Chapter Eleven; Emotions.

There are many joys in this world. Some are free, such as the song of a bird or the laugh of a newborn child. Some are hard to find: true friendship and trust. Others are within your reach but simply come at a price. To find joy, whether it be the colour of the sky or finding a rare diamond among rough stones, is perhaps one of the greatest wonders of life. Many scarcely find joy whereas the more fortunate scarcely see a day without such a thing.

They say that the greatest joy in the world is to love, to feel, to care for somebody enough that you would risk your life for them. They say love is the most powerful thing in all of existence. Love, they say, is the greatest joy.

Only, is this joy not a curse? A plague that has swept through the ages swiftly, capturing all and holding them without mercy. To love is to bring pain; love causes loss, hurt, betrayal, deception... anger, wrath, envy, greed. Love drags such deadly weapons to you so quickly you find there is nothing you can do to stop them. You cannot, when associated with Love, avoid Pain. Pain finds you, it seeks you out and tears you limb from limb until all that remains is a shattered spirit, a deadened soul... and then Pain has won. All thanks to that wretched demon Love the sky caves in and you are sucked into empty black nothingness; The Sins stalk Love's shadow. They are always there, waiting, ready to capture, claim and crush.

They say that love is the greatest joy; they say that such a joy brings a curse of which you cannot escape.

But what if it's worth it all in the end? Forget the madness, the insanity, the hurt and the pain. What if the time that you are free to love without devastation is so great, so wonderful that it makes the pain worth suffering? If you can fight for love, does that mean it's worth fighting for?

Is love worth the curse that follows in its wake; is love worth it all?

-x-x-

"Interesting," said Scarlet, watching as Thea and Matthew walked away together, "Very interesting."

"I'll say," Dave agreed. "Is it just me or did he only come over to talk to her?"

"Looks like it."

"I feel used," he muttered.

Ellie, puckering her brow, stared after them. "Is that the son of Zeus?"

"Yeah, Matt Finley," Kyle nodded. "I suppose you've heard of him, then?"

"Interesting," Scarlet repeated, now with her eyes on Jacob.

He said, "What?"

"Nothing. So, any alliances open for Capture the Flag? We haven't got any yet and it's on Friday again."

"We will," offered Kyle.

Nodding, Lyra added, "I'll talk to my sister. She should be fine with it."

"I'll let Thea know. She won't mind."

"We Dionysus kiddie-widdies ain't picky. We're all yours."

"Awesome. We've got, like, four already!"

"I'll try not to kick your ass this week, Jacob, but I can't make you any promises."

"Don't get too confident, Ellie. You just got lucky last time. I've improved."

"So have I. What's your point? I'll blow you out of the game."

"Watch it man, that sounds like a threat," teased Kyle.

"Yeah," was all Jacob could say. There was a glint in Ellie's eye: something strange, like she knew something he didn't.

I'll blow you out of the game.

"You know what? I just remembered I'm meant to be somewhere."

Abruptly he jumped to his feet and hastily started walking away.

"Where you have to be?" Ellie called after him.

"Anywhere you aren't," he whispered under his breath and broke into a run. He thought he caught a glimpse of two dark haired figures on the beach but ignored them completely, tired of trying to understand what was going on between Thea and Matt Finley.

Only did he realise what he was doing when he was inside his cabin, hands gripping the smooth handle of the Greek sword that was leaning so easily against the wall.

She'll kill me, he thought.

"But she doesn't have to know."

-x-x-

Ellie wondered if her father knew he was killing her.

Not literally, of course – she was as alive as she had ever been, if not more. Inside, however, things were a little different. Why wouldn't he claim her? Had she been a disappointment to him? Was he ashamed? Feeling like an idiot, she stumbled over a pothole in the ground and cursed loudly, despite nobody being around to hear. How long had she been sitting on that Sound for? A couple of hours, at least.

At no point had she thought it would be instant. Never. Unlike that Thea girl, she had always known waiting would be involved...but waiting for a month? What was the point in that?

All she wanted was for things to be confirmed. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less. She wasn't one to not believe what her mother was saying, but wasn't something like this easily un-believable? It was so insane, so impossible, so not right that it was everything she wanted, and all that she needed was a simple confirmation... that she feared would never come.

He was the greatest: he was the Lord of-

"What the heck?" she whispered, narrowing her eyes on the figure in the combat ring. It was getting late and pretty soon it would be lights out. What was he doing, training like that at night?

