Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Quote:
“Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.”
~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth
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Chapter 11: I Catch Myself on Fire

Derek 

It was four in the morning when Derek was woken up by Luke shaking him.  He grumbled an annoyed ‘what’.

“Have you been in Bryn’s room since we got back to camp?” Luke whispered.

“No.  Why would I go in there?  I don’t want to go in there.  Not when it’s empty,” he mumbled.  His brain had no filter on it this early in the morning, but Derek realized he’d said too much.  Opening his eyes, he saw Luke back away; Silena stood next to her brother, looking confused and tired.  Mrs. Winchester and Mr. Drew stood alert in the doorway.  Rubbing the back of his head, Luke said to someone on his cell phone, “Derek hasn’t been in her room either… And Neville didn’t bark at anything?  That’s weird… maybe he knew the intruder… stranger things have happened in our lives, dad.  For all we know, it could be her… I’m coming home.  I want to see if I can determine anything else they took.  I’ll call Mrs. O’Leary.  I’ll give her a ton of things to eat and drink so she can have enough energy to shadow-travel me back… yeah, love you too, Dad.”

“What’s happening?” Derek asked once his friend had hung up.

“Someone robbed Bryn’s room.  Only her room.  Your parents discovered it when they came home a couple hours ago.  They weren’t greeted by Neville so they went searching for him and found him in Bryn’s bed.  Then they realized her closet door was open.  They know for a fact they had her closet, bathroom, and bedroom doors had all shut when they left.  So how Neville got in there is a question in itself because I don’t think he knows how to open doors.  But then they found pictures missing.  You remember that bulletin board thing where she pinned up pictures, over half of them were gone.  Picture frames were gone, her phone charger was gone, her iPod charger was gone, makeup bag was gone, and a ton of clothes.  Whoever stole from her room knew what they wanted.  Question is: who did it?”

“Maybe it was Bryn,” Derek suggested. “You’ve said you’ve been dreaming about her right?  And some of those dreams have been coming true.  So maybe-”

“If it is Bryn, it’s not the Bryn we know,” Luke stated.

“What do you mean?”

His friend sighed. “She came to visit me in a dream, like her actual purpose was to see me.  She said she’s waiting to see what Underworld field she gets put into so she’s been watching over us.  She also said the Bryn I’m dreaming about is not her.  It looks and speaks and acts like her, but it’s not our Bryn.  She warned me to stay away from her and Penn.  I told her I’d try, but-”

“-But you want to know why Penn’s helped us,” Derek finished. “You promised her, but Silena and I didn’t.  We can find out what she’s up to without you breaking your promise to Bryn.”

Luke nodded. “All right.  I told dad I was heading home.  If you two want to stay here for a bit, that’s fine, but I’m going back.”

“I’ll come with,” Silena offered.

“Me too.  Bryn was my sister.  I could probably name a few things the person took too.  Let me get packing.”

Luke agreed and announced he was going to go call Mrs. O’Leary.  He went downstairs, followed by Mrs. Winchester and Mr. Drew.  Derek figured they were probably wanting to see a friendly hellhound because the idea itself was pretty ludicrous until you saw it for yourself.

It didn’t take long for his bags to be packed.  He went downstairs to find Mr. Drew pinned to the floor being licked to death by Mrs. O’Leary who had sprawled out on top of him.  Thankfully Mr. Drew found the whole thing amusing and was laughing as he tried to get a breath of air.

“Off girl, come on,” Luke ordered, giving the dog’s collar a slight tug.  The hellhound obeyed, giving her poor victim a chance to get up.  Mr. Drew’s face was covered in slobber.  When Silena came down, the three demigods got onto Mrs. O’Leary’s back.  They thanked Mrs. Winchester and her fiancé gratefully for their hospitality and saying they’d keep in touch before getting on the hellhound to begin their quick journey back home.  Derek always shut his eyes.  He didn’t know why; it just felt right.  When he opened them, they were at the Jackson’s home.  No one was there when they entered, but that was fine.  Luke threw down his stuff on the floor and bolted out the back door.  Silena and Derek could do nothing but follow, although Silena made sure the door was locked before she chased after the boys.  When they reached the Michaels’ house, the Jackson’s were waiting outside for them.

