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Just as he was starting to get used to life in the Hermes cabin, Will’s life changed again. It happened after another camper had gotten hurt during capture the flag. Something within him drew him to kneel at the daughter of Aphrodite’s side and take her hand in his. The older camper, Delilah, looked at him, confused, but before she could say anything, Will started softly humming to himself. He didn’t understand what he was doing, but he knew it felt right in the moment, and he was proven right when the small cut on the girl’s forearm slowly healed itself.
As they both sat there in stunned silence, sunlight filtered through the trees and shone down on the 10-year-old boy. As he focused on the spot where the small wound had been, Delilah’s gaze shifted upwards, fixating on the space above his head. A few other campers from the opposing team, who were on their way past the two, had stopped in place as the daughter of Aphrodite smiled and said, “Thanks, son of Apollo.”
At that, Will blinked. He was about to ask what she meant when she nodded upwards, prompting him to look up and see the golden sun symbol shimmering above his head. “Oh…” he whispered as a small smile settled on his face.
Delilah laughed and stood, offering her hand to Will and helping him up, “We’ll tell Chiron once the game’s over, okay?”
He nodded, “Okay!”
The duo looked over to the members of the opposite team, and the other three campers stared right back. After a moment, one of the other kids simply said, “You leave us alone, we’ll leave you alone, we just want to get back to our base.”
Will and Delilah looked at each other and Delilah shrugged, responding to the kid, “Sure, it‘s not like you have the flag.”
They went their separate ways. When the game was finally over (Will had no clue who won and honestly didn’t care much at the moment), he and Delilah made their way to the big house to update Chiron. The camp director properly welcomed Will as the son of Apollo before asking the older girl to escort him to his true cabin.
So here they are, walking to the Apollo cabin. Delilah looks down at Will and hums, “Just gonna give you a heads up, your head counselor can be a bit much. She’s been here a while, like me, but she’s…” She takes a second to consider her words before landing on, “intense. Super competitive, very driven, and a bit extra. She’s the type to get touchy when she loses anything. And, considering her team lost today, she may not be the most welcoming.”
Will nods, “Is she not nice?”
“Well, she can be. She’s just kinda got a chip on her shoulder.”
He nods again, still far more excited than anxious.
When they arrive at the cabin, Delilah knocks on the door and opens it without waiting for a response, “Alison, you’ve got a new one.”
A girl with shoulder-length ginger hair and a bow at her bedside looks up and stands from the lower bunk bed she was sitting on as the other campers in the cabin turn their attention to her, then to Will. As she approaches, the older daughter of Apollo sizes Will up and asks simply, “What’s your name?”
“Will. Will Solace.”
Alison continues, “How old are you?”
“Ten.”
“And what did you do to convince Apollo to claim you?”
Will couldn’t help but think about how weird a way it was to phrase that question. First of all, she called their father by his name, which felt a little passive-aggressive. And using the word ‘convince’ made it feel like their father wouldn’t claim someone unless they proved themself in some way. Like they needed to perform for him to be known as his child.
Regardless of the weirdness of the question, Will looked to Delilah and answered, “I healed a cut on her arm.”
“A healer?” Alison looked surprised. “Okay, well, welcome to the Apollo cabin, Will. Whatever you need, we’ve got it. Unless you want silence. That you’ll never find here.”
He smiles and nods, interpreting her bluntness as a type of humor.
Delilah pats his back, “Thanks again, Will. I’ll see you around.”
As she walks off, he waves with a smile.
Behind him, Alison asks, “You were pretty bad with archery, weren’t you? I vaguely remember you trying a couple weeks ago.”
He looks back at her, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, “Yeah, that was my first week here…I was starting to think there was nothing I was good at.”
“It’s okay, it’s not for all of us. What about music?”
He shakes his head, “Not really gifted there either, but I can play a little guitar because my mom taught me.”
“Well, we’ll take all the healers we can get, so I’m glad you’re here. I take it, since you’ve been here a few weeks, that you don’t need a tour around camp?”
Shaking his head again, Will says, “Nope.”
