Ryan, vigilant as ever, noticed when Eddie left the tent in the middle of the night. She had been asleep, but she's always had a knack for these things. She caught the sight of the flap falling closed right after she glanced down and saw the empty space where he had been curled up minutes before. With warning bells going off in his brain, she rose from under on of Eryan's stray arms and quietly slipped on some shoes. Lucy's wingbeats barely made a noise as she fluttered onto Ryan's shoulder.

He was easy to follow; the whole camp was dark and the only sounds were the hum on insects and slight rustle of leaves in the breeze. The trees sounded different here in the West then they did in her homeland. Eddie stuck out like Peri in a wolf pack, the small flames on his finger tips giving away his location as he scuttled along the ground. He was like a firefly, some Ryan had only heard about and had to witness for herself, but Craig had told her plenty of stories.

Eddie was crouched at the edge of a creek just little ways off from the camp. Ryan noticed the tank he kept his axolotl in was empty as she approached. She barely made any noise but he still glanced over his shoulder and jumped to his feet in surprise when she practically melted out of the shadows.

"Ryan!" He gasped. "You scared me!"

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked, ignoring his surprise.

He relaxed ever so slightly. "Letting Kai have a swim. She's a familiar and all but she does get cramped sometimes."

The little grey axolotl was nearly invisible in the darkness but Ryan could make out her head breaching the surface of the water.

"Do you normally just get up in the middle of the night to let your familiar swim?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Eddie sighed. "No. I don't normally have other people in my tent either."

Ryan nodded slowly in understanding. "Ah."

He sat down again and Ryan felt compelled to join him, so she rolled up her leggings and let her toes dip into the cold water and the mud on the creek bottom sunk in between her toes. It was nice. Lucy hopped out from the shelter of her long dark hair and perched on Ryan's knee. She caught Eddie staring at her bird.

"Sorry, it's just you both have parrots. It's cool."

"It is hereditary."

Eddie tilted his head. "Do you know your parents?"

Ryan shook her head.

"That's okay, I don't really either." He admitted. "Once you're on the boat to Thanatos everyone's a stranger."

This was her chance. "Is it really that bad?"

Eddie huffed. "When I was there, there was a man called Antaeus was the self-proclaimed leader. He was bigger and stronger than everyone else and if you wanted to run things differently then what he told you, he would challenge you to a fight. If you back out, you're thrown off the cliff. If you can beat him, you take charge. Nobody ever won, so nobody ever challenged him. He forced all the kids to hunt for him and he never shared any of the food. If you wanted to eat you had to go out late and gather what you could. If you disobeyed him, he would kill you. If you challenged him, he would kill you. If you tried to desert, he would hunt you down himself and kill you."

Ryan felt chills run down her spine, his words were so vivid and full of pent up desperation she could taste it in the back of her mouth. "That's horrible."

He nodded. "Bundi was always sneaking out the younger kids and making sure they ate. I'm one of the ones they managed to get back to the mainland but I was sure Antaeus caught them, I thought they were dead. It's a huge relief to see them up and fighting still."

     Ryan, though she had never met this Bundi, also felt some form of security that they were the person hopefully looking out for her brother. They seemed responsible. The two of them sat in silence for a bit longer while Kai drifted around the slow-moving creek. Ryan could see Eddie curling and uncurling his fist by his sides and pulling up the reeds that grew along the bank.

     "We're not friends, right?" He asked.

     "I don't think so." Ryan replied. "I think we're just two people who know each other, who also happen to be aligned with two different armies."

     "Then can I ask you something? As someone who's not my friend?"

      "Sure thing."

"The other boy in your group, who is he?" Eddie yanked up another pond reed, then promptly set it on fire.

"His name is Jason Griffith." Ryan watched his face in the burning reed-light. "He's from the North. His familiar is a peregrine falcon. He likes to keep to himself."

Eddie nodded slowly. "Who is he to you?"

"Just another boy, an arrogant, protective, and smart boy. Also... maybe a friend." Ryan explained. "Friends trust each other, I'm not sure if he trusts us just yet."

The chirping of crickets and scrambling of nighttime wildlife seemed to lower their volume in respect for the two not-friends. Eddie was emotionless yet... solemn. The gears were turning in his brain and Ryan could see that. She was running those same exact numbers.

"Who... who is he to Craig?" He asked it like he was being held at spear point with his back to a cliff.

"Hm. Romantic, a bad boy with a secret, someone he can help. Craig really likes to help people. It definitely gives him a sense of purpose and something to hold onto."

"Hm." Eddie said quietly.

Then it was just them, their two familiars, and the soft sounds of the night keeping them company.

"For the record, I don't Percy knows the full extent of her actions." Ryan said.

Eddie frowned. "You call her Percy?"

"She insisted."

"Hmf. Well it's still wrong. Daímonas are only going to act like uncontrollable demons if you treat us like that, and it's not just the fire-handed that hurt people. I've seen Apophis do horrible things too." He grunted.

      Eddie kicked the rocks at the bottom of the creek angrily and stirred up dust. Kai momentarily swam over to the other bank. Ryan glanced up at him but couldn't see any more of the tell-tale signs for mind-control in the darkness. For Kosmos sake she wasn't even sure what those signs were.

     "Eddie, why do you stand by her? If she's obviously such a terrible person why not leave, or better yet fight against her." Ryan had to ask.

     "Because she took me in. Apophis doesn't ban entire minorities of people to a death island for they way they were born and things they can't control. Sure, she's violent, paranoid, and aggressive, but at least she has some sort of fair ground for her accusations. You do anything you want in Katestra, dress the way you want, love whoever you want, go on to chase whatever future you want, as long as you're loyal to her. That's all she asks, loyalty in return for her kindness. Apophis has given me too much for me to back out now."

     "Even if she's willing to hurt people to get what she wants?"

     "What she wants is equality from people who hurt her." He said stubbornly. "I don't agree with how she's going about it, and I don't believe she's a good person, but I don't think Persephone is either. I think leaders who are also good people don't exist because you can't be untainted and still make the decisions a leader must make."

Ryan folded her arms. "Sounds like you think about this a lot."

"I do."

"Do you think Craig is a good person?"

Eddie paused, and his hands just hoovered in the air for a moment, because they both knew what they knew. They had both seen Craig's face harden in the midst of a tense situation and start figuring out the best compromise for both sides. It didn't matter if it was two strangers he met on the street, or his own friends, or even the Queen of Zoo and her Arch-Nemesis themselves. Craig had the foundations that anyone would recognize as a leader.

"I think Craig is the best person, but I am biased." His voice shook. "I think he would do anything is his power to stop the people he loves, and even hates, from getting hurt. It for that exact reason why I think he is not a leader."

      "Ooh, good answer." Ryan smirked.

     Eddie looked up at her, eyebrows tilted downward and a shrewd grin on his lips. They were talking like only people who weren't friends could, just as Craig's sister and the boy who was hopelessly in love with him. The kind of talk that only happens when the crickets are chirping and the moon is staring down at the earth and slowly waning away as she calls for her lover, the sun.

     "Out of curiosity, what do you think is a good person, Eddie?" Ryan inquired.

     He sighed and waited a few moments before answering. "Someone who stands up for other people. I am not a good person."

     "Hmm." Ryan tapped her chin.

     "What?" He asked.

     "I know a certain best person who would love to differ." Ryan pointed out, as she stood up and shook the water off of her legs. "Goodnight Eddie."

     He didn't reply, just stared off into the dark water with a burning reed in his hand.