Peter
The torment and guilt infected my heart like a plague these past three days. The torment of seeing so much of Noelle in Ansel was eating me alive. My relationship with Noelle was that of an older sister and younger brother. She had gone to get us when we first arrived in Pantheon world. She had taught both Alea and me everything about this world. Alea and I were just seven-year-olds who hated the world for the hurt and pain it gave us. When we met Noelle, we were hostile toward her goodwill, but Noelle never gave up. She showed us that there was beauty in this world-two world. I cried in her arms when Athena disowned me. She trained me, and when I was seen as an outcast, Noelle was still there to keep my resentment from growing. I grew up admiring her back as she continued to lead others through the titan war. Then she died. The cold and loneliness I-no cohort two left was excruciating. A new child of Hades arrived, and for better or worse, he was in our cohort.
The guilt of not telling all of them right away about Ansel is eating me alive. Everyone in this cohort has some tie to Noelle, and saying to them that now we have her sibling with us was just too cruel. These three days we've been training, they've slowly become closer to Ansel. At times, when they did, I would step back and watch them like a silent observer. Sometimes, I felt like a reader reading about the characters, knowing everything but being forced to stay quiet. What will they do when they find out? That question remained unanswered these past three days. There was one thing I was confident about: they would feel hurt. I knew this because I left the same way when training Ansel. It was painful watching him act so similar to Noelle.
However, they did have some differences- how they talked, their likes, and their approach to things. Then, a different question arose: how would Enzo's cohort take the news? Assuming Enzo knows about Ansel, would he tell the rest of his cohort that maybe he felt just like me? Sitting here in the dining room, I thought it was colder than usual. The giant fire in the middle seemed dimmer than usual. I let out a sigh and decided to focus on the strategy to win.
Just as I was beginning to go over the plan in my head, the door to the dining hall was opened. Alea and Ansel walked in, arguing as they have been since they had spared in hand-to-hand combat. The result wasn't very pleasing to Ansel, but it gave me a lot of information. Alea had won 9 out of the ten times they had spared. The reason was Ansel's nature of learning things through people's shadows. While it allowed Ansel to understand and master techniques faster than he did against Levi, it had one downside: it took time for Ansel's body to grasp what his mind understood. When Ansel fought Levi, there were moments when Ansel would misstep or overstep, like his body and mind weren't moving. It's because while Ansel watched the shadow of another person, his mind immediately understood how to do it, but his body, unaccustomed to movement, lacked behind. That was until his body finally caught up to his mind; that was also how he managed to get one win.
It was excellent research, but the aftermath of their sparing was anything but superb. Ansel wanted to fight again, given that he had been defeated nine times, but Alea denied his request since, according to her, there was no point in it since she had already proven she was better than him. Defeated and not taken seriously, Ansel continued asking for another match every chance he saw Alea. This time was no different.
"Are you really that scared that I'll beat you? Come on, Alea, let's spar," Ansel said.
This was probably his hundred times asking. He never gives up, and maybe his ego won't let him.
"No way, I beat you nine times; that's enough to know who's better. The fact that you won one time was just pure luck and nothing else."
No matter how often Ansel asked, Alea always gave the same answer. My sister never had much pride regarding the number of times she won. So it was odd for her to be so defensive about not wanting to lose to Ansel. Alea took a seat next to me while Ansel sat in front of us, glaring at both of us.
"This is your fault, Peter. Why did you stop the sparing when I just had one win? You should have let me settle the score with her," he exclaimed.
"He already knew you would lose, so he was sparing you the embarrassment," Alea retorted.
Glaring more harshly at Alea, Ansel said, "Then how about this? If we win against Enzo's cohort today, you must fight me ten times."
Alea, hearing this proposal, frowned.
"Aren't you taking them too lightly?"
Ansel shrugged, "Peter said we have a shot at winning, so I've placed my bet on his plan. Besides, just how strong can they be."
Hearing this, I decided to answer, hoping it would help fine-tune my strategy.
"If we account for everything, the only ones that could probably beat them are each other. While Enzo easily outclassed everyone, there were still two who could go toe-to-toe against Enzo and have a chance at winning. Remember the girl who sits next to Enzo? Her name is Hailey, daughter of Aphrodite. The boy on Enzo's other side is called Magnus, the son of Athena, my older brother. Hailey and Magnus are what we call the arms of the King. Both of them could go toe-to-toe with Enzo and maybe win. The other two are Jake, son of Hermes, and Michael, son of Ares. Those two are also ridiculously strong but fall short of Hailey and Magnus by 1 percent."
