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Katerini, Page of Castor

Why she was here she really had no idea. It was probably because her father kept kicking her out. He would tell her repeatly that she spent to much time in the boxing gym. Which he probably wasn't wrong, but she needed the practice. Practice was the only thing that would help her fix the mistakes she had during matches.

But since she couldn't practice there. She heard about some competitions happening. She could not let that chance go. She had to prove her strength. Which led to her sitting her getting ready to arm-wrestle with all her might. She was not about to lose this round.

Antisana, Squire of Pluto

“You know another Pluto Knight?” He asked Emain Ablach, dark steely eyes flickering up to find the other’s. Maybe it was because Pluto was a tiny not-planet and so just didn’t have as many wonders as literally anywhere else, but even he had only met one other knight from his world, and maybe he’d seen another at one of these big gatherings before. If he was being perfectly honest, back then he wouldn’t have recognized any other allegiance enough to pick out what others were. Antisana hadn’t recognized the symbols of other planets for a while after his awakening. But at least now… He stared at the emblem attached to the other squire’s tunic. “Your planet is Earth.”

Where they were all born. Theoretically, there should be a significant number of active Earth knights? “Have you met very many of them? Visited any of their wonders?” He’d never been anywhere on Pluto besides his own, either…

“Oh…” But Antisana should probably prepare for the next pairing.

These sorts of competitions were likely not meant to be very time intensive. The first round of matches was over quickly. Disappointing, as he might have enjoyed hearing of another knight’s experiences. He had the chance so rarely…

“My apologies,” for leaving without waiting for an answer. “But please excuse me.” He didn’t want to keep anyone waiting.

He sat across from the senshi, head canted slightly to the side in confusion to be pitted against this waif of a thing. Senshi were not generally granted particularly extreme boosts to their physical strength, were they? Unless their personal magic provided it for them. That was… an objective fact was it not? That knights were stronger than senshi. It hardly felt sporting to use any amount of force on this girl, and it wasn’t as if Antisana felt any particular need to prove anything.

The bracket board said her name was Vela, and the fiery tone of her hair and fuku reminded him of a certain Senshi of Heat- though maybe he was just missing Ele.

The corner of his lip tugged up slightly in greeting. Ah, he decided it would be best not to impede anyone’s fun here. He set his elbow to the stone and clasped the girl’s hand. He put up what felt like an adequate amount of resistance before faltering, and letting the back of his hand hit the stone. That probably counted as suitable effort. “Hm. Congratulations.”

”MiddyGlow”

Vela

Lacille smiled and said "I'm Lacille nice to meet you as well." She had never tried this before so she didn't know if she would be any good at it. It seemed luck was not on her side since she was beaten very quickly. "Oh well." She said with a laugh "I guess this isn't my sort of game."

Kaifeng, Squire of Saturn

On some level, the reality of Kaifeng’s victory with Belmont didn’t quite set in for him until the time came for the next round. Yes, he understood, intellectually, that he’d won. He understood that Belmont would be rooting for him to take it all now, and he appreciated that sense of someone other than Helene cheering him on. But it wasn’t until Kaifeng headed to meet his next opponent that he really regrouped and let his head work itself around how his situation had shaped up.

Whom the brackets had paired him up with helped with that. As he rocked up to their stone table, Kaifeng paused and blinked bemusedly at her.… Oh. The Lysithea Squire in the blue dress, the one who’d asked her first opponent—the other Saturn Squire, the one whom Kaifeng hadn’t recognized (Aaru)—not to go easy on her.…… While he’d watched their match with Helene, Kaifeng had wondered whether or not he would’ve been able to give her his best efforts and the respect that she was due as a fellow Knight.

Well, he supposed he’d get to find out now.

Before he took his place properly, Kaifeng looked for Helene in the crowd, taking a moment to wave and blow him a kiss. Yes, people could see them. But if that was a problem for anyone who didn’t like it, then that was their own problem. Personally, Kaifeng didn’t mind being seen in the act of shooting his partner some affection.

