At breakfast the next morning Nerissa and Lilith both stared in disgust as Iolaus wolfed down his meal. Lilith stirred her oats as she stared while Nerissa hadn't even touched her food.

"That is very gross," Nerissa commented.

Lilith nodded.

"That is one thing I did not miss seeing every morning. At least he gets bored with oats after about a week."

"Oh, good..."

Jason nudged Iolaus, who looked up, oats dribbling out of his mouth. All of his friends gagged at that.

"What?" the pig asked, wiping his mouth.

Nerissa picked up her bowl and passed it to Iolaus.

"Here. Enjoy."

The boy's eyes lit up and he practically swallowed the entire bowl while thanking her at the same time, though it sounded more like he was drowning in the oats. Hercules and Jason both looked apologetic for their friend.

"Sorry, he missed out on table etiquette class as a child," Hercules whispered to Nerissa.

"Did he ever go to any classes at all?"

"Yeah...no."

Shaking her head, the female demigod unrolled her scroll to see what classes they had for the day.

"History...Math...Latin. Then there is lunch for an hour and a half...Battle Strategies...Greek...Study of the gods. Why do we have to learn Latin or study the gods?"

Jason shrugged and moved Iolaus's empty bowls away from him so that he wouldn't' lick them.

"Fiducius thinks those classes are all necessary."

Nerissa looked around at the group.

"Who is Fiducius?"

Lilith leaned close to the girl and pointed across the room at a small balding man who still had some brown hair left. He looked very serious and scowled at almost every cadet.

"That's Fiducius. He pretty much teaches every class that doesn't have to do with fighting."

"He's the worst and totally has it out for me," Iolaus stated.

"Now why would anyone have it out for you, Iolaus?" Nerissa smirked.

Most of the cadets were getting up and heading to class now so they followed the masses. Hercules sat in the back next to a cadet that Nerissa didn't know. Jason took the seat in front of them, so she sat beside him. Iolaus was about to sit in front of her, but Lilith pushed him over so she could sit in front of Nerissa. The two girls smiled at each other.

"Just in case I want to pass notes," Lilith said, making Iolaus roll his eyes.

Hercules gave a girlish laugh.

"Ohh! I can pass notes to Nerissa, too! Yay!"

Those around Hercules who heard laughed. The laughing didn't even quiet down when Fiducius stepped into the room. He had to clear his throat about five times before anyone paid him any attention. Once class got started though, Nerissa thought she was going to fall asleep. Fiducius was rather boring, but she had promised Cheiron that she would get good grades so she kept her attention on him all throughout the morning. At lunch time, while all the cadets were filing out of the classroom, Nerissa's wrists were suddenly grabbed by Hercules and Lilith.

"Come on! We have to run if we want a good seat at Kora's!" Hercules told her.

She almost tripped as she was pulled forward, but she caught herself and ran with them. Jason and Iolaus were already ahead of them. They got there before most of the cadets, but Nerissa almost passed out at the entrance.

"I haven't run that much since...I don't even remember...Ugh."

Hercules caught her as she almost fell over for real and pulled her over to one of the low tables with couches around it. He sat her down between him and Jason while Lilith and Iolaus brought Kora over to meet their new friend.

"Nerissa, this is Kora. Kora, Nerissa."

The younger girl smiled at the establishment's owner. Kora was pretty with platinum blonde hair. She was dressed head to toe in blue, which went well with her eyes.

"It's nice to meet you, Nerissa," she smiled.

"Same. I've heard a lot about you! I mean...uh...from the cadets, that is."

Hercules looked between the two. Kora looked confused for a moment before she made a silent "Oh" with her mouth. It then clicked with Hercules. Artemis must have mentioned Kora before to Nerissa. He leaned over toward Kora who lent him her ear.

"She's a daughter of Aphrodite and has apparently been to Olympus."

"Alright, I see..."

The other cadets began coming in so the group gave her their orders quickly. Nerissa just let Jason pick for her since she didn't know what Kora served but didn't want to take up time figuring it out. As Kora moved away, Lilith tapped Nerissa on the knee from across the table.

"So, what did you think of the classes? Anything you think you'll have trouble with?"

Nerissa leaned back on the couch and stretched.

"Other than trying to stay awake for Fiducius's lessons, I'm all set with History at least. Being the daughter of a Captain of the Guard means you hear a lot about history. I stink at Math, so forget it. I'm alright with languages, especially Greek of course. My Latin isn't bad though. I'm not really looking forward to battle strategies class. I'm...not really wired for that sort of thing. I should blow Study of the gods out of the water though. If I haven't learned anything from visiting my mother, it would be pretty sad."

Lilith and Iolaus leaned toward her.

"You've visited Olympus?"

Nerissa's relaxed demeanor dropped.

"I-uh...yeah. Just every now and then. Usually I visit her at her temple when she gets pushy, but sometimes she just kinda...pops me up there. Kind of annoying actually..."

Lilith sat up straight and squinted her eyes at Nerissa.

"Would you be related to Hercules then? Like...your mom is his daughter so you're like...his niece?"

Hercules and Nerissa glanced at each other before they both coughed.