Stepping in the shadows Ellie crept closer, watching Jacob attack the helpless dummy as if his life depended on it. There was nothing but pure concentration on his face, masking him and making him look like a completely different person. Between the humidity of the night and the heat of training he had abandoned his shirt and seemed to be using it to mop the sweat off of his face. Dirt had smudged across his chin and there was a smear of blood above one of his eyebrows; apparently, he had caused himself an injury.

Touching the dagger she kept hanging on a belt, Ellie stepped up to the fence of the combat range and slipped in side. Jacob was so focused on hacking the dummy to pieces that he didn't even notice her until she picked up his damp t-shirt and threw it at the back of his head.

"You're sweating like a pig."

There was a loud clatter as he swung his sword and let go, making it collide noisily with the dummy.

"You freak, don't do that!" barked Jacob, grabbing the t-shirt and rubbing it roughly across his face. "Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on people?"

"Don't you know it's rude to attack someone when they've got nothing to fight back with?" Shaking her head, she scoffed. "Please, Jacob. I think you can do better than chopping up fake people."

Now retrieving the sword he picked it up and anxiously checked it over, as if afraid it had gotten damaged. "Thea's busy."

"Right, let me guess, you only fight your sister?"

"I fought you, didn't I?"

"And lost."

Casting her a filthy look, Jacob shook his dark hair out of his eyes. "What do you want, Ellie? In case you haven't noticed I'm busy right now."

"Well I thought I'd lend you a hand. Be a good Samaritan. You know, all that jazz."

"Well I'm fine on my own so if you just go away I'll get back to what I was doing-"

"Oh, just cut the crap, Jake," she snapped shortly. "I'm offering to help you get better because you won't if you're only ever fighting Thea and a bunch of dummies. Take it or leave it, I've got other things I could be doing right now."

At first she thought he was going to say no: he frowned at her, his dark eyes unreadable, absent-mindedly rolling the sword hilt in his hands.

"All right then."

The dagger at her waist was removed and held out readily, glinting in the light of the full moon that peered shyly from behind the clouds. After one brief second of hesitation, they moved at once.

And it was just like the last time. The two of them were equal in skill and ability, but Ellie was faster and Jacob had the upper-hand in strength. Back and forth, back and forth they stepped, lunging and dodging and parrying for all it was worth. This time they wore no armour: one injury would be painful and real. Ellie fought to win, and Jacob fought to not let that happen.

"I thought you said you'd improved?" she taunted, ducking quickly from a blow that even she had to admit only narrowly missed. "From what I see, nothing's changed. If anything, you've gotten worse!"

"You're all talk," he accused, "and no action!"

"Unfortunately for you even my talk is better than your action!"

Ellie struck for his chest: he blocked it but in the same moment she hit him in the side of the face with the hilt of her sword hard enough that he cringed back. Seizing her opportunity she struck out her leg and tripped him up; he landed heavily on the floor. The sword he had been fighting with skid across the ground away from them.

"I win!" she declared triumphantly, standing over him and punching the air. "Ha, I did it, I bet you again!"

"Congratulations," he grumbled in return, crawling back to his feet. "You must be so pleased."

-x-x-

Never yet had Thea been accompanied on the beach. There they sat as pale blue faded to inky darkness, seeing the shadows of the sun cross the sky in a blend of peach, ochre and golden sunset, so beautiful, she thought, as the two of them watched the first of a thousand stars begin to shine. It had never occurred to her before just how incredible the sky was, and now that she knew, she could finally appreciate it.

Shortly it would be lights out but Thea wasn't thinking about the rules. She wasn't thinking of anything at all, really. Every now and again something would slide into her mind but she brushed it away impatiently, knowing that thinking too much might possibly ruin everything.

That was certainly not what she wanted. Though it was true that Thea, in that moment, was incredibly confused about what she did and did not want, it was clear in her mind that spoiling things would be something to regret.

Therefore Thea was simply enjoying herself, letting time pass without really noticing.

"It's sorted, then," said Matt conclusively. "Alliance made."

"It's an unbreakable alliance," she corrected. "You shook on it."

"True, true..."

Sitting on the dry sand of the beach, leaning back on their hands, Thea and Mat were simply talking, as they had been for the past few hours. For a change the beach had been empty all evening – a stroke of fortune. Most people were probably on the Sound or kicking back in their cabins. Didn't they realize how beautiful the night was?

"Do you think Jacob will be alright with it?"

"What?"

"Well..." Shifting, whether casually or uncomfortably Thea wasn't sure, Matt glanced at the sky and then back at the ocean stretching out endlessly before them. "He doesn't like me much. It's obvious."

