A/N:

CPG: Hey guys! Just so you know, it's all my fault that we haven't updated in forever.

SG: She's lazy.

CPG: That I am. I don't deny this fact.

SG: (rolls eyes) Anyway, here's the next chap. Thanks to all who reviewed. Hope you do it again! :) Hope you like the chapter!

CPG: We own nothing. Please review!

Chapter Six

Davian

Fighting with Elephyn was the weirdest feeling in the world. To me, it seemed as if we'd been fighting against each other our whole lives. That wasn't true, of course. The first seven-or-so years, we didn't fight at all. Didn't know how, despite Elephyn's claims of fighting forever. We just sat in our cages, being tortured, while F-…the others were tortured even more.

We were freaks. I had wings. Elephyn had whatever she wanted (except a way out of our prison). And when F-….the other birdkids left with that whitecoat, Elephyn and I took their punishment.

They let us out of our cages, for once, but it wasn't for freedom. They loosed the Erasers on us. That's when our fighting skills really kicked in.

They were killing us. So we fought back. Or, at least, I did. Even I don't understand how I fought so well that first time, so you can imagine what the whitecoats were thinking.

But it was really just instinct. Still is. It's like I've always known how to fight. Despite what she says, Elephyn began with a more defensive state, as she first got used to her shape-shifting powers. After that, she mainly copied me.

Or so I thought.

Fighting alongside her now, I realized just how different our tactics really were. For example, the moment the beast reared up at us, I thrust my wings out and took to the sky to attack from above; while Elephyn slid under the monster and started slicing its underside with the knife she turned her hand into.

I surveyed the scene from the air, realizing that what Elephyn was doing was having no effect whatsoever on the monster. Then, I noticed a bronze glint coming from the ground by Nico's feet.

I swooped down and grabbed the bronze dagger, then stabbed it straight between the monster's eyes, causing it to explode into yellow dust that showered all over Elephyn who unfortunately was still right below it.

"Sorry," I told her, while trying not to laugh, as she disgustedly spit monster dust out of her mouth.

"That was… amazing!" Nico exclaimed, coming up to us. "How do you fight like that?"

Suddenly embarrassed, I self-consciously folded in my wings and stuck the bronze dagger in my pocket.

"That was pretty awesome, wasn't it?" Elephyn agreed, transforming her knife back into a hand.

"It was nothing," I contradicted. "We were just… it was instinct."

Nico stared at me. I looked down at me feet, unable to meet his eyes.

"You can fly," he said.

I didn't answer, tucking my wings in farther. Luckily, Elephyn came to my rescue. "I can change shape. I can turn into anything I want," she told Nico.

He turned to her, interested. "That's great! Do you think you can turn into a demigod? That'll let you get into camp. Otherwise, the border won't let you in."

After Elephyn temporarily changed her molecular structure, Nico led us down the hill towards a big farmhouse.

"Okay, so I'm taking you to Chiron, our activities director," he lectured us. "Chiron will help you guys get settled and—" Nico suddenly froze. "Wait a minute! I just realized… Thalia never gave me my taco! Or my cookie! I'll be right back!"

The shadows swallowed him and he disappeared.

"So, what was all that about back there?" Elephyn asked me as we continued down the hill.

"What do you mean?"

Elephyn rolled her eyes. "You totally froze in from of Nico, yet you barely know him! Why?"

I shrugged, even though I knew the answer perfectly well. "I…well, he… he just reminded me of someone."

Elephyn studied me. "Are you still madly in love with that birdkid who ditched you four years ago?" she asked.

"No!" I protested. "Well… I mean… Is it that obvious?"

Elephyn rolled her eyes again, but didn't answer. By that time, we were in front of the farmhouse door.

Hesitantly, I knocked on the wooden door. A man with the body of a horse opened it. A centaur, I remembered the species was called. The whitecoats had made a couple of those back at the School, but none of them had been as… seamless as this one.

"Hello," the centaur said. "You two must be new. My name is Chiron."

I shook his outstretched hand, but Elephyn just studied him warily.

"I'm Davian, and this is Elephyn," I told Chiron. "We're—"

"Yes," the centaur interrupted. "Thalia told me everything. But where's Nico? Was he not supposed to be your guide?"

I exchanged glances with Elephyn, trying to think of how to explain. "Well—"

Suddenly, Nico appeared in a swirl of shadows, holding a taco in one hand and a chocolate chip cookie in the other. "Sorry I took so long, guys. Apparently, the Hunters don't carry taco supplies with them at all time. I mean honestly, who does that?"

Nico took a big bite of his taco, then suddenly noticed that we were all staring at him. "What?" he asked, his mouth full of food. "Stop staring at me like that! You know what? I'm going to eat my taco in the Underworld."

And he once again disappeared into the shadows.

"Sorry about that," Chiron said. "But anyway, I have a question for you girls. Thalia told me you were… special. Why is that?"

I exchanged glances with Elephyn and she nodded. Then, Elephyn transformed herself into an exact replica of the centaur himself and I thrust out my wings to their full 13-foot length.

"Ah. I see," Chiron said. "Well, then, we have much to discuss. Please, come in."

A/N:

CPG: Hope you liked it! The next one will come faster, we promise.

SG: Please review!