“Your parents are upstairs, Derek.  They’re trying to figure out if anything else was taken.” He nodded and left the Jackson family so they could all talk in private.  When he got up to Bryn’s room, he halted in front of the door.  He hadn’t been in there since she died.  He didn’t want to go in there, not when she wouldn’t be in there to greet him, or more often than not, throw a pillow at him for entering without knocking.  A knot formed in his throat.  He’d gone a week without crying.  Derek knew Bryn would want him to be strong in this, but letting go of someone you’d grown up was easier said than done.  Forcing the knot down, he pushed the door open.  Mr. and Mrs. Michaels stood there in deep discussion.  Upon seeing their son though, they pulled him into a hug.

“What were you thinking travelling to London without telling us?!  You could’ve gotten killed!” his mother chastised.  With a sigh, she added, “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

A few moments later, the Jacksons came into the room.  Percy asked if the kids could figure out if anything else was taken.  Hesitantly, they started sifting through her drawers and closet.  It was Luke who discovered something.

“Two pieces of jewelry are missing,” he declared, standing up.

“Do you know which ones?” Mrs. Michael’s queried.

“Two necklaces I gave her.  An infinity one I gave her for Christmas and an amethyst necklace I gave her for her birthday.”

“I can explain the infinity one.  She never took that one off.  She was wearing it when… when Hannah killed her,” Derek said. “So it’s just the amethyst one that’s missing.”

Luke nodded. “Okay.  Well it looks like they took everything important to her.”

“We should alert Chiron.  The burglar targeted Bryn’s room specifically.  She had stuff at camp too.  The person may try there as well,” Annabeth pointed out.

“I’ll drive the kids back to camp,” Percy said. “Annabeth, why don’t you call Chiron and warn him about the possibility of a thief and that I’ll be bringing the kids back to camp.”

Mrs. Jackson nodded.  Derek, Luke, and Silena followed her back to the Jackson’s car.  Since all three demigods had their backpacks, Annabeth simply drove straight to camp.

“How was Mrs. Winchester?” she queried, glancing at Derek and Silena in the rearview mirror before shooting a look at her son in the passenger seat.

“Just like Bryn,” Luke said. “Looks, personality, everything.”

“I thought it was Bryn when I first saw her,” Silena admitted. “Then her fiancé, Michael Drew, he’s sweet.  A little socially awkward but he says that’s from being a son of Hephaestus.”

“Did you tell her about your suspicions about Bryn?”

“Uh, sort of.  I told I’ve been dreaming about her and that in the dreams she working for the enemy, that there’s a girl named Penn who I swear is Bryn in disguise but I don’t have proof.  She didn’t say much in reply though.”

“It must’ve been hard, losing her daughter only to find out she’s been alive this whole time but then finding out she really did die this time… supposedly.  That’s a strong woman right there.  What about Brady and Bradley?  Did you tell her about them?”

“No… didn’t want to dump too much on her.”

“Understandable.” The group fell silent, and remained that way.  Silena fell asleep, Derek closed his eyes.  Luke must’ve thought both were asleep though because he whispered, “Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“I’ve been thinking… about college.”

“What about it?”

