CHAPTER SIX
( HALF AND HALF )

        DAVINA STOOD NEXT to Connor and Travis, her hands busying themselves by unbraiding her hair. The meeting Mr. D had called was supposed to only be for the head counselor of each cabin but, per usual, Travis brought Connor and Davina anyway.

"This is pointless," Zoë began.

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped, reaching over and scooping up the foods that Mr. D had supplied.

"There is no time to talk," Zoë went on, shooting Grover a look before turning her attention back on Chiron. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" the centaur questioned.

"West!" Bianca answered. Davina looked at her. In the day that she'd been a Hunter, she'd become Zoë's assistant. She even looked like her now with her hair braided back.

Then, there was also the fact that she physically looked stronger, her skin having a slight glow to it. Davina couldn't help but wonder if that was what would happen to her if she accepted Artemis's offer.

She wasn't like Bianca. She really had no family to leave behind if she joined the Hunters. She hadn't seen her mother since she was 11.

"Yes!" Zoë agreed, making Davina snap her gaze away from Bianca. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia crossed her arms. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoë spat. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your," Thalia corrected. "Nobody has said thy in, like, 300 years, Zoë. Get with the times."

Zoe hesitated in a familiar way. "Yerr." The pronunciation reminded Davina not of all those years watching her abuela struggle to remember English words. "We do not need yerr help."

"Forget it," Thalia grumbled.

For a second, Davina's ADHD brain got sidetracked as she tried to string together a sentence in Spanish. She let out a silent huff, frustrated with herself when she struggled. Six years of speaking nothing but English resulted in her losing her first language.

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron told Zoë, making Davina blink and get back on track. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

Chiron sighed. "Mr. D, with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Mr. D raised his eyebrows, not bothering to look at Chiron. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."

"We're supposed to work together," Thalia insisted. "I don't like it either, Zoë, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"

Zoë winced. One point to Thalia.

"We must not delay," Chiron warned them. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December 21st, is the winter solstice."

Davina's eyes widened. That was too little time.

"Oh, joy," Mr. D muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoë stated. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

Mr. D's eyes moved to Zoë. "Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?"

"Yes, Lord Dionysus."

"Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

"I must agree with Zoë," Chiron voiced. "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important, to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"Three and three."

"Half and half," Davina's eyes flickered to Percy as they spoke at the same time. She shrugged, shifting her attention to the others.

"It's fair that way," the boy continued.

Zoë shook her head. "I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers."

"You'll be retracing Artemis's path," Chiron told her. "Moving quickly. No doubt she tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You'll have to do the same. The prophecy was clear. The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? Too many Hunters spoil the scent. A small group is best."

Zoë picked up a Ping-Pong paddle off the table and stared at it. "This monster – the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis's side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be."

Everyone's eyes landed on Mr. D, who had been mindlessly flipping through a wine magazine. "Don't look at me. I'm a young god, remember? I don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. They make for terrible party conversation."

"Chiron," Percy turned his gaze away from the god. "You don't have any ideas about the monster?"

"I have several ideas," Chiron replied. "None of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Your father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

"That's some serious danger you're facing. It sounds like two of the six are going to die," Connor remarked, earning Davina's elbow to his rib. She shot him a look. "What? That's what the prophecy said!"

"One shall be lost in the land without rain," Beckendorf recited. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."

"And the Titan's curse must one withstand," Silena remembered. "What could that mean?"

Davina's eyebrows furrowed a bit when she noticed Chiron and Zoë sharing a look.

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover added, his mouth full of food. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"

As she looked at Thalia and Percy, Davina was grateful her dad was Hermes. She'd only met him a few times. And as far as she knew, he had no reason to want to kill her.

"There will be deaths," Chiron broke the silence. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Mr. D cheered. Everyone's eyes locked on him once more. Did he really dislike them that much? He glanced up from his magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

"'Vina and Percy are right," Silena voiced. "Three campers should go."

"Oh, I see," Zoë tilted her head at Silena sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

"No," Silena shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere with a group of girls who think that liking pink and makeup and boys automatically makes someone weak and stupid. So, don't look at me."

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at?" Zoë scoffed as Davina nodded at Silena and lifted her hand for a high-five. "What would thy mother say?"

Silena's eyes narrowed and she reached up. She undid her earrings and set them on the table before heading toward Zoë. Unfortunately, Connor and Travis held her back.

"Stop it," Beckendorf demanded. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"

"I shall go, of course," Zoe answered. "And I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

Travis turned toward Zoë. "The big girl who likes to hit people in the head?"

Zoë nodded.

"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor asked slowly.

"Yes," Zoë confirmed, irritated. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Travis shook his head. Lie. "Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a silver shirt that said Artemis the moon goddess fall hunting tour 2002. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring. You want to give it to her?"

Davina eyed her brothers, knowing they were up to something. They were always up to something. They had learned the hard way not to prank her and ended up in the infirmary for a week.

Zoë didn't know her brothers as well as she and everyone else did, so she huffed and grabbed the shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."

Davina tensed. Bianca was a kid.

"Me?" Bianca blinked. "But. . . I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine," Zoë assured. "There is no better way to prove thyself."

"And for campers?" Chiron questioned.

"Me!" Grover shouted. "Anything to help Artemis!"

Zoë wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

"But he is a camper," Thalia countered. "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play the tracker's song yet, Grover?"

"Absolutely!" Grover eagerly nodded.

"Very well," Zoë gave in. "And the others?"

"I'll go," Thalia and Davina volunteered at the same time. They looked at each other, still tense from the Capture the Flag game.

Davina had to go. This could be the only chance she'd get to be able to look for Annabeth. Maybe wherever Artemis was, she would also find her best friend.

"Wait," Percy cut in. "I want to go, too."

"Oh. Oh, yeah. I forgot. Percy has to go. I didn't mean – I'll stay. Percy should go in my place," Grover stammered.

"He cannot," Zoë countered. "He is a boy. I will not have Hunters traveling with a boy."

"You traveled here with me," Percy pointed out.

"That was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by the goddess," Zoë told him. "I will not go across country and fight many dangers in the company of a boy."

"What about Grover?" Percy motioned toward his best friend.

"He does not count," the huntress argued. "He's a satyr. He is not technically a boy."

"Hey!" Grover complained.

"I have to go!" Percy insisted. "I need to be on this quest."

"Why?" Zoë wondered. "Because of thy friend Annabeth?"

"I just feel like I'm supposed to go."

"No," Zoë denied. "I insist upon this. I will take a satyr if I must, but not a male hero."

Chiron let out a breath. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions. So be it, Thalia, Davina, and Grover will accompany Zoë, Bianca, and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the Gods, present company included, we hope, be with you."

𝒎𝒆𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒍 !!
davina and i 🤝 no sabo