Hey! I'm back, just as I promised. Told ya I'd keep my promises :) I actually wrote the chapter the morning/night before, but I decided to post it according to my promise. So, here it is, Chapter 9 with 2,800 something words!

Reply to Reviews:

CimFan: Oh, Reyna isn't planning anything. But she knows how to bend a situation to her will. And no problem! Read whenever you can ;) And you too!

redlox2: Once again, you are right, right, right! You'll find out what happens in this chapter ;)

Silvershine Moonlight: No problem :) And thanks for the compliment! I know some authors don't even mention some people, but I always make sure to mention everybody. And guess what? YOU ROCK TOO!

Aeron Thana: Then you better get on with the story! :D

TheGirlWhoWantedToCry: I'm sorry! Nice, crazy and weird are a good things in my world. It's a longer definition of unique. So what I meant was, you are unique! And your rice krispies reference makes me want some too :P And thanks! PS Can I join you guys on your quest to 'murder' Rick?

SilverNight92: Hahaha I don't know about humiliation, but there's definitely drama in this one! I say it's a little too TV-series-like, but oh well. Hope you like it! :D

Heart-Of-Caramel: Aw, thanks! You're amazing as well ;) And I'm sorry about the cliffhangers. I absolutely love them. But I suppose I should lay off them for a while... LOL :P

Chapter 9: Caught on Camera

"Alright, we're on in three, two . . ." Ryan trailed off, and started counting down with his fingers. As soon as he reached one, the picture on the TV in front of him blared to life. Marina and Kylie appeared on screen, their faces looking pretty as usual.

He crossed his fingers. He hoped Piper was watching this from the cabin.

Piper turned the TV on, sitting down on her own bed. Leo and Jason had both jumped onto one of her siblings' bunk, with Leo on the top and Jason on the bottom. The boys were currently eating some popcorn they got out of nowhere, drinking coke from most probably the camp's star pranksters, Travis and Connor Stoll.

The screen flickered to life, showing the image of the show's logo and playing the theme song. Finally, the camera focuses on Kylie and Marina, their smiles shining.

"Go-o-o-o-od afternoon America and Olympus! I'm your host, Kylie Gray, with my best-friend-slash-sister, Marina White!" Kylie turned her head towards Marina, who winked at the audience.

The trio watched as Marina tossed her blond hair behind her back. "And welcome to The Talk of Today!" Her voice was bubbling with excitement. "We've come back with a second season, and this time, we've made sure we filled it with suspense secrets, live drama, and a whole lot of gossip!"

"So what better way to start a season than to feature the best girl we've got out there?" Kylie asked the audience. "So today, we're introducing you the one and only Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, Reyna!"

The camera switched to Reyna, her dark hair cascading down her back. She gave the camera a shy smile. Anger boiled in Piper's blood. She didn't deserve to be on their show. Not after what she had done to her.

The picture zoomed out, revealing the audience a perfect view of the girls. "So," Kylie began, "what do you think of the two camps' unification?"

"Oh it's great," Reyna explained, a dazzling smile on her face. Piper snorted. So fake. "I think it was a great idea, combining the two camps. When we look at it in strategically, the power of the camps would beat any army out there ready to challenge us. The downside is, it would perhaps be a little too easy to attack us, seeing how our bases are joint now, instead of separated like the old days."

"And you think this is . . . bad?" Marina asked, puzzled. Piper smiled. Marina was intelligent, really, but sometimes it takes time for her to process the information.

Reyna nodded, though her face clearly showed she was impatient. "Yes. They could destroy the camps in one attack, and we won't have a camp to come back to. If we had separated them, the opposing army would've had to split, and therefore, the strength of the armies would be weaker. At the end of the battle, we could always go back to the camp that was least destroyed."

Marina nodded understandingly, but obviously didn't care about the strategy. Kylie was picking on her nails, which made Reyna's expression shift a little.

"That makes sense, I guess," Kylie commented, putting down her hand. "Now enough with the boring stuff. What we want to know is what you think of the people. You are, after all, a leader, and a leader must have a . . . perception of her people."

