ATYCHIPHOBIA¹ | p.jackson

TWO.

after a few minutes of chanting clarisse and the judges agreed to have a meeting. "ALRIGHT! we'll have a meeting! send your representatives to the ares cabin in five minutes! follow the policy!"

nicasia turned to look at her brother once again. she sent him a nod, silently telling him to go represent her and her siblings since she couldn't. nicasia was the chosen representative for the nike kids, but since her move was the one they were voting on, she wasn't allowed. that was another rule, that if the topic being voted on directly has some thing to do with a representative, they will have to send another person to vote.

clarisse, niclaus, and the rest of the representatives exited the arena and headed to the ares cabin. as soon as the door shut, some of the war kids went up to the cabin, hoping to eavesdrop. everyone else, including nicasia waited in the arena. the people in the crowd were discussing whether they thought the move should be added or not. after a few minutes, the representatives came back into the arena, holding one of the lists.

"IT IS DECIDED! NICASIA'S MOVE IS UNSPORTSMANLIKE!" the enyo representative yelled. yells of both agreement and protest sounded from the crowd. "IT HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE LIST. AS OF TODAY, THIS IS THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY SEVENTH ILLEGAL MOVE, LISTED AS NICASIA'S MOVE!" she announced. nicasia glared at clarisse. clarisse was her best friend and she loved her, but they did not get along at all when they had to go against each other because of how competitive both of them are.

they were so bad when they were against each other, that chiron had banned it during the chariot races. the last time they were on opposite teams during the chariot races, both of them ended up with one of their kneecaps shattered, nicasia with a broken arm, and clarisse with a few broken ribs. they also both had concussions, as a result of head butting each other.

they had been competing together on separate chariots, nicasia on the athena chariot and clarisse on the ares one. clarisse and her siblings had thrown a big rock into the wheel of the athena chariot, destroying it. the athena chariot started to break down and go out of control. nicasia and the athena kids decided to get them back for it and nicasia ended up throwing a sword at the ares chariot, cutting the reigns of the horses. the horses kept going, leaving the chariot behind. both chariots had ended up destroyed.

nicasia had marched up to clarisse, the two of them yelling at each other. donni, a son of aphrodite and the final member of their trio, tried to break them apart. he knew what was going to happen, but he got their too late and just watched them fight, disappointed.

clarisse was the one who threw the first punch. nicasia was now set on winning the fight and hit her back. eventually hitting each other wasn't enough and they started to kick and scratch each other which eventually led to the two of them head butting each other. the two of them kept fighting and failed to notice that they were on the edge of the ledge they had ended up on top of. long story short, they fought and they took a tumble.

"CLARISSE IS THE WINNER! FOR THE NEXT WEEK, YOU ALL WILL BE GIVING UP YOUR DESSERT TO HER UNTIL SHE SAYS SHE HAS HAD ENOUGH!" the judges yelled. everyone scattered back to either their cabin or the infirmary. now, nicasia and clarisse were alone in the arena.

"sorry nicki, but that move is unfair. if it makes you feel better, i'll share my dessert with you." clarisse said. nicasia looked at her bestfriend. "it's not unfair. and i forgive you clare. don't forget to get some strawberry ice cream for donni. we're going to the hill tonight right?" clarisse smiled, happy that nicasia forgave her. nicasia, being the daughter of the goddess of victory, was naturally a really, really sour loser. luckily, clarisse knew that food was the way to her heart.

the two of them walked off to the infirmary, leaning on each other. as they walked, they talked about what snacks would be good to bring to the hill later that night and the latest gossip. nicasia had been so focused on what had been happening, that she didn't notice the sea green eyes that had watched the whole thing happen.