"I'm a what?!" I asked Ava after her stunning revelation.

Could I even believe what she was saying about my dad? I mean he died before I was even born. Her next statement made a lot more sense.

"Maybe let's deal with the bloodthirsty monster and then we'll unpack your identity?" She responded while trying to notch another arrow.

I nodded, realizing that should probably be a priority. Suddenly, two, what can only be described as stingers flew from his tail and headed straight towards me. Of course, because I could sense the shift in the wind, I was able to dodge each one and they struck the ground harmlessly.

Ava looked at me with an expression that I can only guess meant she figured out how I was able to dodge them. She ducked as a stinger flew over her head.

"Can you keep those things off me? So I can get a clear shot?" She shouted.

I nodded again and launched myself with a blast of air to her position. As the manticore launched projectiles from its tail I deflected each one from hitting us. The problem was, he was quick. Everytime Ava fired an arrow he dodged and continued inching closer toward us. The only thing keeping him from pouncing us was that Ava would fire an arrow right in front of him before he could advance. But we couldn't go on like this forever. Summoning all this wind was quite literally taking the wind out of me. And I could tell that Ava was slowing down every time she notched an arrow. Suddenly, we heard an extremely loud "Oh my god!" from the doorway.

We turned to see Charlie standing in the doorway, with some device in his hands.

The manticore hissed at the new threat and launched several projectiles at Charlie.

"Charlie!" I yelled but he ducked under the stingers and they pounded into the wall.

Ava took the opportunity to fire more arrows towards the manticore but it leaped in the air - right towards Charlie.

I yelled again, but this time nothing coherent came as I saw the massive beast leap towards my best friend.

I fought back tears as the manticore landed on Charlie, until a wave of scarlet flames engulfed the beast. Covered in smoke and fire the manticore whirled around angrily hissing and growling as Charlie rolled away from under it, holding what I now presume to be a flamethrower.

I ran over to him as fast as I could and Ava followed me with shooting arrows at the manticore.

"Dude, are you alright?!"

"Yeah man," He said as he coughed up a little bit of black smoke. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Wait," Ava said cautiously, "You can see that thing?"

"Ugh, the man-faced lion thing with a scorpion tail?" Charlie said. "Yeah, it's kinda hard to miss,"

Ava looked incredibly confused when the manticore turned to see the three of us. While still on fire, the smoke had dissipated from around its eyes so it could now see us clearly. And it did not look happy.

Ava pulled out two hunting knives.

"I'm going to get close." She said, "I know this is kind of advanced, but do you think you can pull air out of its lungs while I fight it?"

I had never thought of that tactic before, but I nodded as it seemed doable. I focused on the air coming in and out of the manticore while Ava had Charlie get behind her so she could deflect the stingers it launched at us. Once I got a hold of the air stream I reversed its direction. Within minutes, the manticore was wheezing. It looked over to me like it could see what I was doing and started leaping towards me.

"I can't hold this much longer," I strained and yelled to Ava. As it turns out, most living things want to breathe, so their muscles tend to resist if that's being restricted.

Ava nodded and charged the manticore. She struck across its nose and then rolled out of the way and it swiped at her with its paw. She deflected its swipes with her knives and could tell it was slowing down as breathing became more difficult. Suddenly, its tail connected with her midsection and sent her flying. It then looked at me, like it knew I was the one slowly choking it and readied a spike in its tail. The manticore had me dead to rights. I closed my eyes to prepare for the worst when a wave of heat forced me to open them. I looked to see Charlie behind the manticore with his flamethrower, having just lit its tail on fire. The manticore turned around angrily and with a deadly swipe of its paw, I knew Charlie was done. But as it raised its paw to strike, it suddenly collapsed. I dropped to my knees.

"This thing is finally out of air," I gasped.

"And now," Ava said and then jammed her knives it's torso and it instantly crumbled to dust, "It's out of life,"

Still trying to catch my own breath, I still have enough to ask the obvious question. "Where did you get a flamethrower Charlie?"

"Oh I made it!" Charlie said nonchalantly.

