Dawning Skye

247 Summer Games: King of the Hill(Part Two)

As the men rushed at the MacArthur brothers, each braced themselves; ready to fight. The first and biggest sped straight for Tidas. Thinking that he had an advantage because the prince’s magic was sealed was his first mistake. His second was rushing head-first at Tidas, who flipped him out of bounds almost instantly. He had no chance for a third.

Shaken, the next two ran at Lawrence, trying to get him in a pincer move. Right as the two jumped to grab him, he hopped backwards. The two didn’t crash head on like he’d hoped, but they had still hit each other hard enough that they couldn’t get back up right away.

Lawrence kicked at them until they scurried off across the boundary line. Shasta laughed boisterously as she watched, as did the twins. Skye covered her mouth when she did, but even Lidia was laughing at the scene.

A three man team ran at Marco, but he just flashed a devilish grin as they approached. Two of the three hesitated slightly, dropping back a few steps from the lead.

In a sudden move; Marco took several long steps towards them, unnerving the other two further. One came to a full stop just a few feet from the Crowned Prince out of fear as the other two rushed him. His grin widened as he jumped into the air, and planted his feet into their faces.

When he kicked off, Marco flipped backwards, and landed on his feet. The spectators screamed out with their surprise and excitement. Hardly anyone knew that the future king was so athletic, and cheered for him. Karena in particular was impressed with her husband.

She didn’t love him, but Marco was physically attractive to her. It was the only reason they had children. If her attraction was solely based on his personality, Karena would’ve never touched her husband willingly.

The man from before that told everyone to charge spoke up again; “If we ALL attack them at once, we can Take Them Down!”

The remaining seven cried out in response, then charged the three MacArthur brothers. Tidas and Lawrence’s grins matched their oldest brother’s now, sending a wave of doubt throughout the men. Thinking he would be their biggest problem, three charged Tidas while the other four split into pairs to attack the others two-on-one.

.....

Tidas hit one of the men squarely in the face, knocking him out cold. Another took advantage of the pause that came after the initial swing, and nailed Tidas in his mouth. His lip split instantly, but the hit didn’t make him stagger. Instead, his grinned broadened as he looked at his assailant.

Pure horror traversed the man’s features as Tidas jumped off to the side, then forward. He slammed into his opponent, knocking him into the other. As they stumbled, took two large steps, and toppled them over onto each other, and out of bounds.

Tidas figured he’d be a target, so he, Lawrence, and Petrie had agreed to keep Tidas close to the boundary line. Petrie got knocked out early, but Lawrence was still adhering to the plan.

As soon as Tidas finished with his three, Lawrence shoved one of his opponents towards his younger brother. He grabbed the man by his arm, stopping him from falling over. The man looked up at the prince with question in his eyes, but his heart sank with he saw Tidas’ smirk.

In one fluid motion, Tidas flipped the man backwards, sending him flying out of bounds. Turning back to get the next one, his heart dropped at the sight before him. Marco had his arm around Lawrence’s neck in an attempt to knock him out. He was struggling, but it was clear he was losing.

Shasta was screaming vehemently as she tried to irrationally climb over the railing to stop Marco. Skye and the near-by Captain Tanner were holding her back. He was participating in the Jousting Tournament, and was on his way get ready when he heard Shasta flipping out, so he stopped to help.

Tidas took one step towards them, but stopped the moment he locked eyes with Lawrence. He mouthed the word, “Go”, then went back to his losing struggle. Instead of trying to break free, he wrapped himself around Marco’s legs and arms as much as he could.

As soon as he saw his brother coiling, Tidas took off towards the hill. They had seen this coming, they just didn’t know which of them Marco would attack first. The brothers had guessed Tidas, but he must’ve went for Lawrence first out of convenience.

Marco had figured that his brother would take off for the hill, but it didn’t matter to him. Tidas had been spoiled by his Tank trait. He was definitely strong, but was used to that extra stamina boost from his magic. Once Marco finished with Lawrence, Tidas would be his last obstacle.

It only took him another minute to get Lawrence to pass out. When Marco let his unconscious body fall, Shasta broke away from Skye and Tanner to rush to her boyfriend’s side. The look on Marco’s face was reflective of a devil’s delight. He grinned evilly before turning and running after his youngest brother.