“Makes my job easier,” she hums, heading back over to her bunk.
Trailing after her, Will asks, “Have you met our dad?” He swears he can hear a couple of the others in the cabin wince, but Alison just stills.
For a second, she just stands there, but then she turns to face Will and says flatly, “No. And I wouldn’t mind keeping it that way.”
He’s taken aback by the bluntness. Up until this point, most people he talked to revered their godly parent or at least respected them. One of the exceptions was Luke, the head counselor of the Hermes cabin, but he quickly learned not to ask.
He probably shouldn’t ask Alison either, but he can’t help his curiosity. “Why?”
“I’m assuming you’ve encountered at least one monster, right? That’s why you’re here?” He nods, prompting her to continue, “So, imagine you spend, say, five years of your life being hunted by monsters. Then you’re saved from that life and brought someplace safe, only to learn that your father is an Olympian god who most certainly has the power to, to some degree, help you. And he just didn’t. Not all that loving, huh?”
Will glances around at their other siblings, but everyone is busying themself. It looks like they’ve all heard this same speech and have decided that listening is either too painful or not worth their time. Meeting Alison’s gaze again, he asks, “Aren’t the gods busy?”
“Doesn’t excuse it, if you ask me. Every now and then, we’ll find a kid who got the chance to meet their godly parent, and every single time, they never get what they want out of the meeting. No answers, no comfort, no peace. Meeting them just isn’t worth it. You’ll get more out of camp if you give yourself to the people who show up for you, trust me.”
Nodding slowly, Will has trouble finding his words. He understands where she’s coming from, but he also can’t bring himself to believe that his father doesn’t care. Sometimes his mother got busy, usually when she was working on a new album, and he’d see her less, but she still loved him, and he knew that. Because of that, he couldn’t help believing that his father loved him. Even if they never ever meet, he won’t close himself off from that possibility. But he doesn’t want to upset Alison, who already seems keyed up, so he just says, “Got it.”
“Any other questions?”
He considers all the thoughts running through his head and asks, “Do you think I’ll get better at archery?”
She laughs, “I dunno, your form was terrible, and you missed the target far more than you hit it, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. If it were up to me, you’d be training to fight as much as you train to heal, but it’s more likely that you’ll be spending most of your time training in the infirmary. We’ve got a lot of campers that injure themselves in a lot of stupid ways, so it’s good to have another healer, even if you’re brand new.”
“What if I’m bad at that too?”
“You won’t be,” she assures confidently. “If you were able to heal Delilah without even knowing you could do that at all, you’ll figure it out with guidance from others. I’m not the healing type, but, from what I hear, it comes pretty naturally once you know the basics.”
“How long have you been here?”
She laughs, “Long enough that they’re about to kick me out.” Upon seeing Will’s expression drop in horror, she pivots, “I’m kidding, kid. I’m leaving on my own terms. Sometimes, when we get old enough, they do a whole graduation thing. It’s not a requirement, but if Chiron deems you fit to survive in the world on your own, then you can leave if you want to.”
“Why do you want to leave?”
She shrugs, “I think I can do more good for the world if I’m not stuck here for the rest of my life. There’s a big world out there, and I’m ready to conquer it.”
Again with the weird phrasing, Will thinks but doesn’t say. “When are you leaving, then?”
“In a couple months, but don’t worry, I’m already prepping Lee,” she gestures to a guy sitting on one of the top bunks, who waves to them, “to take over for me, so it won’t be like I’m abandoning you all.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Anything else?” she asks again, almost impatiently.
He’s still got a lot on his mind, but he simply shakes his head, “No.”
“Good.” She grabs her bow and slings a quiver of arrows over her shoulder, heading to the door and calling out, “I’ll be at the archery range if anyone needs me. Don’t wreck the cabin unless you want to clean the stables,” she warns.
When she’s gone, the guy she’s pointed out jumps down from his bunk, offering his hand to Will, “Lee Fletcher, nice to meet you, Will.”
He shakes the older boy’s hand and smiles softly, “Thanks.”