There had been anticipation in the air for previous weekends, excitement, even exaltation, but the march to the Grand Final felt more like the procession to the coronation of a great monarch. And in a way it was. Students, faculty, and staff forgot the paths crossing campus, instead marching on grass and across commons in the most direct route to the stadium, like moths to a flame.
Blake and Archie met Jacob and Grace on the way. The others were subdued, and Jacob knew the feeling. If Camilla lost, it was like a part of them was losing. If she won, well, a part of them would be crowned the Tisdale Champion.
Jacob was conflicted, as he seemed to be more and more often. He'd love for Camilla to win, even if she never spoke to him again, but Tanaka was his friend as well, and had helped him. Would it be the worst thing for him to win?
They entered the stadium and got settled in their seats. When everyone had settled there was an empty period of anticipation, as if whoever had organized it all wanted the fervour to reach the point of explosion before starting.
President Russell emerged from the tunnel, hands raised to the crowds, which broke out into applause. He created a podium out of the clay and gave the closing address.
Jacob barely heard him. The only salient thought he had was that the President sure had to write a lot of speeches.
Russell disappeared back the way he'd come, and the stadium held its breath once again. Even Archie was silent. Over the past week he'd been all strategy and engagement, asking Jacob what he thought would happen, since Jacob seemed to know Tanaka the best. How would their strengths stand up against each other? How strong of a Consumer was Tanaka?
Jacob hadn't had an answer. They were both incredible mages with ridiculous arsenals, and all you needed was one lucky hit to send the other out of bounds. And who knew how many spells they'd each learned over the past week?
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The announcer's voice roared out over the stadium. "Are you ready for the Grand Final match of this year's Tisdale Tournament?"
By the reaction, the crowd had been born ready.
"For the first time in more than ten years, the Grand Final pits the 1st seed against the 2nd seed. Both of these budding mages are powerhouses, but you've seen them fight, you know their strengths. They need no introduction! From Vancouver, Canada, the 2nd seed, it's Camilla D'Angelo!"
Camilla strode out into the arena. Her hair was tied back in a tight bun, her face expressionless. She did not wave to the crowd.
"From Tokyo, Japan, the 1st seed, it's Yoshihiro Tanaka!"
Tanaka emerged from his tunnel and took his place opposite Camilla. His jagged hair hung down over one eye, hiding his expression. He too, didn't acknowledge the crowd. They stared at each other, the tension, the near-outright hatred palpable even from the stands.
"Contestants get ready!"
Both dropped into ready stances. Camilla brought her hands up in front of her, almost in a boxer's pose. Tanaka dropped his to his side, fingers opening and closing.
"Start!"
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"Start!"
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Camilla engaged perception and strength. Across from her, Tanaka did the same. Power surged through her alongside her hatred of the transfer student. The fact that Jacob had gone to him instead of her for help first. All those times he'd made snide remarks about her or had tried to show her up when they'd been discussing the killings. Calling her a snitch. Even that first little scoff at her when they'd gotten their powers tested.
Tanaka dropped to one knee, splaying his open palms against the ground, hair falling down over his face.
Camilla launched herself forward. An opening was an opening, and she didn't want to give him time to whip up some major Decomp spell.
Vicious magic flashed out from Tanaka. The sky blackened. The air in between them darkened, shadows lengthening. The ground shook as if he'd opened a fault line.
Waves of clay rippled at her. She dodged.
Whole cities' worth of pillars and blocks and walls shot up out of the ground, rising and falling and rising again, as if the arena had become a sped up rendition of the long rise and fall of civilizations.
She knew better than to stay on the ground; to view the changes as obstacles. Each surface was part of the arena now. She landed on rising pillars, leapt off, latched onto shuddering walls like an insect, soared through archways, rolled over walls that roared towards her.
Tanaka rose and fell, sinking down to nestle in amongst protective labyrinths of protrusions and bars, then rising again, soaring above the undulating masses on a wave of earth, hair whipping back behind him, hands up like those of a crazed conductor willing his orchestra to perfection.
Camilla passed by him, around him, smashing through flimsy clay, breaking down walls, dogging him at every step. There was an impossible pattern to it all, with Tanaka there at the nexus of the hive-mind. He didn't engage her at all, and anytime she got close he shifted away on clay tides, not wanting to commit to a head on contest. She snarled in fury, but in reality, she would have done the same thing.
She cast a vision amplifier, that let her see magic, allowing her to keep track of Tanaka even when he was behind earth. He appeared as a silhouette of dark violet. If he knew she was using this, he didn't show it. Several times she rounded a corner, soaring through the air, suddenly within the eye of the storm that surrounded him, and lanced a fireball or a forceward at him. Each time he blocked with a reinforced ward.
Time was ticking. He hadn't done her any significant damage, and neither had she. If it went to time right now, it would be a draw. Not good enough. Not nearly good enough. Maybe for Tanaka it was, but for Antonio D'Angelo it wouldn't be. Overwhelming victory. No stalemates, no victory by committee decision, no 'good game, you almost had him.'
Camilla snarled, the sound lost amidst the symphony of grinding clay and rushing air. These piddly little spells weren't going to change anything. Tanaka was too sly for that. And this stalling tactic was getting them nowhere.
She swerved beneath a looming arch, then pushed off a rising pillar and soared into the air, contorting her body, tracking Tanaka's flow with her vision. There!
Rage and power roared through her. She gathered it in, opened the gates of her fire magic. The sun shone in her hands. Streaking crimson coronas and solar flares leaping out, swirling around her.
A blaze of fire screamed out from her hands; a beam as wide as a car. It tore through the sky, destroyed the clay standing in its way.
Tanaka blasted himself to one side, the beam roaring right past him, singeing his uniform, lighting up his face. He was grinning crazily.
Camilla started to bring the beam around and-
Her magic left her.
The beam winked out. Tanaka's clay cities returned to the ground. His perception and strength winked out. Then Camilla realized her own Consumption had disappeared, and she was falling back to earth.
What?
Someone caught her, then dumped her on the ground. Three people had entered the arena. Two were men she vaguely recognized from around campus, one of whom was speaking to Tanaka, running a gloved finger along the singed part of his uniform.
The other was VP Leslie. She was saying something.
"...what were you thinking?" VP Leslie barked, voice stern, face scarred with a frown. "I warned you last week. Lethal force, Camilla. That was beyond lethal force. You're disqualified."
Camilla blinked. What? What was happening?
"D'Angelo has been disqualified for use of lethal force. Yoshihiro Tanaka wins!"
No.
No.
No.
This couldn't be happening.
VP Leslie had extended her hand to help Camilla up but Camilla didn't see it. Her heart was beating way too fast. There were too many people around her, and she could hear more in the stands, feel them watching her. She was looking down a long tunnel at herself.
This couldn't be happening.
She fled.