Boredom with a side helping of prophecy -RYAN-

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

Rachel felt alone as ever now that Percy and Annabeth were off on their quest. She wished she would be able to control her prophecy giving abilities better. Go figure she would send her friends off on a quest the first week back. Rachel had prayed to the Gods that the two of them and the son of Zeus would be alright on their journey. If Rachel knew Percy she figured that the three of them stood a great chance of returning. Besides the fact that Percy was practically invincible, there was Annabeth and she wasn’t one to underestimate. Plus the big bad son of Zeus Nick looked tough. He was cute too, extremely cute, but of course Rachel wouldn’t and couldn’t act on that physical attraction. Stupid oracle celibacy, she thought while picturing Nick in her mind.

At camp when Rachel wasn’t giving off prophecies or bugging the heck out of Annabeth and Percy she was normally found wandering the grounds, much like today. There wasn’t much in the way of activities fit for Rachel. She didn’t dare pick up a sword unless she risked accidentally cutting off someone’s hand or ear. There wasn’t really a point in trying to learn how to use a sword, bow or spear since Rachel wasn’t going to be doing much fighting in the future. She didn’t need to be an oracle to see that. Rachel wasn’t a demi-god with some kind of awesome fighting skills built into her DNA, she was just a girl from a wealthy family who happened to have a great destiny. Big deal right?

With nothing to do at the moment Rachel sat there in the arena watching the local wannabe heroes fight it out with each other. She at the side lines of course, a few choice colored sharpies at her side. Right now she was doodling with a green one on her left pant leg. This new picture would be a green snake that spiraled itself up her calf. Rachel just bought these jeans before heading to camp but she couldn’t think of a better way to break them in. Besides there wasn’t much else better to do.

She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and glanced up at the demi-gods, some she knew from the past two years and others were completely new. There were always newbies. It was always hard to keep up with names around here but Rachel did her best to remember some of the campers, not like any of them spoke with her on a day to day basis. She would make conversation with them but no one really came to her unless they wanted a bloody prophecy. If Rachel was able to turn them on and off she would do so more often. She rolled her eyes and went back to drawing the body of the snake.

[Ryan Simons]

Ryan was back from the city with Nike. It had certainly been interesting... he learned a bunch of new words that had apparently been common knowledge to everyone. He was starting to feel a bit dumb about that now, but whatever. If he didn't know what things were, it wasn't his fault that his aunt had had him live under a rock. Okay, not literally, but Ryan had no idea about the outside world. He was lucky to know his own name if he was honest with himself, he still found it weird people calling him Ryan, but whatever. He'd get used to it, in a lot of time. The fifteen year old had left Lila off with Nike. No matter how much the goddess had wanted him and the puppy border collie to bond, Ryan was still hoping it'd be more Nike's dog than his. Fat chance, knowing her.

Okay, back to what he usually did. Back to his life. Back to fighting. He was still pretty upset about Alex, but what could he do about it now? He needed to scrap himself back together again and just get on with his life. It was what his aunt had forced him to do after both Alex and Edmund had left. She had forced him to fight and eventually forget; he didn't do the fighting nor forgetting part very well. He had probably gotten the most scars on him the first two months after both of his friends left, he had been totally unfocused and out of it, but he had come out of it. As he grew, he continued to become what he was to this day, angry, closed and uncaring. He still couldn't believe he had started to crack around Nike, but hey, he was the one who had agreed to try becoming nice. It didn't work out to well, but once he had his mind set on trying something or doing something, he was going to see it through.

The fifteen year old did a quick weapons check, all of them were there. Good. No need to go to the forge to make new ones or anything. He had learned how to make some weapons. He would never be as good as some other demigods at making them, like the Hephestus kids, but they were decent. They got the job done. His aunt had forced him to learn, lucky him. Ryan still didn't get something though. While making weapons, he had to be around fire, he didn't mind fire at all. It was hot, it was dangerous, you could burn yourself and it was unpredictable. On the other hand, he was terrified of kitchens. Well, not all aspects of the kitchen. The oven part, but that had started to shape his views of kitchens as well.

