Third Person

I knew before anyone else that Cecelia and Hemlock would have the relationship they do now.

Cecelia, CannibalCrab and Tanith's spawn, has a loyalty unlike any other. It was a strength as much as it was a weakness. All she needed was a leader, and Hemlock, having KrakenKid and Professor Pikalus' genes in her, was a natural born one. They were destined to get together from the start.

So after Hemlock saved her life, Cecelia stuck to her like a baby duck to her mother. Hemlock was reportedly not very pleased at first- never was the greatest with people that one- but she grew on her. In fact, it was Hemlock, not Cecelia, who fell in love first.

It didn't surprise me at all, that when Hemlock fell into darkness, Cecelia plunged in with her.

—C.D.

———————————

"What do you mean they're gone?" Leo asked, crossing his arms and giving a concerned look.

Jasper shifted in his seat on the couch, looking up at him with bright and watery blue eyes. "I'm sorry but Cecelia is just gone! All of her important things are gone and I haven't seen her since!"

Leo paused for a moment, his nose wiggling as he pondered. Orion sat down on the couch next to his half brother, and put an arm around him. "It's not your fault at all." Orion told him firmly. Jasper nodded his head and quickly wiped away the forming tears.

"I know... I just feel like I should've noticed or done something!" Jasper told him, still frowning. "She was there when I went to bed and then suddenly, she just wasn't. I didn't hear anything in the night at all!"

Jasper was the son of KrakenKid and Joe, who unlike many of the others, was created purposely. Joe had wanted a kid of his own and asked for someone else to provide him with secondary DNA, and after some thinking, KrakenKid finally decided to step forward and help him out. After all, KrakenKid and Joe had a good relationship to begin with, so it wasn't a huge shock that KrakenKid would be the one to do it.

Jasper had blonde hair with curly ends, and quite a bit of it. His eyes were a bright blue, and unlike many others, he had purple tentacles instead of arms. His shirt was orange with purple edges, which had stars stitched into them, and a yellow diamond in the middle of it, with a J in the middle of the diamond.

Jasper could be rather emotional. Him crying wasn't abnormal- in fact, it was more so if he didn't cry at all. But, he easily bounced back from it. He'd shed a few tears, and after some encouraging words, he'd always bounce back to his smiling self.

Orion paused for a moment before cracking a grin. "In fact, what do you say to getting some treats?"

Jasper instantly grinned, getting up. "Cupcakes?" Orion gave a nod and he clapped his hands together in excitement. "Let's go!"

"Wait." Leo was about to speak, but someone else beat him to it. He turned to find Cobalt, leaning against the wall and gazing at them all with her uncovered eye. "You can't right now. It's still Monday, siblings missing or not."

Orion let out a frustrated groan. "Really? Two of our siblings are gone out of the blue, and you think we can still go to school after this? I don't want to learn about algebra, I don't even see how it'll help me!"

"It's supposed to use your creative thinking skills." Cobalt responded calmly, brushing her hair back a bit, but still kept her second eye covered. "Hemlock and Cecelia might be gone as of now, but they always seem to turn up. Besides, guards are already looking for them as we speak. They can handle it. School will end in a matter of weeks anyways, don't fall behind now."

Cobalt was the daughter of Selena and Blooper. She had long blue hair that always seemed to cover her left eye. Her right eye was a bright yellow color, and she normally wore a simple T-shirt, today's being navy blue. Much like Orion, she had a kraken lower half, with tentacles that kept her afloat. She was an odd one, rather calm, but also gave off a creepy aura sometimes, especially at the strangest comments she'd make with a grin on her face.

Most the kids lived inside a large house, nearby the hospital, that their parents had all built for them so they could be closer together and bond. Since they could only make a select amount of rooms, everyone had to share. Jasper was sharing one with Cecelia, while Cobalt shared one with Hemlock. When both of them disappeared in the night, packing up their stuff and leaving, it was Jasper and Cobalt who noticed first, and brought it to everyone's attention. After calling the guards, Leo and Orion sat the two down to question what they knew. Nothing useful had come up.

