Brightpath2: no reviews for the last chapter guys, but hey, my co-writer got me completely re inspired for this story (as in I'm spending 99% of my time thinking about it, or drawing it), so poof! An update has appeared! Add to that the fact that I wrote nearly two whole chapters after having spent literally months on one chapter, I have to say I was feeling wonderful.

I'm fairly certain that I have seven fairly steady silent readers (I could be wrong, I have no idea who reads this story anymore) but in any case, to you out there who are enjoying this, in anyway at all, thank you so much! I've been working on these characters (with help from the other creators) since 2013, and this story is something I've worked really really hard on for a long time. I am literally at this point writing for my own pleasure and the pleasure of my co-writer, because we both know how this story ends and want to see it put down on paper.

Disclaimer: See earlier disclaimers. ;) they tell all.

Chapter 25

Riann

Keren jumped, her hand immediately going for her sword, and Riann flinched backwards.

When Keren saw her, she relaxed slightly, and started scrubbing her dirt covered hands in the water. "I just came here to be alone," she muttered. Then, after a moment of hesitation she continued. "You?"

"Same," Riann answered, deciding that it couldn't hurt to tell the truth in this situation.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Keren continued to wash her hands, doing it more to have something to do with her hands than anything else as far as Riann could tell. "So . . ." Riann said, once the silence got unbearable. "What happened to you?" Keren's hair was disheveled, and her eyes were red as though she'd been crying. Keren didn't strike Riann as someone who would cry often, or for no reason.

"None of your business," Keren said through gritted teeth, and she began to scrub harder, sniffling and blinking too fast and too much. It was obvious that she was trying to hold back more tears. As she noticed this, Riann caught sight of a dark bruise that was appearing on Keren's arm.

"You're hurt," she said suspiciously, reaching towards the other girl's arm.

"It's nothing," Keren snapped, pulling away.

"I can help with that," Riann said, and then almost cursed herself. What was she doing? She didn't even like Keren!

The other girl blinked in surprised, and her mouth opened and closed. She seemed unable to come up with a response, so Riann rolled her eyes and reached over to grab Keren's arm. It was easier since it was already in the water.

Waterr streamed over Keren's arm, and the bruise faded somewhat, then Riann reached into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out the pack of bandages that was there. Keren's surprised expression increased as Riann quickly and expertly bandaged her arm and then backed off.

"Thanks," Keren said after a moment. She sounded genuinely grateful, but Riann shrugged. She still wasn't sure why she'd done it in the first place.

There was silence again, but this time it was a bit less awkward. Riann decided to leave it as it was, instead taking her hair out of it's braid and combing through it with her fingers. It was tangled and messy, and she wondered if she should have washed her hair when she was in the ocean earlier.

Keren seemed to be relaxing somewhat, and was watching Riann out of the corner of her eyes. Riann felt uncomfortable, and realized that she'd taken her hair out in front of another person. She hadn't had a haircut since she was nine years old, and not only was her hair almost to her knees, but it was thick, so as soon as she let it out of the braid, it seemed to surround her, like a cloak of shadows.

"So," Riann said, hoping that a question would distract Keren. "What's the story?" she gestured to Keren. "How'd you end up here?" she waved her hands to indicate the camp. Suddenly she realized that she actually wanted to know. Keren struck her as someone who could strike out on her own, fight for herself, survive. She also didn't seem to enjoy being at camp.

So, Riann wondered, why was she here?

Keren hesitated for a few moments, staring at Riann with wary blue eyes. In the shadows of the forest, she almost looked like a ghost, even her fiery red hair muted. Her pale skin seemed to almost glow.

After a couple of minutes, Keren sighed. "You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you," she said, her voice momentarily threatening.

Riann just nodded. She'd asked Keren to spill her secrets, so she couldn't very well not promise to keep them.

