searching for a sound we haven't heard before --- [private]

When Archer was assigned to work in the arts and crafts store today, he was mortified to say the least. It wasn’t because he disliked children, that was the farthest thing from the truth. Children were fun to be around in his opinion, and they could be funny and witty and charming just as much as any adult, maybe even more so, but you had to get to know them and what they were into. For instance, Archer found out that Mallory enjoyed ponies, and he used that knowledge to her advantage. So his dislike for this job was most certainly not because of the kids. No, it was because of his deafness and his stupidness. Apparently the night that he’d snuck out to go swimming wasn’t his lucky day, because someone had ratted on him, resulting in extra duties around camp as penance. Honestly the demigod didn’t mind doing the extra work, though he would rather be sleeping in on a day like today. He screwed up, so it was only right for him to pay the price. But with his disability it was hard to work with the kids. Mr. D had to come in and personally tell the kids why he couldn’t hear them, and gave them special instructions to be ‘extra nice’ to Archer. He didn’t need the children to be extra nice, he needed a way to communicate to them, because Archer knew that none of them knew sign language. They only were ages 5-11, after all. 

So there the demigod paced, making sure that the younger ones didn’t swallow some glue. Some other campers were there besides him, but Archer paid no attention to them because it wasn’t as if they could hold a conversation. Today the demigod was dressed in a heather grey v-neck shirt with dark red pants and black converse, and most of the material he wore was warm. Just in case it got cold in here, which was very unlikely, he also had a leather jacket he could put on. The boy nodded at the artwork made of noodles and glue and glitter. Most of what the campers were making was complete shit, but he didn’t dare say that out loud. Just then a little boy came up to Archer and tugged on his sleeve, clearly wanting his attention. Archer didn’t make a move to get out his pad of paper and a pen, instead he bent down on knee level and smiled. The kid started to talk, and he followed along as best he could. See, the demigod was trying to read people’s lips, as it would be more convenient for both members of the party. “Do you like this?” The boy asked. He had a freckled face and bright orange hair and amber eyes. The artwork itself was just a jumble of macaroni, and Archer couldn’t decide what it was supposed to be; a cat or a house. “It’s for my father — It’s a picture of me and him.” Archer grinned even bigger and ruffled the kids hair. “It’s great.” He replied. The boy happily skipped back to his seat.

After that the demigod stopped smiling. He hated lying, he hated everything at this time. His deafness, his silenced voice, this stupid punishment. If only Landon was here, maybe he could make it a bit better. But then he caught sight of a girl waving towards him. He looked over to see who it was. Tessa. The girl with whom he swam with the other night. Archer wondered if she too had gotten in trouble for sneaking out, or if this was just one of her duties. Making sure that the children on his end of the room weren’t going to murder themselves, he strides over to her while scrawling something out on his notepad. When he reached Tessa he handed her the note.’Do you… wanna go somewhere else? Like, um, the forest?’ 

The more steps away form the arts and crafts area that he took, the more Archer felt free. As a child, he would have felt so goddamn guilty about skipping out on his duties, because every person had to do something for society, no matter how small, plus he wanted to please his parents. Every year at school he would quickly become the teachers pet, always raising his hand and asking questions and helping the teacher out. He also helped the other students out, making sure they were getting the material and getting to class on time while at the same time being really nice. Everyone knew Archer Thrush as the golden boy of the school, there was nothing he couldn’t do. At home, the boy wouldn’t change his demeanor. Whatever his parents asked of him, he did. If Mallory wanted Mac n’ cheese for dinner and their parents couldn’t supply it, eight year old Archer would make it for her, even if it resulted in burning all of his fingers. Without being asked, he cleaned the house weekly and never tired. The demigod just needed to work and do everything right. 

But that was the past, before the explosion, before his deafness. Nowadays Archer had become more lazy, more apt to just lay around and sulk rather than help anyone out. As he saw it, there really was no point to life, and the golden boy was buried inside him wishing one day to come out once again. Yes, he’d had a near death experience, and that completely changed him. Archer didn’t care if he skipped out on work because he realized that work didn’t get you anywhere in life unless you got a good job, which he wouldn’t. The dreams of becoming a doctor were shattered, despite having a natural affinity for healing. You had to live life to the fullest, Archer had decided once he’d gotten to camp. Life was too short to please authority, and so that was precisely why he’d snuck out of the area with Tessa. Tessa, from what he’d gathered, didn’t want to be here either, and because they knew each other it was all the more reason to ask her. ‘Awesome.’ He wrote as they walked out.