Ansel frowned and then looked towards the table where Enzo and the rest sat.
"It's just a king," Ansel said confidently.
Right, I couldn't let him down, not when he was placing his trust in me. It was an odd sensation; everyone in this cohort had trusted me, but that trust was built upon the years of us knowing each other. Ansel's trust was different. He hadn't known me for that long, the real me, but when asked for his trust, Ansel didn't hesitate to give it to me. Who trusts someone so freely without knowing anything about them? A grin spread across my face as I stood.
"Let's go. We have a match to win."
Unknown
The challengers were in a waiting room somewhere inside the demigod's Colosseum. Expect, unlike regular challengers, these were lazying around. To me, this is how they should look and act. They were children forced to fight a war for us and live. Perhaps that was the cruelest thing; after they had lost plenty, they still lived. Michale and Jake were playing cards in the corner while sharing events that had happened. They look like regular 20-year-olds enjoying life as if they had no upcoming battle. Magnus and Hailey were drinking coffee at a table nearby as they discussed the book they were reading. Hailey let out a laugh at something Magnus said. Then Magnus began to argue with Hailey. It was rare for me to witness this, and it felt so odd when I did. These children were weapons-at least, that's what the other gods thought. It was these rare moments that made me question that thought. How can weapons smile so warmly like this? I should have been more forceful with my words back then, maybe then…no, their fates were sealed.
Separated from the rest of the cohort was the King. He sat on a bench, observing a necklace he was holding. The sunlight from a window hit the liquid gold jewel on the necklace, causing a small light to be reflected. Various thoughts clouded Enzo's mind. Each idea was like a storm cloud, ready to let loose. Clutching the necklace tightly in his hand, Enzo looked towards his friends.
"Alright, I think we should start going. Magnus got a plan ready," Enzo asked.
Magnus took the last drink of his coffee before giving Enzo a sharp nod.
"Yeah. Given everything we know about cohort 2, I could determine what kind of plan they'll develop. Knowing Peter, he will play it safe and have them tag team us. Knowing Levi's competitive nature, he's going to ask to fight Michael. It would only make sense for Peter to assign Levi and Charlie against Michael and Jake. Levi and Charlie have experience working together and understand each other, so it's a perfect pairing. That leaves Hailey, Enzo, and myself for them to decide upon. Given Alea's hesitation and fear of using her power, it would make sense for Peter to partner with her. Given all that, they'll be coming after Hailey and me. It's obvious from there that Amira would be keeping Enzo busy, while their new member would most likely move around offering support."
The caliber at which Magnus can understand his enemies is on par with Athena herself. Analyzing and then implanting everything he learned in a matter of milliseconds made him fear everyone. It was also the reason why he was Enzo's right hand. The room grew quiet after Magnus' words. Enzo blinked a couple of times before his face contorted into fear.
"Ugh, that's scary no matter how often you do that. If you know how Peter is thinking, then do all children of Athena read mind," Enzo said. The silence faltered, and laughter filled the room.
"Man, Magnus, if you could, we should go play at a casino," Jake said.
Michael nodded, "Imagine the money I would be making; maybe then I could retire."
Hailey smiled at the comments and turned to Enzo.
"Enzo, what I don't understand is why fight them? Is it really for that new kid, Ansel? I admit it's impressive that he killed the Sphinx, but to give him a spot on this squad isn't that too much."
Enzo has been discreet about his choices because he was unsure how they would react. Enzo's eyes went back to the necklace in his hand. Looking back at his friends, he knew he couldn't keep lying to them.
"The truth is I felt some power hidden deep within Ansel. It was almost like looking at another Child of the Big Three," Enzo answered.
His cohort looked at each other in surprise. They knew what another child of the big three would mean.
"When you put it that way then it makes sense. You want to fight Ansel boy to force his demiaura to bloom and force his parent to claim him," Michael said.
At the table, Magnus nodded along, coming to the same conclusion.
"If that's what you want, then I'll make it happen for you," Magnus said.
They began to get up to leave for the arena, but before they left, Enzo stopped.
"Um, guys…well, I'm late on saying this, but…thank you for going along with my choices before consulting with all of you. And thanks for helping me when she died."
Such raw emotions and sincerity. Enzo's cohort flashed him a smile before they all began kneeling. Then, in unison, they said, "Through Tarturas and back."
They left Enzo alone after. Enzo looked at the necklace before zapping the necklace into ashes with lighting. Looking down at his shadow, Enzo let out a shaky breath.
"I'm sorry, Noelle. You told me to protect him but after today everyone will know who he is. They have to know. In order to stop what's coming, please forgive me."