Night seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Dasom was the first to rise. Soon the kids were up and so were Hyeri and I. But where in the world, we all questioned, were the boys? While Dasom took the kids down to the nearby lake to wash up, Hyeri and I peeked into the boys' tent to see a candid moment we would forever mark as "blackmail" later on. The four boys cuddled each other in their sleep, unaware of what they were doing. We snickered as Hyeri took out her Iris phone, snapping a picture of the four before quickly putting it away.

"Yah, boys. Wake up! We gotta get a move on if we want to get out of this hell hole," Hyeri shouted, shaking each of them awake.

The boys snorted and shifted in their slumber, groaning and whining about how they didn't want to get up. Hyeri let out an impatient sigh, and I shrugged when she looked at me for suggestions. Suddenly an evil smirk grew across her face. 

"Say, Jiae. Didn't Dasom say she saw some beautiful nymphs out by the lake?" Hyeri nodded at me, coercing me to go along with her plan.

I grinned slowly, catching onto her little lie. "Oh, yes. Lots of them. Long beautiful hair. Slim, petite faces and bodies. They had voices of angels as well."

Within seconds the boys were up and making a beeline for the shore. Hyeri and I followed close behind. Upon reaching the shoreline, the boys peered into the water, desperately searching for the beautiful nymphs they heard about. Taking the chance, Hyeri and I kicked them as they bent over the water, causing them to fall head first into the ice cold lake. Dasom and the kids watched from afar, giggling at the sight. The boys screamed in surprised and jumped back out of the water, shivering as they rubbed their arms.

"What was that for?" Taehyung asked, irritated.

"The water's f-freezing," JHope stammered.

"Ah, Jiae, really. How could you do this to me? I thought you cared about me," Hongbin whined as if I were his sibling.

"Hyeri, you ," Jimin shouted, shaking the water out of his ear. "Look what you did to my hair."

"Shut up. All four of you," Hyeri scolded, folding her arms across her chest. "We have to get a plan together if we want to make it out of these exams. This is no time for your four to cuddle and take in your 'beauty' sleep."

The two of us our heels and headed back to the camp while the boys continued grumbling and complaining about what had happened. We both smiled content with our plan and fist bumped. Once everyone was finally awake and settled in, we began to make a plan while munching on leftovers from last night and fresh fruit that Dasom grew. The two teams had made a pact and agreed to help each other until we both reached the end of the exam. It didn't matter what grade or rank we got, we all just wanted to get it over with. Hongbin took out a notebook and pencil from his backpack along with his camera, which he kept in a hard case so it didn't get damaged.

"So we can from this direction, where the jungle is," Hongbin began, drawing a circle to signify the campgrounds along with an arrow pointing in the direction we came from. "At least that's what I think I got from tracking the stars. And if I remember correctly and my pictures are accurate, to the right of this area, there was a mountain. Don't go there. It's snowstorm waiting to happen. Meanwhile to the left, there was a swamp. Don't go there either. It's a swamp. Why would you want to?" He snorted, finishing his drawings.

"Meanwhile we came from this way, where the desert is. Beyond that there was just a vast ocean, nothing to it," Jimin added, drawing in the desert and ocean. The boys all paused and heaved a heavy sigh. "What are we even looking for? How do we know we're at the end?"

"The teachers said there'll be a sign," Taehyung said in a tired, monotone voice. "So far, I have seen no signs."

"I remember Miss Hyuna Moon said something about Nike? Like... the goddess right?" Jimin added, remembering the quick notes he got from his teachers before leaving. 

All of us became quiet, only the faint sound of Ilayda's signing and Yoogeun's laughing could be heard in the background. Suddenly a lightbulb went off in Hyeri's head, a grin growing across her face. "I got it!" She shouted, catching everyone's attention. She pointed to JHope, a look of determination on her face. "JHope, you're an Apollo child."

"Yeah?" JHope said, confused.

"Had any weird dreams lately?" Hyeri asked, biting her lip anxiously.

