Chapter 1
"A royal decree from the castle of Baron for you, sir," the Chamberlain said, bearing a white letter with golden decorations on a silver platter.
"A little pretentious, isn't this?" Edge teased as he took the letter from the plate.
The Chamberlain grimaced. "I cannot seem to make you understand, sir, that there is a certain level of sophistication that is only fitting to -- "
"Cecil and Rosa are getting married!" Edge interrupted him, having heard the Chamberlain's speech many times before.
"Excuse me, my lord?"
Edge rolled his eyes at the expression. "Honestly, Sam, I don't think people have said 'my lord' for two centuries."
The Chamberlain coughed. "I would greatly prefer it, sir -- "
"The ceremony is in a week," Edge went on. "Wow, this is going to be a pretty posh affair, eh? Better polish up on my manners!"
The Chamberlain let that one go. "Well, I'm sure it will be, as Cecil is one of the heroes of this century, and has every right to all the ceremony in the world."
Edge gave him a look. "I'm one of those heroes, too, you know."
The Chamberlain sniffed. "Undoubtedly. Is Cecil going to ascend the throne of Baron at this ceremony, as well?"
Edge scanned his invitation again. "Yup, that seems to be the case."
"Well, that's good," the Chamberlain said. "If I remember correctly, Baron's been without a king for three months now, and that is not how it should be."
"That's why I'm king here," Edge replied boastfully.
The Chamberlain sniffed again. "Of course."
Edge laughed. Sam had been by his side ever since he was born a young prince of Eblan, and was his most trusted adviser on all matters. He was much older, and tried to make Edge more reserved, as he thought befit a king. But although Edge refused to change his ways, he and Sam still got along.
"So when can I get to Baron? They'll have a room or something for me, won't they?" asked Edge, lying across his throne, resting his head on one of the cushy armrests.
The Chamberlain heaved a great sigh and said, "The messenger from Baron is resting from the flight, and he awaits your answer to Sir Cecil and Lady Rosa. He says that they will assuredly have the best of accommodations for you, and you are welcome as soon or as late as you'd like."
"Well, tell the messenger from Baron that I'll -- actually, you know what, I'll tell them myself," Edge said, jumping up and running to the cabinet in the throne room.
"Sir, wouldn't you rather have someone take dictation?" the Chamberlain tried feebly.
"Sir, don't you think the future King and Queen of Baron would much prefer a personalized letter?" Edge returned smartly, returning to his throne with a piece of polished wood to write on, piece of parchment, and quill. As he scratched on the paper, he instructed, "Ready the airship, I'll be piloting it myself and leaving in the morning in four days. Oh, and could you get someone to, you know, pack up some nice clothes, and stuff?"
"I'll have one of your nicest outfits prepared," the Chamberlain replied. He hesitated. "You won't -- er -- be -- bringing anybody, will you? One of those ..." he cringed, "girls of yours?"
Edge ruffled a hand through his hair, which was growing down to his ears at the moment. It was a nervous habit of his. The ruffling, that is, not the hair growth. "Sam, I haven't seen anybody in two months, okay? You don't have to worry about that, I told you."
"And I am indeed very pleased with these new, albeit unfamiliar, circumstances," the Chamberlain said dryly. "I just wanted to be sure. That would, as I'm sure you can tell, be at the height of improper behavior."
"Thanks for thinking I'd be a jerk, Sam," Edge said.
"At the same time, sir," the Chamberlain began again, "I'm sure the city of Eblan would be very interested in any woman you might be considering seriously."
Edge looked directly at the Chamberlain. "I know." And there was a note in his tone that warned the Chamberlain to leave the subject alone.
"Yes, sir," and the Chamberlain bowed a little bit. "The lower left side of the city is scheduled for final rebuilding touches. Would you like to look around and ensure that nothing has been neglected?"
"Yes, I'll be down later," Edge answered shortly.
The Chamberlain nodded. "I'll just go discuss the plans once more with the architects," he said, and wisely withdrew to leave Edge alone.
Edge sighed.
~~~
Three nights later, Edge held a small banquet for some of his greatest Ninjas, a sort of farewell party before he departed to stay a week at Baron. The group, most of whom had been training together since they were teenagers, was having a wonderful time. Looking around at some of his closest friends, Edge felt a small pang of jealousy, as most of them had been married happily for years. He had been much too busy defending his city, not to mention the whole world, from evil. Which he wasn't upset about, of course, but sometimes he wished he could find that certain someone for himself . Then again, it wasn't entirely his battling past that could be blamed for his lack of true love. He'd spent many years of his life dating as many beautiful women as he could, and there was great reason to lose respect for the king of Eblan when his history with women was heard .
