Mirror, Mirror
Summary: Fuji falls through a mirror one day and lands in a complete different world. Sometimes, while doing a favor for someone else, you realize that they're actually doing a favor for you.
Warnings: Shounen-ai
Pairings: Atobe x Fuji
Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine.
I think I'm going to shoot myself one day. xDDD I'm really sorry for not updating! Please forgive me! I was supposed to update yesterday, but I was at a friend's house and didn't have access to my files! D; Really sorry, once again! But anyway, this chapter is pretty long! And it's the second to last chapter...so...I don't know if you're happy or sad about that! But please read, review, and enjoy anyway!
Chapter 12: The Hidden Village of Renegades:
The princes' attention was turned to Fuji immediately, since half of them were gathered around Yukimura. But with Yukimura fine and Fuji making such a commotion, it was kind of hard not to notice it. Besides, Fuji had just broken the mirror that he had come in through, and he wasn't ever going to be able to go back to his world. Ever. None of them would be able to, since Yukimura was probably never going to do something like creating a portal to another world again.
"I can't go back," Fuji repeated, more loudly and confidently this time. He got to his feet and turned to face the other princes, still gripping his dagger securely. "I will never go back."
All that could be heard in the room was Yukimura's labored breathing as everyone was still registering what had just happened. A ton of news had just been found out, and on top of that, the mirror was broken. Shattered. To pieces.
"Fuji…" Atobe said. "I can't believe you had the strength to do something like that."
"There's nothing that can be done about it, now," Ryoma said, crossing his arms and returning to his cool self.
A chilling wind blew into the window of the throne room, blowing all of the capes of the princes. Fuji thought about Yumiko, his parents, the Seigaku regulars, all of Seigaku's rival schools, tennis in general, the National Tournament, Coach Ryuuzaki, Sakuno and her friend, and everything else that he had left in his world, and tears began to form in his eyes. No. He wasn't going to cry here. After he had done something so resolute and bold? He wouldn't break down; not in front of all the other princes, at least.
Fuji took a deep breath and let out of all of his sobs in the breath. "Saa…I suppose there really is nothing that can be done about it."
After that, the first one to speak was Jiroh. "Does that mean Fujiko is going to be staying with us forever?!" he shouted excitedly. "I'm so happy!"
Atobe's frown turned into a smirk as he disappeared from the room. Fuji barely got a look at him before he was gone and he was surrounded by all the princes. Atobe then returned to the room shortly after, holding something in his hand that Fuji couldn't tell what it was. The princes made an opening for Atobe, who was carrying a sword that was wrapped in a blanket and tied with thin rope.
He tossed it to Fuji, who caught it with surprised hands. "If you're going to live here, you better learn to start fighting here, too," he said simply. "Seiichi made this for you a little while ago, using some of what little mana he had left. It's for his dear brother," Atobe said. He glanced at Yukimura, who nodded at him. "I figured now would be the right time to present this gift to you."
Fuji unwrapped the sword carefully and looked it up and down with glittering eyes. It had an incredibly sharp blade, with a stylish yet practical nook near the tip and two mini blades coming out of the hilt next to the main blade. The whole thing was obviously metal, and the hilt was wrapped tightly in cloth for grip. It was shaped hexagonally, though the edges were rounded a bit by the cloth, and it wasn't as round as a tennis racquet, but Fuji still felt that it fit into his hand perfectly. The hilt had a beautiful blue jewel sparkling proudly near the blade. He lifted it up with his right hand, dropped the blanket, and held it in front of him with both hands. "It's…it's magnificent. I don't even know what to say…" Fuji said. "It's breathtaking."
"You shouldn't say anything about it, then!" All of the princes turned as a newcomer ran into the room with a panicked look on their face. It was one of the messengers that patrolled the outer regions of the palace. "Right now isn't the time to talk!" With words like those, the happy aura that surrounded the princes was instantly shattered, just like the mirror.
