Took a bit longer than expected but here you go! The conclusion of the tournament is here! Read and enjoy! :)

Chapter 11

"Please tell me you're ok," Lissa panicked as she lifted the white angel so his back was not against the ground. "Pit, please be ok!"

"Pit!" Palutena screamed in horror as she ran to Lissa. Just before she kneeled next to her angel, she dropped her staff and shield. "What happened? Pit, dear, please be alive."

"Virion shot an arrow at me, and I didn't realize it because I thought we won our battle. Then…then," the blonde Cleric began hyperventilating with tears running down her face. "Th-th-then…"

"Lissa," the goddess calmly spoke her name which amazingly made the Exalt's younger sister less perturbed. She placed her right hand on Lissa's left shoulder. "Be strong. We must help Pit and heal him. Can you do that?"

"Y-yes," she nodded, wiping her eyes with the arm sleeves of her dress.

"Pit," Palutena spoke to her white angel.

"Lady Palutena? Lissa?" Pit groaned in pain as he moved his upper body only to feel pain on the shoulder where the arrow pierced through. "Ah! You're not hurt, Lissa?"

"No, because you saved me from Virion," her expression then turned to anger and looked at the archer who lay down on the floor. "Virion! You're such a jerk for trying to hurt a sweet angel!"

"Whilst my attempts to shift the tides of battle into our khan's favor were not in vain, there was never any intention of seriously maiming the younger sister of the Exalt," he said aloud while maintaining his tone. "What sort of man would I be if I intended to injure someone who is part of the royal line?"

"You mean you never wanted to hurt either of us?"

"Indeed. My purpose was to daunt you but I miscalculated because of that angel boy. He played a part of a hero to save the one he cares for. Such in those wonderful tales of folk," the blue-haired archer said. "Forgive my actions as vile as it appears to be."

"I…"

"Lissa, we have to remove the arrow that's on Pit," the green-haired goddess said.

"But how? I don't want to mess this up," Lissa began to worry. "What if we can't get the arrow out? If he has more injuries then-"

"Lissa," Pit softly spoke to the Cleric. "Remember the weapon I gave you? Try using that."

"Oh yeah," her tone was a bit uplifting and she held one of the twin blades of the Palutena Bow.

"You let her use the weapon I gave to you?" Palutena questioned her angel as if she was surprised and disappointed that he did that.

"I entrusted her with it during our fight and we needed another person to fight to even the numbers," he explained just so he was not going to face much criticism from his goddess.

"I see," she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them. "Lissa, since Pit entrusted you with a weapon I forged, I will allow you to hold onto it should Pit lend it to you for future fights."

"Thank you for trusting me," Lissa smiled before cutting the end where the sharp end was located. Once that was cut, Palutena slowly but firmly pulled the remaining part out. The Cleric then used her staff to heal the wound on Pit's shoulder. It took some time before Pit's injury was recovered. The white angel moved around his shoulder and felt like he never got hit with an arrow in the first place.

"I feel great!" He cheered. "Thank you, Lady Palutena and Lissa. You two really helped me out."

"I'm just glad that you're better now," Palutena giggled before embracing him. "I was scared for a moment that I could have lost you again."

"It'll take more than an arrow to kill me," her angel teased. He then turned to the Cleric and hugged her. "Lissa, you've done so much for me in just a short amount of time. I cannot thank you enough. You're really cool."

"I can't let my hero get hurt," she unknowingly responded before embracing him back as she touched his wings. "Your wings feel soft like bread."

"But don't eat them, I need them," he chuckled. "You're really nice, Lissa and so cheerful like myself."

"Oh, well, um, thanks," her cheeks became red and eyes were wider by his words. "What the heck? I wasn't expecting a compliment from him. How am I supposed to react to that? What should I even say? He's so sweet though. I…I don't know what to do."

"Where's Pittoo?" Pit asked.

"He's near Virion on the other side," the Cleric responded.

"Hey, Pittoo!" He called to his doppelganger. "Are you doing alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he grunted as Dark Pit put his effort standing up. Slowly but surely, he got up but struggled to stay on his feet. "What's going on? You okay?"

"I'm fine, a bit hurt, but fine," the white angel replied.

