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Jessica

It was the lunch time, and there was so noisy in the dining pavilion, I couldn't really hear my own thoughts. That was fine with me. Why would I even want to hear them, if they were mostly about lieutenant Nicoli, and the feeling that I had missed something important, which would sooner or later going to lead to my and my camp's doom? Well, maybe I do hear my thoughts after all... I slapped a hand on my face. Am I going a bit nuts or something? I thought, almost amused.

Someone could maybe think that in the middle of this all, I would think of the tournament as an irrelevant thing. That was maybe what most people would do in my place. But I wasn't 'most people', and even in this situation, I was still actually looking forward to the tournament. I wanted to win, at last. The last time, I had been in the final with Jason. And yes: Clarisse hadn't made it to the final. Long story. And a funny one. But I think there's no time for it now. However, I would've won, if I hadn't broke my wrist. I had a shield, and Jason managed to (by accident? Maybe, maybe not) push it into a little uncomfortable position in the thick of the fight, and since I had tied it on my hand, I couldn't toss it away - snap. That's why Jason had time to tackle and press his sword on my neck. I placed second. In fact, I placed second pretty often in the gladiator tournaments... A couple of times I had actually won, though.

I nudged my salad with my fork. Next to me, Will was joking to Kayden something about his fighting skills. The other conversations around me were just fuzzy hubbub, and I could only part a few words from here and there. Like this: "...A new sword, it really-..." "...sucks, I'm so beating you up-..." "...Are we still going to practice-..." "...my hair dye failed so badly-..." "...It's all right, at least you're still beating Kayden-..."

I finished my salad, mostly not intervening the other's conversations. At the end of the lunch, Chiron still had a few things to inform us before the tournament. He recommended all of us to have some last minute training, and reminded about what weapons were allowed, and what were not. After that, I headed to the arena with my roommates. There was no one really that wanted to spar with me before the tournament, so that they would still be in the condition to fight. That kind of commends always warmed the cockles of my heart.

-LINE BREAK-

So there I was, sitting in the arena's stand with all the other campers. It was finally the time for the tournament, the moment we all had been waiting for. After a long time, it was pretty nice to feel this excited, just waiting for a simple contest without having to think of anything else. Like I was just that eager child, I had once been. A quick flood of memories recurred to me: Me holding my first sword at the age of... seven? looking up to Angelica, grinning, as I barely could raise the heavy weapon.

The day I sneaked alone to the woods, just wanting to see some monsters, when I was maybe eight. I knew it was forbidden and dangerous, especially when I was just a kid back then, but I was so sure about my skills that I didn't mind what the others told me. Luckily, Angelica noticed me going there, - she knew me and it was pretty often that I did something adventurous like that - and she just helped me to fight off those hellhounds that had surrounded me, and after that, she wasn't even mad. She just laughed at my stupidity and ruffled my hair. As I thought about those moments I spent with my sister, for the first time, I didn't feel sad or anguished. I actually felt kind of happy. And it was because this was the first time after the Titan war, I had thought about her without thinking that she was gone.

"...And about the rules", Chiron said, "They are the same as always, but I'm still going to bother you with them, since some of you may need a little reminder." He looked at us, supposedly seriously, but there was a twinkle in his eye. "And of course we have some new campers, who may not know them yet. So, as a weapon, you can use a spear, a sword, a dagger or a net, and in addition, you can also have a shield. Magical items are allowed, and you can also have more than only one weapon. But lets all be reasonable - I'm pretty sure any of you don't need more than ten different weapons." He looked significantly at the Stoll brothers. In the last tournament when they had to fight each other, they took that rule a bit to literally. They both had dragged as much weapons as they could carry to the arena, and then... well, it was pretty fun to watch, as they tried to overwhelm each other with all those weapons.

Many campers laughed, and I couldn't help but to smile. "I think that's all. Any questions?" No one seemed to have anything to ask. "So, the first fight will be..." Chiron took a piece of paper inside his coat. "...Will Solace from the Apollo cabin vs. Malcolm Davis (AN: Sorry, I had to invent Malcolm a last name, since it has never been mentioned in the real books) from the Athena cabin. Fight well!" he exclaimed, and people started cheering and whistling. I turned to grin at Will, who looked a bit surprised for opening the tournament. The first pair was always drawn, which meant that they weren't always even. If you lost, you were out of the contest, and the winner got a new challenger as long as he/she kept winning. That meant that you couldn't afford any mistakes. If you lost once, you were out. Well, it wasn't that simple. Even if you dropped out of the contest, you could still make it to the finals. In the end of this day, Chiron would pick up twelve best fighters, who would continue in the semifinal tomorrow. To win, you had either to disarm your opponent or make him/her surrender by having your sword on his/her neck. Maiming and intentionally injuring your opponent was forbidden under the risk of being disqualified.

