With his fiery hooves, Steve trotted just above the smooth, well-maintained Callian road at a comfortable pace of 200 kilometers an hour. The wind-diverting magic built into his saddle ensured Ed and his newly acquired donkey ears only felt a light breeze as they traveled across the land. Trusting the gullfaxi to follow his mental commands, Ed strummed his guitar and continued working on his new song. It was to be a fun jam about the beauty of the Callian countryside and the Callian women. His heart was in it, but his mind couldn't stop worrying that the Callians didn't believe a werebeetle could be a blue knight. Though it wasn't unheard of, Callians rarely joined the blue-spectrum, though occasionally some other race would make a “feel good” movie about one following their dreams.
Just ahead, Teddy drove his steelhead and was rambling about Ed's drinking habits. Ed could hear him both audibly and mentally, but was none too pleased with what his new knight had to say. Having a white knight was bad enough; at least he never talked back. In the back, Regalia still looked as fresh as when they'd begun at the crack of noon, when Ed had finally woken up.
Now, someone who isn't familiar with Uusa may wonder why the planet had such a large military and why everyone carried a weapon of some sort. It wasn't just to conquer planets to avoid overcrowding on Uusa. It had begun because of the sha'dew – magical creatures born of darkness or light that attack sentient beings. The planet was cursed with creatures so black or white that they appeared one-dimensional, lacking depth. Knights began as protectors against sha'dew and have evolved into their current all-purpose role over the years.
Callie, having multiple strong ley lines, was a hotbed of magical beasts and sha'dew (magical beasts can be harvested). As such, the boys began their fifth battle of the day. Out of the shadows rose the inky black creatures, roaring silently to ruin an otherwise pleasant ride through the countryside.
It was their duty to destroy all sha'dew upon sight. From the time he'd been a child, Ed had seen the best psychics to place the need to eliminate these filthy creatures. Drawing his sword, Ed charged the closest blot with trained precision. From the side, he could see the sharp teeth of a cat-like creature the size of a mid-sized horse. He had to break at least one of the two hidden orbs (the brain orb or the heart orb) or completely sever their connection to one another. His sword was not long enough for a sha'dew this size, which left popping one of the orbs. He'd been defeating sha'dew since he was a page, and his new sword was amazingly sharp. He was trained and confident in his abilities.
However, trained precision and experience proved no match for strong drink and a timid palfrey breed for racing, not war. While the blade hit the sha'dew, it missed both inner bubbles and failed to sever the connection between them. His sword was stuck in the inky blackness for a moment until the creature swatted it off like an annoying blood-sucking mosquito.
Worse yet, Ed slipped backwards off Steve. While his subconscious psionic shields protected him from physical harm, he suffered near-fatal emotional damage. He sat in the dirt for a moment, thinking about how the other two would laugh at him if they saw. His day got worse when they noticed and reacted exactly as he imagined.
Well, Stone chuckled and Teddy shouted “I'm laughing,” across the battlefield as he practically danced through the air with a magisol in one hand and his Mechmian war ax in the other. Ed had never seen either one trip. That was when he realized Teddy must have calculated the scores and purposely fallen in front of the crowd. Had he been working with Nina to secure the position on the coterie?
His sword was a meter away, and the unslain sha'ew was rushing toward him, a true black blob from Ed's viewing angle. Suddenly, Ed didn't feel like practicing his swordsmanship. The classic sword and shield combination had delivered a blow to his pride, but not as deep as the realization that he'd been played.
“Can you just not?” inquired the prince with an annoyed groan as he took out his flask. Unsurprisingly, the sha'dew complied. Finding anyone capable of resisting a direct order from a family member was rare. While he preferred to show off his fighting skills, Ed was not above manipulating some sha'dew if the mood struck him.
He pulled himself up and went over to his sword, which was stuck in the dirt because it was that kind of day. The sha'dew followed him, and although the prince couldn't see its eyes, he could feel the large beast staring at him.
“Look. I'd love to fight, but I'm just not in the mood. A lot is going on in my life right now. I'm going to need you to prevent the other sha'dew from attacking me, kay? Kay,” Ed grumbled as he found a comfortable-looking boulder and took a seat. He watched the battle from the relative safety of a psionic bubble shield and his sha'dew protector, which was defeated by the others rather quickly. Sipping on his flask, he watched the battle before him. It reminded him of how highly rated Stone had been before his assimilation.
