I wish I could tell you that I rejected this idea. I wish I could tell you that I said "Fuck this," and left the camp. I wish I could lie to you, and tell you how I renounced the gods, including my father, and left those demi-gods to their fates. I wish I had, just left and returned to the streets, surviving on what I could find and killing anything that tried to kill me. I wish I could say all this, but I can't. I'm not a liar.
Instead I just stared at Rex, letting my hand drop to my side. It wasn't ironic at all. In fact, a part of me suspected this. It didn't help lessen the pain, the anger, or the feeling of grief. I was mad. I was beyond mad. I wanted to go find Apollo and strangle him for letting his daughter die. I wanted to kill him; I wanted to kill all the gods. But where would that get me? You can't kill gods, only be killed by them.
There was a long silence before Chiron dismissed everyone for bed. I still didn't move. Truth be told I was a little shell-shocked. Can you blame me? In the span of one day I learned about an entire new world, new rules, new-yet-old gods, I lost my sister, I met satyrs, nymphs, demi-gods, and a centaur. I gained new clothes, new siblings, an entire new family history, and a magical bow. And on top of everything, the man that I thought was a mortal friend, a big brother in a life of misery, turned out to be a god…who was my father.
Rex stayed by me, as did Chiron. Finally I just grabbed my bag and swung it over my shoulder. Rex offered me a smile that I didn't return. Chiron patted my shoulder, but I shrugged his hand away. I didn't want to be polite anymore. I didn't want to be anything anymore. I just wanted to sleep, even if it was in a cabin dedicated to my father to house his children. Rex led me back towards the cabins. We almost walked in silence, but I had a question that just wasn't living me alone.
"How many kids live in his cabin?" I asked, walking alongside Rex. Some people would say he was my new brother. I denied this. He was a stranger that was a bit nicer than the other strangers here. I had only one sibling, and she died that morning.
Rex coughed a little as he thought. I realized he did this when he thought things were awkward, or there was an unneeded silence in the air. I sort of liked the cough. It made me aware of what was really happening, you know, not just what I saw. He shrugged meekly. Obviously he didn't want to upset me, but I was pretty much well past upset. I was bordering manic-depressive at this point.
"Right now, only three are living there. But it's October, you know? Uh, you'll meet the rest of us when the summer starts. Some visit during their school breaks as well." He said slowly, looking at me. "I was joking, you know…in the van. Joking about you being my brother, I didn't…I mean…" He was fumbling. I sighed heavily, looking at him.
"Trust me, Rex. You're not my brother. I don't have brothers."
And with that we stepped up to the cabin. The moon was rising and the sun was setting. In the east was the rising moon, gleaming white. In the west was the ring of red and orange clouds. I glared at the sunset, before looking up at the cabin. It looked…normal. The other cabins had odd decorations or different styles to show which god's cabin it was. This one was just a cabin. However, I realized its differences when we approached it. The setting sunlight caught the cabin just right and it gleamed golden with tinges of red and orange. I frowned and just followed Rex inside.
I looked around. Inside was just like a regular cabin…well the floors and walls were made of marble. The ceiling, however, was just a panel of skylights. Above I could see the stars. On the walls were different types of bows and arrows, all hung like trophies. Also on the walls were skins of animals and monsters with plaques beneath them, detailing what the monster was, where it was slain, and who slayed it. At the end of the cabin was a large fireplace with smoldering coals. Instead of electric lighting we had oil lamps and torches, all flickering bright red and orange flames. Also at the end of the room were two tall bookcases on either side of the fireplace with books. Taking a closer look, all the books were either about hunting, archery, or music. Several were teach-yourself-how-to-play books. In the right corner were lutes, lyres, guitars, even a keyboard, in the left was a floor to ceiling weapons rack with short swords, daggers, and bows and arrows. Mostly bows and quivers with arrows.
There were only three beds in the cabin at the moment, the headboards placed against the wall. I furrowed my brows and the only girl noticed my confusion. She smiled at me as she walked up to me. She had long hair, a sort of buttery blonde color, with dark blue eyes. Her hair was wavy and pulled back into a ponytail. She was tall like me, like Rex and the other boy as well, and lean. An archer.
"When our brothers and sisters aren't here, we tend to store their beds away. Makes more room, you know? I'm Skylark Bellby." I gave her a look and she sighed. "Yes, Skylark. My mother loves nature and all that. She makes music using instruments she made from wood. Just call me Sky, okay?" I nodded and she smiled before going to a large chest and pulling out some beams. I watched as her, Rex, and the other boy assembled a simple bed identical to the others in the room. My bed.
