As Lion-heart entered the armoury, Frato started showering him with congratulations and praise for his victory. However, Lion-heart did not approve of receiving this praise and like the previous time, he drove Frato away telling him to save his congratulations until afterwards.
Fratley was grateful that he didn't have to talk to Lion-heart after he had watched him eliminate Freya from the competition. His match was next, and Lion-heart didn't want any congratulations straight after the match.
Frato tore himself away from Lion-heart in a rather cheery mood. Everything was going right for Frato. Freya had been eliminated and he was about to face off against his brother. He walked up behind Fratley with a smile plastered over his face.
"Well Fratley, we're up next." Frato said excitedly.
"It seems so." Fratley replied, not bothering to turn around.
Frato noticed that Fratley didn't seem like his usual self and swiftly reached the conclusion that his brother's current mood was due to Freya's loss. He decided not to say anything else, seeing as whatever he had to say about Freya's defeat would probably just anger Fratley, which isn't particularly what he wanted just before he was about to fight him.
"Will Sir Fratley please come forward?" The King called out through the arena.
Fratley slumped out of the armoury and the crowd gave a deafening cheer. Fratley made his way to the arena and took his position, before lifting his head up.
Frato watched Fratley as he made his way to the arena and one thought recurred through his mind.
"He'll get over it when we start our fight."
"Will Sir Frato please come forward?" The King announced.
Frato came rushing into the arena, and the crowd began to murmur to themselves once again. Quickly making his way into the arena, Frato took up a battle position and stared into the eyes of his brother.
Fratley looked back, but his eyes lacked the ferocity of Frato's. Then, his eyes flared with vigour and stared back with the same ferocity and fire.
The crowd were cheering wildly for Fratley, and eventually the King motioned for silence. The crowd then fell silent.
"Begin!" The King shouted.
Frato charged towards Fratley, who, unlike his brother, was standing perfectly still with his lance ready to block the oncoming assault. Frato swung his lance at Fratley's ribs, but Fratley blocked the strike easily. Frato brought his lance back and swung again, this time for Fratley's shoulder. Fratley swayed to avoid this blow, but didn't bother to counter. Fratley then swayed in the opposite direction to avoid a similar attack to his other shoulder.
Frato growled in frustration before attempting to hit Fratley's arm with his spear, but Fratley ducked to narrowly avoid the attack. Frato then grinned before bringing his lance down blade first towards Fratley's spine. Fratley was as evasive as ever, rolling out of the way of the lethal attack.
Frato glared at Fratley with anger beginning to become apparent on his semi-human face. Fratley looked up and shifted his head at his brother.
"Come on Frato. You know it's going to take more than that to beat me." Fratley said to his brother, making Frato even more aggravated.
"How come he didn't attack?" Frato thought. "He had enough openings in that assault to counter my combination. What's he up to...?"
Fratley took up a defensive position once again. Frato stared at him for a moment, thinking of any possible strategy Fratley could be using. After a few seconds, Frato charged towards Fratley once again and attempting yet another slash. Fratley blocked the slash and then blocked a second attack Frato used. Frato then decided to swing his lance from side to side at a deadly speed, which was forcing Fratley slowly across the arena. Fratley eventually stopped the attack by clashing his lance against Frato's.
"At last!" Frato thought. "He's taking the offensive!"
Frato's thought was soon short-lived when Fratley left his lance up against Frato's and then moved back into a defensive position.
Frato snarled angrily before jumping back across the arena. He stared at his brother, who was still maintaining his defensive position.
"Why is he not attacking? What is he trying to achieve? He's not going to win if he just keeps blocking my attacks... What is he up to?" Frato mused. Then, an idea clicked in Frato's mind.
"A stall." Frato concluded. "But why is he stalling me? This isn't a timed battle! And even so he hasn't given me any wounds! Why is he trying to stall me?"
Frato looked at his brother suspiciously. Frato disliked having a one-sided battle. He wanted to either get Fratley on the offensive or connect the winning blow whilst he was being defensive. Frato thought that he wasn't going to lure Fratley into attacking him, so instead Frato would have to force him into a position where he would be open to attack.
Frato had an idea of exactly how to do that.
Frato's lance began to charge with powerful red energy which formed at the tip of his spear. Fratley did nothing to try and stop Frato; instead he just kept his defence and smiled. Frato had finished charging his attack and pointed his lance at Fratley.
"Cherry Blossom!" Frato roared. Rose petals were blasted out of the tip of Frato's lance straight towards Fratley. They were soon engulfed by an intense flame which burned them to cinders. Fratley was also supposedly engulfed in the flames. As the last of the attack left Frato's lance he began tearing across the arena towards Fratley's location, keeping an eye out for any signs of Fratley.
The attack subsided, but Fratley had quite evidently dodged it as he was out of the range of the attack. Frato spotted him and charged towards him to attack. Frato tried to impale Fratley only to be dodged, as Fratley had still kept his eye on Frato.