Reyna nodded. "The Romans are great and powerful soldiers. In fact—"

"It's always the Romans," Marina wailed. Jason frowned on the bunk, and Piper raised an eyebrow at the screen. What did her sister mean by this? "They are great people, of course, but you yourself is Roman. Of course you would think great things of them." Piper nodded, while Jason's face relaxed. It made sense.

"What my sister is trying to say, we want to know what you think of us. What you think of us Greeks," Kylie explained, emphasizing the word 'Greeks'.

Piper could see Reyna fought the urge to frown. "The Greeks," she began, "is an interesting group of people. You are much more relaxed than us Romans, which I suppose is good is some points."

"HADES, YEAH!" Leo screamed from the top bunk, accidentally rolling a bit too far and ended up on the floor below. He groaned in pain. Piper sighed as she got off her bunk and helped him up.

"But in some points, it is a weakness."

"WHAT?" Leo jumped up, his aching leg obviously forgotten. He stared at the screen in anger, narrowing his eyes on the Romans.

Jason also stared at it, his expression looking curious. Piper forced herself to focus on the screen instead of her boyfriend. She bit her lip, hoping Kylie wouldn't burst in anger.

On screen, Marina raised an eyebrow, while Kylie was narrowing her eyes. Reyna noticed this. "Oh no, I didn't mean that as an insult."

"I'm pretty sure you did," Leo huffed, plopping down on the bunk next to Jason.

"I meant it as a . . . constructive criticism. It's good to relax once in a while—sometimes us Romans forget to do just that. But too much relaxation can get you off focus, and you might eventually forget your training. You become unaware of any upcoming attacks."

"Are you saying we are weak?" Kylie spat, her eyes holding a fiery gaze. She was ready to attack, to rip the throat of the young praetor off.

Reyna shook her head. "Oh no. I meant you might be . . . unprepared."

"She hesitated!" Kylie accused, leaping up to her feet and pointing at Reyna. She turned to her sister. "She actually said we are weak!"

Marina grabbed Kylie and forced her to sit back down. Thank gods, Piper thought. She'd have to talk to Kylie later. "Kyles, I'm sure she meant what she said. If you think we're unprepared, show us at least one person who is unprepared."

"Easy. Leo Valdez."

"ME?" Leo leaped up again. "How dare she defy the Amazing Superior—" Piper clammed his mouth with her hand, forcing his words down his throat. She glared at him, mad that he just drowned some of the words.

"—too ADHD. ADHD isn't bad—It sharpens our battle reflexes. But Leo Valdez has some difficulties containing just that." Reyna shook her head. Kylie was glaring at her, her face vicious. "The Hermes kids are worse than him."

Piper swallowed. They aren't going to like that.

"They pull pranks on other people when they could be training. They joke around twenty-four seven, ignoring their daily tasks and getting into mischief. I'm not surprise Chiron often give them punishments. In my opinion, they need to be harsher."

"Why you little—" Kylie was getting ready to leap, but Marina pulled her down again.

"Alright, if you think us Greeks aren't that great, than give us one good Greek out there." Marina was containing her fury, that much Piper could tell.

Reyna tapped her chin. "I could name two. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Those two knows how to run a camp. But again, they aren't at all that strict."

Kylie's glare sent shivers down Piper's spine. "Percy and Annabeth were one of the Seven of the Prophecy. What did you think of the other Greeks?"

"I've already told you about Leo."

"What about Piper?" Kylie's voice was challenging. Piper knew what was going to happen. If Reyna threw a single insult at her, her sister will kill the girl for her. She could want that to happen, but she didn't want to put her mother to shame. This was not what the Aphrodite kids were about.

"Piper McLean?" Reyna's voice was half-venomous. "She's . . . interesting. She has a lot going on with her reputation."

Marina snapped her attention towards Reyna. Her anger was now on the surface. "What's that suppose to mean?"

