Only My Buttervioline 6[2036]
darthcourt10
Well worn.
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Yellowhammer
A.N. -- Well, it is time to show what kind of metal Therese du Chasteler-Potter and Antigone Koustris have in her.
Only My Buttervioline (VI)
Panathinaïkó Stádio, Athens, Greece
27 May 2036 (First Day of the Knockout Round)
"So explain the rules of this tournament to me, Athena?" Aphrodite nibbled on some popcorn.
The Goddess of Wisdom pointed to the two young women below. "Each of them will alternate shooting three arrows with a twenty-second timer once they are cleared to take a shot. They are scored on what part of the target they hit, and the cumulative scores are measured against each other. Two points are scored by the winner of a set, and one by each for a tie, with the first person to score six points advancing. If they are tied after five sets, they go to a single arrow shoot-off where they are judged after each arrow landed to break the tie."
Aphrodite nodded along with the explanation. She then looked at Apollo (wearing newly purchased Team Belgium merchandise) and Artemis (in a Hellenic Navy 'Silent But Deadly" T-shirt showing a bow-hunter) and smirked at the eager expressions on the twins' faces. The smirk widened as the twins began to banter back and forth about the skills of their beloved Chosen.
Aphrodite took another bite of popcorn before turning to Athena. She raised one perfect blonde eyebrow and asked in her throaty voice, "So, when will Antigone Koustris and Therese du Chasteler meet in their match?"
Athena glanced at her tablet and thought as she ran the possibilities on the screen. "They got seeded twenty-first and twenty-third respectively in the sixty-four archer field. du Chasteler's qualifying round scored more tens and Xs -- the very inmost ring used during single-arrow shootouts -- so she is seeded twenty-first in Section Two. If she advances, she will have to go through the twelfth, fifth, and fourth seed to reach the four contenders for the medal. The winner of Two will face the winner of Section One with the top seed Choi Mi-Sun from Korea there. As for Koustris...."
Athena scrolled down and breathed a sigh of relief. "Section Four. So Tenth seed in the round of thirty two after her initial match, seventh seed in the round of sixteen, and second seed Chang Hye-jin who won gold last Olympics in the round of eight. Then the winner of Section Three with the third seed Ki Bo-bae there. Hm, the top three seeds are Koreans. No wonder they won the team gold medal in overwhelming style yesterday."
Athena gave Aphrodite a smug grin. "So the only way they can compete directly is with gold on the line going through the best archers in the world in their first Olympics. Sorry Cytherean, it almost certainly won't happen, especially with the anti-tampering measures put in place to prevent unfair magical meddling with the Games. That also stops Us from assisting our Champions directly, which would be a violation of the Accords in any event. So this won't become a rehash of the events that happened on the plain of Illium. Thankfully."
Aphrodite gave Athena a flat stare and spoke with a pout. "Don't think that I have forgotten you encouraging Diomedes to run wild and wound Me when I went to save my son Aeneas, Pallas." She unconsciously rubbed one creamy wrist. "That really hurt, you know."
Athena visibly bit back her initial cutting retort involving bribing a certain royal-born shepherd with sexual favors to claim a golden apple that had started that whole ugly mess before it could cross her lips. "Would it help any if I said that I'm sorry in going overboard back then, Cytherean?" She finally said int he most neutral tone that she could muster.
"Not really, Pallas." Aphrodite admitted before smiling as down below a young woman with spruce-colored hair, dark eyes full of passion and life, and dressed in a Belgian Archery shirt placed a violin case down. Therese took a deep breath as she walked to the right-side target at the judge's instructions. "Besides, the show is about to start anyway.
"Leidys Brito, Venezuela! Therese du Chasteler, Belgium!" The announcer said to announce the start of the knockout round.
------------------------
Spoiler: Therese's Moment
Therese swallowed nervously as she walked to the line, feeling every eye in the stadium resting upon her, judging her.
Her heartstrings thudded in the staccato percussive beats of the kumi-daiko drum music that Yoko and Grandmother Toku loved.
Her nervous breath rasped in her throat like an agonized woodwind chorus.
Her bow was as heavy as Mother's piano body in her sweating hand.
Then suddenly, as if the sun had broke through the clouds around her, she felt an impulse to glance to her right.