Atobe summoned the messenger across the throne room so that he was standing in front of the prince. "What's going on?" he demanded, scaring the poor boy out of his wits.
Just then, Tezuka, who had been absent throughout the entire ordeal, stepped into the room. "The castle is being attacked by a neighboring village, the one that is hidden from outsiders. We have no way of knowing their true power since we've never seen them before."
An arrow flew through the throne room and skimmed just past Tezuka's head dangerously. Atobe stepped over to where the projectile had penetrated the wall. His eyes widened and he beckoned to Fuji, pulling the arrow out of the wall at the same time. "Fuji, do you remember this?" he said, pointing at the tip of the arrow but being careful not to touch it.
Fuji walked closer to where Atobe was until the arrow was in clear view. He gasped. "Poisons…deadly…" he said.
"It's heavier, but it's definitely of the same descent. The arrow is from the tribe of that assassin who I had killed before. Do they want revenge? Or are they truly our enemies? She was the one who attacked us, first."
"We're about to find out," Fuji said grimly. "I suppose now's the time to test out this sword." An eerie silence followed, and then an arrow just flew in the window and narrowly missed Yukimura.
That was when all the princes came to their senses. "Everyone! Protect Seiichi!" Atobe barked. "Kojiroh, you stay here and tend to Seiichi's wounds while trying to prevent anything from happening to him. Yuushi! Grab the bow and snipe from the window with Jiroh and Yuuta! Kunimitsu, Ryoma, Eiji, Syusuke! Come with me! We're heading out!"
"Reinforcements?" Ryoma asked while running alongside Kikumaru behind Atobe and Fuji and in front of Tezuka.
"They'll come. We need to get rid of these people as soon as possible," Atobe replied without glancing back.
"I heard their chief was 'undefeatable'," Kikumaru said. "He's found some advanced spells and magic techniques that negate a lot of things that happen to him, and sometimes, they amplify his powers, too."
"Everyone is able to be beaten by something," Fuji stated simply. "The matter is finding it before it's too late."
Finally, the five reached the front of the castle, where quick knights and ninjas under the king's command, and even mercenaries who were passing by were already warding off the assassins as well as they could. Shizuma was leading them, with a dagger of her own.
"Heh, the girl's even out here before us," Ryoma said.
"It's called being fashionably late," Atobe replied, fighting off assassin after assassin. He was back to back with Fuji, who was holding his own quite well. Swords and metal clashed loudly, and they were all separated, except for Atobe and Fuji, who still stood at each other's backs, looking out for each other. Ryoma was off somewhere, nimbly dodging attacks with the help of his small frame and the fact that he could float off of the ground. Kikumaru was teleporting from place to place, fighting off assassins and helping whichever prince or warrior under royal command that he could. Tezuka was merely fighting, like Atobe and Fuji, though doing quite a good job at it, again, like Atobe and Fuji.
Fuji, while spinning showily and taking quick glances around himself for oncoming warriors and attackers, spotted the head of the village. He had done a pretty good job of disguising himself, wearing clothes like a normal fighter from the hidden village, but from the quickness and strength of his attacks compared to everyone else, it was clear that he was the leader of the clan. Fuji wanted to get closer to him, but he was left with Atobe, watching his back, and he couldn't get any closer to the chief because of the oncoming hoards of attackers.
Suddenly, Fuji spotted an arrow whizzing from the castle, laced with poison, headed straight toward the chief. He mentally cheered at Oshitari, for surely the chief wouldn't notice it. Indeed he didn't, but instead of penetrating the thin cloth he was wearing, it simply struck some kind of a barrier around the chief, not even leaving a scratch. Fuji could imagine Oshitari cursing in the castle. Was the chief really unbeatable? No, he couldn't be. Fuji couldn't think that way, or else there would be no hope.
