"There he is, Rose," Cecil said, pointing over her shoulder.
'Rose.' The nickname sounded odd and too intimate for her ears, but her need to see Zidane quieted down the protest. Rosa turned and sure enough, Zidane was strolling through Sanctuary's barrier like he didn't have a care in the world. He had his hands clasped behind his head, and his tail swung low, close to the water. No purple crystal anywhere. No lifeless eyes. No holes in his chest. Not in any immediate danger. All the tension she felt rushed out of her, and Rosa found the reassurance she was looking for, knowing Zidane was alive and seeing him with her own eyes.
"Thank the gods," she breathed. "I feel so relieved. I thought he was dead," she told him, and Cecil nodded his understanding.
"Of course. No one warned you about the manikins, and they are . . . jarring . . . at first."
"Hm. 'Jarring,'" Rosa repeated. Rosa wondered what her own manikin would look like. She imagined her crystal to be purple, like Zidane's, and her own dull and empty eyes. "Imagine seeing a manikin of yourself, with no warning," Rosa suddenly thought. She thought she was upset before. She couldn't imagine the kind of panic she would have felt if she ran into herself.
Behind him came Bartz, Squall, the Onion Knight, and Vaan, just like Cosmos said before. So Cosmos could tell the locations of all of her warriors at any given moment, and yet she had no concept of the fighting? Rosa inwardly scoffed as another feeling of irritation rose up inside of her. Irritation at being passed around to the other warriors to get answers to her questions.
Perhaps she was jumping to conclusions. Maybe Cosmos kept tabs on her warriors from afar, and that was why she stayed out of the fighting.
"Are you satisfied?" Cecil asked, and Rosa nodded back.
"Yes," she answered honestly, and sighed out all of her frustration. "Yes, I am. That was scary." She thought of the dead manikin again, and couldn't stop the shudder from trickling down her back.
"I'm sure it was," Cecil said, "but now you know about the manikins. Right? You can turn this into a learning experience. And the bright side is that Zidane is alive."
Rosa looked into Cecil's eyes, which always seemed to have a spark of innocence and amiability. He was always positive, and always seeing the best in everything. At least, that's what she had learned from her short time around him. She tried to imagine his eyes without that glint. She tried to picture what they would look like, glossed over and dead. "What does your manikin look like?" she asked him, since the thoughts had her wondering. "Have you seen yourself?"
"I have. My manikin is white - all white - when in Paladin form. When it is a Dark Knight, it is some shade of purple. Or perhaps a navy."
"So your manikin can switch freely between the two jobs as well?"
"Yes. Manikins possess all of the abilities that we possess."
"If you kill your manikin, will it come back?" Rosa asked. "Will I see that Zidane manikin creeping around Sanctuary again?"
Cecil paused to think, but Rosa could tell it was not the careful sort of thinking she knew him to be capable of. He was looking for the best explanation, not attempting to hide anything. "Manikins . . . " he began, "Manikins are never-ending. The world simply makes them, at random we assume, and continues to make them. You will not see that particular manikin any more, but you may see another copy of Zidane that the world has made lurking about."
"Oh," she said, unable to think of anything else. "Why? Where do they come from?" she asked, half-expecting him to be unable to answer just based on her general luck.
"There is a place somewhere, on the outskirts of a very far gateway, that contains a dimensional fracture. They spill forth from there." He paused, then added, "At least, that's how I had it explained to me."
"Who told you? Maybe I could ask them to tell me."
"Warrior did, a while ago. But he told me he received the information from Cosmos after his own encounter with them."
"Oh. Of course," Rosa said. The trail, once again, ended at Cosmos. "Why are they being made? Why do they look like us?"
"That, I do not know," Cecil said. "Nobody knows, really. Not even Cosmos. After a while, though, you don't question it. Because in the end, it doesn't matter. They are just something else trying to kill you."
