Guest12345678910- Thanks! So my update schedule is usually one chapter every ten days. I'm just updating the chapters I already have every day until I run out.
Also for the ship- U just got to wait and see :)
That night I slept in the medical tent. Zoe left right before I fell asleep. She radiates that big sister energy that I wish I had earlier. In the morning, I wake up at around 5. When I was still with Gabe, I used to wake up super early and sleep super late to avoid Gabe for around 3 hours. In those 3 hours, I did normal non-abused kid things like, ride my bike, workout, read books, etc.
As I'm thinking about my sleep schedule, Zoe strolls in. She appears surprised that I am awake at this time.
"Percy, why are you up now?" She says in a hushed tone, I guess that she doesn't want to awaken any of the other hunters.
"I normally wake up at this time. The better question is, why are you awake at this time?" I counter. Zoe bites her lip as if debating with herself.
One side wins and she spills, " I wanted to check on you." I raise an eyebrow.
Zoe sighs, "Two reasons. One being, I figured Milady would like it if her new son remained unmauled by the hunt. Two-." She pauses for a second, a moment of hesitation.
I kinda felt guilty for pressuring Zoe so I say, "You don't have to tell me."
"That's tough, because I'm telling you anyway," She says stubbornly. I roll my eyes and motion for her to speak.
"Well, I had a sister," Zoe says letting a soft breath.
I was confused, "The Hesperides?"
Zoe and I previously exchanged some information to know each other better and she had told me that she is the daughter of the Titan, Atlas. In return, I said that I was abused. Her reaction was surprisingly similar to Mom's rage.
"No. One. Touches. My. Brother." She calmly said. After I calmed her down, I told her that Gabe is dead and that Artemis killed him. With that, we got closer.
Anyway, Zoe looked shocked that I knew that, "How in Hades do you know my sisters?"
Another thing Zoe told me about the insides of being demigod was that you could use Hades and Tartarus to curse.
"Well, you told me you are the daughter of Atlas and I read somewhere that the Hesperides are the product of Atlas. So I just guessed." I explain.
Zoe ruffles my mop of hair and smiles wistfully, then her gaze hardens as if remembering a bad memory.
"No, it's not the Hesperides. I have another sibling, a younger one." I give her a look. "I don't want to say her name as it brings bad memories. All I know is that she was taken from me. That's why I'm so protective of you. I don't want to lose another." I nod, understanding. "So, what should we do Percy?"
I'm awestruck, no one has ever wanted to do anything with me. "W-we?"
Zoe rolls her eyes, "No, the game console. Yes us." She sarcastically says.
"What should we do?" I repeat, unsure of what to do.
Zoe shrugs, "I dunno, what do you like?"
Well, I like it when mom takes me to the pool but I highly doubt that there is a pool nearby so I improvise. Lakes are just bigger pools, right?
"I like water, are there any lakes near here?" I ask. Zoe doesn't expect my answer but nods.
"Yeah, there is one like 2 minutes away. We like to camp near freshwater." She explains. She walks silently out and I follow in suit. I venture outside as quietly as I can be. Zoe is already 10 feet ahead of me. Somehow, she noiselessly strolls through camp without breaking a sweat whereas I am making a serious conscious effort to watch where I step.
Miraculously, Zoe dodges every twig and stick on the way to the lake. She looks at me expectantly, I take a step, and when I say the second, I mean the second I take a step, a twig magically appears under my foot. The stupid piece of wood makes a noticeable snap.
Zoe slaps her forehead and glares at me. At that moment, I realize how scary a hunter can be if they wanted to. I decide to just ditch the whole be-careful-of-where-you-step plan. I sprint across the landmine of noise, which is a bunch of randomly assorted limbs of tree-like twigs and sticks.
Of course, I am dead silent while running, creating absolutely no noise.
"Oh c'mon, how do I make no sound now but not then," I complain.
Zoe rolls her eyes. "You are a demigod, get used to it," She says in her oh so kind voice. We continue to walk to the lake, we just have a mutual understanding of not to speak. It is weird because once we arrive at the lake, all I want to do is talk.
As we walk I see a glimpse of a navy blob surrounded by an orange-red hue. I sprint ahead of Zoe and head to the lake. She runs behind me and I search for the flattest rock I see. I arrange it in my hand like a frisbee. Then, I swing my arm and launch the flat rock across the water.