"Not really?" JHope replied. 

"Damn," she whispered under her breath. "I thought that maybe you'd have some kind of prophetic vision or something. Guess not. Damn it, JHope."

"Sorry," he replied sheepishly. It was a good tactic, thought up by a daughter of Athena after all, but it wasn't good enough to get us an answer.

Weird dreams? I thought about her words for a while when my dream from last night suddenly struck me. I raised my hand and everyone's heads turned towards me. "I had an interesting dream last night, but I don't know if it's what your looking for," I said softly, a bit too embarassed about actually telling them about it.

"Shoot. We minus well try what we've got," Hyeri said, crouching down beside Jimin on the ground.

"It's really blurry to me, but I remember seeing a temple in my dream. Inside the temple there was a winged woman standing on a pedestal with a laurel crown on her head," I said, uneasy about my dream and why I had it in the first place.

"Winged woman?" Hyeri asked.

"Laurel crown?" Dasom added.

A big smile grew across Taehyung's face as he jumped up and grabbed me by the shoulders, overjoyed by this revelation. "Jiae! That's Nike! She's the winged goddess of victory. The temple you're talking about must be hers. It must be the end of the exam! Do you have any idea where it is?"

I furrowed my brows, thinking long and hard, trying to remember. I slowly shook my head, causing everyone's expressions to change to those of disappointment. "But," everyone returned their attention to me. "There's a girl who does know. In my dream, I was led there by a girl. She was quite spritely with a really goofy but adorable laugh. She felt really familiar, but I couldn't make out her face. She seemed to be by the side of some boy around her age, and she called him something like... Cookie or something. I don't know." I shrugged, giving them as much as I could provide.

"Cookie? What kind of name is that?" Jimin snorted, leaning back on his hands. 

Taehyung sighed and walked over to the boys' tent, grabbing his bag and tossing it onto his shoulders. "Well, whatever or whoever they are, we won't find them if we just keep sitting around," he said as brushed his fringe out of his face.

We all nodded in agreement and packed up our belongings, preparing to trek our way around and see if we can map out more of the terrain. Dasom seemed to enjoy spending time with the kids, so we left her lead them around while the rest of us scoped out the areas and marked down anything we noticed. Walking in a direction none of us had gone in, we eventually came across a valley and stopped. Something was off about the place. It was quiet and serene. We paused and looked around. This is an Olympus exam, something was definitely up. Before we could all get away from the area, the ground beneath us began to rumble. We quickly ran for it, JHope and Taehyung grabbed the kids and threw them onto their shoulders, making a run for it. A giant cyclops rose out of the ground and roared, and I could tell all of us were scared out of our minds at that point. This cyclops was bigger than most we learned about. There was no way he was a normal cyclops. Probably some freak of nature the academy created in order to test us. Whatever it was, everyone was prepared to fight. JHope and Taehyung looked at each other, put the kids down, and nodded in agreement.

"Hongbin, load you bow," Taehyung ordered. "Girls, stay with the kids."

"No, screw you," Hyeri retorted, unsheathing the dagger strapped to her thigh. "I'm a daughter of Athena. You need my fighting skills."

"Fine."

"Jimin, you ready?" JHope asked. Jimin nodded in reply, his eyes never leaving the sight of the cyclops as he drew his sword. 

"On the count of three, break for it. Dasom and Jiae, take the kids to safety," Taehyung ordered. We all nodded and waited for his count. "One... two... Now!"

Everyone scattered as the cyclops roared and pounded its fists on the ground, shaking the Earth like a high magnitude earthquake. Dasom grabbed another sack from her bag and threw a handful of seeds on the ground as we grew close to the neighboring woods. With a swift hand motion, a fortress of rose thrones shot out from the ground and covered the four of us, keeping us out of sight and out of mind. Meanwhile the five demigods and demigoddess fought with all they had. They used nearly every ability they had from invisibility on JHope's part to charmspeak on Jimin's part. Nothing was effective on the cyclops. The weapons they had left mere scratches on its rough skin.

