Dawn tapped her finger on the counter, in time to the song on the radio. Her work shift was almost over, and she was itching to leave. She'd taken the whole summer off of work, paid the rent on her apartment through September, and packed her car up. All she needed to do was pick up Kevin, and they would be off to spend the summer at Camp Half-Blood. It would be her tenth summer at camp, and her little brother's first.

Finally, the clock flipped to three, and her fingers were flying over the computer's keyboard, punching her out.

"Alright," she said loudly to her co-workers as she grabbed her things and went to the door, "I'm gone! I'll see you all in the fall!"

Five minutes later, she was on her way to her mother's house to pick up her brother Kevin.

Nika happened to be driving in the same direction, in her little black sports car with illegally tinted windows. Hey, when she was covered in blood and gore and little body parts, she really didn't want someone glancing in her window and then dialing 911 to report a murder that she hadn't done.

Especially since what she did wasn't technically murder. She just discorporated them, and they all went back. They all hated her, but they weren't really hurt.

Well. Not badly.

Drumming her fingers on her steering wheel, she stopped behind Dawn's car at a stoplight, frowning when she felt a little flush of power from the car in front of her. Another demigod? Really? And this one might be chatty if they happened to be going to the same place. She almost groaned at the idea, but then didn't. Nika was headed back to Camp Half-Blood to report to Charon before heading off again. Hopefully her father would have another job ready for her. Or an all-expenses-paid vacation.

Yeah, she didn't think so.

Dawn could sense Nika just as easily as Nika could sense her. She glanced into her rearview, and saw the black sportscar. She wasn't sure which cabin the other demigod came from, but she wasn't all that worried.

She turned off the main road, and followed the backroad to her mother's house. Her mother and her brother were already waiting outside when she pulled up.

"Dawn!" Kevin shouted, running to hug her.

"Hey, buddy," she said, hugging him. "Go toss your stuff in the car so we can get going. If we hurry, we can make it in time for dinner and the bonfire."

"Alright!" Kevin cheered, going to throw his backpack into her car. He didn't have any gifts from their dad yet, since he technically hadn't been claimed yet, but Dawn knew that he was one of Apollo's kids, just like her. She hugged her mother.

"Keep him safe," her mother said softly.

"I will," Dawn replied. "I'm the only one who gets to pick on my brothers."

After they exchanged their goodbyes, Dawn and Kevin got back into the car and made their way back out to the main road, back towards the Camp.

Nika zoomed past Dawn when she pulled off to go get her brother, flooring it the rest of the way to the camp. She didn't worry about traffic cops; they never noticed her. She didn't know how, but she'd long figured out not to ask about a lot of things.

She parked a little ways away and jogged the rest of the way into town, wearing soft wool pants and shirt with leather armor over that, her sword buckled to her belt and her shield slung across her back. She ignored the looks from the rest of the camp, going straight over to Charon. She bowed her head to him, and he returned the honor.

"Walk with me," the centaur said, leading Nika away from the campers.

"I dispatched the minotaur," she said without preamble once they were far enough away. "I expect Ares will be depositing the normal sum in my bank account soon, and you can have your normal share."

"That's not what I wanted to discuss," Charon said. "I have a few campers returning this year that I think you should meet."

"Oh gods." Nika sighed. "Fine, who?"

"A couple of kids from Apollo and one of Hermes's."

Nika sighed. "Fine. Point them out at dinner. I'm going to go swimming. First person to disturb me gets a sword to the throat." She turned and walked off towads the lake.

Dawn pulled her car into the special lot, making note of the other cars there. As Kevin jumped out, she popped the trunk and let him get his bag. Already, she was relaxing. It felt good to be back at camp. Going into the trunk, she pulled out her leather armor and put it on.

"Why don't I have that?" Kevin asked as she strapped her quiver to her back and slung her bow over her shoulder.

"You'll get it, don't worry," she said. "You need to be claimed, first."

"I thought I was," Kevin said, frowing a bit.

"It needs to be official, bud," Dawn replied. Grabbing her duffel bag, she closed the trunk of her car and locked the whole thing. "Come on, let's get across the border and see what happens."

