Sector 2 had never been more quiet, and so loud all at once.
All eyes were on the finalists, majority of it landing on Nicoleta.
Despite Laura's reputation, Nicoleta's anxiety dulled over several minutes after she read the bulletin board.
It was as if she had gone through all the five stages, and acceptance was the one loud enough to be felt.
She had grown a new sense of confidence, despite the density in sector 2. She believed she would win, despite May's teeth chattering against each other like she was the one who was going to fight Laura.
She had grown mature over the course of the games, realising that fear only slowed her down, and if she wanted to win, her head needed to be clear.
Of doubt, guilt, unwanted reminders of the past, and most importantly, fear.
Laura Glass made her branding on her opponents because of fear, the sector would fall into fear for the opponent, then they would slowly drown in the sea of worry, and begin to panic, then on the day of the match they would lose woefully.
Their friends probably feared, and so it would prompt them to over think.
Then when over thinking came about, that was when doubt would settle in, then the fear that they'd tried to avoid, then after fear, trembling, and once you tremble, you stumble.
And the moment you stumble there is no getting back up, when you are too afraid to face the challenge. So then they all lose.
But not Nicoleta, not this time, she wouldn't let the fear of Laura break her.
Instead of fearing her, she twisted it around to study her.
She asked Evan any question that came to mind when they met in the halls.
She tracked down Levi, and ambushed him with questions about their fight.
By the end of the week, she collected zero information about her.
But she knew everything there was to know about Laura before, and if her calculations were true, then she wouldn't fare very far from how she used to fight, people don't change what has been making them win for four years just like that.
Even if she had developed new skills, she would simply adapt them into her old style of fighting.
So Nicoleta was either going to meet an entirely different opponent, or Laura Glass.
The day of the match wasn't silent, the crowd cheered for whom they supported.
They both stepped out of their boxes at the same time, and the deck could have exploded with how much noise was coming from the crowd.
Together Nicoleta and Laura stepped on the platform. The robotic voice announced them.
"Welcome to the Individual sparring finals. Between Nicoleta Ariti" The crowd cheered for her, she tried not to focus too much on them as she looked at Laura.
"And Laura Glass" the world cheered for her.
Then the crowd died down.
The red light turned on.
Laura Glass smiled at Nicoleta, then bowed, Nicoleta bowed as well.
"I'll go easy on you- okay?" Nicoleta wanted to be angry, but she knew that was what Laura wanted.
As calm as possible she said. "Not necessary"
"Round one begin" the buzzer rang out, red, became green.
Laura circled the water around her body aiming at Nicoleta.
Nicoleta's arms were bright with yellow when the water rushed toward her.
She countered the wave, making the opposites clash in the center of the platform.
Laura launched into the air fists covered with water as she struck down.
Nicoleta deflected moving aside whilst blinding her with a flash of fire.
As she went down Nicoleta nailed her in the gut, and slammed her hard onto the platform with her telekinesis.
The counter barely counted one before Nicoleta was pushed against the edge of the deck, water flooding her person nonstop.
She made a circle mix of both yellow and scarlet flames, blowing it like a tornado as a defense against the water.
She faced three kicks to the chest before she could think about attacking.
Nicoleta stood her ground regardless, catching her wrist and with use of her telekinesis swung her away from her.
Nicoleta evaporated a bow of water but failed to avoid Laura's fists to her stomach.
She grabbed Nicoleta's shoulders and flipped her over her head, "feel familiar" Laura said, her smirk growing.
Nicoleta jumped up, resisting the urge to punch her in the face and instead struck her in the gut.
She evaporated another bow of water.
Grabbed both of Laura's wrists, and poured out the heat of her flame into her.
It all came to a painful stop when a strong barrier ripped her away from the flame, a pained scream echoed inside her head.
Laura tilted her head and Nicoleta was flung across the platform.
She slid back and plummeted unto the edge, water splashing over her, fastening Nicoleta to the platform and stuck under Laura's telekinetic hold.
"Resist" Evan's voice ordered. Nicoleta squirmed, attempting to even move her hand, "resist" the deck disappeared. Before her was her master, staring down at her with those disappointed eyes, those eyes that wanted more from her.
Her jaw tightened, veins popping as a show of her struggle.