He looked at the sky, trying to tell how long he and Nike had been away. He was sure no one had missed him, why would they? He could probably bet their new dog that some hoped that he never came back. As he approached the arena, he saw another person lingering outside. He had never seen her before, nor knew her. But that wasn't a big surprise. He didn't recognize or know practically anyone at Camp. It was filling up so fast here that it was scary. He didn't even remember half of the people he met, nor did he really care. He just cared about training and becoming the best that he could be. That, sadly, included archery. He hated that weapon, mostly because he stank at it. He remembered coming in here a few hours after he had met up with his aunt on the border line. Gee, he had been a mess then. He hoped he was more intact and all now.

As he got closer to the girl, he noticed that she was doodling something on her pants leg. She half reminded him on Nike as she went doodling on almost anything. From pocket knives to bare flesh. Ryan gave his eyes a slight roll then himself a mental hit. He had only said he'd try being nice to Nike. That didn't mean it applied to everyone he now met. He could become himself again, his old self. The one who hated the world and didn't care. That would be good. He could shut off all his guilt and whatnot and it'd just be better that way, maybe. He wasn't sure. Being nice hadn't hurt at all or anything, but Alex had just presented himself as Exhibit A of why Ryan was I Hate the Worldish. Here we go again... he thought bitterly, gritting his teeth. Another head war of either becoming nice or staying mean. He gave his head a slight shake. Just become your old self, it'll be better. Ryan thought about it, then just didn't have the heart to do it anymore, not right now. Dang it, he was going soft again. He continued forward until he was a few feet away from the girl, he began to wonder what she was drawing on herself. For some reason, the girl drawing on herself made him watch her. Curiosity finally came over him. "What you drawing?" he asked, almost tonelessly, but with a bit of curiosity.

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

The outline of the snake was finished, now all she needed to do was fill in the body and then add more details with the black marker. She began to color starting at the tail, humming the first song that popped into her head. “I wanted to fly so you gave me your wings.” She sung softly and went back to humming the rest. Rachel heard the footsteps approach and even saw the kid as she glanced up for a fleeting second. She just simply chose to ignore him as he drew closer. However now that he addressed her it would be quite rude to pretend he didn’t exist. She stopped singing but continued to color not taking her eyes from her art.

“It’s a snake.” She replied with the same kind of tone. Boy, did he sound like a lively one. After a few moments she stopped and tilted her head up to examine the boy. He was familiar looking but it was hard if not impossible to place a name to the face. He was from Ares though; she had certainly seen him hanging around that lovely batch of people. Her mouth twitched as her eyes inspected every aspect of him. With a dull expression she shrugged and went back to coloring in her snake.

“So. Anything I can do for you demi-god boy?” Rachel paused in coloring and looked back up to him, “Or are you just here to admire my art? If that’s the case then I’d be happy to show you better works if you’ll just step into my office over at the Big House.” She laughed at her tiny bit of humor and went back to coloring. The smell of the sharpie itched her nose and began to give her a slight headache. Rachel sat back for a moment trying to clear her nose of the scent. The headache didn’t leave though, and to make matters worse her vision began to blur and her hearing began dull. Crap.

Rachel’s eyes went blank and her head jerked in the kid’s direction. The voice that came out next sounded like hers but there was a power behind it and it echoed as if they were in a large empty room.

”Olympus will open and the sky will pour
A son of Ares will start the war.
Fire & rain together collide
You will search the ocean wide
The truth is hidden but soon to be found
Olympus’s pride knows no bound
Toward danger and death your quest will go
Never forget you reap what you sow.”

