I'm intrigued by how the mind works.

A comment by @fraenk had pulled me into this phase of the challenge initially, and each time I sat down to write about a match, story elements just came to me, and, as @marty-art justly observed, a plot developed. Where it came from, I don't know. Sometimes I had to search online for the meaning of a word or concept that had entered my thoughts.

Your introduction of the Grand Final is beautifully written. But so many details are filled in already that my imagination wasn't able to flourish as I wished it would.

Anything I came up with for the Grand Final felt contrived to fit in with the introduction provided. So I humbly asked Monica to hand her torch over to you, to do with as you pl... ZINGGGG!!!!

aHa! Monica knew it! @edward.maesen didn't have the wherewithal to bring her saga to an end! Had he forgotten about timeline jumping?! Why didn't he simply access an alternate universe?! It was time for her to step in. And so she did!

Monica and Mutia found themselves standing in front of each other.
A thick mist appeared, drowning the world in a hazy fog.
All became dark.
The chanting of the crowd faded away and everything went completely silent.
Time froze.

Out of the mist, slowly, Duff the Drably Dragon appeared. On its back sat a young man. He looked like Caern in his younger years.

"Caern, is that you?" Monica asked. "Indeed, you know me as Caern" he responded with a big warm smile on his bearded face. Everyone marveled at his radiant appearance. He was surrounded by a golden aura, which made his red hair look even more fiery. Over his garment —or were they fish scales?— he wore a magnificent golden breastplate. On it, Monica deciphered the letters E N L I L, written in an ancient long-forgotten alphabet.

"He looks like one of the Shining Ones", Monica thought. "Had the ancient gods of lore returned?"
She started to feel curious. Where did these thoughts come from? Who were the Shining Ones? And how did she know to read that ancient language on Caern's breast plate? And why did Caern look completely different from his octogenarian vagabond appearance (yet she recognized and knew it was him)?

Reality was Stranger than Fiction

Meanwhile, Mutia looking at Caern in awe, had dropped down to her knees. She figured he was more than a mere mortal vagabond.

All thoughts about competing in a match had dissipated into thin air.

Surrounded by Mutia and the others, Monica and Caern sat down and talked for hours and hours. They talked about distant lands and stars and galaxies. They talked about a life of peace and abundance, without struggle and strife. Slowly Monica began to remember.

Mutia wiped her eyes, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was as if she was looking at a reversed time lapse video. Monica's appearance was becoming younger by the minute!

The gathering was coming to an end. "It's time for us to go" said Caern and he reached out his hand to Monica. As Monica stood up, a breast plate magically materialized over her garment. Caern smiled knowingly as he read the letters N I N L I L. The cycle of time was spiraling from end to new beginning.

Monica and Caern left the field, together they walked up the mountain, to a garden with a spring where the life-giving rivers for the valley below originated. In the middle of the garden stood a majestic grand tree with apples of gold.

Still dumbfounded by all that had happened Mutia stood up to leave also. As she turned around she noticed an object in the grass.

Reaching down she picked up a torch. It had some strange engravings in the handle. Not knowing what to do with it she turned to @marty-art, handed him the torch and said "I'm sorry the match didn't turn out as you may have expected. Do with this as you pl..." ZINGGGG!!!!

...ease.

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_{PS
No kidding, screen capture of the time (11:11) on my laptop the moment I finished the above story:}