A/N: Wow, over 100 reviews! You guys are truly amazing! :D As a reward, I wrote this especially long chapter :)
Disclaimer: It would be awesome if I owned Merlin. IF. The if means I don't own Merlin.
CHAPTER 16: TOURNAMENTING ANGEL
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-GUARDIAN ANGEL-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Three days later…
"I still can't believe it…" Arthur mumbled, his back facing the rest of the fencing team.
After his nightly talk with Merlin (the guy had been suspiciously wise, that meant nothing good was bound to happen), Arthur had actually been able to get some hours of sleep. The day after, they had fought the first round of the tournament against the team of a small village. They hadn't been that much of a challenge, but they had proven useful to boast the team's self-esteem.
On the next day, their opponent in the second round had actually been supposed to be Morgana's team but somehow the system had been changed. Arthur did not have a good feeling about it, but there was absolutely nothing he could do.
But luck really had favored them. The team they had to fight instead of Morgana's had been… well, let's say at least they had tried, but quite frankly, Arthur wondered how they had gotten into the second round in the first place.
And then yesterday, there had been the semi-final. At least this time, they had lost one match and two had been a draw. They still hadn't been worthy opponents.
So considering the average strength most of this teams had, Arthur really wasn't surprised when their opponent in the final had been announced to be Morgana and her team.
Currently, it was half an hour before the first match would start and the whole team, together with Uther, Gaius and Gwen, who had come to watch the final, was sitting on a round table in the conference room. This room had been offered to them so that they could prepare themselves for the fights that were to come.
"I still can't believe it." Arthur repeated, standing at a window and gazing at the dark clouds which were forming outside. With a heavy sigh, he turned around and faced the others, who were all seated around a round table.
"But it's the real thing, we've reached the final. But don't let yourself be fooled by the fact that the previous rounds were throughout child's plays. What comes next couldn't be any more different."
He said all this with a slight warning, watching as his father nodded slightly and Gwen looked at him in concern.
"But nonetheless" He continued "We are capable of winning this. We've trained hard to come this far, there's no way we could give up now, right?"
Mumbles of agreement went through the room, Merlin smiled at him encouragingly.
"We have never been better prepared than now. We are going to win the cup, I believe in it!"
"I believe in it!" Merlin echoed with a grin, raising his fist enthusiastically.
The others cracked smiles as well and copied his motion. "We believe in it!"
Satisfied with his men's response, Arthur took out a pen and his notebook, flicking open an empty page. "Alright then, it's time to decide on our assembly. We need a good ice-breaker, this is going to be essential."
Merlin nodded absent mindly. Ice-breakers were what Arthur called the ones who carried out the first fight. When facing a strong opponent like Morgana's team, they were essential. If you thought about it, it was a little like a game of chess.
"I think Leon should do it." Elyan suggested with a thoughtful look. "Ice-breakers have to be calm and steady, which I think Leon is the definition of."
The curly haired man smiled at that, but he nodded in acceptance. "I believe I can do it."
"That's the spirit." Gwen commented with a warm smile. Then she added "Who do you think Morgana will choose as ice-breaker?"
Arthur pondered about it, looking at previous notes that he had taken. "We can be sure that it won't be herself nor Mordred. I don't think it will be Alvarr either, I see him more as a scorer."
Merlin didn't know who Alvarr was exactly but if the man was a scorer, he must be quite skilled. Scorers were the ones who fought directly after the ice-breakers. The function of scorers was to either bring the number of wins into balance again or to back up the ice-breaker. Scorers often were the ones who had to deal with foul playing. There wasn't a real explanation for it, but Merlin had witnessed it in his short time of being the mascot already many times.
"This only leaves Valiant, Tauren and Helios. I somehow get the feeling it could be Valiant, but Helios is possible as well… Best you prepare for both of them, Leon."
Arthur quickly wrote something down in his notebook.
"Alright… Elyan, I think you'd make a good scorer." Arthur looked up with a smirk, the glint in his eyes indicating that he already had planned something. Which really wasn't a good thing.
