The Nature of a Demigod

Hunks of Junk

I'd noticed their bows and quivers were also magic. I never really thought about it, but when the Hunters needed them, they just appeared slung over their backs. And when they didn't, they were gone.

Right now though, Zoe was handing her bow to Y/N who was talking about something like 'tensile strength' and 'draw weight' which Zoe answered with a hint of a smile like that stuff made any sense.

The night got chilly fast, so Grover and I collected old boards from the ruined house, and Thalia zapped them with an electric shock to start a campfire. Pretty soon we were about as comfy as you can get in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"The stars are out," Zoe said. She was right. There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange. "Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"This is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution." Y/N nodded, and leaned over to Bianca, pointing out more of the different constellations, and the named stars. They both had that same fascination and wonder on their faces.

"You talk like you're not human," I said. Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

"For you," Thalia corrected. "Not thee"

"But you use you for the beginning of a sentence."

"And for the end," Thalia said. "No thou. No thee. Just you." Zoe threw up her hands in exhaustion. "I hate this language. It changes too often!" Grover sighed. He was still looking up at the stars like he was thinking about the light pollution problem. "If only Pan were here, he would set things right."

Zoe nodded sadly. "Maybe it was the coffee," Grover said. "I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee..."

"You do that you're gonna lose your mind from the caffeine overdose. And then who's gonna find Pan?" Y/N interrupted, not looking down from the starry night sky. I thought about the rubber rat and the tiny birds that had suddenly come alive when the wind blew. "Grover, do you really think that was Pan? I mean, I know you want it to be."

"He sent us help," Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why. But it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've gotten in two thousand years. I was so close."

I didn't answer. I didn't want to squash Grover's hopes.

"What I want to know," Thalia said, looking at Y/N, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

He shrugged. "I've never understood this thing." He took off the ring and drew blackout effortlessly. "It's not made of any material that I know of." He held the mystical blade out. It was super dark next to the fire, and his weapon made it seem like even the fire was being swallowed by the shadows. "Whoever made it must've put some kind of weird magic inside. I mean... in the summer, I barely scratched Luke twice with it and it looked like he was dying."

He let the weapon dissipate. "We know this thing is a mystery, but Bianca, we need to figure out how your dagger pulled that off." Thalia and Zoe nodded in agreement.

Bianca looked down in disappointment and shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Maybe there's something special about your knife, like with Y/N's sword," I said. "It is the same as mine," Zoe said. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."