What Do You Fight For?

Teddie was currently seated at the table in their inn, eating a small lunch. It was blue leaves, tomatoes, with a little bit of sauce on the side. He never really liked eating animals or monsters that much. Mr. Bear was seated opposite to him, also enjoying his lunch.

“Eugh,” a groan came from the bed next to him. Ed had slept in, as per usual. It felt like his clock was way off of common time. Adelyn and Cozy weren’t even here, because they had woken up early to practice for the tournament.

Teddie then realized that he should mention that.

“You three got into the tournament, also,” Teddie said.

“Eh? Wha-?”

Ed took a moment to process that information as he rolled out of bed. He grabbed his mask and his cloak and stood up groggily.

“We did?” he asked, after regaining his composure.

“Yes,” Teddie said, with a small smile. “Congratulations.”

Teddie pointed to an opened letter that was seated on the desk. It was delivered to them way earlier in the morning, and Adelyn was the first one to receive the news.

“The first round begins tomorrow, so you might need to… work on it, though. I think you’ll do good though.”

“Yeah, uh huh. Thank god,” Ed let out a sigh of relief. Teddie had been pretty happy that their plan was progressing smoothly so far, though he didn’t know exactly what his friends were going to be facing.

“So, are you going to go practice with Adelyn and Cozy?” Teddie asked.

“Uh… man. I know it’s tomorrow, but I just woke up. I wanna do something a little bit relaxing first,” Ed grumbled.

Teddie thought for a moment before answering. “When I was in the woods, it was a good idea to not stress myself every day, because that… takes away from doing things that matter. Maybe that's a good idea here.”

“See? He agrees with me,” Ed said, to nobody in particular.

“If… you want to relax, then I was thinking of doing something, if you don’t mind coming along…”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Well. When you guys were doing your test… someone recommended this quiet bath in the woods. I… I wanted to check it out with someone… and I didn’t want to ask any of the girls cause…”

“Oh. Yeah, sure. We can check it out. We haven’t spent a lot of time together either,” Ed said.

“Really? Thank you!”

“Now, let me just get ready. I still feel tired as hell.”

***

“Fuahh~!”

Teddie had not been in water that felt this natural since leaving the woods. Katie was right, this place was underrated.

The surrounding spring was very atmospheric. It was surrounded by woodland, with the blue leaves on the trees making for a remarkable wall that protected the bath itself. Blue marsh plants grew in-between rocks that contained the glowing hot water, gently sprinkling a nice natural aroma, despite this city’s investment in tourism.

This hit the spot for Teddie, as he floated happily in the pool. Ed, on the other hand, was washing himself down. The aromatic plants doubled as soap, and quite effective ones too, so he simply was in the midst of scrubbing himself clean.

“This was quite nice, Teddie,” Ed said. “Thanks.”

“It’s no problem…” Teddie answered, essentially in bliss. He floated to the side of the pool and leaned against it, closer to Ed.

The two of them waited in peace for a while, taking in the comforts of the bath.

“So, uh, hey, Teddie,” Ed said. “Are you really just here because it’s fun?”

“...uh, yeah. I suppose you could say that,” Teddie responded.

“I see,” Ed paused for a second, to think. “I guess we are different in that regard, then.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well…” Ed looked around a little bit, before turning his gaze back to Teddie. “It’s… me, as well as Adelyn and Cozy, are like… fighting for something right? I’m not gonna pretend that what I want is anywhere near as important as Adelyn’s, but… we’re fighting with something to lose right?”

Teddie looked back at him. He didn’t think of anything to say, as of now at least, but he seemed to be thinking over his words.

“Like… I don’t want to make it seem like I don’t appreciate you,” Ed continued. “I do. What you did back against Kaos was amazing. I don’t think I could’ve done it. But… I was just wondering… is your heart really in this journey?”

Teddie continued to remain quiet. It looked like Ed still had more to say, after all.

“I know you aren’t fit to participate in the tournament, but I dunno. It just feels kind of… off you know?” Ed continued, awkwardly. “But as I said. I really don’t mean that I don’t appreciate you, it’s just… agh… how do I put it?”

“I… understand,” Teddie said, speaking a little bit heavily. “You don’t feel like I’ll be able to handle this journey. If I’m just here to bring a story back home, then I don’t have a reason to push myself like you three.”

Teddie shook his head.

“And maybe you’re right. Even if I don’t know it myself, maybe I’m not able to become the best person I can be just because of why I’m here. But I guess, if it makes you feel better, then I can try to… explain what I was thinking, when Adelyn fell into the woods in front of me.”

“I… I dunno,” Ed said. “I don’t want to bother you-”

“It’s fine. I dunno if what I say will even make you feel better,” Teddie responded. “But when Adelyn fell from the sky, I began following her. I didn’t know why back then, and I still don’t really know why now.”

Ed seemed to stay silent and listen, as Teddie continued.