There was a big purple spot on her clothing that Archer spotted, but decided not to mention anything to Tessa as she probably knew and was trying to cover it up. There was frost on the ground and he was glad he’d grabbed his leather jacket. November was quite cold this year, and there was a nip in the air. It was defiantly colder now than it was a week ago when they went night-swimming together. His hands started to go red, and so he stuck his hands in his pockets. The pair continued to walk, not talking. Archer imagined leaves crunching under his feet and campers yelling in delight, but it wasn’t the same. Soon they reached the forest, and he could no longer see the arts and crafts area. Maybe their absence wouldn’t be noticed? ‘So…’ He wrote. ‘Those children are ruthless, huh?’ He handed her the paper, waiting for a reply.

When they reached the forest, Archer realized just how far away from the camp they actually were. He could no longer see the cloudy blueness of the big house, even with his heightened vision. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of the rock wall with its spewing shelves of lava or spikes that poked out randomly to surprise you. The camp was almost invisible to them, save for the backsides of some of the cabins. Beneath his feet, Archer could feel the ground, hard and dead. In the summer it was warm and spongy and very pungent with the sent of the earth. However on a day like today, like a typical winter day, it smelled of coldness and death. Archer couldn’t tell you which season he liked more, winter or summer, because they each had their own beauties to behold. Above them, a canopy of pine trees lay above them, stark against the grey sky of morning. The fallen needles, like dead solders killed by the cause, lay dead at his feet, a blanket for the dirt below. Archer didn’t know if some nymphs lived here or not, as he hadn’t exactly been to those types of classes. The demigod sighed as he looked up, trying to decide what to do.

Tessa surely didn’t want to do anything boring. Or maybe she did. Archer didn’t know, girls were hard to figure out anyways and he’d probably screw up no matter what path he chose. He could see her laugh, bringing a sad half-smile to Archer’s face. He wished he knew what she was laughing about. Maybe somebody had yelled a crude joke as they walked out and she thought it funny. Tessa could possibly just be laughing because she wanted to. At any rate, Archer wouldn’t know unless he asked her, and he wouldn’t. The demigod was shy nowadays and stayed mostly inside himself for reasons known to most people. Archer wished he could hear again, wished it with a fierce passion that could fill the fiery pits of hades a thousand times over. Then Tessa handed him the notebook, and he read it and wrote back. ‘Climbing trees. Much less dangerous than-‘ The page filled up with his sentences before he could finish them, so Archer flipped to  a new page. ‘hunting monsters or being cursed by nymphs.’ 

They found a nice tree that the both could climb relatively easy and sit comfortably within its branches. Archer let Tessa go first, and kept a lookout beneath. One couldn’t be too careful when one snuck away from one’s duties. At any given point in time they could be caught, and the consequences could be either minor or severe. If they did get caught, Archer would most likely suck up to the authorities, because he hated getting in trouble. Once Tessa was up there, Archer waited for a few more moments and then started the vertical trek. The branches were thick and splintery, but because his hands were calloused and used to toil and doing things like this, it didn’t bother him. In a short time he’d reached where Tessa was sitting, and he sat on the branch nearest her. The light was surprisingly good up here among the birds and flightily things, and so Archer took this opportunity to write to her some more. ‘If you want I could probably wash the stain out and give it to you tomorrow?'

The name Thrush came from a type of bird, a small flighty bird that could skip merrily from branch to branch without any complications, sweetly singing the songs of nature to accompany them while they worked to build nests for their young. Certainly they weren’t afraid of toil and completing their task at any rate. The name Thrush had been an obvious choice for Archer’s entire family, as they were build on very basic values of handwork, honesty, love, and friendship. Even if the demigod was busy feeling sorry for his parents and thought he’d lost so many of those great values, they were still there trying to poke out of his silent exterior and make themselves known. If my parents could see me now, Archer pondered while deciding how to approach the giant tree, they’d be sorely disappointed. He found foothold and grabbed it, starting to climb up the massive oak. Along the way up he saw various insects craw out of the tree as if it were one enormous apartment. Centipedes, spiders, creepy-crawlies which Archer didn’t have the name for. But he wasn’t afraid, not after what he’d learn about what was really out there, what was really coming after him if he set foot outside camp. 

When he finally reached the top of the tree to where Tessa was at, he leaned against the bark of the thickest branch nearest to her he could find. Climbing trees was second nature to him, as the one in his backyard provided excellent practice if one got bored on a tepid summers day. Archer was quite comfortable where he sat, and closed his eyes to breathe in the earthy scent of the trees. When Tessa wrote him back the note, Archer got excited. Tessa was his best friend, despite not knowing each other for more than a day. It was hard for Archer these days to open up and make friends, not because he was afraid, but because it was near impossible to communicate, and the other person would probably get fed up with how lame Archer could actually be nowadays. Back at home, he was all anyone ever talked about. Now? Now he was a nobody. ’So um, do you want to learn sign language?’ The demigod wrote hesitantly. He didn’t know why he was so nervous, it wasn’t like he was asking her on a date or anything. ‘It could be easier for us.’ 

