Magical Atoner Lyrical Alicia

Twenty One

The capital of New Londonium had a lot of museums, and the group toured two of them the third morning. "OK, that was a tourist trap," Subaru noted seriously.

"It's not THAT bad," Rachel laughed.

"Hmm?" Alicia asked.

"The second one seemed all about the Knights of the Round stuff, and that gift shop with all the blatant knight stuff..." Subaru laughed. "Knight t-shirts, Knight candy, Knight collectable ACTION FIGURES..." she groaned.

"Okay, it was a BIT much," Rachel laughed.

Subaru added, "I thought the full deployable armor was neat, admittedly."

A staff member had shown them the armor deploying around him from the device, leaving him in high tech looking scale mail. Another gesture removed the armor, and the shop keeper even offered 'civilian' versions of it.

"Could your devices do that?" Yuchiro asked curiously.

"Oh, certainly," Alicia agreed, "the 'armor' is basically just a specially configured form of Barrier Jacket. It's also probably not any better than my usual Barrier Jacket... though I will admit it looks striking."

"Awww," Subaru pouted as they went out to catch a bus back to their hotel. The carriage ride to the hotel on the first day had been set up for the staged 'robbery' and New Londonium generally had conventional transportation.

"Did you want to visit your local collegues dear?" Yuchiro changed the subject slightly.

Rachel smiled slightly, "There's a few locals I exchange mail with, but that's about it. I did let them know I'd be at the Tourney this afternoon, though."

"We'll bring lunch when we go," Yuchiro agreed.

"You don't need to fuss...," Alicia said sheepishly.

"It's been fun to watch," Subaru reassured her. "You get to fight against the squires today, right?" she asked.

"That's the plan," Alicia agreed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Miss Testarossa! Hello, I'm Elaine Astolat, I'm one of the managers of the event." the pretty is slightly etheral blonde smiled. She was dressed in a long, glimmering gown, but oddly carried with her a tablet computer.

"Nice to meet you," Alicia shook the offered hand. "I haven't broken a rule or anything?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh, no, no," the woman beamed. Elaine continued, "The Judges looked over your performance yesterday, and felt they had underestimated you. Would you like to skip the remaining squires and compete in the Knights bracket?"

"Would anyone object?" Alicia asked a bit warily.

"I think most of the other squires are relieved their not fighting you," Elaine confided to her as she smiled wryly.

"I suppose I should take that as a compliment...?" Alicia admitted.

"Here's your revised schedule... have fun!" Elaine waved as she strode off.

Alicia looked over the schedule as fighters started to get ready. The lower tier fighters she didn't know, but Gawain and Lancelot were near the top. She had three bouts to win, if she wanted to end up fighting them. Interesting!

"Alicia Testarossa vs Sir Gareth!" an announcer called.

'Well, here we go,' Alicia thought, studying him. He was handsome, she supposed, and well muscled. He also moved fairly gracefully.

"Greetings, stranger," Gareth nodded politely. "I saw you fight yesterday... you're quite good," he noted as his Device extended a shimmering energy blade. Much like her's, it looked basically like a long sword.

"Thank you," Alicia nodded.

"But not good enough," he said as Gareth charged.

Alicia instantly realized he was much better than the kids from yesterday. He attacked quickly and efficiently, with minimal movement coupled with powerful attacks. He put her on the defensive quickly, and she was soon struggling to keep him away.

'Maybe I SHOULD have finished fighting the squires," Alicia thought ruefully.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"You fought her yesterday, right?" Subaru asked several young people.

"Right, she slaughtered me." the first boy grinned, "Galahad."

Kay nodded, "She's quite skilled."

"She took my head off," Marian winced. While the boys were in tunic and trousers combos, she was in a short skirt and a lowcut top.

"I told you not to piss her off," Galahad teased her.

"Yeah, yeah," Marian waved that off.

"Alicia's having some trouble," Subaru noted a bit worriedly as she watched the fight. She was much more on the defensive than yesterday.

"That's Gareth, he's pretty good," Kay agreed. "He doesn't adapt well, thought."

"Oh?" Subaru asked.

"He's a good swordsman, no question," Marian agreed, "but he pretty much just fights using one style. So..."

They watched as Alicia shifted from Mid to a more 'Earth' style, and almost instantly Gareth found himself struggling. Alicia seemed to pick up on it, and started gracefully switching between the skills she picked up on El Hazzard, Earth and Mid.

Gareth tried to compensate with physical power and speed, but Alicia started picking him apart with lunges and rapid strikes.

"It's going to be decided on points," Galahad observed.

"I don't see either managing a decisive strike," Kay nodded.

Indeed, the end of round bell rang out before either fighter had 'killed' the other. A judge assessed the 'damage' done and quickly decided that Alicia had, indeed, inflicted much more damage than her opponent.

"Winner, Testarossa!" the judge declared.

"Whoo-hoo!" Subaru cheered.

"Nicely done," Marian agreed as they watched Alicia shaking Gareth's hand.

There was a break between bouts, so Alicia walked over to where they were watching. "Congrats," Subaru grinned.

"Thanks," Alicia said, then looked curiously at her foes from yesterday.

"We are your loyal followers," Kay declared dramatically, "you've won us over with your combat prowess and beauty!"

Alicia snorted, "Yeah, right."

"Okay, we're here to quiz your friend and learn all your secrets," Galahad suggested cheerfully.

Alicia laughed again. "Anyway, thanks for keeping Subaru company," she said. She addressed Subaru, "Where did your parents go?"

"One of Mom's associates wanted to talk to her, Dad tagged along," Subaru said.

"So are you Knights on your home world?" Marian asked curiously.

Subaru and Alicia both burst out laughing. "God no," Alicia admitted, "I'm a cross dimensional orphan, and Subaru's a regular schoolgirl."

"You must have really INTERESTING schools," Kay observed mildly.

They chatted a bit longer, then the announcer called that Alicia's next bout was beginning soon. She excused herself to go get ready.

"Good luck!" Marian waved.

Subaru looked at the young woman curiously, "You're very enthusiastic, considering she beat you yesterday."

"I noticed that too, actually," Galahad gave her a look. "And what's up with the skimpy outfit?" he asked flatly.

"Indeed," Kay frowned at her.

Marian squirmed a bit uncomfortable. "She's COOL, okay? I was hoping to get her attention," she pouted.

"What." Galahad blinked.

Kay burst into laughed, "After the stunt you pulled on her yesterday?"

"I hate you both," Marian sighed.

Subaru, on the other hand, was surprised to feel a strong twinge of jealousy...

To be continued...

Notes: I need to look up more Arthurian names, Plus I may have a mystery 'Black Knight' appear. Will probably wrap up this bit next chapter...