Your String of Lights is Still Bright To Me [open]

Emily absolutely hated guard duty. It was boring, all she did was sit next to Thalia's Pine and daydream. It was rare that any monsters attacked camp, but Chiron made her do it anyway. She had nothing else to do so she asked him if had anything for her to do. That's where everything had gone wrong. He told her to do guard duty; she tried her best to avoid it, but he didn't seem to care whether she liked it or not. So here she was now just sitting against Thalia's Pine obviously bored.

Emily had her sword out just in case, but she found there was no point. She was looking at her nails when she heard a voice from the other side of the tree. Usually, she didn't like to get into people's business, but when she glanced around the tree she noticed it was her half-sister. She tried as hard as she could not to eavesdrop, but that idea went into the trash when she realized nothing else was happening. Besides, Emily was a cabin leader and cabin leaders were supposed to offer advice. Emily put her sword away before she made sure Anna was done praying. She wanted to help, but she didn't want to be rude.

"Dad doesn't help no matter how many times you pray to him. I've tried it before." Emily said from the other side of the tree before getting up. She walked over to where Anna was kneeling and sighed. It felt good to know that her half-sister was still alive and not injured. She could still remember when she had done a quick count and hadn't seen Anna's bright red hair in the midst of the camper. She didn't know what to do then, and she sure as hell didn't know what she was doing now. Emily sat down leaning against the tree like she was before after taking a deep breath. "You know you could've talked to me right?" She said a bit quietly. "But that doesn't matter now. I know what you're going through. I had the same 'please-stop-me-from-hurting-others' phase. It'll pass eventually, but you just have to gain control of your powers. We've all lost it before, children of Zeus tend to have hot tempers. I can help, but only if you want it." She stated plainly.

Emily sighed. "You know you're right. I don't understand. It's not like I didn't say the same exact thing almost five ears ago." She replied. She didn't want to be mean, but she was just trying to help. Anna seemed like she didn't want help, but Emily didn't care. She was going to help her half-sister anyway. It didn't matter if Anna hated her, banner her from her life because she was still going to find a way. She listened to whatever else the other demigod had left to say before taking a deep breath. She paused for a moment trying to think of something else to say.

Emily looked at the where the sun was setting before glancing at her half-sister. "It'll get better. You'll get more control with practice. It'd be easier if you let me help you, but obviously you don't want help." She said. She paused for a moment before saying, "Everyone messes up Anna. I shocked my boyfriend once a while ago. In all fairness, he did deserve it." She attempted a joke, but after she said it it wasn't that funny. "It's like giving up cookies and then eating one a week or two later. People make mistakes. It's okay if you do." Emily said.

After she finished, she watched as the sun started to set. She could see some of the campers making their way towards the Mess Hall for dinner while others were going to the back to watch the stars. She was stuck on guard duty for half of the night until someone from the Ares cabin came. She wasn't sure if that was going to happen, but it wasn't her problem. After her shift was over, it didn't matter to her. Emily sighed again before mumbling to her half-sister, "You could've been dead, and I wouldn't have even known it."

As Anna continued to yell at her, Emily could feel the electricity at her fingertips get stronger. The buzzing from it seemed to feel her ears, but she tried to swallow it down. "Well maybe if you let someone help you, it wouldn't happen anymore." She said as calmly as she could possibly manage. She didn't want to make her half-sister angry; she didn't know how capable she was of her powers. She didn't want Anna to accidentally burn down half the camp. Emily glanced over at the other girl to see her close her eyes for a quick second. "Are you okay? Anna?" She asked slightly reaching out her hand.

Emily could barely the last accident she had. It had been so long ago. She was still as stubborn as she used to be. That definitely hadn't changed. She had just learned how to control her powers. It had definitely taken her awhile, but she did it. Everyone else in the Zeus cabin had similar problems.  She tried to help them as best as she could, especially the younger ones. They were the hardest to control. They didn't even know half the powers they had. Anything she seemed to teach them, they forgot at least an hour later. But it didn't matter. Most of them didn't get mad often, so they didn't use their powers much. The older ones were easier to teach, but they got more often.

Emily listened carefully to what Anna was saying as she looked at the sun. It was sinking even further down into the hills. The beginning of the sky was beginning to turn purple as it faded into a light pink and then a reddish orange. It was nice to look at now. She could see some of the other campers who were on their way to the Mess Hall turn around to get a quick look at it. When she finished, Emily tuned towards her. "You know you can tell me anything. Absolutely anything. It's my job you know."

Emily watched as the rest for the sun to set as she waited for her half-sister to say something. She listened as Anna talked, and when she was finished, Emily looked over at her. "What kind of accidents exactly?" She asked slowly. She wasn't one to judge considering she had had a few accident in her own past. She was just nervous to hear something like 'I killed someone' or something along those lines. She wouldn't be sure what to say if she did say what she was thinking right now. She had never been in the situation before and didn't think she ever would be, but there was a first time for everything.

Emily understood if Anna didn't want to tell her everything. She had a few things happen to her that she rarely told anyone. Almost all demigods had terrible things to happen to them. Emily had to be one of those demigods. She still remembered the day her father died too vividly. It had been almost six to seven years since it happened. She tried not think about it much because she simply didn't want to see her father's dead body all over again. It always seemed to make her angry, and right now wasn't the best time to think about.

Emily watched as the rest of the sun finally sunk down into the hills and the rest of the sky was already turning black. The stars were starting to come out, and it was a really pretty sight. She could feel the energy radiating off her half sister, and it only seemed to intensify her own nervous electricity. She looked over at her half-sister who had her eyes closed before saying, "You don't have to be that." She sighed again before focusing her eyes on the night sky.