Archer saw the big purple spot on Tessa’s flannel and rolled his eyes. Little kids were so stupid, they didn’t realize that others had feelings too. Although in fairness they were having fun, and he wouldn’t be the kind of person to take fun away from them. Archer knew that the paint was most likely washable, and so it wouldn’t be hard to get the stain out. If it was a stain of oil grease, it would be a completely matter entirely. ‘It’s no problem, really.’ Archer then shrugged his leather jacket off, feeling the nip of fast-approaching winter on his skin. But he didn’t mind. ‘Yeah, if you want :)’ He replied back and handed the note to Tessa, setting the jacket in his lap just in case she rejected it.

When Tessa rejected his jacket offer, Archer couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. Sure, he knew it was going to happen, but now he looked like an idiot. If he put it on right now, just right after she’d declined, it would make him seem like an eager puppy, and she’d probably laugh at him like he was a silly little kid who mispronounced the word ‘cinnamon’ so innocently. He merely nodded, not looking hurt in the slightest. It really was no big deal, he told himself. The big deal in his life was his deafness and how he had to cope with it so as not be a nuisance to others. As of late, Archer and started to get weird stares when he didn’t reply to others and looked like he was off floating in deep space. Sometimes he actually was. Because of the explosion, Archer had developed quite the imagination, somewhat like what his parents had. Both Spencer and Olivia Thrush had majestic imaginations and used it to improve their daily lives and others as well. It was also what caused them to die and perish along with their only daughter. Archer had grown up thinking that imagination was amazing, that it could take you wherever you wanted to go if you just believed hard and long enough. Now? Now he was afraid of dreaming of intergalactic fights and old west showdowns, but what more could he do nowadays? ‘Sarcastic. I get it.’ He finally wrote after what seemed forever. The sentence wasn’t meant to be mean or an offence to her, but she could probably take it that way.

The fact that Tessa actually wanted to learn sign language made Archer’s heart leap with joy. Maybe finally he could actually talk to a person that wasn’t Landon. Maybe he didn’t have to be so guarded as much now, because he wasn’t a china doll on the verge of shattering. Before he lost his hearing, Archer was strong, he was tough and he was brave. There was nothing that he wouldn’t do for others, even if it cause him hardships along the way. Even today the demigod had a good padding of muscle on him, and he wasn’t ripped nor a skinny twig. But Landon seemed to think that his twin brother needed protection all the time, which wasn’t true. Maybe Tessa and him could form a close bond as well, but in order to establish that she’d need to know some basic terms. Already the gears in Archer’s mind were turning, working out what he’d teach her first and what they could learn later on when they’d gotten the basics down. For the first time since they’d met, Archer actually looked at Tessa and smiled. It was a smile of a boy filled once again with hope, warm, glowing hope that could be connected to childhood wonder and amazement. He didn’t need to explain or say anything on the paper, it was all right there in the smile. How thankful Archer was that Tessa was taking time to learn sign language.

‘Tessa? My god you’re so conceited.’ The boy joked on the paper. He knew for a couple more months this would be their main source of communication, because surely Tessa couldn’t pick up on it like he could. After all, Archer was a legacy of Apollo of Athena, he had a lot of things going for him, and learning a second language was no big deal for the demigod. For a moment, he closed his blue eyes from the forest, thinking in his mind how to form her name. He swiped his tongue on his lips, a sign that he was concentrating. His fingers twitched, as if they were stiff instead of warmblooded. Opening them again, Archer motioned for Tessa to give him her hand. When she did, he started moving her hand into a fist, and then moved the fingers so they formed an actual letter. That was the T. He did this continuously for all five letters of her name until they were done. Archer paused between each letter so that Tessa could get a feel for it. When they were done, he scribbled on the notepad. ‘Do you want to learn anymore names?’ 

After he’d lost his hearing, Archer knew he would have to learn sign language, and for the first time in forever he had dreaded the thought of learning something. As it was, he’d already knew two languages besides english; italian and spanish, and it wasn’t that he thought that learning to talk with his hands would be painfully hard. Quite the contrary, Archer found learning anything to be easy and this would be no difficult task for him. However, the fact still remained that he was now what people called ‘disabled’ even if his brain functioned just as normally as everybody else’s. Archer knew that being deaf wasn’t necessarily a disability, just a feat he had to conquer, but it was hard to get used to the fact that he couldn’t hear anymore. For the first week at least he still woke up screaming for Landon because the birds outside wouldn’t sing for him and his brother’s voice was inaudible. Needless to say the boy was frightened out of his mind. But when he finally learned sign language it was a lot easier. He hoped it would be for Tessa as well.