The rock glides a total of 15 times. Not my best but still good. Zoe catches up to me.
"Holy Atlas, Percy, how many times did that rock skip, like 20 times." She says surprised.
"Only 15 times, I don't know how I do it, I just had a bunch of free time when I was little." I honestly say. Zoe narrows her onyx eyes, she knows what I'm talking about. I try to change the subject to not about me.
"So is being a part of the hunt easy?"
Zoe laughs, "It is if you are a girl."
I roll my eyes. "Thanks, that's gonna do me some good," I say sarcastically.
Zoe laughs even more, "I forgot you are a boy, oh yeah it's gonna be like Tartarus!" Coolio.
"Great, I just need to-ahh!" I slip on a rock and went crashing into the water. The lake isn't that deep, only 4 feet, but the shock startles me.
"Percy!" Zoe shouts to my right or left, I don't know. Oddly, the water didn't feel cold at all. I mean, it's only March so it shouldn't be too cold. I finally get ahold of what is happening and leap out of the water.
I try and take a breath, but my lungs already have air in them. Zoe rushes towards me and drags me out of the water. Before I can say anything, she wraps her arms around me.
"I thought I lost you, Percy. You were down there for 10 minutes!" She exclaims.
"I'm sorry for scaring you. How am I already dry?" I notice.
"What?" Zoe looks me over and it seems in her panic she failed to notice that I don't have a single droplet of water on me. "How?" Zoe is startled.
"I don't know. I just kinda fell, then stayed down there for what seemed like 10 seconds, then shot back up." I recall. Zoe seems to be lost in thought again.
"What?" I ask. Zoe's eyes refocus and curiously looks at me.
"Hmm, nothing." She says airly. I shrug and return to skipping stones. Zoe and I eventually get into a heated conversation about superheroes.
"Percy, I'm telling you Marvel has better movies and DC has better shows." Really? I don't think so.
"Like what for DC?" I ask. My sister gives me a Percy-you-are-such-a-doormat look.
"Every CW show. Flash, Supergirl, Arrow, then Young Justice. All top tier."
I shrug. "I still have one more question, who has better heroes?"
Zoe answers instantly as if she has prepared for this question her entire life. "It's a matter of personal preference. You see, I personally like DC for heroes like Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman." I get Wonder Woman, but who the Hades is Hawkgirl?
"I expected Wonder Woman, but who is Hawkgirl?" I ask.
Zoe grins, "She is a cool superheroine with wings that she can [fly or glide idk] with and she has mace which is a spike ball with a stick attached to it." When Zoe mentions the weapon a thought rings through my head.
"Zoe, do you train with a bunch of different weapons?" I ask.
She nods, "Yeah I do, why?"
I answer not so confidently, "Since I am officially unofficially a part of the hunt now, c-can I train?'
Zoe thinks and hums, "Who will teach you?"
"Maybe you can," I blurt out, "I mean you are good at everything. Plus every other hunter hates me." Zoe smiles and blushes at my statement.
"I'm not good at everything, did you see your skipping rock or whatever you call it. You are better than me at that. But yes, I'll teach you." I jump in excitement and hug my sister. She freezes then hugs me. Weird.
"Can we train now?" Zoe laughs, and that makes me go red.
"It's 8, first let us go eat breakfast." Oh, shoot, more socializing. I need time to prepare.
"You go ahead, I'll catch up." I stall.
Zoe gives me a worried glance but dismisses it after I give a reassuring smile. A fake one though that I've practiced for years. She looks convinced and walks away. I take a deep breath and remember what my mom used to say, "Solo relájate, estarás bien." I slowly move forward as I fiddle with the strings of my hoodie in my anxiousness.
'Let's just get this over with so I can test out cool weapons.' The whole ordeal only took 3 minutes but it felt like 30. I get to the camp and several hunters are already eating or getting food. I gulp and take on my last breath.
I walk to the tent that is giving out food and get in the line. I can already feel the stares and glares drilling holes in the back of my head. Just keep swimming. 'Just keep swimming'. The line shifts forward and I follow in suit.
Looks like it's anything that you wish for. At this point, I'm not even surprised. How they made these, I don't know. Magic Plates Inc? The line shifts again and I'm at the front of the line. I arrive at the tent. There is a huntress doling out plates. She has light brown eyes and bright red hair sorta like Mom's but hers looks like it is on fire. The girl gives me a dark look as she hands me a plate and glass.
