Just so you know:

"blah" - regular

blah - thought

:blah: - Japanese

Grover only lasted a minute before collapsing. And he spent most of that minute hobbling after Kenji, swaying dangerously. It was probably from the lack of oxygen getting to his brain, Kenji surmised. As Grover stumbled along, he would yell out the overall layout of the camp. Starting at the beauty of the lake and ending with the exquisite strawberries. Mostly nature based comments. Typical Grover.

Kenji allowed a small smile on his face as he remembered Grover breathing heavily after collapsing underneath the shade of a clump of trees, embracing the feeling of not doing anything. And as Grover gulped in deep breaths, trying to get more oxygen, he cried out dramatically, "Leave! Go on," heave, "and finish the quest we," a deep breath, "started," and promptly fell asleep. It was a rather comical moment.

Taking pity on the collapsed satyr, Kenji proceeded to tour the camp himself, instead of waking Grover from his deep slumber. Even without a guide, it was pretty self-explanatory about the way the camp was set up. It probably would have been extremely mind-blowing if he was a regular person who had never seen anything supernatural. But Kenji wasn't that person.

There were the cabins and tables, for shelter and food. Nothing extraordinary. Though, he did have a question on what would happen if it rained. Would they eat inside their cabins, or something?

Suddenly a force pushed past him knocking him backwards slightly, though the force was not enough to push him over. It only startled him a bit, but it is very irritating. Kenji's eyes twitched as an idiotic demigod ran into him and didn't even stop to say, "Sorry." He just kept on running. What the hell is he running from?

As he continued to walk throughout the camp, the oblivious demigods were starting to note him presence. Soon, it seemed like the whole camp is talking about him now. Kenji resisted the urge to sneer at the murmuring demigods that were pointing fingers at him. Is gossiping the only thing demigods do? Shouldn't they be training. They have all the resources, yet they are not taking advantage of it. And to be honest, this camp isn't very…interesting. Kenji was more than aware of the war on the horizon between the gods and titans. But these demigods are not doing anything, except gossip.

He started heading towards the canoe lake where he hoped there would be some peace. Away from all of the gossip. He had only been in this camp for half a day and he was already extremely annoyed of the godforsaken demigods. As he rounded the corner, instead of the empty space he was looking forward to, there was a big crowd. The opposite of what he was expecting. The crowd seemed to be staring at something that is very interesting to them.

All humans are curious, and unfortunately, Kenji is human. He edged closer to the center of the crowd, pushing away the demigods that was in his way.

He muttered, "What the hell is going on here?"

In the center of the crowd, he could hear a fight. The crowd watched entranced, and Kenji couldn't see anything. There was this one person that was blocking his view. He shoved that person away, and saw Nico on the ground with a group of tough-looking girls laughing from above him.

One of the girls (probably the lead girl) mocked, "Where's your mortal brother now?"

Kenji decided then to make his presence known, time to make a reputation for himself. He smirked darkly.

He stepped in front of the crowd and drawled, "How nice. You are talking about me. I'm flattered."

The girl raised an eyebrow, "You're the mortal?"

Kenji stared at the girl unimpressed, "What's to it?"

The girl smirked in response, "Aww… I was talking about you. I was telling your dear brother how you are such a shame to the family that while your brother was a demigod, you are a mortal."

Kenji's jaw tightened, that girl had no idea how close she was. She was just talking about the wrong brother. Kenji's eyes picked out his used-to-be brother out in the crowd, in the front row. He had certainly gained weight. His murky green eyes stared pridefully at everyone, convinced that everyone was under him. Convinced that everyone was the sheep and he was the leader. Kenji knew that when Theseus realizes that he isn't the leader, it will hurt Theseus so much. Kenji couldn't wait.

The girl mistook his silence for a conformation. "So, this mortal was a shame to the family. Ha! Kid, looks like you mortal brother can't save you now." To punctuate her sentence, she gave a well placed kick at Nico's stomach. Nico curled up into a ball to prevent more injuries to his stomach, giving a pained whimper.

Kenji's eyes widened at the blatant display of violence and everyone else just staring at the bullying in front of them, as if it was an usual occurrence.

Kenji told the girl, not commanding, just telling, "Stop that."

The girl laughed with her posse, "You hear that? The mortal said, 'Stop.' Ha! Mortal," she addressed Kenji, "what makes you think you could make me stop?"