I sighed again and helped push the bed against the wall. Each bed had a thin curtain, sort of like a mosquito net, that we could wrap around our bed. One bed was against the far wall, next to the door. The others followed suit, each with a bedside table in between. Opposite of our beds were amps, a television, a several Guitar Hero guitars, keyboards, and drum sets. There was only one microphone for the game. An X-Box sat on the floor, hooked up but turned off. I was slightly impressed about how much they loved music, even if it was in a video game.
The nameless boy pushed a chest up against the foot of my bed, mirroring the others. "You can use this for your stuff. Books, clothes, whatever." He smiled at me. He looked Native American, but he had blue eyes and dark auburn hair, cut short like a crew cut. I offered my hand and he shook it. A hard, fast handshake, like he was overeager. To be honest I liked the three of them. They reminded me of Olivia, though, and that made me want to distance myself.
"Mitchell Hower," I told him and he nodded as if he were committing it to memory.
"Cheveyo." I blinked at him, wondering what he just said. He laughed a little. "Yeah, my mother named me Spirit Warrior. Cheveyo."
"We just call him Chevy." Sky said with a smile, though it didn't seem wide enough, real enough. I realized they were still wary of me. I nodded a bit, going to my newly assembled bed and started to empty out my pack. Sky's bed was next to mine. She sat up and turned, crossing her legs and watching me. There wasn't a lot of room between the beds, only a foot and a half, enough room to put the bedside table there, with an oil lamp glowing on it, so she could easily see the things I had.
I took out my pocket knife as I sat down on the bed, placing it on the bedside table, then I started emptying out everything else. She didn't ask about anything, just watched as I took out my toothbrush, then Olivia's. I stared at it for a moment before putting it in a small zip lock bag, and putting it back in my pack. I removed the two arrows that Apollo gave me and set them side. I took out a small book, Olivia's journal. I swallowed thickly and shook it a little. I didn't want to see her handwriting and think about how she'd never write again. Out of the journal came a folded and a bit torn picture of her and I. We had been ten and living with Seth…no, living with Apollo for a while. He had taken our picture. I stared at it before putting it under my pillow and shoved the journal back into my bag. I stood and put the bag into the chest and shut it. I didn't have any extra clothes besides the ones being washed.
I picked up the arrows, and looked at Sky. She motioned towards the weapons rack but I didn't want to put them so far from me. They were gifts from Apollo, after all. They may just be regular bronze arrows, but they may have been special. Though that was doubtful. When I didn't move she gave me a shrug and I just put them under my pillow next to the picture. I sat down facing her and took off my shoes. Rex and Chevy had started playing a song on the video game. I was just so tired, yet I didn't know if I could sleep here.
"Can I ask you something?" Sky suddenly spoke. I looked up at her and shrugged a little.
"If you want, it doesn't mean I'll answer." I replied slowly, stuffing my shoes with my socks and stretched out on the bed. I could feel the shape of the arrows beneath my pillow. I put my hands behind my head and looked at her.
"Why is your voice like that?" She asked.
I could help but smile just a little, but it faded too quickly. None of my smiles would stick for a while. There was no point in smiling, in being happy. Oli was gone, forever. I sighed a little, thinking of my sister. She had been like me, with a fucked up, hoarse voice. Though on her it was like a mysterious girl that you wanted to get to know. With me, it was a dangerous guy that could kill you without a moment's hesitation. We played these roles while living on the streets, though that's not how we actually were. It was just a way to defend ourselves from strangers.
"When I was a baby I didn't stop screaming and crying. I screamed so long and loud that I messed up my vocal cords or something like that. Permanent damage, but nothing too bad," I told her, looking up at the skylight, staring at the stars. She laid down on her bed, looking up as well.
"It makes you sound dangerous." She finally said, looking back at me. "Are you dangerous?"
"Aren't we all?" I replied, looking at her. She smiled a little, giving me a shrug like fair point. Then she stood and went into a small bathroom that I didn't notice before. The door was nestled between the instruments and the bookcases. When she came out she was changed in yellow pajama shorts and a white tank top. She got into bed and turned off the oil lamp closest to us. The boys finished their songs and got changed as well. As they were settling into bed, Rex looked at me.