My guess is that she wants to give me the stuff as fast she could so I'm out of her sight. I step out of the area and scan the sea of tables for a table without any people sitting at it. The less socializing, the better. I scan for a bit longer and scout one in a perfect spot away from everyone else.
I lightly jog to the wooden table, set up my plate and glass, and pull up a chair. Quickly, I get lost in thought about which weapon I could use. 'What if I'm horrible with all of them?' Stop it Percy! Don't think like that.
Shuffling and movement occurred to the right of me. I turn to see what the commotion is about and I see Zoe standing next to me.
"Can I sit here?" She asks.
Instead of answering, I ask, "Shouldn't you be sitting with the hunters."
"You are a hunter, Percy." She says, "plus I want to sit with my new baby brother." I roll my eyes but smile gratefully. Zoe peers at my plate.
"Percy you should probably wish something." I'm gonna take that as I should make the food appear. Uhh, how do I do this? Blue pancakes and blue coke, please? The pancakes and coke magically appear to my command.
Zoe furrows her eyebrows and asks, "Blue pancakes? And is that coke?! Blue Coke!" I smile sheepishly.
Zoe warns me, "Don't drink too much soda, it'll ruin you."
I smirk, "Yeah, but never fear, Fast Metabolism is here!" She rolls her eyes at my stupidity. We both dig into our breakfast. I scarf all the pancakes, then down the coke. At the same time, Zoe, delicately using a fork and knife, cuts her omelet. Then sips her drink. It is green and it smells like leaves. It looks pretty healthy, for that reason I don't like it.
"I think I finished too early," I remark.
"Well, that's what you get for eating at the speed of roadrunner!" Zoe chides. I don't exactly know what that is, but I roll with it. I turn around to see not one, not two, but all the hunters staring, glaring, or a mixture of both at me. Double uh oh.
Then a question came to mind.
"Hey Zoe, is wielding a weapon hard?"
She tilts her head, "No, not really. You just need to find a weapon that suits you."
"What weapon do you use?" I return. Zoe takes her necklace and a ring off. She unclasps the necklace and twists the ring. The necklace morphs into a beautiful bow and the ring morphs into a dagger. The bow is made with what appears to be spruce wood and jade accents. The dagger has a jade and spruce handle with an almost orange blade. They both gleam in the oncoming sunlight.
"Woah." Is all I can say.
Zoe smiles proudly, "Yeah, most people have that reaction when I whip these out."
"H-how?" I stammer, awestruck. Zoe gives me a conspiratorial grin.
"Percy, the opportunities of magic are limitless." She says cryptically, not really answering my question. How hard is it to answer without giving a totally cryptic explanation?
"We are both finished eating, so do you want to start training?" Zoe says. I think she is trying to change the subject, but regardless, I really want to try the weapons.
"Sure, where do we put the plates?" Zoe points to the tent where I got the dishes in the first place. I nod and jog to the tent. The girl delivers me a dirty look, but still accepts the plate and glass. I give her a quick thank you and run over to where Zoe is.
Zoe is behind the tents, around 100 feet or so in a clearing surrounded by thick vegetation and trees.
"Alright Percy, first let's train with a dagger." She states, bringing a box full of weapons. I decide not to question the fact that she got a box full of weapons that quickly. Zoe inspects the dagger and hands it to me.
"A dagger is used for quick, stealthy action," Zoe explains. She also pulls out her own dagger from before and motions me. I just stand there clueless.
"C'mon Percy, let's fight." I gaze at her funny.
"But I don't want to hurt you," I reply, then add, "or myself."
"I promise no one is getting hurt, we are just disarming. Bruises at the most." Zoe assures.
"Disarming?" I ask, perplexed.
"You take the weapon out of the person's hand. Do that to win and/or put your weapon in a surrender spot, like your neck," Zoe simplifies, "Should we start?" I nod and we walk 5 feet away from each other.
I don't exactly know what to do so I'm going to copy whatever my sister does. Zoe slowly walks to the right and I understand why. She wants the upper hand. I don't really want that to happen so I bring the dagger and take a jab at Zoe. She leans to the left then shoves her dagger horizontally at me, causing me to lose my balance.
