The Contest Pt. 2

"... One-on-one" Noran shouted and the crowd blew up with excitement,

"The first battle will be Jace vs. Nate". Everyone moved to an open area in the camp while Jace and Nate moved to the center of the crowd.

"Challengers ready?" Noran asked as the crowd went quiet

"Ready whenever," Jace said as he pulled his sword out of the sheath on his back,

"Let's go," Nate said as he pulled his dagger out from its sheath, and threw his bow and arrow to the ground,

"Then begin!" Noran shouted. Nate ran for Jace and Jace stepped to the side, which caused Nate to miss Jace.

"That all you got Nate?" Jace asked as he smirked

"Funny" Nate answered as he readied himself for another approach. The fight was over before Nate realized it was; Jace waited for Nate to attack again, and when Nate ran at Jace, who sidestepped again, but Nate was ready for that and took a swing at Jace, who dodged and landed the hilt of his sword on Nate's back. Nate fell to the ground and groaned,

"Our winner is Jace, son of Hephaestus!" Noran shouted and the crowd cheered and chanted Jace's name. Jace smiled as he walked over to June and Noran,

"You some kind of hero?" June asked as Jace high-fived her

"Kind of" Jace responded with a wink and June laughed.

"Next we have Dream vs. Ellie" Noran announced, and Dream and Ellie walked to the battleground.

"Challengers ready?" Noran asked

"Let's go," Dream said as she kept her bow and arrows on her back as she pulled her short sword from her sheath on her hip,

"Ready!" Ellie shouted as she pulled her sword from the ground. June watched as the two girls fought with all their might, Ellie made good use of her plant magic from her mother as she battled, and Dream analyzed the fight as she fought. Ellie caught Dream in plants,

"I win," Ellie said as she looked at Noran

"Our winner is Dream, daughter of Athena" Noran announced,

"What?" Ellie asked

"Look at your feet," Noran said and Ellie looked down in surprise, Dream had shot an arrow at Ellie's feet before Dream got caught in the plants. Dream smiled as she hugged June

"You're amazing," June said to Dream

"Thanks, June" Dream laughed as she stood next to Jace.

"Issac vs. Garrett" Noran announced and the two boys came forward,

"Ready?" Noran asked

"Yep," Issac said as a black sword with bone came out of the earth,

"Sure" Garrett responded but his hands were empty. June looked around but no one seemed worried as the fight started and Garrett still didn't have a weapon. Issac attacked Garrett, Issac swung his sword down towards Garrett, but Garrett blocked with his hands, well really the space above Garrett's hands stopped the sword.

"It's his magic," Jace said as June watched confused

"Oh" June responded as Issac kicked his leg out to knock Garrett down, but Garrett jumped before Issac's leg reached him. Issac backed away from Garrett as Garrett landed back on the ground,

"Come on Issac, you can do better than that" Garrett teased Issac and Issac just smiled as he pointed to the ground. Everyone looked at the ground, there was a skeleton poking out of the ground behind Garrett and the skeleton had a hold of Garrett's legs.

"Issac, son of Hades, wins," Noran announced as he smiled. Issac walked over to Jace and Dream,

"Hey, Issac! Nice move!" June shouted to Issac

"Thanks, June" Issac replied with a smile.

"Next we have Bella vs. David" Noran announced,

"Why do I have to fight a girl?" David asked as he stepped forward

"What do you have against girls?" Bella asked as she pulled a dagger from her boot,

"Girls are weak," David said

"Say that after you've won" Bella responded as she launched forward at David. Bella swung her dagger at David's face, scratching his cheek a bit,

"I see we are playing dirty" David said as he healed his wound

"It's on" David growled as he drew his bow and arrows. Arrows littered the battleground, but Bella was still standing.

"All out of arrows?" Bella called out to David

"Shut up!" David shouted as he drew his short sword from his hip,

"Just because the arrows are gone doesn't mean I'm done" David charged at Bella, who smirked and drew her short sword from her back. David and Bella exchanged blows with their swords before Bella ducked down to grab her dagger again. Bella swung her short sword at David, David raised his sword to meet Bella's and at that moment Bella let go of her sword and turned to get behind David.

"Bella, daughter of Hermes, wins" Noran announced as the crowd looked upon Bella and David, Bella was behind David with her dagger at his throat,

"Girls are weak?" Bella said to David as she let her dagger down

"Girls are, you were just clever," David said as he walked away. Bella walked over to the other winners

"Nice job," June said to Bella, who smiled,

"He deserved to lose," Bella said as she and June laughed. Noran dismissed the crowd for lunch,

"We'll begin the other one on one's once we've had lunch" the crowd groaned and complained but went to the dining hall anyway. With lunch filling everyone's stomachs, the crowd was quieter than before.

"The next battle will be Claire vs. Nala" Noran announced, Claire and Nala entered the center of the crowd after their names were called.

"Poor little Nala you're about to lose," Claire said as she pulled her ax off her back

"Just because your father is Ares doesn't mean you'll win" Nala retorted as she unclipped her necklace, her necklace turned into a whip once she brought it out. Noran began the fight and Claire took off with a war scream, but Nala stayed calm and kept her whip circling around herself. Claire charged right after the whip passed her, Claire was able to get past the whip. Nala straightened the whip and the crowd gasped as it shrunk into a sword.

"A sword can't stop my ax!" Claire shouted as she continued her charge. Claire swung her ax at Nala, but Nala ducked and lifted her sword towards Claire's neck; Claire hit Nala's sword away with the handle of the ax

"Try harder water girl" Claire taunted as she backed away,

"Gladly" Nala responded as she went for a hit. Claire and Nala were getting tired, their breaths were getting heavy,

"Here I come," Claire said as she went at Nala, Nala dodged and threw her sword at Claire's feet.

"Our winner is Nala, daughter of Poseidon" Noran announced and the crowd cheered. Nala joined the others, who greeted her with a warm welcome,

"Nala, where did you get your necklace?" June asked as Noran got ready to announce the next one-on-one,

"My father gave it to me" Nala responded

"Wow, he gave you a pretty neat necklace" June replied with a smile,

"He sure did," Nala laughed.

"The last battle will be Karson vs. Ashley" Noran announced and the last two challengers entered the battleground.

"Challengers ready?" Noran asked

"Ready" Karson responded as he drew his sword from his sheath,

"Ready, as I'll ever be," Ashley said as she removed her dagger from her hip

"Then begin!" Noran shouted. Karson and Ashley circled the area as they studied one another

"You're not scared are you?" Ashley asked

"Of a daughter of Aphrodite? No" Karson answered as he charged. Ashley easily dodged the attack and went down to hit Karson's legs, but Karson backed away before Ashley could hit them. Karson swung his sword at Ashley, but Ashley knocked the attack away with her dagger,

"Come on Karson, you can do better" Ashley taunted and Karson responded with anger. Karson's anger caused him to overreact, which led to Ashley tripping him and winning the fight.

"Ashley, daughter of Aphrodite, is the winner" Noran announced and the crowd cheered.

"Nice job Ashley," June said as Ashley approached

"Thanks, June," Ashley responded with a smile.

"Our winners are Jace, Dream, Issac, Bella, Nala, and Ashley!" Noran shouted and the crowd cheered,

"Our next contest will bring the number down even more, and this time there will be teams. June will be joining with a partner of her choice" Noran announced and the crowd filled with excitement and curiosity.