Ashes, Ashes

chapter 15

-aspen-

After we visited Chiron– yes the Chiron! The one who trained all those big-shot heroes like Hercules and Perseus and Jason— he welcomed me warmly to Camp Half-Blood and he said since he was busy with a task from Lord ...someone. Voldemort, maybe? He wouldn't say who.

"Why don't I take you around? You seem a bit lost," Piper said. There was something else in her voice but I couldn't put a finger on it. Maybe curiosity?

I nodded, followed her around as she showed me the fully furnished and under-construction cabins, lava wall, pegasus stables, lake, camp store, Arts and Crafts area, about the Stoll Brothers, and more. She told me interesting facts and stories as we walked around camp.

"And these are my closest friends. I went on a major quest with these guys, but not all of them are here right now. Jason, my boyfriend, is actually here visiting but is from another camp. Annabeth's off with Percy for a family emergency, Hazel and Frank are also visiting from Camp Jupiter and Leo..." Her eyes misted over and she cleared her throat, "He- he's still missing."

I wondered how Leo went missing. Was he alive? I didn't want to bother her by asking, so I left the subject alone.

* * *

The tours went on, I meet new people, but I barely talked to them. I didn't see Ash for the whole day. I hope he's having fun being back with his friends, I thought bitterly, remembering is promise to show me about camp. Most of the day was of me walking around with Piper, meeting her friends. I felt like I was a bit mopey throughout it all, and I guess she noticed, because she confronted me after she had shown me the Oracle's cave.

Piper turned towards me. "Okay, honestly, I feel like something is up with you. You seem... resentful underneath everything. Is everything alright?"

"Yes..." I lied.

Piper raised an eyebrow at me. "Aspen, tell me the truth. We're friends now, aren't we?"

I wasn't sure what it was, but the power of her voice compelled me to tell her the truth. I pressed my lips together in hesitation. Finally, I relented. I plopped down on a nearby rock and told her everything. 

"So.. you know Ash, right? We got really close during our travel here, but it seems like he's been ignoring me the whole day. He promised me a tour especially from him– not that I haven't loved yours– but now I don't even exist to him.

"I guess..." I hesitated. "I guess he just did his job. Bring me to Camp safely, and that's it. I thought I had gained at least one friend from here but I guess not," I groaned the last part in my hands.

"Hey," Piper said. "Don't doubt your friendship with him. He never actually forgets, but you just have to talk to him. And besides," she reached forward and took my hands from my face, "I'm your friend here too. I guarantee you're going to make a lot of other new friends here," she said with a wink.

"Come on, let's go to the pavillion. After dinner, we have sing-along!" Piper cheered.

I followed her out of the woods to a big marble space with a bronze fire pit in the center surrounded by picnic tables. People were sitting at certain tables after getting their food and scraping part of it into the fire.

"Why are people scraping their food into the fire? Is it that bad?" I asked.

"Offering to the gods," Piper replied. "It's not enough that they're omnipotent and all powerful, they need to feel appreciated." She rolled her eyes.

"Come on, lets get food and I can introduce you to some new people." Piper said.

We stood in line when two people in front if us started talking to Piper. One of them, a girl, had ginger hair dyed with a shock of bright green. The boy next to her was blonde.

"You're the new camper, right? I am so sorry." The girl said to me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because being a demigod is probably the worst thing you could end up as," The boy snorted. "It can get you killed in about a hundred different ways."

We got to the front of the line and picked up our food. I got fresh baked rolls and barbecue with carefully selected fresh cheddar and Pepperjack cheese. Mmmm, cheese... I breathed the scent in as I walked with Piper. She escorted me to the Hermes table, which was where she told me all the new kids went.

Most of the Hermes kids were welcoming but i could hear them groan about having to fit another camper in the already jam-packed cabin. I didn't want to bother them anymore than i probably did, so i kept to myself. The cabin leader, however, did not want to let me do that.

His name was Connor Stoll, a boy with messy brown hair, a mischievous glint in his eye and a smirk that said he gets into all sorts of trouble, who said that there were usually two people leading this cabin, he and his brother Travis, but he was was off at college.

"If you need help with anything just ask me. I'm really trustworthy, contrary to what my last name is." Conner said. I didn't believe him.

I silently ate my food, listening to the chatter of the tables around me.