- TOH SHIN DEN II: Thicker Than Water -

a Battle Arena Toshinden 2 fanfiction by Athena Asamiya and Kasumi Todoh


CHAPTER FIVE: Trespasser



Translations:
honto ni: really
masaka: impossible


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Memories seeped in at the corners of the mind, ones that had tried to be forgotten, surpressed even, a long time ago. And yet, they reared their heads in the subconscious world of dreaming, when the person was powerless to defend against them. This was the time of the most vulnerability.

Papa...? Papa, let's play!

Memories, some bitter, some sweet, could be triggered by almost anything. They are even more sensitive to this as the person attempts to forget, to put it all behind them. Sometimes, however, it could not be done for long.

All right, sweetheart. I've missed you, since I've been gone.
I have too, Papa! Mama said work kept you away. Was it really hard work?
Yes...I suppose it was.

Memories didn't win battles. Memories could win over battles.

Kaede, you're looking well.
As are you. What of the Shitennou?
Same as always. There is talk of another tournament, though.
Another? Not after the last one...?
I'm afraid so.
Then...you'll be leaving again?
Yes. I'm sorry. Also...the Master told me she didn't approve of me marrying you. She claimed it would cause...complications.
And it's any of their business.
Even if you are Uranus, you have no idea what the rest of the Shitennou - and even the Master herself - could do. They scheme against you. That's why I have to stay away so often.
I suppose...yes. I wish things could be easier...but I can't just abdicate from the position. Akane would be all too happy to take over.
That couldn't happen. Business is all too strainious these days, and I fear there may be some betrayal among us soon...
I could only imagine. Yes, Ellis, what is it?
Mama, now that Papa's back, can we go to the circus nearby?
Circus...? Oh, you mean the gypsy one. All right.
Yes, it will be nice to spend some more time with my daughter!
Papa! You're silly!

They were in a car, driving to the gypsy circus. Ellis was strapped into her car seat, while her parents were up front. Her mother was driving. Ellis wasn't paying much attention to what was going on outside, as she was filled with childish excitement over their destination.
A car was coming towards them from the opposite lane. Just as they were about to pass, the other car swerved into their lane, facing them head on, and kept going. Ellis remembered the bone-jarring crash, the sickening screech of twisting metal and shattering glass, the yells of her parents, and then blacking out.
She remembered the heat and the roar of the flames. And she remembered someone lifting her, semi-conscious, from the burning wreck of their car. She was lain on a stretcher, the stretcher was put into an ambulance, and the ambulance sped away from the horrible scene...all a frightening blur of fire, screams, pain, explosions, darkness, light...
And suddenly, Ellis was wide awake again, only this time she was lying in a bed, in her cabin, on the tournament grounds, in pitch darkness with tears running down her face.

****************

"I can't believe you'd want to see those two fight," Kayin was saying to Ellis in the morning. It had been discovered that none of the five fighters were up for the next fight. In fact, it was scheduled to be between Duke B. Rambert (Eiji's very vehement rival and opponent in the last tournament) and Fo-Fai (Kayin's opponent in the last tournament). Neither were very popular in the views of the five fighters.
"Well, I'm curious to see what happens," Ellis retorted.
"I'm with Kayin on this one," Tracy muttered. "Who'd want to see them again?" Sofia was also in agreement. Eiji didn't say anything, though he had noticed Ellis looked a little baggy-eyed this morning, plus she had been yawning an awful lot. He simply assumed she'd had had trouble sleeping, but decided to keep an eye on her, just in case. Eiji took a deep breath and forced a grin. The things he had to do sometimes. "I'll go with you, Ellis."
"You will, Eiji-kun?" Ellis's blue eyes looked big and hopeful.
Noticing the others' surprised looks, Eiji hastily added, "Um, I'm rather curious myself."
"Fine," Kayin replied. "The three of us'll stay here." Sofia and Tracy nodded. Then he added with a smile, "Just make sure Duke doesn't see you, or he may kick Fo out of the ring and drag you in."
"I'll keep that in mind," Eiji replied with a laugh.

