The Total Solar Eclipse of the Heart

 Mateo a son of Poseidon who has seen more than enough for his 17 years of life. Mission after mission. Fight after fight. War after war. No matter how much work he put in, he was never given a break. Even though that is all he wanted. A break. Though there was one good thing in his life, his girlfriend of over three years, Rue. They have been through everything together from fighting in battles together, to going on missions together. They have also saved each other from death multiple times. 

 Today they were walking along the beach, talking about what they thought today's special event was going to be. They both got so attuned into the conversation when Nico came running up towards them, startling them.

 "What? Nico?" Mateo asked, looking towards the woods, ready for a fight. "Is there something chasing you?" 

Nico was this five foot tall child who Mateo saved during one of his missions. He turned out to be a child of Thanatos. When Mateo found him he was in a state of comatose, not aging or dying in the years he was in that state. By the time he found him he was already ninety years out of time.

 "Not something." Nico looked out towards the woods, as screaming could be heard. "Someone." He said, alarmed , running to hide behind Mateo.

 "Nico!" Elara screamed, running out of the woods, face bright red. "I know he is here. Where is he?"

"I have no clue." Rue said, looking around.

"Mateo?" Elara asked, looking around his shoulder.

 "I'm sorry!" Nico said, running away from behind Mateo's back.

Mateo reached out and grabbed his collar, stopping Nico from running away. "AAH! Mateo!" Nico yelled as he fell backwards.

 "What happened?" He asked, stepping between the two, still holding onto Nico's collar.

 "Elara found out that I wasn't sleeping or eating while using my father's abilities. And was trying to take me to the infirmary, but instead I ran away." Nico said, looking away from the group, trying to catch his breath. Now that he looked, Nico did have bags under his eyes and his arms were smaller. How come he didn't notice this? Mateo shook his head, he would have to pay more attention to Nico. If no one noticed he could have killed himself.

 "Nico, you have to eat and sleep. Especially if you're gonna be training or fighting. She is only worried, okay." Mateo said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Now, Elara, if you know someone hasn't slept or eaten in the past 48 hours, and are actively using their abilities, you don't chase them through the woods." Mateo looked at Elara exasperatedly. Sometimes it felt hard to believe that she was the older out of the three.

Elara huffed, "Whatever you say, Ariel," and went up to hug Nico, but as he tried running again it turned into a choke hold.

 "ELARA!" Mateo yelled, didn't he just say to not do something like this.

After Mateo got them separated and both calmed down, he walked off to his room after the evening special event was announced at lunch. They would be sparring, one person from each god and goddess parent, Greek and Roman parents both. He was going to have be the representative for Poseidon and Neptune, as his brother Alec was not at school today. Their father called for him to be taught more about the royal government. Mateo sat down on his bed for a few resting, until the bell rang, notifying it was time for everyone to gather for the special event.

As he walked towards the arena, he knew this was going to be interesting. If what he was hearing was correct, then their parents were going to show up at some point this evening to watch. He walked over to where the other representatives from each god and goddess parent stood, and soon Linus greeted them.

Linus was one of their directors at the school. He helped direct events and taught classes when Chiron or their other director were busy. 

 "Today we will be doing a sparring tournament. Now with this being a tournament, if you win the first round you move onto the second and so on. The ones going first are Dionysus and Bacchus' sons Pinot and Vino. Same rules when training, maiming is not okay, no one dies, and first blood announces the winner." Linus left to go announce the first two to the crowd.

 "The first round is Pinot and Vino." Linus announced with a dramatic flare. Everyone erupted into applause. The two walked into the arena, and pulled out their swords. Vino charged at Pinot with his gladius. They fought for a good 10 minutes before Pinot got the upper hand and got Vino's sword from him. Vino fell to the ground. Pinot took advantage of this and held his and Vino's sword at his brother's throat. Linus came out to them as Pinot handed Vino back his sword.

 "Good job Pinot." He said as he gestured for him to go wait with others, Vino left to sit in the stands.

 "Next round is Thanatos' son Nico De Scarzis and Zeus' daughter Elara Aetos!" He announced as they came out to their places.

 As soon as Linus was off to the side they started to spar. The match lasted a good 15 minutes, but experience had to bow to training. Nico went to sit with Vino and Elara went to stand next to Mateo in line for who was next to try their hand at the tournament. As they sat down, they were greeted by Chiron who patted them on their backs. 

 Chiron and Linus came out and announced the next round together. "Next is Poseidon's son Mateo and Hecate's daughter Rue!" Chiron said before they both went off to get out of the way.

 The two walked out, drew their swords and fought. Rue seemed to have the upper hand but a series of events led to her loss. Mateo swung his sword under her feet, she jumped right as he stood up. He swung again as she landed, catching her off balance, leading to her falling. Rue's sword went flying, as he had disarmed her after her fall. When she fell he pointed his sword at her throat, after Chiron started walking towards them, Mateo helped her up.

 "Winner!" Chiron yelled then motioned for him to go wait with the others, Rue sat down next to Nico.

 "Next is Jupiter's son Zeno and Pluto's daughter Irene!" He announced. The two came out with their weapons and got into a stance. Irene drew her sword, while Zeno unsheathed his sword. After a good 10 minutes Zeno unarmed Irene.

Linus came out to announce the next round when the Olympians flashed into the arena, and sat down among the campers. Even though people were expecting them, there was still a large reaction. People whispered amongst themselves. Linus and Chiron struggled to get everyone quiet down, but after a few minutes they got everyone to settle down and back to paying attention towards the events at hand. The Olympians sat in the front row to watch the final 7 rounds of the tournament.