Speaking of Tessa, Archer saw her laugh, he saw her entire face light up like a little kid waking up to a big pile of presents on christmas morning. This, in turn, made him smile as well, and to keep from blushing even slightly he turned his face to the bark on the tree and pick at the dark wood. It was scabby and loosely placed, like a chink in a knight’s armour. Some dirt got underneath his fingernail and then he frowned, trying to pick it out. However, he abandoned the task when he realised Tessa had replied to him. ‘If I’m the moron than how come I’m the teacher?’ Archer pondered, knowing that Tessa was kidding. He could read people quite well, and by the way her body was relaxed and how her face wasn’t smushed into a grimace, Archer knew that she wasn’t at all cross with him. When she crossed over to his branch, the demigod felt it sag under both of their combined weight, but luckily stayed. They were pretty high up — about ten feet, and he guessed it wouldn’t be very pretty if they fell. Still, Archer forgot that and just focused on Tessa. On their friendship, on teaching her to speak to him. Falling off of trees wasn’t really a concern when Archer was with Tessa. 

‘Archer? Really?’ He asked her, raising an eyebrow as he did so, but shrugged anyways, taking her hands in his again. Tessa’s fingers were quite cold and he frowned for a moment, wondering if he should just put the jacket on her anyways. Even if he had a naturally high body temperature, it couldn’t be safe for her health if she was that cold. Sicknesses were running around like crazy with the winter winds, and the campers weren’t exactly bundled up correctly. Before he began spelling his own name, Archer paused and wrote another thing. ‘Are you sure you don’t want my jacket? You look almost blue.’ With that, he began spelling his name just as he did hers. 

Archer liked Tessa, he really did. She made him feel like he could fly to the moon and back if she just wished it. Of course, there were others that made him feel like this; anybody nice to him made him feel absolutely euphoric. His parents, his sister, his twin. Even his friends back home made him happy even if they were just acting like they liked him for popularity causes. But Archer genuinely liked everyone, and there was no doubt in his mind that he was an extrovert and a people person. If you put the boy into solitary confinement he would whiter away and die. Humans were his lifeline, beings social was the air that he breathed. The demigod was used to about 10x the people flocking around him, but for now Tessa would do. She was nice enough anyways, there wasn’t anything she wrote that was offensive to Archer. For however long their friendship would last, Archer would be happy, and he would be loyal to a fault. If Tessa got into a fight and needed back up, Archer would be there in a heartbeat, ready to beat the snot out of anything that dare defy her. Unless she hurt him or Landon, they would always be good in Archer’s eyes.

While teaching Tessa how to spell his name, Archer let his mind slip like he always let it in times like these. It was a sign that either he was very on edge or very content with his surroundings, it all depended on the atmosphere that he was in currently. With Tessa by his side and the wind brushing through his hair he was content, however his mind decided to plague him with thoughts of the explosion. How the heat seared through his jacket and t-shirt, singeing his eyebrows a little bit. He remembered how at first his ears wouldn’t stop ringing, the last thing he were ever to hear was a high pitched whine emitting from his ear drums. There was also the hopelessness that he felt in his gut, like a pit buried deep in his stomach. His mother and father were dead, and Archer wouldn’t see his mothers bright smile or hear his father’s hearty laugh ever again. Those things were gone and he hadn’t cherished them while they were there. For a moment while thinking this, the boy’s hand tensed and he stopped moving entirely, even forgetting to breathe. “No.” He whispered strained. He couldn’t hear himself of course, but there was no telling how loud he actually said the word. However, the moment lasted almost as suddenly as it began, and Archer looked down at what Tessa had wrote. He wanted to smile but couldn’t. ‘Oh I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself. Everyone is kind of a moron to me; I’m half Athenian.’ 

Teaching Tessa wasn’t hard, just as Archer knew it wouldn’t. He wasn’t a brainiac like his twin, but he had a little bit higher of an IQ than most people. Sure, it would be a slow process, but the demigod knew that and was willing to take time out of his day to help her. Of course, it wasn’t much of a day to begin with anyways. Most of the time, Archer would wake up with everybody and eat breakfast and go to classes but during his free spots he merely sat in his room, snacking on a bland pp&j sandwich if he got hungry and reading a book on ancient greek medicine. ‘Anything you want. My fingers and brain teach, but are not limited to: names, nouns, questions, conversation starters and the sentence ‘the dog is blue.’ Archer wrote. They sat there for a couple more seconds while he waited for her to write a response when suddenly the branch under them gave a great shudder and the both of them fell, the branch going first. Like rag dolls they fell, tumbling ungracefully towards the ground.