“With everything going on, is college the most important thing?  I mean we have a psycho on the loose, Bryn’s doing gods know what, Penn’s doing something that we can’t figure out, then the real Bryn is warning me to stay away from the people that I actually need to figure out, the Romans, well Antony in particular, are being jerks about joining forces when we have literally told them that unless we join forces, we won’t survive this.  Hell, it’ll be a miracle if we survive this with their help because let’s face it, if Bryn is on Hannah’s side, she could kick all of our butts to Timbuktu and back, and-”

“Luke!” Annabeth interrupted. “Calm down.  Yes, you have a lot on your plate, but it’s not healthy for you to focus on it twenty-four-seven.  Not all of the answers you’re seeking will come to you no matter how much you try to find out until the person that holds the answer is ready to tell you.  For example, in the case of Penn, she doesn’t want you near her for a reason.  I’m pretty sure you won’t find out that reason until she’s willing to let it be known.  Do you understand me?  And you shouldn’t have to stop your life and dreams and aspirations because some witch named Hannah is trying to take over the world.  Your father and I still went to high school when Kronos was plotting world domination.  We still hung out, albeit not on actual dates although I’m pretty sure Sally would’ve wanted them to be at that point in time.  Maybe you and Silena should go see her and Paul soon?  You both need a break.  Bring Derek too.  I haven’t missed the dark circles under his eyes.”

“That might be from the stress Silena’s causing him.”

“What’s going on between them?”

“They may have… broken up.”

“What?  Why?”

“Silena did it.  It’s not that he was keeping secrets, he just wasn’t telling us things right then and there and I understood his explanation about why.  I get it.  I’d do the same thing.  But Silena saw it differently and called it off.”

“She’s getting that from me.”

“You did it to dad?”

“No, but he may’ve led me to believe he died when he blew up Mt. St. Helens and then appeared at his funeral and even though we weren’t dating, I was beyond pissed at him.  I would barely speak to him.”

“Is that when you were jealous of Rachel?”

“I was not jealous of her!” Annabeth protested in a rather squeaky voice.  When Luke snorted, she admitted indignantly, “Fine, so I was a little jealous.  It’s in the past now though and she’s a close friend of mine.  But back to college.  Luke, you can do whatever you want, but don’t stop living your life.  Hannah already takes up a majority of your time.  Don’t let her take any more from you.”

Luke was silent before, “Okay.”
______________________________

Silena 

The sun was setting in the horizon, but enough sunlight remained for Silena to look at the surroundings and realize she was in New York.  She didn’t exactly know where.  It was unfamiliar.  However, it didn’t look like the richest, or safest area to be in.  In one corner, a bunch of little kids, not old enough to be in school yet, played with a small football.  Above them on a balcony sat a man reading a newspaper.  On the balcony over, a woman was hanging clothes out to dry.  A few seconds later, teenagers, high school students it looked like, started rounding corners, entering buildings, calling out hellos to each other, clapping each other on the back and other things.

One kid caught Silena’s attention though.  He was tall, buff, dark-skinned, wore torn jeans, a gray hoodie, and had headphones on.  The other kids kept their distance from him, shying away when he came near.  There was a group of six teens behind him.  By the look in their eyes, Silena knew they were up to no good.  Sure enough, they corned the poor teen into an alleyway.  No one went to help him.

“Hey Ty,” the group leader greeted.

“What do you want Victor?” Ty groaned.

“I want my daily payment.  How much money do you have on you?”

“None for you.  This money is for my mom.”

“No, that money is for me now.  Hand it over, brother.”

“You’re not my brother.”

“No, I’m not.  Where is your little brother?  Oh, that’s right.  He’s not here.  He’s in the cemetery.” Ty lunged at Victor, going for his neck.  The latter stepped out of the way, cackling. “You’d think after so many times, he would figure out that no matter how many times he fights us, he will never win.  Get ‘em boys.”

It turned into a full out brawl.  It was one on seven.  The seven were wimpy but they had numbers.  Ty had strength but he was by himself.  He was going to get tired soon too.  About fifteen seconds into the fight, activity ceased, each person stopping and staring at a black Lamborghini pulling up to the curb.  A blonde girl stepped out, and Silena recognized Bryn immediately.  She looked, simply put, like a badass.  With dark jeans, black boots, a white tank top, a black leather jacket, and aviator sunglasses, she was an impressive sight to behold.