Tidas was making his way up the moving hillside when he saw his oldest brother jump onto the side. As the sections moved, Tidas scurried up his side as fast as he could. Instead of going around and climbing up the traditional way, Marco was jumping up from the outside.

He’d wait for some protruding object, then grab hold and hoist himself up. The two minute head-start Tidas had was gone within seconds. Right as he was swung around to climb up to the final tier, Marco jumped in front of him.

With no pause or warning, Marco swung at Tidas. He blocked the first one, then the second and third. On the fourth swing, he pulled back at the last moment, and twisted his body into a kick. He made a hard impact with Tidas’ chest, sending him toppling over the edge..

Skye’s heart stopped as she watched her husband plummeting. Time slowed and sped up in chaotic flux with the beat of her heart. The screams from the crowds were dull and fuzzy through the ringing in her ears.

Without thought or hesitation; Skye slammed her hands down onto the ground. The ground trembled as she forced the natural Earth magic in the surrounding area to bend to her will. She didn’t have enough time to do more.

Tidas was only about three feet from the ground as a burst of loose dirt reached up to catch him. When he was meant to hit the ground sunk with his impact, taking away most of the force he’d built up from falling from such a height.

The instant she felt Tidas make the connection, Skye shot up and sprinted over to her husband. She called out to him as she ran, but got no response. Dust had kicked up from her catching tactic, so she couldn’t see him moving until she came close.

A giant sigh of relief left her as Skye fell to her knees, and began checking and healing her husband. His collar bone had snapped, the corresponding arm was broken, and some of his neck tendons had snapped from the weight.

If Skye hadn’t of used magic at the moment she did, Tidas would be dead. He would’ve snapped his neck in the fall, and died. With his magic sealed away by the bracelet, there would’ve been nothing he could do to save himself.

Once she finished treating him, Skye had Tidas sit up. To show the people that he was alright. They cheered for him, and for Skye’s quick thinking. While she had a smile on her face, inside she raged at her brother-in-law.

Skye looked up at Marco with fury in her eyes, letting the fake smile disappear. He stared at her with an uncharacteristic smirk, then took his time walking up to the top of the hill. Making it a point to look at her every time he rotated around to her side.

Reaching out, Marco grasped the small MacArthur flag sticking out of the center, and waved it in the air victoriously. The spectators exploded with applause, and chanted his name in unison. Marco set the flag down, and threw a fist into the air, gaining even more reactions.

As he looked at the crowds, a secretly sinister grin broke out across his face. ‘Now, the fun begins...’

As Tidas sat in the dirt, two thoughts battled it out in his head. His love for his wife, and his hatred for his brother. No one would be able to tell because he’d used such a tiny amount, but Marco had used his magic on Tidas.

The amulet he wore gave him magic, but Marco wasn’t supposed to have any himself. ‘So that time in the hallway; it wasn’t a fluke. I knew he had magic again! He didn’t get a bracelet because everyone knows that our uncle supposedly stole his magic. How the hell?!’

As Tidas’ thoughts trailed off, Skye stared down Marco as he descended the hill. The men who operated it came out from the underside as he reached the bottom. He congratulated them on a job well done, and chatted with them a moment.

Skye didn’t like the nice-guy act he was putting on; it was too convincing. Marco was a terrible person for many reasons, but no one who met him today would ever believe that. Especially after he walked over and offered his hand to Tidas.

All he really wanted to do was break it, but that wouldn’t look very good in front of all the gathered people. Fighting down his instincts, Tidas reached out and took his brother’s hand and help up.

The two brothers then shook like Tidas was congratulating him, but it hadn’t have been voluntary. Marco was refusing to let go of his hand.

The crowds cheered at the brotherly exchange, but had no idea it had turned into a glaring match. Marco had the smuggest look that Tidas had ever seen on his face. He gripped his hand like it was iron, but even without his magic; Tidas was steel compared to his brother.

He’d been holding his own with no problem when Marco had used his magic. ‘He probably noticed the gap in our experience when the three of us were fighting the other competitors together.. He may be physically stronger than me without my magic, but I’ve still had Far more experience with actual combat.’

‘I bet that’s why he used his magic; he knew he couldn’t beat me any other way. It was weird, like my brain had stopped functioning for a split second.. I think it’s time I did a little looking into Ether magic. I need to understand exactly what he’s capable of..’