Cearbhail:

And now the tournament has begun. It's going to be rather short, and I hope that's ok. The tournament was an important event for me, but only because it opens up Zorro to become the character I wanted him to become. And you'll see why soon enough. But either way, this has set up some more events that I want to spring, as well as... well besides giving Olin a reason to become stronger, it will also well... you know what, for once I don't want to spoil it. Just enjoy. ^^

[Malik]

Yesterday was something. I spent the day walking around town looking for any sign of whoever might have the spear we were looking for. From what I remembered seeing from my vision, I was looking for a frightful fellow dressed with a black overcoat laden in the blood of the guards that had bit the big one a few nights ago. I didn't find anyone inside the town with such a fashion choice, however. In the vision, he had his hood drawn over his head, and no matter how many times I went back to the scene and watched it from different angles, I could not see any face underneath the hood. And with each day that passed, the image recorded in the earth withered and became distorted, soon becoming nothing more than slight shadows where people used to stand. Using Sight to see what happened had about a three day usage before the vision became too distorted for any function. As it was right now, I wouldn't get anything if I went back to the murder sight and looked again. I doubt I'd get enough to follow back here again. Why bother? My time would be better spent walking around the town and try to 'feel' the power of the spear. At least I know what the cross felt like. If nothing else, I'd feel something odd.

Of course, this morning's been hectic enough without wondering where the spear was. There was something going on with Red that had Hood running around in circles today. The rest of the coven was all in an uproar over it as well. They all had been up since before the break of dawn, running around screaming to each other about what needed to be done. Come to think of it, it had been pretty quiet for a few minutes. I wonder if the coven was done messing with Red.

"Where is my staff?" Red called from downstairs. "Lucy? Why are you carrying my staff?" There was a pause before I heard Red say, "Oh…hey guys…what's all that you're carrying?"

"You can't go outside dressed like that!" Lucy cried from downstairs. "Your hair is just…you're going out today, you look do something about your hair." Oh…here we go again. I guess the coven wasn't quite down with Red yet.

"You aren't wearing enough makeup!" Muffet announced as well. And just like that, I heard a massive gaggle-fuck of teenage girls all ganging up on Red from my bed upstairs.

I started walking downstairs to see Red and a bunch of her friends standing around her. They were dragging her to a mirror where they slapped her face with powders, lipsticks, and blushes. They all had something to say to her about her appearance and had some idea about how they wanted to make her look for her date. I watched from the stairway as the flock of witches did everything they could to make Red look like anyone besides…well…Red. I find these European women confusing. Why change your appearance to go out with someone who likes you because of how you look? Their customs were so weird to me, but then again, I come from a bland village where people dressed in simple ways compared to here. Everyone had something to hide behind, whether it was corsets or heavily applied makeups.

I actually found it amusing to see Red so flustered over having everyone fix her face for her. But it finally had run its course when Red stood up and started pushing everyone away. "Stop! Hey, hey!" She screamed to everyone. She grabbed a cloth and started rubbing makeup off her face. "I'm not doing that! I'm going out looking like I do every day."

Lucy crossed her arms and snickered at that. "You changed your hair from red to black. You don't go out like yourself every day."

Red turned to look at her. "I did that to hide my identity from everyone in town…although it doesn't seem to be working."

"What is going on down here?" I heard Mother Goose called from behind me. I looked up at her. She was dressed in her usual black dress and her massive duck-faced hat. She stomped her way down the stairs, although she wasn't trying to look infuriated, but I think it was more to show a presence of authority when she walked. That and she wore some really thick and heavy boots. She stomped down the stairs with her hands on her hips, and curiosity on her face. When she saw Red half covered in makeup and a white dress, she grabbed her mouth and covered a laugh that almost escaped. After a held chuckled, she turned to look at Red. "Well…good morning, Red. Ready for your date?"

Red passively held her gave at Mother Goose and sighed. She returned to wiping the makeup off her before saying, "I would be if everyone would STOP TRYING TO CHANGE ME!" She yelled at her friends.

