Okay, my last chapter was so… Ew… But at least in this chapter, I think things are a bit more… better? Anyways, shout out to The Inked Pen! I love constructive criticism =)

Oh, and I do not own Skittles. The Skittles people do!

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I woke up in a really soft bed with an I.V. in my arm. My mouth felt dry and tasteless, and my head was throbbing like I'd just taken a one hundred question math exam. "What?" I groaned. I slowly opened my eyes. I was laying in an infirmary? When did I get here? How did I get here? No one was in the room. Suddenly, I began to cry. Loudly. I felt my whole body shake and I was barely aware I was screaming like a fury. I convulsed and ran my fingers through my thick red hair rapidly.

I didn't notice I was alone anymore, until people were trying to lay me back down. I couldn't hear a word they were saying because I was screaming too loud, and I couldn't see anything that was going on, blinded by hot tears. It wasn't until I calmed down ten minutes later that I was able to compute my surroundings.

"That was a strong reaction," a boy mumbled.

"It's probably a backlash to the fight," another person—a girl—said.

"Still is a bit freaky…"

"Leo!"

I took a deep breath and whispered, "Where am I?"

The boy, Leo, jumped back slightly in surprise. The girl, smiled a little. She was pretty—blonde hair, blue eyes, a sporty physique.

"You're in the infirmary," she said slowly. "You had a strong reaction to the medicine we gave you, but it will wear off in an hour or two," she turned her attention back to Leo. "Go get Will."

When Leo left, the girl took the I.V. out of my arm gently. "My name is Cecil. I'm the daughter of Apollo."

I nearly choked on my spit. "Excuse me?"

She laughed half-heartedly, "Okay, okay, not the daughter. One of the daughters."

My mind went to a blank. "I'm sorry… What? What's Apollo? What am I—ow!" My head began to pulse again.

"Oh, geez, be careful! You don't want to strain yourself too much. You'll hurt yourself."

"Yeah. Whatever," I said, getting on my feet, despite the intense burning rush I felt run through my body. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm finding my friend and leaving." I somehow managed to wobble to the door, Cecil close behind me.

"Wait," she said, as I went out the door. "We need to talk about something important!"

I'm not sure if it was the medication they drugged me with, the waking up in a new place, the pain I felt, confusion, or a combination of all those things, but I was pissed off. I could usually keep myself grounded, but after all that I'd been through—what had I been through?—it was warranted. My plan was to storm around this… whatever this was until I found my way out, buy a taxi to Lower East Manhattan, and crawl up into my bed and sleep for eternity. What I actually did was wobble about fifteen feet before falling over and was carried to this huge house's front porch steps.

"Are you okay?" I turned my face to see a pale boy with black hair, dark brown eyes, and intimidating baggy dark jeans and aviator's jacket. He had a silver skull ring and looked like he hadn't slept in days. My luck just kept getting better and better.

"Um… Yeah, I'm fine," I lied.

It was clear he didn't believe me. "Right. Because normal, healthy people faint in the middle of an arena all the time."

Arena? "Why does everyone keep talking to me, like I know what's going on? Where am I? Who is Apollo?—" my rant was cut short when I noticed this guy's sword, black as midnight. "And why the heck do you have a sword?"

My head felt hot and dizzy again. The guy gave me golden food that looked like lemon squares. "Eat this."

The tone in his voice told me not to argue, but the second I put the squares to my mouth, the taste of Skittles filled my mouth and I felt instantly better. "Thank…?"

"Nico di Angelo," he supplied. "And you are?"

"Anna."

He got off the stairs and brushed off his jeans. "Well, Anna. I guess it's up to me to introduce you to your new life."