Phillip. The last of the Eight. Alicia almost choked when she heard Colin say his name. She looked at Katrin, at Colin, and at Phillip all within three feet of each other and her hair almost stood on end. {The three kids that the Green Men are willing to go to such lengths for… if they ever saw THIS…!}
"I've been… around." Phillip said evasively.
"Oh, not just around!" Katrin jumped. "Would you believe it, Colin? The one who gave me all those habitats… you remember the habitats? It was him! It was him all along! He's the one who… who…"
Katrin went on and on like that. Apparently, Phillip had been doing a lot for her without any of them realizing it until now. And he'd done a lot since then as well.
Alicia watched Colin as he went from surprised to grim to cold to angry to confused and then a very complex mix of all the above. He actually seemed… hurt.
{Well, well…} Alicia rubbed her hands. {There} was a whole pot of ammunition she could use to shoot him with. With him this vulnerable and her thus armed, she felt fairly certain she could literally make him cry.
But not now, of course. Not until she either had a really really good opportunity, or until he did something to make her mad. Or until she got bored.
***
Colin heard Alicia's thoughts without intending to, without knowing how. It didn't really surprise him. Alicia was mean. She always was.
What did surprise him was her analysis of himself. {Hurt? Vulnerable?}
He didn't like to think it was the truth, but one thing he had to say about Alicia; when it came to Colin's weaknesses and faults, so far, she had always been accurate. It was like she was an expert at tormenting him. She could see everything he did wrong, said wrong, thought wrong even when he thought he'd been right. The worst part about the things she said to torture him was that all of it was true.
So… what just happened? How had it happened?
Katrin met Phillip, they were traveling together… and Colin felt hurt? Why would he? Why {did} he?
"Why didn't you tell me?" Colin asked.
"What?" Katrin blinked. "Why would I need to?"
{That} hit him like a punch in the face. He didn't know why it came as such a shock, such a blow. But it did.
***
Alicia saw the look on Colin's face and thought, {say… that kinda looks familiar. That's… that's the same look Jonah had earlier today…}
This led to some distinct uneasiness. She didn't know why she felt uneasy about Jonah having that look on his face. It was his own fault for saying she was his or some such. She was her own person. Nobody controlled her, nobody had any right to say what she could do or who she could Travel with or be with or talk with or anything! Not her dad, not Jonah, nobody!
***
Colin heard that too. He thought back on the way Alicia's dad treated her. The way Jonah treated her and Larry.
{I can't blame her for feeling that way, I guess. Wait. Why should I even care? She can go do whatever she wants.}
{Right. I don't care. Alicia's not what's bothering me right now. What's bothering me is…}
What? Katrin? Phillip?
{No. What's bothering me is Katrin AND Phillip. Together.}
That last thought implied a lot more than he'd intended to. But then he looked at her talking about him. Looked at him looking at her. Looked at the way she looked at him.
Colin had been observing a lot today. He'd observed the mountain. He'd observed the Lords of the Wilds. And now he observed Katrin and Phillip.
And he turned around. He could not observe any more.
Alicia stepped in. "Shouldn't you guys be preparing for the next stage of the Tournament?"
"Yeah." Colin said shortly.
The arena was being cleared, damages fixed, clean-up crews running about. The Wilds were leaving through the south entrance, and a short announcement asked the participants to wait ten minutes before the next stage began.
Meanwhile, the news came on.
***
"Good evening. This is the Nakama World All Night News, back on the air thanks to sixteen newly constructed comms towers all around Nakama World. A big thank you to our Comms Tower Sponsors, the United Industrial Front, 'Coming Together To Serve All Your Needs'!
"Tonight, a big event takes place in Nakama World. The Mountains' Tournament of Ascension has begun in earnest. Qualification tests and the Preliminaries have reduced the number of contestants from over five hundred guys to just twelve.
"We go now, live, to Skycrown Mountain's arena to ask a few questions of our hopeful candidates, and the host of this Tournament, the Mountain Princess.
"Princess Casiphia, what were the Qualifications and Preliminaries all about, really? We know the candidates were asked questions and the Preliminaries themselves appeared to be a test of some sort."
"They were about all." Casiphia answered quietly.
"All of what?"
"All of them." Casiphia said, as if it was obvious.
"By 'them', you mean…?"
"The candidates."
"Um… do you mean about all the candidates, or all about the candidates?"
"That is correct."
"Uh… okay… what about the candidates left? What do you think of them?"
"They are."
"…"
"…"
"… {Right}. That's very helpful. Ahem. May we interview the guys?"
"By all means."
"Thank you, Princess. Let's get down there and ask a few questions, shall we?"
There was a short commercial break advertising opportunities in the New Granath Mines as a single subtitle bar below advised everyone of rising food prices all across Nakama World.
"And we're back on the western end of the arena with Malcolm, Mountaineer of Numero. Malcolm, what do you think your chances are in this Tournament?"
"Mathematically speaking, one in twelve."
"Indeed, there are that few contestants remaining. But that's assuming that everyone has equal chances. Do you believe this to be the case?"
"We've all made it this far, and with little difference in the times of our arrival at the finish lines. Variances will more than compensate for a margin that small."
"So in the end it's all about luck, then? Who gets matched up against who is going to be more important than overall strength?"
"That is correct. Until sufficient data is acquired, a proper calculation cannot be achieved. Estimates must be made from case to case only as the matches are called."
