-----

Author's Note: Here's Ch. 19, finally some spa action. This story is starting to wind itself down now, only about five or so more chapters before it comes to an end :) I'd like to thank djkauf for the wonderful editing and DC Comics for the wonderful characters.

-----

Chapter Nineteen:

The dream was on my mind when I woke up in the morning. It was hard not to think about. In the shower, I couldn’t help but wonder what She meant by all of that. There were so many questions and no answers. It was hard to believe I was so blessed, especially considering at least three Gods had visited me now. Yeah, three. I didn’t really pick up on it until I thought about the tiara and the man who sold it to us. I knew there had been something familiar about him and it nagged me the rest of yesterday. But it wasn’t until I was in the shower that I figured it out. His face was scarred and he had a limp, there was only one person he could have been. Once again, I couldn’t think of his name. I knew it but there was some kind of force preventing me from thinking and saying it.
The only name not forbidden from me was Hera. How strange was that?

I got dressed in a rush and ran down the stairs. Jay was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the paper. The headline read BILLIONAIRESS SURVIVES BOMBING. It was all over the news still. Once again, I was glad that I wasn’t Olivia Queen. My grandma fixed me some breakfast as I stared at the paper, seeing the mangled burning wreck that once was a car. I shuddered at the thought, remembering the two bastards that tried to cream Connor and me on Saturday. It still bothered me that the two trucks were nowhere to be found. I began to wonder there wasn’t something else at play, something a lot worse than a bunch of Greek terrorists trying to kill me.

I looked about, noticing that Jay was the only present this morning. “Where’s Kate?” I asked, forking some eggs.

He folded the paper and set it aside. “She went into the city today, said something about a spa she wanted to look in to.”

I nodded. The Spa had gotten on her radar yesterday. She must have thought there was something strange about it, too. Or maybe she was looking for a place to work out. “There was a pavilion for it at the Carnival yesterday,” I said as an explanation.

He nodded. We didn’t talk much after that. About ten minutes later, Connor showed up. He was still beaming over the truck. He kissed me on the cheek and grandma gave him some eggs, too. He talked about the truck for a bit and then he and Jay talked football some more. I toned most of it out. We left for school after that, Jay following us in a rental. Apparently, he wasn’t allowed into the school as per the agreement with the school board but he’d monitor things outside. I think I liked school and The Bee a lot more after hearing that. It was one thing to have him as a bodyguard---not that I needed it---but I didn’t want him lingering behind me as I walked to class. Besides I don’t think whoever had tried to kill me would be bold enough to do it with all those people around.

School went by particularly slowly. In lunch, I caught up with Cissie though.

“How’s our mutual friend?” I asked when we sat down.

She looked around to make sure no one was in earshot before answering. “He’s doing good. I stayed at his house for a complete of hours after you left.”

I nodded. “Does he think he’ll come back to school?”

She shook her head. “He can’t see how. I’m going to tutor him until his parents can find a more stable replacement.”

We quit talking as soon as Amy showed up. She took one look at me and smiled. I’m not sure what she was so excited about until she opened her mouth. “What’s this I hear about you telling Britney Jones off?”

I groaned. I was wondering when that was going to get around. Cissie’s eyes practically bugged out of her head. So I reluctantly told them what happened. I think Cissie was happier than Amy. Apparently, Britney and her cheer friends were constant tormenters of hers. I guess that made everything better for me. We talked a little more about what we all did over the weekend. Amy was kinda annoyed that I left her out of things---not that I wanted to drag her to either place. Hey, I like Amy but I think she might have freaked about Eddie and let’s face it, I wanted some alone time with Connor yesterday, especially after our crazy Saturday.

School went about at a more normal pace after that. When it was finally over, The Six were waiting for me at my locker. I groaned a bit at the sight of them, remembering that I promised to go to the spa with them today. Artemis was leaning against the lockers; the others were standing about, looking out of place. I don’t think any of these girls fit well in most social environments. They kept looking around and flinched whenever someone walking down the hall got too close to them. They were particularly twitchy today, jumping at everything. There was something else about them too, they looked agitated. Akila kept rubbing her arm while Persephone and Karna kept tapping their feet. It was almost as if they were going through some kind of withdrawal. I wonder if it had anything to do with not being near their Nameless Goddess and their nutty cult leader.