While his mind was on that familiar course of thinking, a footman entered and cleared his throat. The happy party became quiet and looked at him.
The footman, trembling with the importance of his job, announced loudly, "Sorry to interrupt, but we have a visitor -- the greatest Dragoon of our times, Kain of Baron!"
"Really quite unnecessary," said the tall, rather dusty young man who strode into the room. "Sorry I'm not up to par on the clothes, Edge, I've been traveling, you know how it is."
"Kain!" was the general gasp that ran around the room, and all of the Ninjas, Ninjas' wives, and the Chamberlain stood up to show their respect. Edge stood too, with a giant grin on his face, and ran around the table to give the newcomer a giant bear hug.
"Kain, what are you doing here?" he cried, unable to stop himself from smiling. "You cut your hair!" he added, smacking the now-short blond hair rather ungently.
Kain had a great grin on his face too, and, pulling Edge's longer locks, replied, "And you're growing yours out! Guess we switched hairstyles."
"Well, what brings 'the greatest Dragoon of our times' to the humble castle of Eblan?" Edge joked with him. The footman winced.
Kain turned to him and said in an aside, "He's just kidding, man, I thought it was a great introduction." Turning back to Edge, he said, "I just wanted to stop by, catch up on old times, all that. I heard you're leaving tomorrow morning, and that's fine, as long as you've got room to put up someone like me for the night."
"Aren't you coming with me back to Baron then?" asked Edge.
"I'm not going to the wedding or the ceremony, actually," Kain said, a little bit uncomfortably.
Edge nodded and didn't push the subject. "Well, have a seat!" he welcomed him, and they turned around to discover another place had appeared next to Edge's. Kain grinned and accepted.
After the banquet -- which, thanks to Kain's appearance, lasted much longer than Edge had planned -- Edge and Kain retreated to Edge's room to reminisce in some privacy. "Don't mind me, I've just got to make sure they packed all the clothes I wanted," Edge said, flicking through the arrangement of soft cloth that was laid out for his trip.
"Damn, Edge, what are you, a woman?" teased Kain.
Edge just rolled his eyes and held up his outfit for the ceremony. "Nice, huh?"
Kain nodded approvingly. "Looking to impress someone?" he said knowingly.
Edge glared at him. "Hey, you haven't seen her in months, even I'd be thinking about my clothes," Kain protested.
Edge looked at him loftily. "Maybe a little."
"I think you should tell her how you feel," Kain said.
"I don't -- I just think she's pretty," Edge defended himself.
Kain shook his head. "All right, if you say so, man," he said. "Then you should tell her that you think she's very . pretty. Get it off your chest. Invite her to the palace sometime. You guys are old friends, it's a totally valid request."
"I haven't corresponded with her in a month and a half," Edge admitted. "A month and seventeen days, actually."
Kain raised his eyebrows. "Well, you can get to know her again at the party, then," he said. "Just so you know, I heard she won't be getting there until the day of the ceremony."
"Oh, I don't care," Edge shrugged. Then he and Kain exchanged looks and laughed, because it was obviously a lie.
"Man, I wish you'd be there with me, give me, you know, on-site girl advice," Edge joked. Kain smiled. "But really, Kain, are you -- okay with all of this?"
It was well-known that Kain had been in love with Rosa for a long time. He and Cecil, in fact, had been rivals for her, once upon a time, although Rosa had known almost immediately that Cecil was her true love. Kain had backed off fairly, though, and was long past jealousy of Cecil. But it can never be easy seeing someone you once placed all your hope in getting married to someone else.
"I'm doing all right," Kain said. "Cecil and Rosa seemed pretty understanding about my leaving during the ceremony, though. Besides, I am heading to do something that I need to accomplish."
"What's that?"
"I'm going to Mt. Ordeals to meet KluYa," Kain replied. "Or rather, KluYa's spirit."
Edge's eyes widened. "Wow, that's big news! Good luck, man! But I'm sure that the light will accept you with open arms. I'm so happy for you!"
Kain shrugged. "Hey, I've been a messenger of darkness for long enough, right?" and he laughed. "I should be back in about a week a changed man. Hopefully you'll still be there when I return to Baron."
"You're going alone?" asked Edge, a touch of worry in his voice.
"Well, it is my journey," Kain replied. "I need to deal with the light alone."