"Aren't you going to change?" He asked, about to lay down. I chuckled humorlessly.
"I have no pajamas." The look on his face was pure guilt. He had forgotten where I came from, what I grew up with: nowhere and nothing. He stood and rummaged in his own trunk and pulled out red and orange and black plaid pajama pants and a faded and holey Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. I stood and took both of them, thanking him quietly and changing in the small bathroom. It was obviously only used to change and keep dirty clothes until laundry day. There were three hampers labeled: whites, colors, and delicate. I left the little changing room and crawled into bed.
When I did Rex turned off the last oil lamp. As if by magic, the rest of the torches dimmed to nothing, and the coals in the fireplace started to get a little hotter, warming us in the cool October night sky. I sighed, and closed my eyes. I fell asleep instantly.
I slept uneasily, tossing and turning. Several times I woke up to a voice laughing at me, at my failures, but it was only silence in the cabin with crickets chirping outside. I would roll over and go back to an uneasy sleep. I couldn't remember all of what happened in my nightmares, but I knew it just kept repeating. I would see Olivia, struggling against that horrible snake bitch. I would just be standing there, like an idiot, watching her get stabbed over and over again. She would be screaming how I was a coward like Apollo. She'd ask me how I could let her die. Then the voice would laugh at me and I would wake up.
Finally I couldn't go back to asleep anymore. I just lay wide awake staring up at the stars until the sky started to get lighter. When the fireplace finally simmered down to smoldering coals again, keeping the cabin at a warm and tolerable temperature, I got out of bed. Rex and Sky were still sleeping, but Chevy was getting up as well. He grinned at me. I didn't smile back. That didn't dissuade him though.
"Morning, brother," he greeted happily as he got out of bed.
"I'm not your brother." I replied, crossing my arms. His smile faded a little before he shrugged.
"Sure, sure. Hey, you can borrow some of my clothes and we can ask Chiron if we can get you more today." I was a bit surprised by this kid's kindness, and his happiness. Then I remembered not everyone was as stubborn as me. I thanked him quietly as he handed me some cargo shorts and golden shirt that said 'Cabin 7'. Under that was a lyre, and under the lyre was Apollo's name. I nearly threw the shirt back at Chevy, but I couldn't be so rude. He was just trying to get me settled. So I went and got changed.
I had put my shoes on and was looking at the quivers full of bronze arrows that hung on the weapons rack. Rex came to stand next to me. I nearly jumped, but I held my ground. He was still dressed in pajamas and had horrible bedhead, but he looked completely awake. I realized that, while I had a shitty night's sleep, I felt completely awake as well. I realized that this was because we were the children of the Sun God, and when the sun rose, so did we.
"You can take a quiver, if you want, and a bow. We all have our own. The ones on this rack aren't taken. Our weapons are in our chests." He smiled at me. I shrugged.
"I have a bow." I replied. I probably shouldn't broadcast that I had a super powerful magical bow, but I didn't care. To be honest I liked the bow. It was the first thing that I owned that had any real value. "Bruhmastra." Rex's eyes widened, as I expected them to. What I didn't expect was Sky to tackle me from behind and pin me against the wall, looking just as awed at Rex.
"You have Bruhmastra!? How? Our father's favorite bow, and you have it?" I blinked at her as she let me go, blinking back at me. I shrugged. Maybe Apollo hadn't given it to me. Maybe he dropped it when he fled like a coward, and I just happened to notice it and pick it up.
"Yep," I replied, grabbing a quiver filled with bronze arrows, and stuffed the other two from under my pillow into the quiver, and shouldered it. I left the cabin with Chevy and we walked towards the mess hall.
"Breakfast is a lot less formal than dinner. You still have to give part of your meal to the gods, but not all at once with the rest of the camp." I nodded in understanding as we got our food. I was really hungry. Starving, in fact. My stomach felt like it was trying to eat itself. That's what I get for throwing away all of my dinner last night. So I got three bananas, two apples, and a two pieces of toast with jam on them. I gave up one of my bananas and half a piece of toast and sat down with Chevy.
"So where are all the kids?" I asked, biting into my apple, "I thought there were like eighty kids here. There's barely twenty."
"In the summer we have eighty or so. Right now, though, everyone who has another home, their mortal parent, they go home and go to school. The ones who stay, they train." I scanned the crowd. There were an abundance of Ares' kids, some Hermes kids, and two Demeter kids, one being Chloe who waved at me. I gave her a nod, that 'guy greeting', and went back to my food.
