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It isn’t often that Emilee regrets trying something new, especially when she’s encouraged to because it’s something she should theoretically be good at. But she is not good at archery. Which, if she’s honest, feels fair. She’s great at reading, playing, and interpreting music. She doesn’t necessarily want to be good at anything else, but her new siblings insisted that she try, and she, knowing that part of camp is learning to fight in some way, reluctantly agreed. So, here she is, missing the target (that’s not even that far away) for what feels like the hundredth humiliating time and groaning. She’s about to throw the bow to the ground when a voice to her right rings out, “You’re really bad at this.”
Head whipping around to locate the speaker, her eyes land on a girl who can’t be too much older than she is. She’s got long ginger hair and blue eyes that study her thoughtfully. Considering the fact that the other girl has a bow in hand and a quiver of arrows strapped to her back, Emilee can assume she’s a skilled archer. There’s also the fact that they woke up in the same cabin and sat at the same table for breakfast that suggests she’s an archer. Still, Emilee’s never talked to her before.
“Well,” she starts, “I’ve never done this before! I bet you’ve been shooting arrows for years.”
The girl shrugs, “Sure, but I was also good the day I started.”
“Okay, well, not everyone’s gonna be an archer.”
“Yeah, you’re a musician, so maybe try something else.”
Squinting at the ginger, Emilee asks, “Are you trying to be mean?”
“I’m not being mean, I’m just trying to save you some time. You’ll probably be better with a knife or something less…complex.”
“Oh, thanks,” she laughs. “You’re so inspiring!”
The other girl cracks a smile and shrugs, then walks over and offers her free hand. “Alison Simms.”
Taking her hand, she shakes it confidently, “Emilee Abbott!”
“I know.” She drops her hand. “You literally got here yesterday. And you got claimed in front of everyone. You’re kind of hard to ignore right now.”
“Oh, I mean, I guess.”
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
Emilee blinks, “The way you said it sounded like it was.”
“It just means everyone knows you’re capable of drawing Apollo’s attention when, for some of us, it took a while to be claimed. Nothing against you personally, but some of us are a little bitter.”
“So, you. It took you a while to be claimed, and you’re bitter about it?”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
She has to think about it because she’s honestly not sure. If anything, her dad telling her Apollo was her father before she was even claimed would have made her bitter if he hadn’t claimed her right away. Even if she hadn’t known, she could have guessed based on her inherent musical skills and her cursory knowledge of the gods. So maybe she would have been bitter after being left in the dark despite knowing where she belongs. Being kept from her siblings, in a way, may have hurt too. The hypotheticals overrun her mind, but she simply responds, “Probably.”
“Either way, that’s not important. What’s important is that you know how to protect yourself, which I can’t see you doing with a bow and arrow.”
“So I’m just supposed to give up?”
“At least for today. Try other skills, see if anything feels more natural. You’ll thank me later.”
“Do people ever, like, not fight at all?”
“We have some medics, but even they get basic training. Why, you worried?”
“I’ve just never really done anything like this before.”
At that, Alison looks taken aback, “Not at all?”
She shakes her head. “I’ve never had to.”
“How old are you?”
“Eleven.”
“Huh… And you haven’t been attacked before?”
“Just once, that’s why I’m here.”
“Consider yourself lucky, then. Most of us come in with a little experience or at least a fighting instinct. Do you have that?”
She shrugs, “I dunno.”
“Alright, c’mon.” Alison goes to put her bow and quiver away as Emilee watches her, confused.
“Are you gonna fight me?”
“Not here, but we’re definitely going to spar,” Alison says as she starts to walk off.
For a second, Emilee just stands there, uncertainty rooting her to the ground until Alison turns her head back, summoning her with a wave of her hand and a simple call.
“C’mon!”
Though Alison only taught her the basics of hand-to-hand combat, Emilee was dead tired by the time lunch rolled around and desperately needed the fuel to recharge. While this morning, she had sat with their head counselor, Cassius, and his friends, Emilee now decides to stick with Alison, who doesn’t seem to be quite as close to her siblings as Cass is.
Taking her plate over to the fire, Emilee watches Alison thoughtlessly toss some food in and head to her place at the end of the Apollo table. She considers following her lead, but instead takes a second to think, Hi dad– Apollo– I’m gonna call you dad. I hope you like the food. I’m really tired, but Alison’s doing a good job training me. Even though she made me give up on archery, I think you’d be proud of her!
After her quick pseudo-prayer, Emilee joins Alison at the end of the table. They eat in silence for approximately one minute before Emilee asks, “So was I better at fighting than I was at shooting?”
“By a wide margin.”
“Hey!”
Alison smiles, “Kidding…mostly. Not really. Your form was awful, but you actually got the hang of hand-to-hand combat. You kind of fell into a rhythm for a second there.”
“So you’re saying I’m good at fighting?”
“You’re good at learning how to fight. Don’t let it get to your head, or you’ll end up getting pummeled by an Ares kid.”
“Are they really that bad?”
“Not all of them, but their dad’s got a reputation, so they can be brutal at times just to try to get his attention. Especially during capture the flag.”
“Cass mentioned that. That’s, like, mandatory, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s fun. It’s more fun when you can fight, but it’s your first time and, as far as I know, you haven’t made any enemies, so you’ll be fine. Plus, you have a couple more days to prepare in case you do end up in combat.”
Emilee whines, “I’m gonna embarrass myself!”
Alison pats her shoulder, “It’ll be okay. Now shut up so we can actually eat and get back to training.”
Whining again, she rests her head on the table for a moment before giving in to her rumbling stomach and scarfing down the food in front of her.
They spend the rest of the day practicing with various weapons to find one or two that Emilee feels most comfortable with. If she’s being honest, she’s not comfortable with any of them, but Alison thinks she’s got a good handle on wielding daggers and shortswords. It makes her feel a little boring, having seen just about everyone training with similar weapons (if not the same ones), but she keeps that to herself. Otherwise, she’d bet Alison would use that to push her into trying other things that she was even less confident with.
Dinner rolls around, and Emilee sends another quick, casual prayer up to Apollo, alongside the small portion of her meal. She sits with Alison again, and they debrief as they eat before making their way to the campfire after dinner’s wrapped up.
On the way there, Alison asks, “Not gonna get your violin tonight?”
Emilee glances around, “I don’t know, I don’t really want to be too much…”
Alison frowns, “You being skilled isn’t being too much.”
“I don’t want to draw any more attention to myself.”
“Why?” Alison pushes.
“I dunno, I don’t want anyone to feel like I’m…special or anything.”
“Is this because of what I said this morning?”
She does have to consider it, because she wasn’t thinking about it when she was talking. But now that Alison has asked, she realizes she might be right. “Maybe?”
Alison stops them right in front of the Apollo cabin, just before they get to the campfire. “There is nothing wrong with you being an incredible musician. I want you to show off and be proud of your skills, they’re what make you you.”
“But-”
“But nothing. Any problem I have with Apollo has nothing to do with you or anyone else. I care about you and every other sibling of ours. Whatever attention he decides to give to whoever doesn’t matter when I think about my relationship with you all. When it comes to him, yeah, I’m bitter. But when it comes to you and everyone else, I have nothing but love for you. Got it?”
Emilee stares at her and nods silently. She doesn’t know what to say. Alison’s intensity knocked the words right out of her, and Alison doesn’t give her the time to collect her thoughts enough to respond.
“Good. Now go get that violin so we can join the others.”