Chapter 13: Ursa Major.

"Smokey the bear?" I said, squinting my eyes to get a better look at the brown bear at the distance.

The monster truck sized ursidae gave an intimidating growl as if it got offended with my attempt at humor.

"That's Kallisto, moron" Rey said, she gritted her teeth and draws her bow and arrow, preparing for battle. Her expression showed anxiety

"Ursa Major" Thalia explained, seeing my confused expression. Her bow and arrow were already pointed at the bear.

"You mean the big papa bear in the sky?" I asked.

"Well, more like mama bear..." Thalia said.

"But how? Zoe killed her!" Sasha said.

Zoe's eyes widen hearing this, "I-I never killed a single thing!" she said.

"Not you, she was a friend of ours, her name was also Zoe..." Rey replied.

The giant bear pawed the ground with its right leg. "You know, I usually love to chat, but Baloo over here looks like it slept on the wrong side of the bed" I remarked.

Just as I said that, the bear came charging towards us, the speed was magnificent considering its giant built. "Look out!" Thalia and the other two hunters dodged to the right while I grabbed Zoe and leaped to the left. The bear missed us by a hair, and just crashed to a wooden cabin behind us, it managed to flatten the whole structure with its magnificent strength and speed. The impact stunted the beast for merely a few second before it got back on its feet shook its body. It gave a low growl, taking no time to recover from the crash that should have killed an ordinary bear, or any normal animal for that matter.

I shot my bronze arrows at it, followed by the Hunter's silver one. One by one, the arrows pierced its furry hide, but it seems like the giant mammal only perceive it as a mild inconvenience, as it still stood its ground and growl even louder than before.

The growl was so loud, leaves around it was blown away by the wind created by the force.

"How did your friend kill it the last time?!" I asked the three hunters.

"Brute force and mad skill?" answered Thalia uncertainly.

"She used an arrow tip made out of imperial gold gifted to her from an old friend" answered Rey.

The bear turned to face the three hunters, gruffly sniffing and growling.

"Well, if it isn't the right time for you guys to use your magical hunter bag to conveniently pull a golden arrow!" I said, hoping that the hunters do bring some golden weapon with them.

"We don't have any! It's not the Hunter's standard weapon" Thalia said.

Of course it's fucking not.

Kallisto took a stance on its hind legs, and in one quick motion it leaped towards the hunters.

"Dodge!" exclaimed Sasha, the three rolled to the side, barely escaping the deadly maul of the giant bear. It crashed down into a giant tree that was standing behind the hunters, uprooting it in an instance.

"We can't fight this beast, we need to run!" exclaimed Rey.

"Hey, if DiCaprio can beat one of this, so can we!" I said.

"We need to get to a high ground" Thalia said.

"Really? Did you not see what that bear do to the tree?!" Seeing how that bear could destroy a tree with one swift motion, taking safety on top of the tree would be the least safe option we have.

I think for a second, "I've got an idea! Thalia! Passed me your bow and an arrow!" I said.

"What?! What for?" she asked.

"Remember that time with the scorpion? It might work again!" I said.

Thalia looks uncertain at first, but seeing the giant bear has almost fully recovered from hitting the tree, she finally decided to pass the silver bow and arrow to me.

"What the Hades are you trying to pull?!" exclaimed Rey.

"Lo and behold…" I said as I draw an arrow onto the bow.

I took a deep breath as I aimed to the bear's back. With the bear facing Thalia and co. I got a clear opening on its broad back. There's no way I'm going to miss even with one eye. "Please…" I mentally prayed. I released the string and the silver arrow flew towards the Bear's shoulder, piercing its furry hide and making a clear hit. But then, nothing happened.

"Aiden you idiot!" Thalia barked.

"What was that supposed to do?!" exclaimed Sasha.

My face turned red in embarrassment, "Well it worked last time!"

The bear turned itself towards me, it gave a small growl and began to paw the ground with its right hind leg.

"Oh… I'm not liking this…" I said. Suddenly, I felt someone yanking my left arm.

"Quick, we need to get back to the cage!" Zoe said all of a sudden while pulling my arm.

"W-wait, are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked her.

