Her Brother's Keeper: A Story of Alpha Centauri
The Final Round

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Chapter 16: The Final Round

It took a while and a lot of help from the arena staff in order for Christiana to get into her suit of kozane dō armor. Once all the straps were adjusted and the fit made perfect, she looked into the mirror and thought, ‘I look like a Samurai warrior from the Sengoku period.’

The schoolgirl could not help but wonder why the charter of the House included a clause for a live steel battle during a Keeper contest, nor why her Mother had invoked the virtually unknown clause. The entire idea of her having to fight her patSister with an actual naginata made her want to vomit.

These and similar thoughts went through her head as she was once again escorted to the arena floor. The reality of the situation hadn’t fully set in until Christiana was face to face with Sakura-nee who was wearing nearly identical armor.

She was ultimately pulled out of her reverie by the sound of her Mother’s voice as she stood and addressed the two youngsters as the Matriarch of the House.

“This is the first time in the history of House Washington where a live steel battle will be used to determine the winner of the combat portion of a Keeper contest. Unfortunately, this is the only way that our ancestors laid out for the Matriarch of the House to challenge an otherwise unfair outcome.” After a meaningful glance at patMother Patricia, she then continued, “I implore both of you girls to be careful while fighting. While the weapons you will be using have not been sharpened, the blades can still cause severe injury. The last thing any of us want is for either of you to be injured, so please use caution. I hereby ban strikes above the shoulders from the rest of the competition to avoid most life-threatening injuries.”

After that, she nodded to the two girls and resumed the competition with a wave of her hand.

From there, the bout began like any other. The combatants bowed to one another before the chime beginning the bout sounded. They did this under the direction of the two arena staff members present.

As soon as the chime sounded, both Christiana and her patSister rushed to the center of the floor and began the match. Since this round was sudden death and this was a continuation of the earlier bout, there was no reason to feel each other out.

After making an initial jab, which her patSister easily avoided, Christiana did her best to dodge the other girl’s counter attack. She sidestepped to avoid the thrust of the steel katana and could hear screeching metal as the sword blade scraped against the blade of her weapon. ‘That was close!’ she thought as she swung her spear-like naginata in a wide sweep while backing up, desperately trying to keep her opponent at bay.

‘I have to be sure to stay away from the walls!’ she realized as the other girl tried to push her even further backward. ‘Getting pinned would not be good.’

After a jump to the left, she went on the offensive by using her much longer reach to her advantage. There was a small shower of sparks as the blades of the two weapons hit and rubbed against one another. Seeing that her opponent was having more problems blocking short, quick thrusts as opposed to her sweeping slashes she started to repeat the stabbing attacks. Now it was her enemy that was backing up as she struggled to block the constant rain of strikes.

This exchange of blows continued for a while until Sakura-oneechan changed her tactics. Christiana had gotten into a pattern of thrust, being blocked and then pressing her patSister backwards. Therefore, she was taken aback when Sakura-nee changed tactics.

Her opponent surprised her when she rushed within the reach of her spear-like armament. ‘Don’t panic,’ she reminded herself, ‘Just do what sensei taught.’

Although blocking a steel blade with the long oak shaft of her weapon wasn’t something she could do repeatedly with a combat veteran, her foe was also a novice. A seasoned fighter might have used this opportunity to cut into the wood and weaken it. However, they had not trained her nemesis to use an actual sword, but a wooden one. As a result, she mistakenly blocked with the side of her katana, which was batted aside by the heavier spear. She then flipped the weighted iron-clad butt of the naginata around and hit the other girl squarely in the lower ribs.

Despite the protective plates of her armor, her rival let out a yelp of pain as the impact caused her to lose her balance. However, it wasn’t enough to knock her off her feet.

‘Well, that didn’t go as planned,’ she thought as she spun the shaft and attempted a sweeping attack with the bladed end of her polearm.

What followed was a flurry of attempted strikes on the dark-haired girl’s part while Christiana blocked them with her longer weapon. As the battle wore on, this back and forth took a toll on the blonde participant. She was beginning to tire. Between the weight of her kozane dō armor and the slightly higher mass of her live steel naginata, her muscles were screaming at her to stop. However, she couldn’t stop. That would mean serious injury or even death. Despite her months of training, nothing had prepared her for this.

‘She’s like a robot,’ she thought as the fight dragged on. Her opponent never seemed to tire and kept going strong despite her own mounting weariness. If she had not had the advantage of the longer weapon, then the battle would have ended with her defeat long ago.