“Finally” groaned Laris “we’ve been waiting like five minutes for you.”

“Sorry” I said, opening my locker and exchanging some books.

As we walked, Artemis talked. “Change of plans about our trip to Bay City. Apparently going on Wednesday didn’t really go well with the authorities so we’ll have to do it on Friday instead. Luckily the concert will be there all week.”

“What authorities?” I asked as we walked out the front doors and toward the parking lot.

Karna groaned. “The Elders of the other tribes.”

“This is a Bana event?”

“Not really” said Artemis “but they fronted the cash so they dictate the rules.”

I caught eyes with Jay. He was parked across from the school in his rental. I think he was trying to decide to follow or not. We exchanged several glances but in the end, he decided to stay put. I think he knew what I was thinking. There was no reason for him to follow if Kate was already there. He watched me until I got into Artemis’ car. Akila and Persephone got into the back as usual. I tried not to think about much as we drove off, heading toward the big city.

There were already a lot of girls in white when we got there. Unlike the last time, we actually had to take the elevator down into what I’m calling the “secret” part of the spa. I stared at all their faces, trying to see if I recognized anyone. The last time they were all bowed over in prayer but now they were standing about, chatting. They were young, the oldest about Donna’s age, the youngest maybe thirteen. It floored me that there were so many. I didn’t take a full head count but there had to be at least fifty or sixty girls here. I groaned... sixty brainwashed cult nuts. They didn’t come across as brainwashed of course---I think I might have been harsh in that assessment---but they were definitely being led in the wrong direction. I wondered how many of them actually knew this was all shit.

“We’re going to get changed,” said Artemis as she stood at my elbow. “You want to come.”

Several of the girls nearby turned to look at us. They didn’t look brainwashed either, they looked normal. Maybe a bit happier but they weren’t glassy eyed or anything. But all of them staring at me kinda gave me the creeps. So I reluctantly agreed to go with Artemis, if only to get away from their staring. I followed her and Akila through one of the doors they disappeared through before. I found myself heading down the same hall that led to Antiope’s office but instead of going straight, we went through another door on the left. The room looked like a locker room except the floors were carpeted and it smelled faintly like flowers; I’m not sure what kind. There were three rows of lockers in the center but not large ones like school, small ones like you’d find in a train station or something. Artemis pointed out an empty one to me so I sat on the bench and started to undress. I didn’t want to wear one of their white cult dresses but I was afraid the crowd would stone me or something.

“Here” said Akila, coming over with a white dress.

I’m not sure where it came from but I took it reluctantly. It was light and airy, designed sorta like a toga. I finished undressing, stuffed my clothes into my little locker and slipped the dress over my head. The material was soft, like silk and felt nice against my skin. Artemis walked over and handed me a pair of gold sandals. They were designed to look like Ancient Greek ones; they even had straps that could wrap up your calf. I looked at the others, they all had them done up just like that. When I put them on, Artemis agreed to tie them for me.

“I’m so glad you decided to join us,” she said, tying. “Antiope was worried you might be a little resistant to some of our ideals but she was confident that you’d come around in time.”

I nodded. I bet she was. “So what’s the big plan?”

Artemis smiled. “We’re having a competition.”

“A competition for what?”

Akila answered. “We’ve been honing our bodies and minds for months now, all in preparation for the Time of Change.”

That didn’t sound good. “What’s that?”

Artemis shook her head. “We’re not supposed to know right now. That’s why we’re all gathered here today. Antiope has received a new vision from the Goddess and she’s going to tell us more about it today.”

I groaned. This woman had all these poor girls wrapped around her finger. It annoyed the hell out of me to see them all so easily swayed. Especially Artemis and her friends. They were so strong willed and confident away from this place. But here they came across as giddy and bimboish, like Britney and her stupid cheerleader friends. Clearly, they were the same people but there was something about them that rubbed me the wrong way. It was annoying to think that Antiope could change people this much and so easily.

