A new age of Divinity: Theomachy

Capture the flag

Hey guys. So my co-writer and I realized that this story is longer than we thought so I'll be posting chapters every other day now. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
-Annabeth

The team chosen was Aesir, which made Beth slightly uneasy, seeing as Noah seemed to be almost unbeatable. That was what she had gathered from both watching him fight and her conversation with Kenneth. She figured she'd ask Orpheus about him later because his power was more than a little intriguing. Orpheus had taken her into the back of the stage while the two teams got themselves prepared and explained the rules to her. It was just like normal capture the flag, except they were allowed to fight each other. The person who had the flag had to get it right next to their own team's flag to win. There was meant to be no maiming, but in the forest, many injuries could be written off. When Beth heard this, she understood that it meant that basically anything goes. She has also been told an alternative way to win was to take everyone out on the other team, either by knocking them out, or taking the piece of armor they wear with their team's color on it. She looked for some people to make a small group with, but only found Kenneth and Estevan. The two were standing close to each other so she moved next to Kenneth.
"Hey," She said while walking up to him "Can I stick with you?"
"It is probably the best option," Kenneth replied "Noah is on the other side and so is Marc."
"Wait, who is Marc?"
"Son of Thrud, who is the daughter of Thor. Needless to say, both are extremely powerful."
"Any tips on fighting them?"
"Noah, you have to overwhelm," Estevan told her "With Marc, you just have to hit him hard and fast. Your best chance is to avoid them and get the damn flag."
"Wow, did you have a change of heart after we kicked your butt yesterday or something?"
"Do not get me wrong, the next time we fight, I will beat you, you will not have your friend to help you. Now, however, you are on my team. I will help you whenever I see you in need of help."
"Huh... thank you, I guess..."
"Beth, let me give you some inside advice most new people don't get," Kenneth told her "There are weapons hidden all throughout the forest for the new people. We have our own weapons because we passed our Probation Test. Noah and Marc have as well, so now you will have to."
"Wait, what is the Probation Test?"
Suddenly, a horn blared and Kenneth said "Not talk time, play now!"
The team all let out battle yells and began to run into the forest, Kenneth clearly running faster than most others. She assumed that the fastest people were the children of Hermes and they would lead the charge. They could hear and see the oher team coming toward them and everyone took up different kinds of strategies. Estevan led his friends and went straight through the forest toward the flag. Kenneth had given Beth a tip, so she went out and looked for the stashes.
Noah and Marc were moving together because together they were basically the Aesir team's most powerful sword and shield. A daughter of Ares ran up to the two and took her sword out of its sheath.
"Heh, think she can take us on?" Marc asked while putting his mace on his hip.
"She's an Ares kid, you can see it in her eyes," Noah replied "Never underestimate them." He kept his sword in sheath "That being said, shouldn't put up too much of a fight... you wanna deal with her?"
They both took their weapons out and Marc nodded, then jumped into the fight first. The Ares girl grabbed her axe off the ground and jumped at him as well. Marc and the girl met and their weapons clashed while they were in the air. Sparks flew as the weapons bounced off each other and they landed behind each other. Noah walked up and calmly sidestepped a spinning side kick before she swung her axe at Marc's legs. She turned to face Noah and swung her axe behind her back to block a swing from Marc's mace. She swung the axe down at Noah's head, but he used a shield of Bifrost to block the attack. She looked back at Marc and elbowed him in the chest, then jumped away from a swing from Noah. She landed on a hill behind them and grabbed a sword up off to the ground that the two had passed up. They both turned to face her and they all got into battle stances.
A child of Freyr was walking through the woods when he thought he heard something. He looked around, but didn't see anyone behind him. He knew that there were squirrels and even deer in these woods, but this sound was different. It was much bigger than a squirrel and too high up for a deer to get to. He heard the same sound again and just went around to try and see whatever the origin of the sound was. Just before he noticed it was coming from above him, Estavan fell down from the trees above him.
"Oh, shi-" Estevan tackled him to the ground and ripped his colored chest plate off, then he scrambled back up to his feet, and exclaimed "What the Hel!?"