Rosa realized that Cosmos's warriors not only had Chaos warriors to worry about, but also manikins - which spilled forth from a broken part of this world for no particular reason. No reason other than the universe's arbitrary decision to make and dump them. And they carried a bloodlust for no reason, other than the universe's arbitrary decision to make them want to kill Cosmos warriors. "So they're volatile," she said. She never actually encountered a live one yet.
"Yes. They will attack, and attack until defeated. Or until you are defeated."
"And everyone has one?" she asked. At his nod, she asked, "Does Cosmos?"
"No. Cosmos and Chaos do not have manikins. But Chaos's warriors have copies of their own."
"Oh! Well, at least they have to deal with them too," Rosa offered. "We aren't the only ones with an added burden-"
"No. They do not attack Chaos warriors."
" . . . What?"
"They do not attack Chaos warriors. Chaos warriors can summon them at will."
" . . . That makes no sense. Chaos must have had a hand in creating them, then!"
"We don't know. All we know is that they creep into this world from the fissure and attack Harmony's ranks. But like I said, in the end it really doesn't matter. All you have to do is stay alive. Defeat the manikins, defeat the Chaos warriors, and stay alive."
Rosa supposed he was right. Did it really matter that much to her what form the threats took? Did it really matter in this instance where the threats came from? She shrugged her concession, and decided it was time to change the subject anyway. She could quiz him later. "How about that sparring match?" Now that the Zidane fiasco was settled, she had a chance to regain huge chunks of her memories that were missing.
Cecil's face lit up in a wide smile. "Absolutely!" he said, nodding eagerly. "Let's get someone . . . Bartz!" he called, and when his head perked up, Cecil beckoned him over.
"Why do we need Bartz?" Rosa asked, but Cecil only smiled knowingly at her. Bartz finished his conversation with Zidane and quickly crossed the distance to the two of them, jogging with a happy bounce in his step.
"Hey! What's up?" he asked.
"Rosa and I were just preparing to spar. We need a referee. Would you be so kind?"
"Yeah, sure!"
"Thank you. You've never seen the two of us spar before, so you will be an impartial judge. Also, this is a good chance to really watch both of us, so you can copy our skills."
"Oh, right!" Rosa said. "You're a Mime!"
"Yep!" he said, pointing finger-guns at her. "Good idea. Thanks, Cecil!"
"Thank you for agreeing. Follow me," he said, leading the two of them to the center of Sanctuary, towards Cosmos's throne. "The rules of sparring are simple. Keep it clean, and keep it safe. All of the weapons, skills, and powers you naturally possess are at your disposal. You may use anything, at any time - but in a fair, and honorable way. No trickery, or dishonorable action. It won't be an issue," he said, turning to Bartz, "but if you see something, don't hesitate to call it out."
"You got it."
"And never aim to seriously injure your opponent. Sometimes matches can get intense, but they should never grow angry enough to bring us to harm each other. We're all friends, first and foremost, but we also don't have the supplies or the time to continuously heal each other if we're injured. Make sense?"
"Yes. Keep it clean, and keep it safe," Rosa repeated. Despite her excitement earlier, she could feel knots beginning to twist in her stomach. It was only a casual fight but a fight nonetheless. The same sensations she remembered from her fight with the Emperor threatened to overtake her.
Breathing in short gasps, unable to catch her breath. Adrenaline, sharpening her senses. Fighting the urge to run.
"Right," Cecil said. She took as deep a breath as she could muster, and tried to huff out the rest of her tension. Why was she so nervous? Cecil turned and looked out at all the other warriors gathered in Sanctuary, and Rosa followed suit. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Sparring match!" he yelled out as loud as he could. "Clear the field!"
Warriors got quiet. Heads snapped in their direction, looking to see who was going to fight, and an energized intensity rippled through the people in Sanctuary. Rosa could feel its energy, but all it did was electrify her already frayed nerves. Her heart dropped into her stomach, rolling with her building nerves, as she realized that all of them would be watching her. When they saw it was her, Rosa detected a mix of everything in their eyes and faces: interest in the new warrior and what her skills would be, expectations of her strengths, skepticism in case she didn't turn out how they expected her to. And something else Rosa couldn't place, as she saw eyes flick between her and Cecil over and over again. She felt like an animal, on display for their watching.
