Chapter 9: I Speak My Mind about Our Battle Plans (And My Love Life): Val's POV

Annabeth had already informed me on a few things after Cinder had gone to sleep.

Rachel's prophecy

Okay, so someone was going to die… not good… And the other's a traitor? But we all just learned about being demigods! Who could already be a traitor?

Our training

After today's meeting, she told me we would begin our training and stay in Camp Half Blood for at least three days.

Ashton's… feelings for… me.

Apparently, Ashton had confided in Percy about his, um, crush on me. And Percy told Annabeth, who told me.

This was a pretty crazy thing to think about while I fell asleep. I only got a few hours of sleep, obviously, and woke up very early. I got my set of Camp Half Blood t-shirts from Annabeth (who was also fretting about the new prophecy). I tucked in my t-shirt into my tight-fitting khaki Capri's which I paired with my pink belt with lime green stripes. That belt matched pink Converse with lime green laces, so I wore those too.

Lastly, I put on my black pearl necklace. My dad gave me this necklace when I was little; he said it was a memento of my great grandmother, who he met once. He loved her. He said there was something about her that was just enchanting. She was 62, but she could've been 20. I wear the necklace everyday, not as a reminder of my great grandmother, but of my father.

Anyway, fast forward a few hours and I'm dragging Cinder to the Big House. It's huge and blue and so pretty. We see Colin and Ashton walking together and wave to them. They walk to us.

"'Ello girls," Colin said to us smiling, "Ready for the meeting?"

Cinder grumbled, "Too early…" She wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

Ashton laughed, "How about you Val?"

"I- um," I choked on my own words. Luckily for me, Chiron called to us from the porch of the Big House. Colin put his arm around Cinder and encouraged her to wake up for the meeting. Ashton and I walked together slowly. I drew upon my confidence to ask him the burning questions.

"So Ashton, uh, what are we now?" I stopped and looked into his deep blue eyes.

He looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are we friends? More than friends…?"

He took my hands, squeezed them delicately, and smirked, "We can be whatever you want to be."

I smiled, and I could feel myself blushing. I'll be honest… I would've kissed him right there if Chris had not called us from the Big House.

"Hey! Come on! They can't start without you two!" he yelled impatiently.

We ran to the Big House to sit in on the meeting. Technically, we're guests at the meeting, so we're not supposed to say anything. Of course, knowing everyone, that rule is going to get broken…

We sat at a ping pong table- that's right, a ping pong table- with our cabin leaders. Cinder and I sat on both sides on Annabeth. On my other side was Ashton, who sat next to Percy. Sam and that Katie girl were sitting next to Cinder. Chris sat next to some guy I'd never seen before (probably his brother). Colin sat next to two mischievous looking guys; probably twins. Grover was there too, sitting next to Chiron (who was standing, of course). On the other side of Chiron was a large man in a Hawaiian shirt drinking a can of Coke.

There were a few other people there too who I assumed were from other cabins.

The Coke man coughed with frustration, "For those halfbloods who haven't had the pleasure of meeting me yet, I'm Dionysus. Call me Mr. D. Anyway, I hear that we must issue a quest to these new demigods. But the lack of training has become a problem."

Chiron nodded, "The halfbloods weren't even at camp yet when Rachel gave the prophecy."

"Which Grover forgot to mention." Katie hissed.

Grover put down the tin can he was chewing on and swallowed nervously, "I-I'm sorry! I wanted to help out, and I was nervous! So, Juniper and I grabbed the Ares cabin's chariot, stole Percy's pegasus, and rode across the country. We saved the demigods! If we hadn't come, they would've been torn to tiny pieces by the hellhounds!"

Not quite the visual I needed Grover, I thought to myself.

Percy spoke up in his confident tone, "I don't blame Grover. In this situation, he did the right thing. I don't even mind him stealing Blackjack! The thing is, the demigods are here and they're safe. Now we have to train them and send them off to defeat Nemesis before she destroys Olympus. That means, like Mr. D said, a quest needs to be issued, which means someone must lead the quest… Any takers?"

None of us expected this, that's for sure. I saw Sam shift in her seat uncomfortably. Colin was looking to his brothers for aide, but neither said anything.

Oh goodness… Any one who is going to stand up and say 'Me!' is either courageous or stupid, I thought.

Right on cue, Chris leapt out of his seat shouting, "Me!"

Let's go with stupid…

Mr. D snickered, "Kid, you've got moxie. But you lack experience… and the ability to pass a drug test." That shut him Chris up. Everyone's eyes went to the floor as Chris sat down and sank into his chair. I've never liked Chris, but I knew that must've been rough. I mean, getting burned like that- by your dad nonetheless- in front of all of your friends? Seriously not good.

