mark walked inside the forest alongside his dog, following the sound of donghyuck's voice.
the beautiful boy had been singing since he had left the bungalows, his voice getting higher as he entered the forest, and he had a wonderful voice.
his father was the god of music and arts, so it was normal for donghyuck to have such a beautiful voice, and it truly impressed mark.
hades' son watched as donghyuck stopped a few seconds to admire the view he had.
"go to him." he whispered to his dog, the creature obeying immediately and happily running towards donghyuck.
"oh! mavros!" the tanned male exclaimed when the dog jumped around him. "hello!" he added, caressing its head.
mark watched his dog – which usually hated people – being all happy around the literal sunshine. and that brought a small smile on his face.
"you're here alone? you owner isn't with you?" donghyuck asked in a baby voice, crouching in front of the red-eyed dog.
at the moment mark was about to signal his presence, a hand caught his wrist from behind and turned him around.
"what are you doing here?" jeno asked fuming.
mark pulled his hand back, his dark aura appearing. "none of your business."
"i don't want you near him." jeno said on the same tone.
"i do whatever i want."
"not when it comes to him. i don't trust hades' sons."
mark clenched his jaw, giving one last look to the male that had stopped singing before whistling and calling his dog back.
donghyuck turned around, hearing the whistle and watched the dog running behind mark who was slowly disappearing in the woods.
"why did you leave without me?" jeno asked once he walked to donghyuck.
"i wanted to visit the place a bit." donghyuck explained.
"you should have waited for me. the place is huge and you could have gotten lost."
donghyuck chuckled. "i'm fine, jen. this place is supposed to be safe for me."
"it is supposed to be safe, but people could still hurt you. and i particularly don't trust hades and his descendants."
donghyuck shrugged. "mark didn't seem so bad. and his dog is so cute!"
"mark is the worst one, trust me. you should never get involved with him."
donghyuck ignored jeno's last words, looking around again.
"so, what do we do today?"
"we're trying another weapon. maybe this will fit you better."
"another?!" donghyck asked.
"yeah."
"and which one is it?"
"you'll see."
Ω
"woah! isn't that the forbidden child?!"
donghyuck was harshly pulled behind jeno's back as zeus' son glared at the boy approaching him a bit too happily.
"oh, maybe i was a bit too bubbly for you." he said, stopping in his motions when he saw the way jeno acted like a shield for donghyuck. "i'm sorry, i'm just excited to meet him."
jeno relaxed a bit, stepping aside to let the boy see his best friend fully.
"my name is yangyang. i am artemis' son." he said, holding his hand out.
donghyuck shyly shook the hand. "d-donghyuck." he whispered.
"and you have to be jeno. the protector." yangyang said shaking jeno's hand.
"why is everybody knowing me for that? i am zeus' son for pete's sake."
yangyang laughed softly. "sorry, i didn't know. so, you came here for donghyuck?"
"yes." donghyuck said.
"okay! follow me!"
yangyang lead the two boys towards a huge grass field on which were displayed several targets with the shape of animals.
"welcome to the archery training base!" he exclaimed; his arms opened.
"a-archery?!"
"what else did you want to learn with artemis' children?"
donghyuck didn't answer, his head hung low.
"i'll go find some material for you to try out." yangyang said before running away.
"hey, don't be so down like that." jeno said, an arm around his waist. "i'm sure you'll be better at archery."
"but i can't use a sword... how do you expect me to use a bow?"
"they're very different. you may not be made for swords, this is normal. swords are just the basics, and after you need to find the weapon you're the most comfortable with. look at me, i know how to use a sword, but i'm way better with my electric whip."
"you have a whip?" donghyuck furrowed his brows.
"everybody has a particular weapon." jeno explained. "yours could be the bow."
"i doubt it."
just then, yangyang came back with a wooden bow and several arrows.
"we're starting with a classic bow. if the results are good, then we'll make you a special one. but let's just teach you the basics."
jeno stood behind, looking at yangyang explaining the different parts of the bow to donghyuck and the way he would have to use it.
jeno himself was very bad at archery. he would miss the target even if he stood a meter away from it.
yangyang showed to donghyuck how to pull the string and the posture he should have to aim perfectly. and after a solid ten minutes of theory, he judged donghyuck ready to shoot his first arrow.
"okay, so we're five meters away from the target. do as i told you. breathe in, pull the string until your hand is at the level of your eye, always keep your back straight, and when the end of the arrow is aligned with the place you want to hit, just let the string go."
donghyuck got in place, setting the arrow before taking a deep breath.
and almost instantly, a rush of adrenaline hit him.
it was as if he was made for it.
he lifted the bow, his hand pulling on the string until it was next to his eye, and then, he focused on the target, random lines appearing in his vision field, all converging to the place he wanted to hit.
a second after, he let go the string and watched the arrow flying away and hitting the target perfectly, just where he wanted to.
proud of him, donghyuck turned around to find jeno and yangyang with their mouths agape.
"w-what?" he asked, a bit unsure.
"you just did that in less than two seconds..." yangyang said.
"and you hit the target perfectly..." jeno added.
"i don't know... i felt like it. i could see lines calculating the trajectory of my arrow when was in place."
"what?!"
"i know it sounds weird, but like i felt good while shooting and lines appeared as if i could choose where i wanted the arrow to go." donghyuck explained.
"oh my god, you're like us!" yangyang gasped. "you're like us!"
"like you?" donghyuck furrowed his brows.
"how stupid could i be! of course he is!" yangyang hit his forehead. "donghyuck, you're the son of apollo! and that's my mother's brother! and he's the god of archery! just like my mother has the ability to use bows and arrows perfectly to hunt!"
"and that's why i brought you here." jeno added, making donghyuck widen his eyes.
"you knew i was going to be good at archery."
"with apollo as your father, of course you were going to be." jeno smirked.
"okay, okay, okay!!" yangyang jumped around. "i'm going to create you a bow. oh my god! i'll ask xiao to forge the centre, and then i'll add beautiful carbon branches! oh and the arrows! they're going to be pink ones and heart-shaped feathers! reappearing in your quiver as soon as the damage is done! just like ours!"
donghyuck and jeno looked at yangyang being all bubbly in amusement.
"okay, donghyuck. it was a pleasure to meet you, i'm going to work on your bow right now! oh my god, i'm so excited! i'll bring it to your bungalow as soon as i finished it."
donghyuck chuckled before thanking the demigod.
and so, yangyang ran away again, leaving jeno and donghyuck alone.
"so? happy?" jeno asked.
"yeah. at least i am not a desperate case anymore. and i found out one of my abilities."