“C’mon” said Artemis as she finished tying my sandals. “It’s going to start soon.”

She pulled me to my feet and the three of us went outside.

The girls were already on the crowd, kneeling like before. Antiope was there too, standing at her podium. She was dressed much like before. She stared out at us all, locking eyes with me as I walked with Akila and Artemis toward some spots in the back. She followed me the entire way, her eyes narrowed. I thought I saw a bit of malice there for a second but it was quickly gone. She replaced it with a smile. I smiled weakly back. There was definitely something off with that woman. She was harmless of course but she still made my skin crawl.

“Girls” said Antiope when the three of us took our positions. “The Time of Change is almost at hand. I have spoken to the Goddess and she has asked me to prepare you all for what it about to come.”

The gathered crowd of girls murmured. I rolled my eyes.

“In preparation for the Time, the Goddess has asked me to test you girls” There were more murmurs. “There will be a series of competitions testing strength, endurance and skill. These competitions will last the whole week, culminating in a final showdown between the last two remaining girls.”

There were a lot of murmurs after that. A couple of the girls around me started to whisper and laugh. I think they were kinda excited, others not so much. Many of the girls here didn’t look like they could hold their own. I mean they were all pretty athletic but some of them were young, too young to be going up against some of the older girls. I scanned the faces in the crowd, looking at the assorted ages. Surely, she didn’t expect some of the twenty year olds to go up against some of the thirteen year olds. My eyes fell onto Kate and I was surprised. I didn’t see her earlier and was surprised that she was there at all. She looked completely different; her hair was up on her head in a high ponytail and her face all done up in makeup. If I didn’t know it was her, I’d hardly recognize her.

She locked eyes with me and shook her head. So I quickly turned away. So she was clearly still investigating this place, trying to figure out how all of it worked.

“This is going to be fun,” said Artemis softly. “Antiope told me the winner of the final competition will be considered the Champion of the Goddess.”

I opened my mouth to make some snide remark when Antiope spoke again. “Settle down now girls” she said, raising her hands and the murmurs ended. “I understand that all of you are extremely excited, as you should be. This competition is a great honor and those who succeed will be highly rewarded for their feats of greatness” There was a lot of excitement. I noticed she didn’t say anything about those who failed. “Now, I want to start this competition in an orderly fashion.”

I was surprised. She was starting it now. I looked at the faces around me; I think they were just as surprised. I was certain that something like this would take at least a few days to begin. But I guess it was no shock that she wanted to get it out of the way. The woman was ambitious and impatient. She smiled proudly at the girls assembled about her, her little white lambs. I couldn’t help but compare her to a hungry wolf. She looked at me again and her eyes narrowed. It was clear after our little talk that I wasn’t her number one person. I think she wanted me to fall into line like a good little soldier and when I didn’t follow her happy rules, I pissed her off. It didn’t help that the last time I was here I walked out on all this craziness.

The Competition started after that. She split us up into groups of ten at first. I was right that were sixty of us present, only a few of the older girls didn’t participate. I noticed that Kate was one of those girls. She was now standing on one side of Antiope, another girl about her age on the other side. I was curious as to why Kate was here anyway, she was a lot older than most. But Antiope clearly had a plan for her too. She was talking to her and the other girl, probably discussing a few things. I stared at them for a few seconds before I realized there was another girl standing behind me.

“Hey blondie” said a voice with a sneer.

I turned and this girl was just as blonde as me. She was a lot more butch looking though. She was pretty but not super model like me. She had cold eyes too. I sized her up, knowing that I could probably snap her like a twig.

“Dalma” said Artemis “don’t start today.”

The girl, Dalma, ignored Artemis. She stuck her finger into my chest. “This is my competition. Antiope told me all about you, how she has such high hopes for you but you better get one thing straight, I’m going to be that Champion.”

I smirked. “You can have it.”

Her eyes narrowed and she stomped off.

“Sorry about her” said Artemis “I think she was dropped on her head when she was born.”