Fuji had to take his eyes off of the chief as he was faced with an attacker that proved to be stronger than the others. His face was masked a bit differently, and there was also something odd about what he was wearing. He was forcefully attacking Fuji, whom he was clearly aiming for, and not even sparing a glance at Atobe. Being pushed back, he didn't want to be a bother to Atobe, so Fuji separated from him, glancing at him and giving him a look that said, "We'll meet up again later." Atobe nodded at him, and in a moment, they couldn't see each other at all.
Fuji was still defending this mysterious assassin's forceful attacks, though not quite pushing himself to the limit. It was clear that the attacker was fighting hard and pushing himself, and it almost made Fuji laugh. It reminded him of when he played tennis against an opponent, and he couldn't bring himself to try his hardest.
Suddenly, the black mask fell off of the man's face, and Fuji could see that he was actually quite young, probably only a couple years older than Fuji. His eyes were passionate, and they had reason. He was getting so worked up. "You will pay for killing my sister!" he shouted, bringing a short blade down on Fuji's sword. Fuji raised an eyebrow.
"Your sister?" he answered. "You mean that assassin in the woods who kept attacking the castle a couple weeks ago?"
The attacker nodded, though still keeping up his persistency. "You killed her!"
Fuji shook his head, blocking the other's attacks easily. "It wasn't me that killed her. And she was the one to attack us first."
"You're a prince, right?" the attacker had to shout through all the commotion around the two.
Fuji tapped his chin with the hand that wasn't holding the sword, which seemed to annoy his opponent. "I guess you could call me that," Fuji said mysteriously. "Why, what cause is your village fighting for? It can't possibly be just the girl."
Fuji's opponent shook his head. "No, it's not. We're fighting for the cause of the magician."
It was Fuji's turn to be shocked now. "The magician?"
"Our village has always been against the policy of the most powerful magician only living to serve the princes, ever since one of our villagers turned out to be the magician, and he was always enslaved to the princes. He never looked happy when he came back to visit the village, and his eyes, which had been so bright before, were always shaded and distant. It was almost as if he was thinking, 'I'd rather be somewhere else' all the time."
Fuji's moment of surprise caused him to be tripped, though he flipped over and landed smoothly on the ground behind the attacker, who was facing Fuji in an instant. "So that's your cause," Fuji said. He was surprised that anyone opposed the princes, but he was even more surprised that they were actually on the most powerful magician's side. That was supposed to be Fuji himself! They were fighting for his cause!
Fuji shook his head. No. He wasn't the most powerful magician. He was someone totally different. It didn't matter to him who he fought for, whether it was the princes or whether it was for himself. It was an honor to be the most powerful magician at all. He didn't dare oppose the princes, and even if he wanted to, he wouldn't. The princes were his friends. It didn't matter what the other magicians thought generations back, but this time, everything was different. They had known each other from childhood, Fuji and the princes. They were his family, and he loved them. He didn't care if he had to fight for them all his life; he'd do anything for them. That was why Fuji was a completely different person than the one he was reincarnated from. And that was the way Fuji wanted it to be.
In a moment, Fuji was behind the attacker, bringing out his stronger side, with the tip of his blade against the assassin's neck. "I'm sorry about your sister," Fuji started. "But as for the princes, they're my friends. I don't care if I have to fight with them or for them for my entire life. I'd do anything for them; they've already done too much for me," he said.
The assassin gasped. "You're—" but that was all he got to say before he was on the ground, dead.
Fuji shook his head, sadly. "Sorry," he said again. He looked around. Many of the assassins were dead, and so were many of the warriors fighting under royalty. Fuji sighed. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't everyone live in peace? In his heart, though, he felt a pang because now he knew that they were fighting for his cause. Both forces. But first, he had to find the other princes.
The silence of death fell across the battlefield, as Fuji stepped around trees and the occasional body. There really hadn't been as many people as Fuji thought, but for some reason, they had all seemed to be aiming for Atobe and him. Really, why had they cared so much about that girl? She wasn't that strong, and neither was her brother, though they were more skilled than the others.
