Astra tried very hard to think of anything that wasn’t her present situation. Nonetheless, despite all her efforts, there was something about being stared at and appraised by a million energetic spectators that was hard to ignore.

Walking across the stage was a very exposing feeling, and it was all she could do to keep her face straight in light of it. The urge to turn and shoot a glance at Crow, or any of her other teammates, to see how composed they were was surprisingly strong, but Astra kept herself concentrated on simply putting one foot in front of another. Before she knew it, the barely-visible outline in the distance had grown to a distinctly humanoid one, and twenty paces later she could just make out Karma Alabaster awaiting her.

The Princess of Olympus’ smile was equal parts patient and vibrant, though Astra still found herself hurrying in light of the eagerly watching crowd. The Gemini reached the end of the stage first, and she followed barely a step behind. Their remaining three teammates took long enough that Astra felt the overwhelming urge to turn and check that they hadn’t somehow gotten lost or backed away back into the tunnel. She realised upon seeing them still walking that her perception of time may have been slightly unhinged by the high-stress environment in which she found herself.

Once all of them had assembled next to her, Karma’s smile widened and she turned so fast she almost seemed to be spinning- her gown flowing around her as though it were made from currents of mercury. Up close, the woman’s amber eyes very much resembled torches to Astra- and the genuine glee at her grin brought an equally genuine smile even to Astra’s face.

“Welcome!” The Princess cried, her voice sounding shockingly normal. The crowd appeared to have no difficulty in making out her words, however, as they began to quiet down the moment she started speaking.

“So, I think I gave you enough of an introduction as a team before you even came out- but what about all of you as individuals? Why don’t you each tell us a bit about yourselves?”

Astra felt her chest tighten, both in eagerness and reluctance to be placed in the eye of the crowd. Thankfully, the Princess started by gesturing to the Gemini. Though the smug, triumphant look in the girl’s eyes undercut any relief Astra may have felt.

“Hello Bermuda, my name’s Gemini- some of you might recognise me.”

A deep rumbling which Astra assumed was laughter ran through the crowd, the girl continued.

“I’m thrilled to be here, getting the chance to compete with other mystics just as talented as me is a dream come true, and I’d like to thank the organisers and Overseer for giving me the opportunity.”

The Olympian beamed, and Astra wondered to herself how she could keep such a cheerful demeanour- surely someone as intelligent as Karma Alabaster had noticed how full of shit the Gemini was.

“Sounds like you’re up for a challenge," the Princess remarked. The Gemini went to speak once more, however her voice dropped into a sputtered silence as Alabaster turned away from her- Astra barely smothered the laugh which tried to escape from her as she saw the girl’s face.

The asshole was up next, and when Karma moved past without asking him anything he practically shrivelled up with disappointment. It would have been funny, if Astra herself hadn’t been standing nearest to him. When the Princess turned those amber globes on her, it almost felt as though she were being interrogated- Astra barely managed to splutter out an answer to the question.

“It’s wonderful to see how I measure up to the best of the best," she replied. “I’m thrilled to have gotten so far, and I can only hope I get even further!”

Astra wasn’t like the Gemini, she couldn’t afford to simply show off and be done with it. If she wanted any degree of success from the Sieve, getting a scholarship to one of the world’s foremost magical institutes was only the start. She needed to project the exact kind of ambition Bert always said powerful mystics looked for in a potential apprentice.

“Really?” Karma’s words were a question, but her voice showed complete understanding. “Well, I can save you a bit of trouble if you’d like- you’re an exceptional young mystic. To get past even the first stage at your age would be impressive, but I can’t imagine the dedication required for you to get this far!”

Though she knew the words were more for the crowd than herself, Astra felt a completely genuine smile spread across her face as the Princess moved on to Xeno.

“What about you, miss Warper?”

Xeno froze up like a woman caught in the sights of a musket, her eyes practically inflating as she stared at Karma. After an agonisingly long pause, she quietly answered.

“I’d like to get into the Gilasev Institute.”

Karma laughed good-naturedly.

“Well, if you promise to put on as good a show as you did when you came up with the plan to stop that undead, I’ll promise to overlook your choice in scholarship.”

Xeno smiled, though it came after a few moments of nerves, and Astra marvelled at how easily the Princess had pulled focus away from the girl’s fumble. Her awe was shortly dashed, however, as the Olympian came to the last member of their team- Crow. A week ago Astra would have feared him embarrassing himself, but now she felt somehow unsure of what he’d do- in a way that was far more unnerving than merely being worried for his public appearance.

***

“Mr Tempora, you have quite a fearsome reputation. I’m sure the fine people of Bermuda would love to hear what your goals are after your shocking displays in both stages.”

The question didn’t surprise Crow, he’d need to have been a moron to be shocked after seeing it asked four times just moments earlier. Still, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think of an acceptable response. His heart raced as his mind whirred, proposing and discounting one idea after another. He could simply say he wanted a scholarship and leave it at that, by all measures that was surely his best option. And yet something about it sickened him.

He had a goal, one so important it was worth more than his life a thousand times over- and now he had the perfect stage to make it known to the one person who needed to hear it. Or rather, the two people.

Crow’s blood boiled at the thought of Galad, then it heated up even more as he pictured the empty, callous face of the man who’d taken him away. Forcing himself to breathe steadily, he answered the expectant Princess.

