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Rex was fairly sure Leia had lost her mind. This was unfortunate, as she was the throne directly responsible for him and his closest brothers. This was especially unfortunate because she was telling him to go on a quest that should be impossible.
“Pardon, sir,” the blond virtue said in his politest tone, “could you repeat that last bit?”
She looked at him with fondness, exasperation, amusement, impatience, and regal solemnity. It always was a little overwhelming when she focused so many of her eyes on you at the same time. “The last fae on Earth has requested aid. I’m sending you to help him with whatever he requires.”
Yes, that was what he thought she’d said. It didn’t make any more sense the second time.
“I was under the impression fae had been extinct for millenia,” he said carefully.
“Yes, well apparently this one has been in hiding,” she said. “He actually is an old friend of Anakin’s.”
Rex raised an eyebrow at that. He didn’t know seraphim had friends, particularly not Anakin. Despite how friendly the angel could be, he’d always been a general first to Rex, and he assumed it was the same for everyone else.
“It was Anakin who suggested you for this, Rex.”
His other eyebrow joined its twin. He wasn’t aware he’d made such a lasting impression.
He finally realized Leia was waiting for some kind of response from him, so he defaulted to his training. Bowing at a precise thirty degrees, he said, “I will do my best to serve, superior.”
She placed a gentle hand on the top of his head. “I know you will,” she said warmly. “Now go. He said he would be waiting somewhere in Kadesh.”
Rex nodded, spread his wings, and took off. It wasn’t a long flight to the great wasteland, but he also had to locate one small fae in the miles and miles of desert. Just as he finally sensed him, he felt something else as well.
There was a demon down there.
He sped up his flight on his now invisible wings, and he could just see two beings standing rather close together. He pinpointed which one was the demon, reached out his arms, and tackled him. They rolled together in the sand, Rex trying to restrain the demon long enough to smite him and the demon managing to scratch and bruise Rex even as they tumbled. They quickly came to a stop with Rex on top, so he slammed one arm on the demon’s collarbone and pressed the tip of his dagger to the top of his throat. But, he paused, shocked.
This demon looked just like him.
There were differences, of course, like how the demon had black hair to Rex’s blond and how the demon had a wicked scar curled around his eye, but otherwise they could have been twins. He’d never thought those rumors about lookalike demonic counterparts contained any truth, but apparently he was mistaken.
The demon smirked at him and pressed his chin down into the blade. It only just punctured the skin, and black ichor began to drip out. “You know,” he drawled, “I’ve been accused of narcissism before, but this might take the cake.”
“Wait!”
Rex didn’t take his eyes off the demon, but he could hear the fae hurrying toward them. “The longer we wait, the more likely he’ll play some nefarious trick on us,” he said.
“And why would I do that? I was invited here after all,” the demon replied, lips curling in a bit of a sneer.
Rex turned his head just enough to see both the fae and the demon clearly. “Is that true?” he asked.
The fae nodded. “Yes, I requested help from Hell as well as Heaven.”
Rex relaxed his hold and pulled his dagger away. “You don’t look very helpful,” he told the demon as he slipped his weapon back in his thigh holster.
The sneer tipped into something more flirtatious, and the demon ran one hand up the outside of Rex’s thigh. “Oh, you’d be surprised at how helpful I can be,” he purred.
Rex abruptly realized he was still straddling the demon, so he scrambled away, making sure to put a few feet between them as he gained his own. Once he stood up, he finally got a good look at the fae.
He was beautiful, but Rex had expected that. Fae had been known for their pulchritude for eons. From the pale, clear skin to the silky red hair to the gray-blue eyes, this one didn’t disappoint. What he was surprised to see were the clothes the fae was wearing.
He was dressed like a human . Rex wasn’t entirely familiar with modern Earth fashion, but he thought those rough blue pants were called “jeans.” The tunic and boots looked more common, though the exact style was different from the last time he’d been planet-side.
Compared to the fae, Rex and the demon looked like relics in their robes and armor.
He must have been more obvious in his mental comparisons than he thought because the fae said, “Don’t worry about your clothes. We’ll get you both something different later.”
The fae smiled once he was sure he had Rex’s attention. “I’m Obi-Wan,” he said, giving a surprisingly informal wave.
Remembering his purpose here, Rex bowed, not quite as deep as he had for Leia. “Rex, virtue of the five hundred and first choir,” he returned. He straightened and threw a pointed look at the demon, who hadn’t bothered to move beyond propping up on his elbows.
He rolled his eyes and pushed himself up to standing, managing to do even that in the slinkiest way Rex had ever seen. “Kotepka,” he said, brushing sand off his black and red clothes, “general of the two hundred and twelfth legion, your holiness.” And he gave a flourishing twirl of the hand as he mockingly mimicked Rex’s bow. He raised his head and smirked again . “But you two lovelies can call me Cody.”
Rex decided to just ignore the ridiculous demon and turned his whole body toward Obi-Wan. “I am at your disposal, sir,” he said. “How may I aid you?”
