Olympus: It's Not Just a Game

Chapter 7

           

Nancy was horrified.  Had she started this?  "Noah, help!" she cried.  Noah sprinted across the cluttered shop.  One glance took in the flashing swords, the murderous looks, and Nancy's frightened eyes.  He drew near the storm of deadly steel, but then he hesitated, and ducked behind the tall shelves in the middle of the shop.  "Noah!" Nancy shrieked at her invisible brother.  "You coward!"

            But then the shelves began to sway, then teeter, then topple, and then fall; smashing down on top of the dueling brothers.  Karl and Jacob were flattened underneath a mountain of sausages, copper kettles, and broken crockery.  Noah peered over to eye his work.

            "Get me out of here, you moron!" came Karl's muffled voice, buried under a mound of plaid wool comforters.

            "Ow, I can't move," whined Jacob's voice from beneath a pile of brown-red cheeses.

            Noah turned gravely to Nancy.  He frowned.  "Coward?"  he asked severely.

            Nancy looked repentant.  "I got upset," she mumbled.

            "No, the shelves got upset," Noah noted.  "You got angry."  He waited.  Nancy looked at the floor.  "Well?"

            Nancy sighed, then said, in a singsong voice that suggested she had said it a hundred times before,  "I am sorry, I was wrong."

            "Well, then," said Noah cheerfully, "that's fine.  C'mon, help me excavate Cain and Abel."  They hoisted the shelves off Karl and Jacob, lifted them up, and dusted them off.  Noah was careful to kick their swords to the deepest pile of rubble, just in case Karl was still in a fighting mood.  Then, before Karl could say a word, the shopkeeper appeared with a grim look on his face.

            "So, winner pays for both swords.  Who pays for half my store?"

            Jacob smiled weakly.  "Do we get a bulk discount?"

            "You'll need it," the grim little man answered.  He stuck out his beefy palm.

            "Awww," whined Karl, "don't take everything!  We just got here!"

            "And you've made a royal mess of things, too," retorted the shopkeeper severely.  "You'll get no pity from me."

            "But if you take all our money, the game will be over!" Karl argued.

            "You're breaking my heart," the old man answered.

            "Great," spat out Karl.  "There goes the morning."

            "Yes," returned Jacob, "and whose fault is that?"

            "His," Karl accused, turning on Noah.  "What did you interfere for?"

            "Interfere!"  gasped Noah.  "You were trying to kill him!"

            "Yeah, well that's what this game is all about," Karl growled.  "It's survival of the fittest.  Kill or be killed."

            "But he's your brother!"  Nancy objected.

            "That's certainly not my fault," Karl retorted.

            Nancy was appalled.  "You'd kill your own brother?"  she squeaked.  She turned to Jacob.  "How can you sleep at night?"

            "Oh, he hasn't got the courage to really do it," hissed Jacob.  "He needs his fantasy world so he can pretend he's brave!"  With that, Karl flew at Jacob again.  This time there were no weapons, just two boys clawing and scratching and rolling on the floor of the shop.  Noah and Nancy watched as the two cursed and gasped.