There was very faint mumbling. It was faint enough that I could ignore it easily. I sort of did, too. What woke me up wasn't the mumbling. It was the feeling of being watched and a sense that it was time to wake up. I felt a strip of sunlight on my face from the crack in the blinds. It kept bugging me until I was awake.

I blinked my eyes open slowly and unclenched my ball a little. I caught movement and looked over to see Odius sitting up with his back against the couch. He had his head turned to look at me.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Coming up on noon," he answered.

"Shoot," I mumbled.

He said, "It's alright for you to sleep in today. You weren't doing so hot last night."

"If that last was sarcasm, I'll shoot you," I told him. I rubbed my eyes. That dream had bothered me, but that was Manny. I needed to get him out. It seemed that the only way to do that was to talk to my father. I had to see Apollo.

I think he smirked at my comment, but I couldn't tell since he covered his expression quicker than I could blink.

I sat up and stretched. I felt a heck of a lot better than I had last night. I wasn't feeling sick to my stomach, finally. I rubbed my eyes again and tried to wake myself up fully.

"If you want," Odius started. "Guy's done with the others. You can go before me. I need to get lunch started anyway."

"Okay, I guess," I replied.

I knocked on the bedroom door. The mumbling quieted and Harry opened the door. He nodded to me and stood out of the way of the door.

I looked at him, "What's with you?"

He looked at me questionably, "What do you mean?"

"You're being somewhat nice," I pointed out.

He shrugged. He had an uncomfortable look on his face. It meant he was too proud to admit why he was acting like this. I ignored him. I'd bug him later about it. I looked at the others.

The twins were on the bed and Cody smiled at me, "Hi."

"Hey," I replied.

I had to take a double look at all of them. Harry was no longer black haired and eyed. His hair had been washed so it was grease free. It had been cut a little shorter and dyed a dark brown color. He was wearing contacts that matched. His face and arms were free of scars. He was wearing black jeans with chains hanging off the belt loops. His blood red T-shirt had darker red, black and white blood splattered designs on the left shoulder and down the back. The shirt was a bit big, even for him, so his bulging muscles were well hidden.

The twins' hair had been dyed so they were both light brunettes. The hair had been styled into French braids behind their heads. They were wearing chocolate brown contacts that hid the sparks of color in their eyes. Cody was wearing dark red shorts down to his knees and a black undershirt under a dark grey jacket. Cole had on tight blue jeans that were ripped at the knees with a studded belt. He wore a light blue shirt that had the sleeves cut off and a jean vest over it that stopped just above his stomach.

I looked at Guy. He hadn't changed. He was standing in the bathroom doorway, wiping his hands on a towel. The bags and boxes from the day before were strewn almost all over the room. I could see the bunch of things on the bathroom counter from where I stood.

Guy smiled and nodded behind him, "Your turn."

I walked into the bathroom and he sat me on the toilet seat. He brushed out my hair and started mixing some hair dye. The way he had brushed it had messed up my usual part and my bangs fell into my face. I pushed them back.

"Have you ever thought about putting your hair up, or pinning it back?" Guy asked me. He came back and started applying the hair dye.

"No," I replied simply.

"It might help," he said. "I notice you yanking on your hair whenever you're on the shooting range."

"I didn't know you hung around there," I remarked.

He shrugged, "I tried to be wherever my sisters weren't."

I looked at him through the mirror. He tilted my head to the side and continued with the dye.

"Why do you stay if you can't stand them?" I asked.

He didn't look at me and answered, "Nowhere else to go. I know you've heard that my dad kicked me out."

I went to nod and he stopped me. I muttered, "Sorry." He smiled at me and went back to work. I continued with what I was going to say, "I know that feeling."

"Not entirely," he replied.

"How so?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're stepdad kicked you out," he explained. "Plus, from what I hear, you two never got along at all anyway."

"You and your dad did?" I asked.

His hands slowed a bit and he got a far off look on his face. Slowly, he stopped applying the dye and sort of stared off to the side.

"Guy?" I asked, turning to look at him.

He jumped, "Huh? Oh. . . Sorry, Flare." He turned my head back towards the mirror and continued working. I watched him through the mirror.

After he had applied the dye, I sat there for awhile to let it sit. He got rid of the gloves and got the scissors and comb ready. He rinsed the dye out and started cutting it. He cut it so it stopped just above my shoulder blades.

He straightened it and told me it was a straightening treatment that would last a few weeks. He went out into the other room and I heard him dig around.

"Harry, where's that one bag?" he asked. "The. . .uh. . . The brown one, I think."

Harry replied, "There were three brown ones, which one?"

"Where are the three?"

"In the corner," Harry replied.

More rummaging. Guy muttered, "There's that, but where's the. . ."

"Almost done?" I heard Odius ask.

"Almost," Guy replied. "She has the longest hair out of all of us, so it's no surprise she took this long to dye. Ah, there it is."

I heard a choked laugh. Cody said, "She'll clobber you if you tell her to wear that."

Cole added, "She won't do it."

Guy said, "That's the backup outfit, guys. This is the one for now."

"Oh," Cody said. "That she'll wear."

"Backup outfit?" Harry asked.

Guy replied. "I doubt this is the only change we're going to have to make. I just thought ahead."

Odius snickered, "If we do have to change again, she's going to kill you."

Guy's reply got louder as he came back to the bathroom, "You said we had to blend into wherever we are."

Odius replied, "Yeah, I know."

Guy came into the room and handed me some clothes. "Go ahead and change." He stepped back out.

The jeans were tight and set low on the hips. The shirt was loose and hung off the shoulders to wear the bra straps showed. I wasn't sure what to make of that part of it. The shirt was slightly short to where my stomach showed a little. I stared at myself in the mirror and said through the door, "You have an odd sense, Guy."

I heard him chuckle outside the door, "Why do you say that?"

I opened the door and stared at him with a hand on my hip. He tried not to laugh at me.

"Come on, Flare," he said. "You look good."

I glared at him. More stifled laughter made me glare at the twins. Harry had a smirk on his face and Odius was staring at me.

I almost wanted to slam the door on them but Odius said, "You look fine, Flare. Better than the other one."

"I don't want to know," I said.

Guy came over and clipped something into my bangs, handed me a small box and said, "With that, you're done."

I stepped back and looked at the mirror. There were two green clips in my hair that matched the shirt. I added the contacts which turned my eyes green and stared at myself. My hair was strawberry blonde and mixed with the green eyes.

"I guess it's pretty good," I admitted.

Guy laughed, "I'll take the compliment. You're turn Odius."

I sat with the others in the living room and ate as we waited. Odius came out not long afterwards. His hair had been dyed to be dark brown, and his eyes matched. Personally, and I'll deny it if anyone tells, I liked the black hair and wine colored eyes better. He was wearing baggy jeans with a black tank top that was long, even for him. He had a jacket tied around his waist.

"Alright," he said. "When Guy's done we'll head out by car. Once we get closer to New York, we can catch a train."

We agreed to that. Guy came out with dirty blonde hair and grayish eyes. His hair had been pulled back and pinned at his neck. He had his usual clip keeping it all back. This was the first time I had ever seen him in anything baggy. Baggy jeans and a shirt that was a little too big.

"Ready when you guys are," he said.

Odius nodded, "Alright. We'll split into two teams. One will take my car and the others will use the backup one. Okay?"

We all nodded. I asked, "Who's on what team?"

He thought, "The twins and Harry can take the backup. You, Guy and me will take mine."

I gave him a doubtful look, "Don't kill us before we get there."

He gave me a hard look as the others laughed. I shrugged. He sighed, we packed up, and were off again.

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