I told y'all that I'd get this to you today. Just got back from vacation down in Florida, had a great time, went to Harry Potter world, you know- the works. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 10:

Friends and Enemies

"My name is Octavian, Oracle of Apollo."

"Nice to meet you," Percy said with a smile on his face, his hand still out for their new acquaintance to shake.

"Wait," Annabeth stepped beside her black haired friend. "Did you say you were an Oracle?" She got a nod in confirmation. "How is that possible? We are in a game with a set pattern. How could you predict the future?"

"Are you calling me a liar?" The newcomer asked, narrowing his eyes at the daughter of Athena.

"Well, I'm not calling you a truther (y'all get the old reference?). I'm just saying you can't predict the future in a videogame, so you are not an )racle like you claim."

"Yes I am," Octavian growled at her; he must not like it when people doubt him. "The DHO system is equipped with an experimental CARDINAL program that is always monitoring the players' actions and thoughts to give them challenging situations. The CARDINAL program is also always editing DHO to compose new quests so we don't run out. Oracles like me can tap into the CARDINAL system and use the connection to interpret the updates before they are added and whom they were made for. Yes, it is not 100% accurate, but it is close."

"Yeah right," Travis said. "I highly doubt anyone except Kiyaba Akihiko has the power over DHO to do that."

"Fine! Don't believe me! But you will rue the day you didn't listen to Octavian! You will rue the day of . . . Uh. What is today?"

"Uh, December fifth I think," Connor said.

"You will rue the day of December fifth!" Octavian dramatically waved his arms as he stomped away.

"I don't like the looks of that guy," Thalia said as Octavian faded into the distance. "He looks like a scarecrow that attacks panda Pillow Pets."

"Why just panda Pillow Pets?" asked Percy.

"I don't know," she replied. "Just a feeling."

"Anyway," Percy interrupted them, "why don't we chill in the hotel until Pollux and Silica return?"

"Sure. You guys can," Nico said. "I talked to Kirito a couple days ago and he told me how to use Hades Skill: Shadow Travel and I want to practice since I can almost do it."

Connor and Travis looked at each other before Connor spoke. "While you do that Travis and I are going to break in the room next door to practice our Hermes Skills."

"Well if you guys are practicing your powers then I'm going to the fountain to work on my Poseidon Skills."

"I think I'll just read a book," Annabeth said, "but Stolls, if you get attacked I won't help you. I just might attack you myself if you interrupt me."

"Understood!" the twins chorused, saluting the blond girl to get on her nerves. With that the group broke up to do whatever they wanted for the time being.

WITH SILICA AND POLLUX

In the Fields, Pollux and Silica were fighting another Drakon as the sun began to drop toward the horizon. The monster's health was in the yellow while the player's Health Bars were still in the high green. Pollux was using this time to teach Silica some of the strategies he and his late brother, Castor, had used. His brother had used a sword so the brothers could switch rolls in their attacks, but since Silica used a dagger Pollux was always blocking the monsters to give the girl an opening to attack. The monster charged again after recovering from the last stab in its chest and an intimidating growl that didn't faze the son of Madness. He blocked its claws, forcing them up and exposing its fleshy underside.

"Now Silica-chan!" he shouted, using the honorific like Silica had asked him to. With a 'right' she slid under the monster and slashed from the neck to the hip. The Drakon let out a pained roar as its health dropped into the red. It pushed off of Pollux's sword with its front claws in an attempt to swash the demigoddess under it, but the demigod in front would have none of that. He swiftly decapitated the beast. The monster swelled and burst into blue polygons and the breaking glass sound filled the plain. As Silica stood, the info boxes telling the players what they received appeared.

"More Drakon Jerky and a couple of Drakon Teeth. Pretty good haul," the male commented as the Female walked over. He held his hand out for a high five and got one from the younger girl. They x'ed their reports out before hearing someone shouting in the distance and turned to see two players running toward them so fast they had dust clouds in their wakes. As the players got closer, Pollux noted that one was a thin, blond male in yellow with a long nose while his companion was a porky, brunette male in pink. Both males wore only leather and their clothes for armor and their cursors showed them both to be unclaimed. They each took one of Silica's hands when they were close enough with hearts in their eyes.