I fall to the ground and before I can do anything Zoe has a blade to my neck. I gulp and surrender.
"I surrender." Zoe extends her hand and I reach for it. When I go to pull myself up, Zoe suddenly lets go of my hand and causes me to fall again.
Zoe laughs hysterically, "Percy you've got a lot to learn." She offers another hand but this time I don't accept it. I leap to my feet and wipe off the dirt that is on my shirt. I set the dagger back into the box that it was originally from.
"See, you are learning already," Zoe exclaims, still grinning. She twists the base, or what Zoe calls, the hilt, of the dagger, and it retracts back onto her ring finger.
"Alright so I'm not so good with the knife, what's next," I ask, still eager to try out the weapons. Zoe scours the array of weapons and chooses a long slim sword.
"I guess, we will do the katana next." Hold up, isn't that a sword?
"If that isn't a sword, then what's the other blade?" I ask. Zoe picks up the other blade.
"This, is a double-edged sword, meaning you can use both sides of the blade." She explains, then picks up the thin sword, "This is a katana. A Japanese single-edged sword." Hmm, Japanese.
"Not so Greeky huh." I chuckle.
Zoe raises her arms, "I'm just using the weapons which we have two of. Don't blame me for the diversity." I nod and grab the slim blade. Zoe gives me a couple of minutes to get used to the feel of the sword.
The sword is lighter than I expected, it has around the weight of the dagger but at least it had substance. I grin, I already know I'm going to like it.
"Alright, I'm good."
Zoe nods and walks down from where I am standing. She counts down from 10.
By 5 I grip the Japanese blade, anticipating for her to attack. She focuses her eyes and swings her blade to the right, I clutch the sword and turn it upside down, and swing up, blocking her strike. 'Holy Hades! I did it'. In the midst of my celebration, Zoe goes for a counterattack, which I nearly run into but I barely dodge it. I jump back with one foot to regain balance.
Zoe smirks, impressed. She still goes on the offensive. I don't want to play defense the whole time so I take a step forward and fake a swing to the left, than actually strike to the right.
One problem, Zoe is already swinging there. She didn't expect my sudden tactic but since I switched my momentum, Zoe's sword has force behind it and the katana falls out of my hand. It makes a clattering noise as Zoe aims the sword at my chest.
"I surrender," I say dejectedly. Zoe once again offers her hand.
I jump up, avoiding her obvious trap and ask, "So I lost again, what's the next weapon?"
Zoe holds up a hand. "Before we do that let me say this: You are really good with the katana, you almost beat me," Zoe honestly says. I don't really pay attention to what she says, I only notice one word, almost.
Zoe picks up on my looks of skepticism. "Please Perseus, I've been training for centuries. Stop being pessimistic and be positive."
I give her a strange look, "Did you just say that? You sound like a greeting card."
She promptly ignores me and tosses a sword in my direction. I yelp as it drops on the grass, making a metallic noise. She gives me a smirk and motions to the place where we fought. I gulp. Out of all the weapons, the double-edged sword looks the most menacing. The blade, like the katana, has an almost orange to the slicey part. I pick up the sword and turn to Zoe expectantly.
"Where's your sw-" Wordlessly, she plucks a hairpin out of obsidian hair. I wonder why she would-ohhh. With a press, the hairpin magically transforms itself into a 3-foot sword.
I get into my battle pose. It consists of me just pulling an awkward pose with the sword in my hand. Zoe also goes into a stance. A way superior stance. Not fair, all the cool stances are taken. Wonder if you can search on Google- Cool Battle Stances, or maybe a wikiHow on them.
Zoe once again starts the countdown. This time I want to be the aggressor here.
Once the countdown is over I take two steps forward and slice to the right. Zoe easily blocks it and our swords clash. Weirdly, my sword feels unbalanced. I kept pushing my sword and Zoe does the same. We kept striking our swords whilst trying to overpower each other. I'm surprised that she isn't overpowering me, maybe she is going easy on me?
Anyway, an idea rang in my head. If I use my sword at an angle, hopefully, I can catch her off guard. I turn inward, letting Zoe advance. Then I suddenly extend my sword gaining more momentum than hers. I continue to push the sword until...clink! Ah yes! I force her to the ground and aim the blade at her neck.
"Dam Percy, you are good with a sword!" I shrug then get another totally genius idea. I reach out my arm to help Zoe up. She takes the bait. As I'm pulling her up, I loosen the grip and she falls onto the soft grass.