The crowd exploded into cheers when the counter reached eight.
Nicoleta was freed from her grasp and put into a new hell, the noise sliced through her ears, banging into her brain.
She stood up, glaring at her opponent who smiled back at her, victory already drawn on her face.
"Come on!" May's voice sounded, running inside her mind like tires screeching on the road.
The red light turned green.
Nicoleta was slammed into the edge, she countered with her flame, and groaned when a resounding "no" cut across her ears.
The water rounded into snowball shapes but felt like metal when it all hit her at once.
She made the same tornado of flame before propelling herself into the air, raining fire upon Laura and catching her off guard.
As predicted she shielded herself from the fire rain. Nicoleta spun through the water and struck Laura down.
When she jumped up again, NIcoleta spun her heel and kicked, Laura deflected.
She spun her heel and kicked again, wrapping her flame around her foot the way she had seen Evan do plenty of times.
Laura deflected it with a bow of water, but failed to counter the last strike to her chest.
Nicoleta used both feet to kick her down, but Laura grabbed her ankles and threw her across the platform.
She pinned her down with the water locking her once more under her telekinetic hold.
"No!" the same voice screamed.
"Resist" Evan's voice broke through once more. Her jaw clenched, eyes shut tight, teeth gnashing.
"Resist" his voice wasn't in her mind, it wasn't a memory. This was real, it was physical, he was there, and it was not encouragement, it wasn't a suggestion, he sounded how he did when she first met him, the certainty behind his fake question about Taekwondo.
She had to do this.
Black materialised before her, ahead of her was a hollow transparent wall blocking her flame from fully getting to her.
The scarlet flame was bursting behind the wall, it came out in pieces, too small to cause any damage.
Nicoleta moved toward the wall quickly.
"Meditation should be done with a clear mind, focus only on what you want"
She inhaled a deep breath, and exhaled a heavy one, her tense shoulders relaxing.
Nicoleta placed a gentle hand on the wall separating them.
"I need you" she said, leaning her forehead on the wall. The flame raged, growing bigger with each inhale.
Nicoleta's veins burned in an instant, and her eyes opened to the real world.
"Seven"
She screamed as the barrier got ripped from her mind.
She pushed Laura back, getting up on her feet, and slamming Laura to the edge.
It was so easy to fight Nicoleta with her powers, it didn't harm her as badly as the flame would, her powers were always used as defence, and that gave Laura more advantage.
Laura swooped water and circled around herself making a second body out of it.
With her liquid form she threw endless attacks at Nicoleta, all of which evaporated.
She moved forward with each evaporated blow.
When she was close enough Nicoleta punched through the water body.
And with her other hand sent a gust of yellow flame behind her.
Where Laura had moved to.
She managed to deflect the flame, but she couldn't avoid Nicoleta's fist to the gut.
One to the ribs.
A kick to the shoulder, then she locked her under a telekinetic wall.
Nicoleta pushed down, causing her to groan.
The counter began to count.
one, and Laura had lifted a little water, only for it to falter.
Two, her jaw clenched, the glare in her eyes never leaving.
By seven she had stopped trying.
The buzzer rang out again, the green light shifting to red.
"Set point, Nicoleta Ariti"
A tie.
The both of them inhaled a deep breath.
The crowd couldn't be anymore louder, yet somehow managed to.
When the light turned green, Nicoleta clamped her hands on her ears, screaming in pain as the noise pierced through her ears, cutting into her mind, and tearing her brain into pieces.
It felt as if the crowd was inside of her head.
Laura lifted her into the air, bombarding her with ball after ball of water blows, yet none of her attacks hurt as much as having a crowd of people inside her mind.
She spun Nicoleta around, and pushed her back with her telekinesis before letting go of her.
The fall was fast, Nicoleta's flame barely made an appearance before her head hit the edge of the deck knocking her out as she fell into the ocean.
Amidst the darkness making a circle was the scarlet, yellow, and white flame, burning intensely. In the middle of it all was Nicoleta.
"WE ARE ONE" all the fires rushed into her burning so intensely it nearly hurt.
She opened her eyes to bubbling water, her eyes darted to the surface, and she didn't have to think about it before the flame propelled her into the air.
