Chapter 27

Bianca Ignores a Present

Call me conceited, but when I pictured training for The Competition I didn't exactly see myself doing it too. I thought I'd stroll around, maybe sipping a latte, and offer pointers while everyone sparred, correcting form and easy stuff like that.

Instead I was grimy and gasping for air, wrapping up an eighth lap around the Mt. Orthrys courtyard.

"You're almost there!" Bianca called from behind the line of white tape serving as our finish line. "Don't be so lazy. Give it a burst of speed!"

I stumbled over the tape and collapsed on the ground. Emmitt bundled by on my right a moment later, wheezing and dragging his feet. Considering I'd lapped him twice, he still had a long way to go.

"Wow. You look like crap."

I blinked my eyes open to find Bianca leaning over me. She'd borrowed a headband from Victoria and tied her hair back in a ponytail. Together with the better fitted clothes the Bronze Regiment girls had scrounged up for her, she looked like a whole new person. That the new clothes weren't sagging with sweat only added to my irritation.

"Shut up," I wheezed. "I don't want to hear it after you only ran half. This was your idea."

Bianca sniffed. "I haven't run since PE class at Westover. If I overdo it here, I'll probably shrivel up and die or something. If anything it should be impressive that I ran half."

Alyssa trundled by with both hands pressed to her face, peeking through her fingers and moaning something about running makeup.

"Keep going strong!" Bianca called after her, before turning to me with a frown. "She wears makeup? I thought she was like ten."

My breath was coming back now, bit by bit. I sat up and linked my hands behind my head the way Daedalus taught was best for catching your breath. "No idea. I don't think I ever actually spoke with her. Is that weird?"

"Kind of. I glanced at the products sitting around our training room, but I barely recognized any of them."

"That's strange." Bianca and I both jumped as Victoria appeared behind us. Somehow she looked fresher than Bianca, despite running the full distance faster than anyone. She tossed me one of a couple fresh water bottles she'd gone to grab. I would've bowed down if I wasn't preoccupied gulping the water.

"You said the makeup was strange?" Victoria continued. "Most of it's Allyssa's, but some is mine. All of it is pretty standard stuff."

Bianca looked uncomfortable. "I probably just didn't look that close. Can we talk about something else?"

"I second that idea," I said. "Something more interesting, like maybe paint drying, or how Victoria isn't even tired."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "I did track in high school. Before, you know, dropping out to fight in an underground war. Played soccer, volleyball, and ran cross country too. Even helped the basketball team when they needed players. I still run every day. Helps clear the mind."

"Oh," I said, "you're one of those."

"One of what's?"

I crinkled my nose. "Active people. You probably wake up early by choice."

She looked offended. "And what's wrong with that?"

"Exactly my point."

"Uh, guys?" Bianca interrupted. "Who's that?"

Victoria and I turned, and I felt my mood sour… Which was pretty impressive since about five minutes ago every breath felt like swallowing shrapnel. Striding toward us across the courtyard with two burly subordinates and a girl I recognized as Nera Ricci behind him, was Justin Petty. Justin hand was above his head, waving like he'd spotted long-absent relatives at the airport.

"What does he want?" I asked.

"Ask him," Victoria said.

"I don't want to though. He's so annoying."

"Tough," Victoria said, and she stepped forward to meet him.

"Can I help you Justin?"

"Victoria!" He stopped just close enough to be heard clearly without raising his voice. "I was on my way back from a meeting when what do I see? It's the Bronze Regiment, running laps. It just seemed so interesting I had to check in. Is there an upcoming marathon that I've missed?"

Victoria smiled. "Come on Justin," she said cheerfully. "Use your head a little. There's only one event we'd been training for right now."

"Oh! This is for The Competition? I never considered you would turn to running to try and catch up. Honestly, the way your mind works."

"It does work in mysterious ways," Victoria agreed. "After all, at one point, it thought there was no way to beat you!"

Victoria laughed, and Justin chuckled along with her. After a minute they both trailed off and went quiet, neither moving, both watching with polite fixed smiles.

Bianca leaned toward me. "Alright, who is this guy?" she whispered. "Those two are giving off seriously bad vibes right now."

"You know the people we're supposed to fight?" I whispered back. "That's their head honcho. Victoria has history with him. Very much do not get along."

Bianca mouthed, "Oh," and tried to sink into the background. Too late. Whether our voices had carried, or Justin's eyes had been wandering, he locked onto her.

"Why, if it isn't your newest recruit! What was it again… Beatrice? Bethany?"

"It's Bianca," I said. "C'mon Justin, don't tell me your memory's slipping?"

"Harsh, Jackson. I just wanted to make sure. Hey, I've even got someone that wanted to say hello to her. Right Nera?"

Nera Ricci stepped around the bulkier Gold Regiment kids and draped her arm over Justin's shoulder.