Mother Goose shook her head. "Nonsense." She waved her hand around and with a quick snap of her fingers, an eloquent blue dress appeared in her hand. "Ok, everyone. Hold her down and get the makeup ready! I'm going in!" She ran/jumped over the railing while the other witches started holding Red down.

I rolled my eyes and walked back upstairs. "Ok, you guys have fun."

"Master, help me!" Red called out.

"Play nice with Red." I called back out before heading back upstairs where Brian was resting. The attic had been pretty silent these days and Brian spent most of his time sleeping off his earlier near-death beating delivered from the bullies. I paused to look down at him. He looked almost back to normal. I half expected him to stand up from his bedding right now and ask what was for breakfast. But he didn't get up. He looked like he was dead to all rights. I guess it was too much to expect him to stand up after a beating like that. But it had been three days already. Of course, every time he did wake up, Mother Goose did something to him to put him right back to sleep. Sure, she fed him and allowed him to use the bathroom, but for the most part he stayed in the bedding until she cleared him for normal things.

"What's with all that sound?" Brian's groggy voice almost surprised me. His two eyes barely opened as he looked up at me.

"Red's getting ready for her date." I replied as Brian started pushing the sheets off him. When he started to sit up, he grabbed his side in pain. I could see a massive bruise where one of the bullies had kicked his ribs in. From what I had heard from Mother Goose, he suffered several broken limbs and that had been most of her work the past few days, just healing that. I didn't know if he could even sit up yet, let alone do anything else, so I gently grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him back down.

"Don't sit up yet. I'm not sure if those ribs are healed yet." I said to him.

He nodded slightly before laying back down. "I thought I could make things right." He sighed as he looked away. "I don't really remember what happened, though. I know I threw a punch and then John grabbed my arm and broke it. I…I was so scared that I didn't even know that his knee was coming at my nose until it had already happened. I…I just…" He sighed before looking up at me. "Will you teach me to fight?"

I ruffled his hair. "Sure thing, when you're all rested up. No need to worry; winter is setting in and it's only going to get colder. Might as well enjoy the fact that you have such a pretty girl treating your wounds."

He scoffed at the idea. "She's mean to me. Every time I try to talk to her, she pokes me in the side and reminds me that I'm stupid enough to put myself in these circumstances."

I stood up and looked at the staircase. I expected to see the evil witch come fly up and yell at us for talking about her behind her back, but I didn't hear her coming up the stairs. I listened with more focus and I could hear her shouting orders to the other witches for their preparation for Red's date. I turned to face Brian. "She's just playing hard-to-get. I can tell, she really likes you."

"I what now?" I heard a voice behind me that threw shivers down my spine. I was crouched down to the floor, so when I turned around, Mother Goose stood at my eye level. She stood there, hands on her hips, her thick gothic boots tapping the floor boards behind her. Her black hair was levitating with her blackened aura. Her left eye was ticking and she had a nasty sneer on her lips.

It was so scary that I was scared of what my reply might be. Unluckily for me, Brian answered. "He says you like me. Is that true?" Goose's smile faded away into a frown and her eyes started glowing white. And then I felt something very powerful come from her. Oh Allah…protect me.

…

[Olin]

This morning was going pretty well so far. I got up, drank some mead, love it so far; Eric and a few other slave drivers prepared me for my date by smothering me in weird smelling fragrances and making me look stronger or less caring of my appearance while making it clear that I do care. It's weird. It did feel nice to be properly prepared for this date. Eric shoved a giant collection of flowers in my hands right before I left and said, "Give these to her; she will be expecting them."

I looked down at the flowers and had asked, "So…this is a tradition in this land?"

And Eric nodded. "Yes, it will get you into the door." He slapped me on the back and shoved me through the door. And that was the story behind the bundle of flowers in my arms. They looked nice…I guess. And I guess they were important for my date…I guess. So, I continued to focus on the flowers until I entered the scarred part of town where Isabella lived…or Red…whatever her name was. I think Red was a nickname for her red hair, but I could be wrong. She calls herself Isabella and everyone calls her Red so I guess it was a pet name that everyone else called her.

