Disclamation! Dissidia Final Fantasy (c) Square Enix
Red Like Wild Roses
Drip… Drip… Drip…
A puddle slowly grows on the stone floor beneath me. A puddle of red—red like wild roses.
Drip… Drip…
The darkness spins.
I don't know where the light is coming from. It shines on the puddle. Amidst the red, I can see a face staring back at me.
Drip… Drip… Drip-drip…
The puddle shimmers.
The darkness dances with the red.
The face looks as terrible as I feel.
Drip… Drip… Drip.
What is your dream?
To create a world filled with wild roses where my friends can live in peace and nothing ever truly dies.
Drip… Drip…
"How humble of you."
Drip… Drip… Drip…
"A world just for your friends. How sweet, how lovely." Red like wild roses. "But where will you go?"
Drip.
Where did I go?
Desperate.
Last minute declarations of love.
Our first unrestrained touches; our first wonderful kisses. They were sure to be our last.
Armor laid discarded, weapons tossed carelessly aside—we didn't need them. Not here.
We only needed the warmth of our embraces and the hunger in every meeting between lips.
We needed each other.
We needed this to last forever
It was probably some kind of sin, what we were doing, curled in the midst of Order's Sanctuary. Especially considering the identity of my partner.
Would Cosmos be angry with me for dirtying her favorite warrior? Or would she be pleased that he was no longer in solitude?
I didn't care either way.
Neither of us did.
Right now we only cared for each other.
For our first and our last desperately wonderful moments together.
"I am sorry it has to be like this," he said, gasping through pent-up emotion finally released. "I am sorry we do not have more time."
The taste of his lips turned salty. Tears.
Mine? Or his?
No. Both.
"So am I."
Tomorrow, the world will end.
(Drip. Drip. Drip.)
The Emperor assures me that I will not be found. No one will ever come looking for me. You do not go searching for someone who is dead.
Drip… Drip… Drip…
I tell the Emperor to leave me be. Let me suffer in silence.
He only smirks.
His painted face contorts horribly.
"Are you suffering, Frioniel? Truly?"
Drip… Drip-drip…
Not physically.
The red that pools on the floor drips like a ruined metronome from my stained lips. Red like wild roses.
There is a hole in my chest. A black vacuum that sucks the life from my veins. It devours the stars and snuffs the light of the sun. It gleans all warmth from me, body and soul, and leaves me frozen.
A fragile ice sculpture doomed to shatter.
Drip… Drip… Drip…
My heart was sucked away long ago.
There is this hollow cavity inside that used to be filled with dreams and hope and love.
And wild roses.
And Light.
Everything is gone now.
"You should be happy. You're dream came true."
Drip… Drip… Drip…
"Where…are the wild…roses?" The tiny shadow of my voice struggles to form words. I have long since forgotten how to speak.
"Alive."
He removes himself from the shadows and I truly see him for the first time in a long time.
He looks as terrible as I feel.
The Emperor continues: "Thriving above while the rest of us are doomed to this underworld."
Drip… Drip…
My dream came true…?
"There is only peace above, feeding from the dungeons of this Hell."
My dream came true… Why am I here? Where did I go?
"You paid the price," sneers the Emperor, "that is why you are here. Here in Hell."
Drip…
Had I spoken aloud?
"To make a dream come true, someone must stay behind to see it through, and you failed to include yourself in your humble"—red like wild roses—"little dream."
Drip… Drip… Drip…
The puddle is getting slowly bigger.
I watched the sunrise whenever I could. There were few places in this fragmented universe that was still capable of such an occurrence.
The Rift was one of those few places.
I sat stop the central castle, my legs hanging over the ledge, and leaned back on my palms. The early warmth kissed my face. I closed my eyes.
The quiet clinking of armor alerted me to the approach of a comrade. I knew who it was without opening my eyes.
I would always know the sound of his footsteps.
The Warrior of Light.
Like a cliché, my heart stuttered.
He eased himself down next to me and imitated my position. I could just see the profile of his face, obscured by his majestic helm, in the fringes of my vision.
"I have not enjoyed a sunrise in a long time," he told me.
I looked at him without turning my head. The dawn's light—red like wild roses—caressed his face as I longed to and his eyes swam with something unreadable.
"Yes," I agreed, my voice was small with awe, "it has been…strangely quiet as of late."
He turned his head—he caught me staring—and his eyes became legible.
Longing.
Worry.
Fear.
He said, "I do not believe we can win this fight…Firion."
Despair.
He spoke my name like a prayer.
And suddenly I could take no more.