"Oh, I apologize. Are we on the same team now?" He looked down at the blue chest plate, then reached up, and took his red helmet off "Oh, look at that. We are not." He threw the chest plate in the boy's chest and said "Get back to camp." The Freyr son walked away and Kenneth watched, irritated and knowing that he would have to put a stop to that, even though he and Estevan were on the same team.
By the river, chaos was erupting as people seemed to have forgotten about the flags. Now they just seemed to want to beat each other until only one team was left standing. Beth had been caught in the fighting and was still trying to play Capture the Flag like she was used to. Kenneth suddenly jumped over a rock and seemingly glided down to the ground while swinging his golden sword at a Daughter of Bragi. Beth ducked underneath a swing from a sword, then was shield bashed in the nose by the same person. She fell on her back and Kenneth noticed her yell.
He ran over and grabbed her, then yelled "Hey, I see their flag over there. Come on, we have to get it!" She didn't understand if they needed to win otherwise she'd be thrown out or if people here were just uber competitive, however she was up for the challenge.
A child of Baldr ran up and tried to punch them, but Beth rolled underneath the attack. Kenneth ran around the boy and kicked a daughter of Freya in the chest. Beth was continuing to fight her opponent when Kenneth came from behind and roundhouse kicked him in the head. He turned around and kicked one of the rare children of Odin in the chest. While Kenneth fought off the attackers, Beth saw another weapon stand a few feet away, so she ran for it. All she managed to grab was a sword before someone stabbed at her with a spear. She intentionally fell backwards to avoid the attack and the girl who just stabbed at her raised her weapon to attack again. She stabbed down at her, but Beth barrel rolled out of the way sloppily. She got up and kicked the girl down, then grabbed her team colored shoulder pauldron, and threw it away. She grabbed the spear off the ground and the girl sulked off back to the main camp. She got up and watched as Kenneth easily ran around and kicked three more Aesir children away. She turned back to where Kenneth had pointed earlier and ran over to where she thought she saw a flag.
Noah and Marc were still battling the Ares girl as now she had two swords. They were both pushing against them, but she managed to hold both Aesir boys back. She looked back at Noah and the two glared into one another's eyes for a moment, then she turned back to Marc. She was about to kick Noah, but he saw this coming, and jumped back. She turned to Marc and swung both swords at his chest, but he blocked with his mace. She spun around and swung both simultaneously at his head, but he blocked the blades again. Marc pushed the girl's blades down, then used a lightning bolt to kick her in the stomach. She used the momentum to spin, and stab down at Noah, but he just sidestepped the attack.
"Not happening. Nice try, though."
He already positioned his sword to block her next swing to his chest before raising it up over his head to block a head swing. He swung down at her head casually, but she blocked and he jumped back. She was confused at why he jumped back, but then she crossed her blades to block a heavy swing from Marc's battle mace. They both brought their weapons up and they swung at one another's head. Their weapons bounced off of one another, then Marc blocked a downward swing to his shoulder. He ducked underneath a swing to his neck, then rolled away from a stab to his chest.
"Okay, I'm back," Noah said as he ran into the fight again.
She looked at them both and swung both of her swords at them, but they both blocked easily. She looked over at Marc, who knocked her sword out of her hand, and punched her in the ear. Her head was knocked toward Noah, who grabbed her colored helmet. After taking off her head protection, he spun, and lightly hook kicked her in the stomach. He spun around again and so did Marc, then they both thrust their heels into her chest at the same time. They looked down at her and tossed the helmet away. She growled and got back to her feet, pushing past the two as she stomped off to the bleachers.
"Alright, now that that's over, what're you gonna do?" Noah asked his friend.
"I hear a lot of fighting over that way," He replied while pointing his mace toward where the massive brawl was taking place "I'm heading over there, what about you?"
"I'm gonna head over to the flag," Noah replied while casually sheathing his sword "Got a feeling someone's heading over there. Game's been going on for a while, ya know?" Marc nodded and he flew over to the massive battle while Noah calmly walked through the woods toward their flag.