“What’s going on here boys?” She queried, slowly, leisurely stepping towards them.

“Stay out of this lady,” Victor called. “We wouldn’t want to ruin that pretty face of yours.”

“This pretty face has fought and won against much bigger people than you.”

One of Victor’s companions stepped in front of her. “You have no business here.”

“Actually I do.  See, I’m here to talk to Ty.  Hey there Ty,” Bryn said sweetly.  He gave her a small smile.

“Well if you want him, you’re going to have to go through us,” Victor pointed out.

Bryn shrugged. “Okay, show me what you got.”

“Jack, at her,” the leader ordered.  The biggest guy in the group dropped Ty to the ground and stalked towards Bryn.  He had to be at least a foot and a half taller than her.  She just stared at him calmly.  He tried to grab her but she spun around him, kicking in the back of the knee.  Jack went down.  She grabbed his wrists, putting them behind his back, and pushed him onto the ground, her knee digging into his back.  He grunted and twisted but it was to no avail.

“Who’s next?” She questioned innocently.

“How did you- never mind.  Kirk, go.”

A second guy, acting more hesitant, approached her.  Kirk threw a punch at her.  Bryn dodged it, grabbed his arm, got behind him, and flipped him over her shoulder.  He landed with a grunt of pain.

Victor growled. “Looks like I have to do this myself.  Boys, let’s get her.”

Ty tackled one of the guys to the ground while the three remaining ones lunged at Bryn.  In a split second, the ones going for her were flying back, only stopping when they crashed into a brick wall.  Their shirts were smoking, the hair on their arms singed off.  They stared at her as if she’d grown a third arm but got back up, infuriated.  Ty tripped one of them, sending the guy sprawling unflatteringly onto the ground while at the same time falling on the guy in front of him.  Bryn met the remaining guy charge for charge, leaping up at the last seconds, wrapping her thighs around his neck, flipping herself, and him, back.  She landed gracefully in a crouched position.  Her victim lay motionless on the ground.

“What the-” Victor began.

“You, the one fighting Ty, back away.  Now,” Bryn commanded.  She went to stand next to Ty who stared at her with a fascinated wariness as his competitor backed away with his hands in the air. “Let me be clear: if I ever hear of or see you bullying Ty or anyone else again, I’m going to do a lot more than blast you back with a little lightning.”

“What kind of witch are you?” Victor demanded.

“Not a witch, just a demigod.  Ty and I will be taking our leave now.  Behave and have a nice day.” Bryn turned on her heel and began walking back to her car.  Ty snatched up his backpack before jogging up to her side.

“How did you learn to fight like that?” He asked.

“I’ve been training my whole life.”

“Who are you?  And what do you want with me?”

“My name is Bryn Winchester.  I came to talk to you and your mother?  Father?”

“Mother,” he filled in.

“I’m here to talk to you and your mother about your father.  But let’s wait until we get you back to your house.  It’ll be easier to explain where we are less likely to be overheard.  Where do you live?  I’ll drive us over there,” she offered.

“I just live a block over from here.  No need to drive.”

Bryn smiled and motioned for him to lead the way. “How old are you Ty?”

“Seventeen.  You?”

“Eighteen, so not much older than you,” Bryn said.

“You don’t look eighteen.  You look older.”

“So I’ve heard.  Many times actually.  Is this where you live?” She looked up at a red brick building.  Some of the windows were broken, others were still intact.  The steps leading up to the door looked rickety and worn.  Silena was amazed they didn’t break when the two people walked up them.

“Yes, ma’am,” Ty replied, opening the door for her.  She entered.  A few kids stared at her as she walked by, probably wondering who she was and where she was from.  Bryn smiled sweetly at them. “I apologize for the state of the place.  My mom and I try our best but it was never that great of a place to begin with.”

“I’m sure it’s lovely,” Bryn said sincerely.

“So you said you were here to talk about my father?”

“Yes.”