Reyna ran a hand through her hair. "You did read the article in the Us Weekly, right? When I read that, I wasn't at all surprised. Piper seems exactly like the kind of girl who would betray the person who loves her most, just so she could run away with the person she loves."

Piper glared at the screen. That was not who she was. Who did this girl think she was, going around thinking she knew better? She could feel her best friends' glare on the screen as well, her boyfriend's even more frightening that the Superior Valdez's.

"Piper is nothing like that. We know her, and you don't," Marina said coolly, but her voice was sharp as knives. "I suggest you stop judging people. Though if I had to judge Piper, I would never expect her to do something like that."

"Oh yeah?" Reyna raised an eyebrow, a cold smile playing on her lips. "So why were ignoring her lately?"

Marina looked as though she had been hit. Her mouth was dropped open, unable to formulate words. It was Kylie who came through for her.

"Because we were trying to figure out who would do such a thing!" Kylie was now standing. Marina didn't stop her this time. "We've been questioning each other for weeks, pointing the finger at each other. But now it's obvious who would do something like that."

Marina's face turned cold as ice. She immediately glared at the praetor. "It was you."

The three words were enough for Piper. It was enough evidence. Everything made perfect sense. Reyna, who had hated her all this time, was the only person in the whole camp who would dare to do something that cruel, just to get revenge. She was the only girl who hated Piper more than anything in the world.

But where did she get the idea?

"How do you know it was me?" Reyna asked coolly. Her face was calm and collected, no obvious sign of shock.

Kylie glared. "You obviously hate Piper for 'stealing' Jason away from you."

Jason sighed in the background, but Piper ignored it. She needed to know how Reyna got such an idea. Her mind remembered the phone call she had with Mel, about how her dad was handling a situation.

Of course. Her dad had to explain to the press the story wasn't true, but he didn't have any proof. She didn't steal a BMW to run away with some fake boyfriend named Dylan. She stole it because—

Suddenly her mind clicked. She had stolen a BMW. But that news didn't get to the press. Her dad knew she had stolen the car, but obviously had not known for what reason. He would never tell anyone her crime. So how did Reyna find out?

"I don't exactly hate her," the praetor protested. "I'm just not very fond of her. But that's the point here. I know I'm a great leader, and that I have some great qualities, but I would never get the idea of writing a fake article about Piper stealing a BMW and sending it to the magazine."

"Not unless you found out a dark secret of hers, and twisted the story," Marina realized. "Somehow, you found out she stole a BMW—which I believe she had a very good reason to—and told the press she planned to run away with a boyfriend she never had. You made the whole camp and the whole world believe that stupid story." Marina stared at Reyna in disgust. "Even worse, I believe her dad's stuck in a situation right now."

Reyna rolled her eyes. "And where would I get that information?"

"Someone from the inside," Marina guessed. She turned to her sister. "One of us has betrayed the cabin."

"Who did you threaten?" Kylie asked, advancing on the praetor. She managed to snatch Reyna's dagger out of her belt, and was now pointing it at her throat. "Who did you threaten?"

Reyna smiled, a cold and evil one. "Why don't you ask your brother Ryan?" She got up, leaving the studio, and out of the screen.

Piper switched the TV off, not caring about the way her siblings were going to end the show. She kept staring at the wall in disbelief, wondering how Ryan could've helped Reyna.

"Piper? You okay?" Jason's voice seemed distant, too far for her to grasp on to. She kept staring at the blank screen, not turning to her friends.

Shaking her head, she came back to reality. "I need to check on my cabin," she announced, and ran out, leaving the two boys staring at her as she ran.

"You traitor!" Mitchell grabbed onto Ryan's shirt, lifting him off the ground. "I thought you were better than this, man? Why'd you invite Reyna onto this show anyway? So that she could somehow ruin it? Guess what? She did! And guess who's going to be blamed? Piper, again!"

They had ended the show by simply apologizing to the audience, wishing that that were enough drama for them. With a simple goodbye, they turned on the closing credits, and ended the show. The ratings were about to arrive in a minute, but they didn't care about that now.