Ava looked at me quizzically and she sheathed her knives.

I looked at her, held up my hands and promptly passed out.

I woke up in my living room to my mother staring at me with her arms crossed.

"YOU'RE THAT AIRAIDING, SUPERHERO?!" she demanded sternly.

I sat up with my hand on my head, feeling like I was nursing an electromagnetic headache. I'd never exerted so much energy.

"Good to see you too mom," I said weakly. I then glanced at Charlie, "You didn't think to mention my mom doesn't know about me?"

Charlie shrugs, "It never came up,"

"We need to get moving," Ava insisted.

As I slowly regained consciousness, I suddenly remembered that fighting that crazed lion monster wasn't a dream.

"Wait," I said suddenly, "You still have to explain exactly what happened at the bank. What are you, again?"

"Hunter of Artemis," Ava replied matter-of-factly, as if I was supposed to understand what was.

Suddenly my mom's expression softened.

"Ava, thank you for keeping Will safe," she said.

"No problem Tina," Ava said. "But we really must move,"

Since when was my mom on a first name basis with anybody?

"Can you give us 5 minutes?" my mom asked her.

Ava peered out the window. "I suppose, but let's hurry it along," she said and walked out of the room.

"I'll be in the kitchen," Charlie said awkwardly, leaving us alone.

My mom sat down next to me and lightly touched my face.

"Let's talk about your father," she said as I nodded.

I was not ready for the revelation my mom dropped on me. And I had just fought a scorpion lion.

"So my dad didn't die in a bank robbery?" I asked her to confirm.

My mom's eyes shined. "Is that why you're out there, putting yourself in danger?"

I looked down at the carpet. "I just didn't want what happened to dad to happen to anyone else. Or I guess what I thought happened to dad..."

My mom managed a soft smile while she wiped a couple tears away.

"So if he's not dead, where is he? Did he just not care about me?" I asked. "Does he... does he not love me?"

"Your father is the most incredible man I've ever met. Well I suppose that's because he's not a man. But he does care about you and love you, very very much," My mom responded.

"Not a man... who is he?" I asked.

"Your father," my mom continued, "Is a God,"

The room was silent for a good couple of minutes.

"My dad... is God? I'm God's Son, like Jesus?" I asked incredulously.

"Mmm no, actually, around Jesus' time is when Zeus decided the Gods wouldn't meddle in human affairs anymore and he had Hecate create the Mist. It got a little too confusing, with the Roman Gods and Jesus being the Son of God," Ava suddenly responded.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

My mom shot her a look of, this is so not helping. She then took my hands in hers.

"No, honey. See, your father was incredibly special. Just like you. He was so special, he's lived for thousands of years and people started worshiping him as a God. Your father is one of the Olympians, the Greek Gods," she continued.

"So I'm going to live for thousands of years," I asked, still incredibly confused.

"Nah, demigod, lifespan is still about that of a mortal. Unless you're a Hunter, like me," Ava said while raging the fridge.

"Ava, sweetie?" my mom called out, "I thought you were going to let me handle this?"

"It's been 5 minutes. And Thalia's telling me we've got monsters closing in on our location. We've got to go,"

I raised my hand, "I still have a lot of questions,"

"We'll have to answer them in the car. Do you have the keys Tina?"

"Oh, yes I picked up the rental SUV this morning, the keys are on the counter," Mom said anxiously. She then turned to me and held my head in her hands.

"Mom, what in the..."

"Honey, I know it's a lot. But Ava is going to take good care of you and keep you safer than I can,"

"We'll explain more in the car, let's go," Ava said hurriedly.

My mom looked in my eyes one last time. "I love you honey, and your father loves you too. You are our greatest possession. I'll always be right with you," she continued, her eyes glossy with tears and her hand on my cheek.

I was still completely confused but I knew my mom was speaking from her heart.

"I love you too mom," I said, with a weak smile.

She gave me one last hug and wiped her eyes.

