Annabeth looked around the locker room and felt the intoxicating excitement in the air. She glanced over at Frank and Reyna. The two were in the middle of warming up. Reyna's fight was the first one on the card, and even with her hand, she didn't look nervous. There was quiet confidence on her face.
Reyna finished her stretches and walked towards her gloves. There was a thick bandage wrapped around Reyna's three broken knuckles. Annabeth hated that Reyna allowed her temper to take over like that. A fighter needed their hands. Broken knuckles seemed like such a minor injury, but it was going to affect Reyna's game plan so drastically.
Any punch, no matter which fist it came from, that connected would send vibrations through Reyna's body that would only jolt her knuckles. Any hit that she blocked would shoot pain through her freshly injured bones. Reyna knew that too and had become more and more frustrated as she was not allowed to spar the whole week. All she could do was practice knee strikes and even that caused her to be visibly in pain sometimes.
Reyna's jaw clenched as she slowly pulled on her glove. She gently balled her hand into a fist. Annabeth stood and walked towards her. Reyna glanced up and then crossed her arms. Annabeth spoke, "Hey, you nervous?"
"I'm good," Reyna answered with a shrug. "More nervous for Frank. It's not going to be an easy fight for him."
"But Silena will be an easy one for you?" Annabeth countered. Reyna hesitated and seemed to think it over.
"Yes," Reyna finally answered. She sighed and leaned on the wall. "I just need that fight, you know. To prove that my arm isn't as bad as I think it is. To prove that I'm as good as I think I am."
"You need to regain your confidence after your injury," Annabeth realized. Reyna nodded wordlessly. "Just don't underestimate Silena. She'll have you trapped in a submission if you do."
"I know," Reyna muttered, and she scowled. Annabeth could tell the small moment of vulnerability was over. She gave Reyna a gentle smile.
"You'll do great. Winner buys drinks, right?" Annabeth questioned.
"Hazel's buying this time," Reyna informed, and she slowly smiled. Her eyes moved to the clock. "I better get ready."
"Good luck," Annabeth said. Reyna nodded and turned away. She walked towards the door and was stopped by everyone as they gave her words of encouragement. Lupa was waiting at the door, and she nodded to Reyna. The two left the room together.
The room was silent for a moment as Frank stretched. His gaze stayed focused on the television. Hazel walked over to turn it off. She turned her full attention onto Frank.
"You need to stay focused. Don't worry about Reyna's fight," Hazel drilled.
"I should be in her corner," Frank began.
"Annabeth and I will be there with Lupa. You just focus on finishing your preparations," Hazel ordered. Frank looked down but finally nodded. Hazel gave him a gentle smile and zipped up her jacket. "We'll be back after the fight."
"When we get back, we'll go over our strategy again," Annabeth promised. Frank nodded and then went back to stretching. Annabeth and Hazel left the room together. They walked through the winding backstage area and towards one of the exits that led out to the arena.
With Annabeth not having any teammates before joining the Wolves, she never stood in another fighter's corner and watched their fight. This was a whole new experience for her. Lupa was standing by the exit and had her eyes locked on her phone. Annabeth had been told that Lupa walked each of her fighters to the exit tunnel and then let them walk out by themselves as the announcer called out their name.
Once the two fighters made it to the cage, the lights would be dimmed, and a spotlight would shine down on the enclosed ring. The two fighters would have a minute or two to stare each other down as the commentators ran through the height, weight, win-loss record of each fighter, and any history they may have. In that time, the corners would make their way to their side of the cage and watch the fight.
Lupa pocketed her phone and motioned for them to follow as the lights dimmed. Annabeth held her breath as she followed the two of them out in the arena, and she slowly looked around. The crowd was at least twice the size of what she was used to in the Delian League. Her stomach fluttered.
The three of them made it towards the cage. To Annabeth's surprise, Will was already standing there. He glanced at them and waved slightly. Annabeth stood next to him and whispered, "Why are you out here?"
"Each team is required to have a doctor look over their fighters," Will whispered back. "There's also a neutral doctor for a second opinion. This is my first time doing this though."
"You'll do great," Annabeth whispered. She slowly looked around. Their corner of the cage had chairs for them, but none of them sat down. Not even Will. The crowd behind her was buzzing, but there was a respectful silence as the two fighters stared each other down.
Annabeth's gaze moved to the other corner. She saw that Silena's coach was standing there, along with two of her teammates. Her third teammate was sitting down and using two chairs. Annabeth watched Clarisse closely. She knew the woman's presence could easily get to Reyna if she allowed her to.
Annabeth watched Reyna and Silena meet in the middle. They touched gloves and then backed away as the fight officially started. Annabeth focused completely on the fight. Reyna and Silena circled each other for a moment and seemed to be feeling each other out.
Silena's eyes shot to the right, and she lashed out with a strong kick. Reyna blocked it with her arm. It was the same arm that had been injured over three months ago, and Annabeth swore the crowd held their breath as the kick made contact. As if to prove the injury wasn't going to hinder her, Reyna threw a punch with the same hand that almost caught Silena in the jaw.
Silena dodged the counterattack and backed away. Reyna pressed her advance forward and threw a punch that Silena narrowly dodged once again. The two fell into a dance of Reyna throwing a few punches with Silena dodging every attack. Silena tried to lash out with her own punches, but Reyna blocked everything as well.