But, like most kids, they knew they all had to go to school, whether they liked it or not.

And they certainly didn't like it.

----------------

Iris normally did good in school.

Iris, the oldest daughter of Blooper and Selena, had light pink hair and different colored eyes, one yellow and one blue. She normally wore dresses, her favorite being black with vine like prints running through it, and was one she was wearing right now. Though her hair was normally long, she put it into a ponytail often to keep it out of her face.

And Iris, was normally good in school. That's what she kept telling herself as she tried to concentrate on her worksheet her math teacher gave her and the rest of the class. Though, it was difficult to when she kept feeling pokes in her side. She bit her lip and just kept going, until she finally gave in and snapped her head towards her neighbor. "What?" She snapped at her.

The person sitting besides her was Cordelia, the first born of KrakenKid and Tanith. She had yellow eyes, though the pupils had little slits to them, and her hair was naturally brown, but she had dyed it so it had an ombre of red going down it. She normally wore a cardigan, which closed more towards the right and had a large button. On her lower half, she had kraken tentacles, one of the three descendants of a kraken that did, the other two being Orion and Cobalt.

Cordelia grinned at her. "You busy after school?"

Iris sighed. As much as she loved Cordelia, and as much as she was her best friend, Cordelia was not the person you wanted to be friends with while in class. She was terrible at paying attention and following directions, always wanting to take her own spin on it instead of exactly what the teacher said. She found all sorts of shortcuts in math, did her own experiments in science, and composed her own music in band. So naturally, when everyone else was supposed to be working, Cordelia wanted to do literally anything else.

Surprisingly enough, through all this, she still had good grades, nearly as good as Iris herself. Because in the end, Cordelia could play solos in band, and even could take over conducting for the band teacher if needed, which earned their respect, all of her experiments technically were valid, even if they were different, plus she was lucky her science teacher valued the fact that her experiments were creative and worked over the fact of her disobedience, and her math equations did actually work.

But, while Cordelia always could do things like this, she would often distract Iris if she didn't feel like doing her work at that exact moment and wanted to save it for later, meaning Iris would be pried away from trying to complete her homework as fast as possible so she could have free time later.

Luckily, math and art were the only two classes she had with her, and while math was a pain, art was often fun since Cordelia made it entertaining. In fact, Cordelia still had some paint on her hands and wrists of various patterns for when they finished and began to mess around.

"Really? Now? You do realize we're still in school, right?" Iris arched her eyebrows.

"Yeah but after." Cordelia pressed on, grinning.

Iris paused before shrugging. "Nothing I can think of, why?"

Cordelia glanced at the teacher before leaning over to her. "Since everyone is still on edge about... Well, you know, Cecelia and Hemlock disappearing like that, the gang and I are getting together to blow off some steam. Wanna join?"

It took her a moment, but Iris pursed her lips. "I don't know, I'm not much of a fighter compared to the rest of you."

Cordelia's eyes rolled playfully. "That's why you train. Besides, a lot of the others are coming and they're all rookies!" When Iris still seemed unconvinced, she added on. "Plus, we're doing a tournament today. Whoever wins gets a mystery weapon."

That peaked her interest. "What kind of weapon?" She asked immediately. Like both her parents before her, Iris had a bit of an obsession with weapons of all kinds. She wasn't too bad in a variety of them, and loved collecting them as well.

Cordelia grinned. "Mystery weapon, remember? Nobody knows. Well, nobody except the Lead Scientist, he made it."

Iris blinked in confusion. "Pikalus? How long have you guys been planning it?"

"No, not him." She quickly explained. "Since he's out, his next in line is taking the title of Lead Scientist, and unlike Pikalus, as soon as we told him we wanted something made, he didn't even hesitate."

Iris snickered. "Imagine that, Pikalus' next in line still has his itch to make weapons or whatever else people request instead of their actual work."

"So, can I count you in?" Cordelia flashed a grin. Iris thought to herself before nodding, and seconds later, the bell rang. Cordelia gathered up her stuff. "See you after school then, rainbow."

