Chanyeol walked into his cabin for the first time since he had come to camp half blood. The atmosphere felt incredible, the cabin, the people. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel out of place amongst the other demi-gods. He felt a sudden isolation especially considering he had no siblings in his cabin like others did.

He saw the Hermes cabin at one point. It was dull, but there was a bustling amount of the messenger god and his children. They all seemed close. He imagines what it may have been like finally meeting people exactly like you after suffering so much in the mortal world.

He had always wished for siblings but it looked like that wouldn’t be possible. Maybe the big three weren’t fond of too many children?

Chanyeol  was awoken the next morning by the blaring sunrise seeping through the windows in his large cabin. Chanyeol yawned, stretching his arms out. He wondered where he had to be this morning. Or what his classes were.

Aeugus had told him they were to have breakfast at 9:00 sharp, but Chanyeol hadn’t packed a watch and there wasn’t an updated clock in his cabin of any sort so he wasn't sure about the time. In the demi-god world they didn't have smartphones because he was told the signals from the device disturbed the magnetic force that protected the barrier they had around the camp.

Chanyeol thought it was amazing that the demi- gods could live here without the disturbance of titans and ogres. It was all so magical and exciting. It was a better trade off from not having a phone around.

Unlike most of the campers here, Chanyeol was one of the few who’d lived the longest in the mortal world. He knew about recent trends and politics. Other demi-gods probably didn’t even know what twitter was much less cared for the presidential debate. Once you come to camp-half blood your life revolves around camp-half blood.

Walking outside to the porch of his large grey scaled cabin. Slippers on, he sat there in amazement, watching the sun rise slowly. 

Out of his peripheral vision he noticed a running figure. Chanyeol's eyes followed the quick figure. It was only a shadow, but there was a defining feature Chanyeol recognized. 

The Golden-brown hair of that demi-god who had kindly taught him archery yesterday. 

Chanyeol watched him fondly, wondering everything and anything about him. He presumed they were the same age and if not, the other was a lot shorter than him. He had striking eyes that showed slightly purple. The son of Zeus found himself feeling jittery next to that boy, he had a presence that screamed royalty. Like he had to pay to even stand next to him. Baekhyun- that was his name, he remembered from yesterday.

"H-hey!" Chanyeol jumped up, waving goofily. 

Baekhyun looked up in confusion, he turned his head to the side, letting his eyes trail to the ground as he ran past the Zues cabin, ignoring Chanyeol entirely.

Chanyeol frowned. He wondered why that boy was so cold. Maybe it took him a while to open up. The demi-god himself was shy but he still found himself pretty outgoing. Baekhyun seemed fearful of interaction.

Curious, he turned his head to catch a glimpse of where the boy was headed. The same place from yesterday, the  training grounds. 

His eyes sparked like lightning when he came up with an idea.

Jogging at a steady pace, he stopped when he saw Baekhyun shooting arrows continuously in a cathartic manner. Chanyeol watched in awe,wondering where all the stamina came from. He had this ever changing charm and grace everytime he flung an arrow right into the red circle of the target. It was mesmerizing. He was so hooked that he inched closer and eventually spoke to the man who was least approachable from all the campers.

“Please teach me.” the son of zeus bowed a little deeper to show his gratitude.

Startled by his presence, Baekhyun flinched at his voice, “What are you doing here?”

“I was- well I saw you go in. I’m just very humbled by the way you shoot arrows. I’d love to learn from you.” He tried again but this time he earned a small huff from the other.

“The sons of the big three just think they can do anything, can’t they? Just because you’re Zeus’s kid doesn’t mean I’m going to treat you better, understand?” Baekhyun scowls. 

Chanyeol tilted his head, not fully understanding the depth of the demi-gods’s words. Big-three. Right the three main gods. The brothers and thought to be the bain of demi-god’s existence. Zues, Chanyeol’s father, was one of the many hated gods out there.

“I don’t expect special treatment.” Chanyeol tells him, “I’d like for you to mentor me. You can be mean. I-I’ll pull through.”

Baekhyun closed his eyes for a second, revelling in many thoughts. Chanyeol wondered what he so deep in thought about that he stood in silence for an awkward two minutes.

“Very well. Take this,” Baekhyun tosses him a sling of arrows. 

They’re heavy, Chanyeol takes note. At first, he had only held one but holding a dozen was nothing in comparison.

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Hours pass by before Chanyeol can even aim at the bullseye and not at the grassy area around them. 

“I did it!” Chanyeol jumped up and down like a child.

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow, a quick look of amusement crosses his face, “By now, any demigod would have hit at least the red target. You’re lagging behind.”

Chanyeol frowns for the second time today. It wasn’t like him to be distasteful with someone’s behaviour. However, instead of providing him with constructive criticism, that cold demi-god offered tiny snickers and looks of boredom as he sat behind him in a chair-half of his attention on the grass. At one point he’d even closed his eyes to take a small nap.

Out of frustration, Chanyeol takes out an arrow and impromptu throws it at the target rather than mounting it on his bow first. He doesn’t pay much attention to it, only turns back to catch the look on Baekhyun’s face.

