Minor

Chapter 4

Today was the day. The day of the Tournament, and the Dance. I was terrified. Classes were canceled for it, the biggest day of the year, and the biggest day of my Sophmore year, probably. I was getting dressed for battle, I put a silver breastplate and arm guards over a long-sleeved black shirt, and silver knee, shin, quad, thigh, and calf guards over a pair of black leggings. I drew sigils for protection and luck on my skin, along with runes for speed and strength. If I didn't win this, I was going down with a fight. "You ready to go?" A voice interrupted my preparations. Kimon. He was flamboyant as usual. He had a sparkly black trench coat, silk shiny white shirt tucked into sparkly black jazz pants. He leaned against the door frame, with a reassuring smile. I straightened took a deep breath, and nodded, "Let's go," I was trembling, Raven backed out last night, I was the only Minor Tier left. Kimon and I walked down the empty halls of the school, everyone was already at the arena, in their seats, waiting for me to fail. I met up with the other contestants in a giant waiting room, only a meager hallway away from the arena. Kimon placed a hand on my shoulder, "You've got this, we know you can do this." I bit my lip, "Cheer for me alright," I said with a smirk. He smirked back, "We'll cheer loud enough to crack the floor," He left after those words, leaving me alone with the Lympies and Tops. There were mostly Olympians, but there was definitely a presence of Tops. I saw at least 5 Squids, 7 Skellies, and 4 Sparkies. I leaned against the back wall away from everyone else. "Well, well," An angry voice split a crack through my isolated state. It was Asher, the Ares kid. I glared at him, "Yes?" His upper lip curled up, "Maybe I will get a chance to beat you up," His snarl echoed throughout the room grabbing everyone's attention. "Don't count on it Lympy," I answered him with a growl of my own, "If I can beat a Sparky with magic, I can beat an impulsive Lympy without it," He scowled, along with everyone else in the room, except for one Sparky who was looking at the floor. It was completely silent, and the only thing moving was the dust in the air. Thankfully Chiron interrupted, "Everyone! Over here!" They all turned around, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Let us begin with the bracket," Chiron began to list off every matchup in the bracket leaving the first battle for last. He hadn't said my name yet, and only two battles were left, including the first. "Asher Kasef of Ares, and Kyna Sage of Athena," Oh no, I was in the first. Chiron made eye contact with me, "Colson Thompson of Zeus," He paused, "And Alyxandra Sullivan of Hecate," I inhaled sharply, despite me knowing it was coming. Chiron stomped his hoove, and clapped his hands, "Let's get started shall we." He trotted up to set of large stone doors and beckoned Colson and me up to the front with him, definitely not my place. He pushed the doors open, extravagantly, and trotted forward through the hall. The only light in the hallway was the bright sunlight from the other end of the hall. I trembled the whole way down and tried to ignore the heavyweight of Sparky's eyes. He was wearing armor as well, but his was made from Jupiter Bronze, while mine was made from Hecate silver. He was using a similar strategy I was, items from our parents increase our abilities. Chiron stopped a few feet away from the end of the hall. "Stay here until I call you out," He didn't elaborate before he trotted into the arena, spurring a rage of cheers. "Are you ok?" Colson asked putting a hand on my shoulder blade, which I shoved away promptly. "I'm fine," My voice was sharp causing him to flinch. Chiron's booming voice echoed through the circular arena including the hall we were in, cutting Colson's next comment off, "Now everyone I know you are restless to get started, so let me introduce our first two contestants," Chiron paused. "Now welcome, Colson Thompson Son of Zeus from the Top Tier," Colson took a deep breath and ran out into the arena, holding his sword up as the cheers for him intensified. I began to tremble once more. "And now," the sense of suspense traveled all the way to me. "Alyx Sullivan Daughter of Hecate from the Minor Tier," I put my chin up, took a deep breath, and walked confidently into the arena. The bright sun blinded me for a moment, but I could still hear the chain of boos. However, drowning out all of it was the Minor Tier. They were cheering for me so loud the booing from the Tops and Lympies were almost nonexistent. I swelled with pride, that was all I needed. I smirked confidently, removed my chakram from my back, and summoned pure Hecate magic. A black mist began to surround me, My hands began to turn black, and spread up my arms. I could feel my eyes turn as well, and it caused Colson to shiver satisfyingly. Colson returned the gesture with one of his own. Lightning began to spark around him, he wasn't intimidating me as much I was intimidating him. Chiron waited a couple of seconds before he began counting down in greek, "Ενας," I crouched low, my mist fluctuating as I did. "Δύο," Colson levitated a few feet off the ground, "Τρία," We both tensed, waiting for the final command. "Πηγαίνω," The mist grew thicker and darker, the black on my skin spread inch by inch. Colson let out a loud battle cry and dove towards me, big mistake. I thrust my arms out cutting him off and enveloping him within the pod of darkness. "Aaaagghh," He cried the second the mist made contact with his skin. He tensed and his lightning appeared once again. I was thrown backward by a jarring blast of lightning, earning a cheer from the crowd. I groaned as I thrust my fist out sending a blast of black mist tumbling towards him. He somersaulted out of the way, but he was distracted long enough for me to remove my chakram. I let it fly, and it grazed his calf. He let out a cry of pain but he recovered quickly his sword raised. There was one thing I was going to have trouble with, Tops were very durable. His calf was barely bleeding anymore. My chakram returned to my hand just in time to catch his sword on it. Sparks flew as we glared at each other in the standstill. We stood there for a while, but then he winked at me. I glared harder and shoved him off with a groan of disgust. He jumped up into the air zooming upward. "Coward!" I yelled as a midnight blue and black pair of feathered wings appeared on my back in a burst of feathers. I took off and met him in the air with a punch in his jaw. He flew backward and slammed into the wall surrounding the sandy arena. I landed immediately and made my wings disappear. If I stayed in the air any longer I would've lost. He recovered speedily, landing as well. We circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. It gave me a second to notice how far the black on my skin had spread. It was already at my shoulders, which wasn't good, but I couldn't back down though. The mist around me lessened slightly, but Colson noticed. He smirked slightly but didn't let the crowd know. He charged once again his sword raised, I returned the favor and caught his wrist. The mist congregated around my arm giving me the strength to hold him back. The black on my skin, though, was still spreading. Every inch it spread felt like a stab in the neck. I winced despite my efforts to hide it. Colson's expression was concerned but it didn't stop him from flipping me over his shoulder and slamming me into the ground. The crowd went "Oo" but then erupted into cheers.  He whipped around and kneeled on my chest, "Yield," He growled, his tone did not match his expression, which was full of worry. My vision was clouded, pain spiked through the back of my head. "Alyx?" The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Colson's worried expression and the last thing I heard was his frantic yelling. 