"Ah hahaha! Zoe, you should seen that coming!" I crack up. She mutters to herself, something incoherent.
She turns to me, "Percy you are a quick learner. You beat me and I was actually trying. Hunters go by the rule: No Mercy." I shiver when she says this. Then I remember I somehow defeated Zoe, I smile.
"Don't let it go to your head. Not to rain on your victory parade, but I'm not inept in swordplay." My sister warns. Plot twist, it doesn't, I'm grinning from ear to ear. My gaze shifts to her sword. Zoe picks up the sword then notices my stare.
"Yeah, this is Anaklusmos," Zoe explains calmly.
"Riptide," I blurt out, then catch myself, "Wait what? How do I know that?" I instantly knew what she said was in Ancient Greek, but how.
"You can translate Ancient Greek, current Greek, and Latin," Zoe answers. I've heard of Latin, though the memory is very faint.
"The dead language?" I inquire.
She frowns, "Err...yes"
"Cool, another one to the list," I say, adding to my mental list. Zoe raises an eyebrow.
"I failed almost every class, everyone but foreign language." Zoe thinks for a second.
"I'm not too familiar with the American School System, but they have foreign language in 3rd grade?" She asks. I do an awkward shuffle that resembles an elephant.
"I think I skipped to 6th grade. I dunno why though," I answer. Zoe ponders then mutters to herself. I think I catch "a-'s fault" Wonder whose fault it was. Both of us return our look at Riptide.
"You can keep it." I give her a strange look and do a double-take. I try to speak but Zoe is on a roll.
"I'm not a swordswoman. You are far better than me at swordplay." My brain shuts down.
"I-I can't Zoe," I stammer. Zoe mutters some ancient Greek softly, and the sword glows weirdly.
"Uhh, Zoe what'd you just do?" I question. Zoe gives me a wicked grin.
"I just passed ownership of Riptide to the one and only Perseus Jackson." I close my eyes in disappointment.
"Zooeeeeeee," I complain, "This is your sword!"
"Nooo, it's now your sword. Plus, you need a weapon. Try it out." Zoe persuades. I stare at her expectantly, expecting her to pass the sword or really the hairclip.
"Uhh Zoe where's the sw-" I try to ask but Zoe interrupts me, "Check your pockets." I rummage through my black and silver pants, courtesy of Hunter Apparel®. My gods, they love the color silver. While I'm searching I find a small ballpoint pen that wasn't there before.
"Oh sick, a pen," I say enthusiastically. Zoe slaps her forehead.
"Click the pen you idiot," Zoe demands. I roll my eyes at my sister's reaction, clearly, it is an exaggeration.
"Okay! Okay, Zoe sheesh it's not like it's going to-AH WOAH!" When I clicked the pen, the part where the ink comes out turns into the familiar 3-foot blade. The clicking thing turns into a leather hilt.
"Honestly, little brother, this happens so many times, how did you not expect it?" Zoe sighs. I didn't answer. Mainly because I didn't expect the pen, sorry, Riptide to turn into a sword.
Instead, I ask, "Zoe, how did Riptide change from a hairpin to a pen?" Zoe kicks the dirt aimlessly.
"I don't really know." Her eyes gaze distantly. She mutters to herself, "If only - is here." She speaks too softly to hear the name.
"My sister is good at magic and other sorcery." She says to no one in particular. I didn't want to intrude on her privacy by asking so I just stand from what I think is a reasonable distance away from her and admire my new sword.
"Yeah, I don't use the sword too much. It is made out of celestial bronze though." Zoe details.
"What's Celebration Bronze?" I'm going to guess it's some obscure like Glaucous or amaranth.
"Celestial Bronze," Zoe corrects, "it's a rare godly metal and it's deadly if used against monsters." I gulp.
"Monsters?" Zoe ticks off her hand.
"Gorgons, Cyclops, and Hellhounds." Zoe lists making me shiver. The thought of fighting a one-eyed human is shivering.
"Cyclopses are real? I thought they were just a myth." Zoe sighs and grabs a thick blanket. She sets it on the floor like we are having a picnic. Zoe motions for me to sit down with her and I oblige.
