{BOOK 2} Percy Jackson's Sister

Let's Play Name That President

No one was up for a midnight dive in the dumps so we decided to set up camp.

Zoë and Bianca pulled out a sleeping bag for each of us out of there impossibly small bags. There had to be some magic involved because there was no way they could fit that many things in that one bag.

Percy and Grover yanked off the boards from the abandoned houses to use as a campfire. Thalia summoned lightning to blast the wood and set it on fire.

When I had first met her on the streets with Luke, she didn't have control over her powers at all. Once, Luke asked her to summon an electric shock and she ended up frying his hair to a crisp. It was one of the few happy memories I had living on my own.

This reminded me of those times, only it was much better now because I had somewhere proper to sleep. I also had friends with me, but at the moment I wasn't speaking to one of them.

I laid on my back in the sleeping bag, looking up and admiring the stars.

Percy had taught me about the meanings of constellations and how to find them.

I opened my mouth to point out Aquila but my brain reminded me that I was ignoring him.

Zoë noticed and she said, "The stars are out."

That caused everyone to look up at the sky in amazement. The stars lit up the night gorgeously and in Thalia's bright blue eyes, the white specks made a pattern.

"Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"This is nothing," Zoë shook her head. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," Percy said.

Zoë 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"

Zoë threw up her hands in frustration. "I hate this language. It changes too often!"

"I feel you," I said. "Growing up, my mom didn't want me to forget my roots, so she only taught me Spanish. After she died, I had to learn English on the streets. Naturally, I picked up all the curse words first."

Grover sighed. "Nature. If only Pan were here, he would set things right."

Zoë nodded sadly.

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

"I drink coffee all the time," I said. "Nothing like that has ever happened to me."

"Well, maybe because you weren't searching," Grover sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than me.

"Grover, do you really think that was Pan?" Percy asked. "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."

No one answered, no one wanted to kill his hopes.

"What I want to know," Thalia changed the subject, looking at Bianca, "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."