"Uh, in an adoptive way. As you may or may not know...take notes for Study of the gods here...my mother came from the sea. So...she's more like...what my names means, daughter of the sea. The technicalities are kind of leery, but Zeus pretty much adopted her so I'm his adopted granddaughter. Since there is no actual blood relation other than family ties, no we are not related and I will never consider myself Hercules's niece. Sorry."

Hercules put up his hands.

"Hey, that is perfectly fine by me."

The son of Zeus caught Iolaus mouthing "Damn it" at him, which Hercules just snickered at. Jason looked over at Nerissa.

"You never told me what Olympus was like."

Nerissa thought about it.

"Its fluffy. Impressive architecture is used to make the buildings. It's not as entertaining up there as you'd think. I like it much better down here."

Kora came over and placed their food on the table. Just as she was about to say something, one of the cadets from the Academy went over to Nerissa. His face was so close to hers that even Hercules felt uncomfortable as he was sitting right beside her. The girl looked ready to hit the cadet straight across the restaurant.

"Hey, Nerissa, wanna go out with me this weekend. We have no classes then and I could show you a...pretty fun time."

He ran his tongue across his lips making even Lilith cringe with pity for Nerissa. The daughter of Aphrodite was only able to give a very fake smile.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not here to date. Please leave me alone."

The guy stepped back. Iolaus stood up, seeing that the cadet was about to make a big deal out of this.

"Adrastos, leave her alone."

"Why? You three aren't. Not that you stand a chance, but don't you all think it is unfair that the Prince of Corinth gets all the girls attention? Why don't you give us other guys a chance?"

Jason growled.

"Hey! She doesn't want to date anyone, that includes me."

Nerissa looked over at Jason and then back at Adrastos.

"Guys, look-"

"I propose a contest for the lady," Adrastos said, ignoring her.

Nerissa's eyebrows raised. She was getting angry now.

"Excuse me?"

"The most talented cadet gets the girl and Prince's can't participate. This Saturday."

Nerissa suddenly stood up and grabbed Adrastos shirt collar. She glared at him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!"

The cadet had the nerve to attempt to kiss her while she held him by his shirt, but Hercules, having seen it coming, had grabbed the empty tray Kora was holding and put it between their faces. Adrastos gave the tray a good kiss. Nerissa snarled from the other side.

"No fights!" Kora shouted.

Nerissa shoved him away.

"I'm not a prize, you-"

"Nerissa! Darling, calm down."

All those in the restaurant turned in shock. Nerissa eyes widened in horror. A scantily clad, beautiful woman with golden blonde curls that went down to her waist was standing in the middle of the building. The most scandalous part was that her outfit was made out of see-through pink cloth with a skimpy top and clearly visible underwear.

"Oh my gods..." Iolaus said, staring.

"Mother!" Nerissa hissed, running over to her," Leave. Just please, please leave. Why would you show up like this?"

Aphrodite pulled Nerissa into a huge hug, squishing the girls face against her chest.

"Was your first day of school fun? Oh, stop whining, Rissie."

Hercules and Jason exchanged a look. Hercules mouthed "Rissie?" at him but Jason just shrugged. Nerissa got away and gaped at her mother. Aphrodite laughed.

"Oh, I was just eavesdropping a little and, when I heard of a contest for your love, I just couldn't help from popping in. I can't let you stop something as good as that. A cute little talent show so you can find a date! I love it."

"You're insane," Nerissa protested.

Aphrodite ignored her and raised her arms above her head.

"This contest has my blessing, dear cadets. Do your best to win my daughter's heart! I'll be the judge. See you all this weekend!"

She then disappeared in a flash of light after blowing a kiss to her daughter. Nerissa stiffly went back to her seat and hid her head in her lap. She waited until talking started up again before raising her head. She looked around at the astonished faces of her new friends. Hercules was about to speak, but she suddenly got up.

"I'll see you all back at the Academy."

She then fled the building. Iolaus pointed after her.

"She was running faster just then than when we were trying to get her here," he noted.

Hercules tried to imagine how it would feel to have his dad impede on his life like that. He just couldn't see it happening and he felt bad for her. Jason leaned forward.

"What are you guys going to do?" he asked, seriously.

"Us? What about you?" Iolaus asked.

Jason looked around at them.

"I can't compete, remember? I assume that leaves Lilith out, too. Kora, any ideas?"

Kora shook her head.

"Sorry, but I've got tables to attend to."

With that, she left. Hercules leaned his elbows on his knees.

"I have one idea. Iolaus, do you remember that time when Ares showed up at the talent show Kora hosted?"

Iolaus frowned.

"Yeah. You want us to get Ares to perform?"

Hercules sighed.

"No. Why don't you sing like you did then? I'll play the lyre and we'll kick ass and then youcan let her not have to go on a date since the two of us would have both won. Aphrodite will think she has to go on two dates, right? But after she is gone, will tell Nerissa she's free."

Jason and Lilith nodded while Iolaus thought about it.

"But what if you guys don't win?" Lilith asked.

"Well...we'll just have to. You guys were there when it happened. We were awesome!"

Iolaus ran a hand through his hair.

"It's true. The crowd loved me. Alright, Herc, you've got it. We'll do this for Nerissa."