"But on the way up the mountain, surely you could bring a companion or two," Edge said.
"I couldn't put any of my men in such peril," Kain said. "Most of the men that are manning the airship on the way to Mt. Ordeals are married, have commitments. Besides, compared to you and I, they have little or no battle experience."
"I know you're the greatest Dragoon of our times," Edge replied with a wink, "but Mt. Ordeals is dangerous! It's not called that for no reason. You never know what you might run into. I have a couple of unmarried Ninjas that would be honored to accompany you ..."
Kain laughed. "It's not just that they're married, you know. I just -- I need alone time, anyway, Edge. I'll be okay. Plenty of supplies, tents, everything. I'm even considering wearing some of the armor that we found on the moon, and that stuff has got to be strong enough to ward off anything you could find on this planet."
Edge sighed. "I'll admit I don't like it, Kain. But I can't change your mind. Just be safe."
Kain nodded and said, "I don't want to get killed any more than you want me to. I'll be good, I promise!"
They laughed together, reveling in each other's company again. Edge and Kain had gotten to know each other quite well on their final journey through the moon to meet Zemus. The path had been filled with difficult monsters, and often they'd find themselves battling demons back-to-back, the girls and Cecil forming a triangle of power and magic behind them. And the nights that they'd camped, they'd naturally drawn to each other until they became close friends. Cecil, of course, participated in their conversation often, but just as often he was with Rosa, so he hadn't formed a bond such as that between Edge and Kain. Besides, you can never go through battling the source of all evil without some sort of camaraderie.
"I brought the Lance of White, and I'm sure that'll help me in any battles I need to fight," Kain said. "Remember the battle we had to fight to get that one on the moon? I hardly thought it was worth it -- until I held it in my hand." He sighed at the memory. "I can still feel that first surge of power that jolted through my body when I picked it up."
"Ha!" laughed Edge. "Just think about how I felt having the Murasame in one hand and the Masamune in the other!"
"True," Kain said. "You know, Rosa requested that Rydia wear the heroine robe to the ceremony? And they're both going wear the protect belts that we found, isn't that the cutest thing you've ever heard?"
"Hm, maybe I should bring the Masamune," Edge said thoughtfully, and such was their talk late into the night.
"A royal decree from the castle of Baron for you, sir," the Chamberlain said, bearing a white letter with golden decorations on a silver platter.
"A little pretentious, isn't this?" Edge teased as he took the letter from the plate.
The Chamberlain grimaced. "I cannot seem to make you understand, sir, that there is a certain level of sophistication that is only fitting to -- "
"Cecil and Rosa are getting married!" Edge interrupted him, having heard the Chamberlain's speech many times before.
"Excuse me, my lord?"
Edge rolled his eyes at the expression. "Honestly, Sam, I don't think people have said 'my lord' for two centuries."
The Chamberlain coughed. "I would greatly prefer it, sir -- "
"The ceremony is in a week," Edge went on. "Wow, this is going to be a pretty posh affair, eh? Better polish up on my manners!"
The Chamberlain let that one go. "Well, I'm sure it will be, as Cecil is one of the heroes of this century, and has every right to all the ceremony in the world."
Edge gave him a look. "I'm one of those heroes, too, you know."
The Chamberlain sniffed. "Undoubtedly. Is Cecil going to ascend the throne of Baron at this ceremony, as well?"
Edge scanned his invitation again. "Yup, that seems to be the case."
"Well, that's good," the Chamberlain said. "If I remember correctly, Baron's been without a king for three months now, and that is not how it should be."
"That's why I'm king here," Edge replied boastfully.
The Chamberlain sniffed again. "Of course."
Edge laughed. Sam had been by his side ever since he was born a young prince of Eblan, and was his most trusted adviser on all matters. He was much older, and tried to make Edge more reserved, as he thought befit a king. But although Edge refused to change his ways, he and Sam still got along.
"So when can I get to Baron? They'll have a room or something for me, won't they?" asked Edge, lying across his throne, resting his head on one of the cushy armrests.
The Chamberlain heaved a great sigh and said, "The messenger from Baron is resting from the flight, and he awaits your answer to Sir Cecil and Lady Rosa. He says that they will assuredly have the best of accommodations for you, and you are welcome as soon or as late as you'd like."
"Well, tell the messenger from Baron that I'll -- actually, you know what, I'll tell them myself," Edge said, jumping up and running to the cabinet in the throne room.
