In an instant, Nika had drawn Ares' sword and moved behind the sun god, pressing the sword against his throat and delicately tilting his head back.

"Threaten her again and I will not hesitate to chop your head off," she said quietly. "It might not kill you, but it'll sure as hell hurt."

With her free hand, she took the dagger from him, gripping his wrist until he let go. "Dawn, run. Go back to the car. Go to Julian's house and stay there until I return. If this bastard has any information on the Void, he will tell me or I will find out by force."

"Nika, don't," Dawn replied, staying where she was. She was more irritated than worried. "If he was really going to kill me for insulting him, he'd have done it the first time around." She glanced at Apollo, and then looked back at Nika. Now that she'd gotten her chance to scream at him, she felt oddly better. Still annoyed, but better. "Besides, he already agreed to help us track the Void, and he can't go back on his word once it's given."

"He can't go back on it but he can around, under, over, and in any other way be extremely unhelpful while still keeping his word." Nika kept her sword where it was, not trusting the god in front of her. "Once he tells us, you go to the car. Okay? I'm a dead woman walking already, there's no need for you to get hurt."

"Maybe you weren't paying attention last time there was a lesson on mythology, but I took three semesters of it," Dawn replied. "He can't go back on his word, he's the god of truth."

Apollo looked slightly impressed, as if he hadn't expected Dawn to actually know her mythology. He hadn't tried to move at all, he knew how volatile Ares-spawn could be.

"I never said he'd go back on it," Nika said. "I said he'd make our lives more difficult while keeping to his word. Gods are experts at finding loopholes in things like this. Trust me. I've had this happen numerous times, Dawn. You can never trust the gods."

Dawn sighed.

"I can't belive I'm about to say this..." she muttered to herself. "Today must just be one of those days..." She looked at Nika. "He's my father. Let him go. We don't have time to be arguing about this, not with everything happening."

Nika snorted something bitter about blood and parents but slowly removed her sword from against his neck. She did not, however, sheath her sword. Instead she kept it pointed at him, her attention focused on him.

"Hurry up so I can go kill something."

"Thank you," Apollo said in general once the blade was gone. His dagger appeared back in his hand, and he sheathed it.

"I didn't do it for you," Dawn snapped. "I would go to Aristaeus or Asclepius if I knew how to find them, but you took my powers and I need them back."

"I told you I can't do that," Apollo replied.

"Why not?" Dawn demanded.

"Orders," he said shortly.

"Bullshit."

"I refuse to make any more of my children targets," Apollo said. "And I have orders."

"I suppose I'm still not allowed to stab him in the face?" Nika said, sounding disappointed. She just wanted to get whatever information Apollo would give them and get moving again.

Dawn rolled her eyes, but didn't comment.

"Fine," she replied to Apollo. "Don't give my powers back, then. Just tell us where the Void is hiding so I can find Aaron and we'll all go back to camp until you're all finished being pansies."

"I'll thank you not to insult me again," Apollo said coldly. "My daughter or not, I will not tolerate it again."

Nika grinned, and it was even more psychotic and bloodthirsty than normal. "Try it," she said, her eyes gleaming behind the sunglasses. "Just try it. I dare you." All she needed was a reason and she would beat his ass into the ground.

Apollo ignored her. He wasn't terribly worried about one demigod, even if that demigod was spawn of Ares. Letting his eyes unfocus, he searched the illuminated half of the planet for an sign of the Void.

"California," he finally said. "Somewhere around San Francisco. I can't get anything better than that."

"I guess we're going to San Francisco," Nika said dryly. "Come on, Dawn. Let's go back to Julian's, grab some things, and go." She ignored Apollo now, sheathing Ares's sword at her hip and walking away from the sun god.

Dawn nodded and followed Nika. She didn't bother saying goodbye to Apollo. She was still angry with him.

"I don't see how my mother could fall for him twice," she grumbled once they were in the car.

"Oh, I'm sure he can be charming and romantic when he wants to be," Nika grumbled. "It wouldn't surprise me in the least." She got into her car to drive them back to Julian's house. "Even if he is an asshole."

"I'll bet," Dawn replied darkly. "Roses, love songs, the whole shebang, I'm sure." She shook her head. "My mother is a sucker for things like that." Not that Dawn would admit it, but so was she.

Nika snorted. "The real miracle is that Ares ever got any," she said with dark humor. "I mean, he's a mean son of a bitch."

"Should I even ask how that works, then?" Dawn asked. She was a bit morbidly curious. Now that she'd had the chance to actually express her immense displeasure with her father, she actually felt better.

"I honestly have no idea. I guess my mom had something for bad biker guys." Nika shrugged. "I'm pretty sure he has it in him to be somewhat appealing, but I just can't imagine it."

"I guess it's kind of obvious my mom has a thing for the artist type," Dawn replied. "She's a songwriter, and she plays guitar, so I guess it stands to reason." She shrugged. "She got married about five or six years back... Kevin was six or seven, at the time, and I had just turned seventeen. Dave has a son, Brian, so we have a stepfather and stepbrother who are mostly in the loop about everything. It's kind of hard to keep it a secret with two demigods in the family."

"I can imagine." Nika sounded slightly envious. "Least you have them and they know. Probably makes your life easier." She looked out the windshield as she drove, going back to Julian's house and parking there.

"Dave is curious, sometimes," Dawn replied. "He asks me about camp, sometimes, or about specific names from mythology. Brian pretends he doesn't care, but I think he's just a bit jealous." She sighed. "I had to move out, though. It was too much of a risk to the family, having two demigods in one house. That was just begging for a monster attack."

Nika nodded. "That was probably a wise decision," she agreed. "But you still have them." She sighed and parked the car, getting out. "Come on, let's go see if Julian has anything new for us so we can get going."

"What was your family like?" Dawn asked. She knew every demigod had a different story, and not all of them were as kind as hers. She got out of the car and followed Nika.

"I don't really know," Nika said after a moment. "I know Ares, obviously. I don't know what my mother was like. She died when I was four, and I don't really have any memories of her. I was in the foster system until I was sixteen, when I convinced my father to give me a fake ID saying I was 18 so I could move out. He would train me during the summers, or whenever else he could get his hands on me." She shrugged. "I went to twelve different foster homes because I was such an unruly and difficult child."