"Now go ahead," she said. "There's supplies and clothes in the bags,"

"Take a quick shower, with this," Ava said to my mom and handed her a small bottle. "It's moonwater, it'll help get Will's smell off of you. Do you have somewhere to stay?"

My mom took the bottle and nodded.

"Good, the monsters are gonna tear apart your house looking for him cause Will's scent is all over this place," Ava continued and then looked at us. "Let's bounce,"

As we grabbed the supplies and headed to the car, I saw Charlie grab a couple of the bags.

"Dude, what are you doing?" I asked him.

"Bro, I've been by your side since 3rd grade, I'm not gonna stop now," he responded.

"But, Ava said this is going to be dangerous, right?" I asked and glanced at her.

"He can see through the Mist and he's handy with that flamethrower," Ava replied as she shrugged, "He'll be useful,"

"Besides," Charlie continued and put his hand on my shoulder, "Today was the last day before winter break, and my parents won't be back until the beginning of next year. After we get you safe, Ava will take you back,"

As he warmly smiled, I realized I really couldn't have a better best friend.

"Also, shotgun," he shouted and raced to the car holding two duffel bags with a backpack bouncing up and down on his back.

Okay, maybe I could have a slightly better best friend.

We hopped in the car and immediately peeled off from mom's house. I stared out the back window to see my mom waving us goodbye. She then turned and went back inside the house.

"So my mom is going to be safe , right?" I started to ask as Ava drove away, "Should we have stayed, to protect her?" I continued with my heart thumping faster in my chest.

"The further we take your scent away from her, the better," Ava said. "In fact..." she continued and suddenly pulled over.

Ava stepped out of the car and placed her hand on what looked like a deer footprint. She closed her eyes and within seconds, three deer bounced out of the woods and stood around her.

"Did you grab what I asked Charlie?" Ava turned out and asked him.

"Yeah," Charlie said and passed her a backpack. Next thing I know, she's pulling my clothes out of the bag, shirts, socks and jackets.

"Hey, aren't those mine? When did you get those?" I asked Charlie.

"You were asleep for a long time man," Charlie replied calmly. How he seemed so calm, I have no idea.

I looked back over to Ava and saw squirrels, raccoons, badgers and even a fox all surrounding her. She gave my clothes to the animals and closed her eyes again while resting her hand on the side of the deer's face. Her eyes suddenly popped open and I saw her mouth thank you as the animals scattered with my clothes.

She turned to me and Charlie.

"Our friends in the woods are going to spread your scent to distract the monsters hunting you. The manticore was the first monster they'd seen in decades and they're sure there are others not far behind,"

Charlie and I exchanged glances.

"But how did you...?" I asked incredulously.

"Tell them where to go? It's kind of a form of communication, I can sense their thoughts and they can sense mine. We're all connected through nature. Every child of Pan can feel that connection,"

We continued to stare at her blankly.

"Pan? Lord of the Wild?"

Charlie and I exchanged glances and continued staring back at her.

"I'm a demigod, just like y - ," Ava started and then interrupted herself. "You know what? Let's talk about this in the car,"

We nodded and after getting back on the road, we peppered Ava with questions.

"So, firstly, where exactly are we going, Ava?" I asked her.

"We're actually, almost here," Ava said as she pulled into what looked like the driveway of a safe house.

"What is this place?" I asked her.

"Based on your powers," Ava said as we stepped out of the car, "I think your father might actually be Zeus, God of the Sky." She rapped on the door in specific rhythm. "So just to be sure, we're going to see someone who might be your sister,"

A few seconds later, a vertical slit in the door opened and a pair of eyes peered through the hole.

"Ava! Welcome back!" The girl exclaimed and opened the door.

"Good to see you too Mia," Ava replied and gave her hug. The girl had caramel toned skin, a black jacket, black boots and a flower in her hair.

"She's here!" Mia called out as we stepped inside.

Then a strikingly pretty girl walked into the room. She had dark hair, a silver tiara in her hair and bracelet on her right arm.

"This is him?" She said, looking at me.

Ava nodded and then turned to us.

"Will, Charlie, meet Thalia Grace, lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis,"