomorrow. It's getting dark, and I've been up since dawn. I'm headed to sleep," Nico said. I nodded and slipped into my circle so that I could sleep also.

I woke up the next morning, early and slightly before the sun rose. I gathered my thin blanket, stuffed them in the bag that I always kept with me and erased the circle. The protective powers wouldn't work once the sun rose, so I might as well just erase it now. Then, just as the sun started to come up over the horizon, a man looking to be in his twenties walked up to the cabin and stood next to me as I said my daily prayers to the sun. When I finished I looked over at him.

"It's nice to see that you still follow your ways despite being separated from your family. I appreciate the daily prayers," he told me.

"Lord Apollo," I said, bowing. "I merely try to show my appreciation for the gifts that the Lords give us. Do you have any news for me? I've asked Lord Hermes, yet I've heard nothing. I've even asked Lady Iris. Still nothing. Are they truly all dead?"

"It's hard to say. Yes, they are still breathing, and their hearts are still beating, yet with the advent of the attack on your family, they've abandoned all of the old ways. Apparently they think that it isn't safe. Hermes didn't want to upset you. I also wanted to let you know that your family got Elysium. All of them. And your father'll be here a few minutes after Nico wakes up. I figured you would want to know."

"Thank you," I said as I sat down on the ground. "Do you know when that will be?"

"In about five minutes. Nico is waking up now, he'll get dressed and your father will be here. Speaking of getting dressed, you might want to get into some clean clothes." I nodded absently. Despite already have talked to my father on a few occasions before, I was still nervous about meeting with him again.

"I'll get dressed once you leave. No offence, yet I like my privacy. No one in their right mind wakes up and is about before dawn, so I think I'm pretty safe," I replied.

"Fine then. I'll leave now," Apollo said. I nodded and he flew off in his sun chariot. I pulled a clean set of clothes out of my bag and quickly changed. Just as I was finished, yet another person walked up to me.

"Daughter."

I turned around and saw Lord Hades standing there close to the entrance of the cabin. "Lord Hades. I trust that you are well?"

"I am doing as well as can be expected. Where is my son? And do you know somewhere private where we can talk for a while?"

I shook my head. "I don't know where much is around here. Why don't you ask Nico? He's inside, and he should be awake." Hades nodded, and walked inside the stone cabin. I sat on the steps, listening in on their conversation, yet not wanting to intrude. A few minutes later, Hades and Nico walked out, and motioned for me to follow.

We stopped at the bed of a small creek that ran behind the cabins to talk. Hades chose to stand, whereas Nico and I sat on the sandy ground.

"Why do you want to learn her arts? It's hard, and you can lose control easily, causing wide-spread destruction. I doubt Sedna has told you, yet she caused a desert to form in the middle of the Rockies when she tried to make a single flower the first time. It can kill you, Nico," Hades said.

"I still want to learn. I hate feeling useless, and having nothing special about me. Why can't I do this?" Nico asked.

"Nico, these arts are difficult, and near impossible to learn unless you've grown up with it for your entire life. You have to learn everything about it, or none at all. There's no in-between point," I told him.

"No! I will learn it. I will!" Nico said, standing up. I looked over at Hades, who looked back at me.

"There's no way we can dissuade you?" Hades asked. Nico shook his head. "I don't want to force you, so I'll give my consent. Just don't die." Nico nodded and I sighed. There was a good chance that Nico could die, yet I wouldn't tell Lord Hades that. Nico would start his lessons, I would be his teacher, and my neck would be on the line if anything happened to Nico.