Nika shook her head when some of the others crowded around her, offering her painkillers and things. She waved them all away and ate her food in silence, wincing occasionally when something got into the cut on her lip. She did not, however, make an offering to Ares. He'd already taken his offering out of her hide.

Seth stayed away from the table, since the Ares kids were all known to have exlosive tempers and they didn't like people getting in their business. So he stayed quiet and ate his food, making his offering silently before he was ready to go.

Dawn got up with the rest of her brothers when they went to make their offerings. Her offering was smaller than theirs were, as usual. It was her little way of making sure her father knew she wasn't happy with him, without being outright disrespectful. She didn't want to be smote, after all.

Jason noticed that his half-sister was in one of her 'I hate Dad' moods, and decided to lead the bonfire music himself. Dawn could join in if she wanted, but he doubted she would want to do more than listen.

Nika got up after dinner and went back to the cabin to get some sleeping, knowing her injuries would likely be gone by the morning. They usually were. Unless Ares was really pissed off with her, which was possible this time. Hopefully not the case, but possible.

Seth stuck around for the bonfire, listening to everything and watching Dawn from time to time. She was interesting, much moreso than most of the demigods at camp.

Dawn stuck around for part of the bonfire, but she ended up leaving early and going back to the cabin. Using the ladder rungs on the side of the building, she climbed up onto the roof and settled back, watching the stars. She picked out the constellations she knew, reciting the myths in her head. It was theraputic, in a way, to see the sky without the sun once in a while.

Jason noticed the way Seth was watching Dawn, and made a mental note to keep an eye on him. Dawn may be a few months older than he was, but that didn't mean he still couldn't look out for his only sister.

A few days later, Nika was leading the training again, this time in hand-to-hand combat. She wasn't participating, because then everyone would be on their asses, but she was directing them all.

"Don't be so nice! If you have an advantage, take it. Always kick your opponent when they're down, don't give them an inch, and always, always go for the killing blow. Because you can bet your asses they'll be trying to kill you."

Seth was, once again, playing hooky. He was watching everyone else from up in a tree. He didn't fight, and he certainly didn't listen to Nika. She was, in his oh-so-humble opinion, kind of a bitch.

Dawn was sparring with Jason, since she was the only one in their cabin who was close to his size. They danced around each other, dodging lighting-quick jabs from the daggers. Neither of them was particularly strong, since they were archers rather than blade-users, but they were good enough against one another.

"Don't you dare go easy on me because I'm your sister," Dawn said as she blocked a strike intended for the weak point in her armor.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Jason replied as he moved back again to wait for another opening.

Nika stopped to observe the two for a few moments before she nodded and moved on, knowing better than to interrupt them. She gave them a good berth and moved on, keeping track of all the pairs, making mental notes of each demigod's abilities and weaknesses.

Seth watched Dawn and Jason with interest, sitting up and letting his legs dangle over the limb of the tree, a good twenty feet above the ground, as he watched them.

Dawn and Jason were evenly matched, at least in skill. What decided the match was merely the weight difference between them; obviously Jason was stronger than Dawn, although they were both about the same age. The point of Jason's dagger rested lightly just under Dawn's chin and he held it there for a moment before they both took a step back.

"I'll get you next time," Dawn promised.

"You keep saying that," Jason replied. "You keep being wrong."

"Shut up."

Nika looked off to the side when she saw Chiron coming back. She jogged over to him, and the two spoke quietly for several moments. Nika frowned as she listened, and then she shook her head a little, glancing over at Dawn.

Dawn noticed Nika's stare and raised an eyebrow. She didn't know why she was being stared at and talked about, and she wanted to find out, but one didn't just interrupt a conversation between Chiron and someone else. Absently, she tapped her fingers in time to the heart-song of one of the other campers. She didn't know the song, herself, but her inherited gifts made it so that the music came naturally to her.

Nika beckoned Nika over, frowning just a little as she waited. As soon as Nika was over there, however, she didn't stay quiet.

