Talking continued from forest

Aaron walked back with Marie to the cabins. His foot stopped hurting for the most part. He was just wondering what Tyler was doing... Oddly.

Also strangely, Marie was feeling tired. Usually the moonlight made her feel better, like the water had healed Aaron, but she wasn't really tired. It was more like her insides were tired, if that made sense. Her feelings were worn.

Ironically, Tyler was sitting on the porch of the Apollo cabin, playing his guitar. He pretended not to see Aaron and Marie, but really, he was thinking about only that. Without realizing it, he accidentally broke a string, but he kept playing.

Aaron walked up to the porch of the Poseidon cabin. Sitting down, he managed to meditate for a moment before abruptly waking back up. He saw Marie and Tyler in close bounds, and I'm curiosity, he walked over, but giving them a wide berth.

"You realize you just ruined your guitar?" Marie asked Tyler, flinching at the horrible tune that now came from the instrument. Looking shocked, Tyler suddenly noticed the broken string. His face turned red, and he pulled out a small bag.
"I thought you didn't like me," he stated, gently removing the broken string and beginning to replace it. He watched her out of his peripheral vision.
Marie shrugged.
"I told myself I was being too harsh," she admitted, climbing the steps to the porch. She stood there, watching him carefully tie the new string on. He began tuning it, humming the right note the whole time.
"I've been working on a song," he told her, not looking at her blue eyes.

Aaron figured they were talking, and unwanting to be accused of stalking, he returned to his porch. However, from there, he continued to listen, though he busied himself otherwise. Seth had asked for a collection of ice arrows by tomorrow, as he and Nathan were going hunting, but he hadn't even gotten started.

Marie looked skeptical.
"What's it about?" she asked him tentively.
Tyler shrugged.
"It's probably not even any good," he muttered, plucking some chords. Marie came closer.
"Come on, you're a son of the God of Music!" she laughed. "I bet it's amazing."
Their eyes locked, and she wished she hadn't said that.
"Well, if you insist." His eyes had been twinkling, but now they became clouded. He began strumming a slow, sad tune. After a few measures, he started singing, and it was unlike any voice Marie had ever heard. She guessed that's what being the music god's son did.




She couldn't make eye contact with Tyler.

Aaron broke the arrow he was holding, fists clenched. He had no idea how badly they had hurt Tyler. He mended the arrow and continued.

When the song was over, Tyler set the guitar down so it leaned against the railing.
"It was awful, I know," he said before Marie could interject. And interject she did.
"No, Tyler, it was actually really good," she told him, feeling a twinge of guilt. She also wished she could write music like that, or even sing.
Tyler stared at his slightly-shaking hands, resting in his lap. He didn't know what to say. What could he say? He had screwed up everything with this girl.

Nathan walked by, sensing the awkwardness. "Wow, I can practically pull the awkward right out of the air." He said, pretending to grasp at something.

Marie jumped. She whipped her head to look at Nathan.
"You know you make it about ten times more awkward just by saying that it's awkward?" she told him.
Standing, Tyler gave Marie a sad smile.
"It's okay," he reassured her, scooping up his guitar. "I should be going to bed anyways, he's just helping me along." Marie looked rather confused, since it was only about 7 in the evening.
"Umm, okay," she said, stepping off the porch. By this point, her folded arms had turned into her hugging herself, as she was rather cold. "See you tomorrow, then." As she walked away, Tyler sent a small ray of sunshine to warm her up.
"You too," he murmured.

Nathan made it warmer as well with a heavy, warm breeze as he walked off. He was curious, but mindful. He left them alone.

Marie began wandering around the edge of the small field that sat in the center of the cabins. She glanced over at the dying fire, the light dancing in her cold eyes. Why did she feel so alone? The girl had basically everything she could have wanted, and yet, it wasn't enough.

Lily walked next to her, across the fire, unnoticed by Marie immediately. She immediately folded her legs as she sat on the ground. She tilted her head like a cat and looked at her. "What's wrong?"

The Huntress jumped, as she hadn't seen the girl. Looking around, Marie made sure nobody was there.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" she asked, sizing the girl up.

She returned the gaze evenly. "Um, actually, shouldn't you as well?" She retorted calmly. She grinned slightly and jumped to her feet, bored. "Like i said, what's wrong?"

Marie grumbled something like, "It's none of your business." She scratched at the ground with her foot, her face grim. Then she realized she didn't know this girl.
"Who are you, anyway?" she asked.

She laughed. "I'm Lily, daughter of Demeter. You're Marie, daughter of Artemis, right?" She asked. She had often heard Aaron mention her.

Marie nodded, not sure what this person thought of that particular fact. She had received many different. . opinions, to put it nicely. Shivering, she glanced at the moon, and automatically knew what time it was: 7:43 PM. The moon was particularly low, but that was. . not natural.
The Huntress suddenly looked concerned. The area of her mother's reign was being rather odd, ever since. .
Oh gods.

Lily noticed her look. "What's wrong?" she asked, her calm broken. Her look worried her.

The blue-eyed girl shook her head, her mouth falling open.
"The moon. . " was all she could say. Marie even forgot she was cold. She hated disappointing her parents, godly or not.

"What about it?" Lily looked up. She saw nothing wrong.

Shaking her head, Marie replied, "It's too low. Normally, Apollo rides slower during the summer, making the days last longer. The light should be here until around 9!"

She shrugged. "Is it that important?" She asked. She didn't know this subject.

Marie shot a glare at Lily.
"Very," was her only answer. She looked back at the sky, then back to Lily. "Please excuse me. It was nice meeting you. I have to go." With that, she raced over to the cabin right next to Zeus's own.
It was beautiful, she had to admit. The coral and shells placed in a beautiful array of vibrant colors, as though the building itself were a reef.

Lily watched in bewilderment. Confused, she said "Nice meeting you too. " then she left.