All together, they made their ways to the edge of Sanctuary, lining along the barrier and giving her and Cecil all the space they needed. Even Cosmos gave the two of them a soft nod before disappearing in a flash of light. She reappeared next to Warrior. Cecil reached out for her hand and she obliged, feeling her hand shake as she pressed it into his. She prayed he didn't notice, but he must have, because he hesitated just long enough to give her hand a small squeeze. "Don't be nervous. It's a small sparring match - just to see if you remember anything. Good luck, my lady," he said, and he brought her hand to his lips for a quick kiss.
Her heart started to beat out of her chest. Her breath felt ragged and out of control. What if she lost? What if she looked silly in front of everyone? What if they thought she wasn't skilled?-
A loud shring!, and a flash of light, and Cecil's purple and yellow spear was in his hands. She pictured her bow, holding out her trembling hand, and willed it into existence until she felt it press into her hand. She felt like it took her forever to drag an arrow from the quiver, and she almost dropped a few as they tumbled out with the one she selected. Her fingers felt cold and numb. Clumsy and unpracticed.
"Okay! Ummm, at the ready!" Bartz yelled, putting his arm up.
Rosa nocked the arrow, and held her bow down in a low ready position. She watched as Cecil's back straightened. His arm came up, held across his chest, with his spear behind him. Poised and elegant. Confident. It only made Rosa even more nervous.
They waited for Bartz's mark in the dead silence.
"Don't go easy on him, Rosa!" Zidane yelled, earning a muffled chuckle out of everyone. Zidane was rooting for her, at least.
She was unprepared, and she knew it. A brief thought of, 'Maybe I should back out' crossed her mind.
Too late. Bartz took one last look at both sides. "Ready, set, GO!"
Cecil's weight rocked forwards, and Rosa's nerves jolted. She flinched before he could even take a step. In a second her bow was up, aiming for his chest. The motions were so natural to her, and at the same time they felt so foreign. She knew the arrow would fly true. She knew she sighted it perfectly. She didn't know how she did it. She didn't even know how she knew. But she knew.
At the last second, she hesitated. "Don't aim to injure," she told herself. She purposefully lifted her bow, aiming somewhere random over his head. By then, he had stepped towards her. She let the string slip through her fingers and Cecil didn't even break stride, didn't even have to duck. He knew the shot was too high. Still, though, he paused after the arrow sailed and slowed down to a standstill, lowering his spear.
"Don't overthink it!" he yelled to her. "And don't hold back! Fight as you normally would! We know when to yield. You won't hurt me." He flourished his spear, twirling it around his hand before standing at the ready again. He waited another second, giving Rosa a chance to draw and nock another arrow, before he ran forward again.
The second time, she drew and aimed high on his chest, determined to let it fly as it would. She allowed him to draw nearer, waiting for him to get as close as he would before firing. He closed the distance, running at her in a dead sprint. He ate up the distance so quickly she nearly missed the opportunity she was giving herself. He realized her play, and when he saw she wasn't shooting he tried to stop, but his feet skid in the water. Cecil's arms pinwheeled and he tried to change directions. She waited for the perfect moment while he was off-balance, for his most defenseless point.
Rosa waited.
Rosa waited until the light of the two moons shone through her window. She waited until the little square-shaped moonbeams sat right in the center of her floor. By their location, it was two in the morning.
Time to get out.
Rosa returned to the present, with her bow still held at full-draw and with Cecil still staggered and off-balance. As though no time had passed at all. More out of surprise than purpose, she loosed the arrow. It careened towards him, so fast that Rosa's eyes lost track of it. Despite being so close, Cecil threw his arm to the side and deflected it with his bracer. She went for another arrow at her hip, but Cecil bore down on her. He closed the distance too quickly, and she didn't have time to even pull the arrow before he was swinging at her. The blade of his spear glowed pure white as he tried a weak, one-handed swing at her middle. Rosa shoved her bow between the two of them, and his blade thwacked against the wood, jarring up her arms.
