GOLD RUSH ━ percy jackson¹

06. half and half

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 because her hair was braided back.

Then there was 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?"