Right now the whole battlefield suddenly fell silent. No one knew what to do after the scare of the white angel getting injured by an arrow. Even on the other side, the rest of the people stared at what was happening there. Most if not all of them felt sympathy for the white angel. The vibe they felt was wondering if they should discontinue the tournament.

"What should we do?" Chrom wondered as he dropped his Falchion as placed it inside his sheath.

"I'm not entirely certain," his wife responded, closing her tome. "Pit seems to be hurt from some sort of incident that happened there. "I think we should halt the tournament for now."

"I advise that you should not do that," Lon'qu said while gripping his Killer Edge and pointing it to Lucina.

"One of our members is gravely hurt, and our teammate rushed there to check on him," Robin argued back.

"The tactician provides a valid point," Panne nodded before reverting to her humanlike form. "This tournament should not allow any deaths in this fight, only to incapacitate."

"Right," she slightly smiled for the Taguel who was on her side.

"That is not for you to decide," the Myrmidon pointed out.

"Robin, it's up to the reigning khan to judge whether to continue the tournament or not," Chrom spoke to her.

"Well then, Basilio," she called to the old man. "You either continue this fight or stop it. Whichever you choose, I won't object to it."

The reigning khan closed his eyes to muse whether the tournament should resume or be canceled. He had considered the weight on both sides. While the well-being of a person was important, Basilio would not know what to do if the tradition of Regna Ferox were to be broken. His people will likely be upset as they all took their time to spectate a glorious fight between two Khans. The white angel whom he had never seen before was injured. However, he witnessed him getting healed by the Cleric, so the warrior could fight again. It was a rather difficult situation that he was in due to him potentially breaking the custom of hosting a tournament and determining the winner in one go.

"Hey old man," Flavia spoke to Basilio. "You are really about to stop this tournament over a single injury that was already mended?"

"This tournament not only decides who gets to rule power for an indefinite time, but this tournament also does not allow serious injuries to go unhandled. However, our practice of holding this special tournament cannot be disturbed. There cannot be a postponement of such a thing."

"There is one way to continue this tournament while the injured one can be excused from battle."

"I do know how to conclude the tournament in a quick but interesting way," he gave a slight smirk which unbeknownst to the blonde warrior thought she had the same idea that the current khan had in mind. "It is settled."

"So he finally answered," Chrom said to himself.

"This tournament will not discontinue," he declared. "However, we will make this fight end much quicker than it would have been."

By this point, most of the fighters on the field did not fully understand what Basilio was trying to say. Only his champion put the pieces together. Not long after did Robin realize what the khan meant by what he said. She suddenly became worried for her daughter and how she would fare against Lon'qu who wanted payback for their last encounter in the same arena.

"This tournament will continue. I would ask the champions on both sides to stand on the battlefield while the rest of you are dismissed from the fight."

Listening to that piece of information, Chrom and Robin became alarmed that Lucina had to face Lon'qu all by herself while everyone else had to watch. The tactician took a deep breath to calm herself down. Her husband noticed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders while placing his head onto the side of her head.

"It'll be alright," he said to his wife. "Lucina is capable of handling this on her own especially if it's someone who she defeated before."

"I know but what if she gets gravely hurt," Robin questioned, thinking of the worst outcomes that could happen to their daughter. "I don't want something horrible to happen to her."

"I don't either," Chrom acknowledged. "I fully trust our daughter to succeed in her fight and be safe as well."

"I do as well," the tactician agreed before looking at the Ylissean princess. Her expression was still worrisome due to the thoughts of Lucina getting serious maimed by Lon'qu. She thought, "Please do be careful Lucina."

On the other side, Palutena realized that Lucina had to fight alone against the Myrmidon. Her heart began racing when she had the same thoughts as Robin did. The more she mused over it, the more concerned she felt.

"Why am I like this? I'm now getting worried that Lucina may get hurt in her fight alone. I really want her to be okay. She can't get hurt because I'll get upset. Ah! There is it again! Why do I think like this every time I see or think of that woman? There's something about Lucina that has caught my attention to her much more than I would have expected."

"Let's go find somewhere where Pit can sit down," Lissa suggested now that she longer had to fight.