She was expecting him to pull away and take another swing at her, but instead he planted his feet and pressed into the block, putting all his power behind his arm. He brought his other hand up and pushed down on his spear too, so hard that Rosa's arms nearly buckled. If she fell, she'd be defenseless. She wouldn't let it be over that quickly. She planted her own feet and pressed back.
"You hesitated," he said. "Did you remember something?" His eyes were alight with something genuine and happy. He probably loved watching her remember something about their shared past. Especially since he seemed to know her so personally.
"Y-yes, something small," she stammered. "I ran away," she told him. "Or, I left the castle, or something." At least, that was the feeling she had from it. She could feel the purpose in her heart, and the nervousness of getting caught.
"To follow me," he confirmed, voice tight from holding the press. "After I was sent away to-"
Mist Village.
"Your Majesty, why have you sent Captain Cecil to Mist Village?" Rosa asked as she dropped to a knee. "He has just returned! Why are you sending him away again?"
"Cecil," he snarled, so loud and so nasty that Rosa flinched, "is no longer a Captain, and he is no longer in command of the Red Wings! He has been stripped of his rank and all of his honor! He should be executed for treason." The King paused. "But I, in my immense generosity, have instead sent him on a delivery to Mist Village."
"You always had a bit of a stubborn streak in you! Much to the chagrin of my nerves," Cecil continued. "If you need a moment, I will yield." Cecil broke the block, pushing Rosa's bow and all of her weight to the side. She stumbled past him and spun around ready to re-engage, but Cecil stepped away from her, arms up in a gesture of peace.
Rosa quickly shook her head. She wanted more memories. She wanted more pieces to connect. The fact that they were returning, no matter how small and insignificant they seemed, was relieving and exciting to her. "No. I'm fine. Let's go," she said, fingers twitching against the plumage of the arrows at her hip.
"As you wish," he said, smiling sweetly at her in a way that was so gentle and proper and Cecil that it drew a small smile from her as well. It looked to her like there was even a bit of affection, but o even think it registered something hesitant inside of her heart. He was drawn to her, but she thought of him as nothing more than a helpful comrade at this point.
"You guys want me to reset you?" Bartz asked.
"No!" Rosa said, a little too quickly. "We'll start from here. Ready?" she asked Cecil.
"Ready. By your mark, Bartz."
Bartz put his hand up again, and Rosa quickly surveyed her surroundings. Sanctuary had a barrier that was almost the same as the one where she fought the Emperor. If she had to, she could use it to jump or run away. She could also use it to gain height over him if she needed it. There were crops of white stone - natural barriers all around. She could use them for cover to shoot from or heal herself.
Cosmos's throne could also act as an obstacle, if she managed to maneuver him to one side and her to another. And, she saw, there were blueish-green ribbons that arched all above and around them. They matched the red ones that were in the room where she fought the Emperor. She didn't know what they were, or how to use them-
"Go!" Bartz said, throwing his arm down.
On instinct, Rosa pulled four arrows at once. She nocked the first one and held the shafts of the rest between the last fingers of her draw hand. She drew and shot at Cecil again, before he even had time to step. Rosa didn't wait to see if he deflected it before she had the next arrow in her hand prepped and sailing. She shot the third and the fourth within seconds and snatched another cluster of four from her quiver. As she loosed the next round, she began to slowly circle him, hoping he wouldn't notice the change of angle while he was blocking.
He hadn't so much as moved from his spot. The arrows were coming too fast, and she had him pinned down. She figured she could hold him there indefinitely until she came up with something new to do, and she felt a surge of pride rise up within her. Rosa was holding out longer than she honestly expected herself to, and she hoped the others around her were pleasantly surprised. At least she hadn't done anything to embarrass herself, yet.