"Bye, Cory!" Iris called back. She stuffed her worksheet in her binder, and then that into her backpack before setting off for her last class. After that, Cordelia was waiting for her right outside her classroom and the pair strolled towards the arena.

"So other than your normal fighting group, who else is coming?" Iris asked, keeping up with her.

Cordelia thought for a moment. "It's more of a matter of who isn't," She chuckled to herself. "Jasper, Orion, Aaron and Florence are all out. They might be together but who knows with them, everyone else who hasn't randomly disappeared on us like some people are coming."

Iris ran through the people in her head before widening her eyes. "Emrys is going to be there?"

"Yep." Cordelia nodded, eyes focused on the arena that was now in view. "He's only coming because Zero is. I swear they're inseparable."

"And he's going to compete?" Iris asked, wanting to clarify that what she was hearing was true.

The hybrid kept nodding. "Yep. He might not like it, but he did agree as long as he can stay. Competitors only, you don't get to just sit and watch."

Iris whistled to herself. Emrys was almost a pacifist. He wasn't exactly against fighting for others, but hated doing it himself. He avoided it at every cost, and prefered a simple life of passive magic. But actually seeing him fight? That only made her more interested for her to come with.

When they entered, it was clear that they were the last to arrive, given it was already crowded. Araminta, who was leaning against the wall, scowling as she talked with Leo, saw them and her eyes instantly darkened. "Finally!" She huffed, walking over to them. "What, did you take the long way around?"

Cordelia waved her off. "Yeah, yeah. We're late, yada yada, can we just get to the tournament already?"

Araminta clenched her jaw but nodded. "Fine. Gargoyle!" She called, getting the attention of a gray haired boy with glowing, blue tattoos around the front of his neck. "It's time." Iris barely got to even glance at him before he was gone in a flash. Araminta barked at everyone to follow her before marching to the inside of the arena.

Inside, it was modified differently than normally. Nothing looked different, other than a large circle drawn out in black stones, looking to be a couple yards in width and height. Araminta spoke. "The rules are simple. Does everyone know the basics of sumo wrestling?" A bunch of nods came. "Like that, minus the sumo suits and body styles."

"So just push people out of the ring?" Iris echoed, than shrugged. "Seems simple enough."

Araminta chuckled. "Ohhhh, it's not. Every part of them has to be out, not so much as a toe inside of the circle or they're still considered in. Whoever is out first is out of the match, and their opponent goes on to the next round. One on one, winner gets the mystery weapon. We have non lethal weapons for everyone. Capeesh?"

Various "Capeesh" answers came back, and she seemed satisfied. "Great, we can get started then."

Gargoyle came back, wheeling out a cart of various weapons and a small screen with several names all in branches, like a bracket graph that you use for sports tournaments. "The list is randomized." Araminta added on. "But, for the first pair is..." She let a low whistle. "Leo, sorry, but you're unlucky."

Leo's head shot up, eyes wide. "What? Who did I get?"

Araminta slowly turned his way, a sympathetic and yet snarky smile on her face. "Me." She answered. Leo's face froze. He glanced in the direction of the door but Araminta grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the weapons rack. "Too late, you agreed to this, you have to pull through."

Araminta took one look at the weapons, most of which were various types of blades and guns and picked up a rather large looking axe. Leo squeaked but covered his mouth and fumbled for a fencing sword. Cordelia rose her eyebrows and gave Iris a looked that just said, 'He's screwed' but said nothing out loud.

The paired walked to the middle of the circle, where they both prepared themselves. "Someone start the countdown." Araminta said, eyes never straying from Leo.

Iris herself decided to step forward. "Three... Two... One.... Go."

As soon as she said 'Go', Araminta launched forward. Leo quickly raised his weapon just in time for the two metals to clash. Leo paused, then grinned that he managed to block the attack, but Araminta moved to kick him, hitting him right in the gut. Leo stumbled back, almost tipping over the edge of the circle but balanced himself out. It didn't last long as Araminta knocked him out of the ring in the next second.