"Just trust me!" She said.

I figured this is no time for arguing, so I just followed her running back to the golden cage and close the door shut.

"You sure this would keep us safe?" I asked her again. Zoe just answered with a nod.

The bear comes charging towards the cage, I closed my eyes and braced for impact.

BANG!

A loud banging sound can be heard as the bear's thick skull came into contact with the cage's golden bars. I felt the large cage shaking after the impact, but it remained intact. And when I opened my eyes, I was surprised with the sight of Kallisto rubbing its bloody head and having difficulty to remain on its feet. It fell on its ass on the ground.

I saw Thalia was covering her gaping mouth with her hand at the distance, the turn of event must have shocked her too.

"Could it be…" she said.

"That cage is made out of imperial gold?" finished Rey.

I glanced at Zoe, "Your father made this cage?" I asked her.

"No… I made this cage… they made me make this cage…" She said.

I frowned at her answer, could it be the reason they want her is because she inherited her father's power?

I diverted my attention back at the bear, its stance was still wobbly, but it appeared to have almost recovered from the injury. It shook his fur covered body and give a loud growl.

"Give me one of your arrows." Zoe said.

I looked at her questioningly, "what for?"

"I'll turn it into an imperial gold so you could kill the bear" she said.

"Don't tell me…" I said, "You also have Midas's power?" I asked her.

"Just give me the arrow!" she demanded.

I quickly draw a bronze arrow from my quiver and gave to her. I saw her touched the tip with her finger, but nothing happened.

"What are you-" I was about to ask when I saw her hand shaking as she guided the sharp tip toward her skin.

"Hey, stop that!" I tried to yank her hand away from the arrow, but she quickly stabbed herself with the bronze metal. Closing her eyes shut and biting her lips to hold the pain I'm sure she was dealing. Blood came out of her pale skin and run down onto the bronze tip of the arrow.

I stood there speechless at what I was seeing, once she wiped her own blood from the arrow tip, it revealed that the bronze tip has now changed color into gold.

"H-how…?" I asked, my mouth hanging wide open.

She ignored my question, "Quick, use this arrow to kill that bear!' She exclaimed as she handed the arrow to me.

"You're still bleeding!" I reached out to her injured hand.

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" she exclaimed, I quickly retracted my hand.

"That bear is getting up! I'll tell you more about… this, once you killed that bear!" she desperately trying to convince me.

I realized that arguing is pointless at the moment, so I decided to do just what she told me. I load the now gold tipped arrow onto my bow and aimed it at the bear's head.

I took a deep breath, and as I let go of my breath, I let go of the string.

The arrow flew toward the towering beast with a great force and speed, and it smoothly pierced its head until only the fletching is what remained visible.

Kallisto gave a sharp cry of pain, before it finally collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud that shook the ground.

"Bad ass…" was all I can say seeing the power of the imperial gold weapon for the first time.

"DUMB ASS!" Yelled Thalia as she rushed toward us.

Let me start this long author's note with a HUGE apology.

It took me 5 MONTHS to finally get around to finish this chapter, and it has been over 1 year since I started this fan fiction.

I won't give you any excuse this time, for despite the fact that I have so much stuff to do IRL this year, there were still plenty of time for me to work on this. So again, for everyone that followed this story, I give all of you my humblest apology.

Also, to respond to an Anon review, don't worry, there won't be any love triangle, but I also must apologize to those of you who want Thalia and Aiden to just get on with it already. I planned to make the relationship of those two to grow closer and closer each arc as the two will start to open up more to each other. So yeah, this one is going to be a slow burn. Right now, his mind is still preoccupied with fixing his family issue, so… no room for romance yet.

Next, it goes without saying that I've made a few changes on the previous chapters, so if you'd like, you could check those out while waiting for the next chapter. And if you see any flawed in the change or if you noticed any grammatical error (particularly in this chapter) feel free to tell me about it and I'll fix it as quickly as I can.

Lastly, I want to hear your opinion about the point of view. Do you prefer seeing this story only told with first person, third person, or do you like both of them? I'll put any thought into consideration.

Thanks for still sticking around guys…

Bye for now.