Note: I do not support Cless and Chester as a pairing. I support Cless/Mint and Chester/Arche. However, I do support them as best friends.
...And, despite popular belief, guys can be best friends without any romance in animes and games. They really can.
Anyway, this story is dedicated to Starry-chan! Please enjoy!
--A Promise Between Friends--
Cless shifted in bed. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't sleep long... He thought he'd gotten better after the first part of this adventure... he thought that the nightmares and worries had stopped... However, as they were finally reaching Dhaos for the last time—with the Eternal Sword in hand—he couldn't help but be afraid...
If I was this strong before, I could've at least saved them from Mars... Mom, Dad, Ami... Why couldn't anyone stop him back then...?
He knew the answer—because no one was strong enough... And Dhaos is a thousand times stronger than Mars... We beat him in the past and the present time, but I could feel his anger... his determination... He's gained stronger allies—I'm almost positive he's gotten stronger since then. Cless glanced over at his sleeping friends. I don't want any of them to get hurt... Mint, Arche, Klarth, Suzu, Ches—
...Wait, where's Chester?
Worried, Cless stood, slowly and silently, and gathered his sword—the Eternal Sword. He glanced around the forest—they had stopped on their fly towards Arlee since it had gotten so late and camped in the forest south of Miguel. He couldn't tell where enemies were—that only scared him more.
He heard something—an attack? Cless didn't care—he bolted off in that direction. Chester...!
He soon reached a clearing—the archer turned as he heard someone coming through the bushes, his arrow aimed and ready. Cless halted, his hands up. "S-sorry..."
Chester lowered his bow with a sigh. "Don't scare me like that... Why going so fast?" The archer turned back to his tree and aimed again—there were arrows all bunched up on the tree, to show he was practicing.
"Ah, well, it's just..." the swordsman paused, embarrassed. "...Did you come out here to practice?"
"Yeah." Another shot—it hit right among the group of arrows. "What about you? What are you doing up?"
"Ah..."
"Couldn't sleep?"
"H-how'd you guess...?"
Chester sighed and walked over to the tree. He started pulling the arrows out—careful so as not to break them. Because I wouldn't be a good friend if I couldn't guess... "Never mind that. What's up?"
"Well, we're getting close to battling Dhaos again... this should be the final battle..."
Stunned, the archer turned his head to stare at his friend. "Oh come on! You've fought him before!"
"But he's gotten stronger... And I don't want anything to happen to all of you... If we don't beat him now, all humanity will suffer!"
"But you have the Eternal Sword."
"What good will that do if... Besides, this battle isn't just for me—it's for everyone. If I mess up, if I don't kill him, then..."
Oh... I guess I never realized how much we've been putting on to Cless... He has the weight of the world on his shoulders... "...Sit. Tell me everything you're thinking."
Cless obeyed; it felt good to finally talk to someone about it, and Chester was the perfect person... "I just don't know... Why does the world think that we can defeat someone that they can't? We're just humans, too..."
"They are pushing a lot on us... but it's partially your fault, you know."
"What do you mean?"
"The way you always accept to help people with a smile on your face!" Chester points out as he tries to pull the arrows out again. "You should stick up for yourself more—don't let people push you into doing everything!"
"But I like helping people..."
"Oh geez, you just don't learn, do you...?" He couldn't just keep pulling arrows out. He sighed and left them for now—instead, he walked over to Cless and sat down next to the swordsman. "You can't just keep gathering more crap like this, or it'll just keep piling up."
"But... I don't want anyone to worry... especially not Mint..."
"...Idiot..."
"Eh?" Cless stared at his friend.
"Idiot... Do you really think you're alone...? ...You're not..." The archer laid down, his hands behind his head. "To be honest, I'm a little nervous about this battle, too... That's why I'm training out here."
"Oh..."
"...I felt Dhaos' power before, when you and Mint went to the past... It was strong, overwhelming... unlike anything I've ever felt before... I've gotten stronger since then, but I doubt Dhaos is just going to sit back and let us get stronger, especially knowing that we're coming for him. No matter how hard I try... sometimes I wonder if it'll really be good enough..."
