Hello lovely readers! Chapter 9 is heeeeeeere! :) It basically shows more of an interaction between Lena and Hannah...I figured Lena can't be all bad all the time...so, here ya go! Thanks for all the reviews! Enjoy! (I like using exclamation points! :D)

~LRDM~LRDM~LRDM~

"What in Olympus was that?" Lena confronted her once they got back to the apartment. "A tie? Who told you to end the fight in a frigging tie?"

Hannah removed her helmet and gave her a look that clearly said 'drop it'. But she didn't see it, or (more likely) chose to ignore it. Instead, she continued to mentally plow into Hannah.

"I mean, really? You're so much better than him, and you hold back? Seriously? What don't you understand about the importance of this quest? Don't you see–"

"I get it, Lena, trust me." Hannah stood and got right up in the other girl's face. "I get it. The entire quest relies on my being able to go through this tournament while not only staying alive but defeating every opponent they throw at me, to eventually win and gain the opportunity to warn the entire universe that frickin' Gaea and frickin' Kronos have teamed up and plan to destroy frickin' everything!"

Micah, Ryder, Bruce, and Grover stared at the two girls, wondering which one was going to back down first. Sometimes the kids at camp would put bets on Hannah and Lena's fights. Normally, Hannah won. She was just too intimidating for Lena.

"Then you know that you need to win instead of tie with the other fighters!" Lena retorted. Today, she wasn't backing down. "I've come to terms with the fact that you are the one fighting, but I will not be blamed for the failure of this quest. If you don't win, you are the one to blame for the gods' defeat."

Hannah stared down at Lena. "I know that. I'm not gonna let anyone else take the fall for this except me. I am the one to blame." She took a step back and retreated to her room, intending to remove the rest of her armor.

Lena pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed deeply, trying to calm down. She followed Hannah into her room. "I just can't understand why you didn't beat him," she said.

Hannah paused in removing her breastplate and turned to Lena. "I...kind of made an agreement with him."

Lena froze. "What?"

"He knew who I was. He helped me fight the Minotaur, remember? Neither of us like keeping this secret, and he really doesn't like not telling his family."

"You...you talked to him about this?" Lena sounded furious, and Hannah bit her lip before answering.

"He...snuckoverlas'night," she said quickly, hoping Lena wouldn't understand.

"WHAT?"

Hannah grimaced. "He needed someone to talk to, and felt I was the only one he could talk to." Hannah pulled off her breastplate and threw it down on her bed. Removing her heavy protective shirt, she then donned a t-shirt over her sports bra.

"He'll probably tell the rest of them!" Lena exclaimed. She had started pacing the length of Hannah's room, gripping her head in her hands. "This is a disaster! It's gonna get out that you're a girl, and–"

"I hope he does tell his family, though," Hannah interrupted.

Lena just stared, her dark eyes wide between her fingers.

"He seemed so conflicted," Hannah explained to her. "All because he had to keep my secret from them. I didn't think it was fair."

Lena gripped Hannah's arms and shook her slightly. "You are a Greek demigod-a soldier! You can't afford to have feelings here!"

"Well, I can't just turn my feelings off, Lena! What was I supposed to do? I felt bad for the guy."

"Hannah," Lena said slowly. "He's a turtle."

"With feelings," Hannah replied, just as slow. "Now, let go of my arms. I'd like to get rid of the last of this armor."

Lena glared but complied all the same. "Fine. Have your secret love tryst with the turtle. See if I care."

Hannah rolled her eyes and tuned the Aphrodite girl out. Lena closed the door behind her, leaving Hannah to remove the armor covering the lower parts of her body. Under her "skirt" (made of iron) she wore shorts similar to volleyball spandex. Knee-high socks protected her shins and calves from the bronze bracers on them. Yet she still had two cuts, one on top of each foot, that never healed because the bracers kept digging into her feet when she moved. Finally free of her armor, she went into her private bathroom and got the bottle of Peroxide, the tube of Neosporin, and two band-aids from the medicine cabinet. She sat down on the toilet seat and began to doctor her wounds.

After a few minutes, a soft knock came on her door. Micah entered her room.

"Hey, is there anything that can be done about this?" Hannah held out her feet to the boy. "I'm getting tired of those things cutting into my delicate feet."

Micah scoffed. "Nothing about your feet is delicate. Let me see." He sat on the edge of the bathtub and looked the cuts over. "What's doing this?"

Hannah pointed to the bracers at the entrance to the bathroom. "Those torture devices."

"Hm..." he said. He placed the bandages over the cuts and sat back. "Maybe Ryder can sand them down a little bit, make them smoother?"

"That would be great," Hannah replied. "In the meantime, I'm going barefoot until these puppies heal." She put her feet together and wiggled her toes. As Micah got up to leave, Hannah spoke up again.

"Y'know, I'm sure you'll get claimed soon," she said. "You'd make one hell of an addition to the Apollo cabin." She smiled at the boy.

"That's what I'm hoping for," he smiled back, picking up the bracers and heading toward her door. "By the way, dinner's at seven tonight. Grover says you can go explore if, y'know, you need a break from Lena."

"Tell Grover I'm going out, then."

A/N: The reason Hannah tells Micah he should be in Apollo cabin is because he's really good with first aid and things like that. As Apollo is the Greek god of medicine (among other things) it would only be fitting for Micah to be included. Anyway thanks for reading! Reviews are still welcome!