“Is it… bad news?”

“Depends on your definition.  Where I come from, people handle this news very differently.”

“Did you get the news yourself once?”

She nodded. “When I was three.  I know what it’s like to have an absent father.  I mean, my mother had this friend that was practically a father to me but my real one, I never met him until I was… oh, fourteen or fifteen and that was only because I was mentioned in some bloody prophecy.”

“Prophecy?”

“Story for another time.  My point is I know what you’ve been through, at least in some ways.”

“Do you have a family back where you live?”

“I had one, lost it to some monsters.  I had a second but that one I lost due to my own doing.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.  But enough of my woes, where’s your mum?  I can’t wait to meet her!” Bryn said cheerfully.
______________________________

Silena opened her eyes.  She was in the Poseidon cabin.  When did that happen?  How did she get here?  Last thing she remembered was her mother asking about Mrs. Winchester.  Shaking her head, Silena sat up, rubbing her eyes.

“Hello?” she called out.

Luke and Derek’s upside down heads dropped down from the top bunk simultaneously. “Hey.”

“What time is it?”

“Noon.  Chiron thought it’d be good if the three of us caught up on some sleep seeing as how we were up for a while,” Luke explained.

“Ah.  Uh, what are you two doing?”

“College crap.  Well, we were,” Derek said. “We were both trying to figure some of this stuff out because they do not make it clear whatsoever but then we got sick of it and went on to researching random things.”

“Surprisingly there’s nothing serious on raising armies from the dead.  Any time we search ‘skeleton soldier’ it brings up Tumblr and this thing called the ‘Skeleton War.’  Don’t ask, we don’t know what it is either,” Luke mused.

“Tumblr is a dangerous place,” the son of Hades added.

“All right you two,” Silena said, getting up. “I’ll leave you up to your weird antics.  I’m going to go get food.  I’m starving.  You want anything?”

“Bacon,” the boys said simultaneously.  Silena nodded, getting up, deciding not to question their sudden close friendship.  They’d always had each other’s back, but this was new.  She walked out of the cabin, promptly bumping into a girl three heads shorter than her.

“Oh I’m so sorry!” Silena apologized.

“You’re okay!” the girl chirped. “You probably didn’t see me.  It happens all the time, don’t worry.”

“What’s your name?  I haven’t seen you around here before.”

“Thera.  I came a few days ago.”

“Oh!  I remember you!  You were the girl who was being chased by monsters.  Did… did they ever find your friend?”

“No… but she’s alive.  I know it.  She messaged me saying she was going home, wherever that is.  She’s sort of nomadic.  She came across me in one of her travels.”

“How does she know about camp?”

“She attended it but left at some point.  I’m not entirely sure when.  Who knows, maybe you weren’t here when she was.  What’s your name?”

“I’m Silena Jackson.”

“I’ve heard about you!  You’re a granddaughter of Poseidon and Athena right?”

“Yeah, that’s me.  My brother too.  He’s with our friend Derek right now.  They’re busy with college stuff.  I’m going to get food for me and them.”

“May I join you?  It’s just you’re the nicest person I’ve met here.  You’re not afraid of me.  I was claimed by Eris, who is apparently the goddess of-”

“Discord.  So your mother causes a few things.  The campers shouldn’t be afraid of you for that.  And yes, you’re welcome to join me.  Why don’t you tell me about yourself along the way?”

Thera beamed.
______________________________

Luke 

The two boys waited for two minutes after Silena left before hopping off the bed onto the floor, rubbing their hands together.

“Okay, so you said Hallie had her hands aflame?” Luke queried.

“Yeah, she just like… thrust her hand out and it caught on fire,” Derek replied.

“Do it.”

“What if I can’t stop it?  What if I burn myself?”