Most of the time Archer Thrush didn’t want people to worry about him. He was a boy with a perfect life — who had, past tense — a mother, a father, a sister, and a brother who all loved him and would go to the ends of the earth for him. All the teacher adored him and quickly every year he’d become the teachers pet. No one ever worried about Archer, who never had anxiety or depression or any sort of mental issues. Everything was absolutely extraordinary in his life. And then came the explosion, and the end of days, and the dimming of his world. Landon, being his twin, had noticed, but that was only to be expected. No one else knew about Archer, and it would stay that way. Honestly, the boy hadn’t thought Tessa heard him speak out loud, so when she moved her lips and her face turned into an expression of confusion, Archer silently scolded himself. He didn’t want her to worry about him. He ran his hands through his thick brown hair, biting his lip and shaking his head, as a way of saying it was nothing to the girl beside him. 

Despite his fingers cramping up from the cold and writing so much, Archer continued to talk to Tessa through written words. He noted that where his script was sloppy and almost impossible to read, resembling chicken scratches, Tessa’s was much more legible. Like his father, the demigod had never fully grasped the importance of coherent handwriting, and his teachers had often taken off points on essays because of the illegibility. ‘Uh huh. Athena and Apollo.’ While they weren’t the best god and goddess ever to be born from the loins of mighty Zeus himself, Archer never once thought for a moment that they were stupid. All of the deities in someway shape or form were scary and intimidating and just full of awesomeness. Even Iris, goddess of the rainbow, had to have some kickass power. Never was the boy ungrateful for his parentage. When Tessa told him who her mother was, he was surprised. She was the daughter of Persephone? ‘That’s really, really cool, Tessa. I heard the ancient Greeks feared her even more than Hades.’ Persephone was the goddess of life and death, of spring as well as winter. Anyone would be lucky to have her as a mother.

When the two demigods fell off of the tree because of their combined weight, Archer tried to grab onto some other branches. If he could get ahold of one, that might soften his blow or stop him entirely. Alas, the boy couldn’t get one and plummeted to the ground like a bird with a broken wing, but not before positioning himself so that he was accidentally in front of the branch, so Archer, incidentally and quite ironically, would be breaking the great big log of woods fall instead of vice versa. When he finally did land on the forest floor below, the demigod merely had the wind taken out of his well built chest, and went to sit up on his elbow to catch his breath. However, that was when the log fell on him, and then everything went dark.

There was darkness, blinding darkness, nothing but darkness and nothing but void and fear. Archer was calm, he couldn’t freak out. If he freaked out he could make things worse, and that was something that he most certainly did not want to do under any circumstances. Things were already bad enough; the branch had fallen, he was most likely pinned under it, he couldn’t think straight — what was today’s date again? — and he didn’t know what happened to Tessa. Tessa. Was she just as trapped as he was, crying for help and it going unnoticed? All Archer knew for certain was that they both needed help, and it was probably all his fault. How stupid was he to teach Tessa sign language up in a tree? How stupid was he to not calculate the effect that two full grown demigods would have on a medium sized branch? Archer was so stupid… So so stupid. He remembered the note Tessa had written, how she asked him if he was a good archer or not, and maybe that was like his lifeline. He hadn’t really given her an answer, instead smiling like an idiot and laughing and blushing like a fool. But he wanted to tell her that he was. Maybe the urge to confirm that statement brought feeling back into his face, because the next thing Archer knew he was being slapped awake. 

With a great big gasp, Archer open his eyes and sat up with a start. He was breathing heavily, trying to feel all of his extremities. Both his arms were there, as were all ten fingers and his nose and ears. His feet? Well, his feet had been pinned under the branch, and so far Archer had no feeling in anything below his waist. What if he’d lost the ability to walk? That would really suck for him, losing another one of his important bodily functions. Archer tried to wiggle his toes, praying that they would do something, anything even so much as twitch and his heart would soar. He assumed that Tessa moved the branch off of him while he was unconscious, and he was eternally grateful, because another minute or so and the damage could have been worse. Speaking of Tessa, Archer turned to her, looking over her body with his eyes and looking for any breaks or cuts or bruises. Ironically, Archer had the power of vitakinesis, something that he rather now hated then loved. He couldn’t even help himself, how could he be sure he could help his best friend? He motioned for Tessa to bring her arm, bent at a strange angle, to him. This probably would make him extremely weak, but Tessa didn’t deserve to be in pain. 