"How many siblings do you have?" I asked. He looked at me a bit sadly. I realized that he considered me a brother, completely, but I didn't care. I didn't have any more siblings. Olivia was the only one and she was dead. "Well?" I asked and he sighed, counting on his fingers.
"Twelve, including you," he murmured, eating his cereal. I glared at him. He just stared back, unwavering.
"Don't include me." I snapped and he smiled a bit.
"Sure, brother," he replied, taking another spoonful of his cereal. I frowned, looking at my food and ate the rest of my breakfast in silence as Rex and Sky joined us. They were gushing about the new targets for archery practice, and that got my interest. Chevy laughed and patted my shoulder.
"True son of Apollo, anything archery is good, yeah?" He grinned. I didn't reply.
After breakfast, the Apollo cabin had to clean the stables for failing a cabin inspection. I helped, though I wasn't there for the failure. As we cleaned I talked to the Pegasus I had befriended the day before. She seemed concerned with me, and I liked that. She had this warm glow in her eyes that made me feel safe and comfortable. I told her about Olivia, Apollo, the snake demon lady, and the bow. She nickered while I took breaks in talking, as if she was saying I understand, and I get it. It wasn't like she was telling that it was going to be okay. She just seemed to get the issues, and that I just needed to talk.
When we finished and left the stable, Sky was looking at me with a soft look. I knew that she had overheard me talking to the winged horse. I didn't let on that I knew though. I avoided conversation with her as we approached the archery range. There were dummies on one side of the field. They were dressed in Greek armor with a shield and a sword, the shield guarding their torso. Chiron was there with his own quiver and bow. I followed Rex and stood next to him, on the end of the line.
"Children," Chiron greeted as he paced in front of us. I still wasn't quite used to him being half horse, but I ignored it. "Today, you get the honor of practicing with new dummies. They will bleed like real enemies. And they have sensors within them. If you hit these sensors, one of three things will happen. The first will be nothing, meaning you didn't hit it hard enough. The second is paralysis. The third is death of your enemy." Rex smiled a bit. So did I. I liked this class already.
"Mitchell." I looked up at Chiron, realizing I had been staring at the dummies like a madman, ready to rip it apart. He smiled a bit at me and offered me his bow. It was a standard bow, just a regular bronze one. "I'm afraid you can't use your bow, as that would be unfair." I realized what he meant. My bow, the one that couldn't miss, would be a huge advantage over the others. I took the bow just as a kid came up, looking a bit winded.
He had black hair, which was a tad untidy, and green eyes. He was shorter than I was, but a bit broader and stronger looking. A girl followed him with blonde hair and grey eyes. Rex waved a bit at her, and she smiled at him. They both had quivers and bows.
"Ah, Percy, Annabeth, a bit late. You two have not met our newest camper, Mitchell Hower." I nodded to them both as I tightened the string on my bow before looking at them. Annabeth stepped forward, offering her hand. I shook it as she greeted me.
"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." I blinked a little, trying to remember which goddess that was. When I didn't make any movement of awe or understanding, she sighed. "Goddess of Wisdom." I nodded a little, then looked at Percy, offering my hand. He shook it…sort of. It was as if he wasn't used to shaking hands. It amused me a little.
"Er, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. God of—"
"The sea, yeah everyone knows that," I said with a slight smirk. Annabeth blinked a little, and Percy almost didn't stop staring at me. Yeah, my voice did that sometimes. A young kid with a voice of an old biker guy, it wasn't a match. "Mitchell Hower." I said as Chevy patted my shoulder and finished my sentence for me.
"Son of Apollo." I glared at him and shoved him off of me.
"Son of no one." I corrected him, looking at Percy and Annabeth. Chiron sighed a little and stepped back, and resumed his teaching. We were to kill our enemies before the timer ran out. It was set at two minutes. We braced ourselves. I studied my dummy, trying to find weak points in his armor. But then I realized that this was like a real enemy, with obvious weaknesses and they didn't dress him for them. I steadied myself and the buzzer for the timer rang.
Without thinking about the others, I drew an arrow from my quiver and notched it quickly. I aimed, and time seemed to slow down. I found my weak point. I took a steady inhale, and let my arrow go. It flew through the air and embedded itself right below where I wanted it to go. I frowned. The arrow was sticking out of the cheek of my dummy. Red dripped down from the wound, staining the helm. Scowling, I drew another arrow, and aimed a fraction higher. The arrow flew…and embedded its self in my enemy's eye. Fake blood gushed from the spot. I glanced at the timer. Still a minute left.
