For Eternity

Chapter 13: Congratulations!

Now that was another level of adrenaline standing on the school/palace grounds now turned into an arena. We stood at least a mile away from our defense mini castles our back facing the other team as we bent our knees waiting for the war horn to blow. It was an inter-country match, I had all of Europe's finest 11 sportspeople on either side of me while we played against South America. 

The loud sound of the horn echoed through the still grounds as the supporters went into a frenzy of screaming. I decided to stay back and hold the fort while 6 of us went ahead and attacked theirs. 

We formed a three-inch-thick wall of ice as they continually attacked it. I went to the top of the fort trying to get a good look at the attack. They were fairing well I suppose. I opened some wormholes on the other side of the wall redirecting their attacks on them from behind them. 

Something in my stomach turned. Okay, I don't think that means good news. I screamed at the top of my lungs to the guy on the lookout over the walls. "How's it going there?" my eyes barely slits in the bare sun. "Their attack is slowing down but their defense, we only have one man up there." He said in his heavy Italian accent. 

I climbed down the fort and ran all around the wall and through the forest, I jumped into their fort as the horn blew again. The ice diminished into small harmless crystals and our team came out cheering. We won. 

Observing the various matches West Asia was fast and brutal, East Asia was sly and full of tricks but then there was Russia, brutal, effective, and tactful. I saw how good Leo was at leading them. We played with East Asia while they played with West Asia. We, Russia and Europe both won. Russia a rather more victoriously while us just by a scratch. Honestly, I was surprised ever since I had started participating, and long before that as well there was all but one win by Europe and that was the after 17 years of whence the games began all the way back in the 16th Century with my ancestor Katherine Bartholomew the first, played it. I was the third of my name. My mother was second. I wasn't supposed to be named after her but when I and my brother were born there was a 15 minutes scare wherein our father had to announce us to the people waiting outside the gates and my mom was almost dead by childbirth. It runs in the void, we have a one-day pregnancy always with twins, we cannot get pregnant again as we can only mate with another void and we can only choose one love. And since my mom was practically on her deathbed my dad made a hasty decision of changing my decided name Tatiana to Katherine Bartholomew III. 

I was snapped out of this chain of thoughts when the war horn blew commencing the finals. Everyone was on defense. Russians were brutal attackers and they were even more powerful with another void on their side. No matter how much we won, the playing ground was now equal. As soon as they saw us in defense leaving all but 4 out of their twelve mates behind they attacked us. I grabbed Zara, a senior I had grown to like in her ways of attacking. "We are going to go out the side exit and through the forest, enter their side entrance," I explained the simple and straightforward strategy. She nodded her head once and we slipped out the door. 

Our eyes constantly trained on the attackers as we got past the midline into a more quiet zone. Slipping through the side entrance we knew that 2 of them would be on the top floor near the flag we had to capture and the other two a floor below it. 

We huffed through the stairs our backs to the staircase wall as we heard voices leisurely talking. Bending inwards I saw one holding a binocular in his hand, his back facing me, and the other talking to him facing me. I concentrated as I stepped into the corridor, they didn't notice. I had made me and Amara invisible as we silently knocked them down.

We walked up another staircase, they were much much alert than the two below. They made rounds back and forth of the flags with their eyes trained on the window out, keeping in check the match. I made me and Amara invisible again. And I walked in, there was something in the air, dust particles I suppose, and sneezed losing my concentration and we were now completely visible to the tall and muscular Russian men with long swords. 

I quickly drew my sword, buckling under the weight of their attack. I looked over at Zara she was having a better time than I was. I stepped aside as the man stepped forward regaining balance and attacking again. I opened a void in front of me in my hand and his sword fell right through it as he looked at me confused realization dawning on his face as he realized who he was up against, well didn't that just make this a lot more easier. Still, Katherine don't find the easy way out yet, fight said my mother's voice in my head. And I fought until he landed a punch in my face. Feeling the skin that had just cut open, "Enough" I said quietly. And both of the soldiers stopped dead in their tracks. I picked up the flag and waved it out of the fort's window as the horns blew and we won. 

The cheering resonated in my ears loudly as I held up the trophy. Everyone was picking up Timothy a member of our team who was kept the defense so well organized and effective that even me and Zara hadn't sneaked out to get the flag we would've been in a tie and standstill. I was cheering as I started feeling uneasy in my stomach. Nope as much as I already did vomit multiple times before I hate vomiting. Oh no, here it comes.

****

We were holding up Timothy on our shoulders cheering on the skinny pale kid who was the most amazing commander of defense I had seen I looked over at Katherine hunching in a corner. Was she throwing up? Oh god please no. I left the happy group and walked up to her. 

"Are you okay?" I said to her as I placed a hand on her shoulder blade. 

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She said straightening up and cleaning her mouth by the back of her hand. 

"You really exerted your body a lot today. You shouldn't throw up, you might faint." I say to her as she takes wobbly steps inside the school. 

"I said I'm fine. I just need to rest a little." She says, looking paler by the second and sweating from every pore in her body.

"Let's go to the nurse please or at least get something to eat," I say trying to lead her down the staircase. 

"Okay...eat..." She says breathing heavily as she collapses down into the floor.

***

I wake up to the smell of bleach with a machine beeping rhythmically beside me and a cold hand in my mine. I open my eyes and quickly understand I'm in the nursing room and the hand holding mine is Leo's. The last I remember is seeing the world spin and blackout.

"How long was I out?" I ask

"Not more than 45 minutes." He says smiling warmly at me

"What happened?" I ask him slowly sitting straight up and noticing the saline attached to my other hand.

"We don't know yet, the nurse will be coming any second with the results." He said eyeing at the door.

We..? I looked behind and noticed the silhouette of my father hunched in worry. At the same moment, the nurse burst in through the door with a huge smile on her face. 

"Congratulations! You are pregnant."