"Oh my gods!" the skinny one exclaimed. "It's Silica! The Dragon Tamer daughter of Aphrodite! She's even prettier in person. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"No!" the other one shouted, "be my girlfriend! I'll treat you better than he can." The newcomers started arguing with each other until Silica hit each of them with the handle of her dagger. The generic players forgot about each other and looked at her waiting for an answer.

"Uh... Well you see," she muttered; the boys shuffled closer to her. Pollux took an unconscious step toward the girl giving her an idea. "You see I already have a boyfriend!" she exclaimed as she latched unto Pollux's torso much to the surprise of all the males present. Pollux, who didn't like the look of the other demigods, took her exclamation in stride and played the part by wrapping his arm around her shoulders, causing the Japanese girl to blush. He pretended to not see the dirty looks he got from the two players in the dust. Pollux pulled Silica away from the players as he used his Dionysus Skill: Grape Vine Control to anchor the unknown boys in place until they were out of sight.

"I'm sorry about that," Silica said as she released the son of Dionysus with a blush making her face red, "but I couldn't think of another way out of that situation."

"It's OK," Pollux told her as he started chuckling. "Did you see their faces? They were priceless." He started laughing.

The girl started laughing as well. "Haha. They were pretty surprised. And the looks they gave you!" Pollux and Silica started laughing harder than before. As their mirth died out, Pollux looked at the younger girl with a serious face.

"Silica-chan? If that happens again, I don't want you to pretend that I'm your boyfriend." She looked shocked. Does this mean he doesn't want to be her friend anymore? Her head instantly flew through the worst-case scenarios, but she snapped out of her thoughts when he continued. "I want you to be telling the truth."

Silica's brain started shutting down. But, if Silica were to be telling the truth about her dating Pollux then that would mean... Was he asking her out? She looked into his eyes and saw no sign of dishonesty. "Yes," she squeaked as she hugged him. He hugged the shorter girl back with a little trouble from the egg holster around her. After they ended the embrace, Silica asked a question that had been on her mind since the hug had started.

"But why me?" He looked at her with confusion. "I mean I'm not the prettiest or the smartest or the best fighter."

"It's because you're kind. When I lost my brother, you were the first to comfort me. You, someone whom I had never met before, embraced me like an old friend," Pollux started choking up as he remembered that battle. "I-I was so broken that I l-latched onto the f-first person that helped me. That... that was you Silica-chan. You helped me get over my brother's death and became my best friend. And now will you go from being my best friend to my girlfriend?"

"Yes I will," she said as she hugged the son of Dionysus again, the sun setting behind them and turning the sky a beautiful orange.

"So let me get this straight. Yesterday, you and Silica met 'a couple of weirdoes' who asked her out and you pretended to be her boyfriend to get her out of that situation before actually asking her out even though you've only known each other for about a week?" Annabeth questioned Pollux, who was sitting with his best-friend-turned-girlfriend on the bed in one of the hotel rooms the HOO had rented.

"Yes," he answered without hesitating. He reached out and took Silica's hand. "I feel like it's the best thing I've done since we got trapped here." Silica started blushing as he pulled her into his embrace.

"Oh gag me," Nico mumbled.

Thalia whacked him in the back of the head. "Oh, leave them be. If they want to get mushy, let them get mushy. It doesn't affect you."

"Oh, but it does," he responded. "I'm going to be seeing their romance in my dreams, or should I say nightmares, tonight."

"So you can watch people die because of a video game, but a little romance gives you nightmares?" Percy asked his youngest cousin.

" . . . Yes?"

"I think it's sweet," Katie said; she had always been a sap for romance novels if her garden didn't need work, "but I think it's funny that I know of another couple that has yet to realize they are perfect for each other. Oh well. I know it'll happen eventually."

"I thought you were a child of Demeter," Connor said, rolling his eyes. "Not a daughter of Aphrodite."

"So who are you talking about, Katie?" Annabeth questioned without noticing Percy stiffening in the chair next to her.

"Spoilers!"

"Oh come on!" Annabeth shouted, unknowingly covering Percy's sigh of relief. "You know how much I hate not knowing things!"

"To bad. I know when to gossip and when not to, and now is not the time." Katie turned away from Annabeth's annoyed face and started pestering Silica for any details about how she and Pollux got together that her new boyfriend might have left out. Annabeth huffed, making a mental note to try to harass Katie later. Percy made his own note to ask Pollux for relationship advice.

