~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

Phil From 'Hercules'

{Piper}

The rest of the crew had freed Piper and Coach Hedge of the ropes that the two dwarfs had tied them with, and now they were all waiting for Jason and Leo to return.

   Kiara was pacing back and forth on the deck, occasionally stopping to rant to Hazel or Nico about how the dwarfs had stolen some of her rings and she wanted to kill the dwarfs with her bare hands.

   Piper couldn't help but stare at her. Even with her black-and-white hair all messed up and tangled, and her clothes rumpled, she looked gorgeous. Her multiple rings glittered on her long and thin, pianist-like fingers. Her pale skin looked like ivory under the sunlight. Despite having spent six months under the sun at Camp Half-Blood, she had somehow managed to keep her pallor.

   "Who are you staring at?" Piper almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of Hazel's voice next to her. They seriously had to put bells on all three kids of Hades/Pluto.

   "No one." She looked away and hoped that Hazel couldn't see her blush.

   "Was it my sister?" Hazel inquired teasingly.

   Piper felt the heat rise to her cheeks. "What? No! We're just friends."

   "Mm-hmm." Hazel nodded as if she didn't believe Piper and went over to talk to her boyfriend.

   The daughter of Aphrodite glanced at Kiara, and caught the pale girl looking at her. Kiara blushed, the faint spray of pink vivid on her pale face, and turned to Nico, telling him something. Her brother nodded, and Kiara turned to go belowdecks.

   Instinctively, Piper followed. It was mostly impulse, and she didn't know what she was planning on saying when she knocked on Kiara's door, but she would make something up. She was faintly aware of Nico's dark eyes following her as she went down the stairs after his sister, a tiny smile playing on his lips. Or had she imagined it? She couldn't shake away the thought that he knew something Piper didn't.

   Piper stopped in front of the door to Kiara's cabin, her hand hovering a couple of inches before the door. She suddenly felt hesitant. Lately, she'd been feeling that way a lot. She wanted to be near Kiara, but she felt nervous when the daughter of Pluto was beside her. Piper had a very hard time trying to figure out what that feeling was.

   Piper pushed her feelings down, and with a deep breath, knocked on the wooden door. There was no turning back now.

   A couple seconds later, the door swung open. Kiara was standing there. A pink tint across her cheeks when she saw Piper, and her dark eyes gleamed, although her glee was not showing on her face. "Hi."

   Piper forced herself not to stare. "Hey. Can I come in?"

   Kiara moved aside and let Piper in, closing the door behind her. Piper sat on Kiara's bed while Kiara stood awkwardly, hugging her arms. Her rings glimmered on her pale fingers.

   Kiara's room was relatively tidy. There were no clothes lying around and the bed was made. But her desk was filled with half-full plates of fruits, and drawings and pencils formed a mountain on a side.

   "So," Piper started, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt, "I didn't want you being alone, and so I decided to keep you company until Jason and Leo come back."

   "Okay," Kiara said and sat across from Piper on her bed, crossing her legs.

   Looking at Kiara now, Piper could make out the dark crescents under Kiara's beautiful, almond shaped dark eyes. Even in the dimness of the cabin, Piper also noticed that the raven haired girl's eyes weren't completely black; more like a very dark brown, splotched with gold here and there, like the blade of her Stygian sword.