Breaking Free (Selene)

It wasn't that Castor didn't enjoy Chase's company, just that he thought Chase was getting a little too over protective. To Cass, it was nice, knowing that somebody would always be there for him. Ever since Ethan's death, though, Chase rarely let Cass out of his sight. Yeah, Castor was only ten. And yeah, he often found himself confronted by monsters. Still, it was indeed possible for Chase to ease up just a little bit. Ethan's death had shaken them both and Castor was now doing something about it.

Cass took a deep breath as he walked towards the arena. He'd heard swords clanking and the sound of burlap sacks being torn to bits, so he assumed that it was where people trained. Castor thought that if he proved to Chase that he could fight well, then his brother would ease up a bit. And if he got better at using his bow and arrow, then he'd be able to protecthimself, Chase, and the entire city of New Bern when they got home. He'd be a hero.

For this very reason, Castor had his bow, Memento Mori, slung over his back with the quiver overflowing with arrows. Castor was a very smart child and had even thought through some battle strategies, but hadn't shown them to Chase,knowing that his brother would probably think it was too dangerous. Memento Mori's yew wood shone white in the sunlight. Well, it was white in the darkness, too. The funny thing was that Cass had been rereading the Harry Potter series before he'd run away. He'd found out that yew was what Lord Voldemort's wand was made of. And if he had to decribe the antagonistic voice in the back of his mind, he'd say it sounded like Voldemort. Nope. Castor was just reading way too much Harry Potter. Either that or he was going crazy.

Castor notched his bow with and arrow and shot. He found that after a few years of practice, he was very good. He'd been horrible at first. Not the first shot went straight at one of the dummy's eyes, through one of the holes in the helmet. Nice. Castor liiked down at Ethan's old camp necklace and wondered where his brother was. Was he in the Fields of Punishment? No, Ethan was too good for that. Was he in the Fields of Asphodel, too cowardly to face judgement? No, Ethan was no coward. Was in in Elysium? Completely possible. Knowing Ethan, though, he'd probably try for rebirth or something.

Castor shot another arrow, then another until the burlap dummy was spilling out straw. He then took a deep breath and looked around the arena. No bratty Ares kids or resentful unclaimed demigods. Well, he was a resentful unclaimed demigod, but the arena was empty besides him. "Anyone home?" He called, changing his bow back into the metal bracelet.