"Don't be stupid, of course-"

"C'mon, Thee. No point pretending, is there? The guy's got something' against me. Do you think he'll be okay with the alliance?"

There was no point in lying. Jacob clearly did have some sort of grudge against Matt. He wasn't a very tactful person...he didn't hide it well.

"He should be okay. Plus, he shook on it. There's nothing he can do."

"Good point."

Flattening the sand at her feet, Thea wondered to herself exactly what it was that Jake had against Matt. Had he pissed him off somehow? The idea of Matt being rude or offensive was absurd, so what exactly had he done?

"Your hair looks nice tonight."

"What?" Her voice came out too quick and sharp.

Matt's eyes widened slightly in alarm. "I said your hair looks nice – not that it doesn't always look nice 'cause it does–I just meant–you know, that it looked, uh, extra-nice tonight?" Somehow he managed to frame it as a question with an apologetic expression.

Briefly Thea searched for a decent word. "Thanks."

"It's okay. Don't take it the wrong way. It was meant to be a compliment."

"I know. Thank you."

Relief brushed his face in a grin and he wiped it away quickly, clearing his throat and locking his eyes back on the sea. "You know, I'm surprised no one's here."

"I thought that, too," she said thoughtfully, tugging on her own plait. "Where do you think everyone is? Camp fire? It's usually really crowded here..."

"Oh, no, I didn't mean like that."

"Huh?"

His profile smiled quickly. "I thought someone would come up here to bug us or something."

"Why would they do that?" Thea frowned.

"Haven't you ever been on a date at camp before? Oh, right, course not, you haven't been here long... Sorry, I forget that sometimes..."

Did that mean they were 'on a date'?

"There's always someone trying to mess it up or "get the gossip"," he air-quoted, "so that they can go tell everyone they know. It sucks."

Did that mean he had been on a date with someone at camp before?

Wait – what was she thinking? Of course he had, she already knew that. Riley and Lyra told her all about how Matt liked to impress girls... Heck, he had actually been on a date with some girl called Tilly when they told her that.

Anxiety swept over here. Confusion, annoyance. Was she just another name to add to the list?

All of a sudden Thea felt very jealous.

"I suppose you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

To her surprise, he didn't sound offended or defensive. In response he merely shrugged. "I suppose. I've been on a few dates. Who told you anyway?"

"Riley."

"Riley? What the-"

"No–Riley!" she pointed.

For the first time that evening they were not alone. Walking toward them along the beach, using a long wooden staff to feel along the sand, was Riley. Splashing playfully nearby in the thin waves was Zeus, being a truly pointless guide dog but apparently having the time of his life in the process. It appeared that Riley had not noticed them: with one hand tucked into the pocket of his jeans he simply looked as if he was very deep in thought.

"Shit," mumbled Matt by her side, suddenly looking pale. "We should go."

"What? Don't be ridiculous, I-"

"Please."

"...Fine," she sighed. "It'll be lights out soon any-"

Cut off by a very loud bark, the two of them turned to see Zeus charging toward them like a small, wet, golden bear. He had seen them.

"Who's there?" called Riley, his voice seeming to echo over the vast space around them.

"Thea, come on, we need to-"

"Thea and Matt!" she called back before whispering, "It's only Riley. What's the big deal?"

"Doesn't Matter."

Zeus leapt up to Matt and nearly knocked him over, his tail whipping sand into the air as he barked crazily.

"What's going on?" insisted Riley when he reached them, holding his staff over his shoulder. "Who else is here?"

"No one," replied Thea while trying to dodge Zeus' wet paws on favourite t-shirt while scratching behind his ear. It was a wasted effort. "We haven't seen anyone here in ages."

"How long's that?"

"Not sure. Two, maybe three hours."

"What's up, Riley? Why are you out so late?"

"Z wanted a walk." His eyes cast downward to the exact spot where Zeus was sitting pleasantly, panting away, and then back up to Matt. There was something about them that wasn't right, and it wasn't just his opaque pupils. "You?"

"Hanging out. You know."

"Yeah, I do," he said shortly. Thea frowned.

"How've you been?" she asked.

"What do you care?" he snapped. "Last time I saw you attacked me."

"What?" asked Matt.

"What?" exclaimed Thea. "You attacked me!"

Oddly, Riley smiled. "Yeah, I did."

And Thea smiled back, but the colour of the sky seemed to have intensified over the past few minutes and she found it too hard to ignore. Any moment they could be at the mercy of the harpies, and that wasn't how Thea pictured she would die.

"I think I'm going to head back to cabin two-"

"I'll walk you," offered Matt, looking at her with a funny expression. "I live next door anyway. See you, bro."