The arrows were gone before she was even done thinking, so she grabbed another bunch and continued to shoot, one right after the other. Rosa didn't expect him to do anything other than stand there, so when Cecil dove and rolled to the side, she was caught off-guard. Rosa was forced to pause and aim at his new position.
Cecil completed his roll, landing in a crouch, and right as Rosa drew to fire again, he popped up, jumping a few inches off the ground. He threw his fist up in the air, and when he gently opened his hand, it was like he clasped a small light. The light pulsed, flashing white.
Right in front of her, from thin air, another light appeared and pulsed, so bright that Rosa flinched away from it to shield her eyes.. It fanned out into a sigil, spinning inside of itself. Rosa didn't have time to react before a white laser shot out from it. It launched and collided gently with her shoulder, knocking her left shoulder back. She staggered and caught herself, but another laser connected just above her opposite collar bone, knocking her around the other way. She eked out a small squeak of surprise, her legs tangled, and she toppled to the floor as the last laser shot above her, where she had been standing a second ago. She staggered to her feet, momentarily forgetting to be aware of her surroundings.
She didn't notice that Cecil had dashed towards her. Something flat and metal - the flat of his spear blade - slapped into her back so hard, her head whipped back and she saw stars. A sting like no other erupted across her shoulder blades where he hit her, burrowing deep in her skin, and she screamed in pain. Cecil pulled up on the blade and lifted Rosa off her feet, and she froze, winded, for she didn't know how long. Gravity started to pull her down towards the floor but Cecil's blade slammed down vertically across her back and threw her to the floor.
She crashed to the ground, landing on her stomach so hard that she rebounded off the floor and landed again. Her chest collapsed, her breath left her. She tried to suck air in but her chest refused to expand, and panic set in, even more potent than the pain as she realized she couldn't breathe. A small squeak crawled from her throat as she tried to pick herself up, and right herself to give her chest more room.
She practically forgot she was supposed to be in a battle until she heard footsteps splashing in the water behind her. Rosa quickly flipped over, drawing her knife from her belt as she realized she was completely defenseless.
Cecil ran up on her, but then stopped a few feet from her. "Sorry! Are you alright?-" Rosa threw a hand to her chest. "Breathe through your nose," he told her, as soon as he saw that the wind was knocked out of her. She sucked in as big a breath as she could through her nose, and was surprised when it pulled in easily. She instantly relaxed, and he allowed her to sit there in the water for a few more seconds as she caught her breath.
"Geez, Cecil, don't hurt her!" Tidus yelled.
"I wasn't trying-" he started, sending Tidus a completely distressed glance.
" . . . I'm fine!" she yelled as soon as she could, but even to her her voice sounded hoarse and small. Rosa sheathed her knife and looked around for her bow and realized that she must have sent it away without even knowing it. Well, fine. She figured it was time to change tactics anyway. She was breathing easier, and she let out one last, huge sigh to let him know that she was alright. But she still didn't get up. While she sat there, she tried to remember some of the spells she knew. She had Cure and all of its levels. Protect. Shell for magic. She knew Libra, which was an informational spell. She remembered Raise and its higher version, Arise, from her encounter with the manikin that she tried to revive. Dispel.
Rosa blinked and looked to the side, but when she opened her eyes, she didn't see Sanctuary around her. Instead, her surroundings were dark and grey, and she was in a cave.
The Cait Sith opened its huge jaws and snarled, flaring its antennae around it in a clear threat. The Lunar monsters were strong. Incredibly strong, and much more vicious than anything on the Overworld, and they were only making it angry. Edge's shurikens barely even sliced its thick skin. Palom's Black Magic disoriented and confused it, but did little else to actually damage it. Cecil and Kain could barely even get swings in. Instead they were continuously blocking the swipes from its claws and from its antennae. Rosa was spending all of her magic just keeping everyone healed and strong when they took serious hits.
Its antennae started to glow dangerously white, and Rosa knew its Blaster attack was coming. Kain wisely backed away, leaping back several feet in one bound. Cecil watched him retreat in confusion, unaware that the Cait Sith was charging up.