"There are plenty of seats we can sit to check on Pit's wound," the goddess finally said after thinking over her concern of the swordswoman.

"You two shouldn't have to worry," Pit disagreed as he rotated the healed shoulder without expressing pain. "There's no pain on this shoulder, so I'm good to go."

"Are you sure?" The Cleric wondered still uncertain if the white angel was fully recovered.

"It's only an arrow," he reassured that everything was fine. "I've dealt much worse than someone shooting an arrow on my shoulder."

"Well…ok," she conceited, putting a concerning smile just to lighten the situation.

"Please do be more careful, Pit," Palutena said to her angel. "We don't want another scare that could have killed you."

"I'll be more cautious next time," he nodded. "Sorry about that."

"Why are you apologizing for a courageous act? You know you don't always have to apologize to me."

"I know but I don't want to upset you."

"The only thing that'll upset me is if you asked me how old I am," she slightly smirked to play around and lighten up his mood.

"Yeah… I won't forget that one time," he nervously chuckled, reminiscing the time when a certain lady called a certain goddess an inappropriate title.

"I think you mean twice," she corrected him. "And surely you won't be the third one, right?"

"Oh no, no," the white angel calmly responded to Lissa's surprise. "I would never disrespect you in anyway Lady Palutena."

"Good," she giggled causing her and Pit to laugh.

"They are quite something," Lissa thought before her chest suddenly tightened. She had her right hand covering the area where it was hurting. "Ow, that hurts."

"Hey, Lissa, what's wrong?" Pit looked at the blonde with a troubled look in his eyes.

Lissa gazed at the beautiful blue eyes of the brown-haired angel. Such admiration of angelic beauty could never be ignored. She suddenly had her cheeks red and turned her head away to hide Pit's gaze. "I-It's nothing. I'm not really in pain though."

Palutena turned her head in bewilderment before realizing why Lissa was behaving in such a manner. She smiled and found it adorable. The goddess knew.

"Are you sure?" He had his left hand on the Cleric's right shoulder before trying to see her face. "It sounded like you felt pain just now."

"No, no!" She shook herself, forcing Pit to let go. Lissa's cheeks were still burning with redness and did not appear to get better at any point. "It's one of the feelings where I thought I felt pain when it really was not."

"As long as you're okay, then I'm fine with it."

"Thank you for understanding," Lissa secretly had a sigh of relief that she managed to hide whatever she was feeling. "We should get onto one of the seats and watch Lucina kick Lon'qu's butt!"

"Pit, if only you knew what Lissa is feeling right now," the green-haired goddess expressed a genuine smile at that thought. She wondered if that possibility was ever possible since she, too, was in a similar position with herself.

"Lady Lucina is a very formidable fighter, so I know she'll show that guy a thing or two."

"Lady Lucina, that's a cute title for her," realizing what she was musing about, Palutena had a slight blush on her face. "No! Stop this strange feeling inside me. It's just too much for me. I have to stop this feeling from growing because it keeps getting stronger."

"Everyone!" Chrom called to the rest of his comrades who were not fighting. "Let's all meet up down there and rest up for the remainder of the tournament."

They all agreed and were walking their way down to the south side of the battle arena to sit in the reserved spots for them. While they were across from Basilio and Flavia, the seats appeared to be more comfortable than the spectator seats. The chairs were further apart and had arm stands. The seating had more cushion, making it less irritating to stay seated. An interesting note of its design was how there were two rows. It could be that this particular event had many reserved seats for particular members of Regna or any of royalty outside of the country. They, including the Exalt, were quite intrigued with how the Colosseum was much bigger than it seemed at face value.

Chrom and Robin sat in the front while Dark Pit sat the far right end of the same row. Meanwhile, Pit, Lissa, and Palutena sat behind the Exalt and his wife. The Cleric was between the Goddess of Light and the white angel, which made her a bit nervous. She had no clue what the relationship between Pit and Palutena was. However, she did hope that it was not romantically intimate. Lissa unknowingly and obliviously was unaware that she may be feeling a certain way for the white angel.

"I can't believe it's all going to decide this quickly," Pit commented, adjusting himself to be comfortable with his seat. "Boy, these chairs sure are comfy."

