Heaven/Hell

"Dem! Dem? Where are you?!"

Demetria shot up and so did Silva. The sun was shining bright and they didn't even realize what time it was. They lost track of it somewhere around midnight in the midst of their clothes being thrown on the floor and their bodies intertwining together. It was a strange feeling, having to scramble to get her clothes on while Silva, one of the scariest Iridems anyone had ever met, was doing the same. She spent the night listening to his soft heartbeat, tracing her fingers along his tattoos, and listening to his stories about his childhood. He wasn't as scary as he used to be and he definitely wasn't as scary as he seemed.

"Oh, my God," she breathed, tugging on her pants. "I think that's Ares..."

"Does he know about us?" Silva asked, quietly, watching her struggle to put on her jacket.

"No, this was spontaneous."

Silva stood up and took her jacket from her and held it out so she could easily slip into it. She combed her fingers through her hair, hurriedly, and almost tripped over her shoes until Silva held her by the shoulders. She looked up at him and he bent down and kissed her on the lips.

When they broke off, Demetria rested her palms on his chest and whispered, "We can't tell anyone about this," before running out of the tent to see her brother right in front of them.

"Ares!" she exclaimed, surprised. Ares furrowed his eyebrows when Silva appeared right behind her. He was the type of person to jump to conclusions–and in this case, the right conclusion.

"We were just talking battle plans," she explained, quickly, glancing at Silva, who said nothing.

"Right...well, I need to talk to you too," Ares said to him.

Demetria had a hard time containing the redness in her cheeks but she diverted the attention by saying, "What do you wanna tell us?"

"Ben and I are going to spy on Arrow's army," Ares said, excitedly.

"What?!" Demetria exclaimed.

He nodded his head.

"It's a good idea, no?" He looked at Silva. "We can see what kind of weapons they will be using and figure out how we can get around that armor. It's the best idea Ben has ever had, to be honest."

"No! Ares, that's a terrible idea! You'll get killed!" Demetria looked at her brother, worriedly.

"You're only saying that because I didn't invite you to come along," Ares rolled his eyes.

She gave him a look.

"Silva?" Ares prompted.

Demetria spun around and waited for him to side with her. Silva didn't look at her. He nodded his head at Ares and said, "I will allow it if you take an Iridem with you."

"Deal," Ares grinned.

"Then I'm coming with you," Demetria said, defiantly.

"No," both Silva and Ares said.

"Why? Because it's too dangerous?" Demetria mocked, angrily.

"Dem, please," Ares sounded more serious this time. "The humans need you here. If something did happen to you, then these people would have no one. You're their leader."

"What? No, I'm not," she shook her head.

"Then if you're not, you will be. You have to. In honor of us," Ares grinned.

"Ares..."

"I'm kidding. We'll be fine," he rolled his eyes, shaking me by the shoulders. "We'll be back before sunset, okay?" He hugged her and trotted off towards the others.

"Demetria, I am sorry," Silva said, when he left. He reached out and touched her shoulder.

"I'm going to get some breakfast," she said, quickly, walking away.

Throughout the day, Demetria focused her energy on training, getting her mind off both Ares and Silva, who kept trying to get her attention, subtly, but she ignored him. That night, while they were lying in each other's arms, he had told her the story of when his brother was killed by a neighboring tribe.

"He wandered off. He liked doing that. He always used to sneak out and watch the moons and the stars float through the sky. I went with him a few times. One night, I was too tired so I went to sleep early and did not go with him. He came back with a spear through his stomach. He tried to tell me but I was asleep and I ignored him. He bled out next to me," he said.

How could he have told her that story and feel the pain that he went through and then not even give a second thought as to how she would feel if Ares was killed by walking into that trap? Not to mention that an Iridem went with them. Was it just her life that he cared about? That he would send innocent people and Iridem to death traps but the second that she volunteered, he was suddenly on red alert?

