III| camp halfblood needs to untwist their knickers

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Out of all the campers, out of all their friends, out of everybody Valentina Diaz had the hardest time trying to forget what Daphne Evans had done to her.

Her mind wouldn't allow it, she tried to forget it. But she couldn't. The betrayal was engraved in her mind.

Often times the daughter of Aphrodite would sit under the big tree next to the Aphrodite Cabin. It was where the duo had first met.

Having been at Camp three months before Daphne, Valentina had slowly got the gist of Camp. They were both young, back then, naïve with how cruel the world could be. But Daphne had suffered a taste of the world's cruelty.

Not wanting to ignore the girl, Valentina had sat next to her and the rest was history. In a matter of a few days, they became one of the closest duos Camp Half-Blood had ever seen.

Valentina remembered the helplessness that Daphne's eyes held, the red brimmed them. Her hair was bright blonde, so full of life which contrasted how she looked. Just before she arrived at Camp Half-Blood, her mother had died.

Now everything had changed.

Valentina sat under the tree, her hands clenching and unclenching over her jeans subconsciously. She'd tried her best to move past whatever the hell had happened - but her mind kept going back to it.

Back to what Daphne had done.

The sight of Oliver made Valentina feel a little better, if only slightly. She gave him a small smile, trying to hide her frustration and focus on the happiness of her boyfriend's presence.

"Hey you." She replied, shifting closer to him to nuzzle his shoulder.

Instantly Oliver wrapped his arms around Valentina. "Beckendorf has gone to find Percy for their mission."

Of course. The mission to blow up the Princess Andromeda - the ship where Kronos' army resided.

The ship where Daphne Evans most likely was.

Campers, mostly Theo, had hope that they could find Daphne. That they could convince her that Kronos wasn't doing it for them.

But Valentina thought it was stupid, Daphne had chosen her path. She was a traitor and they weren't.

Camp HalfBlood would just have to learn that the hard way.

The girl hummed. "Let's hope they are successful."

"Reckon they'll come across Daph?" Asked Oliver, leaning his back against the tree.

Valentina turned her head to look at him, the familiar feeling of anger consumed her as the girls name was spoken.

In response, the daughter of Aphrodite shrugged. "Don't know, don't care."

Oliver's gaze lingered on her face for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he observed her expression. "Still think of her as a traitor, huh?"

"She's as much of a traitor as Luke." Valentina narrowed her eyes. "And if you think otherwise, just because you were friends with her, then you're just as naive as Annabeth when it comes to Luke."

The boy took a breath and nodded. "You're right, she is in the same category as Luke. But that doesn't stop me missing my friend, Val. You have to understand that."

Valentina looked at him. "She was my friend too. My best friend. Yet she still did it, Oliver. She chose her path."

"I know," he said quietly, his hands shifting to rub up and down her shoulders comfortingly. "I know, and I get it. You have every right to be upset and angry, you really do. But I can't help but hope that maybe, just maybe, she'll come to her senses... She can't be that gone, right?"

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