Their attentions were focused on Ryan.

"I didn't want to ruin the show, guys! I thought it was going to turn out good! I had no intention to give Piper more weight!"

"And why should we believe you?" his sister Stephanie asked.

"You've already told enough lies!" one of his brothers screamed, and a chorus of 'Yes' rang through the room.

"I say we hand him over to Cabin Five. Let the Ares kids teach him a lesson!"

"No, let's teach him ourselves!"

"Yeah!"

"Enough!" Everyone turned towards the voice. Piper was standing in the doorway, her face mad. "Mitchell, put him down this instant."

Mitchell hesitantly put the boy down. Ryan watched as his sister walked up to him, her face mixed with different emotions. He braced himself for a fit of accusations, but Piper said was one word, "Why?"

Ryan bit his lip, gazing at the floor. "She threatened in Tess's name. She was going to tell her her own parents threw her out, left their baby in that alley and that she spent most of her childhood looking for food because of them." He paused. "I didn't want to tell her her first crush was the once who gave her that scar on her left shoulder, because she loved him. I couldn't let her know any of that. It'll break her heart. I didn't want Reyna to hurt our youngest sister. I'm sorry." He looked up. "It was either you or Tess. I had to protect our youngest."

There was silence in the air, thick and quiet. "I forgive you," Piper said, breaking the silence. "You did the right thing. Even though it did get us into a bit of a situation. Not to mention my dad."

Ryan stared at Piper, full of shock. "But I thought—"

"You thought wrong," his sister interrupted him. "You got the message I was trying to teach you guys. We aren't supposed about love or beauty. It's about the things we do for love, and the beauty that comes out of it. That's what Aphrodite is about, and not just who loves whom and how pretty one can be. You understood that, and you protected our sister through love." She smiled at him. "You're a true son of Aphrodite. Mom would be proud."

Ryan smiled back. His sister was good at encouraging people, which was true. She had a way with words. He hope she didn't charmspeak him into believing any of it was true, but something told him those words came from the heart.

Slowly, his siblings started to apologize, taking their words back. With each word, Ryan's smile grew and grew, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Piper's grew too.

The door burst open, and the youngest daughter skipped into the room, a paper in hand. "Ryan! Ryan!" She stopped short, when she saw Piper. "Oh, and Piper too." She giggled, causing everyone to smile. "And of course, everyone else." She raised the paper in her hand, pushing it into Ryan's. "Hephaestus just gave me the ratings! I don't know what those are, but it sounds funny!" She stared to laugh, while skipping around the room.

The older kids dreaded for what stood on the paper. Ryan read the numbers. Immediately, his face turned into shock. "It's an eight point five out of ten. An eight and a half!"

Everyone cheered, dancing and jumping in joy. Marina and Kylie gave each other thumbs up, while Piper beamed at her siblings.

"But—but how?" Mitchell asked, grabbing the paper to see for himself.

Ryan grabbed Tess from the floor, lifting her up onto his shoulders. "The gods liked that little drama, even though Hephaestus himself got a little mad. And Hermes as well. Oh, and not to mention Mom. But they loved it despite the flaws!"

Mitchell laughed, his laughter full of relief. Lacy got up on a chair. "Three cheers for Ryan!"

Piper smiled as her siblings cheered. She was glad to have them on her team. She didn't know what she would do without them.

She smirked. Three for Reyna, three for Cabin Ten.

Watch out, girly. You're going to be hit. Hard.

It's a tie! Piper better get Reyna back soon. How would you like Piper to get her revenge? Send in your ideas through your reviews! I really need them :P Though I think I have an idea...

Anyway, I see the number of reviews are decreasing. :( I'm guessing it's because of my lack of absence. I'm still terribly sorry about this. But please, please, please review! It boosts my confidence, and when my confidence is boosted, so is my excitement, and then I will immediately dash up to the computer and start writing. So, REVIEW! Please :)

xoxo,
Sarah

PS Don't forget those ideas! (You may include other campers in your revenge ;) )