"Myths are real. I mean technically you are supposed to be a myth. A mere figment of fiction.," Zoe elaborates. Her words have an effect on me. It felt hurtful to me that I wasn't supposed to exist. I'm sure she didn't mean to, but it still hurts. My sister doesn't notice and carries on. "Greek Myths anyway, I don't know much about other pantheons."
"Other pantheons? Anyway, monsters are going to hunt me down and kill me I presume. Can't I just kill them instead before they inevitably kill me?" I ask. My questions cause Zoe to hesitate, before she can respond I ask even more.
"Also isn't murdering a child illegal? Well not everywhere, there is a one spot in Yellowstone National Park where murder is legal." I spout. Zoe rears back and shakes her head like she is clearing her thoughts.
"I mean killing monsters is justified, isn't it. All it is is self-defense. Keep in mind you don't actually kill them, they turn into yellow dust and their souls are sent to hell, Tartarus." Zoe clarifies. I nod like I understand what Tartarus is.
"Percy you realize you are crazy smart for your age right? I wouldn't be surprised if you are a son of Athena."
"I spent most of my time in the library. That's how I know languages like Spanish and French." I say aiming my eyes at the floor. There is a specific reason I avoid contact and spend my time alone.
"Do you have trouble reading?" Zoe suddenly asks. I nod. She nods back, understanding. "Makes sense, you see most demigods have ADHD and dyslexia."
"What's dyslexia?" I ask, confused. A breeze flows through the meadow where we sit, blowing Zoe's hair everywhere.
She pulls her back into a ponytail and explains, "Dyslexia is a learning disorder in which the person has difficulty reading." The words learning disorder made me sound like a failed science experiment. Trust me I know exactly what that feels like.
"So that's the cause of the words playing scrimmage football when I read." I sum up. "So all this time when I was reading, I had a disease?"
"You're making it sound bad, I mean it is pretty bad, but it can be worse. Like you could have gotten paralysis." Zoe reasons. It doesn't however, at the least it makes me feel worse.
"Sure, but in the end, I finished all the books eventually." I shrug. Zoe frowns and narrows her eyes. She knows why. I guess she decides to not question it.
I desperately want to change the conversation so I ponder, "Are we done finding my weapon for today?" Zoe shakes her head no.
"No, we still have to test archery. Also, the bow and arrow will be one of your weapons of choice."
"Without my choice, it will?" I raise my eyebrows.
"Basically, you are a hunter for Artemis. No matter how bad you will be, you have to use it."
I roll my eyes and sarcastically say, "I'm glad the leader of the hunters of Artemis has so much faith in me." Zoe plucks the blanket under me and touches it once. It magically turns into the size of a handkerchief. While I'm in awe, Zoe starts walking to the bay of weapons leaving me behind.
I sprint to the box and begin to sift through all the sharp and pointy edges trying to find a curved piece of wood. After looking for like 2 minutes I come to the realization that there are no bows in the box.
"Zoe, there are no bows in the box," I call back to her as she sets some archery targets.
As she spreads the targets in an assorted distance she calls back, explaining, "Bows are important to the hunt, they are kept somewhere special." I give her a questioning view basically asking 'where the heck are they then'. Of course, Zoe doesn't answer, all she does is smile and presses a finger to her lip in a shhh-motion, which is very cryptic if you ask me.
She walks away to what is probably the secret place where the bows are stored. I stare at her figure until she is gone and I'm all alone in the meadows. Is it a meadow? I don't think meadows have tall, wall-like trees surrounding you.
I must have stared at the scenery for quite a while because just like that Zoe is back with two bows, two of those basket things that hold arrows and sling on your shoulders, and like 20 silver-tipped arrows. The bows are made out of what looks like pine wood that is painted reddish-brown with you guessed it, silver accents.
"Sup, I'm back," Zoe says in a casual tone. She shoulders one of the bows and gives me the
another one.
"What's with the backpack of arrows?" I ask pointing to the basket thing.
"Oh this," Zoe says holding up the basket, "This is a quiver." Zoe slings one of the quivers on the opposite shoulder of which her bow is on. She gives me the extra bow and quiver. Zoe also fills my quiver with a bunch of arrows. She jogs over to a tall spruce tree with a target on it, then pats it and says, "So here's the target. Just shoot the arrow how you think how it should be done, and I'll correct you after." I shoulder the quiver and take aim.