While Beth was running toward the flag, she was stopped by a child of Hod. He swung down at her, but she break fell onto her back to avoid his attack. He brought his massive axe down at her, but she barrel rolled away from the attack again. She got up and he spun around, then swung at her neck with the axe. She watched as the axe was stopped by a tree trunk, so she kicked him in the chest.
He fell back and Kenneth ran up to her while telling her "We are almost there. Just over that hill!" They began to run toward the flag, but were stopped by more Aesir, and one stabbed at her "Woah! Okay, not that way!" He pulled her by the shoulder and pushed her toward another path, only for them to be stopped again "Woah, okay then." The two stood back to back as more Aesir began to encircle them.
"Okay, you all take this game way too seriously for my taste."
"Eh, you should get used to it," He told her while looking at their opponents "Go!"
Kenneth swung his sword at one of the Aesir children and Beth used her spear to block an attack. She spun around and ducked underneath a swing from a hammer to her head. She backed away from another attack and Kenneth gently grabbed her by the shoulder. He carefully pulled her behind him and blocked a scythe blade from a child of Loki. Kenneth pushed the scythe away, then swung his leg against the Loki daughter's. She fell on her stomach and Beth blocked a swing from a son of Mimir. She jumped away from the attack and Kenneth grabbed the Loki daughter's wrist before pinning her against a tree, and taking her shin guards off. Beth ducked underneath a sword swing from Mimir's son and slammed the hilt of her sword into the back of his neck. He fell unconscious and he took his helmet off.
"What? How did I-"
"We can talk about it later!" Kenneth yelled "Go and get the flag! We still have them held down here!" She nodded and ran toward the flag, only to be ambushed by a few Aesir.
Back at the camp, people were talking about who had taken them out of the game. It was surprising that Noah and Marc had only taken down one person throughout the entire game. A lot of Aesir were taken down by either Kenneth or Estevan. There were so many that it was hard to tell how many people were still left in the game, but there were clearly less than half of what had been there at the start of the game.
After dealing with several Aesir children, Kenneth leaned against a tree to catch his breath. He hung his head and closed his eyes while he caught his breath, only to hear footsteps coming toward him. He opened his eyes and looked over at where the footsteps were coming from. A deer was walking past him and he smiled, having always loved the wild life in the camp. He heard another set of footsteps and the deer looked over to the sound as well. They watched as Estevan walked out of the thicket and Kenneth scowled at him.
"Huh, I thought you were going to be an opponent," Estevan sighed.
"I may very well be," Kenneth told him.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Look, I know you love getting to be a bully and picking on others around here, but you seriously need to calm down."
"What are you talking about?"
"You could have seriously hurt that boy you pounced on earlier."
"Oh, are you really worried about an opponent?" Estevan scoffed "He is an enemy in this, and so I beat him using any means I deemed to be necessary."
"That amount of force was completely overboard. We are here to learn and train, not to hurt and kill."
"Uhuh, sure." Estevan dropped his sword and Kenneth stabbed his into the ground "Then how about we settle this argument my way." He got into a guard and glared at Kenneth.
"I suppose I am your opponent now," Kenneth sighed as he shook his head and got into a guard himself "On your mark."
Estivan ran at him and jumped into the air, then swung a roundhouse kick at Kenneth's head. Kenneth used his forearm to block the strike, then pushed Estevan's other foot away. After the two failed kicks, Estevan landed, and Kenneth went on the attack. He swung his foot up at Estevan's chin, but he leaned away from the attack. He brought his foot back down in an axe kick, but Estevan jumped back. Kenneth put his foot down for a brief instant, then leapt forward, and roundhouse kicked Estevan's knee. He fell to one knee and Kenneth crescent kicked him in the side of the head. He spun, crouched down, and kneed Estevan in the chest. He fell backwards and rolled back up to his feet as Kenneth stood back up. Estevan punched at him, but Kenneth grabbed his wrist and shoulder. He pulled him in and slammed his teammate against his knee, then swung him around, and threw him to the ground.