"Watch out!" Rosa tried to yell.
The antennae lashed out, slapping against Cecil's armor on either side of his chest. Yellow charges pinged and jolted off his armor, and he stiffened from the electricity. He collapsed to the ground, lying completely still. So still, Rosa thought he took a fatal blow. She instantly took off towards him, but the Cait Sith snarled again and whipped its antennae around it, keeping her at bay. Suddenly, Cecil's form shuddered on the ground and dragged itself to a sitting position. Rosa could see that something wasn't right. His back was to her, but his motions were slow and sloppy, like he didn't quite have control.
"Cecil!" she called.
He turned towards the sound of her voice, and Rosa saw what the problem was. His eyes were black - completely black. The Cait Sith had Blinded him. He opened his mouth and looked like he tried to scream, but nothing crawled from his throat. He was Silenced, too. He dragged himself to his feet, but wobbled and collapsed again, swinging his sword wildly around him.
"Cecil!" Kain yelled, and ran forward to help him, but when he got close enough, Cecil jabbed his sword at Kain. He crawled after Kain on his hands and knees, too dizzy to stand up, and continuously swiped at his legs. "Rosa, he's Confused!" Kain yelled.
The Esuna spell was already tumbling from her lips, and the warmth was already starting to build in her chest. It needed to be powerful to heal all of his ailments-
Rosa opened her eyes, finished the blink, and looked around for the Cait Sith. Expected to be on the dark moon's surface. But instead, she was surrounded by all white, sitting in Sanctuary's water, and Cecil was in front of her, already healed. She had a Silence spell, that could inflict or heal. She didn't know if Cecil had any magic to him, but if she got the chance to try it, she would. She remembered Blind, but she didn't have a spell that inflicted it or healed it, except for Esuna.
And there was a Confuse spell as well. If she could get Cecil close enough to her, she could try that one. "N-next time, don't stop!" she told him, trying to hide the fact that she just remembered something. "If this were a real battle, my opponent wouldn't stop." The Cait Sith certainly didn't. The Emperor didn't stop for her.
"Friends wouldn't hurt each other in a real battle," Cecil said. "I'm sorry." He stepped towards her and offered his hand.
"You're the one who said to fight like we usually would!" she fired back. She slapped his hand away, and called her staff to her hands, using it to drag herself to her feet.
"True, but I'm not going to attack you when you're completely defenseless! We aren't trying to harm each other here!"
"Says the man who just hit me twice in the back."
"I used the flat of the blade so I wouldn't stab you, Rosa."
"U-u-ugh, stop fighting and- . . . fight already!" Tidus yelled from the sidelines.
Rosa rolled her eyes, exasperated with the fact that they got so off-topic. "Bartz," she called.
"Yeah?"
"Offensive white magic is allowed, right?"
"Mmm," he hummed, eyes flicking up in the air. "Yeah! I don't see why not! As long as you know the spell, Cecil said that every skill . . . "
Offensive magic felt different. While healing magic was a soft warmth, offensive magic felt cold and heavy. Like there was snow piling up inside of her. And while healing magic seemed to come from her heart, the offensive magic pooled lower, near her stomach. Rosa let the chill build while Bartz was talking, and when she felt it was built up enough, she let it build in the crystal on her staff, too. It flashed, and Rosa thrust it forward like a spear and slammed it into Cecil's chest plate.
"H-hey!" Bartz yelled. "I don't know if that's-"
"Anything at our disposal!" Rosa countered.
The blow had staggered Cecil back, but the Confusion had held, so he dizzily splashed to his backside in the water. He blinked hard, but his eyes were glassy and wide, like he could only see very far into the distance. They flicked around wildly until they locked on Bartz. Cecil dragged himself to his feet, never taking his eyes off of him. When he was upright, he wobbled a bit, then ran towards him.
