Son of Fire

Seven

I wiped the sweat off my brow then grinned as they stood there, swords in hand and ready to come at me again.

"GO, ANDY!" Hazel cheered, but not many were cheering for me. Mostly the golden duo I was facing down. Because they challenged me in the pavilion, Percy and Jason had to fight me with the entire camp watching. Even some of the Roman campers were here.

"Tired already, Andrew?" I smirked then swung my sword, Jason narrowly dodging as Percy rolled out of the way. I kicked Jason in his chest plate then he flew back as Percy stood to swing his sword at me. I parried it then turned and caught Jason's sword in my hand, cutting it and making his eyes go wide.

"Are you insane?!" He asked, but I snickered.

"Maybe I am!" I laughed then dropped into a perfect split, making them knock their heads together and stumble apart. I stood then noticed that most of the arena had gone quiet. Then again, not many guys could do a perfect split without splitting their balls.

"Where the fuck did you learn that?!" Percy asked, rubbing his head, but I grinned.

"Man's gotta keep some of his secrets." I said then grabbed his chest plate and threw him at Jason, knocking them down.

"Fuck, I give!" Jason groaned then Percy threw up his hand and Mr. D blew his horn.

"ANTHONY WINS!" He said and I grinned, sheathing my sword and helping the guys stand.

"So, we good?" I asked as they put their swords away then Percy nodded, still rubbing his head.

"Man, you're crazy. First you grab a sword with your bare hand, then you do a freaking split? Aren't your balls hurting?" He asked and I shrugged.

"Cheerleader family for a while, was forced to learn flexibility." I said and Jason looked confused.

"I don't want to know." He said then I laughed as we went to get out of our armor. As Nico came in and helped me, I smiled at him.

"So, fantasma, what'd you think?"

"I think my balls hurt watching you do that split." He said and I laughed as he set down my chest plate.

"Well, mine don't." I said and he got my arm bracers off me.

"I can tell by how perfectly you're walking. And you just beat the golden duo again." He said and I looked at the two over my shoulder then shrugged.

"Guess so." I said and we left the armory then I sighed as I rubbed my neck.

"So, what's next for us?" I asked and Nico shrugged.

"We gotta go to the strawberry fields, it's our turn to pick them." He said and I nodded, following him and donning the special gloves we needed to pick the berries for some reason or the other.

"Why do we need the gloves?" I asked and Nico sighed.

"Something about the berries being easy to bruise." He said then took our big ass bucket and we went to the first row, picking all the ripe berries.

"Hey, fantasma?" He looked at me then I sighed.

"Those girls, the ones who avoid you." I started as I picked berries, but he was silent as he had a weird look on his face.

"Why'd they come after me?" I asked and looked at him, seeing he was bewildered.

"Dude, no offense, but you're smoking hot and just kicked three guys' asses in five minutes. Now, you've beaten the golden duo again and you basically showed off your flexibility." He explained then I smiled.

"You're cute yourself, fantasma." I said and his eyes went wide as he blushed hard.

~*-*~

I finished the compass Leo showed me how to make then he took it and grinned.

"Running like a beauty." He said then I smiled.

"Hey, you and Nico are pretty close." He hinted and I shrugged.

"He's my- well, he's like my social worker, I guess. He stays with me, keeps me in line, and if I cause trouble, he gets punished as well. Though, he's training me and I guess we're friends now." I said then Leo smiled.

"I've also noticed you sleeping through the night more." He said and I cleared my throat.

"I've been talking to him, guess that's helped me." I said and Leo nodded.

"What happened to Mr. 'I don't need a therapist'?" He asked and I rolled my eyes, helping him fix a couple things that had been broken on the last quest some demi-gods went on.

"And what about you, Leo? You close with anyone?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Not really. Just this girl that I rescued from an island where she was being punished for all eternity-"

"Sounds like one of you has hero syndrome." I said and he looked at me.

"What?"

"Hero syndrome? Where you fall for the one that saves you? You know, Louis Lane's hero syndrome for Superman?" I questioned and he seemed to understand that reference.

"Ah, got it!" He said then I smiled as we finished our work in the forge for the day. When we were leaving, I saw Nico there waiting and grabbed him, making him yelp as I lifted him off the ground.

"Put me the fuck down, Price!" He growled then I laughed as I put him down, only to see he was in a bad mood as he gave me the meanest look I'd gotten in a long time.

"Hey, what's wrong, Nico?" I asked, but he jerked away from my touch.

"Let's just go, Andy. It's time for dinner." He said then we went towards the pavilion. As we sat, I noticed even Hazel eyeing her brother warily and knew it wasn't just me that was getting off vibes from my fantasma.

"Hey, fantasma-"

"My name is Nico." He spit then Hazel's eyes went wide as I swallowed hard.

"Dude, seriously, are you okay?" I asked, but he snorted.

"Why don't you go ask your fan group?" He spit then I turned and saw the daughters of Aphrodite waving 'sexily' at me. I looked at Nico then reached over, grabbing his hand.

"Man, I'm not interested in them. If you're pissed because they said or did something to you-"

"Just leave it, 'man'." He said and jerked his hand away then we finished eating in a tense silence.