We laughed. This was the Artemis that I knew and loved.

Antiope called us all to attention after that and blew a whistle. The Competition of Strength began. It was actually in a couple of stages, the first being weight lifting. There were a lot of strong girls in my group but a lot of them dropped out pretty quickly. I noticed that all of Artemis’ friends passed, Laris struggled a bit toward the end but she pulled through. After that, we went to chin ups, sit-ups and jumping jacks. I think it was all an attempt to weed out the strong from the weak. The Strength Test lasted for what seemed like hours. Finally, Antiope blew a whistle, many of the girls collapsed from exhaustion.

A tall dark haired girl wove through the groups, passing out bottles of that Nectar sports drink. When she got to me, I waved her off. I didn’t need it. Just like all the other times, I didn’t break a sweat. Then another girl went through the groups taking a tally of those of us who were still standing. I took a tally as well. Out of the original sixty, ten were now out. They were all the younger girls, which was to be expected. I felt kinda bad for them; they were all happy to be here before and now they looked totally burned out. The girl with the Nectar bottles and another girl helped them all to their feet and helped them off somewhere.

Antiope got back up behind her podium. “That concludes Day One of the Competition. I congratulate those of you who are still standing. Tomorrow will be Day Two and the Test of Endurance; I ask that all of you bring a good pair of running shoes.”

There were a lot of groans. I looked over at Artemis and she smiled. The girl, Dalma, looked smug too. She glared at me when she saw that I was still standing. I think she thought I’d drop like the preteens. But if I could help it, I’d be in this thing until the end if only to prove to the bitch that I was better than she was.

“Ignore her,” said Artemis as she saw Dalma staring.

I nodded and followed my friends to the locker room to change.

After that, we went home. When I got inside, Jay was sitting at the table with my grandma and Donna. He smiled at me when I entered. He opened his mouth and I beat him to it. I told him about the spa and their harmless little competition. He pulled out a little note pad and scribbled things down. He stayed for a few hours after that, talking with Donna mostly. Even though I knew there wouldn’t be anything romantic going on between the two of them it was nice that they became friends. I have to admit I felt a little bad about setting the two of them up, especially after she cried in my arms about Barbara.

When Jay was gone, Donna frowned. “Are you sure this competition thing is a good idea?”

I shook my head. “I know it’s not but there’s something about this woman. I’m not sure what it but she rubs me the wrong way. Before I wanted to avoid this place but now I want to be there just to see what she’s planning.”

I quickly told Donna all about the Time of Change.

“Sounds like a bunch of crap to me” she said when I finished.

We sat on the couch and watched TV the rest of the night. When I went to bed, Glaucus was in my window as usual.

When Tuesday came around it was the Test of Endurance, right after school. I don’t think I’ve seen Artemis and the others more excited. On the car ride over, it was all Akila and Persephone could talk about. Me, I sat in silence, wondering what the woman had planned. When we got to the spa, there was already a group gathered in the main room upstairs. They were dressed in running gear, which could only mean one thing. Artemis and her friends shared a knowing smile. Me, I looked at the gathered group. It was a lot smaller than I remembered from yesterday.

“A few of the girls dropped out last night” said a voice from behind me, I turned and saw Kate.

She motioned me away from the group. We slipped into a secluded corner. “What the hell is going on here?” I asked.

“This place appears to be on the up and up” she said “they have all the proper permits and things like that but there’s something about that woman” I nodded. “I couldn’t find anything out about her because of that stupid name. She’s either really good at hiding who she really is or she’s got a lot of connections, higher ones than my clearance.”

“So what does that mean exactly?”

Kate shrugged. “While you guys are out running, I’m going to linger behind here and snoop a bit in her office, see if I can find anything.”

“You think it’s a Cult?”

She nodded. “It looks like it but I can’t be sure until I gather more data. I don’t want to blow the whistle on this place just yet.”

“Are the girls in danger here?”

She sighed. “I think it might be harmless but I’ll know more as soon as I find out who that woman really is.”

