The Shadow Archer Twins

I didn’t know who I was going to shoot first, Octavian for kissing my sister, or Katie for letting him kiss her!

I had already drawn my bow and knocked an arrow by the time that Octavian had moved in for the kiss, and when they had started kissing, the sight of it had made me falter. I couldn’t shoot them. They were kissing, intimately and passionately. I couldn’t just shoot them, could I?

Katie opened her eyes and glanced my way before Octavian released, and gave me a look like, ‘don’t you dare reveal yourself, you’ll scare him off!’ You have no idea how much I wanted to scare him off. But, I put away my bow and walked back into the corner I had set up guard in, melting back into shadow. I touched my earpiece and whispered,

“Stand down, Apollo cabin. Sheathe arrows.”

Through the communication system, I heard the tension in six bowstrings relax, and arrows being placed back into quivers. I smiled. My half-brothers and sisters were quick. Octavian released my sister and sat back in his chair, looking as stunned as I had.

“That has never happened to me,” He said in an amazed whisper, “Who are you, Greek girl? What is your name? Are you a goddess?”

He looked around like he was trying to make sure nobody could hear them.

Katie noticed that, and said, “Oh don’t worry. We have two kids who have power over sound who are sound-proofing this tent. Nobody can hear what’s going on inside.”

Octavian’s shoulders relaxed, and he grinned, saying, “Smart girl. I knew you would do some extra things to help me out. It feels good to be able to speak freely. But what is your name?”

Katie giggled. She was losing the plot here. He was the enemy, not some boy from her high-school. She wasn’t supposed to actually like him, only make him feel like she liked him. And she was telling him secrets about our setup with the Hecate kids, and was about to tell her his name. But when she had looked at me during her kiss, she had looked under control. I would let her handle this.

“Katie,” She said, “Katie Holmes.”

“Well, Katie Holmes. It has been a pleasure,” He said slowly, “To meet you. I can successfully say that you have given me a completely different opinion of the people who go to this camp. I hope to see you again.”

“Going so soon?” Katie asked with playful amusement.

“It’s nothing personal, I assure you. But, I need time to think, and I need to talk to my officers about certain matters, including what they talked about with your delegation.”

I realized that he was flustered, and he knew it. He knew that he was vulnerable to give up secrets about his camp in this state, and wanted to leave before he said something he would later regret. Although I had just earlier wanted him to leave, I now wanted Katie to go in for the kill and start interrogating him. But I knew that that wouldn’t be like her, or be fair to the poor guy.
So, Katie said her formal and informal good-byes, and Octavian left the tent and returned to his men. I called over the earpiece system for the Ares cabin to escort the Romans back to the border of Camp Half-Blood. Once that was done, I called over the communication system,

“All right, everyone, that’s a wrap. Apollo cabin, put up bows and report to Chiron if you want. Ares cabin, return to whatever your activities were. Lou Ellen and Paige, you girls did a great job, you can return to your activities or Cabin 20 to rest. Athena cabin, I will let Izzy’s report dictate how you should be complimented, but I am confident that you did a great job and got them to agree to our plan. The same goes to you, Aphrodite cabin. And finally, Jake Mason, thank you for the amazing communication system at a moment’s notice. We’re done here, people. It was a success. Thank you all.”

I realized that I was smiling, happy with everyone’s performance, except for one person. I ripped the smile off of my face and ripped earpiece out of my ear, thrusting both of them in my back pocket furiously.

“Are you kidding me, Katie!? Please tell me you didn’t just fall in love with that guy.”

For once, she didn’t have an answer. That was answer enough.

“Great,” I said bitterly, “You’ve developed two crushes within two weeks. That must be a record.”

“Oh, calm down, Tox,” She said, with a playful smile, “I had everything under control. Besides, you sound like one of those stereotypical protective fathers right now. Shouldn’t you be trying to embarrass me with a crude male joke about me getting with Octavian, or something?”

“I should, actually,” I agreed, “If I wasn’t your brother, Katie. If I wasn’t your brother, I wouldn’t care about who could hurt you as much as I do, wouldn’t have to worry about your feelings. But I am your brother. I have to do those things. I just want you to be safe and happy.”

She smiled, as if she admired what I had said. “Thank you, Tox, for protecting me, but you have to let me live my own life, okay?. He kissed me, remember? He kissed me. Oh my gods, he kissed me!”

She said it as if she just realized that, and she smiled to herself, laughing happily. As much as she wouldn’t admit it out loud, she was in love. Fully, madly, in love. And I knew it would hurt her. Like it hurt me, but that was ancient history. Although, looking at her face, I couldn’t help but remember old memories. Hurtful memories.

“All right,” I said, giving in, “Well, we have to go report to Malcolm and hear Izzy’ report to see how their part of the meeting went.”

So, we walked out of the tent, and met with Malcolm at a central picnic table. They were waiting for us, and people were buzzing around the two tents, breaking them down for storage. I heard them whispering in our direction about Katie and Octavian, and I growled to myself. Great, rumors had already started.

We sat down at the table, and I couldn’t help but notice Izzy’s uncontrollable grin that had come across her face.

“First kiss, eh?” She said, looking at Katie.

“Yeah,” Katie said, “It was…amazing. I think I’m in love.”

“Whoa, what happened in there?” Malcolm asked.

“Don’t you want to let your girlfriend give her report first, Malcolm?” Katie asked with playful seriousness, “Or is my falling in love more important?”

Notes