"That's very logical of you. Coming up next, we have Shinji, the Swan of the Wind Knights. Shinji, most of the remaining contestants are Mountaineers. But you're not. Seeing as you're competing for the title of the Mountain Prince, what do you think your chances are in this Tournament?"
"I think my chances are fair. It has been a straightforward challenge, and everyone here fights clean so far."
"Were you expecting someone to fight dirty?"
"Well, we were told there were no restrictions, so there really aren't any rules, but it appears everyone who made it past the questions uphold their own code of honor. This Tournament just feels… free."
"Are you referring to cost, or…"
"It feels less restricted. Like we can be creative, and take novel approaches to the obstacles we're presented with."
"But that's just the preliminaries. The rest of the Tournament is going to be formal duels between contestants."
"I believe so, yes."
"Do you think {those} fights will be as 'free'?"
"I think I'm about to find out."
"Thank you, Shinji. Next we have Little Tim, Mountaineer of Foggy Heights. Little Tim, what do you think your chances are in this Tournament?"
"I'm not going to make it." Little Tim said, shaking his head. "I'm gonna die."
"But you're going to fight anyway?"
"Yeah. It'll be fun."
"Do you have any particular advantages in the upcoming battles that just might help you survive?"
"Well… I'm cute. Right?"
"Uh… I don't think that's going to help much, but thank you for being candid. Next is Benny, Mountaineer of Granath. Benny, you're the newest Mountaineer on the job… what was it, just last night that you joined their ranks?"
"Something like that. It doesn't matter." Benny said.
"What do you think of your chances in this Tournament?"
"It's a Tournament. Tournaments are my favorite part of Nakama World."
"So it doesn't matter, then, what it's about?"
"Tournaments are Tournaments. And I'm a specialist at Tournaments."
"A confident answer. Moving on, we have Makoto, Mountaineer of North Spiral. Makoto, you've come a long way for this. What do you think your chances are in this Tournament?"
"The Tournament has been challenging, but challenges make you stronger."
"Do you think you can win?"
"I will do my best." Makoto said, formally.
"Do you have any particular advantages in the upcoming battles that might make you the winner?"
"None. I will fight fair and I will give it my all."
"Thank you, Makoto. We next have Ezri, Mountaineer of South Hour. Ezri, what do you think your chances are in this Tournament?"
"Greetings and peace to all, especially my family and friends from South Hour. It has been a long and difficult battle, but I remain convinced that determination and true fortitude of the heart shall triumph over any adversity. For indeed, the Mountain tries all men and all hearts by its very nature; the heights call every spirit that aspires in order to challenge them, and…"
"O-kay, that's very poetic of you, Ezri, but do you have any particular advantages to winning this Tournament?"
"As I was saying, the determination of man that…"
"Understood. Thank you, Ezri. We come now to Big Tim, Mountaineer of Soft Snows. Big Tim, you are the oldest and most experienced of the Mountaineers; you've been Mountaineer of Deep Crag, South Hour and Granath before taking the post at Soft Snows. Being on the continent of Eternal Winter, this is practically your home territory. Do you think you have the advantage in winning this Tournament?"
"Mm." Big Tim grunted.
"Is that a yes, or a no?"
"Mmm." Big Tim grunted again.
"Uh… right. Are you confident that your experience and homeground advantages will win the day?"
"Mmmpfh." Big Tim sort of cleared his throat.
"I've no idea what that means, but you sound confident, at least. Coming up next, we have Ian, Mountaineer of North Hour. Ian, what do you think your chances are?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Ian grinned. "I'm gonna wipe out everybody."
"Wow! You really sound confident!"
"I am." Ian said. "There's nothing up here that my dragons can't beat."
"Dragons? You mean you've got more than one?!"
"Hush! Don't tell!"
"But we're live on global news!"
"Oh. Oh well, what does it matter? They're all going to get fried anyway."
"There you have it people, one very confident Mountaineer with a very clear reason for confidence. Up next we have… hello?! Can we ask you a few… no? It's for the news, just a few questions… oh. Okay, then. We'll skip him and move on to Satrox, the Sage of the Ancient Ways. Satrox, you're one of the Seven Champions of the Order of Justice. If you won this Tournament, do you think you might face a clash of priorities and responsibilities?"
"Absolutely. So I better not win."
"But you're competing anyway. Are you going to withdraw?"
"No way. I came here to fight a certain someone, and I'm not letting him get away so easily."
"A certain someone…? I wonder who. I'm guessing it's the guy we have at the far eastern end. Meanwhile, we have here Sora, Mountaineer of Lamico. What do you think of your chances, Sora?"
"It doesn't matter." Sora answered.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm going to win this. No matter what."
"Another confident candidate! Sora, do you have any particular reason for such confidence? Any advantage you have?"
"I have every advantage." Sora answered.
"Care to share?"
"Not right now, no."
"Then we shall see for ourselves once you're in action. We're almost out of time so let's finish this up quick. Last of all, we have Colin, the Destroyer of Lamico. I'm amazed he got this far while being at the top of the Most Wanted list, but the Mountain Princess forbade Dreamer against Dreamer fighting around Skycrown Mountain for an hour before and after the Tournament… oh, look we're out of time! The Tournament is about to start in earnest now, and we just narrowly escaped having to interview… I mean… uh… never mind. Let's just get on with it!"
***
The Mountain's Tournament of Ascension, Participants from West to East after the break:
Malcolm
Shinji
Little Tim
Benny
Makoto
Ezri
Big Tim
Ian
Phillip
Satrox
Sora
Colin