Two Sides of Light

#16 Tournament

The day was here. Crowds had gathered, people were cheering, and the students were receiving their sheets to see who they were fighting. Many were understandably nervous while others were excited.... however Meliodas was neither. He was absolutely terrified and devastated.

On his sheet was a name he had been bothered by all day yesterday... Escanor Pride.

He knew it was probably a mix of them not wanting Meliodas to even have a slight chance of winning, and also the fact that it would be "poetic" to see the hero win against the villain.

He was shaking as he read and reread over and over again. He would have to fight Escanor. The strongest known in the land, the hero that would supposedly cause his demise, and the one person that he disliked more than anyone.

He had already been dreading this day since he didn't want to fight, but now.... it was was nightmare come to life.

The world swam around him as his heart beat much too fast and his breathing started to become erratic. He was going into a panic attack.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder that shortly snapped him out of his daze, he looked to see a familiar smirk looking back.

"Well, it appears the two of us will be dueling in battle. What an unfortunate coincidence for you~ You know.. I've heard about how you've become closer with my future queen. That's a dangerous game you're playing. There isn't much point to you pursuing her after all... we both know she'd never be with a freak like you. Even if she smiles and grace's you with more time than I appreciate, she'd never call you a friend or even an acquaintance. Anyway, good luck in the ring friend.. I have a feeling you'll need it."

A cocky smile came onto the man's face as he ruffled the boy's hair before leaving Meliodas alone in the locker room with only his words ringing through the blond's head.

Is he serious? THAT'S the future ruler of our kingdom!!!??? How can people follow someone like him?!

He was fuming, he was frustrated, and he was completely lost in his bitter thoughts. Storming out of the room with fists clenched so tight they were bleeding, he took his seat next to Ban who's bright energy went unnoticed as he kept his glare directed at Escanor who sat several seats down with his arm wrapped around Elizabeth.

"Hey, you okay Mel?"

The voice barely managed to pierce the layer of anger running through him. Although when it did he forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down.

"Yeah I'm... I'm fine."

He ignored the concern as he watched the first match take place between a boy named Howzer and another named Griamore, trying his best to forget about his little "chat" with Escanor.

I need to just let it go.. it isn't my place to get mad about these things and Ban had already said that I shouldn't let him control my emotions. He's right. Escanor doesn't have a place in controlling how I feel.

Feeling a bit better, he focused his attention on the fights and felt the knot in his stomach grow slightly as his own battle got closer.

Howzer had won the fight against Griamore, then a battle between the girl that had run away from the boy- her name was Diane apparently- and Howzer started, to which Howzer surprising lost.

The battles continued with Diane winning many before losing to Gilthunder, who in turn lost to Ban.

It went on and on with Meliodas cheering for Ban until he lost to Harlequin with the battles stretching alllll the way to Elizabeth vs Escanor. Something that Elizabeth graciously resigned to as "she couldn't fight her future husband, it wasn't proper."

And that left him.... His name being called up to fight against Escanor who had a smirk on his face as he waited for the moment to squash the boy.

"Hey Mel.."

He turned to look at the slightly bloody Ban looking back.

"Be careful, kay?"

He gave a small smile and nodded before going to the stage. He wasn't surprised by the endless boos that followed while they called out for Escanor to destroy Mel, but the one loud person cheering helped ease some of his nervousness.

"WHOOOHOO! KICK HIS ASS MEL!!!!"

Smiling at the words, he listened carefully to the rules the coach said.

"No magic that can hit any others outside of the ring, no getting out of the ring, once someone is down do not continue attacking, and last but not least, no Fire."

Nodding to show he understood, he let the adrenaline pumping through him fuel his attacks as "go" was signaled.

Instantly Escanor went for a punch, tripping the boy first and making the hit land much too close for comfort. However luckily since Mel was quick on his feet, he dodged with little effort and did his best to mainly dodge the hits coming towards him. He didn't want to truly fight after all. He wouldn't win anyway unless he used magic and he was trying to avoid doing that.

However after ten minutes of this constant game of tag that Mel was maintaining, Escanor began to become annoyed, his attacks got more brutal as he started going for cheap spots.

Mel got hit. Once, then twice, then a third..

It felt like his body was on fire and he couldn't move the arm he had blocked with very much. However no one stopped the fight and Escanor wasn't done with his attacks..

A kick to the stomach that sent him flying into the other side of the ring before his head got slammed to the floor. His vision was blurred, he was covered in blood.. and yet still the crowd cheered with no one stopping the fight.

Escanor let a cruel smirk spread across his face as his fire magic discreetly traveled up his hand.

"To remember your place.... freak."

He screamed as the hand covered in flames was put on his shoulder that instantly melted and burned at the heat.

And again... no one stopped him.

"D-Daddy! P-Please stop! I'll be good I promise! Please don't hurt me anymore!"

"You pathetic brat. You are wrong, defective. This is to make you stronger. This is to make you right again."

He whimpered in fear as the hot iron started getting closer.

"N-No... P-Please.. AHHHHGGG!!!"

He could feel his heartbeat in his chest as he relived the memory. However when his vision cleared and he calmed down slightly... he was met immediately with the sight of blood.

Sorry if this isn't great. I rushed the chapter a bit. Hope it's okay.