****************

As they had arrived early in one of the smaller colosseums, the fight didn't begin for a while, which gave Eiji a chance to ask Ellis if she was all right.
"I'm just fine, Eiji-kun," she replied. "I just didn't get much sleep last night because I was thinking about the tournament and...other things."
"Like what?" Eiji pressed, concerned. "It's obvious you haven't been getting enough sleep, and you looked a little troubled this morning--"
"It's nothing!" Ellis burst in a tone that even surprised her. Noticing the crestfallen look on Eiji's face, she sighed sadly. "Sorry, Eiji-kun...it's just...the dreams started up again."
"Dreams?"
"Old flashbacks. From before my parents - my mother, actually - was killed. And what happened after. I tried to put it all behind me, I really did...just so the dreams would stop. But now..." Ellis covered her eyes with one hand. "They're all coming back, and they hurt just as much as ever."
Eiji looked downwards in respect. "I'm sorry...about that. I had troubled dreams too, after...after--"
"After what?"
"Um, never mind. I'll tell you later. Anyways," Eiji put his arm around her. "I learned that you can't always forget. Sometimes, memories resurface for a reason. You usually don't know it at the time, but they do. Honto ni."
Ellis wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled. "Maybe you're right. Thanks." She looked up again, ready to watch the fight and to not to push it any further, though she had to struggle to hide a happy smile when Eiji didn't remove his arm from around her. Making sure to stay hidden behind a group of spectators in one of the farther-back rows, the fight began.
It started off the same as all the rest, giving the two participants a chance to exchange some pre-fight comments before the match actually began, while the audience were all eager to hear the dubbed "trash-talk" between the two fighters.
Duke started off by saying, "Well, this should be quite amusing. Normally I don't make it a habit to fight the elderly."
Fo just laughed at this remark, in his usual odd, high-pitched cackle. "I promise I'll make your defeat quick, Sir Knight, and try not to humiliate you TOO much."
"Spare me your talk, old man," Duke replied, pulling out his family's massive two-handed sword, the Dernier Vancour. The repaired one, at least, since Eiji had shattered the original one in the fight which had made them rivals so long ago. "We came to fight, not to talk, and I came here to win, for the glory of my ancestors and to avenge the loss of my love."
("He's got a love?" Ellis whispered to Eiji, up in the stands. Eiji shrugged. "I guess..." Wait, Eiji realized with a jolt. Uranus..?! Masaka, that can't mean...)
"Indeed," Fo agreed, and readied his two sets of steel claws, three long, pointed spikes trailing off of each arm. "You may find out there's more to this 'old man' than you originally realized."
"Minna-san, your fighters for tonight: The DUKE B. RAMBERT and FO-FAI!! Bout One! FIGHT!!"
Fo began by spinning around and slashing his claws across Duke's chest. This didn't do much damage, however, thanks to the heavy suity of metal armour Duke was wearing. Realizing this, he quickly bent back and fired forward one of his giant shimmering blue-purple Mystic Spheres at him, but Duke easily avoided the hit. Duke managed to nail Fo with his Southern Cross attack, spinning around, jumping up and bringing his sword down in an overhead somersault-slash. Fo recovered and launched a Pagoda Kick at Duke's face, catching him off guard and knocking him to the floor of the arena. He tried to get up, only to be knocked down again by Fo dashing forwards nimbly and sliding at his feet, claws to the ground. Duke then found himself on the receiving end of a volley of slashing and kicking and a Mystic Sphere at close range until he could take no more and hit the ground, and Fo was declared the winner of Bout One. Bout Two started off almost the same way, except this time Duke managed to dodge another Pagoda Kick and Fo had to avoid almost going off the edge. He once again succeeded in striking him with the Southern Cross. Then, before he could get up, Duke picked Fo up by the collar of his Chinese costume and smashed his face into his metal-plated knee. Yelling in pain, Fo got up again and tried another whirling slash, only to take a cutting sword in the back. Finally, Duke launched into his Overdrive attack, leaping forwards in a somersault and smashing his sword against the ground, causing explosions of ki to rock the air and the arena, draining away the last of Fo's consciousness. Both fighters now had one win, so a third tie-breaking bout had to be called. In it, Fo was determined not to be the loser. But it was obvious that Duke had made the same resolution, and he clearly had the upper hand. He easily dodged or blocked everything Fo threw at him. In addition, Duke kept launching attacks of his own, surprisingly enough, they were too fast for Fo to do anything but take the hits. By the time he finally collapsed, ending the match and making Duke the winner to a yell of cheers from the audience, he was bruised, beaten up and exhausted.
Duke stood at the edge of the arena, held up his sword and shouted, "Take care, Eiji! This is just the beginning! The next match I shall fight will be between the two of us! And again, I shall be victorious!"
At that moment, Eiji and Ellis were in the process of quickly filing out of the arena with the rest of the crowds, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

****************

"So, how'd it go?" Kayin asked when the two returned, while sitting on the step of Sofia's dorm and polishing Excalibur, with Sofia and Tracy conversing with him and each other over different fighting and weaponry techniques.
"Duke won," Eiji replied. "Seems like he's been doing a lot of training since we met last."
"It's probably because he's not fighting you this year."
"He seems to think he is," Ellis said with a giggle. "At the end of the match he shouted something about this being only the beginning, and how his next victory's going to be against Eiji."
Kayin snorted. "Way to go, Eiji. Been here less than a week and you've already got someone pissed at you."
Eiji groaned. "Shut up."
"Hey dudes, why don't we go out for lunch?" Tracy was quick to jump in. "There's a restaurant not far outside the grounds."
"Are you sure we're allowed to leave?" Ellis asked.
"I do not see why not," Sofia mused. "As long as we come back and return in time for the next match."
"Well, I've going to get my jacket from my cabin, first," Kayin said, getting up. "I'll join you in about five minutes."
Eiji nodded. "I should go get mine, too."
"Then we will wait here for you two," Sofia answered as Kayin headed back down the path to his dorm. He had almost reached his cabin when he saw someone moving around in it through the window and heard the sound of things being thrown around. He quickly unsheathed his sword, then threw open the door and shouted, "Okay, mate! You've got about five seconds to explain yourself before you're breathing through a hole in your neck!"
The dark figure turned around. Kayin stared at him a second, then resheathed his sword in relief, though it wasn't without some confusion. "Oh, Eiji, it's just you. What are you doing here? I thought..." He stopped. Something wasn't right here. Eiji looked...different somehow. It was the same looks, spiky auburn hair and red eyes, but instead of his normal white-and-red clothes, he was wearing an almost completely black outfit with deep red trim. Kayin didn't have time to question about these things, though, because at that moment, Eiji was pulling his own sword out its sheath.
For Kayin, what happened in the next few minutes was all a blur.

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