Author's Note: Again, penny flip for winners, lol. And this is a rather long one, hehe. I tried to add a little more description to it. Thanks for all the reviews, everyone!

Chapter 20: A Battle for the Ages

The Casual Bout resumed after the conclusion of the Heroes Joust, and Freya, Adam, and Edgar went down to take their places. Everyone seemed eager to see who would come out the winner.

First pair to go at it were Freya and Edgar. This had Zentor sitting up a bit straighter.

"I've honestly never seen Edgar fight against another who used a reach weapon, other than when he trains the soldiers," he said. "And he's never sparred against Alaya. I'd say this should be a new experience for him."

"I'm not sure how Alaya will fare," Kuja replied. "I've seen her take down opponents much stronger than herself, and her jumping might make things tricky for Edgar."

"This is gonna be great!" Cal cheered. "And whoever wins this match, will face Adam, right?"

"Well, sort of," Zantar said. "After this match, the winner will face Adam, yes. But then the winner of that one will face the previous loser. It'll take two out of three to win. Should the first loser win, the one they then defeated is out, and the first two go at it again, and then the winner is the champion." He chuckled at the kids expressions. "I know, complicated. Fortunately it isn't a usual situation."

"Happened three years ago," Zentarou put in. "Edgar won that one, but barely." Just then, the signal was given, and the two went at it with a will.

Freya opened with a standard jump. Edgar, seemingly thinking ahead for just such a situation, whirled his halberd in front of him as fast as he could, deflecting the attack. Zentor chuckled.

"I believe he calls that his Met'sa'ka'dyn, or 'Cyclone Shield' in ancient Sir'Kai language. It's his favorite defense, and near unbreakable. The only way I've found to beat it is to shield bash him."

Edgar now took up the offensive as Freya landed, going in for a swift, fierce pattern of thrusts, jabs, and swings. Freya met him blow for blow, lance and halberd striking again and again, but no blows touching their target. Abruptly, Edgar broke the pattern he'd used, throwing Freya's timing off, and head-butted her exposed left shoulder, throwing her back. He then came in with a rapid triple hit to each shoulder and then to the gut. Freya tumbled.

But she wasn't done yet. Rather than fight against the roll, she went with it, somersaulting quickly away and then back to her feet to leap in for a Cherry Blossom attack. Edgar was hit hard, and now it was his turn to tumble. Though, like Freya, he too got back up.

"Edgar is trained to take damage," Nakita said. "All the shields are, after all. You never know when all that stands between our charges and mortal harm is our own bodies, and if that happens, we have to be able to do what must be done."

Edgar shook his head briefly, then raced in and at the last second dodged to the left, swinging his halberd like a club. Freya dodged, but apparently that was the intended result, for as she did, Edgar shifted his movements. He pulled out of the swing abruptly and thrust the head down between Freya's legs, tangling them up and tripping her, before landing on top of her to try and pin her down, the shaft of his halberd across the Burmecian's neck. He leaned his weight on it, to free one hand, and to all watching eyes was going for a simple punch.

But Freya was a dragoon, a leaper, and her greatest strength was in her legs. She kept calm, curling them up quickly and pushing against Edgar's hips. Not expecting this, he was thrown. Freya then back flipped away and leapt into Dragon's Crest. When it connected, Edgar fell and didn't get up for a few moments, and the flag bearers signaled the end of the match.

"Are you alright?" Freya asked as Edgar pulled himself to his feet.

"I'm fine. You?"

"Yes, though I think I could use a drink of water before the next round." Edgar chuckled.

"I have to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"I never thought of someone defeating my pin that way. Now I know where it is weak, and needs to be worked on. For that, I thank you, Freya Crescent." Freya smiled as they left the arena.

Though Freya only had a moment to get her drink, before she was again out on the battle grounds, facing Adam.

Again, Adam played it cautiously, moving in with measured steps, watching Freya's movements. She, likewise, was being careful, almost as if she could sense there was something more to Adam than met the eye. After all, she had taken careful measure of Edgar's strength and skill, and remembered that the human had tied the panther in their match.

"Go Adam!" Orko shouted. "You can do it!"

Freya leapt suddenly, and Adam went perfectly still, watching her as she rose, and then fell... only to dodge away at the last moment. Teela cheered.

"That was great!"

Before she could recover, while her lance was still down into the soft sand of the arena, Adam charged in and swung. It was a simple choice for Freya to let go of her lance, rather than take the hit. She dodged and moved away. Adam then positioned himself between her and the lance. For a little bit they moved carefully around, Freya trying to get an opening and Adam working on not creating one. Then, Freya made a quick dart forward. Adam moved to intercept, only to find himself meeting air as the agile Dragoon changed direction. She lunged and tumbled by, grabbing her lance a hairsbreadth ahead of Adam's blade. Sword and lance clattered against each other as they went close combat, then broke apart again, and Freya went up for another jump. Again, Adam waited, then used a risky maneuver: when Freya was fully in her fall, totally committed to her path, he threw his sword like a javelin up at her. There was no way for her to change her course, and she took the hit full in the chest before coming down. But even though Adam had dodged, now he was unarmed, and Freya was blocking his path back to his weapon.

"You're... good..." she panted.