"Umm…If you think so. I'll definitively do my best." Elyan answered sincerely, earning an approving nod by Gaius, who had kept silent the whole time.
"You have to remember, Alvarr is very strong. Don't underestimate him." Uther suddenly threw in, glancing at Elyan with a little doubt. "Maybe you should take over the part of the scorer, Arthur."
Arthur subconsciously clenched his jaw, but before he could even come to word, Gaius beat him to it. "You forget, Uther, that there still is Morgana. She is by far the strongest opponent, closely followed by Mordred. And, I think we all agree on that, Arthur is our most skilled fighter. On Alvarr, he'd be a plain waste."
Uther seemed taken aback for a moment, but then he smiled at Gaius and nodded, leaning back in his chair. "You're right of course. If you would continue, Arthur."
Still a little unsettled, Arthur nodded and stared at his notes again. "Next up is the…err…"
"I think you called it match-maker. Seriously, that name's just silly, even for your standards." Merlin teased, happily ignoring Uther's disapproving look.
"Thank you for your input, Merlin. But yes, next up is the match-maker, which is a great name and describes the function perfectly."
Merlin rolled his eyes and couldn't keep himself from smirking. Arthur had chosen this name because the match-maker would, if both ice-breaker and scorer had succeeded, decide whether the team would at least get a draw, or if they still had to worry about completely losing.
This way, he could secure a draw. In other ways, he could make the match a draw. That's why match-maker. Merlin still didn't understand Arthur's train of thought, but in a very vague way, it kind of made at least a tiny bit of sense.
"I suggest Percy. Whether it's Helios or Tauren, he's going to beat them. I'm sure of it." Gwaine spoke up, surprisingly for the first time.
Arthur nodded in agreement, he had thought along the same lines. "That's settled then. For the back-saver, I think Lancelot would be perfect. He's going to go up against whoever is left. His abilities as an all-rounder could come in quite handy."
Lancelot nodded in agreement, he had expected this already. In all the previous matches, he had always been the back-saver. The back-saver served the purpose of saving the team from losing. If all the previous fights had been lost, or a draw, the back-saver was securing the team's chance of winning.
"Can I be the provoker?" Gwaine asked, looking at Arthur in excitement, who was still writing in his notebook.
"Of course, who else is left? It certainly isn't going to be Merlin."
Ignoring the raven haired's protest, Arthur wrote Gwaine down as provoker. The provoker was there to clear the way for the last fighter. His job basically was to unnerve the opposing team, to make them lose faith in winning. The provoker would probably face Mordred.
Gwaine was perfect for this job and their second best fighter.
"Alright, I'm going to be the finisher. Morgana hasn't got even the slightest of a chance against me, so don't you dare losing, then I won't be able to fight at all."
Gwen smiled at her boyfriend. "I'm certain you'll win."
Atthur smiled back, suddenly very aware of how nervous he actually was. He just hoped his strategy would work out.
"Alright, I'm going to read out the positions one more time, so that everyone knows what they're up against. Ice-breaker, Leon. Scorer, Elyan. Match-maker, Percy. Back-saver, Lance. Provoker, Gwaine. Finisher, Arthur."
"Mascot, Merlin." The young angel added, earning various chuckles.
"Alright then, men. Let the battle begin!" Arthur growled, grim determination written on his face as he stood up from the round table and left the conference room, followed closely by his teammates.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-GUARDIAN ANGEL-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
A few minutes later, they all were dressed in their protective clothing, epees resting in their, despite the nervousness, calm hands. Gwen, Gaius and Uther had gone to the tribune and were probably sitting in the loge right
Merlin was watching the others as they concentrated and tried to calm their nerves, feeling a little nervous himself. It had been quite a time since he had seen Morgana and Mordred the last time, he wondered how they would react to him. Would they be able to sense his change into an archangel?
From outside the little room they were in, Merlin could hear the loud shouts of the moderator, talking about a great match and other stuff. Every second now, he would announce their team and then they were to walk out onto battlefield.
Merlin glanced over at Arthur, the man seemed to be calmness himself, but Merlin knew better. The way his jaw was clenched, the way he stared at the same spot on the wall for over a minute know… They all were indicators of nervousness.
