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Nighttime Picnics

So, my community theater is doing The Little Mermaid, and I have about six new favorite songs that keep getting stuck in my head. I don't think I'll ever get sick of princesses and Disney music... and I'm pretty sure that's okay.

I realize that you guys probably want to read the story now so I'll be quick, but I feel like the author and the readers should get to know each other just a little bit. It's important for people to understand the person who's making a ton of stories that they're reading in my mind, and I think little tid bits of info about me could help you get a sort of good idea.... Or maybe I'm just crazy :)

ENJOY THE STORY, PEOPLE OF THE NICO WORLD!!!!!

If I ever got the chance to kill a god, it would be Ares.

100%, without a doubt, absolutely positive.

I mean, its bad enough that he's the god of war and bloodshed, but when his kids are exactly the same... what are demigods supposed to think? And guess who their number one punching bag is-- Oh come on, guess!

That's right. Me.

As the son of Hades, I knew life wasn't going to be easy. It was going to be hard, and depressing, and lonely. Myths and stories had told me that much. But for some strange reason, I had thought that maybe, just maybe, other demigods could understand me. That I could be respected at Camp Half-Blood for who I was, not by who my father was, not by my tragic past.

Then there are the Ares kids. Stupid stronzos, always yelling and chasing after me like a pack of wild dogs, insulting and jeering and cursing... When I get the strength, one day I will going to open a giant crevice in the earth's crust and watch as they all fall down, dropping into the fiery depths of my father's realm. There, they would all be judged by their actions, all the times they were terrible to me would come back and slam them in the face.

Those thoughts kept my volcanic temper down to a light simmer, always there, but not quite so dangerous.

I had been leaving the dining pavilion, completely stuffed from the small amount of food I had eaten. I was still pretty skinny, my ribs showing and most likely no fat on my bones, but my cheekbones weren't so visible. Every ounce of food I ate, the healthier I felt.
As I was saying, I had just left the pavilion, full, sleepy, and maybe even a little bit content, when these two Ares idiots came at me from my left.
Audrey and Eli were sweaty from working out at the climbing wall, their faces flushed from the heat and the physical exertion they had just performed. Thinking they hadn't seen me, I tried to hide myself in the shadows. Unfortunately, it had been really sunny and bright today, so shadows were pretty much nonexistent where I was sulking. Audrey saw me first- I heard her give a little chuckle- and a flash of her glowing blonde hair caught my eye. I started hustling away, trying to get as far away from the two as possible before they got much closer to me.

"Not so fast, bonehead!" Audrey laughed behind me. Her hand grasped the collar of my new shirt and yanked hard, sending my flying backwards. Sure I was strong from years of camp and my travels to the underworld, I had to be, but Audrey had a brute muscle that I could never compete with.

"Ugh. Why do we keep running into this garbage?" Eli moaned, but a wicked grin blazed on his face. I felt my stomach cramp, all the food I had eaten earlier swirling in my stomach. This wasn't going to end well.

Audrey lifted me off the ground from my shirt, the fabric tightening painfully around my neck. Even after all the times I had been in this situation, I still didn't have a good escape plan. I could try to shadow travel, but with Audrey grabbing on to me, she would probably come with me wherever I went off to. Kicking her in the face might stun her momentarily, but Eli would just beat me up. Truly, there was no smart way in getting out of this.