"They really are!" Lissa cheered with a smile. "Who knew that Ferox can make quality chairs?"

"Don't they have comfy chairs back where you live?"

"Sort of," she tilted her head, trying to muse if such a thing existed in Ylisstol. "I can't say for sure for the people there, but Chrom gets to sit in the throne room on a really nice chair. But, he's rarely there since he prefers to go out more."

"That's true," Chrom turned around and looked at his sister and the white angel. "While I have my responsibilities as an Exalt, I can't help but assist the people I serve and protect them from any danger that comes their way."

"That's very noble of you, Chrom," Pit praised the Exalt for his ability to manage many responsibilities very well. "It's a lot of work but you seem to be fine doing it."

"It is indeed difficult to handle, but thanks to Robin, we share the work together."

"It's not like I should put every burden on him," she teased as she turned back as well. "I plan most of the time while he just goes in and does it."

"I think it's a perfect combination, wouldn't you say?"

"Most of the time," she rolled her eyes just to mess with her husband before giggling at his tease.

"Hey look, Lucina is about to begin her fight," the white angel pointed out, making everyone, especially Palutena shift their focus onto the Ylissean princess. "I hope Lucina can pull this through."

"Of course she will, Pit," the Cleric was not worried one bit and expressed a confident smile on her face. "She kicked Lon'qu's butt before, so she'll embarrass him again."

"Is Lucina really that strong of a swordfighter?"

"There's no doubt about that, Pit," Palutena instinctively replied. "Seeing how well she trained and fought opponents during our time in Smash and this war against Hades, Lucina is very talented with that sword. Whoever that Lonku is, he has no chance against the beautiful and adept Lucina."

"That's right," the white angel agreed. "Lucina is formidable, so I believe she'll clutch this one out."

"You can do it, Lucina!" Lissa cheered the blue-haired swordswoman.

Lucina turned back to see her family and comrades supporting her rematch against the Myrmidon. She smiled and waved back.

"There's that cute smile she has," Palutena thought again causing her expression to naturally beam with delight.

"Are you thinking about Pit?" Lissa whispered to the goddess's ear, snapping her back to reality.

"W-What? What are you saying?" She could not believe the words that the Cleric was mouthing.

"Well… are you?" The young blonde pouted while crossing her arms.

"Oh, no, no, no," Palutena petted Lissa's hair. "That's completely incorrect and absolutely not true at all."

"The way you two were talking sounded like you two are like a couple," she then felt guilty for falsely accusing the Goddess of Light and her relationship with the white angel.

"I understand why you would feel that way, but rest assured Pit is the Captain of my army back home. I am his Goddess, he serves for me, and I care about him. That's all."

"Ok. Good," she felt a sigh of relief that her assumptions were wrong.

"I do know why you were jealous of me," she smirked, giving the opportunity to play a little bit after being asked such a personal question. "And I think it's cute."

"What do you mean cute?" Lissa turned away to hide her blush.

"You know I'm talking about. I can read your mind and know what's in your heart," she slowly was next to Lissa's right ear. "I know how you feel about him?"

"WHAT?!" She jumped back. Her scream startled the group.

"Lissa, are you okay?" Chrom asked his sister while being anxious.

"No, no! I'm totally fine," she shook her hands to deny that she was feeling off.

"But you are warm," his wife responded. "You're cheeks are red. You sure you don't have some sort of fever from the battle?"

"N-Not at all!" Lissa nervously chuckled.

"Hey, Lissa," Pit faced his comrade who then faced the angel. He then placed his right hand on her forehead. "I don't think it's a fever, but it is okay if there's something wrong. None of us are going to say anything bad."

Her face was becoming redder by Pit's sweet smile and support. Not to mention that his hand was contacting her forehead made her blush stronger. All of the embarrassment was bottling up inside her and she covered her face in shame.

"I do apologize," Palutena admitted. "Lissa and I had a bit of fun teasing each other, and I proved to win that battle for now."

"What did you even talk about to make her all flustered?" Robin curiously wondered.

"It's something personal that I don't think Lissa wants to admit for now, so I ask you to respect that."