The young angel smiled a little to himself and got back to listening to the boisterous words of the moderator.
"Let's greet them with the biggest applause you can manage! Here's the team from the CPC!"
Merlin could practically hear the heartbeats of his teammates increase as the doors of their little room opened and a men gestured at them to come out.
Led by a stern Arthur, they lined up, epees in one hand and masks clasped under their arms. Slowly, they walked outside, greeted by cheering and screaming from the audience. They all smiled at their fans, Gwaine even blowing kisses to some girls in the front row.
"Aren't they looking confident? The captain, Arthur Pendragon, is leading his team with determination! They're going to be hard to beat, but so are their opponents. Welcome the team led by the most beautiful fencer in England! Here's the team from the ORC!"
Just when they had seated themselves on a bench, the doors on the opposite side opened and Merlin's eyes widened when he saw Morgana entering.
She had changed, but none of the other's seemed to notice…
Her eyes glowed red like fresh blood, piercing right into his own as if she wanted to tear his soul apart. Her hair was disheveled and the total blackness of it seemed to make her pale face shine like snow. A dark aura surrounded her, eating up all light like a black hole. Merlin had never seen anything like that.
He quickly glanced up at the lodge and noticed that Gaius had a look on his face that might resemble his own. The old man suddenly looked straight at Merlin and nodded, silently mouthing the word 'Demon'.
Merlin nodded and turned his eyes back to the dark haired girl. Her face was void of emotion, burning red eyes still staring at him. Not at Arthur or anyone else, solely at him. A chill ran down his spine as Merlin forced himself to tear his gaze from her.
When she, followed by her team, had sat down on the bench, the moderator started babbling about statistics, the previous tournament and other things regarding this matter.
"Alright, now let's get started. The first fight will be carried out between Leon from the CPC and Valiant from the ORC!"
Merlin noticed Arthur nodding and patting Leon on the shoulder. He hurried over and wished him good luck himself. With crossed fingers, the raven haired watched as Leon put on his mask and walked up into the center, bowing slightly in front of Valiant, who did the same.
The moderator let another sentence pass his lips.
Then the battle began.
Leon attacked Valiant's arm as soon as it had started but the other instantly parried with a high line. It seemed like Leon had already predicted the other's move, he brought his epee straight down under Valiant's weapon und tilted his upwards, landing a score on his enemy's forearm.
The audience erupted into cheers, after all the first point had been landed in just a few seconds after the fight had started.
Merlin found himself clapping. "You can do it, Leon! Keep it up!"
Valiant reacted with an offensive lunge forward but Leon could jump out of the way in time.
Merlin could've sworn that he heard an angry growl coming from under Valiant's mask, but it was just so loud he couldn't tell.
Leon tried to attack Valiant's arm once again, but this time the other reacted much quicker. He performed a quick disengage, having Leon confused for a second. Thus he landed a score on Leon's right side.
The fight continued like this for a while, both landing a few score's here and there but Leon was soon gaining the lead.
He finished it with a continuation of attack, slowly breaking Valiant's defense. As soon as an opportunity presented itself, Leon struck once again, quick as a bolt of lightning and incredible precision. The tip of his epee landed right above Valiant's heart, pushing with such force that the epee bent into a ridiculously large angel.
The audience once again began to cheer once again, loudly screaming Leon's name as the moderator announced his victory.
Leon took down his mask, revealing a smile in his sweat covered face. He turned around to Valiant, who had taken down his mask as well.
"Well fou-"He was cut of midsentence as a gloved fist connected with his nose.
Leon stumbled back with a hiss, his hands instantly reaching up and grabbing his nose, feeling warm blood streaming down his white gloves and tainting them red.
Hell broke loose in the whole stadium, screams of protest almost tearing Merlin's ears apart but he joined in.
Arthur jumped to his feet instantly, running over to their hurt friend, instantly followed by the rest of the team. "Leon! Are you alright?"
The older man nodded, anger concealed neatly behind a firm smile. "I've got to cool my nose…" He mumbled in a strange nasal voice.