I watched the fight from behind my thorny barrier, my heart clenching with worry as the feeling in my gut grew unbearable. I wanted to fight. I wanted to help them, but I couldn't. I was weaponless, and I was ordered to stay put with the children. I couldn't risk compromising the safety of the kids like I did yesterday. Not again. Not another mistake. I clenched my fists and continued to watch, only able to pray that they'd be okay.

The demigods were growing weary, and the cyclops could tell. As the five of them stood around, catching their breath, it took the chance to swoop its hand down, aiming to grab Hyeri and Hongbin.

"Hyeri! Watch out!" Jimin shouted, shoving her out of the way as the cyclops grabbed him and Hongbin in one hand while the other grabbed Taehyung and JHope.

The four boys screamed out in pain as the cyclops' grip nearly squeezed the air out of them. I fell to my knees at the sight. This couldn't be happening. We were losing. It wasn't the fact that we would fail this exam that got me, it was the fact that I had to watch my friends go through all this suffering and be unable to help. A tear rolled down my face, and this alarmed Ilayda who innocently approached me and wiped my tear away.

"Unnie, why are you crying?" She asked, tilting her head.

I breathed in deeply, trying to keep from crying before her anymore. "I-It's nothing. It's just... I want to help Ilayda. I want to go out there and fight. I can't sit here and watch them."

"Then why don't you?"

I paused and looked down. "I don't have a weapon. I can't fight weaponless."

"Weapon?" Ilayda asked. "Why didn't you say so? Mommy gave me this bracelet for a reason! You can borrow it. I don't know how to use it, but maybe you will." 

She took off her golden bracelet and place one end in my hand, smiling. Moving my hand in a whipping motion with her own little hand, I watched in amazement as it slowly grew and grew, turning into a long black whip. I stared at it. I'd never used one in my life, but perhaps this was the best time to learn. Yoogeun looked to Dasom and smiled.

"What about you, Noona?" He asked. "Don't you want to help?"

"I-I mean, I would but-" Dasom stammered.

"Don't be shy!" He laughed playfully, slapping his hand on Dasom's back encouragingly. For a small child, he had the strength of a grown man. That was a trait of the Ares family it seemed. He detached a water gun keychain from his belt loop and shook it, turning it into a full size gun before handing it to Dasom. "Why don't you try?"

Dasom stared at him, jaw agape. The poor girl was completely traumatized by what was going on. "I've been here for one month," she said softly, her voice wavering with confusion and fear. "And a child just handed me a gun telling me to go fight... What has my life come to?" She sighed reluctantly, forcing herself to lower the thorny barrier so the two of us could leave before she put it back up again. We ran towards the battle grounds and joined Hyeri.

Before any words could be exchanged, the panicked Dasom aimed her gun at the cyclops' arm, firing a single shot. The bullet splayed out in mid air, raining more than a dozen shrapnel on the monster's limb. It must've been an enchanted bullet or something, because it seemed to be the only weapon so far that cause the cyclops to cry out in pain and release the boys. Dasom gasped and waved her hand across the field, letting beds of foliage grow and cushion the fall of the boys. They all seemed to have had the air knocked out of them because they didn't respond. Meanwhile Dasom stared at the gun in disbelief. "The bullet turned into like five hundred other bullets," she said, tilting her head curiously. She bounced up and down, obviously upset that she didn't understand how any of this was happening. "What is going on?" 

"Stop whining, toots," Hyeri reprimanded. "We've got a cyclops to take down." 

Hyeri pulled small disks from her pocket and pressed the red buttons on them, enlarging them into bigger disks. They began to beep, counting down as she toss them at the cyclops. The exploded on impact, causing the cyclops to stumble backwards. Seeing this, and a plan formed in my mind, and my mouth and body began to move on their own. I cracked my whip and fire engulfed it, my abilities beginning to awaken. I ran towards the cyclops, Dasom and Hyeri shouting after me worriedly.