She walked with him up past Thalia's Tree, and she felt the magic of the border slide around them, letting them in. Almost immediately, a tiny golden lyre flashed into existence above Kevin's head. She grinned.

"There," she said, pointing. He looked up, trying to see it.

"What is it?" he asked, squinting at the glowing symbol as it faded.

"That was Dad claiming you," she replied. "Come on, let's go let the guys know we're back, and let Chiron know you're new to the cabin."

Kevin grinned and followed her up to the cabins, and went with her into Cabin Seven.

Jason looked up from his guitar when he heard the door open. He grinned when he saw his half-sister.

"Dawn, hey," he said. Flicking his wrist, the guitar turned back into a lyre, and he set it down. "Welcome back." He saw Kevin. "New kid?"

"Yeah," Dawn replied, tossing her duffel bag onto her bed. The floor tiles chimed musically as she walked on them. It was oddly soothing. "Jason, this is Kevin, my little brother. Kevin, Jason, our half-brother."

"Cool..." Kevin said, looking around with wide eyes.

Nika didn't return to the camp proper until almost dinner time. She was fully decked out in her armor, weapons, and shield. As she walked into camp, there was a sudden silence among the Ares kids, until they let out an almost-simultaneous cheer and swarmed her.

"Nika! You're still alive!"

"Damn, girl, you need to visit more often! How's Dad?"

"Nika." Deimos, the oldest of Ares's sons at the camp, greeted her. "Been a while, little sister."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up, Deimos. I actually have a job to do." Nika punched him playfully, and he merely grinned, hugging her so tight her armor creaked in protest.

"It's good to see you, little sister. Come, sit with us and regale us with tales of your newest missions from Father." He steered her over to their table and sat next to her.

Dawn heard the commotion from the Ares table, but mostly ignored it. She wasn't particularly interested in the Ares kids, and they mostly returned the favor. Glancing over, she stopped Kevin from inhaling everything on his plate.

"Easy, bud," she said. "Last couple of bites get sacrificed to the gods."

"How?" Kevin asked. He still seemed to be in awe of everything at camp, even though she'd been telling him stories practically since he was old enough to listen. They were ten years apart in age, and Dawn had been identified late, so Kevin had been three when she had first started going to camp. Their step-brother, Brian, listened to the stories sometimes, but ignored them for the most part.

Dawn stood up and motioned for Kevin to follow her. A few of their half-brothers did as well. She walked over to the lit braziers, walking by the Ares table as she did, since it was inevitable, and scraped the last of her dinner into the fire.

"An offering to Apollo," she said.

Nika watched the Apollo kids, automatically doing threat assessments. She ate slowly, watching the other kids make their sacrifices. Her half-siblings all got up to make their own sacrifices, and she tossed a few things into the fire without a word, glaring briefly. She had issues with her father.

She caught Chiron's eye and stood, walking over to the centaur.

"That one," he said nodding to Dawn. "Her name is Dawn. Her younger brother, Kevin, is new here. Jason is also from the Apollo camp."

"Come on, Chiron. Apollo kids? Some of them are as bad as Aphrodite's children, and just about the same level of babysitting required."

"They won't be bad. Besides, I have the feeling that you may need them eventually. So try to behave yourself around them."

"Do I ever behave?" Nika grinned briefly, an exact copy of Ares's grin, the one that often unsettled people and promised violence.

Chiron gave her a stern look before going to check on the rest of the campers.

Dawn was just sitting back down again when a vision suddenly slid into her mind. She kept a hand on the table to steady herself as the vision played out. She saw herself and Jason, bows drawn, standing with a girl brandishing a sword and shield and another guy about their age with a pair of daggers in his hands. She couldn't see what they were facing, but she knew somehow that it wasn't good. Before she could get deeper into the vision, it vanished.

"Dawn?" one of her brothers asked.

"I'm okay," she said automatically. She looked around, and spotted the girl from her vision at the Ares table. She couldn't find the other guy, and figured he hadn't gotten back to camp yet. "Just a vision. Don't worry about it."