As sunset drew closer, they weren't back yet. Demetria tried to convince herself that they were just taking their time and everything was fine, but the pit in her stomach grew heavier. She knew Ares. He was the type to wait until the last minute and worry everyone to death before making a grand entrance. It was probably nothing.

"Shouldn't they be back yet?" Serena muttered, putting away her bow and arrow.

"They said they'd be back before sunset. We have time," Demetria replied.

Soon enough, it was dark. The Iridem that had gone hunting for food came back and one of them was holding a bloody spear that she presented to Silva. Demetria watched as Silva huddled a group of Iridem–including Caelum– together. They spoke for five minutes before Caelum led the group at a jog towards the direction of Arrow's army.

"Caelum!" she called. He ran towards her. "What's happening?" she asked, feeling her voice quiver.

Caelum gave her a sad look and said, "Aqua found a bloody spear that belonged to Edge, the Iridem that went with them, in the forest. There is a possibility that that your brother has been captured but we are going to search the forest in the possibility that they have not."

"Oh, my God," she breathed.

"I am sorry, Demetria," he said, before running off.

Now she was panicking. She felt as though the wind was knocked out of her at the thought of Ares and Benjamin being captured and tortured by Dr. Arrow. She swayed and had to double over to stop herself from falling. She closed her eyes and tried to hope that Caelum would find them and it was just a false alarm, but the bloody spear kept appearing in her mind.

"Demetria? Demetria, are you alright?" She heard Silva's voice. He ran towards her and placed a hand on her back but she immediately stood up and slapped his hand away.

"They're probably dead," she said, her voice shaking.

Silva shook his head.

"We do not know that."

"You–You let them go but the second that I volunteered, you said no. Why? Because you only care about me and no one else? You're willing to let everyone die but me? Is that it?" Demetria's voice raised wit each sentence and people were staring at them, but she didn't care.

"Demetria..." Silva said, quietly, in a more commanding tone. His eyes kept diverting to the crowd.

"He's my brother!"

Silva grabbed her and took her to his hut. He yelled at the crowd, "Get back to work!" and led them inside. Tears were falling down her face and Silva tried to pull her into his arms but she pushed him away. He sighed.

"Demetria, I let them go because they are the strongest of your people. They have the best ability to fight if captured and they are skilled enough to come back with information useful to us. I did not let you go because your brother is correct, you are a leader to your people. Do not ever say that I do not care about my people. You do not know what we have been through."

Demetria was silent but she shook her head.

"You let him go but you don't let me go?"

Silva snapped his head to look at her, his calm demeanor gone.

"Am I supposed to base my every decision on how you feel about it? I am the leader of this army. I should not be in love with a human but you are in every thought I have. It is true that I would protect you over anything, but I will also protect my people, your people included. I am doing everything in my power to not let every single of us be slaughtered by that wretched alien and I made a decision that could prove to be beneficial. I am sorry about Ares and about not letting you go with them, but it was my decision as a leader," he said, firmly.

Demetria closed her eyes and let the tears fall. She let Silva touch her again and caress her hair, but it only lasted a second, because suddenly there was a loud BOOM! and they immediately broke apart. There were screams and yells and Silva instinctively pulled out his dagger.

"Stay here," he commanded but he didn't make it outside because an enormous, armored man stormed through, taking Silva down in one swipe.

"Silva!" Demetria shrieked, as she watched him gasp for breath underneath the weight of the armor on top of him.

A man walked through the tent and two other followed, grabbing Demetria. She tried to fight and kick but it didn't help; they were much stronger than she was.

"Demetria Rutherford Lincoln, you are under arrest for your defiance against Dr. Stephen Arrow!" One of them tried to handcuff her but she kicked him, making him yell in pain. She was hit, very hardly, over the head by the other one and she blinked stars, falling to her knees, having no choice but to be handcuffed.

"What about him?" One of them asked, nodding his head towards Silva.

"Kill him," said the other, as he dragged Demetria away.