Everyone stared before some started to laugh, and others just stared at Araminta. "That wasn't even ten seconds." Cordelia chuckled and helped Leo up.

Leo's face was red with embarrassment. "I didn't think I'd last that long anyways." He admitted, glancing over at Araminta. "I was hoping to be paired up with someone with less fighting experience."

Before anyone could say anything else, Araminta called, "Next!" and their attention turned as Araminta read the board. "Nike and... Carlo."

Cordelia grinned while Leo and Iris gave each other concerned looks.

Nike, daughter of Joe and Selena, the last genetically created child. She had one blue and one green eye, and long, blonde hair that was always up in pigtails. She wore a black and white striped shirt, and overalls to go over it. She was the only lucky child of Joe's to gain wings, which now fluttered with excitement when she not only heard she was up next, but that her opponent was Carlo, someone she took quite a liking to. When she smiled-which was quite often- it was often seen as unnerving. Though she could be an energetic person, there was always something that made her creepy, even if there was nothing to be scared of. She was among the fastest of them.

Then, there was Carlo, opposite to her in many ways. He was a product of Professor Pikalus and Tanith, another accidental child. With brown eyes and fluffy, green hair, Carlo was the strong and silent type, emphasis on the strong. He often wore black tank tops and pants with camouflage patterns on them. It was very apparent that he was strong as soon as you looked at him, his muscles were quite large, and he was the strongest out of all of them, not one doubt about that. Though high different, they were good friends, living up to the phrase of 'Opposites Attract'.

Carlo looked to Nike, and gave a nod before they both moved for the weapons rack, Nike speeding over quicker than he did. There, they chose their respective weapons. Nike grabbed for a hammer first, but then hovered over a whip, before taking that along with her. Carlo on the other hand, grabbed a pair of gauntlets and slipped them on his hands.

They moved to the middle of the ring, and then as soon as they were given the go ahead, began to move. Nike went in with the hammer first, swinging but missing as Carlo ducked and hit her side as she swung again, throwing her off balance. He punched her towards the edge of the circle, and while managed to get the first half of her body out, her lower half stayed. He moved to push her out, but she rolled out of the way.

Getting to her feet, Nike threw her hammer away, which got quite close to hitting Leo if he didn't move out of the way, and her wings extended quickly, before she started to rapidly ascend. Carlo began to swim up, doing his best to follow her but wasn't as fast.

"Is that allowed?" Iris asked Cordelia, questioning what Nike was doing.

Cordelia nodded. "You can go as deep or as high as you want, just need to stay within the circle."

Nike pulled out her whip and struck Carlo. He flinched at the first couple before dropping back down to the ground and began to dodge them, feeling more grounded. His eyes seemed to calculate how she was moving, then grabbed her whip when it came down again.

Carlo pulled hard on the whip, bringing Nike back down, but she was prepared and delivered a blow once she was close enough. He recovered and moved to punch again, but she ducked, then rebounded with using her wings to attack him. She managed to blind him with her feathers in his eyes, and tackled him once she had an opening. He stumbled back, just at the edge of the established circle, but never recovered as Nike pulled the same move to fully push him out.

"And game!" Cordelia laughed. "I knew Carlo couldn't beat her, she's been training with us for weeks!"

Nike let out victory laughs, then zipped to Carlo's side to help him up. "That was fun!" She exclaimed. "You're so much fun to fight, even with your low experience! No one's ever thought to grab the whip before, and neither of us even used magic. Train with us more often and this'll be even better next time-just think of it!"

Carlo gave a small smiled and nod in her direction. "It was a good fight." He admitted, his low voice had a hint of pride in it. "The blinding trick was clever, I couldn't even think when it was happening."

"You think so? It was still in testing, that was the first time I used it in an actual fight but that's amazing!" Nike bounced on her feet, a wicked grin on her face. "Just think if we were a team! We'd be unmatched! The world at our fingertips!" Her voice seemed to darken a bit, which made a couple of the others uncomfortable.