Keren sighed. "When I was twelve, my dad told me that I was a demigod. My mother, he said, had no choice but to leave us both, even though she loved us. He told me stories about how they met, and how she'd tried to protect us as much as possible. Funny, when I was fourteen and a monster killed him right in front of me I wasn't thinking about how much she was protecting me," she added with a hint of bitterness. "I had a stepmom, and a little sister, but when dad died, she . . . she blamed me."

"That's not all, is it?" Riann questioned. She could hear the hesitancy in Keren's voice. The older girl almost glared at Riann, but seemed to catch herself, and sighed.

"I had a friend . . . A- a guy named Nicholas. We got . . . Pretty close. I thought that maybe . . . just maybe he would get it, he would help me get over my dad . . . he liked my dad," she added softly, "but then . . ."

"Something happened," Riann interjected. "Something always happens," she added bitterly, remembering the night her parents had died.

Keren took a shaky breath. "He got curious. He wanted to know the reason my dad was dead, the real reason, and I . . . I wanted to tell him. So I asked him to meet me at our favorite restaurant. That was when we were attacked, by the monster who killed my dad. It was following me, this huge minotaur. We both survived, but he . . . Ran away, right to the police. Told them . . . I don't know exactly what. Maybe that I'd sent some monster after him, that I was trying to kill him. It doesn't matter. I couldn't stay with the authorities after me. I ran away, following my dad's instructions on how to get to camp. He'd left me prepared. So I came here, learned to fight, found out exactly who my mom is. Maybe I don't want to be here Riann, but right now, it's the only place I have."

Riann nodded, feeling a wave of sympathy. She understood that. She had no home, no place, no family. However, she got the feeling that Keren was fighting for a different reason than she was. A very different reason. Riann fought to survive one more day. Keren fought to live.

Living was incredibly different from surviving.

"My mom is the goddess of love," Keren said softly, "but ever since that night, I've hated love. I've hated what people give up for it, and the pain it leaves behind when it's gone. Boys . . . Men . . . They hurt without seeing or caring about us, and I don't want any part of that."

Riann shivered. Somehow she sensed that those words held a lot of weight. Some godly being was in mourning because of them, and there was nothing that could fix them except for love itself.

Riann's eyes met Keren's, and she turned away. She felt as though Keren expected her to now share something about herself, and she supposed it was only fair. A whole backstory wasn't going to happen though.

"I've been on my own for four years," she said finally. "Fighting for my life. I've never gone a day without a monster attack, and there've been times when I was sure I wouldn't survive. There have been times I didn't even care if I survived. At first I would meet people, and no matter how long they were with me, or who they were, they either turned out to be a monster in disguise, or they were killed. If I've learned anything Keren, it's that I can't trust anyone. I can't put my life in someone else's hands. I work alone. Coach Hedge, my satyr, he was the first living person I'd spoken to in three years."

Riann shuddered, remembering the scratchy, disused sound her voice had when she'd first spoken to him. It had scared her for some reason.

"I don't trust easily, in fact, I'm not sure if I even can trust anyone anymore, but I'm willing to try. I'll go on the quest, just remember, I might not stick around afterwards, so don't get too attached," Riann said quietly. Then she stood up and walked away to be alone with her thoughts, leaving Keren behind, staring after her.

Aaaaaand that my friends, was a very emotional chapter. Demons. Lots and lots of inner Demons. Woot! Song of the chapter, Demons by Imagine Dragons.

(That song is actually the song that I connect most to this fanfiction.)

Anyways. So we've learned a lot about Keren (and very little about my very grouchy very prickly character who just happens to be named Riann.)

Alya (my co-writer) helped write part of this chapter (I think. If not, she did give me a lot of ideas, and all of Keren's backstory was fabricated by her, so yes.)

Yep. Yep. What constitutes for bonding time when one of them really resists bonding of any kind (RIANN) and the other is emotionally torn up and doesn't want to love anyone (KEREN).

Don't worry, someday these two lovely girls will be happy, or at least happyish. (let's go with happy though).

I love anyone who's out there, if you could please leave me a REVIEW! I will love you even more!