Rachel blinked and emotion came back to her eyes. She sighed and glanced around confused. After a moment Rachel realized what had happened, the headache was gone and her vision was right again. Of all the times for Annabeth and Percy to be gone on a stupid quest, she had given another prophecy. It was the second one within two weeks. That could not have been good, or normal, even for the Oracle.

She swallowed and looked back to the boy with a guilt filled expression, she had probably said something terrible that may send this son of Ares to his doom. “I’m Rachel Elizabeth Dare, by the way, just your local Oracle. I didn’t by any chance give off a prophecy just now did I?”

[Ryan Simons]

As Ryan got closer he could hear the other girl singing, but he didn't really know what she was singing. The boy got closer and saw that the red headed girl was now coloring it in. He gave a slight shrug and for a moment, he thought that she was just going to pretend he didn't exist. That would of been fine with him, he was used to it. The son of Ares was about to go into the arena when the older girl answered him. She didn't take her eyes off of the picture, Ryan didn't mind no eye contact. The animal sort of looked like the creature he saw on Hermes Staff.

Snake? "Oh, alright," he said, slight uncertainty and curiosity in his voice. He started looking at it. Okay, that's what a snake looked like; that was a good piece of knowledge to have. No point in asking what a snake was when there was a diagram of one right in front of him, plus, he'd probably get an Are You Stupid look again. Darn common knowledge, common to everyone but him. He started wondering if snakes had different sorts or breeds, was what Nike called it, like dogs. Then Ryan began to wonder who she was, sure, she may of been around Camp once or twice, but Ryan had never seen her if she was. Maybe he was spending to much time in the forest or arena, but whatever. He had only been around his cabin for sleeping and that was pretty much it. He lead pretty much a solo life.

Ryan felt her looking over him, he didn't mind, he was used to it from people looking him over from about to start a spar or training session. It felt almost like he was about to get into a fight or something now. "Nah," he said. "I was just wondering what that was," he said, nodding over to the snake on her. "As stupid as that may sound," he muttered indifferently with a shrug. Okay, so what if people thought he was stupid and whatever because he didn't know a lot of things. He didn't care what people thought of him anymore really, so, whatever. Nothing to loose in asking. There was the laughing sound again, he felt that she was humoring him, but couldn't really be sure. The girl leaned back, Ryan tilted his head, wondering what was wrong.

Next thing, he wasn't ready for at all. He would give himself a mental slap for that later though. He was off guard, it was nuts, but that's how out of it he was. Before this morning, he would of been ready for anything and everything, but one morning could change your life. So here Ryan was, taken completely by surprise. The fifteen year old took a slight step back, the girl's heard jerked towards him and her eyes went blank. Okay... this was kind of creepy. She started talking; it was her voice, magnified and powerful. All Ryan could do was just stare at her and try and absorb the words she was saying. Not that hard, it was scaring the heck out of him so he absorbed most of it. Great, Olympus opening, sky pouring, son of Ares starting a war, fire and rain colliding, search the ocean, hidden truth that will be found, something about Olympus' pride, danger and death, reap what you sow. Lovely.

The girl blinked, she looked sort of confused. "Uh..." Ryan asked, still in slight shock himself. "You alright?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. Then she looked back at Ryan, he wasn't sure what her facial expression was, but he didn't think it was good. "Oh, hi," Ryan said as the girl introduced herself. Local oracle...? His mind snapped his aunt and the little bit of greek history and demigod stuff she had taught him before she shoved him into this Hades. Right. Oracle, gives out prophecies... the good stuff. "I think you did..." Ryan said, he wasn't to sure himself. "What, you don't remember?"

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

I am a legend in my own mind
+ + +
everything I can’t say is irrelevant.

These random prophecies coming out of nowhere were really starting to tick her off. She looked helplessly at the Ares’ kid. Her head began to spin as she struggled to remember anything about what she might have said. As hard as she racked her brain Rachel couldn’t think of anything. Her memory of going all Treelawny was completely blank. What was the point of being an Oracle if you didn’t remember a single freaking thing you said? She shrugged her shoulders setting the marker down.