Now Ashton stood, "I think Val should lead. She was a leader at our school; she has experience with handling large groups. It's the perfect role for her." I blushed.

But then Colin chimed in, "Val, I don't mean to offend, I really don't. But who says that being student body president means you can lead a war against an all mighty immortal being? I think Cinder has the fighting skills we need to win this thing."

I wasn't mad a Colin. I really could respect what he was saying. I was just a student council president; I didn't know anything about fighting.

Chris started complaining that he should be the leader because of his pure awesomeness. Sam refrained from saying anything, but Cinder jumped up and openly said that she didn't want Chris to be leader. No, she wanted Colin to be the leader. At this point, Annabeth and Percy came in with thoughts about us and started contemplating about each person individually. One girl from another cabin, who seemed rather scary and intimidating, said that someone from Ares should lead the quest since we have no experience. Chiron and Mr. D kept going back and forth on different ideas as well. Everyone was yelling; it was chaotic.

Suddenly, I felt like everything was closing in on me. The walls were caving in. The people were getting bigger and louder. One day ago, everything was simple. I was Val Hanson, the nice girl who had everything going for her. I was the queen of the Drama Department. Now I was on my way to battle an insane Greek goddess who wanted to kill me. I just wanted everything to-

"Stop." I whispered.

I thought the whisper wouldn't make a difference. I thought everyone would go on fighting. But no; they all stopped and turned to listen to me. I gathered my confidence, got out of my seat, stood my ground, and let the words flow.

"None of us have been here long. None of us know anything about this world. None of us are qualified for this. So now you all are focusing on who is MOST qualified. Well, here's an idea. Why don't we focus on who deserves it? And the person who deserves it… the person I defeated hellhounds with at Garcia's… Cinder." People were nodding in agreement and Cinder never took her eyes off me for a second.

I continued, "Cinder does have the fighting skill, as Colin said. But she has great judgment too. Also, her strategic ability is amazing! Annabeth, you saw how she practically broke my nose last night. She had a goal, and she used the best strategy to achieve it! Therefore, Cinder should be our leader for this quest."

I didn't think it was a great speech. I mean, it really wasn't anything special. But everyone applauded me. They chanted Cinder's name. The look of happiness on Cinder's face- that was priceless. She mouthed a silent thank you to me as I sat and Annabeth stood.

"Okay," she said, "What the Hades was that? Val, you just charmspoke! But that's impossible since you're a daughter of Athena, not Aphrodite."

Chiron stroked his beard, "Yes, I admit this is strange. On the other hand, it seems as if we have found the leader of our quest. Cinder, come with me and we'll talk about your role as the leader. You might want to choose your companions for the quest now, however."

Cinder kicked her feet up onto the ping pong table and crossed her arms, "Okay… Well, obviously, Val, Colin, Ashton, Sam, and Chris…"

Percy's smile faltered, "I'm afraid you can only choose two companions for your quest. Sorry. Camp rules and tradition."

"Oh," Cinder frowned, "Well THAT sucks… Uh… Can I get more time to think about this?"

"Okay," Mr. D sighed in annoyance, "Just make sure you have it figured out by tomorrow noon. Got that Cathy?"

"My name is Cinder…"

"Whatever Clara. Go have your chat with Chiron. As for the rest of you, get to your activites!"

My bloody nose started acting up again, so I got some nectar and told the rest of the Athena cabin I would meet with them at archery practice in a few minutes. I was leaving my cabin when I saw Ashton by his cabin. He waved at me to come over, and I did. Hey, they expected me to be late anyways. A short detour wouldn't hurt.

He invited me to walk on the shore break of the lake with him. He put his arm around my shoulder as we strolled.

"Val…" he said, "You were really something special today. Well, I take that back. You've always been special."

My cheeks were getting warmer, "Thanks Ashton."

We stopped. Not abruptly or anything. We just slowed down to a stop. He slipped his hands down to my waist. Then he tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. No one else was on the beach. Just Ashton and I…

"Listen Val, I have a confession-"

I cut him off though… I slipped my arms around his neck and kissed him. It was beautiful. The sun was high over the sky and we were on that beach for what seemed like forever.

Eventually, I pulled away. I smiled, "Me too."

He smirked and hugged me. Then we heard giggling. We turned to see the water nymphs pointing at us. Ashton used some of his 'Son of Poseidon' powers and caused a huge geyser of water to shoot them into the air. As the started to fall down, he had the water engulf them in a large swallow and plop them back into the lake with a splash so huge it almost got us wet.

My boyfriend and I laughed as we walked further along the beach.