"W-woah!" Bartz yelled. "Cecil, stop!" He backpedaled wildly as Cecil stumbled towards him, swinging back and forth at him. "Ah!" he called a copy of Firion's small round shield to his wrist and blocked an overhead swing. "C-call him off, Rosa!"
Rosa gasped and ran forward. She hadn't thought that through. Confuse caused the afflicted to attack anybody, enemies and friends, at random. It didn't occur to her that he'd consider Bartz at all. Rosa slid in between the two and pushed Cecil back with her staff braced across his chest.
"She didn't!" Zidane yelled. He grabbed the Onion Knight next to him and shook him, pointing towards Rosa and Cecil. "Look, look! She Confused him!"
"Get off!" Onion yelled, throwing him off. "I think it was a cheap trick."
"It wasn't cheap," Warrior said. "It is well within the rules to use whatever you have at your disposal. And Cecil let his guard down."
Rosa ignored them.
Cecil ran forward again, and thrust the tip of his spear at her stomach. She wormed to the side and planted her foot on his hip, pushing him back again. While he was at a distance, she recalled the spell and cast it towards him, removing it. He blinked the bleariness away from his eyes and saw Rosa, and ran forward as though nothing had happened. He probably didn't even realize he nearly killed Bartz, she realized.
"Mental note: be careful with Confuse," she told herself.
She figured that was enough of her magic. She sent her staff away and called her bow again. He seemed to be breathing easily while her breath came in deep gasps - though she figured a portion of that was from having the wind knocked out of her. Cecil sprinted forward. She watched the form of his body. Slightly leaned forward, eyes up and intense, sword behind him.
Twenty feet from her.
Ten feet from her.
She heard a heavy sound behind her. A dry rustling, like someone was dragging something heavy in the dirt. She whirled around, thinking someone was attacking her from behind.
She whirled around, glaring into the blackness of the Cave behind her. Hoping to ambush them, six Black Lizards scuttled and crawled out from the shadows of the cave. They skittered forward on stubby legs, and their bodies shuffled through the dirt.
The one in front reared up on two legs and squealed in a clicking sound, and Rosa turned to alert Cecil. "To arms!" He turned, made a noise of alarm, and sprinted to engage, almost running straight at her.
The Cave rippled and shimmered around her. Water lapped at her boots, and for a second everything was white.
Cecil was still running towards her-
He brushed her shoulder as he ran past her.
"No!" she screamed, turning with him. "There are too many!" Cecil froze where he was, skidding in the dirt while his eyes surveyed the six Black Lizards around them. "I've got it."
She pulled an arrow from her quiver, already calling a Holy spell into existence. She sent it into the arrow, building it and building it until the tip glowed white-hot. She aimed at the nearest wall, well away from any of the enemies.
"What are you-" Kain yelled, but Rosa ignored him to loose the arrow.
When it hit the wall, it ricocheted, and the tip burst apart into six shots.
A perfect combination of a Holy Arrow and a Ricochet Shot. Each one bounced randomly off the narrow cave walls, and all of her party members ducked and dodged until all six found their marks in a Lizard.
Rosa opened her eyes, and Cecil was still coming in quick. She gasped, dodging to the side to give herself more time to draw. She pulled an arrow and nocked it, and turned to the side to aim it at the cave wall around her.
There were no walls in Sanctuary.
Cecil changed directions on the dot, still bearing down on her. He was close, incredibly close. Quickly panicking, and with nowhere to shoot the arrow, Rosa aimed it straight at the ground instead. She loosed the arrow, and when it hit the ground and burst open into three shots. She half expected him to stop and at least try to deflect all three. They fanned out, one coming at him from head on, one bouncing to the right, and the other bouncing to his left.
Cecil jumped into the air and twisted, swirling his blade around him in a visible arc. The spin of his attack simply powered through her arrows, and they glanced harmlessly off of his armor. He twirled again, landing one swing against her left pauldron. The clashing sound rung in her ears as her arm jammed straight into her side, jarring her entire frame. An ache erupted in her chest from when she was slammed to the ground, but before she could even react or recover, Cecil was circling again. The second swing hit her pauldron again, harder, and she felt all the bones in her arm and shoulder gnash together. Tears sprang to her eyes and she yelped, unable to quiet the sound before it left her.
