Rise || Marvel

《47》Squad Sound-Off

《 Tia's POV 》

By the time Artemis and I had arrived in the centre of the city, the sun was high in the sky. I had secretly put my earphones in and played through the entire soundtrack to The Lion King. To be honest, though, I hadn't really been paying attention to the music. There had been a ton of things to look at as I followed Artemis through the main bulk of the city, so that had captivated my attention.

I bit my lip, frowning. Where are we? Just how far away from New York is this place?

Beside me, Artemis stepped forward. She pressed her palm against a panel of rock. It lit up with a baby-blue light, and with a soft rumble, a gaping entrance arch appeared as rocks slid to the side. Ignoring me gaping like a goldfish, Artemis stepped through. The interior space opened up into a spacious arena. The ground was covered in a scuffled layer of sand, and the walls were lined with roughly carved benches for spectators (thankfully, the seats were empty). Scattered at random points around the arena, large doors stood closed. I chose not to think about what they could be keeping out. The arena kind of reminded me of that arenaplace in Star Wars Episode II on Geonosis. All hail our lord and saviourObi-Wan Kenobi.

"Ah! Finally!" An enthusiastic male voice called out. I looked around, startled. A young male with wavy, golden hair was approaching, grinning widely. He, like Artemis, was dressed in traditional Greek-style clothing and was adorned with a bow and quiver of arrows (except his arrows were gold, opposed to the silver of Artemis's and had different markings carved into his silver bow). He looked to be about the same height as Artemis, with a similar lithe build. His eyes seemed to flicker different shades of gold.

"It's not like you to be late, sister!" He addressed Artemis, "Not complaining, however! It makes me look more responsible than I actually am..."

"Do shut your mouth, brother," Artemis shot back immediately, "Your very presence deters me."

Relatable sibling relationships 101.

"Ah, I know you love me," The golden-haired male chuckled. Artemis rolled her eyes. He led us over to join a group of young adults and teenagers, all dressed in ancient Greek-style clothing. Other groups of people (all in a similar age group to one another) were clustered together at points around the humongous arena, but as far as I could tell, they were all doing their own things. There were some noticeable dirty looks being exchanged by pretty much all the groups, but nothing worse than that...

"Why were you two late?" Chided one of the women in Artemis's group. This new woman had flowing, dark brown hair and piercing emerald eyes. A flower crown encircled her head, but upon closer inspection, I realised that it was made from wheat, not flowers.

"Hestia wandered off exploring again," Artemis said breezily, "But we're here now."

Wheat Crown Lady smiled and shrugged, as if to say, 'No harm done'. I decided Wheat Crown Lady was cool.

"Where's Mr. Lord of the Dead?" Artemis remarked after surveying the group, "He usually enjoys these training sessions, if nothing else."

"He's staying back this time, said he needed to work something out," The golden-haired boy shrugged, "I didn't stay to question. His place freaks me out. I don't like being isolated from sunlight."

"Can we just get started training?!" Groaned one of the other males, fingering a polished sword impatiently. Out of the entire group, he was probably the most muscular.

"...Compared to your twig arms," Artemis snickered playfully, nudging me.

"Hey! I have... some... muscles!" I whispered back, outraged. Artemis laughed heartily. I narrowed my eyes. Was that some kind of inside joke or something?

"Fine. Same rules as always. You can opt out if your name is drawn and you really don't want to train. Magic and weapons are allowed, just don't seriously maim or kill each other..." Recited the female standing next to Artemis. She had short, mahogany-coloured hair and was affectionately stroking a majestic Athene owl, "Hephaestus, if you would..."

A bulky male stomped forward. He looked like he'd been through some shit- covered in scars, a crooked nose as if it had been broken badly on multiple occasions, and was limping slightly with a metal leg brace.
If my memory was accurate, I remembered reading about how the Greek God Hephaestus had been thrown off the side of Mount Olympus by his mother, Hera, as a baby.

And I was starting to think that these were the same 'people' as the myths. Big oof.

The one named Hephaestus rummaged around in his tool belt bag and drew out a small device. Silently, he jabbed a shiny button on the side of the rectangular instrument, and a screen hummed to life.

"The first training match will be between..." The Owl Lady announced. Hephaestus tapped another button. A slight whirring noise came from the device, then two holographic words appeared over the device's screen.

"...Apollo and Hestia. Oh."

Ha, kudos to them, I guess. Oh, wait, that's me, isn't it?

The Owl Lady turned to me apologetically, "Sorry. We'll reselect and find Apollo a different opponent. I know you can't really... fight..."

I probably should have kept my big fat mouth shut, but of course I didn't. I don't have a filter. It's a problem.

"Woah, hang on, back that thought up!" I said, "Not meaning to be rude, but what do you mean I 'can't' fight?"

Owl Lady looked stunned for a moment, but quickly got a hold of herself. Artemis was studying me, a curious glint in her eyes.

"You... Aren't particularly suited for combat..." Owl Lady explained gently, "You don't have-"

"Thanks for your concern, but I'll fight," I told her flatly. A surprised murmur rippled around the small group. Owl Lady looked like she wanted to protest, but the golden-haired male- Apollo- piped up before she had the chance.

"Relax, Athena! If she wants to train, why stop her?" He reasoned, "It's good if she knows how to defend herself. And don't worry, I'll go easy on her."

"Ohho, no way buddy," I grumbled, "Bring it on!"

Apollo and Artemis exchanged bemused glances.

"Are ya both ready?" Yawned one of the other guys, leaning back against the wall, "We don't have all day."

"I'm ready," I nodded. Athena opened her mouth, then closed it disapprovingly. I could practically see her mental gears turning, probably trying to predict the outcome of the match before it even started. I had the funny feeling that she wouldn't be placing her bets on me.

Apollo strolled away from the rest of the group, and I echoed his movements. We came to standstill facing each other in (what I assumed was) the centre of the arena.

"We'll switch pairings once one of you is knocked down to the ground, as per usual. Begin!" Artemis called out.

-
Before any avid Marvel Comics readers start in the comments all like "BUT NOOOO U CAN'T INTRODUCE GREEK GODS IN THIS FIC BECAUSE THERE'S ALREADY OLYMPIANS IN MARVEL COMICS U UNCULTURED DUMBY, FAKE FAN FAKE FAN FAKE FAN--"

Don't.
Just
Don't even start

I didn't actually hear about the Marvel Olympians comics until after I had drafted this entire arc. Additionally, you probably already know that this fic follows the MCU, not the comics.

Ok? Ok.
.....
Besides
I don't think they even included a Hestia in the comics even though she's the best one and I stan----

Thanks for coming to my ted talk