"Hey!" she said, showing off a full set of pearly teeth. She could've given Apollo a run for his money, and that's coming from someone that'd seen both. "Name's Nera. Nice to meet you!"

She held out her hand, and I noticed Victoria lock onto the gesture like it was a speeding car baring down on us.

"Bianca," Victoria said quickly, "why don't you go check on Emmitt? He looks like he's having a hard time."

He did. He must've fallen and gotten back up, because his face was coated with dust. The way his legs were shaking, I figured he'd be back down any minute. Victoria tossed Bianca a bottle of water. "Take that to him."

Bianca looked torn. On the one hand ignoring, Nera would be like a slap to the girl's face. But she and Victoria had been getting along pretty good. I got the feeling she didn't want to upset our resident athlete. In the end, she split the difference.

"Nice to meet you," she told Nera, not taking the hand but giving her a nod. "We can talk when I get back."

"Yeah," said Nera. "Alright."

Bianca exhaled and hurried past, apparently glad the other girl hadn't taken it personally.

Maybe Vera's warning from a couple nights before had me on high alert. Maybe I could just feel something was off. Either way, I saw Nera tense before anyone else.

"Lookout!" I yelled a second too late.

Bianca spun around just as Nera lunged, reaching out a finger and… tapping the younger girl on the nose? It was barely a touch, but the effects were instant. The bottle slipped from Bianca's fingers. Her skin paled and her eyes clouded over, like they were staring backwards at something inside her own skull.

Nera pulled back instantly, dropping her hands. "I changed my mind," she declared. "I'm not interested in you anymore."

And she linked her hands behind her back and started walking away, whistling to herself.

"Hey!" I shouted, drawing Aelia. "What the hell did you just do?"

Nera didn't stop, just kept walking. Justin laid a hand over his chest and gasped.

"I'm not sure what you're accusing us of but I'm very offended. Can you prove that we've done anything to you?"

His remaining goons chuckled. I took a step forward, trying to decide which would be more painful: a spear shoved down your throat, or a sword. "You won't be able to prove your face is yours unless you answer my question."

Victoria grabbed my wrist. "Save it a day," she begged. "Please. I know how you feel, but he's right. If you attack him now it'll look like we started it, and you'll lose your chance to hit him as much as you want. Bianca will be fine. A little shaken up at worst.

"What'll I be?"

Everyone froze, even the Gold Regiment kids. Bianca looked from them, to Aelia in my hand, to Victoria holding me back, and scratched her head. "I spaced out for a second and suddenly everyone moved. Did Nera leave?"

Justin was staring as if trying to decide whether she was a ghost or not. "Are you quite alright?"

The way he asked implied she very much shouldn't be, but Bianca nodded.

"Why the hell wouldn't I be? Oh, dropped this!" She bent down and picked up the water bottle. "Hang in there Emmitt!"

She powerwalked off, and we all watched her go. Everyone else clearly had some idea what Nera had done, and this lightspeed recovery wasn't part of those plans.

"Let's go." Without a goodbye Justin marched off, his goons trailing after him.

He didn't look back, but I would've bet a thousand drachmas he was scowling.

The arena hadn't changed. Maybe it was a different section of woods the random Dracaena had guided us to, or maybe it was the exact spot Prometheus dropped us a week before. The important bits were all the same- glowing dome around the boundaries, a whole lot of prickly vegetation, and the promise of eight heavily armed hostile demigods lying in wait somewhere out of sight.

Only one thing had changed, and that was the commentators. Prometheus seemed to have held onto that part of his job, even if he left the guiding part to a nameless monster this time around. His partner tonight was a straight swap of Regiment Leaders. Kurt tossed analysis back and forth with the titan, debating the strengths of each team while we stretched and waited for the start signal.

"I will say," Kurt said, "that if the Bronze Regiment expects their opponents to fall as easily as we did, tonight won't be fun for them. They got us good, but the Gold Regiment are in a league of their own."

"How humble," Prometheus said.

Kurt chuckled. "Don't mistake it. I take pride in my Regiment's efforts, but when someone beats you four times in a row, you've got to acknowledge them. Otherwise that's not confidence. It's stupidity."

"Mm. And on that note, time for a word from our sponsor. Hyperion Brand Toothpaste, guaranteeing more shine per square inch, or your money back…"

I tuned out Prometheus' gabbing and surveyed the others.

Everyone wore armor and helmets, except for Bianca who only had the armor. We hadn't been able to find a helmet that didn't drape over her eyes, and risking a knock to the head seemed a lot smarter than fighting blind. True to her word, Vera had Brought Aurora. She had the smaller girl draped over her back, giving her a piggyback ride. After a little debate Alyssa and Lucas had been sacrificed from the roster to make room for the newcomers. I would be lying if I said they hadn't looked at least a little relieved.

