Chapter 2 - Unexpected Opponents
All of the participants stood waiting in the reception room, waiting for Cid to make his appearance. Zidane stood at the front, and now he could see everyone that was entered. Sir Fratley stood beside Freya, Eiko was at the side talking to Dagger, Quina was running about searching for some sort of food, Beatrix and Steiner were standin close to the Queen, and The Calcutta Knights were standing at the doorway. Suddenly Zidane spotted a familar figure approaching him...
"Armarant! How's it going!"
"...As well as things go. How about you? I see you're king now."
"Yeah, have been for around a year now. It's a lot of work but it's well worth it."
"Hmph." Armarant grunted to himself.
"What is it?" Zidane asked.
"Titles make weak men... you think that you're strong because you have the kingship shielding you."
"Hehehe... same old Armarant. Did I teach you anything?"
"Nope, notta thing." he grinned.
"Well, we'll see who's weak when I win the Festival." Zidane said as Regent Cid walked into the room. He sat down, towering above everyone in the room.
"Hello everyone, thanks for coming. Now, we weren't expecting such a heavy number to enter, so we have to play you off against each other. The first draw will be made now. Troa, bring me the bag with the numbers in it."
Troa walked over and handed Regent Cid a small bag.
"Everyone, this bag has 66 balls in it. The numbers represent the entrants. Is there anyone who wants to inspect the bag for foul play before I begin?"
The room was quite. Everyone knew that the draw would be fair.
"Alright then..." he said as he put his hand into the bag, shuffled around, and pulled out a black ball.
"Number... 38, it's number 38. That means that the first fighter will be... Cinna James of The Calcutta Knights."
Cinna pulled out his hammer and tried his best to look vicious. It didn't work.
"He will face... Number 12, Beatrix, leader of the Alexandria Guard."
Beatrix smiled and looked over at Cinna, who was now banging his head against the nearest wall. Why did he have to draw HER? He knew that he didn't stand a chance!
"Hehehe... unlucky Cinna, that's a tough break." said Blank to his frustrated friend.
"Yeah... well, I'm not leaving empty handed. I'm gonna defeat her!"
"Umm Cinna... she's possibly the best fighter in Alexandria. She's defeated countless soliders in her time. You basically don't stand a chance against her?"
Cinna grinned at his friend.
"I don't give up so easy Blank... there has to be a way..."
Meanwhile Cid had drawn out the next ball.
"The second fight will consist of... Number 11... Quina Quen... and Number 30, Troa Pointas. The fights will start in three hours time in the center of the Business District. If any participant doesn't arrive in time they will be disqualified from the tournament. That is all. The draw to see who is fighting in the next round will be decided after the two battles. Good luck."
Everyone filed out of the room, whilst Cinna walked over towards Vivi.
"Hey Vivi... I need your help if that's ok?"
"Sure... what is it?"
"You're a blacksmith right...?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone had now moved into the Business District, and the town center was filled with bystanders ready to watch the battles. People sat upon rooftops and looked out of windows, and many stood upon the street.
"Two minutes... where could Cinna be...?" Zidane asked Dagger.
"I don't know... he went off with Vivi after the draw."
"Vivi? What could that be about..."
Beatrix stood in the middle of the space that had been set up for the fight, and she moved around, swiping her sword all around her. The crowd cheered as she warmed up; Beatrix sure had a few good moves.
Suddenly Cinna walked calmly into the ring, his hammer in hand, and stood opposite his opponent who had now become stationary in the middle of the arena. Regent Cid walked out onto the space, and stood with his arms folded up.
"Are you both ready?"
The two replied in the affimative.
"Two rules; If you get knocked out the arena you lose, and if you kill the other opponent you are immediately disqualified. Be careful, alright?"
Cinna and Beatrix nodded, and then focused their attention on each other. Zidane looked over his shoulder at Baku.
"I'm betting this'll be over in...say five seconds, eh? What do you think?"
"Ghahahaha! We'll see, we'll see! I have to trust in my men!"
Zidane laughed and looked back. The fight had just begun, and the crowd started to roar in favour of Beatrix.
"Grrr... So they want her to win, do they?" muttered Cinna. "Well, they might get a little surprise!!!!"
Beatrix sprinted towards her opponent, dodging from left to right, and back again as she ran. Her experience was easy to see, she was highly skilled without a doubt.