Kenji darted forward, nocked his arm back, and swung, hitting the girl straight in the nose. She fell back, her eyes opened with shock and her nose gushing blood. By everyone's shocked look, they were not expecting Kenji to actually stop the girl and punch her in the face. Most boys would not react violently with girls and hit a girl, but Kenji had no qualms hitting girls as long as it was justified. In this case, this girl was threatening to hurt Kenji's brother. A good enough reason.

Kenji bent down and helped Nico stand up and asked worriedly, "Are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" Kenji put two fingers in front of Nico's face.

Nico gave Kenji a small smile, "Two."

Kenji patted Nico's back, "You're fine."

The girl's posse stepped forward and gave threatening growls at Kenji, seemingly already recovered from their shock. Their hands twitched towards their poorly hidden weapons. The lead girl croaked out, "Stop," trying to make it sound threatening, "he's mine." The other girls complied to the lead girl's demands and stepped back. One of them held out a helping hand for the downed girl, but the lead girl ignored the hand and stood up on her own. One of her hands was still clutching her nose, willing the blood to stop gushing out.

Kenji shifted his stance so he was standing protectively somewhat in front of Nico.

The girl sneered and lunged at Kenji. Kenji pushed Nico into the crowd, his eyes not leaving the attacking girl. The girl, instead of using her hands, pulled out a spear. Kenji's eyes widened and balled up his fists, not willing to bring out his knife.

The girl jabbed at his stomach, but missed as Kenji stepped aside. Her momentum carried her forward and Kenji tripped her, causing her to crash into the ground painfully.

The audience watch intently, letting out a collective, "Ouch." That did look like it hurt. The girl growled and lunged again, only for Kenji to sidestep the jab. She stumbled. It seems the girl severely underestimated his abilities. Typical. Kenji was counting on that. After all, how could a big, bad demigod be defeated by a mere weak mortal?

Right as the girl was about to lunge again, in hopes of injuring Kenji, a loud bellowing voice boomed, "What do you think you are doing, Clairsse?"

The girl, Clairsse, stopped in her tracks, and wiped the blood that was still gushing from her nose away and spat, " The mortal attacked me."

Chiron came into view, trotting in between Clairsse and Kenji, his half horse part of his body in clear view. He calmly surveyed the situation and looked at Kenji's unbruised form and Clairsse's gushing nose.

He frowned slightly. Chiron waved a hand at the crowd, "Go on. Do whatever you were doing."

The crowd muttered and slowly dispersed. Once the crowd went away, Chiron turned to face Clairsse and Kenji, "Do not let this happen again outside of the arena," he commanded sternly. "Now go back to whatever you were doing."

Clarisse clenched her mouth and sneered one more time, "I want a rematch," and stormed away, her group trailing after her, small drops of blood dripping onto the ground after her.

Chrion trotted back and forth and told Kenji, "Remember to remind me to give you the camp T-Shirts, okay?"

Something that Kenji noticed walking throughout the camp was the bright orange T-Shirts that everyone donned. Even Clairsse was wearing the horrid shirts.

Kenji asked before Chiron can trot away, "I don't have to wear the camp shirt, do I?"

Chiron replied, "Yes. You do. You are now apart of this camp." Chiron added seeing Kenji was starting to protest, "And that is final."

Kenji scowled and nodded jerkily.

Chiron nodded with a satisfied look on his face and trotted away, but stopped and turned to Nico, "Nico, I would recommend you to quickly learn how to fight if you want to avoid situations like these."

Nico nodded, still standing behind Kenji, "Ok."

Chiron waved goodbye and galloped away.

Right as Chiron left, Nico exclaimed eagerly, "Kenji! You could teach me!"

Kenji stared blankly at Nico, "Excuse me?"

Nico mimicked Kenji throwing punches, "You were like awesome! Boom! Boom! Pow! And the girl was like, oomph! Ouch! Ahh! I want to be just like you!" Nico stared up at Kenji with childish adoration.

Kenji stepped away, "I…really don't think that is a good idea." What would Damien think? It was Kenji's job to protect the kids. He'd already failed one and is planning to save her., all the while protecting Nico from the hate from the demigods for having a mortal brother. God. And Damien would probably kill him if he taught Nico how to fight…

Another problem, does Damien know that his kids are demigods? Would Kenji have to be the one to call Damien?

Nico asked persistently, "Well? What's your answer?"

Kenji waved a dismissive hand, "I will tell you later. First I have to do something. Try to stay out of trouble." With that last word, Kenji strode away, into the forest. He was certain there would not be any demigods roaming around in there.