The fae peered at him intently. “Let’s walk while we talk,” he finally said, then turned almost all the way around and did so.
Rex took a few large steps to catch up, then slowed down to match pace. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cody pop into existence on the other side of Obi-Wan. He immediately matched their stride while maintaining the same slouch he’d had since he’d stood earlier.
They walked in silence for a while, Rex waiting for Obi-Wan to be ready to talk and Cody staying quiet for some surely villainous reason.
“There has been a darkness growing with the humans for a long time,” Obi-Wan suddenly said, looking at his feet instead of either of them.
“Uh, obviously?” Cody said. “That’s what humans do.”
Rex leaned forward a bit to glare. “Like your kind have nothing to do with that,” he spat.
The demon shed his lackadaisical attitude like a snake sheds his skin and glared back. “In spite of the stereotypes you feather-brains are taught as fact , demons are not actually responsible for every bit of evil in the universe.”
The angel snorted. “Exactly what I would expect a sneaky little hothead to say,” he said, turning to face forward again.
Cody stopped walking. “At least I have passion!” he declared, volume increasing. “You wouldn’t know desire if it smacked you in the ass!”
Rex about-faced and stormed back to the demon until they were almost nose-to-nose. “And you’ve certainly never even heard of honor!” he asserted, his own voice rising. “Don’t think I haven’t heard how backstabbing, both figurative and literal, is the premier demon pastime!”
Cody snarled, then opened his mouth to keep arguing, but he didn’t get a chance before they were manually shoved apart.
“That’s enough!” Obi-Wan shouted, one hand still on each of their chests. Rex wondered in the back of his mind why this fae was so physical when all the stories said they all used magic like breathing, but his attention was wrenched back to the moment as Obi-Wan continued. “There is no call for all of this sniping! If you can’t control yourselves, I will absolutely send you both back and handle this myself regardless of any dangers!”
Rex quickly swung his face toward the fae. The idea of the last of the race once known as the Guardians of Light going off on his own to face some danger big enough to bring Heaven and Hell together shook him deeply. He tried not to squirm with the shame that filled him. “I apologize, sir,” he said quietly, backing away from the demon to try to prove it.
Cody, meanwhile, sidled even closer to Obi-Wan, pressing into the hand on his chest. “Aw ducky, don’t be like that,” he said, bringing his own hand up to stroke the back of the fae’s. “Your safety is more important than a quibble with my natural mortal enemy.”
Obi-Wan just pulled his hand away and turned back in their original direction. “Then if you two are quite finished, I’ll continue my explanation.”
Both Rex and Cody scrambled to follow, even as Obi-Wan jumped right back in.
“For the past couple of centuries, the darkness that surrounds humanity has been growing. Slowly, yes, but growing steadily all the same. For a time, I thought just as you do, Cody,” he said, inclining his head to the demon in acknowledgement. “However, I fear this darkness is coming from an outside influence, some subtle creature that is a master of manipulation.”
“Are there any clues about what could be doing this?” Rex asked quietly.
“I have my suspicions,” the fae admitted, “but the problem is that I am attacked every time I come close to confirming them. Which is where you two come in.”
“So we’re just supposed to babysit you while you traipse around making enemies?” Cody asked dryly.
“I prefer the word ‘bodyguard,’ but whatever makes you happy, dear,” Obi-Wan shot back.
The demon dramatically gasped. “Why, be still my heart! He does have some sass in him after all!”
“What’s the first step, now that we’re here?” Rex butted in, not wanting Cody to derail them again. “Do you have a new lead to follow?”
Obi-Wan nodded. “Yes, I’ve felt a new surge of darkness that coalesced uncommonly quickly. Once we get you two new things to wear, we’ll head there to investigate.”
“Where are we going?” Rex asked.
“I don’t have an exact location yet, but somewhere in Lorraine.”
Rex thought for a moment. “Why do I know that name?”
“I don’t know why you would, but I know how I do,” Cody said, entirely serious for the first time Rex had seen. “Lorraine is a region of France, and it was where the Battle of the Frontiers was fought.” He looked away from them both, facing the mountains to their right. “It may have been a series of small battles, but all told, it’s the site of one of the greatest losses of life in modern history.”
For a moment, they all were silent. Rex turned to look at the demon head-on, taking note of his slightly hiked up shoulders and stiffened spine. It almost seemed like he was bothered, but why would a demon be bothered by humans slaughtering each other?
“Well, on that cheery note, we’re almost to our destination,” Obi-Wan said.
Sure enough, Rex could just see a city on the horizon. Like most things in the desert, it had the hazy quality of a mirage, but he could feel the concentration of life and knew it was real.
He looked over his companions once more, wondering how this mission would go with two beings who defied everything he’d been told was true about their peoples. In one day, so many of his preconceptions had been challenged, and he was already feeling off kilter.
What would days, weeks, months with these two do to him in the end?