Instantly, some medics where by his side leading him away. "I'll be back soon, alright?" Leon called back over his shoulder as he left the room.
Arthur shook his head as if to clear his mind but Merlin knew he was trying not to beat Valiant to a pulp right in this moment. Instead, he just glared at the smirking man and walked back to his bench.
The others followed, but Gwaine couldn't leave without hissing a very obscene insult.
They all could be happy that the referee didn't hear it.
"Now, after this little interruption, on to the second fight! Elyan of the CPC against Alvarr of the ORC! Let the fight begin!"
Elyan was already halfway in the center when Arthur jogged up to him and turned him around by his shoulder. "Don't fall for Alvarr's tricks. I f he tries to hurt you, don't let him. You're well-being is more important than anything else, remember."
Elyan nodded, appreciating his captain's advice. He quickly pulled over his mask and walked over to Alvarr who already was ready.
This time, they skipped the bowing and went right on to the fighting.
It quickly became obvious that something wasn't right. Both Elyan and Alvarr had landed multiple scores already but with every hit Alvarr landed, Elyan seemed to become slower and clumsier, the epee often slipping his grip or not hitting its target.
Merlin narrowed his eyes, looking Alvarr up and down. Something was odd about the bloke…
Suddenly, realization hit him and Merlin jumped to his feet from where he was sitting on the bench. He quickly shuffled over to Arthur, leaning down to whisper something in his ear.
"Arthur, I think the epee of Alvarr is manipulated."
The blonde quirked his eyebrows and looked skeptical, although not completely unbelieving.
"Manipulated? In which way?" He asked, then quickly added. "More importantly, do you have proof?"
Merlin instantly became sheepish. "Well, not exactly… But I'm really sure that Alvarr's epee's tip is poisoned! I mean, just look at it! I bet if you were to examine Elyan's protective clothing, you'd find many little holes from the tip!"
Arthur just sighed and shook his head, grimly watching the fight again. "We can't stop the fight because of just this now." When the blond saw the younger one's hurt look he forced himself to smile and said in addition. "I believe you of course, but there really isn't anything we can do, Merlin."
The young angel nodded and sat down on the bench again.
Soon after, Elyan's epee fell to the ground and he wasn't able to pick it up again, so much was his hand shaking.
The moderator pronounced Alvarr the winner and Elyan slowly dragged himself over to them. When he took of his mask, a face full of bitterness surfaced. "I lost, I'm sorry, but I honestly don't know what's wrong with me today!" He just pressed out between gritted teeth as he let himself fall onto the bench.
Arthur glanced at Merlin for a second, before he turned to the exhausted Elyan again. "It's not your fault. We have the theory that Alvarr somehow managed to make his epee sharp and poisonous. Did you feel any kind of stitches?"
Elyan seemed lost in thought for a moment, but then his eyes widened and he suddenly bolted upright from his hunched over position. "Now that you mention it, I really did. But it was so faint I thought it was just my imagination or the electrics. Actually," Elyan's voice grew lower and everyone had to lean closer to him so that they could understand him "I saw Alvarr rubbing the tip of his epee against some wet cloth. I thought he was only polishing it!"
A growl escaped from Arthur's throat. "We cannot let them get away with this! Let's go to the referee." With that he walked straight through the arena to where the referee was sitting. The others stayed at Elyan's side, but Merlin followed his protégé.
"Excuse me, I'd like to report an act of sabotage." Arthur spoke calmly as he looked at the referee, who was staring right through them absent mindly.
"Go ahead." He muttered without any interest.
Arthur was taken aback a little, but then he cleared his throat and started to begin. "We have reason to believe that Alvarr-"The blonde was cut of midsentence by the still indifferent man. "He didn't do anything, I watched the fight closely."
Arthur opened his mouth and closed it again, unsure of how to respond to that. Merlin quickly took over. "Then you must have noticed that something-"
"I didn't notice anything and I don't have the time to listen to your senseless babbling."
Arthur glared at the man and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Senseless babbling?! We just-"
"Do I have to repeat myself? I don't have time for this now. Get back to your bench, we'd like to start the next fight." The man drawled, waving his hand dismissively.