"Well," I said. "This is it."

Nobody answered. Bianca was fiddling with the string of her bow. She had a full quiver looped off her belt and a dagger hung on the other side. John was gripping his sword so tight his fingers were white. I took the silence as acknowledgement.

"Everybody remembers the plan, right?"

Victoria paused a groin stretch and spoke up. "We'll go over it one more time, just to be sure. Remember, the first round is about running. I don't want it to end until the timer goes. Everyone remember their roles?"

"I'm bait," Vera said.

"Me too!" said Emmitt. "And Po's with us. And you, Victoria. Right?"

"That's right," Victoria said. "Everyone else are sacrifices. But whatever you do, you can't make it obvious, or they'll realize something's up."

"Don't worry," I said. "They won't suspect a thing."

Vera laid Aurora against a tree, placing a sword in her lap just in case. Victoria ran through a few final calf stretches. The rest of us spread out, waiting to split up the moment the horn sounded.

"Don't panic," I told Bianca next to me. "You're sticking with me, so you won't have to fight. As soon as they capture me, surrender. You won't even have to sell it, they'll just think you're scared."

"Is it bad if that makes me want to shoot them once?" she quipped, trying to sound relaxed. "Hey, do you think this'll actually work?"

"No idea," I admitted. "But hey, we brought in an expert to come up with this plan, and between you and me she talked a big game. If we lose now, at least we can make ourselves feel better by laughing at her."

She elbowed my side. "Idiot."

"Careful! You'll injure the star player before the match starts."

Her face said she wanted to ask who died and made me the star, but she never got the chance. The horn sounded and Prometheus roared, "Go, go, Go! We're off folks, and good luck to all involved!"

The Bronze Regiment scattered. Bianca stuck close to me, but everyone else disappeared between the trees. That was the plan, one that made no sense the first time I heard it but seemed pretty clever after smarter people explained it a few times.

Basically, we were throwing the first round. Sounds dumb, I know, but there was a reason. Me, Bianca, and a few others would get caught early in the round, pretending we'd been caught off guard. Those were the sacrifices. Everyone else was bait, and their job was simple: run. They would get the Gold Regiment chasing them and keep it that way for as long as they could. If everything went to plan, the second round would kick off with our key players totally fresh against opponents that were on their last legs, taking the round and tying the scores right away. From there, everything came down to winner-takes-all in the third round. At that point anything was possible.

There were plenty of things that could go wrong. If the Gold Regiment gave up chasing, for example, and instead defended those they caught at the start. But we were banking on Justin's pride. He wanted to beat us bad and send a message. That was going to play right into our hands.

Bianca and I stuck to a light jog, just fast enough it looked like we were trying, not so fast we ended up tired. That would be another way to ruin everything.

"Do you really think five days of running will help the others' stamina?" I asked after a minute of traveling in silence.

"Not at all," Bianca said. "Three days isn't enough time. Even I know that"

I nearly tripped. "Then what was the point of all that running?"

"Every little bit helps. Mostly, I wanted to get them used to running while exhausted. It's easier to push through if you're used to the feeling."

"Then why did I have to run? I'm not even bait."

I didn't have to turn to tell she was grinning- it was written all over her smug tone. "True. But I enjoyed watching you run. You should've seen your face."

"Great. Glad you're taking this seriously." We split to go different directions around a broad tree, meeting up again on the other side. "You know, speaking of yesterday… what happened with Nera? She tapped you, and all of a sudden you were totally out of it."

"Again?" Bianca groaned. "Victoria already drilled me about this. Ask her."

The thing was, I had. And what she had to say was interesting to say the least.

"Melinoe, goddess of ghosts, nightmares, and funerary rights. Lieutenant to Hades and also Nera's mom. Nera can conjure someone's worst memories with a touch, trapping them in, well, a nightmare. Victoria told me that, along with how nobody hit with it has been okay after. Nobody until you."

"Maybe she didn't do it right?" Bianca suggested. "Look, I don't know. All I saw was this big flash of light, and then I was back. Nothing to cry over in that."

I couldn't shake the feeling there was more to it. Not that Bianca was lying. She was too composed for that. We were missing something, an extra puzzle piece that had slipped out of the box.

We were silent the rest of the way, which didn't turn out to be very long at all. A couple minutes later a Gold Regiment fighter leapt out of a bush, shouting a battle cry.

It was only one, a wiry boy wielding a sword with impressive speed. I parried a few strikes taking steps back.

"Keep away," I warned Bianca. "He's good."

And he was. I was working up a sweat. He wasn't on par with Kurt, but I doubted anyone else in the Iron Regiment could've taken him. He was also the type to talk while fighting.

"Scared?" he asked.

Our swords pinged of each other. "Maybe a little."

"Liar," he said. "You aren't even trying yet."

