Where The Dead Ones Go Book 2 -Republic-

Chapter 17

"Due to the last battle, we will be taking a fifteen minutes break to repair the stands damaged by the wave. Please take this time to eat, use the restroom, and get to know our students. Thank you..."

"I will never dare to wake her up ever again..."

We all looked at Vaski, who is grasping his head in shock as Gala is trying to calm him down as he looked down at the devastation his retainer has caused at the colosseum.

"Just look at those three, Vivet," Morris said as he pointed at the traumatized students from other sections being brought away in stretchers, "Guess who is laughing now, huh?"

Zenith is just laughing while shaking his head as he and Avesa are checking on Taurei and Narcine, who is being smacked by Amphitrite's daughter for supposedly leaving her at the hands of the enemy.

"How dare you even call yourselves my best friends when you just ran away and leave me defenseless?!"

The son of Hera cowered in fear as Persephone's daughter tried to calm her down.

"Please, Rebie, try to understand, friend. If we didn't leave, we would've been included at the ones defeated, and that is automatic lose for us all!"

Taurei nodded and quickly as he begged for mercy, "We are thinking for our class's greater good in the long run! Please try to understand. If we are terrified of waking you up, then we wouldn't even bother waking you up every single morning knowing full well we will be washed away anyway."

It looks like she was finally convinced and decided to drop the matter entirely as she demands dry clothes and drinks from her best friends, who quickly followed her demands.

"Honestly, Zen, I think when they said we are bringing out the big gun, they shouldn't talk about you."

"Exactly, Ave. I don't hold a candle with just how much devastation she can unleash in a single spell."

Our adviser just heaved a sigh of relief knowing we just thwarted the other section's schemes, "I think it is all right to take a little breather now. We are almost halfway and so far, so good. Will we continue with the strategy, Eonia?"

"Yes, Ms Peregrine. I bet they will try four versus four instead, though I could be wrong..."

The teacher shook her head as she received another message, "Nope. You are right. Funny, our third phase has four in it. You lead the charge, Ms Thrones."

"It will be my honor, Ms Peregrine," our class president said as the announcer resumed the battle, "Morris, you will handle the skies, Asher, Estelle, guard my flanks. I will personally march towards them."

My cousin and the couple bowed respectfully at our leader, who let her hair down, and we gasped as she only does this whenever she wants to fight without a care in the world.

"My brother lost earlier, so it is up to me to notch a win for our father..."

"From Class Eight, Seven, Six and Five, Lydia Faroe, Noble of the Cretonian Dominion, Reginald Flint, son of Aristaeus, the god of bees, Bryan Fable, son of Hermes, the god of messengers and Praline Vera, daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty."

Our four representatives appeared on the restored battlefield.

"From Auxiliary Class, Morris Mortheo, the demiurge of Thanatos, the god of death, Asher Villiers, son of Lytta, goddess of rage, Estelle Esmeralda, daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and Eonia Thrones, daughter of Hephaestus, the god of forge!"

It looks they are finally taking our class seriously because even the crowd was clapping their hands respectfully while their opponents are eyeing my friends alertly.

"Watch me, Vivet!"

"No, Morris, I will watch in you. Remember what Ramnus and Mireus taught you."

"Oh, I will. Now, to let myself lose..."

"Have fun, my cousin."

"Third Match: Begin!"

My cousin quickly summoned his wings and scythe before flying high above the sky and disappearing completely as he spread his trademark suffocating darkness, "Thanatos: Pitch Black!"

The whole battlefield became engulfed in darkness, and the audience gasped in surprise because they can't see what is happening inside.

"And there goes the demiurge of the god of death with his formidable darkness, and we can't see what is happening right now, but we can hear, of course, folks!"

"Hermes: Caduceus Beacon!"

A single light illuminated the darkness, and Morris cursed in our thoughts, "Of course, Hermes is also a guide of the dead."

"Hephaestus: Ass Rampage!"

"The heck?!"

Morris quickly retreated when our class president invoked her father's name using weird words.

A horde of braying donkeys made of acidic green fire appeared and charged straight to the son of the god of messengers who is providing illumination for his allies.

He understandably flew away, leaving the rest of our enemies in the dark for the lovebirds to pick one by one.

"Aphrodite: Alluring Visage!"

"Aphrodite: Alluring Visage!"

Estelle quickly canceled out her sister's charms as her boyfriend handled the rest.

"Lytta: Howling Surge!"

A gigantic dog appeared from behind Asher and howled relentlessly at Aphrodite's daughter, who ran away screaming with the canine running after her.