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On the ground, Stone fought valiantly, his billowing white cape making him look heroic at a distance as his mace smashed through heads and bodies of the dark forces that surrounded him. Sha'dew hated anything good and pure, and despite his poor taste in friends, Stone was a goody-two-shoes at heart. He called upon white magic to form a barrier. Not to keep enemies out, but to keep them in. He wasn't named the best fighter in their graduating year for naught. White beams of light rained down upon his foes as he raised his mace and cast his holy magic. He'd even managed to catch Steve, tie him to Regalia, and send the pair a little way away to sit out the battle. If there was combat involved, few were better than Sir Enots.
Enemies went to Stone. Sir Acogson went to enemies or shot them from afar. Flittering about the battlefield, Teddy's mech made him extremely mobile. He could run in the air along little platforms from his gaiters. His mech enhanced his senses and physical strength. His hands moved his weapons through intricate, minute motions to locally control time and gravity, allowing him to move at a speed he had no right to have. Stone was brute force, Teddy was brutal efficiency incarnate, stitching one kill to another with grace.
The long rifle on his back was his primary weapon. He'd earned his knighthood as a sniper in a specialized forward reconnaissance and intelligence unit. Fighting sha'dew in close combat was like getting back to the basics for him. His lips moved as he went, explaining things to creatures who couldn't understand. Even the sha'dew Ed commanded didn't actually understand his words, only the intention he had pressed at them. Both his knights took care to damage the land as little as possible, as their training dictated. A knight would allow himself to be injured before property was damaged.
Basics he'd never done well in during their time as pages together in the Book. They'd been assigned the same advanced class for the empire's top students. With his intelligence skewing the charts, Ted had been the only non-magical or psychic human in their group. He'd always received high praise for his brutality, but he rarely beat students in matches. Everyone else was powerful, and he was just more intelligent than the rest. It should be noted that the other students were high-achieving geniuses in their own right, studying law, combat, and advanced subjects from an early age. It isn't fair to compare them to a Mechmian. That was why there were two grades of intelligence quotient: Mechmian and others.
Fearing for his subject's safety, Ed had done everything in his power to get him transferred to another class. One without beings that made even normal magical beings look paltry by comparison. Not that Teddy's group had accepted his good intentions. They'd always insisted his motivation was the fact that Teddy was the only one who could beat him. It wasn't that Teddy would beat him to a pulp during practice. It was that everyone else beat Teddy within an inch of his life multiple times a day, every day. The healers were always kept busy.
Sipping from his flask, Ed wondered how his life had become such a mess. Why did he choose Teddy of all people? No. He was bound to be tricked into that eventually. The pair were codependent. Stone hated silence, and Teddy needed someone to listen to his overly informative rambling. Even after years apart, they moved in perfect harmony.
Why had he chosen Stone? He'd known Stone's massive flaws. The only things he was actually good at were intimidation and fighting. He barely scraped by on his white knight exams because his shield was only strong from the inside out, and his healing magic could barely fix a paper cut. Why did Baron Enots have to develop an immunity to the Castile's family gift? Even if he did, why did he have to disagree at a dinner party? What was wrong with just pretending the vol-au-vent tasted better than the prosciutto-wrapped scallops to make the High King happy? If he had, Stone would be working border security at the Hell Gate to prevent evil from entering the mortal realm without a proper passport or visa.
Depressed by his own weak will, Ed slipped down from his makeshift natural throne and leaned sullenly against the rock. They'd arrive at the first town soon. Just him and the two knights he didn't want. The two he didn't choose for himself. Had his father purposely set him up to fail? Was his father trying to start a war within the Thirteen? Closing his eyes and covering his head, Ed did his best to block out his father's influence. It always hurt to carve it out, and his father would inevitably punish him for trying, but there was nothing he wanted more than to make his own decisions. Everyone deserved that. Didn't they? Of course, not everyone had a perfect father. Perhaps it was for the best that he didn't make his own decisions.
There was no fanfare when the battle was won, just Ed feeling ashamed of himself and sulking. They set up camp early that night, at Teddy's insistence. After all, the next day they would presumably arrive in the first town across the border. First, Teddy and Stone pitched a tent, then the amanofuchigoma was expanded inside. Not a perfect solution, but certainly more comfortable than actually using the tent.