"Have you heard anything about demigods disappearing?" she asked, keeping her voice down.

"Disappearing?" Dawn thought about it for a moment before she shook her head. "I can't say I have..." She paused. "I haven't heard from Aaron in a while, though..." She bit her lip. "I don't like this, I know Aaron was the only one who talked to our dad on a regular basis, and he hasn't returned any of my emails lately..."

Nika and Chiron exchanged looks. "Where does he live?" Chiron asked, frowning. Nika looked around again, uneasy and unsure why she was. But she knew something had to be going on, else she wouldn't be uneasy.

"Not far," Dawn replied, automatically reaching back into her quiver to check how many arrows she had. "If demigods have been disappearing... I think I need to check on my brother. Even if nothing's wrong... maybe he can get us more information." She was starting to get worried. Even though she wanted to believe nothing was wrong, it was unlike her older brother not to reply to her emails.

Nika nodded. "I'll take you," she said, her voice leaving no room for argument. "See you later, Chiron. I'll report when I return."

"We need to take my car," Dawn replied, already heading back to her cabin to get her keys and bag. She never left camp without her emergency bag, it had all of the things they would need in case they ran into trouble. "The people who run the apartment complex he lives in know my car, so they'll let us in. They know me as his little sister, so they'll tell me if anything is wrong. 'Next of kin' and all that."

Nika grumbled but nodded her assent; she wasn't used to not driving. "Alright, let's go ahead and go. I have a bad feeling about this."

Dawn went and threw her things into her car, getting into it. The sound of the engine was familiar, although not all that soothing. The radio helped smooth over the rough edges of her anxiety, but it didn't help completely. She waited until Nika was in the car before heading off in the direction she knew Aaron lived. She needed to make sure her brother was okay.

Nika stayed qiet through the ride, knowing that Dawn was anxious and her nerves were a little frazzled. She didn't want to do anything to upset her, so she just stayed in her seat and stayed quiet.

The ride was short, because Aaron didn't settle all that far from the camp. Dawn pulled the car into the first available parking space and got out. The Mist made her bow and quiver look like a backpack to normal people, so they didn't get stopped as they went into the building. Dawn's anxiety grew as she got closer to Aaron's apartment. She took her key out of her pocket, but didn't get a chance to use it. The door was unlocked.

Nika moved in front of Dawn then, motioning for her to stay put as she drew her sword, creeping into the apartment. She made a thorough check of the apartment before she emerged again, looking at Dawn and shaking her head. "There's no one here."

"Aaron wouldn't leave the door unlocked if he was leaving," Dawn murmured, going into the apartment. At first glance, everything looked normal, but after a moment, she noticed a few little details. Aaron's keys were hanging by the door, his laptop was open on the table. She went over to his laptop and looked at it. It was plugged in, but was idle, so she touched the touch pad to activate it again. It looked like Aaron had been in the middle of an email. Dawn glanced at the recipient, and then did a double-take.

"As if 'Phoebus Cælestis' isn't really obvious..." she muttered. She memorized the email address for later. Her irritation didn't overrule her worry, though. She still didn't know what happened to her brother.

Nika did another sweep of the apartment, looking for anything that stood out to her. She found his things near his bed, and then frowned as she opened the fridge. "He obviously didn't expect to leave," she said, glancing at all the perishables. "There aren't any obvious signs of a struggle, though. Perhaps he was called away for some reason?"

"Without his bow?" Dawn asked, going into her brother's room and picking up his favored weapon from the foot of the bed. She shook her head. "No, something is wrong." She looked at the arrows in his quiver. Flash arrows, sonic arrows, stink arrows, incendiary arrows... the same general selection she had. At least their father was fair that way.

Nika nodded. "Again, no sign of a struggle. But his door was unlocked. He could have been outside, getting his mail or something, or someone he knew got him outside where he was taken." She glanced over at Dawn. "I can finish up here if you want to go wait in the car." It was her way of trying to be nice.