“I’m going to kill a Deity.”

It took several seconds for the stadium’s chatter, which Crow had grown accustomed to without realising, to bleed away into silence.

***

It had been quite some time since Chaths had felt himself open his mouth in shock. He still couldn’t quite believe he was doing it, it had been his impression that such immediate reactions had long since left him. Of course it was only to be expected he’d have an unusual response to hearing someone say quite openly that they wanted to kill a Deity.

Chaths realised that the stadium’s energetic roaring had dropped down to a stunned silence. It was one of the creepiest things he’d ever had the misfortune to experience, as though nature itself had been turned on its head. No mass of people that large should have been that quiet, even for just the short while it lasted.

A low chuckling came from beside him, and as Chaths turned to his teacher he saw a look of utter bemusement on the man.

“I should have expected as much…” The Demigod mused. “Eye of Chronos… Why is it that all of its wielders are so… quarrelsome.”

Before Chaths could ask his mentor to further elaborate on Crow’s supposedly quarrelsome strain, the now familiar voice of Karma Alabaster cut through the stadium- snapping his attention back to the stage.

***

Karma thought while she talked. It was a useful talent, one which had been drilled into her over an entire year during her childhood- requiring many torturous nights of practice and whipped palms to finally master. She wasn’t sure what had gotten into Tempora’s head, whether he simply had a sick sense of humour or had let his reputation get to his head, but whatever it was had left her little time to save the situation.

One didn’t threaten to kill a Deity, not in public. Most wouldn’t even do so in a tavern after a dozen drinks for fear of being somehow found out. To say such a thing before a crowd of people… he had no idea what he’d done.

She could try and pass it off as a joke, but of course that would only dismiss so much- many would take it too seriously for that to work. She’d have to act quickly in any case, before the audience had time to fully process what he’d said. As she felt her lips move, spinning words she was too preoccupied to hear, the solution came to her.

“That’s certainly an interesting goal, Mr Tempora- I’m sure if Jack the Butcher ever steps out of line we can rely on you to keep us safe.”

Her response was patronising and belittling, but that was exactly what it needed to be. If Tempora was a child being patronised, he’d be less of a threat even than he already was. Despite herself, Karma could think of no more to say- instead staring out at the crowd, barely keeping her smile affixed as she waited to see how her endeavour had worked. After a few seconds, she detected a notably positive shift among the masses- with the sharp whispering gradually being muffled by a new wave of amused snickering.

She wanted to collapse with relief, then her body was propped up and strengthened by the newfound fury she had towards the stupid boy who’d nearly gotten himself killed. The boy in question opened his mouth once more, and Karma realised she had no more time to bask in relief- she hurriedly turned away from him, addressing the crowd once more to attempt to draw focus further still from the idiotic proclamation.

“Well folks," she cried out, “we’ve met our leading contestants. I’ve got to say, I’m impressed. How about you?”

She could tell participation had dropped off, the audience’s answer, a mix of boos and cheers, was just a little bit too quiet for her liking. Still, she’d done all she could.

“Now that we’ve had the chance to get to know them as individuals, it’s time for us to reveal their name.”

Turning to the five teenagers standing behind her, she arched a questioning eyebrow- keeping the smile plastered on as she asked.

“Have you all decided?”

It was Unity Eden’s smile which convinced her to activate her Eye of Analysis. The choice was not a conscious one, more reflexive- interfacing with her thoughts exactly as much as a rabbit’s decision to hide from a hawk. Nonetheless, it was a fortunate one. The artificial’s sneer widened, and he began working his facial muscles to speak before any of his teammates got the chance- stunned as they were by Crow Tempora’s display.

It was all so clear to her. His lips and tongue as easily read as words on a page.

Team Powerful Women do not exist.

It wasn’t a particularly imaginative name, chosen simply for its childishly insulting nature- one rather fitting of Unity, and one that Karma simply could not allow Gem to be forced into bearing. Thankfully, she didn’t have to.

There were two delays between Eden and the audience. The first was found in himself, Karma’s strain told her what he was going to say the moment before he did. The second was a delay of some two and a half seconds between their speech and the magical devices surrounding the stage amplifying their words so as to make them audible to the entire crowd. Put together, they gave Karma ample time.

Reaching into her pocket, she found the modified scrying slate which had been linked to the auditory crystals set around them. It was short range and shockingly expensive, yet something which had been quickly deemed a necessary expense the moment Unity Eden was scheduled to appear before an audience. Waiting just a moment as the boy began to speak, Karma focused on her timing and- after he had gotten exactly half way into his sentence- disabled the crystals.

***

As far as team names went, “Powerful Women” would not have been Chaths’ first choice. On the other hand, given what he’d heard about Unity Eden, he was far more shocked by the adjective being a positive one than anything else.

“THAT’S NOT A BAD NAME," the Princess half-laughed. “IT DEFINITELY HAS MY APPROVAL!”

A deep, hearty laugh came from Ra- the Demigod’s chest and shoulders heaving as he bellowed his amusement.

“That was some quick thinking, Karma Alabaster.” He stared right at the woman as he spoke, as though she could hear him. He turned to Chaths.

“I reckon she’s more than earned the dress of an Immortal, what do you say?”