Smiling pleasantly, he took his position. “Kaifeng of Saturn,” he said, giving his opponent a little wave, “and pleased to meet you. Here’s to a good match?”

The impulse to go easy on her remained. But silently thanking it for its input, Kaifeng mentally shoved it into a box and threw that box down the stairs into the basement. The Lysithea Squire before him wouldn’t have gotten to be a Squire without working hard, and so her age was irrelevant. She deserved the respect of his best efforts in this match-up.

Eternal Sailor Puck (spectating)

Puck heard the voice directed at him as he approached the sidelines and gave the speaker a classic British stink-eye. "Oi, who're you callin' a bush, tall yellow an' actually fairly mean-looking?" he said loudly, walking toward the deep space Senshi, who was very much taller than he was. And very mean-looking. Lots of nasty sharp pointed teeth. Not like that had ever slowed Puck down, mind. "Puck of the Woods, I'll have you know! I've half a mind to-"

His chest-thumping rant was interrupted by the appearance of a spindly ice blue-haired Senshi next to the deep space alien, who then proceeded to ruffle the hair of the newcomer as if he was a child. Which he clearly wasn't. "Oi, mate, mind those teeth, right? I wouldn't move if I was you. Just in case. I mean I wouldn't wanna get her angry…" And the Eternal imitated a shark chomping down on some invisible hapless swimmer – which is to say it was a very poor imitation.

Like Puck cared at this point.

Still, there was something vaguely familiar about this space alien that he couldn't quite put his finger on. She looked – and sounded – like she was a good time on two legs. He strolled up to her and the other Senshi, deciding this was as good a place as any to watch the rest of the brackets. From the way she'd catcalled him, she might be looking forward to heckling the competitors as much as he was. He liked her already.

Super Meissa

Making it to the quarter-finals of this little tournament seemed like something that she could brag about ... if she had been the bragging kind. Meissa had seen her next opponent in his previous match and it looked like it hadn't really been a close match at all. This Beira was definitely a strong contender to win but she had to believe in herself that she could win.

Reaching deep inside she shook out her arms before heading over to the table where she would wait to see if she could move on into the semis. Hopefully her luck would continue. She gave a few awkward shuffle steps from side to side before she settled. She'd win this. She had to.

Clearing her throat she waited until Beira was ready before she gave a heart-filled comment of, "good luck" before they got started on their match.

Imhotep, Page of Mercury

It was a teenager that came up to Imhotep this time, a kid who looked like he probably did some sort of sports. There was something to be said, however, for gardening as a past time, and Imhotep’s opponents had all been larger than him. It was to this end that he was not terribly intimidated by Reims when he arrived. Reims got a cordial half-nod of stone-faced acknowledgement and Imhotep held his hand toward Reims for the other to take.

There was also something to be said, however, for the power of anger as a motivator, and Imhotep’s was running out. He was instead growing annoyed by the feeling of Reims’ hand on his own, by the noise of all the people and the spectators. He didn’t want people touching him, talking to him.

He glanced out to the stands, and he could see Emain Ablach, and for a moment he was once again filled with that anger. No, not anger. Something more room-temperature and frustrated. And then he saw Promethei not that far away from him. Not sitting next to him, but sitting near him enough. And several things went through Imhotep’s mind, and they all went through his mind at the same time.

One, he was getting tired of being angry.

Two, what was he going to do, dress Promethei down in public or chase Emain Ablach away in public? Thereby embarrassing all of them?

Three, he missed Tobias.

Four, he was bored now. And hungry. The hunger probably wasn’t helping his temper, but the bite of his temper was gone. And without his temper, he didn’t see much of a point to what he was doing. Imhotep was not typically someone to find satisfaction in the thrill of competition like this.

He had joined as an outlet, and that seemed to have done its job.

So when the signal went off to start the match, Imhotep let his arm go limp. He was already getting up from the table in the next moment, sparing another silent cordial nod toward his opponent after shaking his hand free.

Time to find something to eat.