Praying that the flush of colour in her cheeks wasn't visible in the darkness, Thea said goodbye to Riley and Zeus and was then was walked home for the first time in her life.

-x-x-

Ellie scowled at Jacob. Simply the tone of his voice contradicted the word 'nothing', never mind that pissed look on his face.

"You aren't offended, are you?"

"Offended?" he scoffed. "Never. I practically let you win."

"Oh, don't start that – admit it, I kicked your ass good-and-proper and you just can't handle it."

"I can, too!"

"No you can't. Oops, did I hurt your manly pride? I'm so sorry. Maybe I can lend you my makeup sometime to make up for it- ha, see what I did there? Makeup, make-up?"

"You're not funny!" he practically yelled at her, scrubbing his face with the damp t-shirt once more before throwing it aside in aggravation. "I bet you think it's hilarious that you beat me-"

"I do, actually."

"-well I don't! I'm trying so hard to train up and get as good as everyone else but I keep getting shown up by a girl, for God sake!"

"'For gods sake', don't blaspheme."

"See what I mean? You always have to be right! You always have to win!" Face red, Jacob stared at Ellie in anger, breathing heavily. "I'm sick of it already!"

"Jeeze," Suddenly feeling very awkward, Ellie took the red band off of her wrist and pulled her hair up into a pony tail. "I really did hurt your manly pride. Sorry, Jake."

Crossing his arms, he said, "Humph," and stared pointedly at the floor.

"Look, I'm serious," she told him, shifting uncomfortably. "I won't go telling everyone about this. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Okay-" he began, but stopped, eyes beginning to bulge, staring at the spot above her head. "What the heck-?"

Trailing her eyes upward, Ellie was vaguely aware of hearing herself gasp, hearing a yell of triumph, for her eyes were locked on the symbol floating above her head which perished seconds later into a foggy grey mist.

"I've-Finally! I've been claimed! Yes!"

"Um, Ellie?"

Mid air-punched, she stopped to say, "What?"

"Whose symbol is a big blue ball?"

-x-x-

Finally, Thea asked the question that had bugged her the entire the entire time she and Matt had walked back to their cabins. "Why did you freak so bad when Riley turned up?"

"I didn't freak," defensively, he told her, leaning against the door. "I don't know. Wanted some privacy, I guess."

"Okay, I thought you were mad at him or something."

"Me? Nah, I'm the cool, calm, collected one. Riley's the hothead... You know, tonight was pretty cool. I've never sat around with someone and done nothing for so long and actually enjoyed myself."

"Clearly you don't get out very much," she said, half-laughing, not knowing what else to say.

"If you say so," he smiled. "All right, I'll leave you here before your brother kicks my ass for keeping you out so late."

"As good a fighter as Jake's going to be one day, I think you would have the upper hand."

"True. I have the indestructible sword. Plus, come on. He said vampires would win. Could he be more wrong? Werewolves were made to kick sparkly ass!"

Thea laughed. "Night, Matt."

"Night, Thea."

And then she was lying on her bed, face hot, hand pressed against her cheek, breathing silently so as not to wake her sleeping brother. Sleep was the last thing on her mind.

-x-x-

Matthew watched her close the door of her cabin. He took a few steps back and paused for a moment to fill his lungs with the cool night air before turning around to face the shadows.

"No need to hide. Come out, come out, wherever you are."

From the constant gloom hanging around the Hades cabin stepped a tall, dark figure, his face plastered with anger, a fierce creature growling at his side.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was a speedy update - because I'm dying to put up the next chapter. The next chapter is a risky one. I wrote it originally just for my own enjoyment, but I liked it so much I wanted to put it up. Your feedback, as always, will really be appreciated. I can't tell you enough how much I love the fact that people actually read my stories... Y'all make writing about the twins worth it, just to know that people enjoy my work. I appreciate every single review I have, short or long, first chapter or last. I have to say that I actually appreciate when people give me CC (constructive criticism), because I think it really does help me learn. If you ever find a fault in my writing, never be afraid to let me know. Trust me, I'll love ya for it.

Woot-woot to all of you who voted Werewolves to win. I think exactly the same as good ol' Matt Finley.

Anybody have an idea about Ellie's father? I think it's pretty obvious now, but maybe not.

Eep, this is a big A.N. I didn't realize. Okay - thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks, THANKYOU for reading, reviewing, subscribing, alerting and even reading this big heap of chitchat. I never finish my stories - I never get past the first chapter! - but thanks to all of you, I've kept going.

THANK YOU READERS!

Hahs