Chapter 8: drawing and drawbacks
One, two, three, release!
One, two, three, release!
The muscles between his shoulder blades ache. But he doesn't stop.
The string keeps smacking against his wrist guard. Thalia had other duties so she left him with directions to practice empty firing the bow a hundred times.
He's tempted to resign himself to being called Perseus. The thought makes him cringe. He shakes his head and draws the string again.
"You're more diligent than I expected you to be. Is my use of your nickname that important to you?" Artemis perambulates her way into the clearing that he's using for practice. Her current form looks like that of a nine-year-old's.
He's in the middle of the draw but slowly lets the string return to its resting position before facing her.
"Yeah it is." He wipes a runner of sweat cutting a lazy path down his cheek.
"I suppose that I can understand. But you still have to earn it." Artemis lingers.
Percy waits for her to continue but she doesn't. He gnaws his lip anxiously before speaking. "Perseus was what I got called by the people I was in trouble with. Teachers would tell my mom, 'Perseus is a problem child.' Or the principal would say 'We're going to have to ask Perseus not to return.' Percy scowls.
"Well, I guess that it's whatever now." He waves a hand dismissively preparing for her to end their conversation.
"Were you in trouble a lot?" Artemis instead watches him with an appraising eye.
"Oh yeah. I was the the poster child of problem children. Unstable family living situation, low income, single parent household, and on top of that dyslexic and ADHD." Percy lists them absentmindedly.
"It can be hard." Artemis offers.
"Yeah but it made me who I am." He shrugs.
"I guess that it did." Artemis murmurs.