“But, if I had to guess. It was because I heard her story, and I wanted to become better myself. If she had so much fire for her journey, then wouldn’t I become better if I fanned it? So we could be stronger together?”

“You wanted to get stronger?”

“I… guess. But, it’s not like, magically stronger like you want to. But, when I was living in the woods… Everything was a lot nicer. The bigger monsters had more important things to do, so I was left with a smaller… circle of life. Things lived, died, and came back as nature.”

Teddie spoke a little bit, his words caused plants to grow from the cracks in the pool. It was as if the ground itself came to hear his story.

“One day, when I was finishing playing with my friends. Mr. Bear asked me a question.”

“Ah, your bear,” Ed said. “What did he say?”

“What will happen when we return to nature, as well?” Teddie finished. “I didn’t know, and I didn’t have an answer to that. But, what it did get me thinking was about the role everything played in all of this.”

Teddie took a deep breath.

“All animals have to fight to survive, to make their lives worth living. If I just stayed in a simple… quiet forest, with nothing to do. Am I living my life…? Those thoughts, I think they pushed me to come with Adelyn. I could play a role in her story… in everyone’s story. I could become a stronger part of the world… if I did.”

The young boy looked at Ed, with a small smile.

“So. It might not seem like much, but I want to become strong, just like you. Like all of my animal friends… and I want you to know that if you let me become a part of your story… then I’ll push myself to do just as well as you… and Adelyn… and Cozy… okay?”

“...Teddie,” Ed said. “I appreciate that. But, you can also write your own story too. You know?”

“Maybe… yeah… I can,” Teddie nodded back. “I’ll try.”

The two boys sit there for a while, taking in the sweet scents of the bath that floated around them.

“I’m gonna go,” Ed said, getting up. “I’ll wait for you when you’re done.”

“I’ll be there soon,” Teddie responded, waving back.

Ed walked out of the bath, leaving Teddie alone to contemplate his thoughts. He unfortunately did not bring Mr. Bear into the bath, because he did not like water. So, Teddie just floated around the pool for a while.

However, the quiet only lasted for so long. While Teddie was peacefully floating around, he heard something. Voices. They came from the other side of the bath. The girl’s side of the bath.

Now, it wasn’t like Teddie to peek into private conversations, but there were some words that stood out to him.

“Vampiric strength? Not… actual vampirism, right?”

“You won’t turn into a vampire, no. You’ll be fine, probably. As long as you don’t overdose and do exactly as my instructions said.”

“Good. I don’t need to become a pariah for this. It’ll… It’ll just let me win the tournament, that’s all I need.”

“Still against the rules, but a deal is a deal. Don’t trace any of this back to me, and you can probably win no problem.”

“Thank you… I needed this.”

What came after was the sound of water splashing, as the sound of two people left the bath. Teddie needed to process what he just heard, because he didn’t really understand it at all.

Vampiric strength? Against the rules? Was someone attempting to cheat in the tournament?

Teddie’s heart sank for a bit, a little bit nervous to the information that he got. Vampires were strong, really strong. If anything could even copy their strength, they might win the tournament. That was probably why they were banned. If they got away with that, then the group’s entire mission would be rendered moot because they could not even hope to win this.

Teddie composed himself. He needed to tell Ed, and the rest. They could not let a cheater ruin their goal. He stood up and escaped the water, before quickly washing and cleaning himself off, and then leaving the bath.

***

“Ed, Ed!” Teddie dashed out of the bath, now properly changed. He looked around for the other boy, and he found him pretty soon outside the bathhouse.

He was lying down on a bench, asleep.

“Ed, wake up!” Teddie grabbed him.

“Huh? Huh…!” Ed woke up. “What is it?”

“Did you see anyone come out of the girl’s changeroom?” Teddie asked him.

“What…? No, I wasn’t paying attention to any girls-”

“Ed…! I overheard something in the girl’s side of the bath. I think someone is trying to cheat in the tournament!”

“...wha-?”

“They said they’re gonna use… vampiric strength. They might become unstoppable… and you guys won’t be able to win!”

“Ah,” Ed said, getting up. He seemed to finally be aware of what Teddie was talking about. “What do you think we should do about it?”

“...We should obviously report it. I…I’ll do it, so you can focus on your training. But, we need to keep an eye out for a girl who might be cheating,” Teddie said. “That way, we have a chance of winning.”

“Got it,” Ed said. “I’ll trust you with that. Though, it would be pretty crazy if we beat her while she was cheating.”

Teddie looked at him, surprised at the confidence.

“Are you sure? Vampires are crazy strong, after all,” Teddie said.

“Well, how about I get to training, and I’ll also tell the girls,” Ed said. “You do all of the boring bureaucratic stuff. If I know Adelyn and Cozy, they’re crazy strong too. We might be able to win anyways.”

“I see. Good luck then, Ed,” Teddie said. He admired Ed’s confidence, but even he was not sure how this would all turn out.