Kenneth pulled his fist back, then tried to punch Estevan, but he grabbed the son of Hermes' wrist, and asked "Is this all?" He threw Kenneth into a tree and scrambled back up to his feet to continue the fight.
He ran at Kenneth and punched at his head, but he used his superior speed to dodge the strike. He watched as Estevan's fist broke through the tree's trunk and it fell to the ground as they continued to fight. He got up and roundhouse kicked Estevan in the chest, then Kenneth used his elbow to block a hook punch. Estevan punched at Kenneth's nose, but instead, he grabbed Ares' son's arm. He ducked underneath his arm and grabbed his leg. He hoisted Estevan up onto his shoulders, then fell back and slammed him down onto the ground.
He sat up and then used a tree to help himself back up to his feet, then turned around, and grabbed Estevan's helmet as he told him "That was all I have ." He turned around and panted for breath as he walked toward the Aesir team's flag.
"Coward! Get back here!" Estevan yelled after him, which made Kenneth stop in his tracks "You think you can just walk away without finishing the fight? Fine, then go run away like your father-" Kenneth suddenly spun around and kicked him in the nose, which knocked him out.
"Now... I should check on the new girl..." Kenneth began to limp over to the flag as the day's events had worn him out.
Beth swung her blade down at a Hod daughter's head, but she blocked the strike. She used the momentum of the attack to get behind the Aesir girl and elbow her in the neck. She fell to the ground and Beth used the spear she had picked up to block a Magni son's stab. She stabbed the spear into the ground and grabbed his wrist. She pulled his neck into her elbow and he passed out. She took the spear out of the ground and spun, taking a Freyr son's legs out from underneath him. He did an involuntary flip and landed on his shoulder, and he was knocked  out when his head hit the ground. There was one more Aesir, and she just spun behind her, and slammed the butt of her spear against the Aesir girl's head. She fell unconscious and she looked up at the flag.
"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be," She said while reaching for the pole.
"Nah, don't think it was." The moment after she heard that, she reflexively dove away from a purple fireball.
She watched as it went out mere seconds after hitting the ground. She looked up into the trees and saw Noah falling down toward her. He landed and walked toward her, his eyes turning from swirling purple to normal brown colored eyes. She backed off and gripped her weapons tightly as he casually walked toward her.
"You're a better fighter than I expected," Noah said "To be honest, I didn't expect you to last this long. Most new kids don't."
"Did you last to the end of the game?"
"Nope, I was knocked out in the first few minutes." He took his sword out of its sheethe and held it at his side.
"Oh, so I have done better than you."
"Yeah, I guess... wanna see if you can beat me though?" He raised the sword and pointed it at her nose.
"Sure, but what happened to your eyes? Are you not going to use your abilities?"
"Nope, I wanna see what you can do against a mostly normal opponent first."
"Okay, fine. I am happy to show you my skills."
She swung her sword at his head, but he casually batted the blade away with his own weapon. She stabbed at his chest with the spear, but he just used his forearm to block the pole of the weapon. He tossed his sword into his left hand and lightly palm struck her in the forehead with the right. He spun around and playfully slapped her in the cheek before tossing his sword back to his right hand. Noah palm struck at Beth's forehead, but she ducked down, and stepped backwards. She got back up and swung at his head, but he effortlessly blocked it with his sword. He grabbed her wrist and tossed it aside before palming her softly in the stomach. She stepped back and then stabbed twice at him with her spear. He used his palm to block both strikes, then he used the sword to redirect a third stab. He knocked it out of her hand and she swung with the sword at his shoulder, but he used his forearm to block her wrist. She pushed against him and swung at his head, but he simply crouched under the attack. He popped back up and stepped around her before putting his foot on the small of her back. Just as Kenneth got to the river side, Noah pushed Beth down onto the ground.
"This all you got?" Noah asked while crouching down to her "I expected a bit more, but maybe you're just a little tired from the game."
She pushed herself back up to her feet and told him "Oh, shut up."
"Ready to get back to it?" Noah asked with a playful smile.
"Yes, I am..."
"Good, I'm just waiting on you."
