Athena and Celso eventually arrived at the hotel. Athena walked through the doors and expected him to leave, but he followed her all the way to the door of her room. She unlocked the door and turned to Celso.

"Thank you again for helping me," she smiled at him. "I really appreciated it."

Celso smiled back. "You're welcome."

The door across them opened and Derek stepped out. He looked between the two of them and folded his arms.

"I thought I heard voices."

Athena saw Celso shift closer to Athena out of the corner of her eye. She rolled her eyes. "Derek, this is Celso. He's the friend I was telling you about. Celso, this is my brother, Derek."
 
Derek eyed Celso up and down before sticking his hand out. "It's nice to meet you."

Celso met his hand and shook it. "The pleasure is mine." He smiled at Derek, but his smile never reached his eyes. Celso then turned to Athena. "Are you doing anything later tonight?" He smirked at her.

Athena's stomach flipped. Even though she already told her brother that she was going to go with him tonight, she wanted to drop everything and just be in Celso's company the entire day. She tucked a strand hair behind her ear and nodded her head.

"I promised Derek we would go out to a restaurant tonight for our first night in Italy." She looked at Celso and saw that his smirk was replaced by a smile; a fake one.

Celso nodded his head and grabbed one of Athena's hands. He bent down and planted a soft kiss before looking up at her. "You know where to find me." He turned to Derek and gave him a quick nod before turning and disappearing down the hallway.

Athena watched him leave. When she was sure he wasn't turning back around, she turned to her still opened door and walked through. She heard footsteps behind her and knew that Derek had followed her in. The door closed behind him and he stood there with his arms crossed and giving Athena a pointed look.

"What do you want?" Athena sighed while rolling her eyes. She walked over to her luggage and rummaged through until she found a cleaner shirt than she was wearing now.

"I don't trust him," was his only reply.

Athena rolled her eyes again and huffed. "I don't understand, Derek. He's perfectly fine." She walked into the bathroom and changed her shirts.

"You've only known him for about a day and you already admit that you trust this guy?" Athena heard him argue from the other side of the door. "He could be lying to you about who he is or whatever he told you."

Athena huffed again and opened the bathroom door. "I've thought about that Derek." She placed her dirty shirt by the suitcase. "Yes, I have my suspicions. Yes, I'm still a little weary about him, but I feel as if I could trust what he's telling me."

"Why do you think that?" Derek countered. He still stood where he was before. Except for this time he had his hands on his hips instead of them being crossed.

Because he saved me and showed me things that I didn't realize were true. She thought to herself, but she wasn't about to let Derek know that she had been in danger. If he knew, he might not ever let her wander the city alone and then she might not get to see Celso again.

Instead of telling her brother the truth, she shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I just have a feeling." She turned away from him so he couldn't see her smiling.

Behind her, she heard Derek huffing loudly and the springs on the bed crying out. She turned around and saw Derek lying down on the bed covering his face with his hands. She gave a small smile and sat down next to him.

"I'll be careful, Derek," she told him gently.

Derek took his hands off of his face and looked at her with concern in his eyes. "I know you will, but I can't speak for Mr. Odd Personality."

Athena held back a chuckle and patted Derek's head. He swatted her hand away and changed the subject. "Where do you want to go eat?"

Athena jumped off the bed and rummaged through her bag until she found her map. She brought it over to Derek. "While I was walking around with Celso, I thought this one looked cute."

"Athena," Derek started. "I don't want to go to a restaurant just because it looks cute. I want to go because the food is good."

Athena rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. "Shut up! I assure you, Celso told me that the food there is delicious."

Derek ran his hands down his face. "If I hear his name one more time I swear I will explode."

Athena laughed and shook her head. She got off the bed and pulled on Derek's arm. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," he slowly got off of the bed and walked over to the door.

They both walked out of the door and out of the hotel. The restaurant Athena was wanting to go to wasn't that far away, but it was still quite a walk. Athena felt at ease walking beside Derek and laughing at the silly comments he would say about the decor or structure of the buildings. Eventually, they reached the restaurant and waited to be seated at a table.

Once the hostess appeared, asked where they would like to sit, and they were seated, Athena got a good look around. They were sitting outside on a large stone terrace overlooking a beautiful pond. There were ducks splashing around in the pond and children's laughter filled the air.

The sky above them didn't have a cloud in the sky and the weather was perfect. A light breeze found its way over to the siblings. Athena looked down at the menu and quickly got her phone out to help her translate whatever she was about to order. Eventually, the waiter did come and take their order and they were left to wait for their food.

Athena laughed occasionally at Derek's excuses for jokes but would get lost in the scenery around her. To her, it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen. While she was looking around, she noticed a familiar looking figure in the corner of the restaurant.

