Hi guys! Sorry for the slow updates but I guess you guys are used to it… I feel really bad for making you wait so long. My life has just been really crazy. A lot of stuff has been going on with me. Anyway, I will really try to update more, just bare-with me okay? Anyway Enjoy!

6. Alliances

James walked out of the storage room. Ash was still beating up punching bags. He sighed. Ash was really the only option for an alliance… or at least the only one he felt made any sense. He found a spot near enough to Ash that they could talk but far enough away that it would take a second for her to cross over and try to kill him, so he would at least have time to have a fighting chance.

He decided he needed to do something he didn't need full concentration for so magic was out of the question. He sighed and grabbed a punching bag and started to place a few punches. He was never amazing at hand-to-hand combat, but he might as well practice. So as he was watching his punching bag he spoke up.

"Have you thought about making an alliance with anyone?" He asked Ash still not looking at her instead focusing on his punching bag. He heard a raw laugh coming from her direction.

"I've thought about it, just I doubt anyone would want to make an Alliance with me. They all seem to hate me." She said dryly. James stopped fighting and looked at her.

She had a serious expression on her face as she was punching and kicking at the punching bag. A thin trace of sweat lined her brow as she beat it up.

"Well they are insane to not be interested in being allies with you. I mean you've destroyed those punching bags." He stated.

"Is this your lame attempt at saying you want to be in an alliance?" She asked with her eyebrows raised stopping her punching and turned to him. James just looked at her.

"Yes. I'm not saying we have to be friends. I'm just saying it wouldn't hurt to have someone to watch our backs. We can make a truce of sorts. I watch out for you and you watch out for me. We don't target one another for any reason and we work together when needed. We help each other out." He suggested. Ash thought about it for a moment before speaking.

"You know you're different James. I can't place it but there is something different about you. I suppose a truce is a good idea." She said taking off the black fingerless gloves she was wearing. She held out her hand. "Shall we shake on it?" She asked. James walked over and shook her hands.

They both stood in silence for a second, then Ash spoke up. "What's that on your arm?" She asked curiously. The question took James by surprise. He turned his arm to see his tattoo was showing on his arm seeing as he hand changed into the clothes he had in the storage room.

"Oh it's just a tattoo." He said nonchalantly, shrugging off the question. He had had the tattoo since he could remember, he honestly had no idea where or how he got it. Ash looked at him suspiciously but clearly decided it best to drop that subject. She grabbed her jacket that was lying on the floor.

"I'm going to get going. I have a feeling the imitators are going to do something soon. They must find us just wandering around incredibly boring. See you around James." She said before walking out.

James sighed and looked around the training room. Something about Ash seemed different. He couldn't place it though. He found her a little bit irritating, not really normal friend material, and he certainly didn't trust her. But he found himself smiling in spite of all that. Something seemed to draw him to her. And he kind of liked it.

Ash walked out of the training room before pulling her jacket back on. She sympathized for James. She had slightly used him, purposely shaking his hand to learn his past. Of course she had her reasons though. She didn't want to ally with someone she knew nothing about. Of course by all rights he didn't know anything about her but she would have told him but she knew nothing about her past herself. She sighed and walked around the building. She ran her hand against the wall allowing her to learn the ins and outs of the building. She slowly walked up to a room and opened the door. It was the bedroom she had woke up in. It was a relatively nice bedroom with a simple queen bed with a black headboard. The walls were painted grey and there was a bathroom and closet full of clothes attached to the room. She also didn't have a roommate which was a relief. She wouldn't be able to live with someone else.

She went into the closet and pulled out some black sweat pants and a plain basic black tank-top. She crawled into the bed and pulled the blanket over her. She shut her eyes and thought about what she had learned before slowly drifting off into sleep. The only thing that worried her was her new found ally's curse. He clearly knew nothing about it and if he didn't prove his loyalty to Olympus soon, then he was in deep trouble.