"Sir, wouldn't you rather have someone take dictation?" the Chamberlain tried feebly.
"Sir, don't you think the future King and Queen of Baron would much prefer a personalized letter?" Edge returned smartly, returning to his throne with a piece of polished wood to write on, piece of parchment, and quill. As he scratched on the paper, he instructed, "Ready the airship, I'll be piloting it myself and leaving in the morning in four days. Oh, and could you get someone to, you know, pack up some nice clothes, and stuff?"
"I'll have one of your nicest outfits prepared," the Chamberlain replied. He hesitated. "You won't -- er -- be -- bringing anybody, will you? One of those ..." he cringed, "girls of yours?"
Edge ruffled a hand through his hair, which was growing down to his ears at the moment. It was a nervous habit of his. The ruffling, that is, not the hair growth. "Sam, I haven't seen anybody in two months, okay? You don't have to worry about that, I told you."
"And I am indeed very pleased with these new, albeit unfamiliar, circumstances," the Chamberlain said dryly. "I just wanted to be sure. That would, as I'm sure you can tell, be at the height of improper behavior."
"Thanks for thinking I'd be a jerk, Sam," Edge said.
"At the same time, sir," the Chamberlain began again, "I'm sure the city of Eblan would be very interested in any woman you might be considering seriously."
Edge looked directly at the Chamberlain. "I know." And there was a note in his tone that warned the Chamberlain to leave the subject alone.
"Yes, sir," and the Chamberlain bowed a little bit. "The lower left side of the city is scheduled for final rebuilding touches. Would you like to look around and ensure that nothing has been neglected?"
"Yes, I'll be down later," Edge answered shortly.
The Chamberlain nodded. "I'll just go discuss the plans once more with the architects," he said, and wisely withdrew to leave Edge alone.
Edge sighed.
~~~
Three nights later, Edge held a small banquet for some of his greatest Ninjas, a sort of farewell party before he departed to stay a week at Baron. The group, most of whom had been training together since they were teenagers, was having a wonderful time. Looking around at some of his closest friends, Edge felt a small pang of jealousy, as most of them had been married happily for years. He had been much too busy defending his city, not to mention the whole world, from evil. Which he wasn't upset about, of course, but sometimes he wished he could find that certain someone for himself . Then again, it wasn't entirely his battling past that could be blamed for his lack of true love. He'd spent many years of his life dating as many beautiful women as he could, and there was great reason to lose respect for the king of Eblan when his history with women was heard .
While his mind was on that familiar course of thinking, a footman entered and cleared his throat. The happy party became quiet and looked at him.
The footman, trembling with the importance of his job, announced loudly, "Sorry to interrupt, but we have a visitor -- the greatest Dragoon of our times, Kain of Baron!"
"Really quite unnecessary," said the tall, rather dusty young man who strode into the room. "Sorry I'm not up to par on the clothes, Edge, I've been traveling, you know how it is."
"Kain!" was the general gasp that ran around the room, and all of the Ninjas, Ninjas' wives, and the Chamberlain stood up to show their respect. Edge stood too, with a giant grin on his face, and ran around the table to give the newcomer a giant bear hug.
"Kain, what are you doing here?" he cried, unable to stop himself from smiling. "You cut your hair!" he added, smacking the now-short blond hair rather ungently.
Kain had a great grin on his face too, and, pulling Edge's longer locks, replied, "And you're growing yours out! Guess we switched hairstyles."
"Well, what brings 'the greatest Dragoon of our times' to the humble castle of Eblan?" Edge joked with him. The footman winced.
Kain turned to him and said in an aside, "He's just kidding, man, I thought it was a great introduction." Turning back to Edge, he said, "I just wanted to stop by, catch up on old times, all that. I heard you're leaving tomorrow morning, and that's fine, as long as you've got room to put up someone like me for the night."
"Aren't you coming with me back to Baron then?" asked Edge.
"I'm not going to the wedding or the ceremony, actually," Kain said, a little bit uncomfortably.
Edge nodded and didn't push the subject. "Well, have a seat!" he welcomed him, and they turned around to discover another place had appeared next to Edge's. Kain grinned and accepted.
After the banquet -- which, thanks to Kain's appearance, lasted much longer than Edge had planned -- Edge and Kain retreated to Edge's room to reminisce in some privacy. "Don't mind me, I've just got to make sure they packed all the clothes I wanted," Edge said, flicking through the arrangement of soft cloth that was laid out for his trip.
"Damn, Edge, what are you, a woman?" teased Kain.
