Nelson's PoV

I went down to the armory to find a weapon that I liked since I had been in the infirmary all day yesterday. After some digging, I found two long knives that could be easily hidden in the sleeves of a long sleeved shirt. On impulse, I crossed the knives, making the blades touch. Instantly, the knives morphed into a quiver full of arrows and a bow. I looked at it awe. This was super awesome. I crossed the bow and quiver again, and it turned back into knives. I found the sheathes for them, and I saw that they already were made for hiding under someone's sleeves. I slipped the sheathes onto my arms, and I sheathed my knives.

I went down to the sword arena to practice fighting with the knives when I heard the clanging of swords already in the arena. Entering the arena, I found Ari and Nico practicing sword fighting. Will was standing off to the side and watching with his arms folded. He seemed deep in thought.

"Ari, keep your guard up!" Nico shouted.

Clang

"I am keeping my guard up!" Ari retorted.

Clang

"You're leaving your side undefended!"

Clang

"How about I just do this then?" Ari tossed her sword into the air, and it turned into a long whip. She flicked it and knocked Nico's sword out of his hands.

He glared at her. "That is totally not fair and one hundred percent cheating," he said, crossing his arms.

"You never said I couldn't make my weapon change into a different weapon," Ari said with a shrug. "It can also turn into a gun."

"Why can't my weapon do that? This is totally unfair. You need to get a new weapon." Nico said heatedly, retrieving his sword.

Ari laughed and ruffled Nico's hair. "No can do, little bro."

"I am not little," He said while slapping her hand away.

"Yes you are. Don't even try to deny it. Also, I'm older, so even if you were taller, you are still my little brother." She said smugly.

Nico sighed. "You're never letting this go are you?"

Ari smiled. "Nope! Hi, Nelson!"

Nico looked up at me and waved while walking toward me. Will's head snapped up, but when he saw who it was and what was going on, he went back to frowning in concentration. "Hey, Nelson. What are you doing here?" Nico asked. He was still frowning, and it looked like he was still trying to calm down from the meeting earlier.

"I was coming down here to practice with the knives I got just now," I explained awkwardly. "I'm sorry if I interrupted your and Ari's training session."

"Oh no, you didn't," Ari said. "You can train with us if you want."

"Thanks," I said gratefully.

For the next few hours, Nico showed us different strike and disarming techniques. Finally, it was lunch time, and my arms felt like overcooked pasta. Nico waved to us and walked over to Will. They stood there talking for a few second before hugging. I hoped they would be okay.

"Hey, I have feeling Will is going to try and go sacrifice himself and my brother is going to go after him, so... If it's possible, after our quest, please watch them for me while I hold up the Underworld?" Ari asked me.

I looked at her and saw that she was trying not to cry. Whether she knew that she looked like that or not, I didn't know, but I sure wasn't going to be the one to tell her. "Of course I will. I don't know how I would be able to stop them, but I'll try my best."

She nodded and I gave her hand a quick squeeze before releasing it. I knew she didn't like physical contact, and I doubted she would appreciate getting a hug. I hope that was enough to comfort her. We walked into the dining pavilion and met up with Gab and Annie. They were both carrying bows and quivers full of arrows. We sat down at a relatively empty table, and we all fell silent. I realized this was the first time we actually got to sit down and talk together, by ourselves, without the threat of dying at the moment or being knocked unconscious.

"I don't think we actually had a chance to sit down and introduce ourselves properly, so I'll start first," Gab said, breaking the silence. "My name is Gab, you know my pronouns, so I guess I'll just say a little about myself. Um..." Ze looked around as if trying to find something to say, but ze couldn't think of anything. Finally, ze said, "I used to live alone before I found you guys and came here."

"Why did you live alone?" Annie asked.

"My dad died a few years ago," ze said quietly.

Annie patted zeir back comfortingly. "I guess I'll go next. My name is Annie, you know my pronouns, and I ran away from home the day I met you two," she pointed at Ari and Gab, "because my step dad decided to yell at me again, and he slapped me."

"I'm sorry. He shouldn't have done that. I can't believe-" Ari started to get angry, but Annie reached across the table to calm her down.

"It's okay. I'm not there anymore, and I think I already found a new family." She said with a slight smile.

"I'm glad you found a family here," Ari said with a pained smile. "The Hermes kids seem alright mostly. At least, they seem to really care about you." Annie threw a piece of bread she was about to eat at Ari's head. "Hey what was that for!" Ari shouted.

"You guys are my family stupid!" Annie said.

Ari looked confused. "What... Me too?"

Annie rolled her eyes. "Yes you too you idiot. You're my annoying sister."

Ari smiled, and I think it was the most genuine smile I had seen her make in the time I knew her. "You're the annoying one."

"Okay guys! We're all family, but we still know almost nothing about each other. Also, I really don't want you guys getting food in my hair!" I shouted, putting my hands up. Everyone laughed, and the tension was broken. We all talked and told stories about our past and had a good time. By the time lunch was over and we split to go to training again, we all hugged and said we would meet up again for dinner. For the first time in days, I felt like I had a family again. For the first time in days, I felt home.

And I could tell they felt the same way.

Hi guys, I hope you all liked this chapter! Happy New Year's Eve or New Years day! I hope you guys have an awesome day and a happy new year!