Originally posted for the Livejournal community FF_Zodiac.
Inspired by the song "Castle Walls" by sasukeshika.
Frozen in time, depression and self-loathing dogs his days. Gordon wallows in grief, wandering Altair without a purpose, without true friends. The Wild Rose has no need for a coward, a cur who left his brother for dead against the enemy army. They never say it, but he hears the whispers in his heart.
My brother's dead, and I'm to blame. Princess Hilda will never forgive me.
Gordon keeps to himself, dwelling in the shadows of isolated streets. People approach still and when he speaks, misery snaps at them with hopeless pincers. No one will want to comfort him when he acts the part of a lost cause. Why would they want to, when Scott the Straight Arrow had snapped in half on the battlefield, never to return to his people or the woman he loves?
All because of me. I'm Gordon, the murderer of dreams.
People come and go, walking away with sympathy tucked in their arms until not a living soul could bear to look at him. Gordon shrinks, wishing to forget, hoping never to be forgiven, his shadow fading more and more by the day until one day a white-haired youth finds him. He sees rage alone behind his brown eyes, home-grown deeper than kindness and Gordon does not understand why. He cannot presume to understand when he never fought for his family or his home.
But this boy smiles past the horrors he's seen and speaks of a world full of roses without thorns like a dream come true. Firion plants a seed inside his heart, something wonderful and mysterious and Gordon wonders what this feeling will grow into once it blooms, but that might not be for a very long time. Firion and his friends are the ones in need of direction now, even though Gordon's not in the place to give anything to anyone, but -
I think I've found a purpose.
They don't know the things he knows and he can lead them where they need to go. Gordon had never felt more important and wanted until Firion continues to return for his counsel, and told him of battle plans the Wild Rose would never bother imparting to him. "The rebellion needs the Sunfire to destroy the Dreadnaught. Do you know what it is and where to find it?"
Yes, he knows, the last of the Kashuan royal family to know, and he departs with the sole desire to prove himself.
I can be strong. I'll show everyone I'm not weak. I won't be weak anymore.
But inside these castle walls, Gordon does not remember the twists and turns of ancient cobblestone and loses his place once again in the echoes of time.
How can I be of help to anyone if I don't even know how to navigate the hallways of my own home?
Firion appears, always the answer to his prayers, stopping to hear his story long enough to accept what only the prince alone must do. Gordon looks up to Firion, who reminds him of Scott so much it aches, and he expects to walk in his shadow for the rest of the journey. Cowardice and failure does not a true hero make, and who would want to follow such a spineless ruler after he must ascend the empty throne?
Firion leaves no room for doubts when he steps aside first, asking Gordon to lead the way.
A feeling more brilliant than Sunfire melts the chains of time, burning everything down to the ground. Inside the walls surrounding his heart, a rosebud begins to rise from the ruin.