The figure was holding a book up to his face, but his eyes were on her. He lowered the book a little so more of his face showed. Athena was relieved to know that it was only Celso. She relaxed a little more knowing that he was there watching her.

Suddenly, her phone rang and both siblings looked down at the sudden ringing. Athena picked up her phone and stared at the unknown number. Thinking it had to be something from work, she answered it.

"Hello?" She looked up at Derek and motioned for him to come closer. He pulled his chair around and leaned his head towards her and tried to listen to the other side of the conversation.

"Good afternoon, princess," a gravely voice responded from the other side.

"Who is this?" Athena didn't recognize the voice as any of her coworkers.

The voice chuckled. "You'll learn soon enough, my princess. I suggest you look up before lover boy gets what's coming to him." The person hung up and Athena quickly looked up in the direction Celso was sitting and saw a large black figure behind him.

Celso was watching her with worried eyes and didn't notice the figure behind him. Athena stood up quickly and yelled at him. She pointed to the figure behind him.

He looked behind him just in time to dodge a swing from a rusty sword. Celso pulled out two swords and started to block the oncoming attacks from the demon. He was pushed back until he was close enough to Athena and Derek.

Derek grabbed Athena's hand and pulled. "Come on, Athena! Let's get out of here!"

Athena shook her head. "No! Not without Celso!"

Derek glanced over at Celso struggling against the demon. "He looks like he's got this!"

Athena shook her head and wiggled out of Derek's grip. She turned back and watched with wide eyes and Celso lost his footing against a wet patch and fall on the stone. The demon sprung on him instantly. Celso had lost one of his swords somewhere and was only deflecting the demon's attack with one.

Athena looked around for the other sword and found it a couple of feet away. She ran towards it and grabbed it. She held the sword out in front of her. It was heavier than she thought it was going to be, but she gripped it as hard as she could. She ignored Derek's cries to her and focused on the demon on top of Celso.

He might be here to protect her, but she wasn't going to let him get himself killed for her sake.

"Hey! Ugly! Over here!" she yelled at the demon.

The demon reared its red, beady eyes on her and lunged at her. She dodged the attack and landed closer to Celso. He grabbed her waist and pulled her behind him. He took the sword out of her hand and looked at her like she was crazy.

"Why would you even think of doing that?" he questioned her.

Athena gave him a look and shook her head. "I'm not going to let you get killed!"

"I'm the one who's protecting you!" His eyes bored into her's.

Athena stared at him with equal emotion. "If you're protecting me? Then who's going to protect you?"

The question caught him off guard. He kept staring at her. He quickly turned his head when the demon came at both of them with full force. Celso wrapped his arms around Athena's waist and rolled out of the way of the demons attack. He stood in front of her and held his swords out to the side.

Athena could see his muscles through the shirt ripple with power. This time he easily deflected every blow and caught the demon off guard. He pushed it to the ground and stabbed both of his swords into the demons neck. A high scream filled the air and the demon disintegrated.

Celso stared at the spot where the demon had been seconds before. He then turned to back to where Athena was sitting and crouched down in front of her. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and pulled her up into a standing position.

Athena quickly wrapped her arms around Celso's waist. She laid her head on his chest. She felt his arms wrap protectively around her.

"I appreciate your concern," he whispered in her ear. "I just don't want you to get hurt." He tightened his grip on her when they both heard a shuffling of feet behind them.

Athena looked over Celso's shoulder to see Derek standing behind them. He had his arms crossed and a confused and skeptical look on his face. "It's Derek," she whispered to Celso.

They both separated from each other and turned around to face Derek. They stared at each other for a while in silence. Each second of silence grew even more uncomfortable for Athena. Eventually, she walked over to Derek.

"Are you alright?" she asked him slowly.

Derek looked down at her and his eyes softened when he saw that his sister was alright. He grabbed his sister in a hug and held onto her tightly. He let go of her when Celso came up to them.

Celso cleared his throat. "You need an explanation."

"Yes, I do!" Derek put an arm out in front of Athena and pushed her behind him. "Who are you really and what was that thing?"

Celso quickly looked at Athena. An emotion flashed in his eyes but was gone just as fast. "We need somewhere private to discuss this. Please, follow me." He turned to leave and Athena tried to follow him but was pushed back by Derek.

"Derek, please, trust him!" Athena was beginning to get annoyed with her brother. She knew that he was just being protective, but it was beginning to be too much.

"We don't know him!" Derek countered. "He could be another one of that thing that attacked."

Athena shook her head. "No, he's not! I trust him! Now, please, just follow him!" She quickly got away from his grasp and ran up to Celso who was waiting for them. Athena looked behind her to see Derek slowly walking towards them. She smiled victoriously at herself and grabbed onto Celso's arm.

They both then turned away and began to walk to Celso's home.