With an angry growl, Arthur stomped away, followed by a crestfallen Merlin.
When they returned to their bench, Percy was already preparing to walk out into the battle. "You have to take care, I get the feeling the referee isn't as neutral as he's supposed to be." Arthur muttered darkly, letting himself falling onto the bench.
Seconds later, the moderator announced the next match: Percy versus Helios.
Merlin watched as they took fighting stances, the bowing had been left out again. Helios instantly attacked with very subtly moves, most of them aiming straight for Percy's neck and upper body.
Percy was busy with parrying and sidestepping as Helios didn't grant him any opening. But he seemingly got tired and abruptly changed into defensive fighting, only parrying and counter attacking now.
Percy seemed at an advantage now, having saved his energy up until now. This allowed him to attack even more fiercely now and he instantly landed a double score with a Beat Attack, quickly followed by a light strike.
Helios nevertheless seemed unfazed and kept up with his defense. He actually landed a few score's with his counter attacks, gaining the upper hand again.
The fight was surprisingly uneventful. Of course that wouldn't stay this way. While jumping forward, Helios pulled his leg forward, directly hitting Percy against the shin.
The big man wavered for a second but he quickly steadied himself and went back to attacking in an instant. After landing a few scores, Helios started to grow desperate as the expectations of winning grew smaller and smaller.
When Percy performed a simple thrust, Helios just stood deadly still and when Percy's epee bounced off of his arm, the other led himself fall to the ground with a yelp, gripping as arm as if in pain.
Percy stood there dumbfounded for a moment, before a knelt down and took of his mask. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked concerned and mildly confused.
"Of course not! You broke my arm!" Helios roared as he yanked of his mask.
Percy froze and stood up again. "Hey now, you can't be serious." He deadpanned as he looked down at the acting opponent. "How could someone break an arm with this?" He asked with raised eyebrows, bending his epee by solely using his index finger.
Helios just glared at him as the referee, together with some medics, walked up to them. "What happened here?" The referee asked, while the medics started to attend to Helios arm, confused looks on their faces since there wasn't really anything to attend to.
"He purposely broke my arm!" Helios growled, trying to get a hurt look onto his face, but he plainly looked smug.
"I see. I guess you'll be disqualified then." He said towards Percy without as much as glancing at him. "But that's not true!" He exclaimed in frustration, remembering what Arthur had told them about the referee just moments ago.
The referee just blinked a few times, until he turned around and walked away, calling "Why would he be lying?" over his shoulder.
Seconds later, the moderator announced that Helios would be the winner and Percy disqualified.
With a deep frown on his face, Percy trotted back to the others who were silently cursing and insulting the referee.
"Did you see that?!" He asked incredulous, still not comprehending that he had lost. He had been so close to winning, so damn close!
"Yeah, we did." Arthur snarled, sending glares at everything and everyone. "We will actually be losing at this point… Lance! Come here for a second."
The brunet walked over to his captain, mask and epee already at hand. "Yes, Arthur?"
"Don't give the enemy even the slightest of a chance to cheat. Attack, quickly and with precision. Don't start parrying, just don't even give him the opportunity to attack, alright? You've got to end this quickly. In this case, attack is the best form of defense!"
Lancelot nodded sternly, putting on his mask. "I won't let you down. I can't." With that, he left.
This time, the opponent was Tauren and once again, the bowing was ignored.
It was clearly visible that Lancelot took Arthur's words literally.
First a feint, then a thrust, followed by a quick lunge. Tauren was visibly unable to cope, having trouble with parrying, let alone preparing attacks himself. After a few moments, Lancelot had already landed multiple scores, not reducing the speed or force of his attacks in any way. After performing a subtle disengaging move, Tauren seemed to grow desperate.
He let his guard down and instead changed into attacking, only receiving more scores in the process.
Lancelot now had the absolute lead, Tauren's chance of winning being almost gone.
Then, after a successful Beat Attack, the moderator finally ended the fight, pronouncing Lancelot as the winner.