Suddenly, her adversary strongly and unexpectedly went on the offensive, causing the exhausted youngster to retreat. ‘Where is the wall!’ she thought in desperation. Because of her fatigue she had lost track of exactly where she was. Now that she was busy fending off her opponent she did not have the luxury of looking away.

‘When in doubt, circle!’ she remembered from her training. By slowly rotating, it kept a defender from getting pinned. It also allowed a woman to observe their surroundings while keeping their adversary in front of them. ‘Now I just need to get my bearings.’

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the chime ending the bout sounded. Neither side had landed a strike on the other, so the match would continue after a short break period.

‘Thank goodness,’ Christiana thought as she sat down on a stool provided by the arena’s staff. The same employee handed her a water bottle full of the chilled refreshment, but she was so tired that she simply sat there for a few moments getting her breathing regulated.

After the minute long break and a few gulps from her water bottle, she felt her strength and energy slowly return. Now that she had her breathing back under control, she knew she was ready to continue the battle. ‘I really needed a brief rest,’ she realized as she took her place in the center of the open area.

Her opponent also looked refreshed. Her face no longer had the visible sheen of sweat that it had gradually developed over the three minutes of the first round.

Miraculously, neither girl had sustained injury thanks to their breastplates, arm, and leg protectors. However, the added weight of the lamellar armor was the primary source of her fatigue. ‘I never thought something made up of small metal plates would be this heavy. Compared to the guards I usually wear these things weigh a ton!’

Both youngsters held their chosen weapons at the ready. Just then, the chime sounded, showing the beginning of the second round. ‘This is no time for lollygagging!’ she realized as she sprang into motion.

Sakura-oneechan also sprang into battle, and the two met in a clash of weapons in the center of the arena. Both patSisters were better rested and near the top of their form so it was understandable that they began the match with a bang.

Soon afterwards, Christiana began to lose her energy, but things were a little different from in the prior round. Overall, one could say that she was doing better than before. While she was still tired from the earlier bout of fighting, she could slowly feel her weariness melt away like a popsicle under the blazing Mainday sun.

‘This is odd,’ she thought as she launched into an attack on her opponent. She saw the other girl’s eyes grow large at the unexpected and lengthy string of stabs. She could change the angle, speed, and direction of her thrusts with ease because the steel-bladed naginata no longer felt as if it weighed one hundred kay gees. Christiana was also becoming used to the heavy armor and was using footwork techniques that she hadn’t had the energy to use until now.

‘I don’t know why this is happening, but I like it!’ she thought as she easily sidestepped and then parried a thrust of her opponent’s katana. While sparks were flying as the blades slid along one another, she realized, ‘This is getting fun!’

Suddenly, she was surging with energy. ‘I feel so light!’ she noticed. Out of nowhere, it felt as if she wasn’t wearing her cumbersome armor, nor was she wielding her heavy spear. Instead, it was as if she were clothed in her normal apparel and was holding a reading tablet in her hands.

‘What is going on?’ she pondered as she effortlessly blocked an attack from her adversary with the blade of her naginata. ‘I’ve never felt this way before.’

That was when she noticed their difference in speed. While she was moving normally, her opponent was suddenly fighting at half her pace. It was almost as if her katana-wielding foe was abruptly plunged underwater.

It was only then that she recognized that her field of view had quickly narrowed. While she could see her adversary in perfect, crisp detail, the center of her eyesight had brightened, and the edges had dimmed. In a mere second, it had shrunk to where she could barely make out her surroundings. ‘Is this what they call tunnel vision?’ she wondered as she swung her spear to intercept her opponent’s extremely slow attack.

Without thinking about it, Christiana flipped the edge of the unsharpened katana to the side with a flick of her wrist. She then made a strike on her patSister’s right forearm. Furthermore, she maintained contact with Sakura-nee’s wrist guard with the tip of her naginata until she heard the referee yell “Pooiinntt” in a slowly drawled and strangely deep voice.

To Christiana, it seemed as if someone was playing a recording back at the wrong speed and not the sound of someone’s actual voice. However, she could tell by the movements of the venue employee’s mouth that this was actually happening in real time.

‘Am I experiencing the flow of time differently right now? It must be due to all the adrenaline coursing through my body,’ Christiana thought to herself as she heard the voices of the virtual referees all chime in.

