Through out all the days events, and for every single fight, Nemesis was readily visible. On Her Festival Day she always made sure to walk among the campers, talking to them, taking petitions, and generally allowing herself to relax, for once.
The matched fights were her favorite event though. The Romans hailed her as the Goddess of the Arena, and it was a title she'd always favored. And so she watched from her Pavilion in the Training Ground. She saw every blow landed by a contestant, and every blow taken. She found herself thinking that this years tournament contained some of the most even matches she'd ever seen. And now that it was time to judge, she found herself hesitating...
The final Gong had rung, signaling the end of the final bout in the first round, between Vivi & Roger. The two contestants retired to the edge of the arena with the rest of the contestants, Percy, Jason, Alexandra & Austin. All of them had fought well in her honor, and now all of them gazed up at her, waiting for her decision.
As the crowd grew silent, she raised her hands, and proclaimed her judgement. Each of the pairs who had faced each other in the arena stepped forward as their names were called. First, Nemesis called up Vivi & Roger. As both campers approached, and stood still beneath her gaze, she slowly raised a finger and pointed at Roger.
She then called up Percy & Jason. Their match had been difficult to judge-- they were very evenly matched-- but in the end, the Goddess lifted a finger and pointed at Jason.
Finally, Alexandra & Austin stepped forward. They both stood, looking up at Nemesis, awaiting her judgement... but the Goddess found herself hesitating again. She stood, stone still, for a steadily increasing length of time. Whispers began to spread through the crowd while Alexandra & Austin looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally one of the festival officials leaned over and said something in the Goddess' ear. She shook her head slightly.
As the crowd watched in anticipation the festival official stood up to address them. "This has never happened at Nemeseia before, but The Lady Nemesis assures me, it is what must be. And," the man let a small smile cross his face "being that she is the Goddess of Balance and Fairness, I for one do not plan to argue. In the case of contestants Alexandra & Austin there can be no winner. The Goddess has declared it a tie." He paused to allow the renewed whispering among the audience to die down again. "Given this decision, both of you will advance to the second round of fights. The pairings will be announced later this evening, and the matches will begin tomorrow at noon. Congratulations to all our contestants!"
The crowd cheered their approval as all the campers shook hands, and left the arena together to prepare for their second match.
//First match-- Vivi vs. Roger -- Roger is the winner
Percy vs. Jason -- Jason is the winner
Alexandra vs. Austin -- TIE