I nodded; then the two of us parted ways, going back to the group at different times so as not to draw suspicion. I thought it was kinda cool that she was taking the initiative about this place without me even asking. I think she noticed something off at the Carnival and wanted to poke into it herself. It made me like Kate even more. She saw something wrong and investigated it without being told to do so. It made feel more secure knowing she had my back and maybe it made me trust these people a little bit better.

The Test started a few minutes later. It was as I thought it might be. We weren’t broken up into groups this time but that didn’t stop us from gathering with our friends. Kate joined the other girl to stand with Antiope. Antiope raised her whistle and blew. We all took off as a group, running to our hearts content. I’m not even sure how she pulled all of this off but no one seemed to stop us as we ran through the streets. As a group, we made our way to the nearby park. About ten minutes into the run, a few of the girls started to lag behind. I suppose it was inevitable. I retained a good pace for a while, staying in the middle of the pack with Artemis, Akila and Karna. I’m not sure where Persephone, Laris and Anaya were.

After another twenty minutes of running, the pack thinned even more. We were staying in the park now, running about it again and again. Another twenty minutes and a few more dropped off. I looked around, seeing a lot of the girls pushing themselves to the limit. At the head of the group was Dalma. I had to hand it to her, she might have been all talk but she was pretty tough. She was clearly the one setting the pace and the other girls were just trying to keep up with it. About another twenty minutes---and several missing girls later---, Artemis made her move. She wove her way through what was left, making short order of the would be leaders. Soon it was her and Dalma, neck and neck. Akila pulled away too, followed by Karna. I retained my pace, letting them play it out for a bit. It wasn’t before long though that I found myself at the end of the pack, most of the other girls were gone now. Behind me, I could hear a few, among them Laris and Anaya.

If I were a betting person, I’d say this was probably all that would make it to Test Three tomorrow.

After another ten minutes, I made my move. I put on a little speed, passing Karna. I heard her groan and curse behind me. When I got to Akila, she smiled. I think she said “about time” before I passed. Now the lead consisted of Artemis and Dalma neck and neck and me closing up fast. I’m not sure when they noticed I was there but it didn’t take me long to get up beside them. Dalma looked surprised, Artemis just laughed.

“Taking your time I see,” she said with a smile.

“I had to let you have some fun first,” I said with a laugh.

“This one is all you then.”

I took the invitation and pulled ahead. Dalma tried to keep up but she fell behind rather quickly. I tore ahead of the others, going for several minutes before I heard the whistle. I turned and saw that I was the only one running now. Antiope was sitting on a park bench, Kate and the other girl sitting on either side of her. I was surprised to see Kate actually, wondering if she got a chance to look in Antiope’s office. I gave her a look and she smiled. I sighed, wondering what it was that she might have discovered.

I finally stopped, making a big circle to jump back to stand before the bench. Antiope stood up, beaming.

“That was very impressive indeed,” she said, trying to pass me one of her bottles of the Nectar. I waved it off and she frowned. “The Goddess will be smiling down on you tonight.”

“As long as she doesn’t watch me while I’m undressing I could care less” I said and meant it.

Antiope glowered a bit and I walked off. A lot of the girls were on the ground, panting. Artemis tried to pass me her bottle of Nectar but I waved it off. Dalma was slugging away on her’s and gave me a dirty look. I ignored her and wandered past several of the girls as they congratulated me and slapped me on the back. I finally got Kate alone, the two of us standing over by a tree together. She looked around to make sure we were truly alone before speaking.

“Everything is clean,” she said softly. “I couldn’t find a thing on her at all. Her real name is Rebecca Crossan; she’s an elementary school teacher in the city. She’s been a part of this organization for years.”

I nodded. “What’s the deal with it then?”

Kate laughed. “They’re a youth program. They take a lot of kids off the street and give them an outlet. There’s a lot of places like this one all over the country, located in different facilities of course.”

I nodded. “And the Amazon thing?”

She laughed again. “Just a lot of pretend. She does it to make things interesting.”