I looked at Chiron, who was smiling widely as me. Percy hadn't even launched his arrow. He was staring at me, looking confused. Annabeth kept firing her arrows, as did Sky and Chevy, determined to make their enemies as much as a pincushion as they could. Rex had found a weak point in the armor and had pierced his dummy's neck. Fake blood stained his dummy's armor as well. I frowned, lowering my bow, when I noticed that Rex was also staring at me, but with a wide grin.
The timer rang, and Percy swore and looked sheepishly up at Chiron who rolled his eyes a little. But then the son of the sea god turned towards me. "How did you do that?" He asked. I frowned, glaring at him.
"How? I notched the arrow, I aimed, and I shot. I didn't stare at people." I snapped back, defensive.
"Hey!" Annabeth said, looking at me with a frown, stepping towards me. Her eyes suddenly looked down at my wrist where Bruhmastra was. I frowned and watched her but she didn't say anything. "You don't get to be rude," she finally said, "Son of Apollo." And with that she turned and left, muttering things to herself. I glared after her then looked at Percy.
He didn't seem too upset with my attitude, but I still felt a little guilty. I had been unbearable today. But I didn't want to act like everything was okay. He looked back at me, and then shrugged a little. "It's fine, man. Don't worry about it."
"I won't." I replied, going to face the targets again as Chiron reset the timer. Percy stood by me, taking aim. I drew an arrow and took aim, pulling the string as far as I could, then let the arrow go. It hit just under the dummy's head, embedding in the chainmail that wrapped around its neck. I frowned and drew another arrow. I took aim again and fire. It bounced harmlessly off the shield. I sighed heavily and lowered my arms, rubbing the back of my head. How could I have landed two face shots one round and then fuck up the next round?
"Hey, it's fine. First day is always like this," I heard Percy say. I looked at him, narrowing my eyes. He furrowed his brows a little, looking concerned. "You're still really good. Better than I am. Maybe that's your blood—"
"What blood?" I asked, glaring at him. "My mother wasn't an archer, wasn't a god, wasn't anything special. And I don't have a father. What blood are you talking about?" I asked coldly. He looked at me, and then nodded a bit.
"I get it, man. It's easy to blame this world. It'll always be easy to blame the gods, especially your dad. Gods know I have blamed my dad for things…But it's really not his fault. It's not my fault. It's not anyone's fault. It's just the nature of the world." He said with a shrug.
"Really?" I asked, pretending to be interested. He sensed my facade instantly, studying me warily. "Wow that just opens my fucking eyes! So it wasn't Apollo's fault when he abandoned his daughter to the wrath of some snake demon. Thanks for clearing that up!" I yelled at him, shoving him away from me, using the bow at a blunt object. He grunted stumbling back, before tripping over a stone and falling. "You don't know shit of what happened, Jackson. I appreciate your concern, but just shut up and leave me alone. I don't need your wisdom," I said coldly as I drew another arrow and turned away to face the targets.
I was angry now. Not at Percy, not at Rex or the others, not at Chiron or even this stupid camp. I wasn't even angry at the gods. I was just angry at one in particular. I took quick aim down the shaft of the arrow. I heard the timer going, but I didn't pay attention. I saw the stares of my new siblings, these fake siblings. I felt the long stare of Chiron like he was reading my thoughts, looking into my head. I took a slow breath inward and held it. I let the arrow go. It flew straight and true and stuck firmly into the other eye of my dummy. Blood spurted out and stained the helm.
I was breathing heavy. I felt tired, though. It was like I had taken all of my anger and frustration and piled it all into the arrow. When I shot it, it felt like I was drained of energy. I just wanted to sleep now, or at least rest a little. I sat down, resting my arms which felt like they were made of lead. I sighed, looking up to see Rex staring down at me in awe and surprise. What now? I saw Sky looking at my dummy as was Chiron. Chevy was helping Percy up. I following my sister's gaze and saw how far the arrow had gone into the dummy. I stood slowly, following Chiron to it, Sky and Rex following behind me.
The arrow was deep in the dummy's head. Only the very end stuck out of the eye. The rest of the arrow had gone through the helm and was swaying still from the force of it. I stared, my mouth dropping open. When I realized my own shock, I clamped my mouth shut, exchanging a glance with Rex who mouthed, "Wow."