Edge just rolled his eyes and held up his outfit for the ceremony. "Nice, huh?"
Kain nodded approvingly. "Looking to impress someone?" he said knowingly.
Edge glared at him. "Hey, you haven't seen her in months, even I'd be thinking about my clothes," Kain protested.
Edge looked at him loftily. "Maybe a little."
"I think you should tell her how you feel," Kain said.
"I don't -- I just think she's pretty," Edge defended himself.
Kain shook his head. "All right, if you say so, man," he said. "Then you should tell her that you think she's very . pretty. Get it off your chest. Invite her to the palace sometime. You guys are old friends, it's a totally valid request."
"I haven't corresponded with her in a month and a half," Edge admitted. "A month and seventeen days, actually."
Kain raised his eyebrows. "Well, you can get to know her again at the party, then," he said. "Just so you know, I heard she won't be getting there until the day of the ceremony."
"Oh, I don't care," Edge shrugged. Then he and Kain exchanged looks and laughed, because it was obviously a lie.
"Man, I wish you'd be there with me, give me, you know, on-site girl advice," Edge joked. Kain smiled. "But really, Kain, are you -- okay with all of this?"
It was well-known that Kain had been in love with Rosa for a long time. He and Cecil, in fact, had been rivals for her, once upon a time, although Rosa had known almost immediately that Cecil was her true love. Kain had backed off fairly, though, and was long past jealousy of Cecil. But it can never be easy seeing someone you once placed all your hope in getting married to someone else.
"I'm doing all right," Kain said. "Cecil and Rosa seemed pretty understanding about my leaving during the ceremony, though. Besides, I am heading to do something that I need to accomplish."
"What's that?"
"I'm going to Mt. Ordeals to meet KluYa," Kain replied. "Or rather, KluYa's spirit."
Edge's eyes widened. "Wow, that's big news! Good luck, man! But I'm sure that the light will accept you with open arms. I'm so happy for you!"
Kain shrugged. "Hey, I've been a messenger of darkness for long enough, right?" and he laughed. "I should be back in about a week a changed man. Hopefully you'll still be there when I return to Baron."
"You're going alone?" asked Edge, a touch of worry in his voice.
"Well, it is my journey," Kain replied. "I need to deal with the light alone."
"But on the way up the mountain, surely you could bring a companion or two," Edge said.
"I couldn't put any of my men in such peril," Kain said. "Most of the men that are manning the airship on the way to Mt. Ordeals are married, have commitments. Besides, compared to you and I, they have little or no battle experience."
"I know you're the greatest Dragoon of our times," Edge replied with a wink, "but Mt. Ordeals is dangerous! It's not called that for no reason. You never know what you might run into. I have a couple of unmarried Ninjas that would be honored to accompany you ..."
Kain laughed. "It's not just that they're married, you know. I just -- I need alone time, anyway, Edge. I'll be okay. Plenty of supplies, tents, everything. I'm even considering wearing some of the armor that we found on the moon, and that stuff has got to be strong enough to ward off anything you could find on this planet."
Edge sighed. "I'll admit I don't like it, Kain. But I can't change your mind. Just be safe."
Kain nodded and said, "I don't want to get killed any more than you want me to. I'll be good, I promise!"
They laughed together, reveling in each other's company again. Edge and Kain had gotten to know each other quite well on their final journey through the moon to meet Zemus. The path had been filled with difficult monsters, and often they'd find themselves battling demons back-to-back, the girls and Cecil forming a triangle of power and magic behind them. And the nights that they'd camped, they'd naturally drawn to each other until they became close friends. Cecil, of course, participated in their conversation often, but just as often he was with Rosa, so he hadn't formed a bond such as that between Edge and Kain. Besides, you can never go through battling the source of all evil without some sort of camaraderie.
"I brought the Lance of White, and I'm sure that'll help me in any battles I need to fight," Kain said. "Remember the battle we had to fight to get that one on the moon? I hardly thought it was worth it -- until I held it in my hand." He sighed at the memory. "I can still feel that first surge of power that jolted through my body when I picked it up."
"Ha!" laughed Edge. "Just think about how I felt having the Murasame in one hand and the Masamune in the other!"
"True," Kain said. "You know, Rosa requested that Rydia wear the heroine robe to the ceremony? And they're both going wear the protect belts that we found, isn't that the cutest thing you've ever heard?"
"Hm, maybe I should bring the Masamune," Edge said thoughtfully, and such was their talk late into the night.