Fuji heard a rustle of leaves behind him, and he whipped around with his sword still in his hand. He wasn't sure if the rustle had been one of the princes or another assassin from the village. Fuji stepped through the forest even more silently now, cringing at every crack of the leaves.
Fuji heard another rustle, and suddenly, a sword came down on his powerfully. He held the sword that Yukimura had made for him with both hands and parried the other sword off, though barely. Fuji scarcely had time to gasp for breath as the sword was brought down again and he was forced to fight. Who was attacking him at a time like this? Fuji turned around and was finally face to face with his opponent, who was none other than the chief of the village. He was still alive? Of course, Fuji thought, clenching his teeth.
"Was it you?" the chief said quietly. From his voice, Fuji could tell that he was young, too, probably not even three years older than the person he had been fighting before. The chief looked like he was in his mid twenties, though he was strong for it.
"What are you talking about?" Fuji said during a rare break in the clashing of swords.
"My brother and sister, it was you, wasn't it?" he said through his teeth.
Ah, Fuji thought. So the three were brothers and sister? Why was the chief so much more powerful than the other two? The eldest son in their village must have gotten the advantage of tutoring and training to become the chief. But why was he chief already? His parents must be dead. Or at least his father. "So you were all related?" Fuji asked.
"Itwas you!" his opponent said. "You'll pay with your own life, prince!"
"They were the ones who attacked me first! And the girl wasn't even my fault." Fuji was slowly being pushed back with the attacks of the chief. The brunette finally saw an opening and attacked with his sword, only to be blocked by the same barrier that had blocked Oshitari's arrow so effortlessly. The hood fell off of the chief then, revealing his hair and face. His hair was black and long, past his shoulders, and it flowed nicely. His face was handsome, but that didn't distract Fuji.
The dark haired one smirked. "I'm supposed to be the most powerful magician. I am the most powerful magician in the land. Everyone acknowledges it. But for some reason, this generation, there was a turn of events. Somehow, someone else was chosen to be that magician instead of me. No one even knows him or her. Just because they're the son or daughter of the last magician doesn't mean that they will be powerful, too! And on top of that, they ran away! No one knows even what this person looks like! Just like a coward…they don't deserve to be the magician."
"Is that the reason you lied to your village?" Fuji asked seriously. The chief looked shocked for a moment. "You told your village to fight against the princes for the cause of a magician from your village generations back. That magician doesn't exist, does he? You just made up that story so you could convince your villagers to fight against the princes to support you being the magician," Fuji said. "You don't deserve to be the chief. Pitting your villagers, who you know will die, against the princes for your own sake. Even your brother and sister."
The chief gave Fuji a dark look. "They should've been trained better."
Fuji glanced at the chief. "Is that all you can say?!" he shouted, putting more effort into his swings. But still, he couldn't get a hit in because of that barrier.
"It doesn't matter. Once I vanquish you and all the other princes, and find that damned magician, then this land will be mine!" He seemed to think for a moment. "Who knows, if that magician is a lady, perhaps I can ask for her hand in marriage."
That last statement almost made Fuji laugh out loud. He would've, if he hadn't been so caught up in not getting killed. Fuji also would've asked him what he would do if it was a boy, but he didn't. He couldn't let the chief know he was holding back at all. He had to make it look like he was really getting pushed back. He could keep up against the chief for hours, but he still couldn't get through the barrier. That was something that he couldn't do. He needed something otherworldly to get through the barrier…it had to have been constructed out of some magic that wasn't known in this world anymore. If the chief knew that Fuji was holding back, then he might further increase his barrier, making it even harder for Fuji to break through.
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Atobe walked around the battlefield in silence, maneuvering around trees and bodies on the ground. Occasionally, he would pick up the sword of a fallen mercenary, if he thought that it might have value, but he didn't want to slow himself down more than necessary. The villagers hadn't proved to be that much of a threat, considering that the castle itself had remained unharmed. Sure, a lot of their warriors were gone, but they could be replaced.