“No, I don’t remember. You think if I remembered I’d be sitting here asking you if I gave off a prophecy?” She said with a little edge to her voice. Rachel sighed and tried again keeping the annoyance from the tone. “Sorry. It’s just this whole Oracle thing is a little frustrating. I mean, I probably just jump started your path to death or the death of some other demi-god.”

Rachel picked up the marker and hesitated before going back to shading in the snake’s body. She focused on her art for only a few second before capping the marker and slamming it down next to her. “Would you believe me if I said I was eternally sorry about whatever I just said? Speaking of which, what did I say? I sure hope you remembered it because it’s going to come in handy when you head off on your quest pal.”

Rachel gave the son of Ares a once over again. Her lips puckered for a second as she weighed the possibility in her head of the likelihood this demi-god would survive and make it back to camp. The odds seemed slightly in his favor, but then again Rachel hardly knew him. She pulled her hair back and let it flop over one shoulder. Tilting her head to the side slightly she looked up at him.

“So, do I get to call you demi-god boy or do you have an actual name I can use to put on your gravestone?”So maybe that was a little harsh, but Rachel did find a little rude he didn’t give his name in return after she full on introduced herself. Not to mention given a prophecies to the kid, the least he could do was say ‘Hey, my name is such and such.’ She blinked and waited.

[Ryan Simons]

What this girl Rachel had said was freaky. If the son of Ares starting the war part was him... this was great. Another reason for everyone to hate him. They had just gotten over a war two years ago! Like the dumb gods and everyone had to have another! He had half a mind to blame her and start yelling at her, but then relaxed slightly. She couldn't control all the prophecies she was saying. He gave himself a mental kick. Way to go Nike. This was all her fault, sorta. She had asked him to try and be nice, and, against his better judgement, he had agreed.

"Oh, alright..." he said, looking at her. Then he shrugged. "I guess not," he muttered, giving himself another mental slap. Common sense, seriously; if she was feeling so bad for this, then why would she ask him if she could just remember it herself? He couldn't depict any facial expressions she was giving him, but he did pick up an edge to her voice and slight annoyance; he could tell that she was trying to stray away from having annoyance in her voice. He shrugged. "Whatever, forget it," he said. He narrowed his eyes slightly. Another demigod? Better him then another demigod.

The oracle started to doodle on herself again. Ryan's mind was spinning slightly. Okay, this was so weird. He didn't want to go onto a quest that may result in another person's death. It would probably be all his fault, again. He fidgeted slightly; sometimes he hated the ADHD and adeline rushes that came with being a demigod. Ry was snapped out of his thoughts when the girl slammed her marker down. He looked at her. Before today, he would of never forgiven, would of never been this soft or anything he was right now. He would of been totally himself. Right now, he was really hating his aunt.

"Yeah," he said, shrugging. It wasn't her fault she was ranting out all of these death sentences. As he was getting from her now, he was almost sure she wouldn't want to send anyone to their death. "You said something about Olympus opening and the sky pouring," Ryan started, trying his best to remember. "A son of Ares starting a war, fire and rain colliding, something about searching the ocean, having to find a hidden truth, something about Olympus’ pride, there'll be danger and death and not to forget that you reap what you sow," he finished, he hoped he pretty much got it.

Ryan gave a shrug. Not having the least bit of offense. Before today, he would of snapped, or thrown a dagger if he was particularly ticked. "You can call me that if you want," he said. "I don't mind," he said, shrugging. He had gotten so many worse nicknames at his aunt's house; she had called him anything but his real name which was why it was so unfamiliar to him. Other people's nicknames were mild compared to what his aunt had called him. He should not of really found the names he was being called Camp insulting, but he did, by a lot. As always, he hesitated slightly. "Ryan..." he muttered after a few seconds of hesitation.