"Come on you weakling! Show me what you've got!" Beatrix screamed as she pounded her way towards Cinna.
Cinna smirked, and put his hand into his pocket, bringing out a small device which he placed upon his wrist. He pushed his arm forward as far as he could in front of him, and screamed out.
"Firaaaaaa!!!!"
Beatrix stopped dead in her tracks and jumped backwards as the flame shot towards her. She put her hands right over her face and the flame engulfed her body. She cried out in pain, and the crowd gasped in amazement. What had just happened?!
The clouds of dust disapated and Beatrix stood in the center, shaken but alright. She basically didn't have a scratch on her. However, she didn't get time to even open her eyes, for she was knocked backwards by the force of Cinna's hammer colliding with her head. Cinna sprinted towards her with his hammer held high above his head, ready to pull off the coup de grace, when Beatrix sprang to her feet and stuck her sword out in front of her.
"Damn you! Feel my real power... you never had a chance!"
Her sword sparkled in a beautiful blue haze, and she jumped majestically into the air. She leaped right above Cinna, and before he could turn around Beatrix was behind him. Her sword pierced Cinna's chest, and he fell to the ground clutching his wound, crying out in pain. Beatrix turned around to Dagger.
"My Queen, would you grant me a favour?"
"Yes, of course, what is it Beatrix?"
"Cure my worthy opponent for me... It isn't good that he stays like that."
Dagger nodded and placed her arms out in front of her. A green light eminated from her body and pulsated over Cinna. He got to his feet and looked around him.
"Hehehe... You win Beatrix, I wasn't getting up from that one."
"Thank you Cinna... but I think we're owed an explanation. How were you able to use black magic? You completely threw me off with that one."
Cinna walked to the edge of the arena, beside Zidane.
"I think I'll let Vivi explain... Vivi?"
The young mage walked up to Cinna and looked at him.
"Yup?"
"Can you tell these guys how I was able to use the magic?"
Vivi walked in front of Zidane and Beatrix, who was standing beside Cinna now. Most of the town could hear the conversation.
"I'm working as a blacksmith you see... after two years ago I thought that I would use my magic for this, so I started to work... My fire magic is perfect for the job."
"Ok..." said Zidane.
"Six months ago I was in Treno, buying and selling equipment, and I came across a strange metallic substance that was on sale at the auction house. I was pretty interested to see what it was, so I bought it."
Everyone was now listening intently to Vivi's story.
"I took it home, and tried using my Fire magic on it to shape it into something else... I turned it into an armlet, originally used for protection against Poisons and things like that... but when I put the armlet on I realised that the metal had absorbed the magic. I took it outside to test it, and I was amazed when I realised that I could use magic by aiming this thing at something. Of course I wouldn't need such a thing, but it could be q...quite useful for your army Zidane...?"
Steiner walked to the forefront of the crowd.
"Master Vivi, this is incredible! You mean any normal person has the potential to utilise magic through this device?"
"Yes, as far as I can see... although better results seem to occur if the physical and mental strength of the person is high."
Regent Cid coughed and everyone looked around at him.
"Sorry, I can see this is important... but we really have to get a move on with the other fight."
Zidane nodded, and everyone moved back into the crowd. Meanwhile Cinna was smiling to himself. Marcus turned around and looked at him.
"What the heck are you so happy about?"
"Look what I got!" he said as he pulled out a small sword from his pocket. "Beatrix should keep her guard up! I got it off her when we were fighting! Aren't I just..."
Marcus was looking behind his friend, and Cinna was annoyed at this.
"Hey Marcus! Look at me when I'm telling you how great I am!"
"Ahhh Cinna... look behind you...?"
As Cinna turned around he felt the stone cold fist of Beatrix collide with his face. He fell to the ground, and the young woman picked up her knife.
"You little thief! If I wasn't in such a good mood I'd demote you! Now go back to the castle!"
Cinna looked at her sadly.
"But I..."
"No buts! Move it now!!!"
Cinna got to his feet and quickly marched through the crowd, muttering to himself
about how he was going to beat the hell out of Beatrix. Then he realised that she could still hear him. And then he sprinted as fast as he could, back to Lindblum Castle.
Quina stood in the middle of the ring when Troa entered from the right hand side. The personal guard of Regent Cid... no-one really knew what he was capable of.
