A/N: This is set two years after The Last Olympian and it's all in Nico's point of view. Nico is also fourteen years old. I accept constructive criticism, but please tell me how to fix my mistakes when you point them out.

I sat on the dock by the lake with my feet in the water, totally bored and with nothing to do. It didn't feel natural, but at this point I didn't care. It was too hot outside, and the cabins didn't really have air conditioner so it was even hotter inside of them. It was either this, or practicing new make- up techniques with the Aphrodite girls. Which one would you choose? I don't look all that good with eye liner and mascara on...not that I would know what I looked like with it on.

It's been two years since the battle with Kronos. And boy, what a long two years those have been. Want to know what I've done since then? Nothing. No quests, no monsters, and no evil crisis threatening the world. I would be surprised if there were any monsters left roaming around since Percy killed a lot of them.

My average days consisted of eating, sleeping, thinking, breathing, and who could forget all the training? Well, many people have forgotten the training because after the war, Chiron gave us the choice to pick if we want to training or do arts and crafts like a normal camp. Most people go for the arts and crafts because it requires no experience. You make macaroni art and you're done. Training has been cut to only half a day, while the other half, I add pictures of my macaroni art to my never ending collection. I made an elephant today. It actually looks more like a squirrel, but hey, I tried.

However, most people are at archery right now. Obviously, I'm not. I'm more of a sword kind of guy. The great thing about today, though, is we're having capture the flag tonight. Yeah, at night. When it's dark. The game is way more fun when it's pitch black and the only light is comming from torches. Harder, but more exciting.

I stood up and bent over to grab my shoes and moved back over to the cabins. It was almost dinner anyway. I could see the some of the other campers come back from archery and go back into their own cabins to get ready.

I was one of the first to the eating area. Percy and Annabeth were there and they waved when they saw me. I waved back and sat down at my lonely table. It didn't take long for all the other tables to be filled. It usually never does.

I noticed one of the tables that has always been empty, was almost full of people. There were twelve in all; seven boys and five girls. I didn't recognize them and it was strange for that many new campers to come in one day. It was even more weird they all had the same parent. They looked like they could pass off as children of Ares. All but two of the boys had brown hair and eyes. I knew they weren't Ares' children because they didn't have the same muscle build and they were pretty short. The tallest was a boy, and he was only about 5'10.

Chiron and Dionysus were both standing in front of all the tables, waiting for them to settle down. Mr. D clinked a spoon against his wine glass to get the camper's attention.

Chiron cleared his throat. "I'm sure most of you have noticed we have new campers today. They are the sons and daughters of Eris. I expect all of you to welcome them. Second, the rules for capture the flag tonight are-"

Chiron was interrupted by excited cheers coming from the Ares cabin. They were shushed by the Athena cabin soon after, though.

"Yes, yes. It's very exciting. All magic items are allowed in tonight's match. Maiming and killing is forbidden, as usual. And no personal armies," Chiron continued and looked at me when he said the last bit. There was an accident with that a year ago.

When he was finished talking, campers starting to make their offerings to the gods and the buzz of chatter started up.

"For Hades," I muttered and threw my piece of food into the fire with the other's and started to eat.

I looked back over at the Eris table and saw they were all huddled close together and whispering. They all had serious faces on and I could see Dionysus glaring at them with suspicion.

One of the younger looking girls (she looked more like my age) from that table turned and caught me staring at them. She gave me hard look but didn't turn away. Well, isn't this awkward? I fixed my eyes back on my food but I could still tell she was looking my way. When I looked up, she had gone back to whispering with her siblings. They all looked like pretty anti-social people.

When I was done eating, I got up and headed back towards my cabin to get ready for capture the flag. I only made it half way there before I heard a voice behind me.

"Excuse me."

I turned around to see the Eris girl had followed me. Now that we were standing, I could see how much taller I really was compared to her. She was barely up to my chest.

"I was wondering, where do we go if we have finished eating?" she asked.

"Um, just back to your cabin," I responded even though I was sure she already knew that. "Get some armor on for the game tonight, too."

She nodded and looked down at the ground, like she was looking for something else to say.

"What's your name?" she asked just as I was about to turn away.

"Nico," I replied shortly.

"Illia," she said and held out her hand. I shook it and she let it drop limply to her side. "I guess I'll see you later, then."

"Do you and your siblings need a team tonight?" I asked before she got very far.

"No. We're on Ares' team," Illia called back without turning back.

Well, that was the most random conversation I've ever had. She wasn't much of a talker. I looked after her and saw in the fire light, she was whispering things to her siblings again and some of the other Eris girls gave me looks. It sort of made me mad because I knew they were talking about me from the small glances they gave me from time to time. I shrugged and turned back to my cabins.

I was going to kick their butts tonight anyway.