“Dude.  You’re in the presence of a son of Poseidon.  In Poseidon’s cabin.  There is a small fountain behind you I can dunk you in if that happens.  Trust me.  You’re fine.”  The son of Hades gave the grandson of Poseidon a dubious glance. “Stop looking at me like I’m an idiot and light your hands on fire before Silena comes back.  And try not to set my cabin on fire in the process.”

“Thanks for the encouragement.”

“Any time.”

Derek rolled his eyes before shaking his hands in preparation.  He declared, “All right, here goes!”

He threw his hand down.

Nothing.

“Are you thinking about lighting your hand on fire?” Luke asked.

“No.  I’m thinking about lollipops and unicorns.  Yes I’m thinking of setting my hand on fire,” Derek retorted.

“Calm yourself McFeisty Pants, I was just checking.  Do it again.”

“McFeisty Pants?”

“I’m glad you can hear.  Now go.” Groaning, Derek did as he was told.  He threw his hand down for a second time.  Like before, nothing happened.  Frustrated, he let out an aggravated yell.  Luke sat down on Silena’s bed and banged his head on the walls, hoping that somehow, it’d give him some ideas.  Closing his eyes, he forced his brain to think.  Maybe Derek didn’t actually have the power?  Because who had heard of a Hades kid controlling fire?  But then apparently in the dream Bryn had told Hallie it was hell fire.  What was the difference between hell fire and regular fire?  So maybe Derek did have the power and he just wasn’t doing the right steps to get his hand to light up?

Luke couldn’t really think of rational reasons because Derek going ‘stupid… how in Hades name did she do this!  How… on earth… is it possible?!  Light up you freaking thing!’ was very distracting.

“Maybe you’re trying too hard,” Luke interrupted his friend’s rant, getting back up. “Try being calm while you think about setting your hand on fire.”

“How can I be calm when I am literally trying to set myself on fire?”

“Can you be a little bit more optimistic?  Come on, what’s it going to hurt you to try?” Derek scowled but conceded.  He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.  Silence was all that could be heard in the cabin for what seemed like hours when in reality, Luke knew it was only one or two minutes tops.  A small ‘whoosh’ made him open his eyes.

“Uh, Derek?” Luke said.

“Shush.  I’m concentrating.”

“I think you’ve concentrated enough.  Look down.” Derek opened his eyes, lifting his hand in front of his face.  A small fire flickered in the palm of his hand, slowly spreading.

“I did it!” Derek exclaimed in shock.

“Yeah man, you did!  Woo!” The two boys celebrated for a few seconds before the boy on fire said, “Uh, how- how do I stop it?”

“I thought you would know?”

“How am I supposed to know?!  I just learned how to get it to turn on or whatever!” Derek shook his hand, trying to put out the flames.  He came too close to Luke’s shirt though and the fire jumped onto the son of Poseidon.

“Ah!” Luke yelled, batting away at the fire.

“AH!” Derek shouted in response as his creation engulfed his hand.  The two sequentially screamed and hopped around, Luke simply from trying to avoid Derek’s flaming hand from touching him again.  Water being splashed onto Derek interrupted their idiotic dance.  Silena stood in the doorway with food, staring at them.

“You are both buffoons,” she remarked. “So, how long have you known you could do that?”

“Just now, I swear.  I had a dream about Hallie doing it so I wanted to see if I could and now I know I can, I just can’t… shut it off.  I’m gonna work on that though.  I don’t plan on burning anyone or anything down.”

“Good to know,” Luke commented.  Derek shuffled on his feet.  There was an awkward pause between the three demigods when finally the oldest Jackson said, “Okay, you two lovebirds have some talking to do and there’s no way I’m going to get involved in it.  Don’t know much about romance anyways.  Silena, no running away from it.  Derek, no shadow-travelling out of it.”

Luke grabbed a sandwich from Silena, saluting them as he walked backwards out of the cabin, shutting the door after himself.
______________________________

Derek 

An uncomfortable silence fell over the cabin as Silena walked over to her bed, placing the snacks down.  Derek remained where he was, trying to think of something to say, something that wouldn’t set her off on him again.