She caught His eyes as her mystery man.... Apollo, her friend had named him stared into her heart with a message in His warm blue eyes and his brilliant sunny smile that resonated in her heartstrings and caused her soul to catch fire.
I know that you can do it.
I believe in you.
I love you.
In the next instant, a crow flew out of the early morning sun to circle around her head and then landed on the top of the Belgian flagpole where it began to chatter back and forth with Utsuho-chan who was roosting on top of the Japanese flagpole nearby.
Therese felt that strength, that fire, that passion in her soul fill her with a flame that would not be denied.
All her doubts, her shyness, her fears, her worries, burned to ash in an instant and were blown away on the roaring liberating flaming inferno that had been lit within her breast.
She raised her bow with a smugly confident cocky smile just like Aunt Ehren, Grandmother Colombe, Great-Grandma Norimune and the rest of her family would in this instant as she prepared to put on her magnum opus performance on the biggest stage of all.
"Shoot!"
Ten.
Nine.
Nine.
"Set to du Chasteler Twenty-eight to Twenty-seven! Match to Du Chasteler Six-Four!"
------------------------
Antigone Koustris nodded respectfully to Artemis as she finished stretching. Her small smile widened as a goose flew over her head to land on pole of a Greek flag nearby.
She spoke quietly into the stadium and bowed her head. "Thank you for the sign of your favor, my beloved Queen of the Beasts, Lady of Ephesus."
With that she focused on the target, waiting for the perfect moment to loose her arrows to strike.
"Ika Yuliana Rochmawati, Indonesia! Antigone Koustris, Greece! Shoot!"
Ten.
Eight.
Ten.
"Set to Koustris Twenty-Eight to Twenty-seven!"
------------------------
"Therese du Chasteler, Belgium! Gabriela Bayardo, Mexico!"
Eight.
Ten.
Ten.
"Set to du Chasteler Twenty-Eight to Twenty-Seven! Match to Du Chasteler Six-Four!"
------------------------
"Antigone Koustris, Greece! Kaori Kawanaka, Japan!"
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
"Set to Koustris Twenty-Seven to Twenty-six! Match to Koustris Seven to Three!"
Uzume handed a smirking Aphrodite an IOU as the archers below shook hands while waiting to be called again.
------------------------
"Therese du Chasteler, Belgium! Tuyana Norpolovna Dashidorzhieva, Russia!"
Athena commented idly as she glanced at her tablet. "This should be interesting. The Russians took team silver in women's archery yesterday. The competition is definitely stiffening. Dashidorzhieva is thirteenth in the world, apparently, and seeded fifth in the tournament."
Aphrodite nodded and looked at the rapt Apollo. "Yes. Apollo did send a crow as an omen to show who He favors in the competition. As if there would be any doubt! But, Therese still has to perform. He can only inspire and hearten, not do this for her."
Down below Therese gave her Buryat Mongol competitor a smug smile and respectful nod. She hummed Go The Distance as she plucked her first arrow from her quiver in the fifth and final deciding set.
Ten.
Ten.
Ten.
"Tie Set Thirty to Thirty! Match to Du Chasteler Six to Four!"
Therese stepped back and smiled at her thee arrows clustered in the golden center of the target. She then walked over and patted the visibly stunned Russian woman on the shoulder and spoke quietly in French. "Good match. It was an honor to face you today." Idly she hummed Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia as the other woman gave her a grateful smile and spoke to her in Mongolian. "Minii önöödriin toglolt bish!" before shaking her hand.
The the crowd roared as the last match of the day was announced.
"Antigone Koustris, Greece! Lucilla Boari, Italy!"
Therese looked over with a happy and proud smile as her friend faced a member of the fourth-place women's team in these Olympics who had also won the gold in last year's Mediterranean games.
------------------------
Spoiler: Antigone Takes Aim
Antigone stood on the line as she waited for the command to shoot.
She breathed in and out slowly as the command was given to open the fifth and final set of their hotly contested match. She had edged Boari in the second set by one scant point, only to have the Italian return the favor in the fourth to deny her outright victory.
As she watched, the Italian's first arrow struck gold in the nine ring.
Antigone drew and took aim, waiting for the winds to die down. Then as she fired, a gust blew, sliding her arrow slightly off target to thud into the line between the crimson seven and eight rings.
