Contenders, Champions-To-Be

As agreed, Phoebe and Camellia awoke before the crack of dawn to head to Damos’ family shop. Despite Phoebe downplaying her accommodations, Camellia slept well on the spare bed. More than anything, she felt grateful that she didn’t need to deal with the awkward situation of the guest room right across from Damos.

The trip there didn’t take long. Upon heading inside, they found Lynn chatting with Damos, double-checking her shoulder guards and gauntlets. Damos looked up, only for his nose to wrinkle ever so slightly when he saw Camellia.

“Hey, you two ready?” Phoebe called out.

Lynn nodded. “Pretty much, yes. Was there any last thing you needed, Damos?”

“Nope, I’m good.”

“Let me grab my stuff real quick,” Camellia quickly interjected, dashing off to the stairs up to the guest room. There was no way around it: her daggers, her holsters, and her own armor sat on the table in the guest room. Without making a fuss, she fetched them as quickly as possible, then returned downstairs.

The four then spent a few minutes getting sorted. Camellia affixed her daggers — one sharp, the other decorated in feathered engravings — to her belt, both sheathed. Phoebe helped her slip on a pad of some fish scales over her upper arm and shoulder, then turned around so Camellia could return the favor. The whole ordeal reminded Camellia vaguely of what it had felt like the morning of a big convention, gathering in the dark hours of the morning to prepare for a huge event. Though this time, rather than a festival of popular culture and fandom, she and her friends would be marching towards, allegedly, combat to the death.

They left the moment they were all prepared. As they walked through the city, they came across a few other contenders, also decked out in combat gear and shaking with nerves. It wasn’t long before they reached their destination, the shining temple where Camellia had first met Tethys.

A group of forty or so young hopefuls gathered in the central chamber. Without even burning an offering of summons, they were all soon greeted by a glistening aura of light and instinctively knelt.

“Eager contenders,” a familiar, delicate voice echoed through the hall. “The day you have long awaited has come.” The shimmering light materialized into the magnificent form of a goddess. She was just as stunning as Camellia remembered, with hair that constantly shifted in color and a gentle smile that filled you with warmth. Today, she was dressed not unlike Camellia, sporting a tunic with a knee-length skirt, though Tethys’ was decorated with countless visages of every animal under the sea.

Tethys waved her hand. “Rise, young champions. It is time to begin our second day of the legendary Trials of Ascension!” She struck a dramatic pose, lifting one hand to her head and sweeping the other out towards the crowd while leaning to the side. The contenders stared at her, glassy-eyed.

Tethys gave a little cough that almost sounded sheepish. “Oh, nervous, hm? That’s okay. I was hoping to ease a little of that, but alright. Shall we get started?”

The goddess of the sea turned around, towards the open wall on her left, and extended her arm. “I shall meet you all there, in the Arena of Anticipation. There will be a crowd.” She closed her fist, and a shimmering platform, a wide, translucent bridge made of water itself, shot out above The Bed to the edge of the cliffs directly above the city. It extended to what looked like an ancient coliseum, constructed atop the cliff.

Tethys turned back to the group. “I hope you’re excited.” In an instant, she disappeared into a column of bubbles, her final words resounding through the temple halls.

Phoebe was the first out of the temple. “Let’s do it!” she shouted, dragging her teammates along with her onto the magical overpass. Soon thereafter, the other contenders followed. As they tentatively stepped on what appeared to be thin air, the sounds of cheers carried up to their ears. Crowds beneath them, lining the streets of The Bed, shouted their best wishes up to the bridge. Camellia hoped that the underside of it wasn’t as translucent as it looked.

After a parade straight in a line above the rooftops of the city, they arrived at the edge of the cliff and stepped off onto land once more. Camellia’s friends, stars in their eyes, marveled at the coliseum before them. Even Damos seemed rapt in wonder. Guess the solos were held somewhere else.

“This is the first time I’ve been on the coastal shelf…” Phoebe muttered. “Sweet.”

They progressed into an antechamber on the bottommost level of the coliseum, waiting nervously with the other contenders for the signal to go.

The same powerful, graceful voice of the goddess suddenly resounded through the room, as if Tethys had somehow procured a huge loudspeaker and was using it to commentate to the entire arena. “Citizens of The Bed! You have waited a long five years, and it is now time. The first of the Trials of Ascension, The Trial of Anticipation, will now commence. As ever, it is with gratitude that I now project to you the voice of Lysandea, Ascension Augur.”

Camellia looked around in bewilderment. How did she do that? And why does this feel so… modern?

Camellia, she’s a goddess. You watched her summon a bridge from nothing not minutes ago. Is some trickery with magic and sound that far out of the question?

A low, husky female voice then echoed through the antechamber from outside in the arena. “May your blessings be upon them all, Good Lady Tethys. It is time.” Lysandea cleared her throat. “The first team to take on the Trial of Anticipation shall be…” A pregnant pause held the contenders in suspense. “‘Phoebe and Friends’. Come forth, and prove your worth!”

Phoebe immediately hopped up, grinning like mad. “Come on, guys, that’s us.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose as she stood up from her own stone bench, Lynn groaned, “I knew we shouldn’t have let you submit the parchment.”

“Oh come on, it’s cute, isn’t it?” Phoebe grabbed Camellia’s hand. “Now let’s show Miss Cammy here what we’ve all been training for.”

Together, the four of them approached the giant blackstone door, hand in hand, hearts beating as one.