I brought forth my wild rose and grabbed his hand. I made his fingers wrap securely around the stem. I did not break eye contact with him. I was afraid he would vanish if I looked away.
He looked like a ghost in the meager light of dawn—red like wild roses.
"I will make my dream come true," I insisted, curling my hands around his and the rose. "I will create a world filled with wild roses for you and all my friends to live in peace and nothing will truly ever die."
I promised.
He nearly smiled.
"I hope you succeed; you're dream is beautiful."
Red like wild roses.
(Drip… Drip… Drip…)
I look around for the first time.
I'm in a dungeon. Just like the Emperor said.
Except.
Drip-drip…
It looks familiar.
The puddle is much too large. It shows the space above me. I cannot lift my head.
I see too-close walls and massive columns and mazes of pipes. Colored red—red like wild roses.
Drip… Drip…
Kefka's Tower.
I am in its basement.
Where are the wild roses?
My dream came true.
Where are the wild roses?
The world should be—red like wild roses—filled with wild roses. Where are they!
My dream came true!
Drip…
My dream came true.
Drip.
My dream did not come true.
Drip.
The world was ending.
"Stay close to me," ordered Light as we stood in Order's Sanctuary with our comrades. "We will make it through together."
We watched the enemy emerge from fire.
"I will never leave your side," I promised.
Light had my wild rose tucked within his armor. Crushed against his heart.
I took his hand one last time and held it tight.
And then the end began.
(Drip. Drip.)
We lost track of the others.
Light and I remained together. We watched each other's back.
We nearly made it.
(Drip. Drip-drip.)
The ground was stained—red like wild roses.
Somehow. The enemy knew.
Never before had I been so overwhelmed by manikins. They all looked like my Light.
We were pulled apart.
I reached for him.
He fought toward me.
Weapons flew. I tried to fight.
Pain erupted in my head—my heart—and red—red like wild roses—painted my vision.
Time… Slowed… Down…
The manikins melted away; their task was done.
Light—my Light—came running forward and held my head in his lap.
When had I fallen?
"Firion…" he gasped.
His lips were flecked with blood.
He shifted, the motion hurt, I hissed at the pain, and his gentle voice soothed me. He pressed the cool rim of a bottle to my lips.
"Drink," he pleaded.
I drank, but one potion was not enough. We both knew that.
My heavy hand and numb fingers smeared the blood on his lips.
I said, "You're bleeding."
And he said, "So are you."
Red like wild roses.
He suddenly went still and his head dropped forward into my raised hand.
The wild rose dangled before me on the point of a sword—red like wild roses.
"Light," I croaked.
His eyes were empty.
"Light!" I screamed.
The ruined rose withdrew. Light slumped to his side and I followed.
Villains stood over me.
Sephiroth plucked clinging petals from Masamune's blade.
The Emperor stared down at me.
"The last one," he said.
The villains laughed.
(Drip. Drip. Drip.)
We lost.
Everyone I love is dead.
My Light is dead.
Drip… Drip…
The puddle consumes the entire floor.
The metronome is slowing.
My vision swims, blackness—red like wild roses—and the absence of life. Light.
Drip… Drip…
My life force pools on the floor beneath me.
Drip…
Drip…
My life drips away.
Everyone is dead.
I am hollow.
Red like wild roses.
We lost. There is nothing left.
Drip…
"I am sorry it has to be like this."
Drip…
"I am sorry we do not have more time."
Drip.
Light is gone.
Drip.
So am I.
Drip.
I open my eyes and everything is red like wild roses.
I see my companions. My friends.
A valley of red protected by mountains of red capped with snow. Everything is red. Beautiful.
A world filled with wild roses.
And it is peaceful.
I see Zidane and Bartz wearing crowns of flowers. They are weaving a third for Squall.
I see the Onion Knight and Terra lying side by side with their heads together. Watching the clouds.
I see Cecil—beautiful Paladin—sitting cross-legged amidst the wild roses. Wonderfully content.
I see Tidus performing cartwheels. Laughing. Exuberant.
I see Cloud nearly smiling.
A world filled with wild roses.
My friends living in peace.
My dream came true.
I stand.
The others see me and their faces brighten.
"Rosebud!" cheers Tidus. He waves and I wave back.
My friends stand, but do not approach.
Their smiles are tender and warm.
A hand touches my shoulder.
I turn, heart racing.
No armor; just soft clothing.
Still. It is my Light.
My breath is stolen; it takes a moment for me to remember how to speak.
I say, "We have more time."
And he says, "We have forever."
My vision swims.
He pulls me into a close embrace.
And the tears begin to fall.
Drip… Drip… Drip…
"I love you."
Red like wild roses.