Will stood up and I poked him encouragingly towards the stairs. Then we others just watched as Malcolm came from the opposite side of the stand and faced Will on the arena. They bowed at each other, then stepped back swords ready. For a second, they just scanned each other, searching for a weak spot. The stand quieted down, waiting to see who would strike first. Then the battle begun, and cheering filled the arena again. Malcolm lunged to Will, feinted at his stomach, then somersaulted over him. Will quickly turned around and stopped Malcolm's slashing blade, pushing him away. For a moment, their swords were in contact, but then Malcolm had to back off. "Go, Will!" I yelled over the cheering.

Next, it was Will's turn to attack. He rushed trying to hit Malcolm's left side, then directed his sword aside and almost had time to tackle him. Malcolm had seen it coming, and managed to step aside. Will reeled, but got his balance restored before Malcolm's next attack. And so it lasted for a while, without either of them getting the upper hand. Then, Malcolm managed to tackle Will to the ground, but before he could touch Will's neck with his blade, Will rolled aside, then tripped Malcolm to the ground using his foot. Now they both were down, and Will quickly rushed at his opponent, kicking his sword aside. Before Malcolm could reach his sword, Will plunged on him shoulder above, and kept him on the ground, then placed his sword on his neck. The stand burst cheering, and the whole Apollo cabin stood up, cheering louder than anyone else. "SEE, EVERYBODY?" I yelled, "WE RULE!" Lyn hugged me, grinning, and I hugged her back. It was kind of an honor, if you won the opening match. I was really happy for Will - he had represented our cabin pretty exemplary.

Chiron stood up in the lowest level of the stand and entered the arena. "The winner of the opening match!" He declared, grasping Will's arm and lifting it up. "Will Solace!" Will looked pretty pleased as he grinned at us. Malcom stood up, looking not-so-pleased as he turned to face Will and shook his hand. Yeah... losing the opening match wasn't maybe so nice. Malcolm moved off to the stand, where his siblins were. Will remained standing in the middle of the arena. "The challenger for Will is..." Chiron picked the same piece of paper inside his coat. "...Kacey Miller from the Demeter cabin!"

As I - and all the other campers - watched, a little girl climbed down the stairs and stepped to the arena. She was maybe... twelve? And pretty small sized. She was holding a dainty dagger, the blade forged to the shape of a leaf. She had dark hair, and her expression was a bit timid. Well, it wasn't a surprise, since she was so small and everything. I was glad she had to fight against Will and not Clarisse, for an example. Will would probably understand to be a little softer than usual. Clarisse... well, I really doubted that.

I watched interested, as the girl started looking more self-confident as she reached Will and bowed to him. Then they took some space and studied each other. Will was the first to attack, which kind of surprised me. The girl sidestepped and took a better position. Then she attacked. She lunged towards Will, who didn't seem to take her too seriously, then she somersaulted over him, but didn't strike. Instead of that, she picked something from her pocket while she was in the air and tossed it at Will. She softened her fall with a roll, then stood up firmly. I looked at Will, and my eyes widened. As the tiny object the girl threw hit him, it instantly started growing some kind of shoots, which thickened and begun tying him up. "Cut them off!" I Yelled to him, and he seemed to hear me, since he quickly started struggling against the shoots, which had already bounded his arms while he was just standing there, stunned. Luckily, they weren't yet too thick to cut, and Will managed to break away.

The girl called Kacey readied her dagger. She still looked a little shy, but there was that kind of determination written over her face that told me she didn't want to seem pathetic in front of the whole camp. Then she attacked. Her attempt wasn't too bad. She lunged at Will, and as Will placed his sword to reject, she rolled under it. Her size made her really agile, and she had definitely practiced. She got behind Will, but Will managed to guess her next move, so he countered her strike. Then, they started a full battle. Will stroke, she dodged, Kacey somersaulted, trying to hit Will's head, he ducked. Will really had to try his best. The girl was small, but as I already mentioned, she was really agile, much quicker than Will, even he wasn't any slow himself.

Kacey was pretty skilled, but it would still be a little embarrasing to Will, if he lost. C'mon Will. You can't lose to a twelve years old kid! I watched as the girl pulled something from her pocked, again. It was a round, small object... a pea? then she threw it at Will. This time, Will knew better than to let it touch him. He looked like he had had enough of this fight. "Now it's the time to wake up, Will!" I yelled at him. He gave me a quick glare, then continued the fight. As their blades met again, and Will rejected one of Kayce's strokes, Will manages to do one of the maneuvers we had been practising a long time: He twisted his sword around her dagger, so that it flew from her grip. Then, he quickly rushed after it, reaching it at the same time with his opponent. This time, he pushed her away without hesitating and picked the dagger from the ground. He had won.