Archer focused on the break in her arm and put his hands on her broken limb. He focused all of his health and warmth on fixing her arm, willing his grandparents to grant him this one little victory. Tessa shouldn’t have to suffer because of his idiotic actions. It was his fault they went up into the tree and so he should be punished, not her. Suddenly there was a bright light, like a comet shooting down to earth and a shot of warm summer wind blew into both their faces. When the light diminished, Tessa’s arm was back to normal. However, that was the extent of the powers that Archer had, there wasn’t anymore he could spare lest he faint. Even now he was lightheaded and weak, even more so than previously because he’d helped her. He smiled weakly at her and slumped back down on the ground, blinking lazily. He wanted to sleep, his head pounded and hurt and was probably bleeding. Bleeding and head trauma led to concussions, which could kill a person if left untreated. Archer knew that he should get help, but there wasn’t anyone around but Tessa. Without the notebook, they’d have to rely on motions and their names. With great difficulty, the demigod signed Tessa's name for the very first time since teaching it to her.

The fear of not being able to walk again frightened Archer to the utmost degree. The gods took away his hearing, one of his only means of communication, and now they wanted to take away his legs? His only means of getting around? And why? Because he wanted to spend time with his first and so far only friend at camp? Archer found it extremely unfair, and the more he found that it was impossible to move his legs, the more frustrated he became with himself. Hot tears sprang to the corners of his eyes, but they didn’t fall down his face. No. Archer wouldn’t be defeated by some wayward branch, he was strong, a demigod for gods sake, shouldn’t that count towards something? He knew Tessa was watching him, and he knew she was worried by the look in her eyes, and that gave him even more determination to get his legs to work again. But, as always, his efforts were in vain. There wasn’t even a slight tingle in his tiniest toe. Come on… Archer wished. Don’t do this to me, you stupid legs don’t you dare leave me like this. His head hurt and his throat was dry like a desert, and the boy longed for some water. Screams filled up inside him, wanting to escape, but he kept quiet. This was the gods doing, they did this to him. Give me back my legs, dammit! Archer prayed to every deity he could think of. You owe me this much, you owe me! If his powers had still been intact, this wouldn’t have been a problem, but he’d used up all his demigod juice on Tessa. He struggled some more trying to get his limp legs to move voluntarily. 

Finally, after what seemed like a millennium to Archer, his left leg twitched. This was a good sign that feeling was returning, and he laughed joyously. So he wasn’t going to be a deaf cripple, rather just a deaf boy with a best friend to help him. She had pushed him down when he healed her, which meant that she was too concerned for his safety. If only Archer could assure Tessa that he had been through so much worse and survived, and that this wasn’t any big deal. But he let her fuss over him, let her look at his head for any signs of external bleeding or swelling that could be matched with a nasty concussion. Apparently there wasn’t one, but then why couldn’t Archer remember what day it was, or his brothers name? He knew he had a brother, and that they were very close, but his name was foreign to the boy. Didn’t it start with a F? Or S? He couldn’t remember for the life of him. This worried the boy tremendously. Archer wanted to look at himself in the mirror to see if his pupils were dilated, a sure sign of swelling of the head. 

Archer saw Tessa sign his name back to him. He wasn’t going to say that he was okay, just spelling her name out was his way of telling her he was fine. Her name, right now, was everything. Actually, no. Tessa herself was everything. She was the one who had pulled the branch off of him despite her arm being twisted and mangled. She was the one who woke Archer up, and she was the one who was helping him now. If Archer was strong, then Tessa was the epitome of strength itself. He was the robin to her superman, the sidekick to the hero. Without her, Archer would probably be left for dead in the forest. Then Tessa helped him up suddenly. Because the feelings in his legs wasn’t fully there, Archer didn’t have complete control over his possibly broken legs, and as a result leaned on his companion. He felt he should say something to her, but didn’t have the means to. Where was the notebook? And the pen? The demigod saw it lying on the ground, dirty and ripped to hell but still usable, and then he dived towards it. Before Tessa could grab him again, Archer took hold of the writing pad and utensil. 

‘Are my pupils small? Ask me a question — simple. Can’t be too hard. Glad you’re fine, by the way.’ Archer scribbled as fast as he could, legibility be dammed. He could probably self diagnose himself if Tessa could give him accurate information, although he knew that wouldn’t stop a trip to the infirmary. He winced as his head pounded with the force of one hundred sledgehammers on his cranium. Archer was determined not to get up, and sat there until he got the information he wanted. Then he allowed Tessa to haul him up again and take him to the infirmary. The earth wobbled and moved, and he saw three arts and crafts cabins when he knew that there should only be one. It was a sure sign of dizziness and off-balanceness, a symptom of a concussion. When the pair of battered demigods reached the infirmary, one of the apollo children sat Archer down on one of the cots and examined him.