"Mitchell," Chiron started, poking at the bronze arrow. "Where did you get this arrow?" I blinked then I realized it was a different color bronze than the other ones in the dummy. A more golden hue. I frowned and gripped the shaft and pulled it out of the dummy through the back of its head. There, on the shaft right next to the arrow head was a small engraving: a lyre with two crossed arrows beneath it. I swallowed thickly and looked up at Chiron.
"The bus station where I got Bruhmastra. I thought that they were, y'know, normal. I didn't mean to cheat." I murmured. My voice was hoarser. I felt emotional now. It was like my anger was gone and I was only left with fear, doubt, and grief. I looked back at the arrow, covered in fake gore and blood. "Why did he give me this, Chiron? They deserve these things. I don't want him as a father. I don't want to know him." I mumbled, offering the arrow to Chiron. He didn't take it.
"Mitchell, gods are not allowed to interfere with their children's lives. What he did, teaching your archery and how to survive, was the most he could do. Even that, I'm afraid, is being questioned. He was never allowed to do such things, and he will never be allowed to defend you, to kill these creatures. So he did the best that he could knowing that you were the only of his children to need him. And he gave you that bow and those arrows to defend yourself with the power of a god." I swallowed, looking at the arrow and shook my head. I still didn't want it.
"I didn't mean to cheat," I repeated. I was struck dumb. I still didn't want his gifts, but I didn't feel so bitter about it now. I just felt weak and tired. He had done what he could, fine, but what about me? I had failed to defend her. I failed to save her and protect her. I was the weak one, and I didn't deserve the power of a god.
"You were close with her?" Sky asked softly. I suddenly realized that even though they never met her, Olivia was still their sister as well. I looked between my threw new siblings, and swallowed.
"We were twins." I replied softly. Sky's eyes widen a little, then she looked so sad then I wanted to take it back. I wanted to lie to her. Shake my head. No, we weren't close, just stumbled upon each other.
"Like Apollo and Artemis," Chiron said kindly. I furrowed my brows, looking up at him. I realized that I had tears in my eyes, but at the moment I didn't care. Only my family was present. He realized my confusion. "Olivia was older than you, correct?" I nodded slowly, and he nodded in return. "Artemis is older than Apollo, though your father hasn't accepted this. They are both archers, and you and your father are fiercely protective of your sisters."
"Olivia's dead." I replied, my tone sounding just as dead. Chiron's face fell and he sighed heavily, nodding slowly. "And that's where the differences stop." I mumbled, looking at the arrow, and then wiped the fake gore and blood off onto the dummy's tunic.
"You accept your father?" Chiron asked. I stared at him then glanced between Rex, Chevy, and Sky. I shrugged a little, putting the arrow back into my quiver. I turned away from them and started walking back towards the firing line.
"I forgive him," I said, Chiron stepping behind me, my siblings lining up next to me. Percy had waited at the firing line, waiting for us. Annabeth had returned, seemingly calmed down. She was looking at me as if I were a puzzle to solve. I ignored it. "I don't know if I accept him yet."
"Do you deny him?" Chiron asked as I took aim, this time with a regular arrow. I fired, hitting my targets feet, pinning him to the ground. If he had been running towards me, the dummy would've fell forward and been susceptible to more shots from other archers.
"I don't deny him. I don't accept him. He's just…there." I replied, notching another arrow and taking aim. "Take a picture, Annabeth, it'll last longer." I said before taking a deep breath and holding it. I released the arrow and it embedded into the hand that hand the sword. I heard a snicker I turned to see Sky grinning, notching and releasing arrows faster than I thought possible.
"Don't worry Mitch, I'll teach you how to be fast." She said and I gave a small smile but let it fade. I would get stronger, I decided. It wasn't my father's fault…It was that snake demon. I would kill every last one of her kind. And then I'll kill all the rest of the monsters. I would continue to slay them until they stopped coming. I would get stronger. I wouldn't let anymore girls like Olivia get killed. I would defend my family and my friends.
I notched another arrow and aimed. This one hit the shield and dented it. It pierced the shield, though barely. I studied the arrow as it wobbled to stillness. I didn't smile, I didn't smirk, I didn't look happy. I was still sad, I was still depressed, but now I had a mission and a goal, one that I wouldn't fail no matter what stood in my way.