So, when I finally reached her house, I expected to see her perhaps waiting for me, or perhaps those two men that threatened me waiting for me by the door. So, when I saw Red standing outside with several other girls her age all standing around her, screaming at each other about what they thought she should look like…I could say with all certainly that I didn't see it coming. Red saw me coming up and smiled. The other girls all stopped bickering and looked at me. One with short brown hair smiled and patted Red on the back. "Way to go…he's hot!"

Red turned to look back at her, her face blushing over. "Lucy, shut up!" She turned to look at me. "Oh, hi. Are you ready…" Before she could finish her statement a giant fire exploded through a window on the second floor.

I looked up quickly before jumping back in surprise. "DIE, WORM!" I heard a vicious voice cry out from the second floor. Just as quickly as the window exploded in fire, that dark-skinned man from earlier leapt through the window, soaring over our heads and landing on the building across the street. He was dressed in some very white robes, which I found oddly familiar to a warning I had received about bad people dressed in white robes going around killing people. He landed on the roof across the street and took off running. Just a second later, I saw a ten year-old girl covered in flames jump through the window, screaming profanities, and taking chase against the white-robed man. Nope…he can't be one of those dangerous types…he's running from a girl.

I looked from the sky back down to Red. She stood there, frozen in shock, staring at me with wide eyes. She cracked and grabbed her head in what I thought was shame or embarrassment. "Oh…Master…"

"He's your master?" I asked her.

She froze for a second before forcing a smile. "Um…something like that. He's my…instructor. And the little thing chasing him is my …cousin."

"Your instructor? What is he teaching you?" I guess I shouldn't have asked it because everyone behind her clamped their mouths shut and she looked around at them for some reason. It stayed like that for a couple seconds before Lucy stepped up.

"Baking. He's a baker, but he doesn't own the bakery. He's teaching her the forbidden secrets of the éclair, being from France and all that." She announced quickly, smirking as she said it.

"He's from a kingdom called France?" I looked around, and everyone nodded. "Oh…I've never heard of it." I wonder what kind of kingdom it was. I guess it was super important in the food industry if Red was learning the secrets of the éclair…whatever that was. I'm guessing it was better than a cookie, no matter how impossible that seemed. "Is an éclair better than a cookie?"

Lucy smiled and patted Red on the back. "Oh yeah, he's a keeper, Red." She turned around and started pushing the other girls back into the rundown building. "Ok, kids…we should leave them alone now."

Red sighed as her friends retreated into the building. When they were gone, she looked up at me and smiled. "Sorry about that. My family is a little…crazy. I swear they aren't always like this…"

"Come back here and take your punishment, Malik!" The tiny flame-engulfed girl from earlier ran past us as she chased Red's instructor across the rooftops.

A boy stuck his head out the window that had exploded a few seconds ago. "Vicky, don't hurt him! He promised to teach me how to fight!" Then he looked down at us and smiled. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment and said, "Oh…hi. Welcome to the family." Then he ducked his head back into the window. Jeez…this is one crazy family. Seems like a fun one at least.

I looked back at Red whose face was just as red as the dress she was wearing. "I swear if they embarrass me for another second…"

And just like that the door to the rundown building burst open and the guy dressed in the green tunic from last night came rushing out. He was carrying a bow and several arrows, and he was wearing what appeared to be stretchy green leggings of some sort. He ran past us but then stopped to look at Red and then at me. "Don't do anything stupid, Red. Don't forget you're still too young to go all the way. Ok?"

I think that broke her. She started punching the cloaked fellow, her face fully flushed. "Just get out of here!"

The guy only laughed as he ran off, screaming, "Have fun on your date!"