Once he was safely in the depths of the forest, he pulled out his iPhone that was gifted to him from Damien. He dialed Damien's number and held the phone close to his ear, listening to the annoying rings. It rang three times before Damien picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, It's Kenji," Kenji replied right after.

Pause, "Oh, hey Kenji."

Another pause, "Is there something wrong?"

Kenji's other hand twirled his dagger as some source of a stress reliever. He had never been fired from a job because he failed before, and he wasn't going to start now.

Kenji started awkwardly, "Umm… Y-you see…"

Damien interrupted Kenji, "There is definitely something wrong with you. Shadow never stutters. Do you have a fever? Are you sick?"

Kenji waved off Damien's concern, "No…no. It's nothing."

"Than, what's wrong. And act like you're Shadow for gods' sake," Damien said impatiently.

Kenji straightened and replied cooly, ceasing his movements with his knife, "Very well. Are you well aware when you assigned me this job that your kids are demigods?"

Damien stayed silent as if he was shocked to the core, "Yes," he finally said, "I was aware that they were demigods."

Kenji furiously replied, not caring that he was talking to his employer, "Then, why did you find me for this job, not another demigod?"

"Because you were the only one capable of all the insolent demigods."

Kenji stiffly replied, "I suppose that is a legitimate reason. Now onto other reasons."

"Continue."

"Are you going to continued employing me amongst the other demigods and within the safety of the camp where the camp is behind a powerful shield that kept many other demigods safe?" Kenji deliberately worded the safety of the camp so it sounded like the camp was the safest place on Earth and that Damien would have no reason to continue employing Kenji. He did this to see if Damien truly wanted to employ Kenji and continue to employ Kenji behind the powerful shield.

Damien replied, "Of course. Even though Nico and Bianca are behind the powerful shields, what would happen if the shields just happen to fall? Who would protect them then? Also even if the shields don't fall. Who would protect them from the monsters inside of the camp?"

"Okay," Kenji decided that Damien had the right to know about Kenji's failure in protecting Bianca and opened his mouth, "Damien, I am very sad to say, I have already failed in a certain part of my assignment.

Damien replied, "Your assignment was only to protect Nico and Bianca. How could you already fail in a certain part. What part is it?"

Kenji bowed his head even though Damien couldn't see, "Bianca."

"How did you fail?"

"Bianca had been kidnapped, right under my nose too." Kenji knew that many people would lie to save their own skin, Kenji just wasn't that type of person. He was ready for anything Damien could throw at him, even if the result is him being fired. It would be the first he had been fired for anything. It was the first time he had failed.

"How did it happen?"

"I am very sorry to say that I was distracted. Though, not to place any blame, there was a demigod who was the most idiotic person on Earth, who did not give me a chance to rescues Bianca."

Damien stayed silent, "I see." There was none of the fury that Kenji was expecting.

Damien asked, "Is Nico safe? Was there any problems in the camp?"

"Ah, Nico is safe. But in the camp, there was one problem. Nico was being bullied by a girl for having a mortal brother. He had acquired minor bruises." Kenji continued hesitantly, "Damien… Perhaps it would be better to reveal that I am not truly Nico's brother, just a bodyguard."

Damien was steadfast to deny him, "I disagree. I agree that it would probably spare Nico from the bullying, but it would also put you in danger. What would demigods think if they knew that they allowed a random mortal into their camp?"

"Most likely hostilely, more so than now."

"Exactly," Kenji could hear the satisfaction in the other man's voice.

Damien asked, "Is that all?"

"Not exactly. Continuing on, Nico has begged me to teach him how to fight to defend himself and possibly attack someone or something else. May I have your permission to teach him?"

"Granted," replied Damien immediately, "Nico needs something to defend himself with. But don't teach him guns now."

Kenji nodded, "Thank you. That is all I need. Goodbye."

Right as the phone was about to leave his ear, Damien said, "Wait. NEVER separate yourself from either Nico or Bianca. Never do it. No matter what. No matter how much it would be reasonable to leave Nico or Bianca, do NOT do it. Understand?" The last word of Damien's command held a note that immediately grabbed Kenji's attention. It told Kenji that Damien was dead serious and that is Kenji disobeyed him, Kenji would immediately be fired.

"Of course, sir."

Damien seemed to be satisfied and promptly hung up. Kenji pulled the phone away from his ear and placed it in his pocket. Now, it was time to tell Nico his answer.

Kenji strode purposefully out of the forest looking for Nico. He strode towards the arena because most likely Nico would try to learn by himself until Kenji or someone else taught him.