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

I am a legend in my own mind
+ + +
everything I can’t say is irrelevant.

Rachel couldn’t focus on her new and personal designer jeans anylonger. She gather up her markers and placed them on the opposite side of her. She swung her legs down from the bench and looked up to the Ares kid. Rachel listened to the retelling of her prophecy and naturally she didn’t like what she heard. Tucking a piece of her unruly hair behind her ear she exhaled slowly.

“That doesn’t sound too good. Darn, I’m sorry kid. You know I would control these things if I could. You just happened to be on the short end of the stick. And I could go on about how it sucks to be you but I mean if you look at it another way, you get a quest. You really have no choice but to accept it now. The original way this worked was that someone accepted a quest and then you seek the Oracle.” Rachel blew through her lips making that noise parents made when they pretended to be airplanes to get their babies to eat. She never understood the thought process behind that. What kid wanted the idea of a two ton steel monster being steered into their mouth? It was kind of sick.

“I guess things have changed since then. Maybe I’m defective.” Her shoulders moved up in a shrug and her eyes gazed off into space. “Maybe I’m a defective Oracle. Past my expiration date, which wasn’t long I mean a run of two years? That’s pathetic.”

Rachel realized she was blabbing on and stopped herself. She looked over to the son of Ares, her eyes narrowing slightly. She had seen this kid around before and most of the time he had been yelling or fighting with someone. Right now he seemed to be trying hard not to loose his temper. Which was a good thing cause Rachel wasn’t going to stand for that. She wasn’t in the mood to be yelled at by some pent up aggression that was harbored inside of this son of the war god. Rachel didn’t like being told what to do by a son of the Big Three; she didn’t need any other demi-god shoving her around. But she digressed. Her brain switched back and smiled, as their introductions were complete.

“Nice to meet you Ryan.” Rachel patted the space beside her indicating it would perfectly okie dokie by her if he sat down. “Once again sorry that this happened. Don’t worry too much, you get two people to go with you so you won’t be alone. And the whole a son of Ares starting a war thing, it doesn’t have to mean you.”

though the chances aren’t great right now She thought quickly as a side note.

“Prophecies often have double meanings. Take the words for what you will but nothing is certain until it comes to pass.” Rachel paused for a moment reflectively. “That was pretty deep wasn’t it?” She let out a small laugh. “So, Ryan I know this was all dumped on you just now, but do you have any idea who you are going to take?”

[Ryan Simons]

Ryan just watched her, hoping that he had gotten it right. Then, it hit him; she wouldn't be able to tell him whether he was right or wrong. As she had told him, she had no recollection of saying the prophecy to him. The demigod shook his head and half shut his eyes, he had better get memorizing. The thought that she couldn't remember sort of annoyed him, but then again, it wasn't her fault. He mulled it over in his head again; he'd just have to keep doing that. Ryan began to shift from side to side, slightly uneasy; he watched the girl as she put down the markers and looked at him. He sort of felt uncomfortable being looked over like this; it sort of felt like he was being measured up again, like in fighting, but in an entirely different way. Ryan didn't mind being stared at before a fight, but this sort of measuring up felt weird and foreign to him.

"No... it doesn't sound that good," he grumbled, still half lost in thought. He was sticking more and more to Nike's challenge ever since Alex; he was half sort of hating this, but it was sort of okayish right now. Maybe it would help him, maybe it would hurt him, he wasn't sure. "I know you can't," he grumbled. "Yeah, not your fault," he said, shrugging and half feeling queasy. "Well, whatever now," he hissed, waving it away and coming out of shock slightly. "What's done is done. There is no reason to be complaining or apologizing over something that you have no control over," he said with a shrug. He sighed and bit his tongue. What to do now? He would have to go, as she had already said. He sighed and tried not to roll his eyes. "Lots of things change," he grumbled in a slight growl. "No," he said half firmly. "It's not your fault!" he said, shaking his head. "You're fine!" he snapped slightly.