I sighed. So she was harmless after all. That didn’t mean I liked her though. We left the park after that and went home. I didn’t say much when I got into the house. Jay was there but he said he’d already talked to Kate. I warmed up some leftovers, sat in front of the couch until bedtime. Glaucus sat there and watched me again until I drifted off to sleep.

The Test of Skill---the final of the three tests---started the exact same time as the other two. It was kind of a welcome reprieve after a rather boring day of school. At lunch, Cissie continued to talk about Eddie, her main topic for the last three days. Amy talked about basketball, trying once again to recruit me to the team. Their only talent was her so she was kinda desperate. Me, all I could think about was what Kate had told me yesterday. Antiope---or rather Rebecca Crossan---was harmless. I found that hard to believe, especially the way she kept looking at me. She might appear harmless, even on paper but there was nothing harmless about that woman. She was hiding something. I’m not sure how I knew it but I just did.

When we got to the Bana, there was no group gathered in the main room. Artemis led the way to the elevator and we all rode down in silence. On the ride over, she was kinda excited about today. At the end of the Test of Skill, the Champion would be named. She assumed it would be me---Akila and Persephone said as much too---but I wanted nothing to do with it. When I told them that, Artemis’ face lit up a bit. I think she really wanted it more than anyone. She was welcome to it as far as I was concerned. The only reason I was here was to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happened. I’m not sure why but this place just didn’t feel right to me.

When the elevator doors opened, there were nine girls waiting. They were dressed in workout clothes, looking like they were ready for anything. This room used to be big and open but today it looked like a damn obstacle course. There was a climbing wall and some ropes. There were a couple of archery targets set up along the one wall and another arena roped off, it looked like a wrestling ring. I couldn’t help but be impressed a little. Whoever had set this up was damn serious about all of this. I guess I couldn’t blame them. It all looked pretty impressive.

“Welcome girls” said Antiope as she came from her office hallway. She smiled at everyone, including me for once. “I’m glad to see so many of you still willing to compete.”

Kate and the other girl appeared behind her, dressed in workout gear too. Kate looked at me and smiled. It bothered me that she couldn’t find anything on Rebecca Crossan. I nodded to her and smiled back.

After her initial pleasantries, Crossan---I refuse to think of her as anything but---told us what was going to happen. We’d start as a group at first, moving from one station to another. Whoever excelled at one specific station moved onto the next until only one girl remained. It seemed easy enough. There were murmurs from the others. Of those present, I only knew Artemis, her Six and Dalma. The other girls I was only familiar with because I had seen them over the last few days. They looked fit enough to compete but were they Champion material?

The Test started with the ropes. The best ten times moved onto the next station. We went in pairs. Laris and Anaya first, followed by Persephone and Akila. Artemis went against one of the other girls. Ever so slowly in wound down to Dalma and me. She was strong and fast but I got up the rope first. I’m not sure she liked that very much. She kept giving me a dirty look. After we were done, two of the girls I didn’t know were gone. After that, it was the rock-climbing wall. I think Antiope was trying to prove something because she pitted me against Dalma again. I’ve never been much for the rock wall but I scaled it faster than her. Which I think only made her more pissed.

We lost two more girls there, one of them Anaya.

We moved onto archery and Artemis kicked ass. I think the girl was made for the bow, I’d never seen anything like it. We were each given a quiver with six arrows and the one who got all six as close to the bulls-eye as possible would move on. I think Artemis put everyone in. It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. She seemed fairly surprised too, like it was someone else guiding her hand. I couldn’t help but smile and wonder if naming herself Artemis had something to do with it. I was one of the last to go. The girls before me didn’t do too badly. Akila was good but Persephone faltered. Laris and Karna did well enough to possibly move on. When Dalma went, she was just as good as Artemis.

When it was my turn, I surprised myself. I put them all in a cluster, not exactly bull’s eye but pretty damn close. In the end, only six of us moved onto the little ring. It turns out I was wrong about it being a wrestling ring, it was something much more.

“Congratulations to you six, you are the finalists” said Crossan, a wooden sword in her hand. “This is the final test. The last person standing will be crowned Champion.”