"Gods, I am going to find your mute button."
He casually took a one handed swing at her back, which she countered by swinging her sword behind her head. Their swords clashed in front of her back and she swung their swords away from her. He smiled as he backed up and played with his sword, tossing it from one hand to the other. He caught it in his right hand and blocked a swing to his head from her spear. He threw his sword into his left hand and blocked a sword swing while grabbing her spear's pole. She pulled it out of his grip and spun around, swinging both weapons at him. He stepped back and leaned away from the weapons before standing up straight once again. He got up and swung at her head, but she stabbed her spear into the ground, and grabbed his wrist.
"Huh, nice," He said as she twisted his sword out of his hand "Ooh, impressive."
She stabbed at his head with the spear, but he casually ducked, and then leaned away from her. As she stumbled in front of him, he picked his sword up and resheathed it. She looked back at him and snarled, then swung at his head. Being shorter than her, he easily ducked underneath her arm. He got up behind her and she turned, then stabbed at his head with the spear again. He leaned to the side of the spear's tip, then crouched underneath a stab from her sword. He got back up and then instantly swerved away from a swing from the spear. He got up and casually leaned away from a sword swing while clasping his hands behind his back. He ducked under a stab from the spear, then walked under another stab. He tossed his sheethe up into the air and caught it, then leapt at Beth. He kneed her in the stomach to get her to her knees, then swung his sword at her, still in its sheethe.
She blocked it with her spear and Noah laughed, then backed up, and said "Like mother, like daughter." She got up and watched as  he threw the sheethe into his left hand and put it on his hip again.
"Is he... is he just playing with me?" She asked herself "Oh, he is an arrogant one... but actually kind of funny."
She threw the spear at him, but he simply deflected it with his blade. She jumped and caught it out of the air as he put the sword back in its sheethe. He looked up at her and saw her stabbing down at him, so he jumped to the side of the strike. He walked in front of her and slapped the spear away again. He palm struck at her nose, but Beth rolled away from the attack. She grabbed the spear off the ground as she rolled, then got back up. She stabbed at his head, but Noah simply leaned out of the way. He jumped backwards and then grabbed a large stone out of the water. He spun around and threw the stone at her, but Beth jumped out of the way. He walked toward her, then jumped at them, and slapped at her. She ducked, and dove out of the way, then rolled back up to her feet. She threw the sword and spear at him at the exact same time, but he blocked them both simultaneously. As he put his sword back on his hip, she ran at him empty handed again.
"Still trying to punch me?" He asked with a smile "Likin' the commitment."
"Do you ever shut your mouth?"
"When I feel like it." She suddenly noticed that his eyes were still normal, but his speed and reflexes were still insane.
She swung a hook punch at his head, but he just ducked underneath her strike. He continued to lower himself as she swung a hook punch at his ear. He stood up and leaned his weight on one leg, which let him evade an uppercut. He ducked underneath a punch to his nose, then rose up, and she grabbed his arm. He hadn't expected that and Beth used this opening. She swung a punch at his head, but he pulled his arm out of her grip, and jumped back.
"I can see that you're frustrated, ya know," Noah told her "But you're still doing better than most people." She jumped backwards and Noah cracked his neck while waiting for her to attack again.
She rolled backwards and grabbed the spear off the ground before throwing it at him. He slapped it away with the sheethe of his sword, then stepped back again. She ran at him, grabbed the spear, and leapt up into the air. She stabbed at him and he took the spear from her.
"Alright, that's enough," He told her while stabbing the spear into the ground "Take the flag."
He stepped back and she asked "Wait, what? Why!?"
"Never wanted to beat you. Not what this was about. Got a feeling you and I are gonna get along well."
He held his hand out and she went to take it, only for her to grab his wrist and pull him over her shoulder. He sighed and landed effortlessly on his feet, then pushed her to the ground. He kept a hand on her wrist and pulled her back up to her feet.
"Sorry, I had to see if that would work."
"Would've, but my instincts are more developed than yours."
"I am going to surpass you one day, Noah."
"Bring it on, Elizabeth."