A huntress brother

Talking about the quest

The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved hishand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chironreminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of the demigods were underage. Mr. Dsighed. With a snap of his fingers the wine turned to Diet Coke. Nobody drank that either.

 Mr. D and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table, I was near them, playing with a lighter. Zoe and Bianca diAngelo (who had kind of become Zoe's personal assistant) took the other end. Thalia andGrover and Percy sat along the right, and the other head councilors—Beckendorf, SilenaBeauregard, and the Stoll brothers—sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send arepresentative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs (accidentally) during capture the  flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.Zoe started the meeting off on a positive note. "This is pointless."

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with topping. 

"Zoe... as much as it seems like it but it isn't" I said as i kept playing with the lighter "You have to understand this could save a few lives..."

"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters mustleave immediately."

"I know that, but..." I said talking and looking at Zoe

 "And go where?" Chiron asked cutting me off

"West!" Bianca said. "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can getfive hunters and go." 

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her." 

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said. "Campers and Hunters combinedprevail. We're supposed to do this together." 

"No!" Zoe said. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your" Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Getwith the times." 

Zoe hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. " Yerrr. We do not needyerrr help." 

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it." 

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Huntersmust cooperate." 

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a finebouquet. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What ifyou fail because you try to cooperate?"

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

"Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful." 

"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoe,but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"Zoe grimaced, but I could tell Thalia had scored a point. 

"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, Decembertwenty-first, is the winter solstice." 

"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

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

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked."Yes, Lord Dionysus."Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

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

"Three and two," Percy said. Everybody looked at him. Thalia even forgot to ignore him."We're supposed to have five. Three Hunters, two fromCamp Half-Blood. That's more than fair."Thalia and Zoe exchanged looks.

"Well," Thalia said. "It does make sense."Zoe grunted. 

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

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

Zoe picked up a Ping-Pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding who she wantedto whack first. "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." 

Everybody looked at Dionysus, I guess because he was the only god present and godsare supposed to know things. He was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyonegot silent he glanced up, "Well, don't look at me. I'm a young god, remember? I don't keeptrack of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. They make for terrible partyconversation."

"Chiron," Percy said, "you don't have any ideas about the monster?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of themquite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane ofOlympus. 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 havesounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor Stoll said. (I liked how he said you and not we.) "It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die."

"Six" I said looking at them all 

"No Y/N. You. Are. Not. Coming" Zoe said looking at me in the eyes "And i hope Mr.D will make sure you wont move from here"

"I cant let you go... Zoe, really I can't... not you too..."

"Y/N the choice has been made, let them decide" Said Chiron looking at me tiredly 

"AGAIN! YOU ARE STOPPING ME AGAIN! EVEN IF YOU CONNECTED THE DOTS!" As i said so i stormed out of the room and walking out of the big house. When I reached the lake i heard the pungent smell of wine coming from behind me "Mr.D..."

"Y/N... You lost your temper... again..."

"Why is he stopping me from going? WHY CAN'T HE LET ME HELP MY SISTER?!"

"Because he is too attached to You... He sees you as the son that the Gods didn't let him have..."

"OH REALLY?! Then maybe he should tell me! Not just look stopping me from helping the demigods!"

"Y/N... Chiron... he grow you up, he asked the younger gods... what he could do to grow you up better... but now he is panicking, he doesn't know what to do, and he doesn't want to lose you"

"But I can't lose my sister..."

"Y/N, I can't understand, my family is a mess, and the children here at camp are the only ones that actually make me feel part of a family, even if i mess up with  their names sometimes. Why don't you go to the ones that are your family, or well, the ones that you are adopting as such" As the god said so he walked away leaving me alone 

"Let's go home then..." I walked back towards the big house i stopped a few meters from the place. and looked at a wooden cabin placed near the big house, the building was a little smaller than the big house. The lights were still on, and i could hear laughs coming from inside.