Four days have passed since the guymelef fight between Allen and Ana. Van invites both Allen and Ana to stay for the Fanelian Festival held at the public arena. The two accept the offer in hopes to fight against each other again in the sparring match. The festival, Ana is told, lasts for five days. The first day is the Contest of the Swords, the second is the Contest of the Bow, the third day is the Contest of the Course, the fourth is the Contest of the Sculptures, and the fifth and final day is the Contest of the Guymelef. On the night of the fifth day, there is a great feast held in honor of the winner of the Contest of the Guymelefs.
After the enrollment of the contenders has finished and the matches have been figured, the trumpets sound to mark the beginning of the Contest of the Swords. The announcer calls out the first match of Ana and a bandit by the name of Orm. The two enter the arena and the crowd welcomes them with hearty applause. The first round starts and Orm begins with a taunt as he readies for her reaction in an open defense. Unfortunately for him, Ana doesn't even seem phased by his remarks, in fact, she doesn't even move. Instead, she simply gets into a starting stance and closes her eyes.
Being somewhat confused by her choice of action, he chooses to use a different approach; he strafes to the right and attacks her with a swift hack to her ribs, only to be blocked by her sword and counterattacked with a swift trip kick and pinning him with the tip of her sword, making her the winner by submission.
After several more fights throughout most of the day, it is finally time for Allen to face Ana. Allen is called to the arena and from the smug smile on his face, he seems to be amused by the outcome of her first match earlier that day. He slowly makes his way to the arena floor and the onlookers cheer. When he does make it to the bottom, all is quiet and the match begins. Allen sends a well executed barrage of attacks at her to be skillfully outmaneuvered and parried. Noticing that she wasn't playing for the trophy, but for the kill, he raises his abilities up a notch and attacks her with all of his skill, putting forth a great effort to counterattack and evade her attacks.
She continues on, content on her task, but then notices young children in the audience cheering for him. Her training to shield civilians from trauma overrides her mission and tells her to give in and let him win, for this will not end well if she doesn't. She mutters to herself, I'll get him later... However, she thinks to herself, I could warn him that he wouldn't have won if it wasn't for the audience. So at this thought, Ana sends a fairly nasty volley of attacks, ending her fight by jabbing the butt of her sword into his ribs, breaking 3 of them, but leaving herself open for a pin.
Allen takes the advantage and pins her to the ground while ignoring the pain in his side and wins the match with his sword dangerously close to puncturing the artery in her neck. As the win is called, Allen gets up and walks away as he came, only to be reminded of her goal to kill him.
* * *
Meanwhile in the depths of the marketplace, Hitomi allows herself to be pulled along by Merle through the crowd to the best place to shop.' When they get there, Hitomi sees nothing but junk and trinkets amongst the items being sold at the tables. You said this was the best place to shop. It looks like a junk heap!
Merle turns to her, This is the best place to shop. Just start digging around, I'm sure you'll find something to suit your interests. Merle then continues to dig in the pile of odd items, finding a golden necklace with a piece of amber connected to it carved in the shape of a very detailed sun crest and purchases it. See, I told you good things can be found here, she says triumphantly while holding it up for Hitomi to see.
You just got really lucky, says Hitomi, apparently unimpressed by Merle's discovery.
Merle puts the necklace in her pocket and starts rummaging through another table. Hitomi gives up in the search for her particular item and begins reading a book she saw earlier while Merle was looking through the piles of junk' on the tables. During her reading of the old leather bound book, Hitomi finds that she has found the diary of a young boy. As she continues to read, she learns more about how life in what was assumed to be Fanelia went from the popular buildings and people mentioned in the writing.
Merle comes up behind Hitomi to see what she is doing, What did ya find? It must be interesting if you haven't put it down. Let me see
it.
It's just an old journal, nothing much really, Hitomi hands the journal to Merle.
Merle skips through the pages, reading a paragraph or two every once in a while. When she examines the back cover, Merle finds an impression in the corner showing the royal crest of Fanelia. Her face drastically changes from not interested' to totally surprised' in a matter of seconds. We need to show this to Van, he could possibly tell us who wrote this.
Merle goes to the owner of the lot and purchases it, dragging Hitomi behind her through the thick crowds towards the fighting arena. When they find Van at the judging stand, Merle immediately runs for him only to be stopped by his general because of the fight in session. You'll have to wait here for another minute before talking to Lord Van. Merle rolls her eyes at him and stands there as patiently as she possibly can, her tail twitching back and forth in anticipation. Before she has the chance to start a small conversation with Hitomi, the match is finished, and she makes her way to Van with Hitomi trailing behind her.
What is it Merle? Van asks.
Merle shoves the book in his face, showing the Fanelian crest on the back. she starts, only to be kicked by Hitomi in the ankle, I mean Hitomi found this at the marketplace and we were wondering if you could tell us who wrote this.
Van takes a look at the book and reads the first page while glancing at the arena to judge the fight in progress. I can't really help you at the moment, but if you show this to me later I'll take a closer look at it.
Alright mister, I'll let you go this time, but the next time I need you to do something I don't want it done a day later! Merle scorns.
And who gave you that authority? he asks playfully.
I did! she says matter-of-factly.
Van laughs and dismisses her with a wave of his hand, sending Merle off to find something to do in order to get him back for what he did. While Merle fumes, Hitomi remains at the arena watching the intense match between two very skilled swordsmen. Van asks her to sit on the bench and watch. Hitomi takes the invitation and continues to observe the match. With the matches continuing well into the day, the finalists of the elimination rounds are announced when all the competitors have had their chances.
In first place for the moment we have Ana, in second Allen, and third place Rami. Van shakes the hand of the three and has all except Ana leave the arena as he readies for the final match.
The two take their positions on the arena floor and the match starts. Van, unsheathing his sword, sends the first volley of attacks at his opponent. Ana easily blocks all of his attacks and even throws in a yawn for show, winking at Van in the process. Van brings his attacks to a halt for a moment and starts with a different approach, trying to keep his head where it should be and not letting his emotions get the upper hand of him with such a large crowd.
Ana smiles at him and whispers, It's all for fun. I won't hurt you. She then increases her attack rate, which takes him by surprise completely. However, she lightens it up, enjoying the fight and allowing him to attempt another attack. He takes the opening and attacks her swiftly with a combination of a few of his favorite techniques and the crowd cheers on. Just like all of his previous attacks, they are all blocked with precision.
Ana again whispers cheerfully, This has been great, but I think it's time to finish this. You need to show me the attack you just used against me later, then we can improve it. She starts her final assault, showing off for the crowd all the while, spinning and attacking in intricate patterns, a very slight singing noise from her sword blade can be heard for a few seconds, and then it's all over as Van's down on the ground with her sword's tip at his chest.
As the winner is declared, Ana withdraws her sword and reaches out to help him up with a smile. Van takes her hand and stands, motioning to the handler of the prizes to come and give her the well earned medallion. That was a fantastic fight; hopefully you'll attend in other events as well and defeat all of your opponents. Van says in a surprisingly happy tone.
You can count on that! she says giving him a big hug.
Van hugs her back and exits the arena afterwards, wiping the sweat from his face with a towel as soon as he makes it to a tent nearby.