It hit the target in the middle. This was the first time he’d done that and to be exact, without the help of the bow.

To say the least, he’s never seen someone’s eyes grow so large with shock.

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“Who’s this, is this...?” A man with bushy eyebrow’s frowns at Chanyeol.

Baekhhyun had forced him out of the archery training grounds to meet this strange man. Perhaps this man was scolding him for childishly throwing an arrow.

This part of the training section was much more lively in the morning. In fact it was bustling with life. There were campers of all sorts, girls, guys even satyrs which he ogled at in wonderment. He saw gypsy’s who seemed to be fighting and centaurs (like aengus) who were having a serious combat style fight. 

“This is the newbie. Teach him how to use a dagger.” Baekhyun almost sounds like a parent leaving his child off at a daycare.

Chanyeol watches his mentor step back, allowing the other, much shorter man to fondle his hair.

“Oh my,  I must say you are more handsome up close. Oh! I”m Kyungsoo,by the way. Son of Ares.”

“Hi! I’m Chanyeol,” He greets him despite his confusion.

He refrained from saying he was Zeus's kid, he noticed that people were glancing at him and he reckoned announcing his god parent would probably cause a commotion. Besides, he also had taken note that Baekhyun seemed to despise Zeus...or maybe the big three? He wasn’t sure.

“Well…looks like I’ll be teaching you how to use a dagger.” He smiles.

Chanyeol nods, and then stops in his tracks, “Uh, why though? I wanted to learn archery. Or did he not want to teach me anymore?”

Kyungso scrunches up his nose in amusement, “Don’t mind Baekhyun’s crackiness. It just means he respects you. I’d say he’s seen your talent somewhere else.”

“Somewhere else?” Chanyeol asks, tilting his head and then turning to look back at Baekhyun who was still standing there, tapping his foot restlessly.

“Follow me.” Kyungsoo leads the way.

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“I don’t know….a dagger? Me?” Chanyeol holds the piece of metal like a foreign object. He’s only ever held a knife in a kitchen that was it.

“Trust me kid, you’re not getting any better at archery.” Baekhyun rolls his eyes,

“Hey! I’m not a kid, we’re the same age.” Chanyeol protests. 

They had come into the field where there were so many people Chanyeol had trouble focusing on the hay-dummy in front of him. Kyungsoo had explained that when you take part in any short range battle you want to aim for fatal body parts; the heart, kidney’s mostly near the trunk of the body. 

“From now you’ll practice with a dummy, I’ll control it to move, and you have to try and hit it in it’s crucial spots.” 

“Okay,” Chanyeol nods, determined.

Only twenty minutes into the exercise and he’s already garnered an audience that includes Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. Most of the others were pretty girls who had stopped to look at him and fight a sack full of potatoes as a  dummy. Within his first try, he;d hit the dummy right  in its chest.

“Aim for the heart! Aim for the heart, Chanyeol!” Kyungso hypes him up.

Suddenly, he’d done exactly what Kyungsoo asked. Got the dagger into the dummy’s heart, although it’s moving in all different directions at once. 

He has a certain way with his moves. Unlike when he holds the boy he stands more agile perhaps being able to bend his knees and back helps. One on one battle is much more comfortable. Maybe that demi god was right. 

“Wow, he’s even good at short range Baekhyun,” a girl who had a squeaky voice giggle, nudging the demi-god in the shoulder.

“Shut up, Seulgi.”

Chanyeol distractly glances at their interaction, wondering who the girl was. He stopped, out of breath when the dummy machine had finally turned off. He looked back to catch Baekhyun's face but the demi god was only giving his divided attention as he continued to speak to that girl- swatting her hand away as she tried to tickle his armpits.

“For the love of Zeus, you’re really good with the dagger. It goes without saying.” Kyungsoo said.

Chanyeol smiled proudly, “Thanks...I guess I should thank Baekhyun." 

"Ohhhhhh." A circle of girls coo at Baekhyun, who rolls his eyes, 

"Baekhyunie? Being thanked?"

"I'm shocked" another one notes, trying to tickle the demi-god.

In response to all these comments, Baekhyun walks away, grumbling something under his breath about how girls are stupid.

Chanyeol immediately feels sad. He wanted him to stay longer and watch him train. 

"Who were those girls?"

"His sister's," Kyungsoo comes to take his dagger away, putting it back into the weaponry area.

"Wow, he has...a lot of sisters."

   "Well I mean the love of god- oh ." Kyubgsoo covers his mouth as if he meant not to tell Chanyeol that. 

  "Wait, Baekhyun....is the son of Aphrodite?" Chanyeol says with a raised voice, making heads turn. He mostly raises his voice in disbelief. 

 Kyungsoo closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, "I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Baekhyun's not really fond of his godparent. In fact, he hates her. He'd rather not have you talk about it around him.” 

Now the mysterious shadow that was cast over Baekhyun had been slightly lifted. Perhaps this was the reason for his coldness. And yet, Chanyeol couldn’t understand. How could you hate your god-parent so much to the point that you didn’t want to associate with them? He wanted to know more. It was digging at his insides to understand Byun Baekhyun even more.