We all nodded. I was sad that Persephone and Laris were gone but they just weren’t good enough in the end. I looked at those around me and at the lone stranger. She was tall and well built with long black hair and tanned skin. I didn’t know her name but it was a good bet that whatever she called herself it was Greek in origin. I smiled at her but her face was like a mask. I guess she wasn’t here to make friends.

The Unknown Girl got to go first, putting her skills to test against Karna. The two of them were outfitted with leather arm-guards, chest coverings and helmets. The swords were wooden and taped so they wouldn’t do any serious damage but they still looked wicked. They stood on either end of the little area, tapped the wooden blades to their helmets and went at it. They delivered blow for blow, wood clacked against wood. They were fast, faster than I would have thought. The Unknown Girl dominated. She overpowered Karna, finally forcing her to the ground. Crossan blew the whistle before Karna got too mangled.

The Unknown Girl walked off, giving me a smug look. Kate helped Karna out of the ring. I did the numbers in my head, realizing that not everyone was going to get an initial first fight. I think Crossan planned it that way. She let Drusilla go next against Akila. Dalma was a mad woman with that sword; she swung it like crazy, taking Akila off her feet with only two blows. Then Artemis went up against the Unknown Girl. The two of them fought furiously, swinging and slashing, each trying to get the upper ground. Then Artemis slipped. She didn’t go fully down but the girl used it to her advantage. She went in for what should have been the final blow. Artemis spun to her feet---her slip planned---and slashed the girl in the back. She fell forward and hit the mat hard.
Artemis won, me and the others cheered.

Then it was finally my turn. I looked over at Crossan and she smiled smugly. This was a part of her plan from the beginning. She’d been pitting me against Dalma at every chance she got. I think she was trying to deliberately put me out of this thing, like she was teaching me a lesson. I couldn’t help but smile. As if Dalma ever had a chance of getting near me. Ok, I’ll admit she had skill but she was definitely not even in the same league as I was. But I let her try. After getting suited up and handed my wooden sword, I stepped into the ring. The bitch didn’t even wait for the whistle, not that Crossan seemed to mind. I think she might have even smiled.

Dalma came fast, swinging for my head, I blocked easily. I let her throw her swings hard, left and right. They weren’t much. She had a lot of power and strength but no skill. She kept throwing them out there, straining herself. It didn’t take long for her to tire. Me, I bided my time, walking around the ring as she slammed into me. Eventually she stopped to pant, bending over. I didn’t even have to try hard. I walked over, put my foot on her shoulder and pushed her flat on her back. I heard Artemis and the others cheer. I turned to Crossman and gave her a smug smile. She returned it with a sneer.
She faked her applause. “Well done, Cassandra,” she said, clapping and smiling. “Do you wish to rest or do you want to face the last opponent of the evening.”

I shrugged. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Very well” said Crossan, turning to Artemis. “I believe that’s you my dear.”

I saw a look of dread on Artemis’ face. She’d seen how I let Dalma tire herself out and probably thought I’d do the same. In truth, I had no intention of harming her. In fact, I had every intention of letting her win this thing. As I said before, I didn’t want to be Champion. Artemis had been beaming about it for the last few days. She wanted to be the Champion so much, while I just wanted this stupid thing to be over with. Just so long as Dalma didn’t pulverize her in the ring, I was happy. I smiled in her direction, which seemed to raise her spirit some. I waited patiently as she stepped into the ring. I didn’t attack, not even after the whistle was blown. Artemis came at me hard, blow after vicious blow. She was putting everything she had into it and I was feigning exhaustion. I had to make it look good and convincing. So I lunged a little too far to the left, slipping a bit. It was all an act but the effect was quick. When I glided past her, she drove her elbow into the square of my back.

The blow actually took the wind out of me. I fell face first into the mat.

Crossan seemed overly satisfied. I heard her shout. “WE HAVE OUR CHAMPION.”

I pushed myself to my feet and brushed the dust off me. I looked over at Kate and she smiled, giving me a wink and a knowing nod. I returned the gesture and slowly made my way out of the ring, allowing Artemis her moment of glory.