A/N: I like kids, kids are fun.

When I walked past the arena, I saw a little girl training all by herself. After a moment of thinking, I decide to walk up to her.

'Hey.'

She looked up. A lock of hair fell out of her ponytail and in front of her eyes. 'Hello.'

I looked around. 'Do you know where your cabinmates are?'

She shrugged. 'Yeah, they are at the climbing wall.' I narrowed my eyes. Wait. I knew which cabin had climbing wall training on friday afternoon.

'Are you a daughter of Ares?'

She grinned when she heard the name. 'Yes, that's my dad,' she proudly declared. 'And my name is Anya.'

'Anya. That is a nice name.'

'Now you must tell me yours.'

'Yes. I am Nico.'

Her eyes lit up. 'Then your dad is Hades! That's so cool!'

It made me smile that she thought of it that way. 'Thanks. You are very sweet.'

'No, I am vicious.' She pointed her wooden sword at me.

I nodded. 'Of course. But can you tell me why you are here, instead of with your siblings?'

She swung the sword around a little. 'Because I need to train. They are all big and strong and I want to be like them.'

'Okay.' I thought for a second. 'Do you have trouble using your sword?'

'No!' She moved to the tip of her toes. 'I think I am way better than you!'

'I believe you…'

'No, you don't.' She lowered her weapon and stood back on her feet. 'They all say that, but they don't mean it. Sherman is way better than me.'

'Yes, but Sherman is already fifteen. How old are you?'

'Seven.'

'Then he has been training for eight years longer than you have. Imagine how good you will be when you are fifteen! I am sure you will be able to beat me by then. Ares kids are better with weapons than Hades kids.'

She shrugged. 'I want to be good today.'

'You know what is an important part of becoming stronger? Resting. If you don't take a break, your muscles cannot build, because all their energy goes to training more.' See, I listened to what Will tells me.

She pouted. 'Sherman says the same thing. But he keeps training all day long!' She sighed. It looked as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders.

'Sherman eats and drinks a lot as well, doesn't he? You need a break to drink.' I pulled a bottle of Rivella out of my pocket, which I had gotten from Will an hour before. 'How about you and l take a break right now?'

She dropped her sword and sat down in the sand, with a pouty lip and her arms crossed. I sat down next to her.

For a few minutes, we were quiet. I offered her my bottle of Rivella and she ended up drinking the entire thing. 'I just think it is so unfair. They are way older than I am and I can never catch up.'

'Isn't there a class just for younger campers?'

She looked at me. 'Chiron did not tell me. Is there?'

Apparently not. Godsdammit Chiron. I'd tell him that we needed a class for small kids when I saw him again. 'Ah. Maybe you can ask him if he can let you train with kids your own age? I think Harley, Susan and Elsie would like to train with someone their age, too.'

'But I want to train with Sherman.'

'Oh.' Something in her tone told me that she just wanted to talk.

Anya looked at me. Her shoulders relaxed a little. 'They are really mean to me sometimes. They call me small and a baby. They think I can't fight and most of them don't even want to train with me. Sherman is the only one who sometimes helps me.' She pulled her knees closer to her chest. 'But I don't want them to think that I am a baby. Because I can fight too and I could be really good if they helped me. It is so unfair!'

I nodded. 'That is not very nice of them.'

'No!'

'However, it is nice that Sherman sometimes teaches you. What does he tell you? Do you train with just the two of you, or with the others as well?'

The girl looked at her sword. 'He tells me that I should keep my sword lower and that I should slash instead of chop. We train with all the others and he never has longer than a few minutes for me.'

'Hm. Chop?'

'Yes.'

Nico looked at the straw doll the girl had been training with. 'Who told you you need to use a sword?'

She shrugged. 'Chiron gave it to me.'

I looked at her. 'What if we go have a talk with Sherman together? I think he will listen to me.'

She stared at me like that was a new idea. 'He might listen to you. Because Hades is your dad.'

If that is the affirmation you need, Anya, it is okay.

'Sherman?'

He had just climbed to the highest level of the climbing wall. With a summersault, he jumped off and landed in front of us. Show off. 'Nico. Have you decided to train with us again? We are with way less after all!' He gave me a mean grin.

I gestured at Anya, who was standing next to me. 'No, it's about Anya. Chiron gave her a wooden sword to train with, but we think an axe might suit her better.'

Anya gave me a surprised look. Sherman put a finger on his chin, deep in thought for a moment. 'I'll come with you for a second.'

'You were right. This does work better for her.' We looked at Anya, while she chopped the arm of a strawman off. I took a deep breath, before I smacked Sherman against the back of his head.

He jumped and put his hand on the place where I hit him. 'Hey! What was that for?'

'Look after your little sister better from now on, idiot! She wants your attention and she wants you to train with her. She looks up to you, even. And why did you just leave her here in the arena, all alone? She is seven, she could have hurt herself.'

Usually, Sherman had a tendency to be a little arrogant, but I could not see that in his expression now. 'Eh, I did not realise she stayed behind. I was paying more attention to the rest, I guess.'

'Ah-ha. All the other three.'

'Eh… sorry?' I sighed.

'Just help her next time, okay? Privately.'

He fiddled with his sleeve. 'I think I will. Anya?'

She walked over to us, with her wooden axe. 'How about we train extra tomorrow? Just us, so I can show how to use the axe properly?' Sherman asked.

Her eyes lit up. 'Yes!' She lifted the axe above her head. 'I'll be the best!'

Sherman grinned. 'I am sure you will. Now will you come to the climbing wall with me? A warrior needs to train more than just her fighting!'

She immediately listened to him. She dropped her axe to the floor and ran ahead of us, to the climbing wall. Sherman looked at me. 'Like that?'

I nodded. 'Yes, very good.'

'Not that I need your approval.'

'Of course not.'

'Not so cocky now, di Angelo. That will…'

'Nico!'

We both looked around. Dionysus was standing on the field, his arms crossed, with a concerned look in his eyes. 'Sorry to bother you, but we need to talk.'

He was serious. With open mouth, I turned to Sherman. 'Eh, bye,' I muttered.

Sherman toyed with his sleeve again. 'Good luck, dude. It looks like this will be difficult.'

'Thanks. You never know with that guy,' I said, before I walked over to Dionysus.

A/N: Something cute before we have a big storm comin'.

Come on Chiron take some care of the small kids.

Also, the Ares campers are with way less because it is autumn instead of summer, not because of some deep dark reason don't worry guys.

(That being said, I keep forgetting that it is winter and I keep writing scenes with quite a lot of campers. Hm).