3Not so bad after all
This takes place 25 years after the Last Olympian. So none of the campers will be familiar.
Elspeth carefully notched her arrow before making the right stance. She could feel the sweat on the side of her face. She had to get this right this time. Not only was her entire cabin watching her, her camp director was watching carefully too. Careful not to elbow her older sister who stood close behind her, assisting Elspeth the best she could, she released the arrow.
Elspeth was mildly surprised when the arrow hit the target board. That had to be closer than the last time. She was getting better. Maybe.
"Ohhh! Close," her sister Rose said after measuring the distance to the center of the target center. "You were only two and a bit inches off the center! You beat your last best score by almost a centimeter." Rose retrieved the arrow and moved out of the way. "Now try that again, but this time from further than three feet away from the target.
Chiron, the camp director gave a nod of approval, and seeing that everything was under control went to help the two children of Poseidon before they killed somebody accidentally.
Elspeth snorted to herself. She wasn't much better with the bow and arrow than the children of the sea god. Sure she had never shot the arrow the complete opposite way like Alex, the son of Poseidon had last week had, (she still didn't know how he had managed that) but for a daughter of Apollo she sucked at archery. If she hadn't won her class's poetry contest, she would have thought herself a changeling. Maybe her father had made a mistake when he claimed her. Was it possible to have DNA testing done to check if she was really Apollo's child. Even eight year old Claire did better and this was her first year at Camp half-blood. Elspeth backed up a couple of steps and notched her second arrow, aimed and shot.
"Well, that's not bad," Rose said as she measured the arrow again. "Again, only two inches off. And you were much further away this time. Much better than Alex." Both girls turned towards Alex and his sister when Rose said Alex's name. They looked just in time to witness Alex shooting himself in his foot.
"Thank the gods for small miracles." Elspeth muttered, "I may be the worst archer from cabin 7 but at least I'm not the worst in the camp."
"That's the spirit!" Rose said completely oblivious to the sarcasm. "Now try again." She ignored Elspeth's groan and stepped away and gesturing her to try again.
David, another one of Elspeth's siblings clamped her on her shoulder "You'll get it soon, sis." He said.
"You know what I don't understand," Eight year old Claire piped up from behind David, "is how you never managed to hit the target with an arrow, but have yet to miss a goal in basketball. You rock at that sport."
Elspeth shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know the answer to that question any better than Claire did.
"Well I'm not the only Demi-God who is bad at something they shouldn't be." Elspeth said. "I talked to that hunter, what's her name? The daughter of Zeus? Well she told me she used to be afraid of heights. Elspeth sighed. "I suspect she told me because she felt sorry for me."
A daughter of Zeus scared of heights? Well that was odd, but no more unusual than a daughter of Apollo unable to hit an exact target with an arrow.
"When you notch your arrow, do you know you're going to fail?" David asked after a few seconds of silence.
Elspeth notched another arrow and was getting ready to shoot, but lowered her bow slowly when David broke the silence. She slowly turned towards David, all the while frowning.
"What sort of question is that?" She asked frowning.
"Well, I was just thinking about what Claire said, about how you always manage to get the ball in the hoop no matter how far away you are. Every time you are about to score a really hard goal, what do people around you usually say?"
"'Don't do that', they say 'it's impossible and the risk isn't worth it'." Elspeth looked confused at where this conversation was going. "But the kids at my school don't know about my parentage, that's why they think it's impossible for me."
"But you don't think it's impossible," David pressed on.
"Of course not," Elspeth said exasperated "Before I take that shot, I always know I am going to score. But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything; because when you score a goal at basketball you believe in yourself, but when you notch that arrow, you don't feel confidence do you?"
"Well no, because I always fail." Elspeth shrugged. "I would be more confident if I hit what I aim at."
She notched the arrow again, but this time David moved up behind her. Leaning into her he whispered into her ear so only she and their siblings could hear what he was saying.
"Repeat after me, 'I am going to hit the circle in the middle and it's going to be easy. I can do this'." Elspeth rolled her eyes but did what her brother told her to do. If she didn't do as he said, she knew, he would bug her until she did. David was annoying like that.
"I am going to hit the circle in the middle and it's going to be easy. I can do this" Elspeth parroted after her brother. And for a split second, she believed what she said, and in that second she released her arrow.
In almost slow motion, her arrow spun its way towards its goal, before planting itself for the first time ever, in the exact center of the target.
All Apollo cabin rushed Elspeth, hugging her and congratulating her; but not David.
David backed away smiling before meeting Chiron's eyes.
Chiron made a come here signal with his hand and David complied. After reaching the Centaur's side both of them turned to face the Apollo cabin.
"You were right." David said. "It was her confidence issues that were holding her back." David shook his head with slight disbelief at what he just learned about his sister before looked at his mentor.
Chiron nodded, not surprised in the least. He had after all trained thousands of hero's just like Elspeth McKenna.