Question: As promised, who is your favorite live performance actor/actress? i.e. from Broadway.

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The next day went as scheduled. After breakfast, Saffron showed me to a closet, where there were all the cleaning supplies I have ever heard of, and a few that I have not. Saffron herself showed me how to use a stick with thick bristles on the end; she called it a broom.

After Saffron and Jamila, who I called Jamie, left for Olympian Industries, I went up to the tenth floor and cleaned it, along with the ninth. I tried to locate the Tibetan Phurba Dagger, but it was nowhere in sight.

At lunch I met the other staff members of Saffron. There was one with long black hair, tan skin, and glasses named Rachel. Another had wavy dirty blonde hair and pale skin, her name was Keira. A girl named Daniela had bob cut dark brown hair and a light complexion.

In the afternoon classes began. My first one was with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. She had perfect wavy blonde hair, pale skin, plush red lips, and stunning blue eyes. She wore a spotless white robe with a delicate woven gold belt about her thin waist. Her perfectly manicured hand shook mine as she sat down with me at a vanity that she conjured out of thin air.

"How much do you already know about beauty, my dear?" she asked in a silky sweet voice.

I shrugged. "Not much, Lady Aphrodite."

"You are wearing makeup now?"

"No."

"I see," she said, pulling out a palette with neutral colored powders and a brush.

She taught me how to apply foundation, face powder, blush, lipstick, eyeshadow, and mascara. I was pretty terrible at it, as I kept poking my eye with the mascara applier and smearing my lipstick. Eventually, I got the basics down, and Aphrodite taught me how to charmspeak.

Next, I met with Athena in Saffron's tennis court, which she judged to be a suitable practice arena. Athena gave me a choice of weapons, among them a bow and arrows, a broadsword, daggers, and a war hammer. A freaking war hammer. I tried to lift up the hammer, but the thing must've weighed a few hundred pounds. I'm sure Athena found my failed attempts to pick it up extremely funny.

Eventually I gave up on the hammer and chose the daggers, since those would be my main weapons. The ones Styx had given me were invisible on my belt. I was a bit worried that Athena would notice them, her being the smartest Immortal and whatnot, but she didn't seem to see them.

I started by throwing the training daggers at straw dummy targets Athena had set up at the opposite end of the court. Accuracy is not one of my strong suits, but I guess I'm pretty good at throwing with force. One of the daggers missed the dummy's head and embedded itself up to the hilt in the court wall, which were a good few yard behind where I was aiming. Athena simply flicked her wrist, and the dagger flew backwards out of the wall and into her hand.

"If you throw like that, you're going to miss your enemy and throw the knife through the bodies of several other people behind them," she taunted.

I shrugged. "Well, at least I'll get rid of five others behind the one."

After that, I slowly improved. I hit the head of one dummy target, the chest of another, and my last two found their mark in the hands of the third.

Athena started to teach me the broadsword when the clock read 3:30. I made my way to the library, where Apollo was waiting.

As Athena left, she whispered, "Don't let him seduce you."

I approached Apollo, who gave me a wicked grin. He rested a soft finger on the bottom of my chin.

"Well, are you ready?" he asked, the insane look still on his face.

I slapped his hand away. "Depends on what," I snarled.

He smirked. "Alright, little μαχητής."

I rolled my eyes. "And what the heck is that supposed to mean?"

He winked. "You'd kill me if I told you what it means."

I made an exaggerated bow. "Very well, god of prophecy."

Apollo pulled out a thick leather-bound book. One question before we start, μαχητής."

"Okay."

"Are you taken?"

I stared at him blankly. "And that means..."

I mean, I had just come from the underworld, which gives living under a rock a whole new meaning.

"Are you dating? Are you in a romantic relationship?"

I shrugged. "I guess not."

A smile came over his face. "I'll keep that in mind, μαχητής."

"Whatever."