Wallice was sure that the crowd would love it. Wallice wasn't stupid, she could tell that there was a performative element to this whole thing. Asking Sabrina to declare her true intentions was killing two birds with one stone. She could tap into the entertaining aspect by putting Sabrina in the spotlight, and at the same time, figure out whether she was lying or not. Wallice was excellent at spotting untruths.
With a self-assertive tone, she asked Sabrina the question that was on everyone's minds;
"Why?" the crowd was silent. Wallice spread her arms all around her, "I am sure I am pretty much speaking for everyone when I say that we all wanna know what exactly is prompting you to take this decision…"
Wallice cleverly refrained from using any adjectives to describe 'this decision.' On the long run, she wanted to seem as detached as possible from all and anything relating to prejudice and judgment. Here we go, Wallice thought. She had laid the snare, it was time to see if Sabrina would take the bait.
The crowd approved heavily of Wallice's question. Even Mabel forced herself to suppress a smile. She was supposed to appear impartial to all parties, and as such, she couldn't afford to be seen taking sides. If she herself had asked that question, it would have made her seem too thirsty. Wallice had done everyone a favor. The dice had been rolled. All that was needed was for the girl to come through with a saucy answer and show her hand.
Sabrina didn't disappoint. She was in the big leagues now, and she had to step up her game. So, she lowered her gaze to the ground for a second. She could almost feel the thousands of pairs of eyes burning into her in that moment. Finally, she gave Wallice a flat two worded answer;
"My mother." Wallice could almost hear 'WHAT?!' resounding all through the coliseum. Sabrina expanded further. Virtually all ears and eyes were on her now, and Wallice was acutely aware of this fact.
"My mother always told me to fight my enemies when they are at their strongest…she said that if I didn't do that, they would never completely accede to their defeat."
Sabrina kept a kind smile on her face as she delivered those words deftly. She did so with the right amount of emotion, and totally devoid of any shred of arrogance.
While those words settled in like butter into the hearts of those around, they entered Wallice's heart like a dagger made of lightning. Wallice was infuriated! She couldn't believe she was the only one who had heard just how thinly veiled Sabrina's condescending mockery was! Had the little girl been playing them all along? Had she actually fallen for that 'cute-little-girl scam?'
Truthfully, Sabrina's face had held every normalcy of calmness. It was as though she hadn't said anything hidden or cryptic. But Wallice couldn't help but feel attacked! Personally and ethically! Her three students were unstoppable! Their skills were off the charts! How dare this emotional manipulative child try her in this manner?! Consumed by the toxic, dark storm of anger brewing in her, Wallice decided to teach the impudent child a lesson.
Fuming with rage, and trying her best to suppress it, Wallice turned to Mabel (who had been watching the whole exchange curiously) and bowed slightly as she said;
"We accept the terms Miss Mabel. Melbourne High School will accept Cassell High School's offer to fight in a three on one match."
Even though Wallice was boiling with anger, she made sure to watch her words very carefully. She used the word 'we' instead of using the article 'I' and made sure to use the word 'offer' than the word 'challenge.' She didn't want to seem to eager to destroy the little girl who was just acting out her mother's instructions.
Mabel nodded her affirmation.
"It is settled then! Let the games begin!"
Oh they were going to begin alright, Wallice thought to herself as she walked back to her students in a fog of anger. As soon as they saw her face, they already knew what was up before she even delivered her final injunction; "DESTROY HER COMPLETELY!!!"
Amongst the crowd, there were multiple personalities watching the whole show that had taken a very interesting turn by reason of the little girl's suggestion. One of such was the princess of house Caesar. Rachel was intrigued. A few weeks back, when she had received the order from above that she was to represent the royal family at this year's tournament, Rachel had been very skeptical about the whole arrangement.
She thought it was simply one of those ploys to get her away for the time being, and therefore, she hadn't been very enthusiastic about coming to Caesar University to watch a bunch of teenagers fight each other. But now, even as she found herself getting more and more absorbed in this match, she realized that things could always take a different twist. The princess was intrigued by the little girl who had volunteered of her own volition to take on an entire team, all on her own!
The top podium with a giant fancy canopy housed the most important personalities at the event. It was like a skybox at a football game, where all the important people huddled together and looked down on every other person present. Seated in the middle was the president of Ceasar University, and by his right hand side was Rachel and her band of nicely dressed knights.
On the left hand side of Galen was the famous Harry of course. These were the most important people here, and they sat at the highest elevated position.
Harry was seated right next to the princess, and he didn't hesitate to make his own doubts about the situation known. In a somber tone, he voiced his own break down of the girl's predicament loud enough for just about everyone near him to hear;
"This girl child might be powerful, but I highly doubt that even she would farewell in a one on three situation. The dynamic would be seriously flawed on her side, and there definitely would be a lot of uncertainties."
Galen raised his eyebrows in his habitual manner, and scoffed mildly.
"What an interestingly foolish thing to say."
The princess couldn't help but break a soft laugh chuckle. Truly, Galen and his protege had never ceased to entertain her with their unusual repartee. It was a very odd dynamic between the two great men. She didn't personally know their history, but she sensed that they had both come a very long way together. It was evident in their jibber jabber. It was kind of like the usual bickering of an old married couple. Of course there was the mutual respect that shadowed their conversations and hovered over their general interaction. There was never a dull moment with them, and the princess loved it.
Harry on the other end felt the sting. Triggered, he sat up eagerly, very much prepared to defend his stance against the old man.
"What are you talking about old man? Do you not see clearly that the little girl is at a disadvantage?" Before he could be accused of judging the girl based on her gender and physical appearance, Harry quickly added; "…now I am not saying the girl can't win against all three of them, but I am saying it definitely won't be a breeze for her…"
Again, Galen chuckled in that very patronizingly demeaning manner. It was like he knew something Harry didn't know. Rachel also picked up on this tiny bit of information, and she wondered why Harry hadn't. Either way, she simply couldn't wait to find out what the girl was made up of.
"Trust me Harry, you have no idea what's happening here…"
"Oh yeah? Why don't you enlighten us old man? Clearly you've got something underneath your sleeves you're sitting on."
Galen sighed. The princess had to restrain herself from sitting forward in anticipation of the salacious piece of information that the president was about to reveal. Rachel was always rooting for the girls that appeared to be the underdogs. And she had a good feeling about Sabrina.
Finally, Galen exposed what he had been sitting on;
"That little girl you see there is the sole student representative of Cassell High School…"
Harry raised his hands and exclaimed softly; "Wow! Big whoop old man! Like I didn't know that already!"
Rachel wished he would just shut up and let the old man finish.
"Well, if you had let me finish, you would have learned that not only is she a student representative, she is also the lead teacher!"
Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised. How was that even possible? A student who just happened to be a lead teacher as well?
It wasn't Harry, just about everyone else who had heard the news was terribly surprised. Scott chipped in enthusiastically;
"How is it that such a prodigy has gone on unnoticed for so long now? Her name should be everywhere!"
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