Carlo chuckled lowly. "I don't know about that, but we'll see." He led her over to where some of the others were starting to sit down and watch the other fights.

Araminta waited until they were seated to announce the next ones. "Good work you too, and great win, Nike." Nike beamed with determination, a fire burning in her eyes. "We've got Emrys and Magnus next."

Emrys instantly became a little pale, which Zero quickly patted him on the back. Emrys was the youngest son and brother to Cordelia, being born of KrakenKid and Tanith. He had pink hair that was styled to be moved upward, and there was quite a lot of it, not to mention yellow eyes. He wore a sweater with purple and red diamond patches, and a black vest to go over it. Like his mother, he had a snake tail, though his was a pattern of a California King Snake, with brown as a base, and white partal stripes throughout it. Unlike his mother rebellious sister, Emrys was quieter, shyer, afraid of breaking the rules and making people upset, and most of all, wasn't a fan of fighting.

Magnus however, was Iris' little brother, and the youngest of Selena and Blooper's children, and mostly everyone else, only being beat by Florence. The young boy had magenta hair that flaked out, and yellow eyes. He generally wore a white shirt and pants, with a red cape, downright obsessed with becoming some great hero one day. He did have an eye for fashion, but truly did want to be something great along with it. "By day, I can design clothes," He would say. "And by night, I can fight off villains, in an awesome outfit!" Prideful and flattering, that was him, but it didn't come without being naive.

Magnus shot up and grabbed Emrys, heading straight for the ring. "W-wait! What about-" Emrys protested, but Magnus didn't listen.

"We don't need weapons, I can beat you with my bare hands!" Magnus grinned. He didn't wait for a countdown as he launched himself at Emrys and began to wrestle him.

Already alarmed, Emrys thrashed, and threw him off him, managing to send him tumbling. Both got up, and Magnus instantly tried again, doing the same thing, but Emrys panicked and picked him up. Though with any other opponent, this wouldn't be possible, Magnus was small, currently only 4'3, which while fairly normal for the 11 year old boy, he didn't exactly match up to 5'4 Emrys, who was a whole foot taller than him. Not to mention Magnus was pretty light.

Magnus thrashed a little in his grip, but Emrys managed to hold him up long enough to slither to the edge of the circle, and put him on the other side of it. He then looked out to everyone else. "I did it!" Emrys smiled a little. "See? You don't have to fight to fix your problems!"

Cordelia stared at her brother for a while before laughing. "You never change, do you, Emmy?" Then she whipped around to Iris. "Ha! My brother is stronger than your brother!"

Magnus began to pout. "No fair! It's not my fault I'm not as tall as you, I want a rematch!" He crossed his arms and tried to look threatening, but it was more like a kitten trying to glare at you.

Araminta blinked, then shrugged. "He did get you fully out of the circle while staying inside himself so I count it. Emrys moves to the next round." Emrys smiled until he was hit with the realization that he'd be put in the ring again, and the next opponent he probably wouldn't be able to just pick them up and place them out of the fight.

"Which leaves our next pair to be... Iris and Cobalt."

Iris blinked in surprise, then looked to her sister. Cobalt's one uncovered eye glazed at her, and a smirk played on her face. Cobalt might've been her younger sister, but Iris still found herself uneasy of who she was about to go against.

Iris chose a pair of tonfa, which were sturdy sticks with handles, often used for close combat, something Iris prefered. Her sister on the other hand, chose pantera claws, which had a spot to slide your fingers into like brass knuckles, but had three blades at the end, much like claws. Cobalt sent her another look before the pair headed out to the middle.

"Sister vs sister." Leo commented to Araminta. "This should be good." Araminta didn't respond outloud, but grinned in agreement.

They both struck quickly, and before they knew it, they were already clashing weapons and rushing around for weak spots, but both were having trouble getting to one. Cobalt got a few nicks in the leg, and Iris got a solid hit in the shoulder, but neither showed signs of stopping, or slowing down.

As the pair began to stay in their stalemate, Araminta turned to Leo. "And what was that about?"

Leo glanced over at her. "What was what?"