I stood there for a few seconds waiting for Red to calm down, but it seemed like it was a futile effort. So, I stuck out my hand to give her the flowers Eric told me to give her. She immediately went from being red in the face to smiling and taking the flowers. "Aww, violets, my favorite." She rushed in and hugged me, which was weird but I guess she liked the flowers at least. "Sorry you had to see all that. My family is just…excited might be the proper word to explain it. We've had a few hard days now and me going out on a date seems like something close to normal for us."

I nodded to her, my eyes drifting around at the building. I saw several heads stretching out the windows to look at us. When I noticed them, they pulled their heads away from the windows, hiding from me. I think I could grow to like this family. It's crazy in a way that was much like my own. I looked back at Red and forced a smile. "It's fine, my family was much the same way. So, we're going to the tournament today?"

She nodded and took my hand. "Yup, follow me." She started leading me down the road, talking to me about the tournament while we traversed through the scarred section of her town. "You see, the king is holding a tournament to find people strong enough to bolster the ranks of knights and guards for our town. Ever since what happened a few…well about a couple weeks now, we've been having trouble keeping enough guards for the security of the town, as well as supplying knights for the crusade, so the king thought it would be a good gesture to throw a tournament to find more people capable of fighting and protecting the town. My friend Zorro is competing in the tournament and I want to watch him fight."

I nodded. "Oh…ok. I guess that would be a good reason to go watch." Well, that and I love a good fight. The men and women, even children such as me, of my village were always fighting, and we always held contests to see who could fight the best, but we never really threw tournaments. Well, maybe. If they are what I think they are, it might be the same thing. I'll find out once we get to the center of town.

Red and I continued to chat about stuff until we reached the center of town, where the entire plaza seemed filled with everyone in town. I'm not kidding; it looked like everyone in town was gathered around the large garden in the center of town, where large sitting places were set up for the large audience. It was quite the sight to see. Once Red and I pushed our way through the large mass of people we found ourselves pressed up against a large barrier set up by a fence that separated the participants of the tournament and the people watching. I saw 20 or so men and women dressed up in bright metallic armor from head-to-toe. They looked intimating, and their weapons looked deadly. But there was this one man, he was dressed in a frilly black shirt, black leather pants, and a cape. He had a black hat with a red feather in it, a mask covering his eyes, one fantastic mustache, and a tiny thin thing that I assumed was a sword. Let's see…heavily armored knights with large intimidating weapons, and one man wearing no armor and carrying a thin metal stick…I think I know who won't win this fight.

Red grabbed my arm, squeezed herself close to me and gestured to the man dressed in all black. "There he is! The one wearing black, he's Zorro, my friend." What? He's her friend? Oh man…that sucks for her. He's totally going to lose.

"You've got to be kidding." I found myself muttering, which drew her attention to me. I looked at her, seeing her wide eyes. "It's just…look at everyone. They're dressed in armor, really good looking armor, and they have those huge weapons. Your friend is wearing nothing and has that tiny…I think it's a sword."

Red started smiling and she hugged me closer to her. "It's ok, you've never seen him fight before. I'd think the same if I didn't know better." She looked at him and then pulled me close enough to whisper to me. "He saved me on a ship full of slavers. I saw him fight, he's amazing. He won't lose on a one-on-one match. Guaranteed."

I was a little skeptical but I guess I would have to take her word on it. The fighters continued to stretch out and sharpen their weapons as a bald man overly dressed in the richest of robes walked up to the center of the field. "Welcome to the Tournament of Champions! I am your King, King John, and I have assembled for your entertainment a tournament that will help to decide the new defenders of your town. With no further interruptions, we shall begin. Let us begin with the first match. Here in the red corner we have, Diego Vega, some Spanish warrior. And here in the blue corner we have Ken Masters, an up and coming newcomer to the fighting scene." The King nodded to the two warriors. "You may start when I step out of the ring." And then the king took his time walking out of the fighting ring.

I took a good look at Ken Masters. He was dressed in pure white armor but he lacked a helmet. He had a strong face with long blond hair. He slipped a helmet over his head and brought up a giant sword. "You will face my sword, who slayed a dragon in the southern swamps of Nottingham Forest. You will never pierce my armor and you will fall face first in the mud crying for me to let you die."