The boy bit his tongue for a few minutes. He was sure that she had seen him around a bit. Just because he had never taken notice of her didn't mean that she hadn't taken notice of him. She must know him as the aggressive, into weapons person. Ryan never gave up a chance to get into a fight or insult someone, that was just him. Pick as many fights with anyone as possible and tick everyone and anyone off. Right now, he was really trying to control his temper and all. Once again, he was thinking he was taking what Nike had asked him to do, to much to heart. But then again, once someone challenged him like that and he accepted (this time he was sure it was against his better judgement) he'd stay with it until he achieved it. Ryan sort of wanted to change, and sort of didn't. If he did change, he didn't want to change to much. The Rachel girl gave a smile. Ryan now associated that with pleasure and happiness, yuck. Thanks a lot Nike, he mentally rolled his eyes.

Ryan just nodded as she said that it was pleasure to meet him. He still wasn't sure about that nor how to react. The fifteen year old tilted his head, slightly confused as the Oracle patted the space beside her. Finally, his brain made the connection. She was inviting him to sit beside her. Ryan just stayed standing. What Nike had put him through had been way to much for one day and he wasn't going to be any close contact, other than fighting, for a while. "Whatever. No reason to be," he said in a half growl and gritting his teeth. He was starting to get annoyed that she was apologizing so much. "What's done is done," he snapped in a hiss, shrugging. His eyes narrowed slightly. Two other people coming with him? What if they got hurt? He thought he had been going alone. If he had to be the one to ask, it would be more than awkward. It would be worse than what Nike had done to him. He half glared at her. "I sort of think it does," he snapped in a growl. Great, another reason for everyone to hate me, he thought bitterly. If he was truly honest, that part was most like him. Ryan was usually the one to start fights.

"Yeah, yeah..." Ryan snarled. "Guess so," he grumbled, half glaring down at the ground. This was all coming on so fast... He shrugged. "Whatever, if you think so," he hissed, rolling his eyes. He wasn't into the deep stuff. This felt a bit better, he was getting more and more like himself. Who to take? "I don't know," he said in a half growl. As she asked, it all came crashing on him. He had to fulfill this crazy prophecy along with two other demigods in this Camp. Oh gods, gulp.

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

I am a legend in my own mind
+ + +
everything I can’t say is irrelevant.

Rachel tried her best to ignore the short bluntness of Ryan and his responses. She watched him for a moment debating whether or not to tell him off for his attitude. Sure she had just spoken a prophecy that probably just sealed his, and two other demi-god’s fate, but he didn’t need to be grumpy about it all. She gritted her teeth and pulled her lips into a tight smile.

Patience may have been a virtue, but right now this Ryan kid was walking a thin line. A thin line that separated Rachel’s patience and her not so nice you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry side. Not that she ever showed that side much, nor did she like to. However, Rachel wasn’t about to take the brunt of this kids anger all because she gave him a prophecy. She sighed a little, if she could control her prophecy she wouldn’t have given one to this kid.

She turned her nose up and looked back out to the other campers busy with training. None of them had so much as glanced over when she spouted off her little poem of doom. “Well you don’t have to be snippy about it. Do you always try to chew people’s heads off when they apologize to you?” She waved a hand to dismiss the comment. “Nevermind. Forget it.”

Rachel began to play with her hair, which she had been let grow out. She started to braid a section of the left side. Glancing back over to Ryan her lips pursed. He had no idea who he was going to take. Then again why should he, she did just drop it on him a few minutes prior. She tried to smile in a friendly fashion. “Just keep an open mind about the prophecy. They always seem to have double meanings. And I know I should just shut up about it now but when have I ever been known to do that?” She let out a small chuckle and went back to watching sword fights and spear fights.