"Hey guys," Travis said, drawing the others' attention. "Did you hear they found the Boss Room? They're holding a meeting out by the beach this evening."

"Y'all can do that," Pollux said, "but I think Silica-chan and I are going to pass on this Boss."

"What?! Why?!" exclaimed the majority of the room.

"Well, I don't want to fight in a Boss Fight for a while after the last one and I'm not going to let Silica-chan go and be in danger without me to protect her." He pulled her closer, causing Annabeth and Katie the 'awww', Nico to gag, and Percy and Travis to wonder why he was having so much luck when it came to romance.

"If you say so," Thalia said, unfazed by the public display of affection. "Now let's go get some lunch. I'm starving!"

"Yes!" Percy agreed with his female cousin immediately.

"Hello everyone. My name is Conor Akeas, son of Ares, and helping me lead this Raid meeting are Asuna, daughter of Athena, and Agil, unclaimed." Agil mumbled something under his breath about the DHO system hating him and overlooking his Acts of Courage. Conor continued, ignoring the bald man's mumbling. "Blankets can be found to your left if you wish to sit on the sand. Anyway, my party found the Boss Room last night and has been studying the Floor Boss throughout this morning. Asuna, if you would."

"Sure. The information we have on this Boss tells us that our opponent is called Circe the Sorceress. She is a Magic Class Boss and her attacks include Fireball, Shockwave, and Transformation. Her Boss Skills include Self-healing and Sentinel Summoning. She has only two Health Bars, but her Self-healing makes up for her lower heath. Any changes in her Boss Skills she may have due to damage are unknown, so be prepared for anything. Oh, and she typically targets men. Does anyone have any questions?" Lizbeth, who now had pink hair and was sitting on a blanket not to far from the HOO, raised her hand. "Yes Liz-san?"

"You mentioned something called Transformation. What is that exactly?"

"It's exactly what it sounds like," Agil said. "What happens is Circe hits a player with a Transformation attack, this light blue ray, and they turn into a small animal until they exit the Boss Room, or, we assume, until the Boss is defeated. If a player exits the Boss Room to undo a Transformation they cannot reenter during that fight. We don't know if they are cut out of the winnings or not since Circe has yet to be killed."

"Thank you Agil," Asuna said. "Anyone else have a question?"

"I do." Kirito raised his hand. He was off to the side, alone and away from the rest of the players. He fell backwards into his own shadow and reappeared on the other side of the beach when a couple of fangirls started running toward him. "What about the Sentinels you mentioned?"

"Good question," Conor Akeas said, turning to find the Beater's new position. "They are named Sorceress Apprentices, but we'll call them the SA's. The SA's can attack with small Fireballs and minor Shockwaves, but that's it. Other questions?"

"Yeah, I got one," Percy said, standing from where he had been sitting with his cousins and Annabeth on a blanket, the twins and Katie on a blanket to their right. "What is the Boss Room itself like? Hot? Cold? Water anywhere?" The information he was asking for may change their plan if the conditions favored a particular god or goddess' children, like the river in the first or forth floor Boss Rooms that had helped the children of Poseidon. Conor remembered Percy's claiming and shook his head.

"Sorry Percy. No river running through the Boss Room this time." Percy looked disappointed; he had felt so badass in the river during the last Boss Fight. "The room looks kind of like a spa. It's clean and mostly white. The walls are covered with tile mosaics that would cause extra damage if you hit 'em hard enough with your body and fake windows. Keep the good questions coming. Yes, you! I don't we've met before. What's your name?"

"My name is Ron," a ginger with freckles and a British accent answered. The cursor over his head was a torch with green flames. "I am a son of Hecate, goddess of magic. Does she have any potions or something like that?"

"Now that you mention it I did see a bubbling cauldron in the corner of the room, but she didn't use it for anything. Maybe it's just for decoration. Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Alright! Any more questions? No? OK. We'll meet at the base of the Boss Dungeon tomorrow morning at 0800 hours. You're dismissed.

End of Chapter 10

You know, this chapter really got away fom me while I was righting. It felt like I had no control. It kind of just... happened. Oh well, what do you think of that paring? Do you have any other pairings you'd like to see? Remember to review!

-SwordOfTheGods