Laura's eyes widened the same time the crowd erupted into cheers once more, two very prominent voices rang in her ears, but it was no longer painful.
She could see everything clearly, feel everything, the flame coursing through her blood, igniting, whispering.
The flame was her and she was the flame, she burned, so the flame could live, she let go so the flame could contain, together they were one.
"One" they said, together they were a raging fire.
Laura lifted the body of ocean behind her, her eyes a mix of fear and confidence.
She straightened her shoulders and began throwing balls of water at Nicoleta.
They hardly neared her before evaporating, Laura washed her over with a wave but it had no effect on her, she used her telekinesis but she was immovable.
Nicoleta lifted her arms and the flame grew tall, and large casting a shadow over the entire deck.
Laura's eyes widened mouth agape as she took a step back.
The crowd went quiet.
Then she dropped her arms, and water flooded the deck, knocking Laura down.
The crowd only made noise again when the counter stopped at eight, Nicoleta's feet made contact with the cold wet platform as the flame died.
Before she could blink Levi stood before her.
He covered her with a shirt, shut his eyes before giving her a pair of pants. Nicoleta rushed to put them on.
"Congratulations" she could hardly register his words before the crowd swept her off her feet, chanting 'scarlet' again and again.
She looked over the crowd of kids, hailing her name then at Laura who looked almost pained still laid out on the platform. Before the healers took her away Nicoleta noticed her chocolate skin shifting into a deep blue colour almost as deep as her hair.
Laura Glass was being taken away, and Nicoleta Ariti was being celebrated.
The robotic voice boomed through the speakers, "Nicoleta Ariti winner of the individual sparring competitions"
May and Charlotte climbed atop of the crowd and screamed in Nicoleta's ears, "you won!!" May engulfed her in a tight hug.
When her eyes darted over to the big screen Nicoleta saw her face, not the best picture of her but her face nonetheless, and right below it was champion, she laughed out loud.
Nicoleta pulled Charlotte to her with her telekinesis and wrapped an arm around her, "I won!!" she screamed, "I won"
Home had never felt closer.
Jackson was the one carrying her on his shoulders, as they all chanted Scarlet whilst advancing inside.
She looked back to see the beautiful orange hue as the sun set on a wonderful day.
When the crowd made it inside, still cheering for her, Jackson carrying her on his shoulders, Nicoleta shrinked, clutching her friend's hands.
She wanted to stay and celebrate but she was too tired to continue, tired of the crowd, and exhausted from the fight, not to mention the pounding headache caused by all the noise.
She tapped Jackson on the shoulder. "I gotta go" he furrowed his brow, "where?" She jumped off of his shoulders, "to my room"
May and Charlotte followed her, Charlotte making a forcefield to prevent anyone from following them.
Even though they had gone to the fifth floor, Nicoleta could still hear the faint sound of kids cheering. Saying Scarlet again and again.
And with every scarlet that she heard, her smile grew wider and wider.
Every shower after a fight was much more painful than the fight itself.
However this time Nicoleta felt amazing. The cold water running down her body was almost paradise, everywhere Laura had hit didn't sting, or ache.
When she looked in the mirror, she found no bruises, no swelling, no nothing, she looked untouched.
She hadn't gone to any healer earlier, how was this possible?
Nicoleta shook her head, deciding to enjoy it all instead of thinking about it too much.
She rushed to her computer, and called her father.
Two faces popped up on the screen, her father's warm eyes, beside him was her brother Liam.
His brown hair was slicked back into a neat style, some falling on his forehead.
His green eyes glimmered as he waved at her, "hey Nicole" she smiled so wide her cheeks began to hurt.
"Hi- I won" she said, her father was overjoyed, Liam looked at the two of them celebrating, brows furrowed in confusion.
"What did you win?" She told him everything. Liam seemed more proud than her father, "you won and you beat her with her own element- that's awesome" she laughed. "I'm proud of you honey," her father said.
Nicoleta rested her head on her arms. "I really miss you guys" they mused. "Likewise." said Liam. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about something" Liam started, sitting properly. Nicoleta straightened up.
Her watch beeped, signifying dinner time. Her stomach growled. "You know what- we'll talk. After dinner, okay?" Liam nodded. She hung up and sprinted to the canteen.