ASHLEY'S POV

I nearly drag Aiden over to Micha and the redhead. "Oh, hi," Micha says as we stop and wave. She sounds surprisingly normal and sweet. "Hey, Micha," Aiden says, his pale cheeks flooding with color. "Oh, you're Aiden Jeffrey, aren't you?" He nods. "That's me." Micha whispers something to the redhead, who runs off. I step back and flash Aiden a thumbs-up. He flashes one, too and I run off, towards the small, messily made lean-to shack by the Ares cabin, which is where Brendan lives. His mom, Melinoe, the daughter of Persephone and Zeus (disguised as Hades, the sneaky fellow), goddess of tortured deaths, harbringer of madness and nightmares, had no other children, and Brendan was fine building his own little Man Cave. I was the only other person allowed in. It was about the size of one of those plastic playhouses, but its roof shot far up, and one could still not stand up in it. I kneal down and knock on the small door. "Password?" Brendan's familiar voice said through the door. I roll my eyes and reply, "Brendan Rules." He laughs and opens the door. He's sitting on the floor, using his Celestial Bronze shield as a plate as he devours strawberries. He notices me looking and puts a finger to his lips. I nod and shut the door behind me. He holds the shield-plate out to me. I select a strawberry and stuff it in my mouth. He laughs and sets the shield on the ground by his golden dagger. "So, what's up?" He asks. "Oh, just a visit. I finally got Aiden to speak to Micha." Brendan's eyes grow wide. "You did? Oh, but, if they have a kid, they're naming it after me," he teases. "No, I think 'Nose Ring Jeffrey' or 'Purple Jeffrey' sounds much better than 'Brendan Jeffrey'." "Gods, dangit, you're right," he laughs. "Ha ha." "But, I can still beat you in a fight." "Oh really? Still with this never-ending notion that just because you knocked me down eight years ago, that you're suddenly better than me at fighting." "I am. Six o'clock tomorrow, battle arena, we'll see who's better." "You're on." I then hear the sound of footsteps. I crack open the door to see who it is. I can only see their shoes, but I'd recognize those bright red crocs anywhere : Aiden. And I'm willing to bet that the pair of cute floral converse next to him belong to Micha. Suddenly, I begin to feel very drowsy. I see Brendan's eyes flutter closed and he falls back, his head hitting the shield and sending strawberries and his dagger flying. I realize with a pang that when it lands, it will hit him, sleeping peacefully. I lean forward, fighting to regain consciousness, and catch it, letting the blade cut through my hand. I see the red crocs and converse tip and fall, along with their owners. That last thing I see before my eyes close and I land with a thud on top of Brendan is a long streak of foggy green stuff, curling around everything I can see.