The second day of the tournament arrived and Mai still hadn’t found any answers to the nagging questions. Why did she feel like she was forgetting things? She was absolutely sure that both she and her brother had known their small island homes name when they had first arrived. Why wouldn’t they? It was their home, who would forget their home name?

Why did she feel so detached all the time? She had seen the arena with her own eyes as she entered it. Yet, this place continued to leave her with the unsettling feeling of being displaced.

The more she thought about it the more convinced she became that this feeling wasn’t new. She didn’t just start feeling detached when the tournament began. She had been feeling this way since they got off the ship that brought them here. It had been there, nibbling at the back of her mind. That itch that had gnawed at her this whole time.

“Do you remember the journey here?” Mai asked, obviously directed at the only other inhabitant of the suite they’d been provided.

Her brother was laying on the bed he’d chosen, legs hanging off one side as he played with his hair. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I? It was pretty nice.” he answered nonchalantly.

“Really? How much detail do you remember about it? Do you remember how long it took us to get here?” Mai was sitting on one of the couches, legs folded under her as she leaned against the arm of the couch.

“I mean, it was kinda long. I didn’t really keep track. Are you still worried about the memory thing?” Sone replied, busy playing with the longest bit of hair on his head.

“I’ve been worried about it, I can’t really think about anything else. Come on, do you remember where we boarded the ship?”

Sone took some time, letting the question digest as he tried to think of a way to appease his sister. He had been trying to make sure he didn’t get frustrated with her and all her questions. But he really didn’t like being made to think so hard. He really didn’t like having to dwell on the unease that he’d done such a fine job ignoring. Who wouldn’t feel disquieted? Everything felt so dreamlike.

“I think. I think we boarded when we had made it to the Drylands. Right?” Sone slowly said, not completely sure. Thinking about the trip to the island made him feel weird. He felt a fog covering the whole trip. That fog seemed to extend to even before they had boarded the ship. The discomfort of trying to remember their trip to the island started to make his neck hurt as the tension in his slightly sore muscles increased.

“Really?” Mai asked as she looked up at the ceiling as she thought mulled over his answer. “Cause I don’t remember ever going there.”

Sone’s face scrunched up as a sudden, irrational anger rose up in him and erupted. It coursed through him as angrily as a tropical storm stomped through small islands. “Who cares!? You keep worryin’ bout it but we can’t figure shit out!”

He sprung up on his feet as his outburst began and was now staring at his sister, nostrils flaring as he breathed heavily. It felt good being angry at her but it also felt wrong. He wasn’t sure why he was furious. He just knew it had come and that he had nowhere to direct it. The anger felt old and foreign, as if it had been waiting for it’s moment to explode out of him.

“This whole shit is off! But sitting here, questioning everything, ain’t gonna get shit done!”

Shocked by her brother's outburst, Mai sat frozen to her spot. Deep down, she knew he wasn’t angry with her. She hoped against hope that this anger didn’t belong to him. Her eyesight blurred as tears filled her vision.

As Sone noticed his sister tearing up he faltered, the anger subsiding as waves of guilt suddenly replaced the hot miasma that had been the fury. He quickly walked into the bathroom, mumbling about taking a shower before the next round started.

Mai gruffly wiped her eyes, refusing to let the tears drop.

---

The siblings stepped out onto the arena, both trying their hardest to focus on the task at hand.

They had earned a bye round due to their perfect record in the first stage and had spent some time observing the other matches from the waiting room. The tension between the two had been palpable when the members had come to collect them. They hadn’t really paid much attention to their possible opponents and had merely stared out of the window without really taking in anything.

Sone, in an effort to ease things, was busy chattering about random things as they walked towards the middle of the arena.

“I didn’t really pay attention but I think we’ll be ok.” He mused as he walked with his hands interlocked behind his head, trying to be the picture of effortless cool. He wasn’t doing a very good job. “I’m just looking forward to laying in that bed again. It’s so damned comfy.”

Mai wasn’t in any mood to listen to his prattle. Her mood was only getting worse the longer it took the opponents to appear. She really wanted to let off some steam. She wanted that constant, gnawing fog in her head to be cleared up. She was tired of feeling like she was lost at sea without the stars to guide her.

Across the arena their opponents stepped out. A motley crew who looked odd next to each other. 2 were dressed like the old warriors the siblings remembered seeing pictures of and even had wooden weapons with sharp obsidian shards mounted in them. The other 2 had various flintlock rifles that appeared to have been modified to allow for quick reloading. They also appeared to be dressed like pirates, or at least the stylized pirate pictures they had seen.

This was the first time they had actually stopped and taken a really good look at any of the other candidates. Despite Mai’s sour mood and Sone’s attempts to block out any extraneous thought, something he was really good at, the realization that a lot of the candidates looked like their current opponents finally hit home.

Sone looked at his sister, knowing she was thinking about the odd appearance of their opponents too, and found that she was staunchly ignoring him. His chest fell a bit as he accepted that she had a right to be upset with him.