This wasn’t the first time that the Thrush twin had faced hardship, nor would it be the last. There was that time when he was seven that his father had lost his job, and they had to cut down on almost everything, and although being a young kid he didn’t understand why they couldn’t buy name brand foods anymore, he didn’t question it. Archer remembered that christmas, how he’d gotten a little box of legos instead of a firetruck large enough to ride around the house in. But he went along with it, because everything returned back to normal eventually, and he knew that his parents were doing the best they could for their kids, and really that was all Archer could ask for. All he needed, despite what the pit of selfishness inside him said, was a roof over his head, food, water, and clothing. A friend or two if he could manage it, but that was about it. So hobbling to the infirmary, Archer had the biggest grin on his face, which was drained of colour and covered in mud and scratches from the wayward branches. To everyone else, he probably looked like a maniac, smiling like he did. But he’d gotten his legs back, he’d beaten what seemed like an impossible feat, and this made the demigod absolutely euphoric. Tessa, it seemed, wasn’t too happy about him diving to get the notebook, as it looked like she wanted to harm him further by the look she gave him, but Archer ignored it. Communication with words were more important to him because he could get his thoughts across. You couldn’t do that very often with a glare. 

‘You just haven’t learned,’ He scrawled, peering up at her. ‘Aren’t we at the strawberry fields? No! The arts and crafts cabin?’ The place they were at completely slipped his mind, which worried him even more, leaving Archer with a very big pit of dread in his stomach. He had a concussion, he knew that now. It explained a lot, and it also was the biggest reason that Tessa was basically carrying him towards the infirmary. Archer never had first hand experiences with concussions or really any injuries except for a broken arm when he was nine. He thought this was a complete waste of time, because now that he knew he had a concussion, he knew ways of treating it. Going to the infirmary was completely pointless to a kid like Archer. However, Tessa was taking him towards it, and she was considerably stronger than she was even if he had been at full health and strength. She seemed to be worried about him as well, which was quite a rare occurrence for Archer. Sure, his brother cared for him, and so had his parents and sister, but that was his family and it didn’t really count. There may have been a couple of friends back at school that wanted the best for the demigod, but most of them were posers trying to get into the popular crowd. Tessa actually seemed to care about his health, just as he and cared about hers. To pass the time, Archer scribbled out a response. ‘Why? I’m the one that made us fall out of the tree in the first place.’ 

In the infirmary Archer found that he was very sensitive to lights and sounds. The curtains were pulled back, letting pure unadulterated sunlight filter in through the single pane windows. Everything here was white or a variant of the heavenly colour, so it seemed like brightness bounced off every single surface, and all of it concentrated on Archer. The light made his head pound once again, and he groaned and put his hand on his head. The other demigod opened one of his eyes, checked the pupil size, and frowned. This only confirmed what Archer knew in the first place. Although it was mostly quiet in the cabin, there was some idle talking and clinking of glasses and various herbs, and even that set Archer’s teeth on edge. It made him angry. The apollo child reached for Archer’s head, meaning to thoroughly check out his skull for bleeding, but he pushed him away, not wanting to be touched. “I don’t need to be looked at.” He stated to everyone in his proximity. Getting up, he thought he was a lot stronger because he’d had a few minutes of rest. Yes, he’d get out of here and go into his cabin and do something like build a model house or read or something. 

However, someone pressed him down just as he stood to half height. Just standing for those few seconds made everything in the rooms spin and gave Archer a horrible bout of nausea, so bad that he actually curled into a ball and clutched at his stomach. His eyes focused on something to help him. They were Tessa’s shoes. Combat boots. If the demigod could’ve smiled, he would’ve. They suited her. When he stopped feeling like he was going to throw up even making the slightest movement, Archer turned his head to the medic and saw him speaking. It would’ve been absurd to tell him to write down on the paper, so he focused on his lips. Because of the head trauma, it was quite hard to make out what he was saying, but eventually Archer got most of what the medic was trying to say. Basically he needed rest, but he couldn’t sleep for more than two hours at a time, and that someone needed to watch him for 48 hours continuously to make sure he hadn’t died in his sleep or something. Whatever. Archer knew the rules. “Can I go now? You’re medical knowledge is mediocre at best, I could probably do a better job.” He promptly told him, making to get out of bed for a second time in the past five minutes.

The medic shook his head, telling him that he couldn’t go because it was probably better if he stayed here where they could keep an eye on him. Archer shook his head, because everything about this place hurt and they didn’t understand that he couldn’t remember his twin’s name, or where he’d been with Tessa previously, or that he was deaf. There was only one person who knew most of that stuff, and that person was Tessa. Archer wanted to stay with Tessa, and he knew she couldn’t stay here with him because she wasn’t hurt as bad as she. The healers would probably just give her some ambrosia and nectar and then she’d be sent back to her cabin, leaving Archer here all alone. Even as he thought this through, she was being gently pushed away from him. Archer would have fought to get her back here with him, but everything was swimming and he couldn’t move.