 "Welcome my lords and ladies! The next round is Ares' daughter Damaris and Dionysus' son Pinot!" Linus left to watch with the others at the sidelines.

 The two came out and started to spar. Every time Pinot got the upper hand Damaris stopped him by parrying the movement. After about 17 minutes Damaris won, but it wasn't without struggle.

 "Good job guys, and Damaris, thank you for not getting too violent." Chiron said, as Damaris nodded before she went to stand with the others and Pinot sat down next to his brother.

"Next round is Zeus's daughter Elara and Mars' son Costa." Chiron then walked off leaving the two.

 The match started quickly, but it got pretty violent even faster. It took about 2 minutes until one got cut. About 8 minutes later Elara finally got his sword from him, leaving Elara the victor of the round.

 "Next round is Poseidon's son Mateo and Demeter's daughter Myra." Linus said then left to sit down.

 Mateo got out his sword and Myra got out hers. They started the match pretty quickly, Mateo swung his sword to try and trip her. Myra jumped up and swung her sword in the opposite direction. He dodged it and pushed his sword towards her to try and catch her off balance.

 "Really?" She asked, laughing.

 He shrugged "Sure." Before he blocked a blow at his chest.

 Myra shook her head then pounced forwards trying to cut him. He sidestepped, so she landed on her knees. Mateo swung his sword again, this time cutting Myra's arm. She looked at him, her eyes going bright green. Vines and other various plants started to wrap around his legs, he cut them as they came towards him but that made them grow faster.

 Mateo noted to himself, 'Never piss off a child of Demeter.' He looked up to see Myra charging at him. Mateo got his arms at the ready, he lifted his sword and countered her attack. He disarmed Myra before taking her sword.

 "Can you undo these please?" He asked, pointing to the vines halfway up his legs.

 She nodded laughing. Chiron came out with a fond smile on his lips, announcing Mateo as the victor.

 "The next round will be Aphrodite's daughter Callie and Jupiter's son Zeno, but before that we will be taking a fifteen minute break."

 Everyone got up and headed to the bathrooms or the dining pavilion to get snacks and/or drinks. Once everyone was back and ready to start again, Zeno and Callie came out with their weapons. Zeno took to the air, and Callie had her dagger out at the ready. He charged at Callie as he swung his sword. Callie tried to swing the dagger and tried to make a hit, but Zeno took advantage of this, and made an attempt to disarm her. After the dagger hit the ground Zeno landed, putting his sword to her throat.

 Linus came out and nodded at the two, announcing the victor as Zeno. He went to stand next to his sister while Callie sat down next to Rue.

The next round nobody expected, with how little they got along. No matter how much people begged them to. "Next round is Damaris and Mateo. Now I would like Rue and Chris to sit somewhere where they can get to these two quickly." The two of them nodded as they got up and went to the front step near the arena floor.

 Damaris and Mateo came out, "You ready for a beating, Matty?" She snarled in a teasing voice.

 "You wish." He shot back.

Damaris drew her sword and Mateo unsheathed his.

 "Leave past fights and grudges out of this please!" Rue and Chris yelled at the two.

 They both nodded and started to spar. Mateo blocked most of the blows that Damaris served him, but the ones aimed for his arm, leg, and cheek, as they were all bleeding. Damaris' cheek, arm, leg, and hand were also all bleeding. The match lasted a good 20 minutes before he was able to disarm her. No one was able to tell who got hurt first with their movements constantly a blur.

 Chris and Rue came out onto the floor once the round was over. Rue gave Mateo a first aid kit to use to deal with his cuts, while Chris gave Damaris a first aid kit.

 When Damaris saw Mateo taking care of his own injuries, she scoffed, and proceeded to yell, "Oh My Gods! You can't even let others take care of you? Really?" Mateo froze and put the wrap back into the box.

 "Mat, it's okay. Do you want me to do it?" Helio asked.

 He nodded, handing the box back to Rue. If you looked closely, Damais looked worried and guilty as she sat down next to Chris.

 "Why did he freeze?" Poseidon asked Chiron.

 "Mateo has always been very self-conscious about what he can do with his powers. This has led him to be self conscious over all of his actions. All the three brother's kids usually are, they are all scared of what they can do and losing control is always in the back of their minds." He explained to the God of the Sea. Poseidon looked at his son sadly, he had no clue his son was so afraid of his gifts.

 Helio glowed as he put his hand on Mateo's cuts. Apollo proudly watched as his son healed his friend. After all of Mateo's and Damaris' cuts were healed, Linus came out and announced the next fight.

 "Jupiter's son Zeno and Zeus' daughter Elara, you're up next." The two came out and smirked at and zapping each other.

 Zeus watched as his two kids drew their swords, pride filled his mind while watching the two. The fight was going back and forth for around 10 minutes. Zeno soon got the advantage and disarmed his sister. Elara's sword hit the ground. Linus announced Zeno the winner as they both picked up their weapons. Elara smiled as she ruffled her little brother's hair before she went to sit next to Nico. He looked at her surprised knowing she let Zeno win that fight. 

 "Shh. I've missed so many years with him, if one spar makes him happy. Then he can have it." She whispered before shocking him, making him jump. She spent far too much time away from the school while he was growing up. If letting him win spars and petty arguments is what she can do to make up for it, then that's what she'll do.

 Chiron then announced that they would have a break for dinner before the last match. Everyone stood up before heading to the cafeteria.