"Curse you!" Frato yelled. He pulled his lance back and took a few steps backwards. "Why are you being so defensive!? Why are you trying to stall me?!"
"Do you really think I'm going to tell you my strategy?" Fratley answered calmly, maintaining his defence and keeping his gaze firmly on Frato.
Frato roared with anger and swung his lance fiercely at Fratley, who blocked the strike with a little difficulty. Frato moved back and swung again at Fratley's other side, only to have Fratley block that strike as well.
Frato jumped back, and tore across in the arena towards Fratley before leaping clear over his brother. He landed behind Fratley and sidestepped before swinging at his brother in yet another attack. However, Fratley had scouted his brother's movements and managed to block this unusual strike as well. Frato scowled angrily before jumping back across the arena once again.
Sweat covering his body, Frato decided to try another attack. His lance began to charge with a bright white energy. Fratley did as he did before and prepared to dodge. Frato tore across the arena, his lance brimming with spiritual energy. As he drew closer to Fratley, Frato screamed "Lancer!" and brought his lance back to attack.
Fratley leapt into the air to dodge the attack, and Frato had to stop himself and discharge his energy into the air. He focused his eyes on his brother, sailing through the air elegantly, and a smile came to his lips. He began to charge his lance with white energy once again, only more of it seemed to forming at the tip of his spear. Fratley landed from his extremely high jump, and Frato's attack was ready.
Frato pointed his lance at his brother, and the energy at the end of his lance had formed a mysterious Dragon's head.
"Try and dodge this, brother." Frato sneered. "Dragon's breath!"
The Dragon's head opened its mouth and fired an intense magical beam of energy towards Fratley. Fratley barely managed to avoid the powerful ray, which exploded at the side of the arena.
Frato cursed at the failed attack and glared his brother. For some reason Frato found himself breathing rather heavily, and that his body ached slightly. The expense of energy Frato had used during the match was finally starting to take its toll.
Fratley noted this and maintained his defence, waiting for Frato to attack so he could finally end the long, gruelling match. As he predicted, Frato came charging towards him, hoping to break his defence and get the finishing blow in. Frato attempted to impale Fratley as he reached him, but Fratley swayed to the side, dodging the strike.
For the first time, Fratley countered and swung at Frato. Frato ducked to narrowly avoid a defeat. Fratley tried a different attack, only to be blocked by Frato.
A deadlock ensued, and the crowd started cheering for Fratley. Frato's tiredness played a major role in the outcome as Frato didn't have enough energy to overpower his brother. Fratley pushed Frato back and then altered the lock so he was forcing Frato down onto his knees. Frato looked up at his brother, standing over him, pushing him down with fear in his eyes.
Fratley broke the deadlock and swung at Frato's shoulder, and Frato was knocked onto the floor from the strike, as blood began to seep very slowly out of his arm.
"Sir Fratley has drawn blood from his opponent. He is the victor!" The King announced as he saw blood coming from Frato's arm.
Fratley helped his brother up to his feet, and Frato staggered back slightly.
"You...you..." Frato stammered.
"When I was watching your fights Frato, I noticed that you used up a lot of your energy on wasted movement and various attacks on your opponent. I thought I would teach you to conserve your energy more during your battles." Fratley explained. "If you are facing a tough opponent, you need to conserve and keep your energy so that you don't exhaust yourself too quickly. You need to rethink your strategy."
"I bet I know what you're saving your energy for." Frato said with a grin. "I wouldn't blame you; you'll need every ounce of strength in your body if you're going to stand a chance against our father."
Fratley nodded, and then proceeded to shake Frato's hand.
"I don't care how long it takes, or what I have to do achieve it; but someday, I will defeat you Fratley." Frato vowed as he shook hands with his brother.
"I'll gladly accept your challenge." Fratley answered before making his way to the armoury.
Frato was confronted by two slaves, who despite Frato's wound and exhaustion, seemed quite intimidated by the half-breed. Frato snorted before strolling towards the infirmary, the two servants trailing behind him.
Fratley entered the armoury, and he was confronted by his father, Lion-heart. The two looked at each other, with the cool calm eyes of Lion-heart staring into the fierce, determined eyes of his son, his blood. Both warriors had their pride, and both would be fighting for a purpose.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 9 or anything in it and I never have done. You don't like me writing about a video game I like? Fine! I'll make my own video game, with blackjack...and alcohol...In fact, forget the video game!
Author's Rant: Merry Xmas everybody! And have a happy new year!
Decro: Yeah, I'm happy, although surely you can suggest how I can improve this. I'm glad you're enjoying it though. Keep reading!
Wonwingangel: Yay! You're back. One problem with the bracket system: although I have one in draft that I made a long while ago, it's filled heavily with blanks of fights that I haven't described, or even given names to the fighters in them. I can't really think of dozens of Burmecian names for a tournament. However, I could update the earlier chapters with reminders of who has beaten who. Thankfully, the next chapter is the final and therefore the last fight scene for a while. Keep reading!
And where has Breeze gone? Has she vanished?