"Me beat you fair!" shouted Quina as she pulled out his fork. The young Troa simply stood in slience, gazing at his opponent. He held no weapon. Quina ran towards her opponent, and made the first move, striking out with great power to try and hit her target. However the fork never even struck. Troa shimmied off to Quina's right hand side and kicked the creature right out of the ring. And that was that; fight over. The crowd were amazed. Cid grinned and Troa walked right back to his side. Cid moved into the centre of the arena whilst Quina got to her feet. She shook herself, and then walked off in the direction of the castle.
"Now that we have the results of the battles, we have 32 participants left. The draw has already been made, and the fights that are to take place have been posted upon the wall of the air cab station, on the outside. The fights will take place over 4 hours in 6 different locations. Battles begin in an hour."
Everyone sprinted towards the station, and it was hard to get a glimpse of the sheet. The list read as follows.
------- -------- -------- --------- -------- ---------
Zidane Tribal vs Marcus Ricard
Zenero Williams vs Benero Williams
Beatrix Rosei vs Blutzen Killiero
Vivi Orintier vs Sir Fratley
Hal Yamaba vs Polly Kaim
Troa Pointas vs Hagen Ipsan
Weimar Trimast vs Franci Lold
Freya Crescent vs Dan Solera
Tomas Strife vs Adelbert Steiner
Lani Polano vs Armarant Coral
Tseng Myong vs Baku Tantal
Belna Ford vs Eiko Carol
Dagger Tribal vs Kuja Tribal
Losforth Kila vs Mailo Hope
Stilkskin Kupoi vs Prince Puck
Darren Williams vs Danson Carthy
Kohel Neptune vs Mace Tolden
------- -------- ---------- --------- -----------
Zidane looked at the list closely, and started to think to himself.
"Wow... I have to fight Marcus, alright... Vivi against Sir Fratley... should be good... Troa Pointas... I'd like to see more of that guy... he took Quina apart... Rusty's gotta fight a nobody... lucky... Lani? I know that name from somewhere... the rest aren't too interesting..."
Suddenly he realised... where was Dagger's match? He looked down the list to find out.
"Let's see, Dagger's fighting... fight...ing..."
Vivi suddenly turned around to his friend.
"Kuja?! Kuja Tribal?!"
Zidane looked to the sky. It was time to tell some home truths.
All of the participants stood waiting in the reception room, waiting for Cid to make his appearance. Zidane stood at the front, and now he could see everyone that was entered. Sir Fratley stood beside Freya, Eiko was at the side talking to Dagger, Quina was running about searching for some sort of food, Beatrix and Steiner were standin close to the Queen, and The Calcutta Knights were standing at the doorway. Suddenly Zidane spotted a familar figure approaching him...
"Armarant! How's it going!"
"...As well as things go. How about you? I see you're king now."
"Yeah, have been for around a year now. It's a lot of work but it's well worth it."
"Hmph." Armarant grunted to himself.
"What is it?" Zidane asked.
"Titles make weak men... you think that you're strong because you have the kingship shielding you."
"Hehehe... same old Armarant. Did I teach you anything?"
"Nope, notta thing." he grinned.
"Well, we'll see who's weak when I win the Festival." Zidane said as Regent Cid walked into the room. He sat down, towering above everyone in the room.
"Hello everyone, thanks for coming. Now, we weren't expecting such a heavy number to enter, so we have to play you off against each other. The first draw will be made now. Troa, bring me the bag with the numbers in it."
Troa walked over and handed Regent Cid a small bag.
"Everyone, this bag has 66 balls in it. The numbers represent the entrants. Is there anyone who wants to inspect the bag for foul play before I begin?"
The room was quite. Everyone knew that the draw would be fair.
"Alright then..." he said as he put his hand into the bag, shuffled around, and pulled out a black ball.
"Number... 38, it's number 38. That means that the first fighter will be... Cinna James of The Calcutta Knights."
Cinna pulled out his hammer and tried his best to look vicious. It didn't work.
"He will face... Number 12, Beatrix, leader of the Alexandria Guard."
Beatrix smiled and looked over at Cinna, who was now banging his head against the nearest wall. Why did he have to draw HER? He knew that he didn't stand a chance!
"Hehehe... unlucky Cinna, that's a tough break." said Blank to his frustrated friend.
"Yeah... well, I'm not leaving empty handed. I'm gonna defeat her!"
"Umm Cinna... she's possibly the best fighter in Alexandria. She's defeated countless soliders in her time. You basically don't stand a chance against her?"
