This chapter is kind of short, but yeah, at least it's here. :/ Here's the tenth chapter of Nothing To Fear. Hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJaTO.

Nothing to Fear

Chapter 10- Control is Wielded, Not Achieved

Olivia woke up the next morning, groggy as the sunlight barely glowed on the outside of her window. The siren calling for breakfast hadn't sounded yet.

As she crawled out of her bed and into the nearest shower, the girl washed off the dirt required from the night before and then slipped on a fresh camp T-shirt. She combed through her long brown hair as she looked in the mirror, still hearing the sound of the softly snoring Ares girls in the next room.

Olivia ran her hand down the length of her hair to its tips.

The ends are spilt, she noticed as she examined the dark locks. Normally, her mother would have cut it for her on one of the random days she was sober.

She looked up at her reflection once again. She could see it in her own face sometimes. Her nose. Her dimples. Her jawline. They were all like her mother's.

"How are you, Mom?" She whispered to her reflection.

Of course, the mirror didn't respond leaving her question to fade away in the steam from her earlier shower.

Olivia grabbed her things and headed back to her bunk, ready to curl up on her bed with one of the books she used to read to Zach as bedtime stories.

When everyone in the Ares cabin was awake, Clarisse didn't leisure for any extra time before leading the group to the mess hall.

Once they got to breakfast, Olivia couldn't help but look over to Chiron, sitting at his table along with Dionysus, the God of Wine. The centaur caught her glance and returned it with a reassuring smile. Olivia felt a little relief wash over her, but the moment she saw her little brother stare down at his plate, not willing to look up at anyone around him, she could feel knots of anguish fill her stomach.

When breakfast ended, Chiron wasted no time in coming up to the two, Rick still standing with them.

"Are you ready to train, Mr. Seaton?" Chiron questioned the child.

Zach looked from Olivia, remembering what she'd told him about the training, before looking back at Chiron. "I guess."

"Chiron, you don't mind if I help do you?" Rick requested.

The Centaur threw Olivia a curious look to which she only shrugged to. "I suppose so, if Olivia's alright with it."

"Please don't," Zach muttered as he watched the ground. "You're gonna get hurt."

Rick kneeled in front of the son of Phobos, a brotherly smile on his face. "Don't worry, Kid. I'll be careful."

And with that the group headed to the empty training grounds that Chiron had reserved strictly for their training session.

"Okay," Chiron started. "Let's start with pulling up your… um… dark side."

"I can't," Zach muttered, standing across from them.

"Zachary, don't worry, I won't let you hurt Rick or your sister," He promised with assurance lining his words.

"I know," Zach agreed monotonously. "But I just can't bring him up."

"Zach only pulls him up when he's in danger or when he gets really mad," Olivia explained to Chiron, arms crossed in front of her.

Chiron looked from Olivia to her younger brother, before stepping forward to Zach. Then he got too close for comfort.

Olivia instinctively reached for her knife. "Chiron, what are you doing?"

"Mr. Hollis, please hold Olivia back," Chiron requested as he reached for his own sword. "She cannot interfere."

Rick didn't hesitate in following the order given to him. He quickly grabbed Olivia, and withheld her with arms the size of tree branches.

"What is he doing?!" Olivia yelled, struggling against the boy's grip.

"You've gotta trust his judgment," Rick stated, holding her back with ease.

"Zach, move!"

Zach tried to step back, but he only managed to fall to the ground, fear radiating from him. "W-what are you doing?"

Chiron wordlessly pulled out his sword, gleaming against the sunlight and reflecting off the terror in Zach's eyes. Chiron's arm flexed as he brought the sword down on Zach. The blade didn't cut the eight-year-old, only stopping an inch from his jugular vein.

But it was enough.

Zach's eyes turned blood red, as his teeth began to sharpen to a point.

"Zach…" Olivia breathed as she watched him transform.