He walked around, looking for Fuji and the other princes. If he had survived without putting that much effort into it, than the other princes should still be alive, too. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a loud clash of metal against metal. There were still people alive fighting? It must be the chief of the village. Who was he fighting against? It had to be once of the princes. He knew all of the princes' fighting style, so he could easily tell who it was based upon how frequent the clashing sounds were. But this time, he couldn't tell. The fighting style was completely foreign. There could only be one explanation for that: Fuji. The chief of the village was fighting against Fuji.
Atobe's walking turned into a sprint; a mad dash to find Fuji. Would he be alright? They were deep in the forest surrounding the castle, and Atobe could tell because the metal sounds sounded distant. He wouldn't get there on time, and by the time he got there, someone would probably already be dead. He had caught a glance at the chief before, and he had some kind of barrier that was otherworldly and it couldn't be broken through. Was Fuji going to be alright?
Atobe changed the direction of his running, skidding and turning sharply. He was headed toward the castle's throne room, where he could get a good look at the forest. The trees were so dense there that they couldn't possibly be fighting in the middle of it. Atobe dashed up the stairs of the castle, running into the throne room where all of the princes were already waiting. "Where's Fujiko?!" Saeki shouted as soon as the saw that Atobe was alone.
"No time to speak right now," Atobe said, running for the window and practically leaning over it so that he'd fall if he leaned a centimeter more. "Fuji's out there, fighting against the only remaining member of the village: the chief!"
With those words, everyone rushed to the windows, looking for Fuji. Atobe spotted a clearing in the forest where they used to train a lot, and sure enough, there were two figures fighting there, leaping around and bouncing off of trees. Atobe could tell which one was Fuji from the clothes and appearance. He was being pushed back, but the prince couldn't tell if he was faking it or not. After all, when they would train with each other, sometimes Fuji just wouldn't try his hardest. Atobe could clearly see, though, that Fuji couldn't break through the barrier that surrounded the dark haired chief. The shield was otherworldly.
Atobe thought for a moment. If the barrier was otherworldly, then they would need something otherworldly to break it. Every barrier could be broken somehow. It was just a matter of finding out how. Otherworldly. Something otherworldly. The arts of creating that kind of barrier were lost long ago. How did the chief know them? And if he knew them, why weren't any of the other villagers using the arts? It was probably some kind of mana issue. But that wasn't what he should've been thinking about at that moment. He should be thinking about how to break the barrier before Fuji got killed.
He glanced at Fuji and the chief again. The chief wasn't going to run away until he killed every one of the princes, Atobe figured, because he hadn't run away yet. He turned away from the window, much to the surprise of the other princes, and glanced around the room. It was then that he found his answer. Atobe sprinted out of the throne room and to his own room, grabbing his bow and arrows even faster than Eiji had if he would've teleported there. He was back in the throne room sooner than the other princes found it possible.
Atobe took one of his arrows and carefully removed the head. He walked over to the mirror, which still lay in pieces on the ground. He picked up a nice, sharp, shard and started to attach it to the arrow. The mirror transported people through the worlds. It must be enough to break the barrier. If it didn't work, then there was nothing that he could do. He didn't have anything to lose.
"You're going to use the mirror?" Yukimura asked.
"What choice do we have?" Atobe replied, and the princes fell silent in anticipation. He strung the arrow and pulled it back, aiming for the chief's upper body through the window. This was where his powers had to pull through. He had to anticipate the chief's next move, or else he wouldn't be able to hit him. Fuji was still being pushed back, slowly, but surely. His opponent would make the next offensive move. If they stayed predictable like this, then…Exorcise, Atobe thought, and released the arrow.
Cliffhanger! The next chapter awaits! Please be courteous and review before you fave/alert! Thanks for all your support!