“You know, this place really is weird.” he said as he began to walk towards the opposition. “Maybe we’ll figure something out if we get to fight the Tu’i.”

Mai felt a jolt of surprise but she wouldn’t give her brother the satisfaction of knowing that she wasn’t as angry as she had been trying to seem. She huffed and followed, keeping a measured distance.

Overhead, the familiar chime signalled the beginning of the match. Before the chime had completely faded Sone already had his throat tatau activated and was issuing a command. “Here!” he yelled as he pointed at the ground, issuing his challenge.

To their surprise the opposing group resisted. The two ancient looking warriors instead took defensive positions in front of the two riflemen. The two riflemen had their rifles leveled and aimed at the siblings.

Mai activated her shoulder tatau and raised her arm to protect her head as she sprinted toward the group, circulating the mana through her skin to allow her to deflect any projectiles. Sone also dashed forward while activating the tatau on his right hand. Out of the tatau sprang a metallic shield attached to his wrist and forearm in the fashion of a buckler. He held it in front of him as he tried to minimize any targetable surface.

The riflemen took their shots, trying to slow the siblings' charge down. The cacophony that followed the shots momentarily deafened the siblings but their charge remained unhindered. Both shots bounced off of the siblings, leaving a cut on Mai’s shoulder and a noticeable dent on Sone’s shield.

As they arrived at the 2 wooden weapon wielding warriors they simultaneously lashed out. Mai threw an empowered push kick into the midriff of the warrior closest to her while Sone used his mana generated shield to bash at the other. The one that Mai kicked was caught by surprise as he was launched back towards the riflemen, who had taken a few steps back as they readied their next rifles. The other had been able to swat Sone’s shield down with their povai. Instead of opposing the direction that his shield arm had been deflected he followed it, letting the weight of the shield pull him down into a roll.

Sone completed the roll and defended against a strike from above with the shield held above his head while he thrust his free left hand out. He was able to grab the other man’s throat in a ferocious grip, activating the tatau in his left hand. Normally his left hand was for healing but this time he reversed the flow, draining the mana and energy out of his opponent.

Mai had been forced to dive towards the middle of the riflemen as they took staggered shots, the last one grazing her calf mid-dive. Ignoring the pain by activating her tatau, she dove at the legs of the closest rifleman from a crouching position and toppled him. The other warrior had been able to regain his footing and was now bearing down on her while the second riflemen was stuck trying not to accidentally hit his ally.

The man Mai had toppled attempted to squirm out from under her but she kept a firm hold on him. She rolled him over and maneuvered her way to his back so she could use him as a meat shield as the second warrior approached and attempted to swing down on them with his war fan. He stopped himself mid strike when he noticed she had flipped him on top of herself to use as a shield. He turned to swatting and attacking at any exposed body parts. Mai quickly drew her legs in and used them to encircle the rifleman’s waist, giving her better control over him.

The second rifleman had turned his attention back to Sone, who had been momentarily forgotten, and had his second rifle aimed at the young healer. Noticing the second rifleman aiming at him he turned the warrior, who was still in his grasp, towards the rifleman and used him as a shield as he advanced on the man. The rifleman let out a frustrated grunt as he drew a dagger that was holstered on his side.

Before the man reached him, Sone threw the warrior at the rifleman. The warrior, who was already unconscious, flopped down in the path of the rifleman. The rifleman barely had any time to react and was too busy trying not to trip over his ally to notice Sone’s battered shield speeding at his face. With a sickening thud the rifleman was incapacitated as soon as the shield made contact with his face.

Mai, still entangled with the other rifleman, had applied a rear naked chokehold and was slowly choking the man out while trying to fend off the other warrior with her legs. The rifleman thrashed wildly as his vision began to fill with dark spots. The warrior finally had enough and decided to swing down at Mai’s arms with his war fans. He was so engrossed in paying attention to Mai that Sone was able to rush up behind him and feed him a ferocious kick, dislocating his jaw.

Mai finally let go of the rifleman after she was sure he had finally lost consciousness and pushed him off of her. As she lay still, catching her breath, her brother offered her a hand. She took it and he pulled her up onto her feet.

“Well. These guys were paying attention.” Sone said as he pointed out the bits of moistened cloth that were jammed into their ears. “My bad.”

“It’s whatever. At least now we know we aren’t getting fed anymore.” Mai answered, trying to come off nonchalant. “Let's just get ready for the next one.”

_______________________________________

In their waiting room, the intruders sat around waiting for their turn to feast again. Most of them weren’t even really paying attention to the tournament, they were only interested in when they would be dining once more.

Mr. Bel was greedily watching, perched atop the back of the couch. “So, the little peasant is here.” he mumbled softly, chuckling eerily to himself. “I can’t wait to taste him.” He slowly licked his thin, cracked lips as he watched the peasant siblings dismantle their opponents.