Cinna grinned at his friend.
"I don't give up so easy Blank... there has to be a way..."
Meanwhile Cid had drawn out the next ball.
"The second fight will consist of... Number 11... Quina Quen... and Number 30, Troa Pointas. The fights will start in three hours time in the center of the Business District. If any participant doesn't arrive in time they will be disqualified from the tournament. That is all. The draw to see who is fighting in the next round will be decided after the two battles. Good luck."
Everyone filed out of the room, whilst Cinna walked over towards Vivi.
"Hey Vivi... I need your help if that's ok?"
"Sure... what is it?"
"You're a blacksmith right...?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone had now moved into the Business District, and the town center was filled with bystanders ready to watch the battles. People sat upon rooftops and looked out of windows, and many stood upon the street.
"Two minutes... where could Cinna be...?" Zidane asked Dagger.
"I don't know... he went off with Vivi after the draw."
"Vivi? What could that be about..."
Beatrix stood in the middle of the space that had been set up for the fight, and she moved around, swiping her sword all around her. The crowd cheered as she warmed up; Beatrix sure had a few good moves.
Suddenly Cinna walked calmly into the ring, his hammer in hand, and stood opposite his opponent who had now become stationary in the middle of the arena. Regent Cid walked out onto the space, and stood with his arms folded up.
"Are you both ready?"
The two replied in the affimative.
"Two rules; If you get knocked out the arena you lose, and if you kill the other opponent you are immediately disqualified. Be careful, alright?"
Cinna and Beatrix nodded, and then focused their attention on each other. Zidane looked over his shoulder at Baku.
"I'm betting this'll be over in...say five seconds, eh? What do you think?"
"Ghahahaha! We'll see, we'll see! I have to trust in my men!"
Zidane laughed and looked back. The fight had just begun, and the crowd started to roar in favour of Beatrix.
"Grrr... So they want her to win, do they?" muttered Cinna. "Well, they might get a little surprise!!!!"
Beatrix sprinted towards her opponent, dodging from left to right, and back again as she ran. Her experience was easy to see, she was highly skilled without a doubt.
"Come on you weakling! Show me what you've got!" Beatrix screamed as she pounded her way towards Cinna.
Cinna smirked, and put his hand into his pocket, bringing out a small device which he placed upon his wrist. He pushed his arm forward as far as he could in front of him, and screamed out.
"Firaaaaaa!!!!"
Beatrix stopped dead in her tracks and jumped backwards as the flame shot towards her. She put her hands right over her face and the flame engulfed her body. She cried out in pain, and the crowd gasped in amazement. What had just happened?!
The clouds of dust disapated and Beatrix stood in the center, shaken but alright. She basically didn't have a scratch on her. However, she didn't get time to even open her eyes, for she was knocked backwards by the force of Cinna's hammer colliding with her head. Cinna sprinted towards her with his hammer held high above his head, ready to pull off the coup de grace, when Beatrix sprang to her feet and stuck her sword out in front of her.
"Damn you! Feel my real power... you never had a chance!"
Her sword sparkled in a beautiful blue haze, and she jumped majestically into the air. She leaped right above Cinna, and before he could turn around Beatrix was behind him. Her sword pierced Cinna's chest, and he fell to the ground clutching his wound, crying out in pain. Beatrix turned around to Dagger.
"My Queen, would you grant me a favour?"
"Yes, of course, what is it Beatrix?"
"Cure my worthy opponent for me... It isn't good that he stays like that."
Dagger nodded and placed her arms out in front of her. A green light eminated from her body and pulsated over Cinna. He got to his feet and looked around him.
"Hehehe... You win Beatrix, I wasn't getting up from that one."
"Thank you Cinna... but I think we're owed an explanation. How were you able to use black magic? You completely threw me off with that one."
Cinna walked to the edge of the arena, beside Zidane.
"I think I'll let Vivi explain... Vivi?"
The young mage walked up to Cinna and looked at him.
"Yup?"
"Can you tell these guys how I was able to use the magic?"
Vivi walked in front of Zidane and Beatrix, who was standing beside Cinna now. Most of the town could hear the conversation.
"I'm working as a blacksmith you see... after two years ago I thought that I would use my magic for this, so I started to work... My fire magic is perfect for the job."
"Ok..." said Zidane.
