Sizing up the Competition

Queen Bee and Fireshing waited in the starry expanse with expectation.

 "You know the plan." Noble took a deep breath. The waiting always made her full of jittery nerves. 

"I know. You will handle Sharkey, and I'll match up against Goldie Rider." Fire humored her friend to hide her own nervous energy.

"That shark-man will try to douse you as soon as he can. Since this tournament is hosted by the House of Night, any arena they make is sure to be surrounded by water. Stay away from the edges so that Sharkey doesn't get the chance to go after you."

"Got it," Fireshing rolled out her shoulders and bounced up and down in place.

 All plans and strategies had been made the day before with one exception. 

Like the announcers they could not hear, they knew very little about the strange Awakened who went by the name of Lost. No amount of studying could prepare for an unknown quantity. 

He was a decent fighter but had not used any discernible Aspect yet. Or if he had, it was so subtle that no one had been able to pinpoint it thus far. 

'Not that I use my Aspect. Perhaps Lost won't either. One can only hope.' Bee smirked. 'I wonder what people would think if they randomly started flying through the air? That would be quite a sight! Would they blame me or the arena? Best not to find out.' 

"What are you thinking about?" Fire asked aloud. 

Bee shrugged. "Just how amusing it might be to dangle our opponents in the air when they least expect it. Don't worry, I wasn't actually planning on doing anything like that." 

The fiery Awakened grinned. "I mean, it isn't the worst idea, but I understand why you don't." 

"Prepare to enter dream." The Dreamscape startled the women. 

Bee touched the [Fraudulent Facade] and nodded to her counterpart. Fireshing wore an expression of sheer determination. 

Slipping [The Other's Voice] behind her ear, Bee chuckled. 

'See you on the other side.'

The Dreamscape boomed all around them as the world came into view. "The Blazing Bees have entered the Flotilla." 

'Flotilla?' Bee processed the word. 

All around them, a watery arena took shape.

'Well, that's new...' Fireshing hid her wonder behind an expression of indifference. 

It was unlike any dream Bee had seen. The pair found themselves bobbing lightly on a large wooden barge. It was attached to two dozen others by ropes to hold them in a loose configuration like a spider's web. 

All around the flotilla of barges, proud ships like those in an armada floated with anchors lowered. The spectators stood along the railings of the decks or sat in special seats lining the masts. Queen Bee could even see Dimi and his co-host Syclus relaxing comfortably in a crow's nest-turned-studio-booth. 

'Looks very fancy,' Bee resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the extravagance. 'I wonder what sagely wisdom Dimi is giving right now. He probably is betting against me like he did with Mongrel.'

Noble couldn't openly say how much his switching teams bothered her—especially when his prediction had turned out to be true. 

But Queen Bee was more than able to hold a grudge. If Dimi had chosen the other team over hers, she was determined to prove him wrong. 

Bee turned her face away. There was no use wasting her energy on the announcers when there was work to be done. 

Her eyes swirled in a mesmerizing display as she awaited the coming action. 

On the far side of the flotilla, the other team was sparking into existence. GoldieRider stood with her two teammates on either side of her. The muscular woman was clad in all black, with a hood obscuring most of her face. Only her blood-red lips pierced the darkness of her cowl, making it impossible to see exactly where the woman was looking. 

But Bee knew Goldie was looking directly at her. As if to answer her guess, the ruby lips tilted upwards in a taunting smirk. A pair of daggers manifested in her nimble hands. 

To Goldie's left, an Awakened covered in scaly grey armor towered above his cohort leader. The blue highlights in his hair resembled the soft waves around them while his hungry eyes were tinged with streaks of blood. 

He held out his large gauntlet and a whip laced with bone appeared at his side in a rain of sparks. 

'Shark teeth,' Bee suppressed her revulsion. She tried not to look too closely and sized up her final opponent instead. 

The third member, Lost, was two steps away from the others. Next to the pair of powerhouses, he was tall, slender, and unassuming. He didn't even call up a weapon immediately. He looked like a little brother who had come to join in his older siblings' game. 

But Bee wasn't fooled for a second.

Underneath the curly hair and calm exterior, the man was brimming with fearlessness. That kind of surety only came from those who were exceptionally foolish or extremely skilled. The Queen did not think it was the first option. 

'Lost is going to be a problem,' Bee told Fire, 'I just don't know what kind yet.'

'Hopefully less of one than our other issue...' Fire sounded truly perturbed. 

It took a moment for Bee to realize why she was so upset. Then it hit her. 

'The water!' 

Fire nodded imperceptibly. 'It's not just around the edges of the arena. It is everywhere!' 

The barges were tightly packed enough that walking between them would not require more than a step or small jump. For Bee, who could float, it would be no issue at all to move between them.

But in those gaps between the barges, small wavelets lapped up onto the surface, licking at the wood.

That meant that Sharkey wouldn't need to be at the edge of the arena to use his Ability. He would be able to get water whenever and wherever he wanted. And the man knew it. His face split in a wide grin, revealing triangular teeth like the blade of a saw.

But Fire wasn't looking at him, she was mentally gauging the state of the ocean around her. Her heart sank. 

Water itself was not the problem. Fireshing could bathe without affecting her Aspect. It wasn't going to physically hurt her. 

But fire and water were a volatile mix. Too much water would douse the Awakened's mystical flame. That would rob Fireshing of her long-range ability and much of the force behind her attacks. 

'What are we going to do?' Fireshing's emotions began to spiral out of control. 

Bee immediately sent her as much serenity as she could, which her partner accepted with open arms. 

'We are going to do what we have done every other time,' the floating duelist called upon her estoc from her soul sea, 'We are going to obliterate them.' 

Taking a deep breath, Fireshing summoned the [Aching Ember] as she held out her waiting palm. A flame ignited in her eyes. 'You are right. Let's do this.' 

The two ladies raised their weapons to signal their readiness. On the raft farthest from them, their three opponents did the same. 

"Duelists are prepared for battle. The Semi-final between Gilded Glory and Blazing Bees begins...

NOW!"