As Kenji walked into the arena, he could easily pick out Nico in the corner stabbing at a dummy with a sword. The sword was severely heavier than Nico could handle. Nico was trying to stab that dummy with one hand, trying to imitate movies that he had seen. Nico was leaning forward and eventually falling forward due to the weight. Kenji hid a chuckle as Nico fell forward, the sword sinking into the ground. Nico got up and pulled at the handle of the sword, but the sword wouldn't budge. Nico gave up and sat dejectedly on the ground, leaving the sword stuck in the ground.

Kenji called out, "Need a little help there Nico?"

Nico immediately perked up and ran towards Kenji, "Sooo? What's your answer? Please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes."

Kenji raised an eyebrow, "Yes."

Nico pumped his hands in the air, "Yes! So what are we going to learn first? Swords? Daggers? Swords? Swords?" Nico's eyes practically begged him to say, "Swords," but Kenji smiled and said, "Bow and arrow."

Nico frowned disappointed, "But why?" he whined.

Kenji walked towards the weapons and picked up a bow and a quiver of arrows that would most likely suit Nico, ""Because I rather like the bow and arrow. And the bow and arrow is one of the weapons that I learned first." He also picked up a bow and arrow that is for himself.

Nico's eyes lit up and grabbed at the smaller weapon in Kenji's hands. Kenji let him. Nico skipped happily holding the weapon towards the arrow range, where a group of demigods were already shooting arrows.

Nico whined, "Come on… Hurry up!"

Kenji snorted amused, "Sure, sure."

Nico stood in front of a target that no one was using and shot at the target. The arrow went careening into the forest. Kenji was sure the animals would not be impressed. Nico shot another arrow and the arrow soared precariously close to one of the demigods. The demigod jumped away in fright, giving away a small squeak of fear before glaring at Nico.

Kenji knelt besides Nico and pointed at his left hand, "You are holding the bow too tight, loosen up." Nico loosened up. Kenji stood. Kenji surveyed Nico's stance, "Don't move." Nico obeyed.

Kenji used his foot and nudged Nico's back foot back even more. Nico was practically standing up straight, "Your feet needs to be shoulder-width apart, facing where you want the arrow to go."

Nico nodded determined, "Ok. Can I shoot now?"

"Yes," Kenji stepped back.

Nico let go of the arrow nocked, the arrow soared kind of straight and landed short of the target towards the right a little.

Kenji pointed at the arrow, "You see how the arrow landed towards the right and short of the target?" At Nico's nod, Kenji continued, "That means you have to aim a little hight and a little more to the left. Ok?"

"Ok." Nico nocked another arrow and shot, this time closer to the target, but still towards the right.

Nico shot many arrows, each time getting better. By the time it was dinner, Nico could hit the outer layer of the target somewhat consistently.

"Good job," Kenji praised.

Nico glowed, "Thanks for actually teaching me."

"You are welcome," Kenji poked Nico's arm. They walked towards the picnic tables and went to the Hermes table. There was only one seat, Kenji pushed Nico towards that seat, "Go on and sit."

Nico replied, "But what about you?"

Kenji smiled, "I'll be fine."

Nico frowned stubbornly, "No. If you don't sit on the table, I won't either."

Kenji and Nico sat on the ground a couple feet away from the Hermes table.

A girl's voice shouted at them, "Look at that! The mortal sitting on the ground. Ha! Can't even sit at a table." The girl still held a cloth to her face, but was marginally better.

Kenji and Nico ignored her. Chiron stood and made a couple of comments and then people started to make their way towards the long table of food. But what really caught Kenji's attention was that people was lining up in front of a fire with their food and throwing food into the fire. Kenji felt fury, there were people starving out there and these people was throwing away precious food!

Nico asked a nearby demigod, "Why are you guys throwing food into the fire?"

The demigod looked at Nico like he was an idiot, "Sacrifices for the gods."

Nico shrugged and grabbed a plate full of food and lined up behind the other demigods. Kenji followed his lead. There was a demigod that separated Nico from Kenji. Everybody obediently threw the food into the fire and left to eat happily. As Kenji neared the fire, Kenji heard the demigod in front of him mutter, "Apollo." The demigod looked around and added, "Dad… Do you mind turning down the brightness of the cabin. Thanks." The demigod hurried away.

Kenji smiled and he threw a portion of his food into the fire and said, "All the gods."

It seems, Apollo, that your kids do complain about the cabin.