The entire crowd gasped simultaneously.
Alex was confused. There were only about one hundred kids in the camp - Sabrina had mentioned that during breakfast - so why was everyone so surprised to see the silver-haired girl down there? It wasn't until Sabrina whispered, "Oh no," that he realized something else might have been the cause of the unease.
"What?" Alex asked, confusion written all over his face. Sabrina seemed unable to take her eyes off the arena where Edmund and Viviana exchanged a few final words before the battle.
"That girl, Carter… Well, her brother Tobias was the one Viviana beat during the Winter Solstice." Sabrina had a worried look that made Alex think this would not be a clean battle. He wasn't the only one; most of the crowd were talking to one another in hushed voices, and Edmund kept throwing glances toward the Deimos girl.
Hades' voice once again boomed throughout the arena. "Isn't this exciting!" He said rather callously. "It looks to me like somebody has come back to avenge her brother." At his words, at least half of the crowd erupted in a deafening roar of approval.
Edmund left Viviana's side and stood next to his father, where they disappeared in Hades' signature puff of black smoke. When they reappeared, they were in a box on the north Podium, located on the first tier of the arena. Hades had shrunk down to human size but still stood taller than his son.
The spotlights followed the two girls to the middle of the circular field where they faced each other. Alex could feel the animosity between them, despite being a few hundred feet away. Tension in the air grew as the crowd went silent.
The Deimos girl, Carter, wore armor like Viviana's, except hers had been decorated with sharp spikes on the shoulder sections of her cuirass.
"Now, if you two lovely fighters would shake hands, we can get this battle underway." Although Hades was much smaller, his voice still filled the entire arena.
Neither girl seemed to want to touch the other. After a few tense seconds, it was Viviana who finally stuck out her arm that was protected by her steel bracer.
Carter responded by grabbing her forearm rather violently. A few ghosts booed at her rudeness while some campers jeered at Viviana. Their second-in-command appeared to be unfazed, and forcibly removed her arm before stepping back a few paces. Both girls held up their swords and shields in a ready position, waiting for Hades to give them the go-ahead.
"Alright, let's get this show started. Begin!"
As Hades finished, the two contestants rushed at each other. Viviana stayed low, mentally preparing herself for Carter's Odikinesis, an ability that would literally leave her paralyzed in fear if she wasn't careful. Carter was no pushover though; she'd been imagining this day ever since her brother lost against Viviana at the winter solstice. She constantly analyzed the fight in her head, searching for potential weaknesses.
They got within five yards of each other before Carter made the first move. She prepared to swing wide and cut right under Viviana's armor. An opening. She stretched out her sword arm and drew a line at Carter's feet.
"Cease!" She chanted.
Carter immediately stopped in her tracks. Cease was the ability to create a boundary that no being could cross without the permission of the caster. Carter knew of this power; it was this trick that caused so much trouble for her brother, after all. She was prepared for it.
Carter's strike zone was left open due to her wide thrust.
While Cease prevented her from moving forward, it didn't lock her movements. Viviana came to stab her under her raised arm, but Carter evaded by dropping under Viviana's strike. This sudden move took Viviana by surprise; all she could do was see Carter shifting her body towards her. She had no idea what the other girl had planned. The distance was too short for her to use her sword effectively, but Carter had no intention of using her sword in this instance.
Carter braced her right arm behind her, gripped onto her shield tightly, and rammed her shield into Viviana's solar plexus in one swift motion. She generated enough thrust to send Viviana flying.
"That was for my brother," she exclaimed. "The rest will be for me. Get up."
Viviana tumbled onto the ground, shaken to her core. Her armor barely softened the blow enough to keep her conscious. She had to try to shake it off though, there was no way she'd allow herself to lose, especially so soon. She struck out her arm once again and made a line between them, "Cea-"
Carter immediately charged in and kicked up sand to her eyes to stop her from creating a boundary. Viviana reflexively covered her eyes, which stopped her from finishing the chant. Carter jumped and came in hard with another shield slam. She knew that in a straight sword fight she would lose. But if she could cause Viviana to lose her bearings for even a second, she stood a chance.
Viviana blocked it this time with her shield. The power Carter put into the attack left her arm numb temporarily. Carter followed suit with a swing to her neck, but Viviana managed to duck in time to avoid a serious injury. The strike still ended up slicing her cheek. The pressure Carter was enforcing was suffocating; Viviana had to put some distance between them. She lifted her front leg and went for a straight kick, but Carter blocked it with her shield. Viviana had a quick idea and used Carter's own shield as a foothold and jumped back as far as she could. She gained a much-needed three yards.
Not to be outdone, Carter used her Odikinesis. As soon as she locked gazes with Viviana, her eyes gleamed red and an immense amount of fear spread through Viviana's body, paralyzing her on the spot… or so the Deimos girl assumed.
Viviana visibly dropped her guard to feint Carter into getting close, and as she did, parried Carter's swing. This time, Viviana had the upper hand. They were locked in a close-range sword fight, something that Carter wanted to avoid at all costs. Viviana was able to read her moves successfully, parrying and blocking all of Carter's attacks. If it weren't for Carter's quick reflexes, the match may have been over right then and there. Enraged, Carter swung down with all her force. Viviana blocked it, this time using her whole body to distribute the impact.