This certainly wouldn’t be the last time Archer would get hurt. He had been assured by so many people he’d known throughout his life that teenagers were reckless and stupid and idiotic, and prone to get hurt almost everyday. Until they’d fallen out of the tree, he wasn’t inclined to believe those people. He’d always been a vigilant boy, making sure that no harm came to him, and if it did that the damage was minimal. That philosophy worked except for today, when it decided to stop working and prove a point to Archer. Nothing, not even the air you breathe or the earth that you walked on, was permeant. Everything would eventually turn to ash and dust, the humans would disintegrate along with their mighty civilizations of fire and knowledge, and the world would be invisible. Today, Archer hated himself for endangering not only him, but Tessa. He wouldn’t blame her if she slapped him, silently screamed, and stormed out and he’d never see her again. After all, it was what he deserved. Maybe if he hadn’t been such an idiot, this wouldn’t have happened. Tessa hardly looked worried, and so Archer did worrying enough for the both of them. His parents had often called him a worry wart because he wanted to make sure nothing bad was ever going to happen Every time he let his guard down something bad happened. Archer had saw Tessa call him an idiot, and she would be correct in saying so. He maybe popular, but that didn’t mean he was an idiot. In reply, he just nodded. 

The medic stared at the demigod for a minute or two, slightly pouting, and Archer frowned back. His smile had diminished almost the second he arrived, although he could hardly blame Tessa for bringing him here. He didn’t expect her to heal him lil he did to her. Every demigod had their talents, and Tessa’s just wasn’t healing. Heck, if their spots were reversed, he’d have brought her here in a heartbeat, no questions asked. They looked out for each other, this pair of rebellious teenagers. When she told Archer to lie still, he turned his gaze to her, dark blue gazing into dark brown. He was angry at everything, and he wanted to snap at her, so he opened his mouth to do so but then stopped. Even in his dazed state, he knew she didn’t deserve what tongue he’d give her. So Archer focused on the medic, wanting to shake his shoulders fiercely and tell him that knew knew that he had a concussion, he wasn’t an idiot. ‘This is pointless, Tessa.’ He wrote to his friend, eyes still on the Apollo camper. Archer blinked lazily, sleep overpowering him. ‘I know how to deal with this — do I really have to stay?’ Apparently the medic didn’t like that Archer wasn’t talking to him, and snatched the notebook, leaving a thick, heavy black ink streak on the rest of the yellow paper. 

Even if he did have two other siblings, Archer didn’t like to share with most people. If he knew you and trusted you, he had no problem giving stuff to you as long as you gave it back. However, he didn’t know this other demigod nor did he trust him. The notebook was filled with conversations — private, might he add — he’d had with Tessa. The boy could easily get the wrong idea. So naturally, Archer did what any other possessive person would do — he lunged. Despite his head swimming after he’d successfully tackled the medic to the ground, Archer fought to get the tattered and torn notebook back. Tessa might think him mad, hell, even he thought he was mad, but that was fine. The sooner the both of them realized that the better it would be for their relationship. There were things that Archer hadn’t told Tessa yet, things that were crucial key points so she could understand the way he was. Without saying a word, Archer won the little brawl on the dusty hardwood floor. Quickly, with the notebook clutched tightly to his chest, the demigod sat back on the bed, and smiled apologetically at Tessa. 

After Tessa had stated firmly that she’d be staying, the apology smile turned into a grin of ecstasy. Archer, as displayed through his actions, did not like to be here, because he couldn’t do what he wanted without being watched like a hawk. Even as a kid he despised going to the doctor’s for even a checkup. When he saw that his friend had written something on the notebook, Archer tried to read it, but found that the words were all jumbled and blurry. It was another side effect of the concussion, and the dyslexia he had didn’t help any. Holding it close to his face, he made out her message. ‘That’s good.’ Archer yawned, realizing now how tired he was. ‘I’m going to sleep. If that idiot medic comes back punch him in the throat or something.’ 


When Tessa woke Archer up two hours later, the male demigod was less than pleased. The sunlight still hurt his eyes and the noise still hurt his brain. He still wanted to sleep, he wanted to sleep until the moon rose and set, but knew that that wasn’t possible for at least two nights. Archer sat up, rubbing his hair which had been greatly increased in volume in sleep. The dream that he had was dark and dim, and he couldn’t remember exactly what it was about, but it had a talking elephant and a flying burrito, so it couldn’t have been too terribly important to remember. The sky was a darker blue than it had been previously, suggesting it was about four or five in the afternoon. Soon, Tessa would have to leave whether she liked it or not to go to dinner, and Archer probably wouldn’t be able to join her because of his condition. ‘I’m sorry we fell out of a tree… That wasn’t part of the plan I swear.’ He wrote to her, after a few minutes. ‘Also I can’t wash your jacket for another two days, and that’s if I can find it in the woods.’ Even when injured, Archer still stuck to his petty promises. What a loser.