"So are... you," he replied, trying to size up an opening. He moved in quickly, and Freya thrust her lance forward. Adam quickened his pace, taking the blow on the side, and from the shaft of the weapon, like he had done with Edgar previously. Only he didn't stop with that. He grabbed the lance and swung, pulling Freya along for the ride, his strength outmatching hers. It threw both of them a little off balance, but gave Adam enough breathing room to grab his sword. He gave a quick blow to the stomach, and then one to the shoulder, in return for one to his side and leg. But the previous hit, Adam's wild-shot throw, was the deciding factor as Freya tumbled to the ground.

"Wow! That was impressive," Evarion commented. "And I don't say that about humans often."

"I didn't know Adam had that kind of skill," Teela gasped. "He's never done anything like that back home in training."

"Maybe he was trying to impress you," Kest teased. Orko just chuckled, as Freya got up.

"How did you dodge my fall?" Freya asked once she got to her feet.

"I remembered something I learned in geology class," Adam replied. "It was about volcanoes, and how sometimes they shoot balls of lava and hot rock into the sky like from a catapult. I was told to watch where it, make sure I knew exactly where it would hit, and then move. It's very hard to change direction midair, once locked into a set path."

"This is true. You were a good opponent, Adam. I enjoyed our match."

"I had fun too."

"Hope your next match is equally enjoyable." And she left the arena to rejoin the others. "He is strong, and much more skilled than I gave him credit for at first glance," she said to the others as she sat down.

"He's more skilled than I've given him credit for," Teela added, as Edgar came out and the final next round began.

Rather than take it easy, Edgar and Adam just charged in, striking as fast and as hard as they could or dared, wanting to get in what could be a crucial single blow later on. It seemed they received as many as they gave, though when they fell out of the clinch Vivi thought Edgar had taken a couple more than Adam. Adam lunged in, and Edgar again used his 'Cyclone Shield,' knocking Adam's sword into the dirt and then proceeding to score a series of hits. Adam rolled, ending up near his sword and grabbing it, before going in again. The fight was obviously going to be fast and furious.

"If they keep up this pace," Steiner surmised, as a veteran of many fights, "they'll exhaust themselves." Indeed, within a few short minutes, both were slowing down, but neither seemed to have taken a significant number of blows. They weren't taking any chances this time.

"How long can they keep this up?" wondered Garnet.

"I don't know," replied Aerderwyn. "They both seem to be tiring, but one might be trying to trick the other." This, however, wasn't the case. Edgar and Adam were honestly getting exhausted, by this point.

"How long - can you keep - going?" asked Edgar as they circled.

"Probably - as long as - you can," answered Adam.

"We - shall see." After another five minutes, they still hadn't fallen, though Edgar was holding his halberd head very low to the ground, and Adam was on one knee panting for breath.

"This is - much harder than - our first match," the prince gasped.

"We've both learned - from then." Edgar slowly approached. "And - somehow I think - neither of us can win this day. Stalemate?" Adam looked up, then nodded.

"Stalemate." Edgar raised his weapon to a non-attack position and held out a hand to help Adam stand. Adam accepted, and sheathed his sword. Zentor, in the stands, blinked.

"What's going on?" Edgar turned to face the 'royal box.'

"Adam and I have decided that we are too equally matched for either of us to get the victory. We call a stalemate." Zentor blinked.

"This is a day for firsts, it seems. Very well." He signaled the flag bearers, who raised the double flag again.

There was just one more event to take place, a very special one. Archery targets were brought out, and from one side out came young girls, all with bows and arrows.

"This is a relatively new event," Zentarou said, "called Adreana's Arrow. Mother was always trying to boots the self-confidence of women and girls, and when father found a quiver of her arrows in the armory, he decided this would be an appropriate way to honor that." Zentor moved to the front of the box.

"Two years ago, I found a quiver of my dear wife's arrows in the armory. I know that they were hers, because of the care in their crafting, and in the particular way the feathers were placed that was her special touch. While I was debating what to do with them, I felt as if Adreana came into the room with me and was touching my shoulder. I looked, only to see her bow, and resting nearby a book she once told me she adored as a child, about a little girl that desired to be an archer. She told me that this book inspired her to take up her path as an archer, and something inspired me to read through it. the girl had to go through a lot of people telling her she couldn't use a bow, because she was a girl." He smiled, as a the girls turned to face him. "I decided that she was trying to tell me I needed to continue this for her, and thus came the Adreana's Arrow competition. Are you ready girls?"

"Yes, King Zentor!" they replied in unison.

"Then take your places, and good luck." The girls lined up in front of the targets, drew their bows, and fired. Those seven closest went on, and then down to five, until only two were left. Those two took turns taking three shots. After each one, guards marked the spot with paint on the targets, then compared who had consistently gotten closest for those three shots. The victory went to a red-haired human girl who looked to be about ten. Her eyes got huge when they named her thee winner, and Zentor went down to give her the award: One of the arrows from Adreana's Quiver.

"This is yours, by right. You have a great potential, little one. With enough confidence, you can do whatever you want to in life." She took the arrow with a little curtsy.

"Thank you, King Zentor."

"This does not mean that no one else who tried has any talent," the cat king added. "Fortune had just as much effect on the outcome of this match as skill. Keep following your goals, and there isn't nothing you cannot do."

After a brief break, they awarded Edgar and Adam both a medal for winning the casual tournament, and Freya one for coming in second. All of the winners from all the rounds were also called down to get a round of applause from the crowds, before everyone dispersed to continue with the Festival.