Crap. Was it that obvious? I had to fight more seriously, and now I needed to capture this guy to keep him from talking. Luckily, those two overlapped.

The next time he swung I leaned back, bending out of the way. Then I kicked him in the leg, metal toes straight to the shin bone.

Credit to the guy, he kept his feet. Must've hurt like Hades though. He teared up, biting his lip. We traded four more strikes as he limped before I hit his sword just right. His guarded blew open and I pointed my sword at his chest, letting the magic take over and finish the fight.

Just in time, too, because it turned out to be Justin time. No sooner had I finished the boy off than five fighters arrived as a combat group, Justin at the front.

"Haven't I done this before?" I asked. "Last time was Kurt. Now you're doing it. Seriously, is there some rule you guys only show up after I've beaten one of your guys?"

Justin didn't speak, which was the first sign he was serious. I didn't know he was capable of keeping his mouth shut, but this was all business. All of them came at me at once, not even needing a signal.

I would love to say it was stamina holding me back like against the Iron Regiment. That I could've handled them all if I was fresh. But that would be burying my head in the sand. Truth was, this was me fresh, and every single fighter from the Gold Regiment was good, picking at my blind spots and not leaving any openings to take advantage of. A minute ago I'd been worrying about how to lose without making it obvious. Turns out I wouldn't need to sell a thing.

An arrow whistle close to my ear.

"Them!" I shouted. "Aim for them, not me!"

"Sorry!" Bianca shouted back. She'd taken up position nearly twenty feet away, what I hoped would prove a safe distance.

A spear thrust from behind left a shallow cut on my arm. Nothing serious, but a warning. Getting injured here would be just another way to ruin the plan. I had to get myself out of the fight, and quick.

Strangely enough, the chance came from the person I least expected to help with anything. Right in the corner of my eye I spotted Nera creeping up on Bianca, moving between the trees like a stalking shadow.

"Behind you!" I shouted.

Bianca dove. A clumsy summersault later she was crouching, much further from the lurking Nera.

The Gold Regiment wasn't about to pass up that sort of opportunity. Two swords came at me from both sides before I could turn back. I blocked one on my metal shoulder. The other I made a show of reacting late to, and let it carry the sword from my hand.

As luck would have it, I managed to look toward Bianca before the paralysis kicked in. She'd drawn the knife on her belt and started backing away, keeping distance between her and Nera.

"Heard you threw off my gift," Nera called. "I'd love to see if you can manage it again. C'mon, come closer."

Bianca glanced my way, then threw her knife to the ground. "I surrender!"

A few around me chuckled about green newbies as the golden light washed over Bianca. I was about to sag in relief – you know, if I could've sagged at all – when I saw something that made my blood turn to ice.

Nera hadn't stopped. She was still closing in, sword raised, while Bianca was frozen in place, unable to even back away a step.

"Nera!" Justin barked. "That's enough! Get over here."

I never thought I'd be relieved to hear Justin's nasally voice, but I guess that just shows how unpredictable life can be. Of course as soon as his words didn't work, I revoked the feelings. C'mon, Justin. Aren't you supposed to have your Regiment on a leash?

"Nera!"

"Whaaaat?" Nera's head tilted to the side, glancing over from the tops of her eyes. "Can't you see I'm busy, Justin dearest?

"You touch her now and it's all over for us. You understand? Forget disqualification, you'll be lucky if they don't execute you. I don't care what grudge you're nursing. It can wait."

For a really scary second, I thought even that warning hadn't been enough. Nobody else was close to Nera. If she decided to keep going, there would be nobody to stop her. Then she lowered her sword.

"Why so serious, Justin?" she complained, strolling back to her companions. "You worry about every little thing and you'll be wrinkled in no time. Let big sis play around."

"I'm your commanding officer," Justin said. "And I'm older. When I tell you what to do you do it, or I'll make you."

"Blah blah blah." Nera waved her hand. "We've got six more to hunt don't we? Less nagging, more fun. C'mon."

She walked into the woods and disappeared. A moment later the others followed, leaving Bianca and I alone with the unlucky guy we'd jumped. Being paralyzed hadn't gotten any more fun in the last week, but after worrying whether a girl I'd brought along was about to be murdered in front of me, it didn't feel so bad.

There was one thing I could tell you for certain though. Next round, no matter what, Nera was not getting close to Bianca. I didn't care what it took to make that happen… or what I would have to do.

(-)

This one had to be uploaded off my phone, so hopefully the formatting has come out alright. Originally the next round was supposed to go in this chapter, but it had already gotten decently long and came to a good stopping point, so I changed the plan.

Winter break has officially started, and finals are in the rear view mirror. Hooray, recreational time doth return. I'm hoping to get a lot of writing done over the next few weeks, both on this story and one or two other projects.