"Fair," the tactician nodded yet was confused by what she meant by that. While it looked like teasing over something personal, Robin believed it was not something malicious. She then faced the battlefield. "When's the fight going to start? I want to see my daughter beat Lon'qu."

Pit decided to not pry into what Lissa was thinking about and shifted his focus on the Ylissean princess's fight. The Cleric uncovered her face and looked up to see that most of her group were spectating the tournament. Before she could take a relieving breath, the goddess had something to say.

"Your secret is safe with me."

"That's good. I don't want anyone else to know until things get better," she appeared to look a bit ashamed for thinking such a way.

"But I think he'll be fine with it. You two seem to be very compatible with each other."

"Thank you Lady Palutena for keeping my secret," she then realized that what the goddess thought earlier was not her crush, but someone else. Lissa had a little smirk on her face for a little payback. "So… if it wasn't Pit that you thought of, then who was it then?"

"Oh," the green-haired woman's cheeks were a bit pink and she, for some reason, looked at Lucina to avoid eye contact with the Cleric. "That's also a secret of mine that I won't share until I can admit it. Even if I do, I'll look like a weak goddess."

Lissa was bewildered with what she meant by that. The young blonde noticed that Palutena was gazing at Lucina the same way she initially thought was for Pit. A lightbulb had lighted up on her head as she finally made the connection. Lissa silently gasped because she never expected a goddess of all beings to feel something for a certain someone. Because Palutena made a promise to her, Lissa decided to reciprocate. "You're secret is also safe with me."

Palutena was not sure what Lissa meant by that yet at the same time was concerned that the Cleric may have figured out why the goddess was feeling so strangely towards Lucina. She decided to shrug it off and just watch the blue-haired swordswoman fight against the Myrmidon.

On the battlefield stood between Lon'qu who was waiting for this moment to avenge his loss in their previous encounter and Lucina who was prepared to maintain the ruling power that Flavia wanted. She was not going to let this fight become a disappointment, especially since she was not fighting against her father or any of her allies. This time, this was different: they are rooting for her. There was not any pressure against her as Lucina was confident that she can defeat Lon'qu, but she also realized that the swordsman was training hard while she was away at the Smash tournament. It was fair game for both of them regardless.

"You may have beaten me in our last encounter, but this time," he unsheathed his Killing Edge and pointed it straight at her. "I'll emerge as victorious."

"I'll enjoy our rematch the same way it has ended before," she unsheathed her Parallel Falchion and pointed it at Lon'qu. "You losing to a woman again."

"No it will not!" He initiated the fight by running towards Lucina. As he drew his weapon by his side, Lon'qu took a swing from the Ylissean's left side. Luckily, Lucina responded with a left side block. He quickly dropped back a step before thrusting his weapon to her chest. She hopped to the right side to escape in the nick of time.

The next thing Lucina tried to do was elbowing the Myrmidon right on his face. However, Lon'qu immediately grabbed her elbow with his free hand, surprising the swordswoman. He raised his sword and swung downwards onto Lucina's upper body. This time, Lucina ducked and rolled forward to escape the swing, engendering the swordsman to miss and fall over. Both quickly got up and kept their guard. The two ran to each other and swung many times in different positions, trying to get a single strike in. The tournament was evenly matched with both adept swordfighters not budging. Lon'qu struck his Killer Edge at a downward diagonal angle before Lucina swung back with her Parallel Falchion at an upward diagonal motion. Both metallic weapons collided again. They put in their efforts to push each other back to gain the opening they need to win. Lucina was physically strong enough to hold her own against a formidable opponent. Because of this, she had her focus completely on maintaining balance. What she did not realize was that Lon'qu feigned holding his weapon with both of his hands. He had his right hand gripped firmly on the hilt while his left hand only had his palm supporting it. Swiftly, the Myrmidon threw a low blow to the future princess's stomach. Lucina's eyes were bulging and tried to gasp for air from the powerful punch that Lon'qu threw out.

"Oh, no," Chrom shocked to see his daughter suffer a blow in the gut.

"She won't lose like that," Robin instinctively said, still confident yet a bit worried that her daughter might lose this match. "Please Lucina, don't give up. Keep your head up."