Dexter looked at Olivia. They had given up looking for Ash and instead just walked around. They would open some random doors and see what's behind them. So far they had found a kitchen. A whole bunch of bedrooms, there was even a theatre. Who said when you're kidnapped you can't live in style? This place had everything! If not for the imitators and the fact Dexter had just found he was a demigod he would actually be quite satisfied living here.

"Why are you staring at me?" Olivia asked rudely snapping him back into focus.

"Just thinking about everything." He told her. She sighed.

"So what do you think of the others?" She ended up saying.

"Well logically most of them would be forming some alliances with others. It only makes sense to make sure someone would watch your back. You kind of need to have someone willing to. If you don't logically you have minimal choice, and depending on what these guys need… It could be the end for someone." Dexter said to her. He didn't know if he was right. That's just what he knew from reading. He didn't have many friends back in London. He spent most of his time reading. So he said what the books had said. He honestly didn't know what was going to happen though. He had read a lot of the greek myths but none of them had been about kidnapping. He didn't know how demigods were trained at camp half-blood. Were they told to make alliances? Were they trained for situations like this? Were they as lost as he was. He looked at Olivia to see what she was going to say.

"Makes sense." She said. Then a thought seemed to dawn on her. "By the time we get back then everyone would have made an alliance. Except maybe Ash." She said to him. Dexter gulped. That meant he wouldn't have anyone to watch his back and he would be honest. Everyone else seemed to be trained in some way except him and Seraphina. He needed someone to watch his back, and as much as he felt guilty for it but he didn't want to go near Ash. Something about her he didn't necessarily like. He looked to the girl at his side.

"I don't want to be paired up with Ash." He stated. "And unless you do maybe we are each other's best bets." Olivia stared at him like he was crazy but then it seemed like she truly realized the predicament they were in. She sighed.

"I'll give you a chance." She said and mentally Dexter was thrilled. Olivia was a good person to be allied with. She had training from camp. "But don't count on anything yet." She said. Dexter nodded. Now he had someone to watch his back… hopefully.

"Come on let's go back." He said.

Damian sat in the main room that they all first met in with Kiyan and Corrine. Kiyan was cool. He and Damian seemed a lot alike. He was happy Kiyan was his roommate. The two of them were pretty strong on their own but with Corrine in there alliance they were strong. Damian honestly didn't know what to think of Corrine though. He would be honest, he didn't really like the way she had targeted Ash out. He was a bit wary around her because just with a few sentences she managed to turn pretty much everyone against Ash. He thought about all of it and thought about his position in this place. He was close with Kiyan and Corrine, Skye he knew from camp. He didn't think he was entirely on Ash's bad side. Really the only enemy he had for sure was Matt. He knew he needed to play his cards carefully.

"Damian!" He heard a voice shout before he turned to see Skye running into a room. He saw Corrine look at her smiling. Then he realized Skye and Corrine had been friendly to each other at camp. He had just been there for a little while and even though he never got to know anyone here very well, that didn't mean no one else did.

"Hey Skye." He replied and she touched him on the shoulder before gesturing to the hall she came from. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked. Damian nodded before turning to Corrine and Kiyan.

"I'll be back in a little." He said to them before walking off with Skye. When they got about halfway down the hallway, Skye turned to him.

"I was wondering if you could help me. I know I'm not the best fighter here. I mean I'm good, I think, but I'm not great and looking at who might be my competition. I feel like I need some more practice and training from someone I know if good. I've seen you fight. I was wondering if you could kind of train with me and help me get a bit better." She asked kind of ashamed. Damian understood, he wouldn't have wanted to ask for help either but Skye obviously wanted to play this smart and fighting will certainly be a big thing in whatever was going to happen. He nodded.

"Sure. I can help." He said. Skye smiled.

"Can you not tell anyone about this? I mean I don't really want everyone to know…" She said and Damian nodded.

"Don't worry your secret is safe with-" He started but was cut short because a voice seemed to echo through the building.

"Everyone must be in the training room in five minutes or else." Then everything was silent.