As soon as the king stepped out of the ring he waved his hand for the two to start the fight. Ken Masters didn't wait as he brought his giant claymore straight up into the air and charged in to fight Diego…or Zorro, whatever his name was. Red called him Zorro so I guess I should call him that too. Well, whoever he was waited for Ken to get within striking distance. As soon as Ken came within range, he brought his giant claymore straight down onto Zorro. Zorro stepped out of the way with little trouble, sliding his feet through the mud like he didn't need much room to move. The sword completely missed him, not even coming close. He moved so fluidly that I almost couldn't believe it was coming from him, or anyone that matter. And I saw his sword flash so quickly that it looked like a blur. But…I could see the whole thing like it was happening in slow motion. His tiny sword came up, slashed through the clamps holding the armor plates on, and then drew away without a sound.

By the time Zorro spun past the knight, he had already won the fight, I was sure of it. And I was right when all the armor he had been wearing started falling off piece by piece. Ken stood there in horror as his armor on his arms slid off, his chest piece falling in mud with the same effort. And then his very sword snapped near the hilt, falling in the mud. "You know why I won?" I heard Zorro's thick accent overwhelm the growing silence from the crowd. When Ken turned to look at him, Zorro said, "You rely so much on your armor that it weighs you down. It fills you with a false sense of security, that nothing ever wrong could happen to you. Your sword is so big that it never occurs to you how hard it must be to adjust its movements mid-swing. Your armor is fragile in several spots that are clear as day to me, and your sword is so heavily beaten that it was time for its death anyway. You lost because your gear is overwhelmed and imperfect. Combine that with the complacency of your faith in your faulty armor and it stands to reason that you never stood a real chance against me."

Right as Zorro finished his statement a perfect Z formed in Ken's shirt. "A little reminder of the one who taught you the true path of the warrior." Zorro exclaimed as he walked away. "Now accept your defeat or suffer more."

Ken collapsed to his knees. "I forfeit." He cried into his hands. "I'm not manly enough to beat you."

Red grabbed her head, shaking it. "He's so stupid…" She muttered to herself before looking at me. "Just look at him! He's just pissing off the other knights. Now they know how he fights and they're going to kick his butt. Just great." She shook her head.

"Not exactly." I heard from behind me. We both snapped around to see Malik and the hooded guy standing behind us. Malik had been the one to speak up. "Zorro won't lose just yet. Everyone would have learned eventually just how strong he was, and now he doesn't have to worry about hiding it from the others now. He's just showing everyone that he won't hold back for a second. It makes this whole fight rather more exciting for him, I'd wager."

Zorro walked past us, stopping for a second, bending over to catch a breath. "Guys, I have some news." He looked at Red. "Red, I found your missing sisters. The King has them in his dungeon. I don't know exactly what they're doing down there, but he has several of your coven members." He stood back up and continued walking on. "See you soon." He said as he walked back to his corner, jumping over the fence while the two next knights walked in to begin their fight.

I was still lost in how amazing Zorro had been in his fight. I'd never seen someone move with such precision, such grace, just force. I looked down at my hands. I couldn't handle a sword like he could. And now…I really wanted to. He even made my father look bad at sword fighting, but that just made me wonder what would have happened to my family if someone like Zorro had been there to help us fight. If only I had been strong enough to help my family…I never would have ended up like this, a slave in a foreign land while my family lied dead in the north. It wasn't fair.

Cearbhail:

Ok, so I didn't add Zorro's POV. I will next chapter, I promise. I thought it would turn out to be a very long chapter if I did that, and I half thought about ditching Olin's POV during the fight, but with how short it was going to be, it almost didn't seem worth it. The fight was going to be short regardless, but Zorro will have enough trouble soon enough. I have to sit down and draw up the tournament sheet so I don't get lost with who wins and who loses. Oh...and did anyone catch the Street Fighter reference? Ken Masters? Vega? No? Just me? Oh well..