My eyes opened slowly. I was in a clean room, it was all white except for my siblings, Kimon, Raven, and Semestra. As per usual they were all in black, it was quite a contrast to the sterile room. "Why is he here?" I pointed to Colson who was leaning against the wall, with a stoic aura to him. Kimon shook his head, "I don't know," Kimon glared at Colson, who just looked away. "We've told him to leave multiple times," Cedric growled. Colson just looked at the floor. "Are you ok?" Sabrina asked, "Your power overloaded, and you passed out on the field." I propped myself up on my elbow, but the motion caused a blinding pain at the base of my head. It felt like thousands of needles shooting through my skin. "AAAAAAH!" I screamed in pain and curled up into a ball with my arms wrapped around my head. "What's wrong with her!" Colson yelled, causing another scream from me, it was too loud. Draco grabbed Colson by the collar and whispered yelled, "You are not helping things, get away from my sister!" I groaned and unfurled as the door shut behind Colson. "Is the tournament over?" I asked Alice who was fuming at the shut door. "Yes," She sighed, "and Sparky won," I looked away causing another pain in my head. Kimon reached over and placed a hand on my forehead, I knew what he was doing. "Kimon, no," I said weakly as my eyelids grew heavier. "I won't put you all the way to sleep, just enough to ease your mind, ok?" He said with a soft smile. I nodded as I relaxed into the pillow, and they all filed out of the room. Raven was the last to leave, she looked too angry to speak. I was alone for two seconds before Colson returned sneakily. "What are you doing here?" I asked my voice as sharp as my chakram. "It was hard to check in when all of your friends are glaring at me," I snarled at him, "They have a good reason, you've called all of them all Underling at least once," He scowled at the floor. "You don't have to check on me, I'm a minor remember you don't have to look like a good sport," I growled. "I'm not just trying to look like a good sport," He whispered. I rolled my eyes, and began to sit up I did not want to look like a weakling. "No," Colson hurried over and tried to push me back down. I pushed against him, "Let me up!" I cried. "Listen Alyx, I know this hurts more then it's worth, please just stop fighting me," he insisted. I relented relaxing into the bed once more. He turned to leave, "By the way, our fight was by far the hardest." I grimaced, "Well lucky me," He shrugged off my sarcasm, "I'm hoping to see you at the dance too," Right, like the Minors were allowed at the dance. "Don't count on it," I muttered angrily. "Why not?" He asked, looking genuinely confused. I rolled my eyes yet again, "Just ask your Lympy friends," He left after that, but I couldn't help but feel sad that he left.