A groan sounded through the stadium as the scoreboard flashed 9-8.
The groan redoubled as Boari's next arrow found the heart of the target for a ten.
Antigone felt the bowstring tickle her cheek as she waited.
Now!
Her arrow thudded into the gold ten ring, producing a cheer.
19-18.
Boari frowned to herself while she drew to put the hometown favorite away.
The arrow flew.
The wind gusted once more, deflecting it slightly.
The arrow hit gold, landing a scant centimeter from penetrating the black circle surrounding the ten ring.
Antigone paid no attention to the gathering stir as the scoreboard updated 28-18.
The door had been left open a crack for her.
She nocked.
She focused on the target as her mother had focused on Abyssal battleships, Demons, and Princesses while commanding her steel hull in the war to save humanity from destruction.
She drew.
Her brain ran the calculations just as she would prepare to launch a spread of torpedoes.
Her aim point shifted slightly as she sensed the winds begin to change.
"FIRE THREE!" sounded through her soul.
She fired.
The arrow slammed into the ten ring.
"Tie Set! A single arrow shoot-off is required!"
Antigone stood at the line calmly and took the single arrow as her competitor sweated.
She stood there as calmly and placidly as a moonlit lake with deer drinking from it as the judge blew his whistle.
"Koustris! Shoot!"
She loaded her bow and drew.
She paused with the calm confidence instilled by a mother who had wounded the monstrous and deadly Calydonian Boar as it unstoppably charged her in the Age of Heroes.
She took aim with the unshakable confidence of a submarine that had brought her crew back in triumph again and again from the deadliest hunts of all in the underwater hell of the Abyssal War.
Her lips twitched and she whispered as her love, her family, and her friends looked enthralled upon her.
"FIRE FOUR!"
Her arrow slammed into the X in the dead center of the target's inmost ring.
She stepped back and watched Boari's desperate hope to answer her perfect shot go slightly wide.
"Koustris wins the shootout X Ring to Ten Ring! Match to Koustris Six to Five!" The announcer's voice cracked in his excitement.
She bowed her head to Artemis in homage as the Goddess of the Hunt sprang to her feet alongside the roaring crowd to celebrate her advancement to the final eight archers of the Olympics.
A.N. -- Well, it is time to show what kind of metal Therese du Chasteler-Potter and Antigone Koustris have in her.
Only My Buttervioline (VI)
Panathinaïkó Stádio, Athens, Greece
27 May 2036 (First Day of the Knockout Round)
"So explain the rules of this tournament to me, Athena?" Aphrodite nibbled on some popcorn.
The Goddess of Wisdom pointed to the two young women below. "Each of them will alternate shooting three arrows with a twenty-second timer once they are cleared to take a shot. They are scored on what part of the target they hit, and the cumulative scores are measured against each other. Two points are scored by the winner of a set, and one by each for a tie, with the first person to score six points advancing. If they are tied after five sets, they go to a single arrow shoot-off where they are judged after each arrow landed to break the tie."
Aphrodite nodded along with the explanation. She then looked at Apollo (wearing newly purchased Team Belgium merchandise) and Artemis (in a Hellenic Navy 'Silent But Deadly" T-shirt showing a bow-hunter) and smirked at the eager expressions on the twins' faces. The smirk widened as the twins began to banter back and forth about the skills of their beloved Chosen.
Aphrodite took another bite of popcorn before turning to Athena. She raised one perfect blonde eyebrow and asked in her throaty voice, "So, when will Antigone Koustris and Therese du Chasteler meet in their match?"
Athena glanced at her tablet and thought as she ran the possibilities on the screen. "They got seeded twenty-first and twenty-third respectively in the sixty-four archer field. du Chasteler's qualifying round scored more tens and Xs -- the very inmost ring used during single-arrow shootouts -- so she is seeded twenty-first in Section Two. If she advances, she will have to go through the twelfth, fifth, and fourth seed to reach the four contenders for the medal. The winner of Two will face the winner of Section One with the top seed Choi Mi-Sun from Korea there. As for Koustris...."
Athena scrolled down and breathed a sigh of relief. "Section Four. So Tenth seed in the round of thirty two after her initial match, seventh seed in the round of sixteen, and second seed Chang Hye-jin who won gold last Olympics in the round of eight. Then the winner of Section Three with the third seed Ki Bo-bae there. Hm, the top three seeds are Koreans. No wonder they won the team gold medal in overwhelming style yesterday."