"Aristaeus: Nectar Flow!"

The son of Aristaeus sent a gigantic flash flood of sticky honey on Eonia's direction, and to make matters worse, the Cretonian mortal ignited it.

"And there we have it, folks! The battle seemed to be not ever as we saw a flowing river of fire inside the darkness!"

"Morris!"

My cousin heard our class president's voice, and he stopped hounding the son of Hermes and unleashed one of the things Mireus and Ramnus taught him back at Anoixi.

"Thanatos: Grim Future!"

His scythe appeared over the flowing nectar of fire, and his voice echoed throughout.

"ALL OF YOUR SOULS WILL BE OFFERED TO MY FATHER, LET THE SOULS MY SCYTHE REAPED SATIATE HIS ENDLESS HUNGER FOR FRESH HARVEST EVEN JUST A WHILE..."

I bit my lip as I tried not to laugh when I heard is an overly dramatic and deep voice from the dark.

"Aphrodite: Distressed Damsel..."

Estelle whispered her invocation and began screaming dramatically as well as if she is pain.

"NOOOOOOO! STOOOOOPPPPP! THE PAIN! THE AGONY OF DEATH! IT BURNS!"

Their opponents stopped in their tracks as the fear is finally sinking in.

"Lytta: Dreadful Yelp..."

Asher summoned three dogs that began to roll over and whine as if they were being tortured, which added to the overall dramatic effect that Eonia is gunning for as she manipulated the fire from the burning nectar.

"Hephaestus: Burning Sea..."

The fires encircled her four opponents, and she spread her arms dramatically.

"OH DEMIURGE OF DEATH ACCEPT THESE FOUR SOULS AS MY OFFERING TO YOUR FATHER!"

I finally lost it when Morris faked a menacing laugh that was heard even around the colosseum that surprisingly made the spectators scream in fear.

"MWAHAHHAHAHAHHA PUNY DEMIGOD! THIS IS YOUR OFFERING? VERY WELL!"

My cousin's scythe slowly descended above their heads as they began to panic and groveled!

"No! Please, no!"

"We give up!"

"Don't take our souls!"

"I don't wanna die!"

The gong was banged, and the match was over.

"The Auxiliary Class takes the win! I repeat, folks, Auxiliary Class' winning streak is unstoppable! What a completely unorthodox strategy, and it worked!"

My cousin dispersed his darkness before landing behind our class president and kneeling on one knee while Asher and Estelle did the same.

Eonia just flipped her hair like a boss when she extinguished the flames with a flick of her hand.

"I can't believe that worked," Zenith whispered as his sister and brother jumped up and down in joy, "It worked."

Syden accepted the crisp One Hundred Drachma bills from Gala, Rebie, and Ms Peregrine, who still can't believe what happened.

"Easy money. I told you all my plans would work! Nobody beats simple haunted house effects."

"I have no worries that they will bring a win, but think that their weird plan worked that well? Inconceivable," my close friend said as she looked at me who is still laughing as I can't get over what Morris did, "Really, Vivet? How did it work?"

I just nodded at her as we watch our classmates return to our box triumphantly as Vaski and Narcine are giving them heroes' welcome.

"There are just things in the world that worked out in the end, even if you didn't know how the heck it happened, Gala."

Morris gave me a tight hug as I returned it with great vigor, "I did it, Vivet! I did it!"

"And you did it without coughing! Those nights of practicing paid off!" I answered proudly as we remembered what the sons of Achlys and Nemesis taught him.

That fear is a potent weapon, and their parents are natural masters of it.

Think of it as the complete opposite effect of hope.

Instead of happiness, they feel inexplicably afraid of anything lurking in the dark.

Misery and retribution.

Thoughts that will hound you in your sleep.

Death, however, is a different kind of beast.

Even when wide awake, you will fear it if the threat is made real.

And that's what made it useful when combined with Aphrodite's realistic wails, Lytta's fearful whines, and Hephaestus' raging flames.

"You killed it, Morris. No pun intended, my man," Asher said as he clapped the back of my cousin as Estelle bowed at my cousin, "I am well aware of Est's creepy screams and wails, but yours is just way beyond our capabilities."

"You got me at the evil laugh, Morris," the daughter of Aphrodite winked at him, "I am respectfully bowing before your dramatic overacting. This time."

Morris suddenly slapped my arm gently, "I almost laughed when Vivet started losing it."

"Well, I am sorry! From my point of view, it is ridiculous!" I said honestly that made the three snickered as I nodded at Eonia, who raised an eyebrow to me, "Eonia, I don't even know what to say."

