End of the Millennium A Xian Shade Production Author's Notes: The battle for the honor of Mercury's princess! Action at last! Zoicite is quite the trickster side from his sword ability. Can Lord Sotanaht win without relying upon the power of Thanatos, and if not, who will be the first to cheat by using their powers? Disclaimer: I do not own any aspects of Sailor Moon or Phantasy Star. If I did, this would be an anime, or manga, or both. Thanatos, Ares, Chronos, Aljus, King Marcus, and the worthless one are © Xian Shade and may not be used without my permission. People failing to follow this rule have broken Xian's Law #849, paragraph 3, line 2: Don't fuck with my shit. The Path of Finding Destiny, Chapter 18: Zoicite couldn't understand it. This Lord of Saturn had to have been bluffing. Neither of them had found a hole in the others defense during their duel, but the day was quickly wearing away. Zoicite began feeling himself tire as he barely dodged another thrust, his body becoming sluggish and unresponsive. "What's wrong, Zoicite?" Lord Sotanaht grinned as he parried another thrust from the earth-general. "You seem to be losing your edge." He was only playing around with Zoicite by an immortal's standards. He was fair in that he was using only his mortal strength and reflexes, but he was still using his heightened senses to be able to perceive any and all incoming attacks. 'Looks like I'll have to be tricky in order to beat him, because all this noise of swordfighting and movement is going to attract unwanted attention, if it hasn't already.' Zoicite thought, then smiled mischeviously. "Time to end this! ZOI!" a wind and leaf blast erupted towards Samuru, who simply narrowed his eyes, moving a bit to appear off-guard, especially since he knew Zoicite was no longer in front of him. Thanatos had observed Zoicite in battles before, using illusion abilities that would confound and distract even the best warriors. He'd realized this was a mix of two abilities, the 'zan' technique which manipulates the wind, mixed with the skill of illusion. Relying upon his expanded senses, he raised the rapier above his head in an overhead parry, feeling the successful clang of meeting metal. Thanatos had heard tales of Zoicite's speed and mastery over illusion, and now he had observed a bit of them himself. 'Let's see just how good he is.' Zoicite thought this would be cake. True, this lord was a skilled swordsman, but nobody was able to take him when both wind and illusion could blind his opponents. They often distracted as well to allow him to move aside, to give a deathblow. Suffice it to say, confusion overcame him when he decided on a downward strike from above, only to connect with metal. He wasn't even looking! Perhaps he wasn't bluffing. "Dirty play, Zoicite." he said, swiping the sword aside and moving behind him, then shunting out of the physical plane once out of his sight by falling through his own black cape into the garb of Thanatos, forcing his voice through. "Two can play your game. Can 'you' fight what you can't see?" Zoicite panicked. This was no ordinary pampered royal! He tried to listen for movement, darting his eyes about to find his opponent in the trees, or behind bushes, but there was nothing. Then, he felt the cool metal rest against his neck. "That could have been your head. Concede." "Fight fairly!" Zoicite shouted angrily, trying to look behind him without much success. "Would you have? You sought to end the fight most unfairly." "I swear, I will use no further tactics, if you agree to the same!" Thanatos thought for a moment, and he clenched his free fist, empowering his Seals technique around Zoicite. If he attempted any abilities like he had previously, he would forefeit. "Agreed. I release my order to concede defeat, as long as we fight fair. I hold you to your word." he said, easing his blade away from his opponent's neck, and resuming himself upon the physical plane. Zoicite turned about and held out his weapon to his opponent, giving a smirk that looked more like a sneer. "I must say, you 'are' quite skilled. My illusions are usually strong enough to easily end any fight. But not only did you anticipate my move, you were able to be illusory yourself, to make yourself invisible." "There was no illusion. I am able to simply move without noise, and quickly at that. Easy enough to remain behind your opponent when they're confused." he lied. Mistakes are made when your opponent is enraged. "You... you tricked me! You agreed to it simply to win the fight easier! Well then, I renege my agreement!" Zoicite meant to push enough force into his blast to knock his opponent back, but instead he felt as though he were punched in the stomach. He dropped his sword and fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. "You have broken your word, and barely a minute after giving it. Concede." "You... you fight unfairly!" "I fight justly. You would go back on your word to not use your abilities." "YOU are doing the SAME!" "Even if I had, you had done it first, which would make the rule pointless... but I have done no such thing. The only time I used any abilities was 'before' I agreed, when I bound your abilities to only physical and basic mental, because I did not trust you. Rightly so, it seems, because now your powers turn on you, just as you have turned upon your honor." "How... how can you?" "Don't be such a child, Zoicite. It was your own deceit that brought this pain to you. Either fight in your condition, or concede." "No." He put his blade under Zoicite's neck. "Concede!" "Never." He pulled the sword away and Zoicite relaxed, only to wince as a slice arced over his cheek from a grazing of Lord Sotanaht's rapier. A faint line of red began to form, and Zoicite held his hand to his face, then looked at the blood that was now on his glove. "You now lose on three counts. You have dropped your weapon, you have gone back on your word in the duel, and first blood was drawn against you. You have lost." Samuru snorted as he picked up the sheath of his long thin sword, sliding it back to make his cane whole, snapping the handle back into its proper position. "Goodbye, Zoicite. I expect to hear your resignment to courting Princess Amilia." he glared dangerously at the general. "Pray we never meet again." As Samuru walked away, Amilia approached and took his arm to head back home. As much as she enjoyed the moment before this all started, this would have to be reported to her father. ------------------------------------------------------------ Poor Zoicite. People nowadays take honor so lightly, and this is prime example of when your assurance will get you in trouble when giving it out freely. Does this mean the end for the pretty-boy? Was he too part of Beryl's plans? Oh yeah, remember her? XD More, next time!