Nika glanced over at Dawn but didn't say anything to her. Instead she got up and pulled Deimos with her, claiming that she wanted to spar. The rest of the Ares kids quickly followed them, already starting to make bets on who would win. A couple of others followed them, curious to see what the commotion was about.

Seth was among those who followed to the nearest clearing to watch the excitement. He was curious, and he didn't remember that Ares girl at all. It could be interesting to watch; Ares' kids were almost always spoiling for a fight. To see two of them fighting wouldn't be uncommon, but he had the feeling this would be different.

Nika smirked and moved a little ways away from Deimos, drawing her sword and holding her shield, waiting for him to make the first move. They circled each other for a full minute, just watching each other, testing, before they actually made a move. Deimos lunged at her, and Nika danced away with a teasing laugh, moving lightly on her feet.

"What's going on?" Kevin asked, eyes bright.

"Ares kids," Jason said. He rolled his eyes. "They're always fighting. Kids of the god of war and all that."

"Can we go watch?" Kevin asked, bouncing on his feet a little. Dawn was about to refuse when she thought better of it. This was a perfect opportunity to figure out what was so special about the girl in her vision.

"Sure," she said. "Come on."

Nika grinned. "Come on, Deimos, I've got all night. Look, I'll even toss the shield. And I'll still win."

Deimos's eyes narrowed at the ribbing and he attacked her again. The clash of sword on sword rang out, along with Nika's light, mocking laughter. They separated, starting to circle each other again, like wolves. Nika tossed her shield to the side, grinning as she circled Deimos. He lashed out at her again, and she blocked, sweeping his feet out from under him. He bounced back up and attacked again, the two dodging and thrusting and parrying, Nika grinning Ares' insane, bloodthirsty grin the whole while. It would do good to remind everyone at the camp exactly who she was, and why they didn't mess with her.

Kevin watched in awe, but Jason rolled his eyes.

"They might be good at close combat," he whispered in Dawn's ear. "But you snipe them from a distance and they're just as dead."

Dawn nodded. "Besides, Orpheus didn't get past the Cerberus by stabbing it. Fighting skill isn't everything," she agreed. She kept a dagger on her hip just in case she had to fight close-range, but she and all of her brothers favored the bow and arrows, like their father.

Nika heard them but didn't respond, instead focusing on her opponent. She smirked at Deimos, dancing around him again before moving quickly, grabbing his wrist and twisting his arm behind his back, forcing him to drop his weapon while bringing her sword up against his throat, forcing his head back.

"Game over, Deimos," she whispered silkily. "You lose."

Deimos scowled as she released him. "I still say you're cheating."

"Just because I never lose?" Nika's smile was taunting. "Not my fault Father trained me." She clapped his shoulder, sheathed her sword and picked up her shield. She walked past the Apollo kids and smirked, pausing there briefly.

"And, by the way, arrows work well, unless you don't have a sniping position. In which case, use a throwing knife. Words just as well." Still smirking, she walked off through the rest of the crowd and back to Ares's cabin.

Dawn rolled her eyes.

"She thinks she's such a princess," she grumbled. "Just because she's blessed by Ares." She shuddered. "She rubs me the wrong way."

"They rub everyone the wrong way," Jason pointed out. "Nobody likes them but the Aphrodite cabin."

"Point," Dawn conceeded. She shook her head. "Come on, I need to get my lyre. Bonfire is soon."

Nika didn't come out for the bonfire. She didn't technically attend the camp, and she knew she rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. She didn't need people to like her, she didn't even need them to listen to her. She just needed them to stay out of her way on a hunt.

Seth made his way over to the bonfire, speculative. Sure, Nika was arrogant and bitchy and she got on his nerves, but there was no denying the fact that she was good at what she did. She took down Deimos easily, and Deimos was the best fighter at camp. He decided that she would be a good ally and a very, very bad enemy to make.

Dawn was one of the oldest actual campers, and she technically didn't need to attend camp anymore. She stayed because she wanted to, and because sometimes, the younger boys needed a mother when they were away from home. Once she'd gotten her lyre, and let the musical tiles in the cabin soothe the sharp edges of her mood, she went to join the rest of the boys from her cabin at the bonfire.