With a big grin plastered onto his face, the brunet took of his mask and marched over to his friends. He was greeted by claps on the backs and a "Well done!" here and there.
"You were great out there, Tauren didn't even land a single score! Amazing!" Merlin chimed in, smiling warmly at his exhausted friend.
Before they could enjoy their catching up, however, a scream from the other side of the stadium caught everyone's attention.
Merlin instantly looked at the source of the noise too, flinching at he saw Morgana's blood red eyes once again. But this time, they weren't directed at them, they were directed at Tauren and they spoke of utter distaste.
Her lips were moving, but Merlin couldn't quite make out what she was saying. After she was done talking, she reached down, slapping Tauren hard across the cheek. A scream, akin to the one previous, echoed through the stadium, earning various shouts of protest and sympathy.
The referee and the moderator as well paid them no attention.
Once again appalled by what was going on in this tournament, Merlin averted his eyes, closing them as a headache was starting to form, the atmosphere heavy on his mind.
There were only two fights left, one against a fallen angel and one against a demon… And they had to win.
With a sigh, Merlin started to massage his temples as Gwaine readied himself. His opponent was announced to be Mordred, like Arthur had predicted. Merlin knew Gwaine was strong, but could he keep up with a fallen angel?
The brunet certainly seemed confident, the way he was winking at the girls and showing everyone a thumps up as he walked towards the center of the arena. "Good luck, mate." He mumbled towards Mordred while he was putting on his mask. The younger one seemed confused for a second, but then he put on his mask as well. "Likewise."
In the next minutes, one hell of a fight broke loose. Mordred and Gwaine alike changed between offense and defense every few seconds. Whenever it was Gwaine's turn to attack, he came dangerously close to scoring, but every time Mordred moved an inch and managed to avoid his opponent's epee. When he was attacking, he wasn't able came even near Gwaine.
The man was jumping back and forth, side stepping or turning, making it all look like a dance of complete precision. And all the while he still found the time to wave into the direction of some pretty girls or swirl his epee around in his hand.
Merlin had to admit, he was quite impressed. He had seen Gwaine fight many times before, but this was something entirely different. It was as if he was gaining new strength from the audience, the cheering and the situation in general.
If he wouldn't be wearing a mask, Merlin was sure they would see a grin plastered on his face.
As if his thought were answered, Mordred managed to graze the edge of Gwaine's mask, thus flinging it away. With a clattering sound, it landed some distance away.
Gwaine looked surprised for a second, but then he smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "This is not where you should be aiming, mate."
They continued there dance of attacking and dodging. The first score was yet to make and the fight already lasted several minutes.
There also was no sign of exhaustion, on neither of them.
After another, relatively eventless minutes, Gwaine seemed to change his pattern. He didn't move that much anymore, instead he was taking in a defensive stance and parried Mordred's countless attacks. Suddenly, Mordred made his first mistake, leaving on opening around his shoulders and neck.
Gwaine reacted instantly, lunging forward and positioning the tip of his epee right between Mordred's eyes. Or where that would have been on the mask. With a quick flick upwards, he ripped the mask of the younger one's face, catapulting it right next to his own.
Mordred stared at the epee just inches from his face away with wide eyes, until he narrowed them and glared at Gwaine, who was chuckling quietly.
"Don't look at me like that! That was just compensation, yeah?"
With a snort, they went back into their pattern of attacking and dodging. Slowly, the exhaustion got visible. Both were panting and great amounts of sweat was running down their faces.
"You wanna give up already?" Gwaine asked while catching his breath. Mordred did the same, but he shook his head and started attacking again.
Their once beautiful dance was getting slower and uncoordinated. Every once and then, one of them would stumble or had to pause. They still didn't land any scores.
Right when the audience was getting impatient, something very unexpected happened.
At the same moment, both Gwaine and Mordred fell to their knees, holding their sides and gasping for air.
"Draw?" Gwaine asked in a rough voice as he swiped some sweat from his forehead.
"Draw." Mordred mumbled as his eyes suddenly rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the ground with a thud. Gwaine followed his example.
