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056. Beg

The depths were even worse than the depths of the first moon they went to, Edge decided. It was just so unnatural he couldn't help but be on guard at every moment.

"This one's worse than the other, huh?" Rydia said, lying down next to him in the tent.

Edge looked down over at her from where he sat, one knee up and his arm draped over it. "It's pretty bad." He clicked his tongue. "I don't know actually, this one's got a bunch of yous all over it."

Rydia raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah. Makes things slightly more enjoyable."

Rydia pulled the pillow from under her head and slapped him with it. "Don't be so crude."

Edge snorted. "Like you wouldn't think the same thing if it was clones of me instead!"

Rydia laughed, sitting up and shrugging. "Fair point."

She looked down at the blanket she had gathered between her fingers, playing with it absentmindedly. "Edge..."

"About the girl?"

"Yes..."

"You think we should take her in?"

Rydia met his eyes, cocked her head to the side. "Well, I don't think we can just leave her here."

Edge sighed. They'd met the little girl but a few hours ago, before they decided to camp for what very well may be the last time. She wasn't like the other Maenads, there was actually some vague hint of emotion in her eyes, and she looked ever so slightly different. She was small, perhaps five years old, and too small to do any harm. She didn't have that air of danger and raw magic the others did.

"I know." He frowned, looking away from his wife. He knew that she could convince him to do anything with those shiny, hazel eyes. But he had his reservations on this one. "We don't know what she's capable of. If she's got an agenda hidden, or if she's just as dangerous as the rest."

Rydia let out an irritated whining noise. "But she's a child, Edge. We can't just leave a child!"

"Of course we can't leave her here. But we can't just immediately take her home, either."

"Why not?"

"Because she might be dangerous!" He stressed, running a hand through his hair. "We can't just taker her into our home - to our family - after all that we did to protect them!"

"So you'd just put her on a world she's never been to before and leave her? Abandon her for the masses? God knows what they'd do to her, Edge!"

"I know, but it's... it's not our problem to worry about."

Rydia widened her eyes. "Not your problem, maybe, but it's all mine! She's a clone of me, Edge."

"Well," Edge sighed, "we could leave her in Mist."

Rydia seethed silently. "Fine. We'll think about it."

Edge looked up and groaned, running a hand over his face and pulling his mask down with it.

Rydia looked at him, eyes piercing.

"Rydia."

She tensed her jaw and pursed her lips in response.

"Rydia, we might die tomorrow."

"We might die any day." She pointed out, retrieving her pillow from where she'd thrown it earlier.

Edge clamped his eyes shut to refrain from saying anything. "But I don't want to die and the last thing we did was argue."

Rydia looked at him with stern eyes for a moment before relenting. "I know. Me neither."

Edge quirked a small smile. "I'm sorry, that we can't agree on this. But when it's all over, then we can talk again."

Rydia nodded, a smile returning to her face. "I know." She paused, and thought for a moment, her mind going far back into the past. "You were right, all those years ago."

Edge raised his eyebrows.

"When you said that if I wanted you, I had to take the crown, too."

Edge let out a biting chuckle. "I guess. But I was desperate for you that night."

Rydia giggled. "Even though I grew up never knowing about human desires, I was about as desperate for you, too."

Edge chuckled, shifting to sit next to Rydia.

"Come on, we should sleep. The fire's out already." He said, that grey glint in his eye like so many years ago.

When all was said and done and over, and they'd raced all the way back up to the lunar whale, the little girl had come in tow.

"Rydia, we have to talk about this." Edge had said, tapping her on the shoulder as Rydia sat with Rosa, the little girl being kept watch over by Kain and Leonora and Porom and Ceodore.

Rydia's shoulders deflated, as she passed a look to Rosa and followed Edge out of that room. They walked through the lunar whale until they found a small, empty room, on the outskirts of the ship.

"Oh, I hate this." Rydia mumbled, taking a seat on the strange looking machinery.

"Rydia?"

"Yes?"

"We should take her home."

Rydia looked at him suspiciously for a moment. "Who are you?"

Edge grinned, taking the mask down. "Me."

Rydia rolled her eyes. "No, I mean what the hell happened?"

"Well", Edge began.

They'd only been on the whale for a few hours, but Edge had spent most of it with the little girl following him around. Rydia had gone off with Rosa, and Kain and Cecil were off somewhere discussing... their renewed romance or something. His ninja had gone below deck to sleep, and so Edge, with this entirely unsubtle limpet he had following him, was left to contemplate life in one of the rooms, just off the main deck.

He sat down, taking his katana off his belt in their sheaths.

The little girl peered around the door frame, teal hair making her far too conspicuous.

He met eyes with her and she ducked away. Well, perhaps that was the one thing not Rydia-like between the two. Her eyes were a bright, magical, blue.

"Hello." Edge called out, and the girl crept around the door frame.

"Hello." Her voice sounded slightly unnatural for the five-year-old she seemed to be, but otherwise, she seemed just like their middle daughter at that age. She just stood watching him for a moment, as he put his swords out before him, judging what her response might be.

"What're those?"

Edge chuckled to himself. So, she wasn't a danger by the blade.

"They're katana. I use them in battle."

"Oh." She nodded, as though she had all the knowledge in world stored in her tiny little head. She was staring at them almost unblinkingly. "What's battle?"

Edge laughed. "Nothing you need to know about."

"Oh."

She walked a bit closer.

"Who're you?"

"My name is Edge. I am the King of Eblan."

"Edge is not a name, according to my database."

Edge raised his eyebrows. "Your databases are correct. But it's name enough for me."

She sat down before him, watching him as he arranged and check his weapons. He stopped, suddenly, and looked up at her. Her eyes widened and she looked away and surprise.

"What's your name?"

She blinked.

"I wasn't given a name. We only revive numbers. I am C-93862."

"Well," Edge declared, "I'm no good at naming people. Rydia can do that."

"The database records that you are very affectionate towards Rydia."

Edge chuckled. "We have three daughters and two sons together."

The girl looked at him, with very occasional blinks over her big blue eyes.

"You look more like her than any of our daughters do." Edge reconsidered. "Actually, our younger son looks like her a lot."

The girl just watched him.

"And this is... 'family'?"

Edge looked at her sadly. "Yeah. You can join too, if you want."

The girl just looked at him.

He stretched out his arms and picked her up, placing her on his lap like he had with all his other children. "Do you want to come and live with us?"

The girl looked at him and then, very hesitantly, gave a small nod. Then another, more confident, this time. "Yes." She considered for a moment and then added, "please."

Edge grinned. "Excellent, Rydia will be happy."

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