"Our fight. You didn't even try that much. I've seen you fight, you could've reacted faster, and I didn't even see one lick of Nexus voodoo, or any sign that you were even going to attempt." Araminta waited for an answer but Leo stared ahead, starting to chew at his lip. "Come to think of it," She began to realize something, eyebrows arching. "You chose a fencing sword. That's not what you normally use, you wouldn't gone for the cutlass you love so much."

Leo sighed. "I didn't want to fight you, Minty. You're one of my best friends, why would I? Besides, you're stronger than me."

Araminta's gaze softened a little, and she punched his shoulder a little. "Well, why didn't you say so, punk? If you wanted not to fight that badly as to not even try with me, maybe I would've made an exception. I am the boss around here."

He gave her an amused look. "What does Cordelia say about that statement?"

"That it's bullcrap." Cordelia answered from behind them. "There's not a soul in Atlantis who's the boss of me. They're in the Overworld right now."

"Shut up, punk." Araminta rolled her eyes before returning to the fight, and just in time.

Cobalt suddenly lashed out at Iris, knocking her back, and using one of her tentacles to grab one of her weapons and throw it away. From there, she wrestled her out of the circle, keeping herself in. Cobalt dusted off her hands as soon as she won, smiling.

"Cobalt wins." Araminta announced. Vega, Cordelia, you're up."

Vega was a bit of an oddball. Accidental daughter of CannibalCrab and Selena had short hair that she dyed all different colors, this time being red, pink, blue and purple, all in different strips of her hair. Her eyes were a bright blue, and she absolutely loved fighting. She normally wore a black shirt with a blue cardigan over it. She was normally high energy and a sweetheart, but sometimes seen as a tank in battle. Lucky for Cordelia, she didn't need to beat her that way, just knock her out of a ring. Her eyes darted around she met her opponent, then grinned.

Cordelia and Vega both didn't waste much time picking out their weapons, both knowing what they wanted. Vega glanced at Cordelia briefly before moving for a tough looking Bo Staff, while Cordelia took two swords and started to flip them around.

As soon as they stepped within the circle, there wasn't any countdown. Cordelia dashed right for Vega, with Vega doing the same as soon as she noticed Cordelia moved. Vega landed the first hit while dodging both of Cordelia's.

Cordelia was dazed for a moment, for the hit had struck her head, but ducked when Vega tried again, then retaliated by hitting her arms. Cuts appeared in them, but Vega still blocked the second attack.

Cordelia's tentacles from her lower half began to latch onto her arms, pulling them down and weakening them. Then, suddenly, she eased up on the swords and decided to tackle her. Vega wrestled her off, but froze when she figured out her Bo Staff was no longer in her hands, but rather within Cordelia's.

Cordelia grinned and threw it outside the circle. She took her own weapons and charged at Vega. Vega held off as long as she could, but couldn't stop the inevitable as she was pushed out.

"Cordelia wins!" Cordelia chuckled but still helped Vega up, who still looked quite upbeat for someone who just lost.

This only left two people, who looked to each other. Zero, the son of Blooper and Selena, and second oldest. He had black hair that while mostly straight, had one tuff of it up like a cowlick, and yellow eyes. He wore a black T-Shirt and jacket, but had a lower mermaid half, also being black. He was silent, but nodded at Phoenix when he saw him. Zero was often seen as the 'Ninja' out of all of them. Silent, wore black all the time, and could sneak up on you without much of an effort. However, he was a pretty reserved too, being cynical about people. How Emrys managed to get to him was a true mystery.

Phoenix on the other hand, was the son of CannibalCrab and KrakenKid. His eyes, like almost all of KrakenKid's kids or grandkids, had yellow eyes, though his hair was a fiery red. He wore a black shirt and a lab coat, along with black jeans. There was a pair of goggles resting on his forehead, though he took them off and handed them to Leo as he walked to the circle. Phoenix was a strange one, and while being quite smart and somewhat logical, also could get emotional at times, being quite sensitive too. He tended to be devoted to anyone who wormed their way into his heart, and got carried away when he gets excited.

