let's leave this all behind [private]

Oh joy. A dance. I just loved dances. Or at least I used too. Hard to love something as trivial as a dance though when the Camp had literally been to hell and back. Especially when the stupid dance was taking place right after the whole "going to hell and coming back". How on earth had Chiron and Mr. D come to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to have a dance right after the Zombie Apolcalypse? Sure, fire lanterns were all cool, shroud burning was normal,  but a dance? Not that it mattered, really. None of it really mattered. Let people dance after people had died, what did it really matter? And fire lanterns... what was their point? It was a stupid idea, that by letting a lantern off with someone's name written on it, their soul would be released. Floating lanterns in the sky... all for the dead. It was stupid, insanely stupid. Like the dead cared. The dead were just that, dead. One day they just happened to blink out, poof, gone. And if people thought they could release their souls, show them some sort of respect, then they were just more dumb people to add to the world's population of dumb people, cause the dead were gone and they didn't care about any of this trivial crap.
Although, I still thought the whole dance concept was a little insensitive to those who'd watched people die, who'd had friends and family die, or who had simply killed something. Even if it was all trivial crap.

If I let myself admit it, I could admit that coming to the dance had been a good idea, in the end. Samuel had asked me to go, and without that much hesitation I'd agreed. Something about going to a dance with someone which made it that little bit more appealing, even if it was stupid to have one after the ZA. Plus, it was Sam. He'd been a lot nicer than I would have expected during the Zombie Apocalypse, and maybe... well, maybe he could be called a friend. Just maybe. If we had more time, if nothing screwed it up, then sure, it was possible. He was just one of those people who you couldn't help but be friendly too...
It was a good enough night, in all honesty. Going out to dance... I hadn't wanted too, but hey, you can't really not dance at a dance, can you?
I'd ended up having fun. Weirdly enough, it was proper fun. It ended too fast though, in the end. We'd left the dance pretty early, and Sam had walked me to the Hera Cabin before leaving. Almost like he was worried or something, like I'd get attacked from the Dance Hall to the Cabin by some crazy monster. Been there, done that, and I'd bought the T-shirt a thousand times already. I could take care of myself, but hadn't stopped him walking me too the door with a smile and leaving just as the heavy doors shut with a clunk behind me.

I had been intending to stay in the Cabin, really, I had. It wasn't like I wanted to go out, not like I had anyone to meet or anything. Wasn't like I had anything in my head about what ended up happening. I'd never even thought about that before... but it hadn't stopped it happening. Just as I'd been kicking off my shoes... I'd spotted it.
Wasn't like I could sit there in the Cabin with it, whoever owned it would end up walking in and murdering me. No... it was better if it disappeared without a trace and the real owner didn't know where it had gone. So the problem had been finding a place which wasn't the Cabin.
And what better place than the tower beside the dance hall I'd just left?

The chilly air was enough to make me want to turn around and walk straight back down the stairs, but I didn't. Instead, I adjusted the canvas bag it was held in and wrapped my arms around my shoulders, moving as quick as I could toward the small blazing fire which people used to light lanterns. Pick up a taper, stick it in the flame, light the candle and away it goes across the sky. But it was also the only place which was warm on the top of the tower.
My dress, a short black thing with silver designs on the waist, didn't provide much warmth considering it was only a gauzy type thing. And I'd been stupid enough to walk out of the cabin without a jacket, and leave the cabin the first time without even wearing tights. Just a bracelet, a necklace, a silver clutch and black heels. Really great. Now I was cold.
Sitting down in the shadows, I opened the bag without any sort of hesitation. Not much of a chance that the owner would walk in now.

It was as I was taking another deep swig from the bottle of vodka that she walked in. What a perfect end to a perfect day. How amazing that it was her who turned up. Just my luck.
'Yeah, well, some people would say not seeing you would be a good thing, wouldn't they Raziel?'
Taking another swig and swallowing, I peered up at her.
'Got anything you came too do? By all means, continue. Don't let me get in your way.'

As Raziel spoke, another set of lanterns went floating into the sky, the person who had let them off gazing up and watching their progress. I followed the lights path as she spoke, trying to seem like I wasn't paying one bit of attention even though I was. I didn't want to be paying attention. I didn't want this to actually be happening. Coming up to the tower had seemed like such a great idea- plenty of shadowey corners, only a few people allowed up at any one time. I'd thought I wouldn't have too deal with anyone, or at least anyone I knew. Especially not Raziel. I bit back the reply which had popped into my head, instead settling for arching a brow and looking at her skeptically.
'"Just checking things out"? Mhm...'

As I'd talked, one lock of brown hair had fallen out of place and into my face. It annoyed me probably more than it should have, for some reason, and pushing it back behind my ear I glanced up at the girl leaning against the rails. The light from the fire provided me with enough light to see the features which had been pretty much etched into my mind after the first meeting. Raziel. Daughter of Hyperion, who I had never even known about even though we resided in the exact same cabin. Never even heard of, truth be told. Or maybe I hadn't been listening. After I'd met her, after I'd found out, it seemed like there was an endless supply of stories about her- so it led me to believe I'd just been deaf to stories of her, rumors about her, etc. It was odd to know there had been another daughter of Hyperion all the time. It hadn't just been me. Which had once comforted me, weirdly. Knowing I wasn't the only one. Now it was just one more thing I didn't have to care about anymore. Another thing I didn't need to care about, which was related to Raziel? The embarrassment of our first meeting.
I shrugged, leaning back a little in my chair.
'First impressions aren't always right now, are they?' looking up at her again I continued, 'Although, in your case they are. My impressions hasn't changed on you one bit.'
Maybe not totally true... but whatever.