I've seen a couple of movies and TV shows that a person uses a bow. I bring the bow to my neck and grasp an arrow out of the quiver on my shoulder and notch it. I pull the arrow so the string bends and count to three.
My right arm is in a pretty awkward spot and at three I eagerly let it go. Now you are probably thinking, "Percy executes a perfectly good archery shot and absolutely nails the tree." If you have that much confidence and faith in me, congrats you are wrong. The arrow went a distance of around 5 feet. The tree for context is about 20 feet away. Zoe turns to me and laughs at my pathetic attempt at archery.
I feel my ears turning red in embarrassment. Zoe sobers up and gives me a sympathetic stare, which I can't decipher if it is real or not.
"Nice try Percy," She says in that unidentifiable way. "Now I'll teach you how to properly fire a bow." Zoe jogs back to me and comes to my right side. She then studies my posture and critiques the way I stand.
"First," She orders grabbing my shoulders, "legs a little more than shoulder-width apart." I do as she says and she judges some more. Thanks, Zoe, now I feel more self-conscious about myself.
"Turns towards me," Zoe barks. I oblige and now my whole body is facing her.
"Bring the bow to your neck, so the middle of the bowstring is under your ear." I give her a funny look and bring the string to my ear. Surely this isn't the way to fire an arrow. Hopefully, Zoe isn't playing a prank on me.
"Nonono. Not literally, here," Zoe laughs as she nestles up next to me and adjusts my bruised arms, which oddly seems to have fewer bruises than before. She calibrates my arms to where she thinks is right, she then snatches a silver arrow from behind me and slots it onto the string.
"Pull the arrow Percy," She whispers as to not break my eardrums. I drag the end until Zoe whispers again, "Stop!". I stop and set my gaze at where I want to aim in the tree.
"Good, Percy. Set your gaze where you want the arrow to travel," Zoe announces like she is reciting a book. I nod to show I understood her then hesitate. I don't want to mess it up like last time, so I'm just gonna wait for her sign.
"You know you can shoot at any time," Zoe says. I let loose the arrow, it makes a familiar whistle and lands somewhere, making a soft, 'thud'. Not even close to where I planned it to hit.
"Sorry," I mumble dismally to Zoe. Why does the bow have to be so annoying? The second I apologize, Zoe gets all fussy.
"Relax, Percy. The bow takes time to practice. It doesn't magically happen within minutes," Zoe explains. She whips out her bow and shoots a perfect shot, hitting the bullseye flawlessly. But her arrow produces a sharp whistle. The same whistle as when I got shot with them on my first day. I unknowingly flinch, Zoe's head snaps to me.
"Wait why- oh, oh, my bad Percy," Zoe withdraws. I grin and wave off her apology. I go and try for another shot but suddenly go rigid. It looks like someone is talking to her in her head. She stops going rigid and looks towards in an apologetic manner.
"Sorry little brother, I have to go do some stuff for milady, lieutenant stuff. Don't do anything stupid." She says ruffling my hair. I give her a thumbs up. She extends her arms awkwardly, I gaze at her stupidly for a second then realize. She wants to hug me! I smile internally, she is finally getting used to me! I give her a hug, then she begins to walk back to the campsite.
I refocus to aim my bow like how Zoe did and retrieve an arrow. I aim in the same spot and breathe, calming myself. I shoot the arrow and it hits the bottom of the trunk. It did land closer to my target than the first attempt at least. Eh not bad.
"I will get better. As good as Zoe or the other huntresses," I vow to myself. I need to practice. No use in having a goal without practice.
I go to grab another arrow. I notch it.
In complete honesty, I don't know what happened. I lost control of my focus and the arrow sailed 3 feet to the left of my arrow's destination. It flies deep into the forest that surrounds me. As I stand stunned, I reassess the situation. A yell erupts from the general area from where my shot traveled.
"Shit!" I curse under my breath.
While I was staying with Gabe, I picked up some of his day-to-day vocabulary words. Nothing too horrendous but still some vulgar words that Mom would have smacked me for saying.
I'm 90 percent sure that I hit someone with my garbage aim. Mom is going to be furious. Hopefully, the person isn't too angry.
'Percy you just hit a person with an ARROW of course they are going to be angry', my mind scolds me.
"Shut up," I mumble angrily to myself like it's gonna do something. Louder rustling comes from the forest, and it sounds like it is getting closer. As the sound becomes heavier, a silhouette of a figure slowly appears.