"How? How did you not get paralyzed?" Carter snapped. Sweat dripped heavily down her face and her chest heaved with every breath.
"Your siblings are all the same. You think the same move your brother did would work on me again?" Blood was trickling out of her mouth. It was in that instant that Carter realized Viviana had bit the inside of her mouth to snap out of her fear.
Carter fell into her fury and continuously struck at Viviana's shield. Timing her attacks, Viviana waited. As soon as she saw an opportunity, she swung her shield at Carter's hand and crippled it, causing her to drop her sword. Carter cried in pain and Viviana went for the finishing blow, but Carter evaded and spun backward. She caught Viviana's arm and snapped it in half.
The girl let out a scream that echoed through the entire arena. No longer having any feeling in her arm, she dropped her sword. Carter then shifted her weight underneath Viviana and used her own weight to flip her over.
Viviana landed flat on her back and nearly got the wind knocked out of her again. Still conscious, she raised her shield in front of her as Carter began bashing her into submission. Viviana was losing consciousness and her shield was beginning to crack under Carter's berserk attacks. Her arms were torn to pieces at this point, her right completely broken and her left bruised and swollen beyond use.
Carter, on the other hand, was running out of steam. Her left hand was shattered by Viviana's last attack and her right was reaching the end of its ropes, but she kept pressing. She was so close to finishing her off. There was no way she would let exhaustion be her downfall.
Viviana, noticing a definite loss of momentum, rolled onto her feet. As Carter went for another hit, Viviana used the last of her energy to kick off her shield. The shield shattered into pieces and Viviana fell back to the ground. She had hoped this would cause Carter to backup and regroup, but it didn't. Instead, Carter gritted her teeth and went straight down with a fury of punches. Viviana was now vulnerable on her back and could only manage to bring up her already broken arm to defend herself.
The arena stood quiet as the onslaught continued.
"Enough!" A voice shouted, breaking the silence. The Deimos girl was thrown backward as a dark shield appeared over Viviana's body, effectively obscuring the audience's view of her. Alex felt his heart leap; Edmund was standing in the middle of the arena, a hand stretched out toward the Deimos girl to make sure she stayed down.
"It is clear that Carter, daughter of Deimos, has won this fight." Edmund looked around the arena as if daring someone to challenge him. Not even the ghosts dared speak up. "It is time for all of you to leave."
For a moment, everyone was too stunned to move. They didn't need to be told twice, though, and the campers quickly rose from their seats and headed to the exit as the ghosts simply disappeared. Alex, on the other hand, wanted to talk to Edmund. He still had so many unanswered questions.
He pushed through the crowd, ignoring Sabrina calling after him. He jumped from row to row until he reached the very end, stopped from going any farther by a fence that wrapped around the entire arena.
"Edmund!" Alex called out, but his voice was muffled by the crowd desperately trying to leave. "Edmund!" He yelled again, waving his hands wildly to get the man's attention. That didn't do the trick, either, and soon Edmund disappeared from the arena, seeming to slip right through the shadows that surrounded him and Viviana.
Alex stood there, feeling defeated. He watched as someone he didn't know ran into the arena to help Carter to her feet. She was stripped of her armor and slowly led out of the same door she entered through. Without her protective gear, she looked significantly younger. Her face, which was previously hidden by her helmet, was swollen and bloody, almost beyond recognition.
"It's a dangerous world." An unknown voice spoke from behind Alex. He turned, only to be met with the face of the same strange boy from earlier, except now his eyes were a regular shade of brown. "Your dreams, the ones about the dead. Have you told anyone about them yet?"
Alex was taken aback, to say the least. No one knew about the contents of his dreams, not even Zeke. "No, I haven't. How do you know about them?" His tone matched the growing fear in his chest. It wasn't like he knew the people who died, but what if the stranger thought he had killed them?
"My name is Peter, son of Morpheus, the God of Dreams. You know, the more you try to keep them hidden, the more they will pester you. I noticed as soon as you sat down how strong these dreams are. They mean something. You should talk to someone." With that, Peter turned and began walking towards the stairs.
Alex stood there, dumbfounded. It wasn't until Peter was out of sight that he regained his ability to move. "Hey!" He called as he chased after the boy. "Peter, wait!" The stairs seemed like they would never end. When he finally reached the exit, he hardly noticed the burning sensation in his chest. He looked around, frantically searching for the short-haired boy. "Peter!" he shouted again.
"Yes?" His voice came from right beside Alex, who jumped back at least a foot.
"You can't just sneak up on people like that!" Alex hissed. He bent over with his hands on his thighs to try to catch his breath. Peter didn't seem phased. Instead, he tilted his head to the side with a curious look on his face.
Once Alex's breathing was down to a manageable level, the words fell out of his mouth in a garbled mess. "You're not going to tell anyone about my dreams, right?"
A small smile appeared on Peter's lips. It seemed genuine, like the looks Zeke would give him from time to time. "They are not my dreams to tell, Alexander."
Before he could stop himself, he said, "call me Alex."