It was halfway into the first round that one of Reyna's punches caught Silena square in the jaw. Silena stumbled backward, and Reyna punched forward once again. Silena caught the punch with one hand and grabbed Reyna's wrist with the other.
Before Silena could shift her weight to throw herself to the ground and lock Reyna into an armbar, Reyna jerked Silena towards her and met her with a brutal knee to the jaw. Silena stumbled backward off balance, and Reyna swept forward. Her fist met flush with Silena's jaw again.
To her credit, Silena stayed on her feet. Her next punch was off-balanced and easy for Reyna to dodge. Reyna didn't follow up on the assault, and Annabeth saw how one of Reyna's hands covered her other hand. Annabeth frowned. She knew the broken knuckles were going to catch up to Reyna quickly, but she hoped it would take longer.
Even though Silena offered to postpone the fight, she wasn't about to go easy on Reyna because of that injury. The kindness ended the second that the fight started. Reyna gripped her hand and took a step backward. Silena turned, throwing a punch at nothing.
Annabeth heard a loud yell and looked across at the other side of the cage. Her gaze focused on Clarisse, who was now standing. She had yelled something at Reyna, but Annabeth couldn't make out what it was. Reyna's attention went to Clarisse.
"Focus," Hazel said softly. Annabeth nodded her agreement, but she could only watch as Reyna kept her gaze on Clarisse. Her reward was a punch right to the nose. Reyna stumbled backward in surprise, and Silena lashed out with a brutal kick.
Annabeth watched Reyna's head snap to the side, and she stumbled in the same direction. Silena followed it up with a punch to the gut and then another one to the face. Annabeth winced as Reyna went on the defensive to stop the assault of kicks and punches that Silena unleashed. For as many punches or kicks that Reyna blocked, another caught her flush in the face or stomach.
Silena backed away and seemed to grow more confident. She launched herself forward with a knee that almost caught Reyna in the jaw. Instead, Reyna dodged and slipped behind Silena, and before Silena could land on her feet, she was being dragged to the ground and into a chokehold.
Silena tapped a few seconds later, and a cheer rose from Annabeth and Hazel. The referee rushed towards the two fighters, but Reyna was already releasing the hold. She backed away and slowly stood. Reyna didn't celebrate or go back to her corner. Instead, she turned towards Clarisse and shouted something.
Clarisse moved closer to the cage but was grabbed by her team. Reyna turned back towards her corner and walked towards it. She placed a hand to her bloody nose. Will stepped into the cage and placed a towel to her face. Lupa stepped into the cage as well.
Annabeth tensed as Clarisse stepped into the cage. Instead of storming towards Reyna, she hurried to Silena's side. Reyna kept her gaze on Clarisse, even with Will tending to her face and Lupa talking to her.
Annabeth glanced at the crowd as they cheered. She knew that the Wolves were a popular team in general, but everyone had been interested in Reyna's return. Annabeth would be lying if she said she wasn't as well. Reyna would be coming for her title sooner or later. Annabeth just didn't know when.
"Don't," Hazel whispered. Annabeth glanced at her and then looked back in the cage. She watched Clarisse stalk towards Reyna. It took a moment for Reyna to turn, and Clarisse got right in her face.
Lupa's hand hovered near Reyna's fist, and Annabeth tried to hear what Clarisse was saying. The crowd slowly fell silent, but by then, Clarisse had stepped away with a cocky grin on her face. Reyna stepped forward and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "Go ahead and set the date, bitch!"
"Stop hiding behind your mentor then!" Clarisse yelled as she stepped away. She knelt by Silena again. Reyna stepped back towards the corner and allowed Will to place the towel back to her nose. Annabeth let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
Annabeth slowly relaxed back as she watched the doctors help Silena to a sitting position. In the Olympic League, the loser and winner would stand together with the referee in the middle. The winner would have their hand raised as they were announced. The only exception to the rules came in the form of someone being knocked out or injured. When that happened, the winner was left to celebrate as doctors swarmed the loser.
After stopping the bleeding, Will left the cage. Lupa gave Reyna a long look and then followed him. Reyna frowned slightly and then walked towards the referee. Silena had made it to her feet and walked over as well. Reyna was declared the winner as the referee raised her arm.
Reyna and Silena spoke for a few moments before shaking each other's hands. Reyna turned and walked out of the cage. Hazel hugged her tightly and smiled brightly. Reyna barely returned the smile, and her gaze flickered over to Lupa.
"Congratulations," Annabeth said to Reyna.
"Thanks," Reyna said, and a small smile came to her face. Her nose was bruised but didn't look broken. There was another bruise forming near her jaw and a smaller one on her temple. Reyna looked down and slowly peeled off her glove.
Will immediately grabbed her hand and looked over it. He placed an ice pack to it, and Reyna winced. Will spoke, "I have a few more ice packs for your face. Come on."
Reyna sighed and followed after Will. Lupa followed behind the two with Annabeth and Hazel taking up the rear. Annabeth watched Lupa move closer to Reyna, and Lupa spoke softly, "We need to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about," Reyna muttered. Annabeth slowed her pace, as she knew she wasn't supposed to hear any of this. Annabeth glanced at Hazel.
"One down. One more to go," Hazel said with a smile.
"Yeah. Frank will do great," Annabeth promised. Before she supported Frank during his fight, she would have her eyes glued to the television for the fight between Leila and Lavinia. One of those two would challenge Annabeth for her title, and she couldn't wait to experience their fight firsthand.