“So,” Silena began, “How’d you figure out that you had this superpower?”

“I dreamt it last night.  I went and told Luke when he woke up.  I kind of crashed here for the night.  After carrying you over here from the car, I sort of just plopped onto the bed and fell asleep.  Hope Poseidon didn’t mind…”

“Why’d you just tell Luke about the power?”

“It’s not exactly like you were all that accepting of my newfound powers,” he pointed out. “I thought I had a better shot with Luke helping me than you.”

“I’m not saying it had to be me or him, it could’ve been both of us.  Besides, this time’s different.  You just found out about it.  Those other secrets you’d been keeping from us for a while.”

“I wanted to figure out who Hallie was and how to control the ‘raising-the-army-from-the-dead’ thing before I told you two.  You know what it’s like to discover you have these incredible powers that you have no idea what to do with, how to use them, or to what extent they go.  But you had your brother to help you figure this out.  You could tell people your power.  I can’t.  For some reason I know I have to keep my powers a secret from everyone.  There’s a reason Hades kept me from knowing I was his son up until now.  I want to make sure I can control these powers so if you and Luke and I are ever trapped underground again, I can get us out of there.  If I had known about this before… before we went on that quest for Luke, then maybe Bryn-”

“-Would still be here,” Silena finished.

“Yeah.  I’m useful now.  I’m not saying I wasn’t before, but everything I did, you or Luke or Bryn easily could’ve done it as well.  But now I can do things that can help us and-”

“You’ve always helped us.”

“How?!  I don’t understand how!”

“Power doesn’t always mean the person who has the coolest abilities, whether that’s hydrokinesis or electrokinesis or raising armies from the dead.  Sometimes it’s the ability to merely be there and be an anchor.  You’ve always thought Bryn was the rock of the group, and at times, I thought that too.  Then I realized it was you.  You are the one whose approval we want.  I could’ve cared less if Bryn approved of my actions or not, at least after the first quest.  Luke always wanted to impress her.  You never had to.  Luke’s not our rock.  I’m sorry, I love my brother, but he’s not the most… stable, level-headed person.”

“Did you just call your brother insane?”

“Possibly.  Now, I’m not the rock because the same thing went for Bryn with me, and same with Luke.  Neither wanted to impress me.  I don’t… know about you.  But you, none of us, not even Bryn, has ever been as level-headed as you.  She, Luke, and I all act so impulsively.  You act on rationality.  When we got separated from Bryn, it was you who told us we had to keep moving.  If we hadn’t, the gods only know what would’ve happened to us.  You have always been useful so stop thinking you’re not, do you understand me?” Silena demanded.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“Silena, I know I ticked you off keeping those secrets from you but was it really that bad that you thought breaking up with me was the best way to go?” Derek asked softly. “Because that doesn’t seem like you.  There’s something deeper than that going on.”

Silena bit her lip. “We’re both children of the Big Three.  Our parents are fine if we’re friends, but you saw their reaction to Bryn and Luke liking each other.  We’re not supposed to date.”

“Silena, we dated for a year and neither Poseidon nor Hades ever gave us any hard times about it.”

“Well for all we know Poseidon doesn’t know about what you can do!”

“If that be the case then I would be glad to show him so we could find out.”

“No!  What if he says no?!  We can’t!  It was hard enough breaking up with you once.  I don’t want to have to go through it again!”

“You know, it’s always better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission,” Derek pointed out, slowly walking up to her.

“What are you suggesting?”

“I’m suggesting we say screw the gods and make our own path.  If they don’t like it, then too bad for them.  On the other hand, if you really don’t want to get back to together, then I understand, but at least let me know where I stand with you so we’re not in some weird limbo like we’ve been for the past week or so.”

Silena walked up to Derek and kissed him.  Pulling away, she grinned and said, “Then I say screw the gods.”
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So much in this chapter!  I couldn’t stop writing… review please :)