The boy's mouth widened into a long smile and his fingernails began to curl into claws and talons, ripping through the rubber soles of his sneakers.

"Here we go again," Rick whispered to himself as he released his grip on Olivia.

Zach's face spurted flames through the cuts in his skin. Suddenly, the chipping flesh started to crack down his arms and legs.

"It's getting worse!" Olivia exclaimed.

She leaped at her brother, tackling him to the ground. The flames burned against her skin and clothes causing Olivia to immediately roll off of her brother and pad down the embers before the burns could become too bad.

"Olivia!" Rick yelled as he ran over to her side.

"I'm fine," she replied through gritted teeth, her eyes still focused on the demonic little brother.

"Alright, now here's where the training takes place," Chiron stated completely calm.

"EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!"

Zach lunged at Chiron, who blocked with his sword still unsheathed. The demon's claws scratched against the blade before he was pushed back.

"Zach!" Olivia yelled at the creature at it focused all its anger on Chiron. "Come back to us!"

The demon only continued in attempting to rip the centaur to shreds in its talons. It sped to the other side of the trainer and slashed at its hind legs. Chiron hissed in pain, but only kept swatting the boy away with his weapon.

"Zachary! Snap out of it!" Rick yelled as he pulled out a sword of his own.

The demon stopped attacking Chiron for a moment when it heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed. Its blood red eyes shot towards Rick before widening its smile further.

Zach jumped on Rick, landing on his blade like a perched bird. Rick tried to shake him off the sword, but once his eyes met Zach's, he stopped moving all together. For a second in time, all Rick could do, was stare into the demon's black pupils.

"Zach, Don't!" Olivia yelled in fear. She knew good and well what happened once the Demon caught its victims gaze…

Suddenly, Chiron slammed into Zach, knocking him away from the Son of Ares. The demon rolled away from the slam before getting back on its feet, ready to play with its prey. It was about to dive underneath Chiron when suddenly, Olivia blocked its way.

"Zach." She demanded. "You turned that way to protect yourself didn't you?"

The creature only snarled at her as if warning her to get out of his way.

"Zach, no one's gonna hurt you." Olivia informed before looking back at Chiron, Rick still recovering from his trance. "Guys, put your weapons down."

They hesitated, looking from Olivia to the creature in front of her.

"Trust me," Olivia urged, feeling their anxiety.

Rick dropped his sword on the ground, his eyes never leaving Olivia's. Chiron soon followed after, sliding his sword back into its sheath. Olivia looked back to her brother.

For the first time, she saw the demon's smile disappear, a long frown taking its place. Then his crimson red eyes became downcast. It was the first time Olivia had ever the creature show an expression besides blood lust. It almost looked… disappointed.

Suddenly, the demon's face healed over and the red in its eyes faded back to green. Soon, all that was left was the face of her brother, back to normal.

"Zach…" Olivia breathed in relief.

There were burn hole in his shirt and rips in his sneakers, but it was her brother. Zach looked at her, and before he could even say he was sorry, he fell down to his knees, fatigue getting the better of him.

"Tired?" She asked as walked up to him.

Zach nodded his head before looking up at his sister. "Hurt?"

She shrugged her shoulder and hid the scorch marks on her arms behind her back. "Not too bad."

Zach sighed as he climbed back onto his feet. "It was disappointed when it left."

"I could tell," Olivia agreed.

The two siblings looked over to Chiron and Rick.

"Right," Chiron said as he did his best to hide the scar bleeding down his hind legs. "I think that's enough training for one day."

"I agree!" Rick called aloud.

"Well, it wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't scared him into it," Olivia softly retorted.

"I'm sorry there was no other choice," Chiron apologized before looking to his newest student. "But this boy… I know he will one day be able to control his beast. And when that day comes, he will have many choices,"

And that was the latest chapter of Nothing To Fear! Hope you guys like it! :D Please Review!

Next chap will be up next week, no doubt!

Yours truly,

The Victorian