There was silence in the stadium for a moment until the moderator broke it. "Well, looks like a draw! This means the next fight decides everything!"
With that, the audience got into action again, voicing their thoughts on that matter.
Merlin still gaped at the scene in front of them. Gwaine and Mordred were both carried away from the arena and a cart was being pushed through the doors. On top of it rested the golden trophy. It showed a fencer in the middle of a lunge.
Pushing the concern for Gwaine away for a moment, (It was Gwaine, he'd be alright) Merlin turned towards Arthur. He was surprised to see a smile resting on his face. He had expected to see something like a frown, but certainly not a peaceful smile. "Arthur? How do you feel?"
"I have to admit, I'm a little nervous. After all, this fight is going to decide whether we win or lose. But I am also looking forward to it. You know, I've waited for this such a long time." Arthur cast his gaze away, staring into the distance.
Merlin nodded with a smile. "I understand. I'm sure you'll bring us the victory."
"Of course I will."
Merlin had to laugh as he watched Arthur putting on his mask. "Don't be an arrogant prat now."
Arthur chuckled under his mask, grabbing his epee. "We'll talk about that later, Merlin." With that, he walked towards the center, awaiting his half-sister. She had put on her mask as well and was positioning herself.
"Let's end this. Once and for all." He said, ignoring the annoying words of the moderator. Arthur waited for a reply, but he got none.
Suddenly, the fight started and Morgana instantly lunged forward. Arthur could parry with ease though, already going for a counter attack. They too fell into some sort of pattern, but it was very unlike Gwaine and Mordred's.
Arthur and Morgana weren't spending their energy on unnecessary movements, but instead they attacked with more force, always trying to push the other one back a few steps.
It continued like this for a while until Arthur performed a disengage, successfully scoring on Morgana's waist.
She suddenly froze, not moving an inch. Arthur already wanted to use this opportunity, but Morgana was quicker. She didn't attack him though, he just raised her hand and ripped the mask from her own face.
A pair of glowing red eyes surfaced, staring right into Arthur's very soul. The blond gasped and took a few steps backwards, the epee falling out of his trembling hand.
These eyes... They were void of emotion yet full of hatred, resentfulness and apathy. It was as if those orbs of red could read his mind and look into his head.
"W-what…? Morgana?" The word practically stumbled out of his voice.
"Take this as a warning. We are indeed going to end this. But not now, not here and not in the way you expect." She said, her voice monotone.
Suddenly, huge black wings broke through Morgana's back. They had feathers on them but some spots were bold, showing snow white bones beneath them. Violet light was emitting from them and the whole stadium seemed to grow darker.
Every single person was silent, only a few gasps were heard. Morgana spread her wings and raised her hand, a blending light surrounding her.
When it had vanished, she had disappeared already.
It was only then that the audience started screaming, jumping from their seats and leaving the building in panic.
Arthur's mind was like numbed. No thoughts were running through his head at all, he was still occupied with processing what had just happened.
Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster.
Suddenly, a man handed Arthur the trophy, he barely managed to hold it in his shaking hands.
Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster.
The moderator announced that the CPC had won, Arthur just wanted him to shut up.
Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster.
Suddenly, Merlin was by his side, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Arthur, are you alright?" No, he wasn't.
Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster. Morgana was a monster.
Cerulean eyes stared at him in concern and someone grabbed his hand, gently tugging at it. "Arthur, we have to get out of here. I think your father wants to see you."
Arthur snapped out of his trance for a moment. "No! I don't want to see him or anyone now. C-can we just grab our things and take a train home?"
Merlin nodded, still firmly holding the blonde's hand. "Alright, let's go. Give me the trophy, I'll carry it."
Arthur lifted his hand with the heavy trophy, but before Merlin could get a hold on it, it slipped his hand and crashed to the ground.
The golden head of the fencer broke off and rolled away.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-GUARDIAN ANGEL-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
A/N: Yay, plot device :D If you haven't guessed already, this story is moving towards the final. It's almost sad :(
Thanks for reading this far, it only ever gets better :D (At least that's what I hope…)
I'd appreciate a review ;)
Until next time~
By DarkChain