Athena gave Aphrodite a smug grin. "So the only way they can compete directly is with gold on the line going through the best archers in the world in their first Olympics. Sorry Cytherean, it almost certainly won't happen, especially with the anti-tampering measures put in place to prevent unfair magical meddling with the Games. That also stops Us from assisting our Champions directly, which would be a violation of the Accords in any event. So this won't become a rehash of the events that happened on the plain of Illium. Thankfully."
Aphrodite gave Athena a flat stare and spoke with a pout. "Don't think that I have forgotten you encouraging Diomedes to run wild and wound Me when I went to save my son Aeneas, Pallas." She unconsciously rubbed one creamy wrist. "That really hurt, you know."
Athena visibly bit back her initial cutting retort involving bribing a certain royal-born shepherd with sexual favors to claim a golden apple that had started that whole ugly mess before it could cross her lips. "Would it help any if I said that I'm sorry in going overboard back then, Cytherean?" She finally said int he most neutral tone that she could muster.
"Not really, Pallas." Aphrodite admitted before smiling as down below a young woman with spruce-colored hair, dark eyes full of passion and life, and dressed in a Belgian Archery shirt placed a violin case down. Therese took a deep breath as she walked to the right-side target at the judge's instructions. "Besides, the show is about to start anyway.
"Leidys Brito, Venezuela! Therese du Chasteler, Belgium!" The announcer said to announce the start of the knockout round.
------------------------
Spoiler: Therese's Moment
Therese swallowed nervously as she walked to the line, feeling every eye in the stadium resting upon her, judging her.
Her heartstrings thudded in the staccato percussive beats of the kumi-daiko drum music that Yoko and Grandmother Toku loved.
Her nervous breath rasped in her throat like an agonized woodwind chorus.
Her bow was as heavy as Mother's piano body in her sweating hand.
Then suddenly, as if the sun had broke through the clouds around her, she felt an impulse to glance to her right.
She caught His eyes as her mystery man.... Apollo, her friend had named him stared into her heart with a message in His warm blue eyes and his brilliant sunny smile that resonated in her heartstrings and caused her soul to catch fire.
I know that you can do it.
I believe in you.
I love you.
In the next instant, a crow flew out of the early morning sun to circle around her head and then landed on the top of the Belgian flagpole where it began to chatter back and forth with Utsuho-chan who was roosting on top of the Japanese flagpole nearby.
Therese felt that strength, that fire, that passion in her soul fill her with a flame that would not be denied.
All her doubts, her shyness, her fears, her worries, burned to ash in an instant and were blown away on the roaring liberating flaming inferno that had been lit within her breast.
She raised her bow with a smugly confident cocky smile just like Aunt Ehren, Grandmother Colombe, Great-Grandma Norimune and the rest of her family would in this instant as she prepared to put on her magnum opus performance on the biggest stage of all.
"Shoot!"
Ten.
Nine.
Nine.
"Set to du Chasteler Twenty-eight to Twenty-seven! Match to Du Chasteler Six-Four!"
------------------------
Antigone Koustris nodded respectfully to Artemis as she finished stretching. Her small smile widened as a goose flew over her head to land on pole of a Greek flag nearby.
She spoke quietly into the stadium and bowed her head. "Thank you for the sign of your favor, my beloved Queen of the Beasts, Lady of Ephesus."
With that she focused on the target, waiting for the perfect moment to loose her arrows to strike.
"Ika Yuliana Rochmawati, Indonesia! Antigone Koustris, Greece! Shoot!"
Ten.
Eight.
Ten.
"Set to Koustris Twenty-Eight to Twenty-seven!"
------------------------
"Therese du Chasteler, Belgium! Gabriela Bayardo, Mexico!"
Eight.
Ten.
Ten.
"Set to du Chasteler Twenty-Eight to Twenty-Seven! Match to Du Chasteler Six-Four!"
------------------------
"Antigone Koustris, Greece! Kaori Kawanaka, Japan!"
Eight.
Nine.
Ten.
"Set to Koustris Twenty-Seven to Twenty-six! Match to Koustris Seven to Three!"
Uzume handed a smirking Aphrodite an IOU as the archers below shook hands while waiting to be called again.