Hephaestus's daughter just shook her head and opened her right hand to me, "No need to say anything, just cough up."

I heaved a sigh as I produced One Thousand Drachmas from my wallet and handed it to her, wryly, "I feel robbed."

"Robbed? Oh, goodness, no, Vivet. That's the feeling of loss which you will surely not experience today other than to me, right?"

She looked at me expectantly as I nodded curtly while Syden and Morris hurried to our side.

"Wait a minute, a thousand?!"

"You made a bet about what?"

Eonia laughed them off as she walked away to accept the congratulatory remarks of our adviser.

"About if you will cough or laugh while doing you skit, Morris."

He frowned at me and pretended to be hurt, "You bet against me?! Your cousin?! Your foster brother?! Your other half?! How could I ever recover?!"

I elbowed him on the rib as Syden clings on my arm the way Morris always did, "I prefer to fight by your side, Syden."

He looked at me, curiously, "You want to stand with me, spawn of stupidity?"

"I'd rather stand with you than my cousin..."

"Hey, I heard that!"

The three of us laughed as Avesa and Gala prepared for their battle because, as expected, they demanded a two versus two.

"You are right, Morris. I am scared of him, and I can't even explain why."

"What did I told you, Vivet. He is holding back on what he can do."

"I fear for his opponent later."

"As you already know, I am hoping he won't get carried away later..."

We both made the same wish as we saw the daughter of the goddess of wisdom unsheath her sword before coating it with ice and summoning her mother's shield the moment they stepped into the battlefield.

Hera's High Priestess held on tightly to her lotus staff and walked behind our vice president meekly.

"Classes Four and Three with Photos Ramirez, son of Apollo, the god of truth and Rhona Kelly, hunter of Artemis, goddess of the hunt versus Auxiliary Class' g*****a Alchimea, daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom and Avesa Bovinae, daughter of Hera, goddess of marriage!"

"Logically speaking, we are clearly at an overwhelming disadvantage," Eonia said warily as the twin deities' heirs prepared their bows, "Apollo and Artemis on the same side. Expect relentless long-range bombardment from afar."

Ms Peregrine nodded as she heaved a sigh of stress, "Athena and Hera are never the closest in the Olympian Family. That and Ms Alchimea is strictly a close-ranged combatant while Ms Bovinae is focused on long-range support, not assault. Normally speaking, we are only relying on the daughter of Athena to do the attacking."

"Reminds me of us, Morris," I said out loud that made our classmates look at our direction.

My cousin nodded at me, "Yep. That sounds about right, Vivet."

"Though I doubt Avesa is as pathetic as me when it comes to offense..."

"Fourth Match: Begin!"

Tou our surprise, the scions of the twin archer deities, bowed respectfully at our two classmates.

"I would like first to extend my salutations to the daughters of Lady Athena and Queen Hera. I am honored that Apollo's son will have the privilege to meet you two in battle."

"True. It is an opportunity to test the gifts my patroness has bestowed upon me on the two daughters of powerful senior Olympians. A skilled hunter pays respects to preys that are hard to kill, as Lady Artemis always said."

Gala banged her sword in her shield and nodded, "A perfect way to test my mother's famed shield against the divine twin archers' unwavering arrows."

"You two can just ignore me, I am just hanging around here," Avesa shouted behind Gala that made Taurei laugh out loud and other spectators chuckle.

But it seemed that Apollo's son is not having any of it, "With all due respect Your Emminence, I think you are the most dangerous of us all."

"And the more dangerous the game is, the more thrill it will produce. Let the hunt begin!"

And with the proclamation of the hunter of Artemis, the fight began with a rain of arrow raining from the skies as the archers quickly ran away from our classmates to maintain their sufficient distance.

"Hera: Raging Bull!"

Avesa waved her lotus staff, and from it came a translucent charging bull straight towards Apollo's son as Gala handled their defense.

"Athena: Gorgon Aegis!"

Her shield levitated in front of them, and it produced a flash of gray light, and the arrows falling upon them are deflected.

"Apollo: Truth Arrow!"

"Artemis: Kill Shot!"

Rhona's arrow hit the head of Avesa's bull, and it exploded in a single attack as Photos' attack exploded in a blast of sunlight upon the aegis, but it didn't even scratch it.

"You are going to need more than one cow to defeat the one blessed by the goddess of the hunt."

"The fabled aegis of the owl goddess, as my father said, it is the absolute shield."

Gala nodded at Avesa, who begins to close her eyes in concentration as she left the protective sphere of her mother's shield and charged straight to the surprised archers.