Cless blinked. I'm not alone... maybe the others are silently suffering, too... Chester's last fight against Dhaos was a loss on his part, and he ended up in bed for days...
He's suffering, too... Is there anything... I can do for him...?
Cless set the Eternal Sword down, and his hand grabbed a fallen branch. "...Then we'll work together..."
"Huh?"
Cless stood up, holding the branch. "What are we sitting around for? Let's train—we'll get strong enough to beat Dhaos, no matter what! Even if it's hard... we'll come through... we have to. For ourselves, and for everyone else..."
Chester noticed the branch and grinned. "That sounds more like you." He glanced around for a branch to use as well. What I said was true, though... I'm worried. I'm scared. I wouldn't admit it to anyone except him, though... especially not Arche... But, maybe Cless is right... If we work together...
He found a branch and grabbed it. He stood as well, setting his bow and quiver to lean against a tree. The boys stepped out in the middle of the clearing, facing each other. "You ready for this, Cless?"
The blonde nodded—"We're going to work hard... to defeat Dhaos!" Both charged in—the sticks met, like swords. They pulled back and slashed again—stamina, endurance, strength, skill... they were determined to improve it all before the final battle... or to at least know each other's strengths and weaknesses to help each other better.
As they sparred, neither noticed a pair of monsters grab the Eternal Sword and Chester's bow.
Their sticks hit again—and Chester's broke. "Keh..."
"Looks like you chose a bad stick," jokes Cless.
"Oh no, not that you've gotten stronger or anything..."
"I—" A snarl started them both—they turned to find two ugly, lizard-like monsters standing there with their weapons.
"The Eternal Sword...!"
"Dammit, they have our weapons!"
Why am I such an idiot, to leave the Eternal Sword sitting around like that...?! Now all I have is a stick...
The monsters charged at them—the two jumped to opposite sides to dodge. It's because I have the Eternal Sword that everyone's counting on me... Without that, I'm nothing...
Each one was stuck trying to dodge a monster. The monster Chester faced off against used its own sword and had Chester's bow on its back. Cless', on the other hand, was using the Eternal Sword to fight him with. Holding only sticks, neither could counter...
...Chester's still trying, even without the Eternal Sword, though... He doesn't even have magic... Even then, he's practicing in secret to get better, to be able to defeat Dhaos, with just his bow... What do special weapons matter if we're not strong enough to use them, anyway? That's why...
...That's why I can't give up now! Cless stopped and ducked down, barely dodging a swing of the strong sword—he thrust the stick up into the monster, stalling it. He looked around for his friend—losing against the other monster.
"Chester!" Cless charged in and hit the monster as hard as he could over the head with his stick—Chester jumped back and grabbed another big stick to fight with. His friend hurried over, and both stood with their sticks up for defense.
"Even with sticks, we've gotten stronger, right...?" Chester asks.
"Yeah. We can't give up or lose now..."
"We'll work as a team..."
"We're going to defeat Dhaos!" Cless yells, and both charge in to attack the monsters—each head for one monster. Cless' monster swings, but he holds his left arm up to take the blow. "Light Spear!"
Chester didn't try taking a hit from the sword—he instead stalled, dodging a few swings—and then swung his stick sideways at the monster's head.
Both daemons fell between the two friends.
"It ends here...!"
The two boys charge in, stabbing—they each take a blow, but their sticks go straight through the monsters. All four creatures in the clearing pause... and then the monsters fall.
Out of breath, the two friends grin at each other.
"Don't underestimate us... just 'cause we have sticks..."
"Haha... If we can kill monsters with sticks, maybe we can defeat Dhaos!"
"What's with that 'maybe'?" teases Chester. "We will defeat Dhaos..."
"...Right. We're all working together... You, me, Mint, Arche, Klarth, Suzu... We'll overcome this together!"
"That's the spirit!"
Thank you, Chester... I'm lucky... to have a friend like you. No, not just a friend... a best friend!