Cheering filled the arena. Again, me and my siblings stood up, jumping, yelling, and giving high fives to each other. Even this contest could have only one winner, we of course supported our roommates. We all wanted the winner to be at least one of our roommates, if we didn't win personally. I knew Will wasn't going to win. I hoped he would make it to the semifinal, but there, someone would beat him for sure. And yeah, I was a 'someone', but so was Clarisse, and a few of her siblings, too. And lets not forget about the Athena's children, like Alex or Andrew or... well, I think you got the point. No offense intended to Will. He's a nice guy.

We sat down as Chiron walked to Will again, raising his arm up and declearing him as the winner of the fight. His next contender was a boy from the Aphrodite cabin. Then Nyssa from the Hephaestus cabin. Nyssa won him and became the next defenting champion.

Kayden's name was announced before mine, as the next challenger for a son of Ares called Keith. He had already defeated four opponents and he was huge. I looked at Kayden, grimacing. "Well, off you go, then", I said to him, trying to sound encouraging, but I doubted it worked. Sure it was sometimes - well, pretty often - fun to watch, as he got beaten up, but for real, I didn't want him to get actually hurt. I really hoped that the Ares' son wasn't going to kill him. Kayden sighed, then passed me and climbed down the stairs. The Ares gang whistled and hooted loudly as he reached the arena. A few other campers laughed, too. I cheered at him loudly with the rest of the Apollo cabin.

They bowed, though not really respectfully. Keith bowed deeply with sarcasm, grinning cruely at the same time. Kayden barely moved his head. Then, the fight begun. Keith attacked, trying to hit Kayden in the chest, but he managed to reject, which made him reel, since Kieth's blow was so hard. Kayden just hadn't learned the right way to reject, and in the way he did it, it took all his powers to keep Keith from hitting him. Once again, the son of Ares attacked, and Kayden was looking pretty desperate. He looked like he was trying to hide behind his shield, and he kept backing off. The audience laughed. Some of my siglins looked amused, too, and some were grimacing. I think I did something between those. From the other hand, the fight looked ridiculously funny, from the other, it looked miserable. Keith was obviously just playing with him, hitting his sword on Kayden's shield again and again.

Sometimes, Kayden tried to attack, but failed poorly. He just got beaten up even worse. Keith managed to do a nasty looking scrape on his arm, then he kicked Kayden on the chest, which made him flew at least five feet in the air before landing hard on the ground. Keith let him stood up, looking a bit too enthuastic of making him suffer. Then he attacked again. Finally, Keith had enough of the fight, so he just kicked Kayden's sword from his grisp and picked it up from the ground. Kayden looked pretty beaten. As he always did after a sword fight.

"Kayden! Kayden!" Everyone started yelling, as he climbed up the stair to us. He sat down next to me, and gave me a quick grimace. I laughed and tapped him on the back. "You were... um, well, you weren't fine, but..."

He poked me with his elbow. "Yeah, you know excatly how to make me feel better."

I shrugged, "I know."

My name was finally announced as the next challenger for Kayla, one of my sisters. She wasn't a bad fighter, but, as you probably already guess, I won. What? I'm not showing off at all! ...Well, maybe a little, but I'm just telling the truth. The tournament went on, and nobody managed to beat me. And yes: not even Clarisse. That made me feel awesome. Really, winning was definitely the best thing you could ever experience.

So, there I was, standing in the middle of the arena, waiting for Chiron to send me another challenger. But he didn't. Everyone had already fought at least once. Now was the the time to declare the twelve semifinalists. Chiron raised my hand up, announcing me as the winner once again. I grinned as the audience started cheering, my siblings standing up and some of them having some kind of victory dance up there.

"You all probably want to hear the semifinalists now", Chiron started. The stand quieted down. I Just stood there, feeling like I would burst from enthusiasm at any minute. Then Chiron started naming the semifinalists. My name was the first, and I moved to the side of the arena, where Chiron had gestured me to go. Soon, Clarisse joined me from the stand, then Will, - as I said, he had definitely deserved it - then Alex Li from the Athena cabin, a few other children of Athena and Ares, Nyssa from the hephaestus cabin and Travis and Connor Stoll from the Hermes cabin. Chiron was just congratulating us, when suddenly something happened.

By 'something', I mean that a black thing that looked a lot like a void, appered in the middle of the arena. It wasn't a void, since it didn't suck us in, but it seemed to suck all the warmth from the whole arena. I felt like the blood in my veins had just turned into ice. Actually, I felt like all my inners had turned into ice. And it wasn't from the cold. It was from the presence I felt there. I was the only one (except maybe Clarisse) who wasn't surprised by seeing her, as a warrior stepped out from the void. It was Lieutenant Nicoli.

The campers draw their weapons. All except for me. I just stood there, staring at the girl who was dressed in the same black armor as the last time I saw her. "What do you want?" I managed. No one else spoke. Not even Nicoli. She just looked at me, smiling in a way, I didn't like at all. I stepped forward. "Well?"

"I want to fight."

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