"Hyeri, continue throwing more of those bombs if you have any!" I shouted. "Dasom, I know you can make plants grow, I'm going to need your help when the time comes."

"B-but I haven't been able to do it without the help of seeds," Dasom shouted, after me.

"You can do it! I believe it you!" I replied, circling around behind the cyclops. 

Instinctively, the giant oaf turned around to face me. I smirked. It was exactly what I planned. "You wanna play, big guy?" I asked, snapping my whip and leaving a burn marked across its foot, causing it to roar. "Let's play. Hyeri, now!"

I snapped my whip at it again, making it furious. It bent down to grab me, but I quickly escaped. Hyeri threw as many bombs as she could pull from her pockets. The explosions causing the cyclops to lurch forward. Taking the chance, I snapped my whip, wrapping  it around his ankle and heaving it with all the strength I had. I prayed to the gods this would work, and thankfully they were on my side today. The cyclops fell to the ground with an Earth shaking impact. 

"Dasom! Do it! You have to tie him down. If he gets up again, I don't think we'll be able to stop him," I said in a serious tone, staring intensely into her eyes. Her eyes looked back at me with self doubt and uneasiness. I gritted my teeth and shouted. "Do it, Kim Dasom!"

Dasom shut her eyes tight and hoped for the best. My expression changed to one of shock and awe as she opened her eyes. They glowed, radiating the power she was summoning from within her. She let out a powerful shout, and I turned back to where the cyclops had fallen. Dasom lifted her hand before her and grabbed at the air, clenching it tightly. Thick roots sprouted from the ground and wrapped around the cyclops, holding it to the ground. It roared in frustration and thrashed about, wanting to get out. I ran towards it, passing over Jimin's unconscious body and taking his sword. Climbing onto its back, I picked a vulnerable spot between its shoulder blades, just about where its heart should be. With a ruthless expression on my face, I shouted and stabbed the blade into the cyclops' back, causing it to roar even louder. The sword wouldn't budge. I didn't have enough strength to push it all the way through.

I looked desperately to Hyeri who nodded and grabbed Dasom's hand, ushering her over and up onto the cyclops' back. The three of us looked at each other and nodded. Putting all our hands onto the hilt of the sword, we shoved down with all our might. The sword seemed to grow in length to accommodate our current circumstances, growing and growing until it pierced all the way through the cyclops' heart, ending its life. Its lifeless body began to disintegrate beneath our feet, turning to dust and disappearing into the wind without a trace. The three of us collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, breathing heavily as Jimin's sword simply fell to the ground and impaled itself in the dirt. I laughed, a laugh of relief and victory. Looking over at Dasom, I was startled to see a glowing symbol above her.

"Dasom... Dasom," I said, gasping in between my words. "You-You're-"

"You're being claimed," Hyeri said as she sat up to witness the moment as well. 

Dasom looked up at the symbol above her head. It was a glowing green tree, the mark of a possible plant goddess. "M-mother?" She asked, questioning the moment as she reached up to touch the symbol.

It grew brighter and all of us had to close our eyes as to avoid getting blinded. The light seemed to wash over all of us, suddenly making us feel lighter and energizing us. It woke the boys up and healed any signs of battle and struggle on their bodies. Once the light died down, the symbol was gone; Dasom had finally been claimed by a god. Hyeri grinned from ear to ear and crawled over to Dasom, tackling her with a hug.

"Congratulations! You got claimed by Demeter. Oh, my gods, I'm so happy for you," Hyeri cheered.

While the two of them celebrated, I sat there, staring at Dasom. That symbol was definitely not Demeter's symbol. Or that was what I thought anyway. Something didn't feel right. There was definitely something off putting about this all, but I decided not to say anything. I accepted it as it was and smile, happy for Dasom. Whatever has happened so far, there was one thing I knew for sure. The boys battled the cyclops, but we won the battle for them.

Girls: 1. Boys: 0.