------------------------
"Therese du Chasteler, Belgium! Tuyana Norpolovna Dashidorzhieva, Russia!"
Athena commented idly as she glanced at her tablet. "This should be interesting. The Russians took team silver in women's archery yesterday. The competition is definitely stiffening. Dashidorzhieva is thirteenth in the world, apparently, and seeded fifth in the tournament."
Aphrodite nodded and looked at the rapt Apollo. "Yes. Apollo did send a crow as an omen to show who He favors in the competition. As if there would be any doubt! But, Therese still has to perform. He can only inspire and hearten, not do this for her."
Down below Therese gave her Buryat Mongol competitor a smug smile and respectful nod. She hummed Go The Distance as she plucked her first arrow from her quiver in the fifth and final deciding set.
Ten.
Ten.
Ten.
"Tie Set Thirty to Thirty! Match to Du Chasteler Six to Four!"
Therese stepped back and smiled at her thee arrows clustered in the golden center of the target. She then walked over and patted the visibly stunned Russian woman on the shoulder and spoke quietly in French. "Good match. It was an honor to face you today." Idly she hummed Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia as the other woman gave her a grateful smile and spoke to her in Mongolian. "Minii önöödriin toglolt bish!" before shaking her hand.
The the crowd roared as the last match of the day was announced.
"Antigone Koustris, Greece! Lucilla Boari, Italy!"
Therese looked over with a happy and proud smile as her friend faced a member of the fourth-place women's team in these Olympics who had also won the gold in last year's Mediterranean games.
------------------------
Spoiler: Antigone Takes Aim
Antigone stood on the line as she waited for the command to shoot.
She breathed in and out slowly as the command was given to open the fifth and final set of their hotly contested match. She had edged Boari in the second set by one scant point, only to have the Italian return the favor in the fourth to deny her outright victory.
As she watched, the Italian's first arrow struck gold in the nine ring.
Antigone drew and took aim, waiting for the winds to die down. Then as she fired, a gust blew, sliding her arrow slightly off target to thud into the line between the crimson seven and eight rings.
A groan sounded through the stadium as the scoreboard flashed 9-8.
The groan redoubled as Boari's next arrow found the heart of the target for a ten.
Antigone felt the bowstring tickle her cheek as she waited.
Now!
Her arrow thudded into the gold ten ring, producing a cheer.
19-18.
Boari frowned to herself while she drew to put the hometown favorite away.
The arrow flew.
The wind gusted once more, deflecting it slightly.
The arrow hit gold, landing a scant centimeter from penetrating the black circle surrounding the ten ring.
Antigone paid no attention to the gathering stir as the scoreboard updated 28-18.
The door had been left open a crack for her.
She nocked.
She focused on the target as her mother had focused on Abyssal battleships, Demons, and Princesses while commanding her steel hull in the war to save humanity from destruction.
She drew.
Her brain ran the calculations just as she would prepare to launch a spread of torpedoes.
Her aim point shifted slightly as she sensed the winds begin to change.
"FIRE THREE!" sounded through her soul.
She fired.
The arrow slammed into the ten ring.
"Tie Set! A single arrow shoot-off is required!"
Antigone stood at the line calmly and took the single arrow as her competitor sweated.
She stood there as calmly and placidly as a moonlit lake with deer drinking from it as the judge blew his whistle.
"Koustris! Shoot!"
She loaded her bow and drew.
She paused with the calm confidence instilled by a mother who had wounded the monstrous and deadly Calydonian Boar as it unstoppably charged her in the Age of Heroes.
She took aim with the unshakable confidence of a submarine that had brought her crew back in triumph again and again from the deadliest hunts of all in the underwater hell of the Abyssal War.
Her lips twitched and she whispered as her love, her family, and her friends looked enthralled upon her.
"FIRE FOUR!"
Her arrow slammed into the X in the dead center of the target's inmost ring.
She stepped back and watched Boari's desperate hope to answer her perfect shot go slightly wide.
"Koustris wins the shootout X Ring to Ten Ring! Match to Koustris Six to Five!" The announcer's voice cracked in his excitement.
She bowed her head to Artemis in homage as the Goddess of the Hunt sprang to her feet alongside the roaring crowd to celebrate her advancement to the final eight archers of the Olympics.