"Six months ago I was in Treno, buying and selling equipment, and I came across a strange metallic substance that was on sale at the auction house. I was pretty interested to see what it was, so I bought it."
Everyone was now listening intently to Vivi's story.
"I took it home, and tried using my Fire magic on it to shape it into something else... I turned it into an armlet, originally used for protection against Poisons and things like that... but when I put the armlet on I realised that the metal had absorbed the magic. I took it outside to test it, and I was amazed when I realised that I could use magic by aiming this thing at something. Of course I wouldn't need such a thing, but it could be q...quite useful for your army Zidane...?"
Steiner walked to the forefront of the crowd.
"Master Vivi, this is incredible! You mean any normal person has the potential to utilise magic through this device?"
"Yes, as far as I can see... although better results seem to occur if the physical and mental strength of the person is high."
Regent Cid coughed and everyone looked around at him.
"Sorry, I can see this is important... but we really have to get a move on with the other fight."
Zidane nodded, and everyone moved back into the crowd. Meanwhile Cinna was smiling to himself. Marcus turned around and looked at him.
"What the heck are you so happy about?"
"Look what I got!" he said as he pulled out a small sword from his pocket. "Beatrix should keep her guard up! I got it off her when we were fighting! Aren't I just..."
Marcus was looking behind his friend, and Cinna was annoyed at this.
"Hey Marcus! Look at me when I'm telling you how great I am!"
"Ahhh Cinna... look behind you...?"
As Cinna turned around he felt the stone cold fist of Beatrix collide with his face. He fell to the ground, and the young woman picked up her knife.
"You little thief! If I wasn't in such a good mood I'd demote you! Now go back to the castle!"
Cinna looked at her sadly.
"But I..."
"No buts! Move it now!!!"
Cinna got to his feet and quickly marched through the crowd, muttering to himself
about how he was going to beat the hell out of Beatrix. Then he realised that she could still hear him. And then he sprinted as fast as he could, back to Lindblum Castle.
Quina stood in the middle of the ring when Troa entered from the right hand side. The personal guard of Regent Cid... no-one really knew what he was capable of.
"Me beat you fair!" shouted Quina as she pulled out his fork. The young Troa simply stood in slience, gazing at his opponent. He held no weapon. Quina ran towards her opponent, and made the first move, striking out with great power to try and hit her target. However the fork never even struck. Troa shimmied off to Quina's right hand side and kicked the creature right out of the ring. And that was that; fight over. The crowd were amazed. Cid grinned and Troa walked right back to his side. Cid moved into the centre of the arena whilst Quina got to her feet. She shook herself, and then walked off in the direction of the castle.
"Now that we have the results of the battles, we have 32 participants left. The draw has already been made, and the fights that are to take place have been posted upon the wall of the air cab station, on the outside. The fights will take place over 4 hours in 6 different locations. Battles begin in an hour."
Everyone sprinted towards the station, and it was hard to get a glimpse of the sheet. The list read as follows.
------- -------- -------- --------- -------- ---------
Zidane Tribal vs Marcus Ricard
Zenero Williams vs Benero Williams
Beatrix Rosei vs Blutzen Killiero
Vivi Orintier vs Sir Fratley
Hal Yamaba vs Polly Kaim
Troa Pointas vs Hagen Ipsan
Weimar Trimast vs Franci Lold
Freya Crescent vs Dan Solera
Tomas Strife vs Adelbert Steiner
Lani Polano vs Armarant Coral
Tseng Myong vs Baku Tantal
Belna Ford vs Eiko Carol
Dagger Tribal vs Kuja Tribal
Losforth Kila vs Mailo Hope
Stilkskin Kupoi vs Prince Puck
Darren Williams vs Danson Carthy
Kohel Neptune vs Mace Tolden
------- -------- ---------- --------- -----------
Zidane looked at the list closely, and started to think to himself.
"Wow... I have to fight Marcus, alright... Vivi against Sir Fratley... should be good... Troa Pointas... I'd like to see more of that guy... he took Quina apart... Rusty's gotta fight a nobody... lucky... Lani? I know that name from somewhere... the rest aren't too interesting..."
Suddenly he realised... where was Dagger's match? He looked down the list to find out.
"Let's see, Dagger's fighting... fight...ing..."
Vivi suddenly turned around to his friend.
"Kuja?! Kuja Tribal?!"
Zidane looked to the sky. It was time to tell some home truths.