 Phoenix didn't grab a weapon, but Zero moved for a dagger, then followed.

They both waited for the countdown before Phoenix's arms were engulfed by fire. Phoenix laughed and Zero blinked in surprise, but his body lowered a little, eyes examining him.

Phoenix had gotten fire powers from an accident a couple years back, and some people had forgotten about it. Phoenix didn't waste time to throw fireballs at Zero, but Zero zipped out of the way.

Phoenix spun around, but after doing a full 360, Zero was gone from his sight. He blinked, but soon was found off guard as Zero tackled him from above, sending them both to the ground and the fire going out.

Phoenix grunted and ignited himself again, but Zero was able to move out of the way just in time. The mermaid socked him right in the back, then when he spun around, attacked him in the front, catching him off balance. He let out a surprised cry, but it didn't last long as he was slapped in the face with Zero's tail.

Zero quickly swam all around the circle, doing laps and picking up speed. "Oh, I remember this play!" Vega exclaimed. "He calls it Hypnotism!"

To her left, Emrys stuttered a little. "Hypnotism? Why does he-"

Both were interrupted as Zero suddenly rammed into Phoenix's back, sending him flying, and landing just outside of the circle. "Oh." Emrys blinked in surprise. "Circle to confuse, then hit once they are. Hypnotism, I get it." Then he called out to Zero. "Good job!"

Zero nodded in response, smiling slightly.

"Round one is done." Araminta stood up. "Emrys, Zero, Cordelia, Cobalt, Nike and I are all proceeding while everyone else can just watch. The first match up will be," She glanced at the screen, then hesitated. "Zero and Emrys." She said quietly.

Emrys froze in place and looked to Zero, whose face was unreadable. "Uh- I- ummm..." He trailed off, sputtering and his face turning even more pale than before.

Zero didn't say a word as he swam over to the circle, though his pace was much slower than it normal was. Emrys looked like a deer in headlights for a moment, then hesitantly followed. Zero stared at the ground, deep in thought, even after the countdown was over. Emrys didn't move for a while, then hesitantly slithered forward.

"Ze, I-" Emrys didn't finish and Zero suddenly rushed forward, taking him with him, and they both ended up on the other side of the circle. Zero looked like he was tackling him, but at the same time, it was a lot more gentle than that.

Araminta stared for a moment. "Zero, you tackled both of you out of the circle, that means you're both out."

Zero got up, his face blank. "Oops." He said plainly, then as he turned to lend a hand to the snake hybrid, there was a moment of something else on his face.

Cordelia scoffed a little. "He meant to do that." She realized, getting a couple people to turn their heads. "I saw that smirk, he wanted to get them both out so neither would have to fight." She clicked her tongue. "Sly as ever."

The next fight consisted of Cobalt vs Cordelia, and Nike vs Araminta. Cobalt was quick, but Cordelia ultimately won the battle overall, pulling a 'Playing Dead' trick when she was knocked to the ground and when Cobalt came closer to push her out of the circle, she turned it around on her. Then, Araminta managed to blindly attack Nike when she used the same trick she pulled on Carlo, then overpower her and she was out too.

Which left Cordelia and Araminta. The pair stared each other down as they picked up weapons. Cordelia had stuck with hers, but Araminta was picking up a sword as well. Cordelia watched her, gears turning in her head, then she smirked. "Just one? You looking to lose?"

Araminta growled, eyes burning with spite. She snatched another one as well as a couple daggers before marching out to the circle. Cordelia giggled to herself before doing the same.

It started out simple, and what most people expected: Araminta's strength outmatched Cordelia and she started to push her out. But as Cordelia slipped behind her, and the pair faced off again, it would change.

"Is that all you got?" Araminta smirked confidently. Cordelia was silent, but her giving off the same smirk suddenly confused Araminta.

"Nope." She answered, then began to concentrate. Araminta hesitated for a moment too long before her swords in her hands, as well as the daggers in her pockets shot out and levitated around Cordelia. It took her a moment for her to process, but when she did, her stomach dropped. "Didn't remember that I could manipulate metal, did you?" Cordelia laughed in her face. "You played right into my hands."