From what I see, it is a tall man about 6' 3". I think about running away, but that would just cause more problems that would be impossible to get out of. The man walks out of the dark cover of the trees and two things are clear.
1, the man seems to be complaining to himself.
2, the man has golden, reddish, blond hair and tan skin like he has been under the sun a bunch.
Weirdly enough, he seems to be familiar. The amount of times I've seen or looked at someone or something familiar is insane.
He hasn't noticed me yet which is mildly strange as we are the only ones in an open field. I don't complain, the longer he takes, the longer my life expectancy is. He is wrapped in his world.
"I'm gonna smoke whoever hit me," The mysterious man grumbles. I silently gulp and say my prayers in my head.
"Hey boy!" His voice rings out, "Did you by chance see someone firing an arrow in my direction?"
I stare at him. Bro, it cannot be more obvious. I am holding a freaking bow in my hands.
When I turn towards him my whole body freezes. I try to maintain an even voice.
"Uh, sir, I was the one who hit you," I guiltily say. Once I say that we kinda just stare at each other awkwardly.
I start to ramble to break the ice, "I'm so sorry sir. I just now am learning how to properly shoot a bow. I can take you to my mother to get you healed."
"Hmm that explains why your aim is so poor," He muses as I blush from embarrassment.
"Also the healing won't be necessary. I am already healed."
I don't say anything, I just gape.
"H-how are you already healed?" I ask nervously. The man subtly ignores me and points to the tree at which I was aiming at.
"From the angle, the arrow came from, I'm going to guess you were trying to hit that tree." He says thoughtfully. I give him an impressed look.
"Woah yeah, how'd you know that," I ask him. The man shrugs and points aimlessly.
"I'm just good at bows, that's all." He replies, giving me a smile. His smile is perfect. His teeth are pearl white which makes his smile almost blinding.
"If you are an expert, can you train me?" I blurt out tactlessly. I didn't mean to say that. Great. The man ponders.
"You did hit me with an arrow," I grimace as he continues, "But you seem to have a true heart. It has also been a long time since I've taught a demigod." The corners of my mouth lift.
"Alright, I'll be your mentor and you'll be my protégé. I don't teach demigods often, but something about you," He pauses, " is special." The man airs out. I give him a look of what-the-heck-that-mean.
"My pupil." I give a look of confusion. Isn't that a part of your eye?
"My student," He tries. That causes me to go "ahh" and he snickers.
"I should probably take you to my mom if you are going to train me," I tell him. He nods and stares at me expectantly. I begin to walk in the direction the way Zoe went. The camp is only like a minute away.
I turn to the man and ask him, "Why were you in the woods anyway?" The man serenely smiles, and this time I avoid looking at him.
"I was merely taking a minute to take in the beauty of the forest and the next thing I know, an arrow lands on my back, guess I have you to blame for that." He muses.
I once again blush and mutter a stupid apology. He chuckles and ruffles my dark locks.
"Don't worry you won't ever do that again after I teach you," The man announces. A thing comes to the man's head.
We are walking on the edge of camp when he asks, "Say, I've never received your name." That's true.
"Percy, yours?" As we got to the center of the camp, the hunters begin to surround us. They point and whisper to themselves.
"Well Percy, you, my new friend will be trained by the one and two of God of Archery, Apollo," Apollo announces, unaware that he attracted a crowd. Mom suddenly materializes in front of the crowd.
"Apollo! It's a good time to meet my mother, Artemis!" I say cheerfully. Apollo gasps and his jaw openly hang low.
Mom also gasps, not out of shock but out of anger. While this is happening Zoe comes next to me and drags me to the side, out of the spotlight.
"Remember when I said, 'don't do anything stupid' this is what I meant," Zoe growls.
I ask confused, "Why? I got a new teacher, isn't that a good thing?"
Zoe explains, almost hurt, "Percy, this is Lord Apollo, Olympian, God of Archery, Healing, and Poetry and twin brother of Lady Artemis."
Apollo and Artemis are in the middle of a heated conversation when Apollo suddenly turns to me.
"I knew you were special, Percy."
Ink- Ooh the most words I've typed. I'm sooo amazing jk. Unless.
Scenario- He actually is amazing because he wrote freaking over 7k words this chapter.
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