For some reason, realizing what was happening seemed to break the spell, and time began flowing at its normal rate once again. The ‘tunnel vision’ also cleared up moments later, and that was when she saw the blood on the inner sleeve of her patSister’s white cotton kimono.

“Oh gosh, you’re bleeding!” Christiana exclaimed as she rushed to her patSister’s side. While she had done her best not to injure Sakara-nee, it had all been in vain.

“I’m okay. It is only a scratch.” the elder girl responded in bewilderment while Christiana was moving as quickly as she could to remove the armor protecting her forearm. “My ribs hurt worse from the blow you gave me with the end of your naginata. I did not know that they could pack such a wallop.”

“I am so sorry,” Christiana responded as she finally got the arm guard off and rolled up Sakura-oneechan’s kimono sleeve. While the inside of her elbow was cut, it wasn’t deep and should only require some NewSkin to patch it up.

In an effort to check out Sakura-oneechan’s ribs, Christiana went over and began undoing the straps of her breastplate, only for the older girl to cry out in pain.

“Let’s get you both to the infirmary to give you a checkup,” an attendant said, dragging Christiana out of her worried state.

“Okay,” both girls responded at the same time and they left the floor together hand in hand, all thoughts of who won or lost the tournament being eclipsed by their worry for one another.

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Up in the stands, things were very different. A discussion amongst the Wives began the moment that the match ended. Holly insisted that Christiana had won the tournament and should be granted the title of Keeper immediately. This was because she won both the first and second parts of the contest hands down.

Patricia, of course, wanted to wait for the blood tests to be conducted before declaring a winner. ‘She just wants a chance to tamper with the evidence,’ Miss Harrison thought as she watched the back and forth with an amused grin on her face. ‘If she can make it look like Christiana cheated, then Sakura would automatically win the contest. I just have to make sure that can’t happen.’

Ultimately, the vote of the Wives was to wait until the results of the blood tests were announced before declaring a winner. The test results would decide who would be decided as the victor of the second half of the tournament and therefore were critical to the final determination of the overall champion.

At this point, Patricia asked where the blood tests would be conducted.

‘Oh, this should be good,’ Miss Harrison thought. Just by listening she could replace out where Patricia had ties to people who could mess with the results. ‘Well, that’s impressive,’ she thought when Patricia suggested one of the most prominent hospitals in Planetfall. ‘She has some pretty powerful connections despite her rapidly waning power in House Washington.’

Upon hearing this bit of information, Holly suggested a major hospital in Cooper’s Landing to do the testing, knowing full well what Miss Harrison had planned. Of course, Patricia gave many arguments about why the testing should be done in Planetfall instead.

‘She thinks fast, I’ll give her that.’ Miss Harrison thought as she watched the drama unfold. After a few moments, she decided she would break the deadlock. ‘This has gone on long enough,’ she thought before interrupting the heated debate.

“I have a solution,” Miss Harrison said in a commanding voice. “I will take the samples myself and I will personally deliver them to Hope for analysis in their med bay.”

Upon hearing this, all color drained from Patricia’s face since she now knew that she would be caught cheating. ‘Serves you right, you bitch,’ Miss Harrison thought as the woman tried to use her wit to get out of the trap that she had fallen into.

“That won’t be necessary,” Patricia interjected. “The Duflot Institute for Medicine in Cooper’s Landing will suffice.”

‘So she recognizes that she will be caught red-handed if the samples are analyzed on Hope, but she won’t if they are looked at by one of the leading hospitals on the planet,’ Miss Harrison realized. ‘While it means that her daughter won’t get the position since she can’t manipulate the results at least she won’t face censure since her cheating will not be detected.’

After appearing to ponder the information for a moment, Miss Harrison shook her head and responded, “No, Hope and Hope Actual are both involved in this matter already, so I think having them run the analysis is only fitting,” she stated with a predatory grin.

Patricia literally quaked in her seat upon seeing this smile as even more blood drained out of her already ashen face. After visibly gulping, she finally conceded. “I cannot interfere with an officer of the government. Please do as you wish.”

‘Perhaps she thinks I will have sympathy for her since she gave in so easily,’ Miss Harrison mused. ‘Too bad that I have zero compassion for this conniving wench.’

Then, with a knowing smile, Christy Harris thought, ‘Besides two can play at using foreign substances to cause increased athletic skills. It’s amazing how much of a performance increase three drops of my blood mixed in a water bottle can have.’