"Lucina!" Palutena shouted in her own conscience, feeling all sorts of panic. Seeing Lucina getting punched felt like she, too, felt the same pain the swordswoman got. The goddess covered her stomach as a result of witnessing that. "Please be okay. Don't lose to that man. We want you to win. I want you to win."

"Lady Palutena, are you feeling alright? Is your stomach hurting?" Pit asked in a concerned tone because he thought that his goddess had a stomachache.

"No, no, Pit," she calmly responded with a smile. "It felt like I got hurt when Lucina was punched in the stomach."

"Yeah, it looked like a strong punch, too," he scrunched his face, knowing how painful of having the experience of getting a fist on one's belly.

"Don't you worry because Lucina will still pull through," Lissa optimistically responded while giving off a confident smirk.

"Yeah she will," the white angel agreed. "I like your optimism, Lissa."

"Oh, um, thanks, Pit," she nervously giggled before turning away to hide her blush from him. By doing that, Palutena noticed it and gave a genuine smile.

Pit tilted his head on confusion since he had no clue why Lissa acting so strangely towards him. He decided to not dive into it until she was comfortable talking about it.

Lucina dropped her guard and was on her knees, coughing from the punch she was dealt with. Lon'qu was by her side, standing still before raising his blade above his head. He prepared himself to deliver the winning blow. Without hesitation, Lon'qu swung his Killer Edge downward to strike Lucina.

Unfortunately for him, it was not the end.

The swordswoman pulled an unorthodox move that no one expected her to execute. She lunged forward at the Myrmidon's legs. The impact of the force made him fall to the ground on his back and drop his weapon due to the unexpected move. Lucina got up and ran back to pick up her Parallel Falchion. She had to quickly force him in a bad spot, so she ran at him who was trying to get and pick up his blade. Lucina did not hesitate to swing her Falchion downward, only to be blocked by Lon'qu's Killer Edge. While he was still on his knees, the Ylissean princess put all of her effort to sending him face down on the ground. This time, Lucina had to pay attention to Lon'qu rather than her blade. Good thing she did because the swordsman had a free leg to swing around, in which he did. The future princess noticed it and flipped backward to escape the low kick. As a result, Lon'qu got up and swiftly ran towards Lucina to continue his flurry of sword strikes. One strike from the right. Blocked. One strike from the left. Blocked. One from the above. Blocked. One from the under. Blocked. One diagonal downward strike from the right. Blocked. One diagonal downward strike from the left. Blocked. One diagonal upward strike from the left. Blocked. One diagonal upward strike from the right. Blocked.

Lucina realized that Lon'qu was fighting in a pattern and was not trying to throw her off. She knew that the next swing would be any of the similar motion swings he just did. As it turns out, the blue-haired woman had predicted the right move. She pulled the hilt of her Parallel Falchion close to her upper body with the blade pointing at the bottom. Lon'qu swung his Killer Edge from above. Lucina immediately retaliated by countering with a swift reverse circular motion, colliding her weapon with his. He was stumbling due to the speed that the swordswoman had for that particular situation. This was the opening she saw. She threw out multiple various swings to pressure him as he was limited to what he was doing. He just had to block as much as he could.

Lucina then shifted the rhythm of her swordplay. She took a step forward and swung in a horizontal motion. Another step forward and swinging in the opposite direction. The third step forward Lucina struck Lon'qu's sword down onto the ground and pinned it to prevent it from escaping. The final gracious step ended with a two-parter: the first swing was the horizontal swing before swinging in an upward diagonal arc to disarm Lon'qu. The Killer Edge was separated from his grip, and it flew a bit far away from him to where he could not reach it. Lucina elbowed his chest before pushing him to the ground. When he was on the floor, the future princess placed her right foot on his chest and placed the tip of her Parallel Falchion just inches from his neck.

"Game over," Lucina said.

"Despite all my training, I still lose to the likes of you," Lon'qu upsettingly grunted, trying to move around to escape from the Ylissean's crutches. However, he failed to and had no choice but to concede defeat. He closed his eyes. "Very well. I'll admit defeat because you are an indeed formidable opponent. Don't expect this outcome again the next time we meet."

"I shall see the day."

The tournament had ended. Flavia will retain her power as the ruling khan while Basilio cackled by such a spectacular match to behold.