Her head tilted to the side. “I know my advice isn’t much. But for what it is worth, try choosing someone you know you can count on. Don’t just go for strength. Friends are good to have on a quest, I witnessed that with Percy and Annabeth and Grover. You could say I was on a quest myself once. I hit Kronos with one of my hairbrushes. I liked that hairbrush too. Shame. I’m blabbing on again.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

“I’m guessing you have no problem with telling people to shut up. So don’t be afraid to tell me to shut my trap.” The fact that Ryan had stayed here this long, prophecy or not meant something though Rachel didn’t know what that something was. Perhaps he was still in shock from the prophecy, maybe he was just waiting for the right moment to lash out at her. Sons of Ares, or any kid of Ares, had hot tempers and short ones. Rachel figured from the tone in his voice that the fuse was slowly burning down. She didn’t want to be there when it finally went off. Mostly because she would defend herself and probably end up getting killed. The poor kid was probably gonna start a war, he didn’t need to be known for killing the Oracle.

[Ryan Simons]

Ryan really didn't want this and he didn't want to be putting up with this after what happened this morning. It was weird to think only a few hours had gone by. He looked at the Oracle girl. Looked like she was getting slightly ticked. Ryan couldn't help a slight smirk; back to his old ways, again. Sadly, that was one of his goals in life, seeing as he didn't have many: Tick as many people off as possible. Well, now he had another goal since she gave him this stupid prophecy! Ryan seriously didn't want to be responsible for two other Camper's lives. Sure, he said he hated Camp and the Campers all the time, but did he really?

The son of Ares was a long way away from having a long fuse. His fuse was usually short; right now, he felt it was about to snap. He glared at the girl then dropped his gaze; he still didn't really have the energy to be that angry nor want to really fight right now. Oh, well. Whatever, no reason in being angry about her giving him the prohecy anymore. It was done and it was going to happen. Besides, as she said, she had no idea she was doing it. All he could think was that if someone died, he'd never live it down. The danger and death thing... great. If he was going to become a murderer as his second career, then he was half thinking to just jump off a cliff.

It was a weird feeling, not really wanting to fight. Usually he did, always. But now he felt more or less miserable. Even though he had spent a good few hours with Nike and she had sorta rubbed off on him a tiny bit, he still felt horrible. He was alone with this. "Whatever," he growled, rolling his eyes. "Yes, I do. Get used to it," he snapped. Now he seriously didn't want to put up with her. He was half wondering if he had been raised by his mom if he would of been like this. Nurture over nature, possibly? He shrugged. Whatever.

Asking someone would be very very very very weird. He didn't need anyone's help for anything; he had never given, received nor asked for help on anything (excluding having received help with weapons; one of the Apollo girls and his Aunt had helped him, he hadn't asked them to though). He rolled his eyes. Keep an open mind about the prophecy... right. It seemed pretty much straight forward in his head. One of his many flaws was he was stubborn and mostly closed minded. It would take a very long time to change his mind, and he wouldn't admit it even if he did change. "Never," he snorted, rolling his eyes. Actually, he didn't know since he had never met her.

He looked at her, letting her just finish without interruption. "I don't have any friends," he growled after she finished. That and he didn't trust anyone. No one at all. Maybe Nike, a teensy tiny one fraction of a millimeter, but that was it. Ryan trusted no one and was friends with no one. The demigod shrugged. True, her talking on and on was annoying to Hades, but he had no idea what to do or anything on a quest. True, he was independent, stubborn and antisocial, but after he peaked through his stubbornness a bit, even he knew he'd need some help with this.

"I don't," he snarled glaring at her. Then half sighed. "I... just don't really know what to do with this quest thing," he said. It was sort a true that he was admitting defeat to this. Before this morning, if he had been given this yesterday, he would of just roughed it out. But now, after Alex and Nike, he was slowly starting to snap. It would be a long time before he did entirely. Most of the time, he wasn't sure weather he wanted to or not. Even though his temper was slowly burning down because of her annoying talking, he sort of wanted to learn everything he could about this quest thing.