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Part Forty-Nine

It brought shock to many, the fact that Demeter Academy came out in first place. Many imagined that Fred would lose, however, that was not the case. Demeter Academy coming out in front was a first, this was the height of their time. Majority of the time they were always on the bottom.

As much of a motivation, this was to the students of Demeter Academy, many knew they would not be able to hold this position. First place was a privilege and even just being in first for a moment was enough to be in the spotlight for a while.

Yet, Demeter did not have many students that could compete toe to toe with the students from the other academies. The few that they had could be counted on one hand.

The biggest perk of coming out in front was the momentum it would give the students participating. Not to mention, they would not come in the last three places. That's why assuring them first was such a big deal to every academy.

Alicia let out a sigh of relief, Fred had her worried there for a moment, but he did not disappoint. It sucked that she could not use him again for the rest of the competition. If she could, then maybe, just maybe Demeter would be able to secure a spot in the top five.

However, she did not lose any motivation as she thought about it. Now that she lost one of her biggest cards, she needed to play her hand just right to finish off the competition.

Alicia bit her lower lip as she stared at the scoreboard.

Demeter had eighty points, since they were in first place, while second place was at sixty-five. Third and fourth place were at fifty-five points each, and everyone else was way below.

Athena, Zeus, and Hades Academies held the three spots after Demeter. Those were the three that never left the first three spots on the board. The top three spots were unmovable.

Alicia watched as her schoolmates helped Fred enter their little section. He was exhausted, she could tell that much.

Walking over to him Alicia handed him a white towel as she gave him a smile.

“Good work.”

“Well, it sure wasn’t easy.”

Fred grabbed the towel from her and started to wipe his face. He stopped and looked up at her.

“Hope you don’t forget about tonight.”

Alicia’s cheeks blushed a little as she rolled her eyes. She should never have promised him anything, but she would keep her word.

“I didn’t forget! So… what do you think? We’ll have a chance to come out on top of this?”

Fred rubbed his chin as he thought of all the other students. His match might have made them use their strongest fighters, but there were still plenty more.

“Probably, ten percent chance we’d make it into the top five. Wouldn’t get our hopes up though, we still have next year.”

“I guess you’re right, but still it wouldn’t be bad to be the one on top for once. Our academy doesn’t have as much prestige as the others, and it seems like all the talents students refuse to enter a school that's not in the top five. We’d get like one S ranked talent a year, while the top five gets six or more. Hard for us to compete when the odds are against us.”

“But that just makes the challenge fun. Beating those who claim to be better than you, showing that talent can only get you so far if you don’t have the skill to back it up. It’s not like they have better resources than us, it's just the history they have. This year, I feel like the way people think will change.”

Alicia raised her eyebrow as she crossed her arms, she was confused about the last part Fred said.

“What do you mean?”

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Fred laughed a little, even he did not know what he meant. He just had a feeling something would change.

“I honestly don’t know, but we can wait and see. For now, you should think about the next match.”

“Hard to do that when I don’t even know what it is. When they announce it, i’ll think about it. Until then, I think i’ll wait here with you.”

Fred stretched his arms as he yawned.

“Oh? You will huh? I plan on going to sleep though, so I take you you’re coming along with me then.”

Alicia once again rolled her eyes at Fred. She liked him, but some of the things he said should only be spoken in private. Not when there were others around them. Especially not those the two of them knew.

“No thanks, we’ll just have dinner tonight and i’ll go to bed.”

Fred’s eyes lower, he was disappointed.

“That’s not what you promised.”

“I said, i’d spend the night out with you. Going out to dinner at night will fulfill that promise.”

Alicia turned and walked away, leaving Fred there speechless.

He wanted people to hear their conversation, then she’d make him miss out on something he wanted. Maybe he’d be more conscious of the surroundings next time he spoke like that.

She had to keep up an image, and he was going to ruin it.

Fred shook his head and grinned as he watched the sway of Alicia’s hips. He couldn’t help but bit his lower lip as he knew what he was going to miss out on.

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The bald man appeared on the screen once again. He acted like he was surprised the camera was on him and jumped.

“Scared me there for a sec, thought I’d have to freeze you where you’re standing.”

He pulled out a small gun that was dark blue, you could see frost over the barrel.

“We don't need this anymore… or do we? It’s exactly what you’re thinking, why use a gun that freezes when we can use something else! Can you guess what's next? I mean… if you know what's next inform me because I have no clue at all.”

Holding his finger to his ear, he quieted down and nodded his head. It did not take long before his eyes brightened up and a wide smile appeared on his face.

“This is a good one. Anyone ever played tag when you were young? How about red light, green light? Yeah… I know you all have! Next game is ‘Catch me’.

It’s a simple game, catch Bubbles over here and you win.”

The bald man pointed towards a small white furred bunny with light blue eyes. It caused the eyes of the female spectators to soften. As cute as it was since it was apart of the competition it could not be underestimated.

Everyone knew there would be a catch to this game.

“But wait! There’s a catch. You can only move when the light is green, and if you move when its red… let’s just say you’ll no longer be moving again. Bubbles here is the cutest thing on earth, but get on her bad side and she’ll start chasing after you. Talk about a rabbit with a bad attitude.

I’ll leave the rest up to you. The match will begin in ten minutes.”

The screen changed as a timer appeared, counting down from ten minutes.

Alicia gazed over all the members who could participate. She had a few options she could use here, but she needed someone who was agile.

Red light green light was about going as far as you could in the shortest amount of time, while also stopping yourself before the light turned red. Naturally, the participants were bound to fight as well.

Alicia thought of someone she could use, but first, she needed to see something else. She sat down in her chair and started tapping her fingers on the virtual computer.

Considering that they were currently in the lead, Alicia wanted to keep it as long as she could. Even if it meant using her strongest members first. However, she did not want them to go out if they would have to face off against someone who would counter them.

Alicia started to analyze the data she had from the previous years. She could cross off the people that already went out. After she had her pool of students from the other academies she then looked from their strengths.

Her time was limited so she was rushing through everything. Her fingers seemed to dance as they moved on the virtual computer.

“Alicia, there’s two minutes left you need to decide who is going out.”

A voice called out from her side. She stopped moving her fingers and looked over her shoulder.

“Give me a minute, I think I have it almost figured out. There’s a good chance I know…”

“We don’t have that much time left. Just go with what your gut says and send out who you think is best. Trust in yourself more than you trust the data. Because data will always change.”

Alicia sighed as she ran her fingers through her blonde hair. She looked at Iliana and gave a soft smile.

“You’re up next.”

Iliana brushed her long black hair behind her ear and nodded her head. Something told her she would be picked next.

Seeing how hard Alicia was working trying to find the perfect candidate to go out, Iliana started to believe that she would be used when they needed her the most.

It was sort of funny. Fred was the strongest and he went out first. She was the second strongest, and now she’s going out second.

If things continued this way, it would be obvious who’d be next.