Jason was already back down at the bonfire, keeping an eye on the other boys. He was the same age as Dawn, but he was younger by just a few months, which made her the one in charge. Nika rubbed him the wrong way, too, but not as badly as she seemed to annoy Dawn. It must be a thing between girls, he decided.

Seth ended up near Dawn, watching her play. He knew daughters of Apollo were uncommon, and she was curious. Like all of Apollo's children, she was good with music, which was something he admired. As one of Hermes' children, he didn't have any particular talents, except perhaps pickpocketing and traveling. He could travel light for days on end.

Dawn relaxed as she played. This was what she enjoyed, it was in her blood. She glanced up when she heard a heart-song that she didn't recognize. She knew the shifting tunes of her brothers, but this one was steady. She blinked when she recognized the guy from her vision earlier, though her fingers didn't pause on the lyre-turned-guitar. Her fingers did shift songs, though, moving from a generic tune to the heart-song she heard.

Jason noticed Dawn's change of music, but didn't comment. She did that every so often, and he knew she would move on to another song fairly quickly.

Seth smiled when he heard the song change, moving closer to her so he could hear better. He liked this song; in fact, most days he considered it his favorite song. Idly he wondered how she knew, but then he dismissed the thought. Maybe she just liked the song too. Who knew?

Dawn played the song for a few minutes before moving on to a different song. She always played the favorite of someone in the crowd, if she could hear it clearly enough. It wasn't hard, her father was the god of music. If she concentrated hard enough, she could even give the name of the song. She kept going for a little while, shifting through songs when the transition sounded right. She'd gotten through about a third of the campers when curfew was called. Flicking her wrist, she turned her guitar back into a lyre.

The next day found Nika walking among the campers, giving advice here and there, helping to oversee the training of the campers. She was one of the best for it, after all, having been trained by Ares.

"Keep that bow up," she called to one of the archers. "Don't flail your elbows about unless you're planning on hitting someone with them. Probably yourself. No, don't--" She sighed as one of the archers loosed his arrow way off the mark, nearly hitting another camper.

Seth was lounging in a tree, preferring to watch everyone else rather than go through Nika's hell-training himself.

Dawn was with the rest of Cabin Seven. She preferred to oversee their training herself, at least with the bow. She raised her own bow and sighted down the arrow shaft to the target. It was a ways off, much further away than anyone else's but her brothers'. It was one of the perks of being a child of Apollo. Pulling back to full draw, she let her arrow fly, but she never saw it land.

Instead, her vision filled with darkness, and she got the distinct impression of being immersed in nothingness. There was no light, no sound, no life. And it scared the hell out of her. She felt completely cut off from everything.

Jason saw Dawn tense just after she released her arrow.

"Dawn?" he asked. When she didn't respond, he went over to her. Her eyes were glazed over with a kind of white film, which he had come to recognize as a sign she was seeing a vision. "Come on back, Dawn." He started to get a bit worried when the vision lasted longer than normal.

Nika saw Dawn spacing out and was about to berate her when she saw Jason's worry. Then she noticed the spaced-out look herself.

"Oh, hell," she muttered, walking straight over to Dawn. "Vision, right?" she asked Jason absently, checking the other demigoddess over quickly. She checked her heartrate and breathing before flashing a light in Dawn's eyes, checking her pupil responses.

Then, without warning, she picked up Dawn easily, carrying her carefully over away from the archery range and over off to the side, setting her down. She'd seen prophets fall over after they had visions, and she didn't want Dawn to end up hurting herself.

"This is a bad one," Jason confirmed. He followed Nika as she took Dawn to the edge of the training ground. His worry increased when he noticed Dawn's hands trembling a bit. "Whatever she's seeing, it's not good."

Suddenly, Dawn gasped and blinked away the glazed look in her eyes, coming back out of the vision. She wrapped her arms around herself, trembling.

"Dawn...?" Jason asked cautiously.

"Oh gods, it was horrible," she said.