The swords suddenly began to rain down on her. Araminta jumped out of the way, dashing around and trying to claw at Cordelia with her one crab claw but it didn't work as she blocked her with the daggers. Summoning all she could, a new wave of swords came at her. Araminta had to slide to a stop as one attempted to stab the ground in front of her, then turned the other way when another blocked her way

Left and right they fell, then picked up again just to go after her again. As she rushed, then quickly pivoted around to face Cordelia and her wave of metal weapons, she paused. Cordelia didn't move, but was grinning madly.

Slowly, Araminta looked down at where she was at, and realized that she had accidentally ran right over the line of rocks that made the circle what it was. "Game over, I win." Cordelia sang. "What's my prize?"

Araminta groaned but dragged herself over to the box she had placed out and handed it over to her. "You got lucky." She snapped at the kraken hybrid.

Cordelia batted her eyes. "Lucky? I hardly think so." She opened it up, then pulled out a strange looking gun from inside, examining it. "Laser gun? You sure Pikalus didn't make this? Seems like something he would do."

"Nope, the new guy made it. I didn't catch his name, he's pretty young though." Araminta's voice was still bitter, and her arms crossed as she was talking to her.

Leo got up and stretched. "You guys sure put up a fight. Do you do this often? Seems kinda dangerous." He eyed the bundle of swords that Cordelia left on the battlefield.

They both waved him off. "It's fine, Leo." Araminta insisted.

Leo huffed as the rest of them began to get up as well. Zero and Emrys were talking to themselves; Phoenix, Cobalt, Magnus and Vega were looking at the rest of the weapons; while Nike and Carlo were having a rather one sided conversation given Carlo didn't say much. Leo and Iris walked over to Araminta and Cordelia respectively.

Iris peeked over at the gun as Cordelia began to shoot it, seeing that it was more like a pistol, not semi-automatic. The hybrid glanced over. "You want this? I'm not too big of a fan of it myself." Iris beamed and nodded, instantly testing it out when she got her hands on it.

As Araminta and Leo were talking however, his phone buzzed. He took it out to find Orion was calling him.

"Orion? Hey, how's-" He said as he answered, but was interrupted.

"Leo," Orion's voice was serious and urgent. "We found them. Hemlock and Cecelia, they're both here."

Leo blinked, then grinned. "Found both of them? That's great!"

Orion let out a half frustrated grunt. "No, it's not, you don't understand. They're-..." He cut himself off, then sighed. "I don't want to explain it over the phone, but you need to get here and fast. They're in the marketplace, they're gathering a crowd."

The prince found himself even more perplexed with each detail. "What? Orion, I don't un-"

"JUST GET OVER HERE NOW! I-"

"Orion," Another voice interjected. The feminine voice sounded so familiar. Orion's breath hitched as soon as they addressed him. "Glad you could be here, you of all people need to hear this."

Before Leo could respond, the phone hung up.

*********************************************************

Me When I First Made This Chapter: Hey, you know what's a good way to introduce characters? Fighting

To blow off some steam (And introduce some more characters) the kids have a fighting tournament! Even though Cordelia wins, this was just out of pushing people out of a circle, meaning in a different fight, other people might win a battle.

Don't worry, you'll get to know the characters more through more chapters so don't sweat it

Hemlock and Cecelia are missing, but near the end, Orion says he found them. Yay... Right? Why does he sound so urgent though? I wonder why...

I didn't describe Gargoyle too much because I didn't want to introduce more characters than I already had to. Trying to take it slow so y'all don't get everyone's character descriptions in two chapters since you won't get a lot from him in this one, he'll turn up though, as will several others.

Though they are in school now, their summer break is coming up, which is good for them considering what is about to go down...

Once again, in the top note, C is not the first name, it's a title. Guess if you'd like!

Anyways, that's that! I hope you guys liked this, sorry it took so long! Be sure to comment what you think, and goodbye!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter