Outlaws △ Luke Castellan

00.

Prologue;

Kaia exhaled, ridding the extra tension from her body. She raised the bow and aimed at the target at the other end of the field.

"Adjust your elbow," Carla, current Head Counsellor of the Apollo Cabin, instructed. Olive skin brushed against Kaia's coffee-coloured flesh, raising the elbow to the correct angle.

Kaia smiled wryly. "I can't seem to get that right."

"Hey, you've only been here a week. You'll pick it up soon enough."

Kaia nodded once and realigned her focus with the target. She was vaguely aware of Apollo's other kids on either side of her, their shots effortless, almost always scoring bullseyes. Kaia wondered if she could ever be that good.

Kaia knew she should have been with her other siblings, but at the moment, they were all buried in books. Kaia didn't know how they could stand it. 

So she'd dropped everything and hurried outside, to find archery in practice. A quick word with Carla, and the fourteen-year-old was welcomed to the session with open arms.

She stared intently at the dot in the middle of the board. She imagined she was staring down a tunnel, a miniscule one, only wide enough for her arrow to fit through. The tunnel ended when it reached that dot on the other end.

I've got this.

Kaia drew the arrow back. Her muscles screamed with the effort, though she had developed a small amount of muscle being here about a week, and going through sword fighting, archery, and climbing the wall of death.

"Kaia!"

Kaia yelped and let loose the arrow. It veered severely off course, as though caught in a strong gust of wind. Kaia winced when it landed just inches from a very startled Chiron.

"Sorry!" Kaia cried. Around her, the other Apollo children started at the noise. Several arrows went wide, and curses of varying degrees filled the air, to the point Chiron had to reprimand several campers.

Kaia wheeled around to the source of the sudden outburst: a tiny girl with Cinderella hair, her cheeks still slightly chubby, a knife strapped to her waist.

Kaia groaned. "Annabeth. You almost made me kill Chiron!"

Annabeth came to a flying stop in front of Kaia. She was panting, her cheeks flushed bright red.

Annabeth had arrived at camp just three days after Kaia. Kaia still remembered the circumstances clearly in her mind: she'd been alone on the climbing wall, trying to keep her ADHD self preoccupied and active. She'd just reached the top when she'd become aware of commotion – and nearly fell off when she saw the swarm of monsters pursuing a group of four, who looked miniscule in comparison to the masses.

Kaia hadn't thought. She'd almost dropped to the floor, picked up the closest weapon – a bronze sword – and charged for Half-Blood Hill.

She'd been too late. Annabeth and Luke Castellan had made it across with their guide, Grover, but just as Kaia arrived, she saw the third half-blood (a girl with spiked black hair), get cut down by the sheer number of monsters.

"Thalia!"

Annabeth had been sobbing. She screamed and tried to run back to her friend, even when she turned into a pine tree.

Luke, in contrast, was silent. But he had been pale like the dead, staring mutely at the place the girl – Thalia – had fallen. His expression was worse than any sound that could have come from his mouth.