His third strike to her shoulder shot stabbing pain up and down her arm. So intense she froze, clenching it to her side. It only lasted a second, and after it faded, pins and needles replaced it, into each of her fingers and all the way up to her collarbone. She lost feeling, her arm grew weak and slumped to her side, useless. She was thrown up into the air, and Cecil soared after her, surrounded by an aura of gold. Everywhere he followed, he left forms behind him - insubstantial golden transparencies that froze in the air and held his pose. They drew Rosa's eyes, and she lost sight of the real Cecil.
There was a flash of white light. A strike collided with her left pauldron, her already injured shoulder. The pins and needles gave way immediately for blinding pain, and she spun dizzily around with the swing. She caught sight of Cecil for a second, but there was another flash and he was gone. Another of his gold forms was all she saw before another strike slammed into the small of her back, curling her up in the air. Cecil appeared below her, and she watched him dash straight up one more time, then flip downwards, plowing the flat of his blade between her shoulders again.
Rosa was hurled to the ground again and lay there, too dizzy to even try to get up, her arm too weak to even move. Her right arm moved slowly, robotically, like she wasn't the one controlling it. It hovered over her left shoulder, shaking, and she held it there waiting for a healing spell, any healing spell, to wrap around her. It took a few seconds before she was coherent enough to realize that she hadn't actually spoken any spell.
She blinked hard and fast, bringing her eyes into focus, and when Sanctuary finally stopped spinning, she spoke a real Curaga. The warm light in her chest spread over her shoulder, banishing the pins and needles. Like a jolt, her strength returned to her arm and fingers, and she clutched her bow tightly to her.
She was losing, badly. She hadn't managed a single hit on him. Only a silly Confuse spell that did more harm to Bartz than it did good for her. She dragged herself to her feet, and spun towards him, not even caring if her fear showed on her face. She didn't have any more tricks. Nothing else had come to light yet from her memory. All she had was what she knew, and she didn't want to just defend with White Magic the whole time.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Wh-what was that?!" she sputtered. "I didn't even . . . see you. Only gold images of you."
"Firion named it Radiant Wing for me. Much more poetic than anything I could have come up with. Sorry, if it hurt you."
She didn't answer. Only lifted her bow to start the fight again.
Cecil paused, lowering his spear from his upright position. "This is only a sparring match. It's supposed to be helping you. Don't take it so seriously."
Rosa bristled in anger. "I won't lose," she growled to herself. She didn't know why she couldn't relax. The desire to prove that she had some sort of merit, maybe, and that she wasn't just ignorant or helpless, or a burden to them until she remembered something. And plus, she thought bitterly, for something not meant to be taken seriously, Cecil hit pretty hard.
She didn't even know how to fight back. And it wasn't to hurt him, she just wanted to feel like she was doing something.
Cecil reset, but before Bartz called the battle, he raised his spear across his chest. It glowed pure white - Cecil's trademark as a Paladin: white light. He lifted it straight up above his head, brighter and brighter, and Rosa expected another flash of light. Perhaps a dormant power, or something. Instead, a wave-like pulse burst out from his body, and it was purple.
Menacing, powerful in an uncontrolled kind of way. It dissipated, and all around Rosa saw more dark energy swirling and dancing around him and glinting like crystal shards. Darkness had clung to his Paladin armor. Instead of the glaring whites and soft purples, he was wearing black armor, adorned with deep purple and gold accent colors. Where his Paladin armor looked smooth and fluid in its design, and even a bit ornate, this armor looked more simple and functional.
His Paladin shoes, which had been shaped into a point, had a gold, metal, crown-shaped plate over the front of his ankles for protection. But his black shoes now were rounded, with diamond-shaped guards on either side of his ankle rather than in the front. His greaves were plain in the front and had four purple spikes poking out on both of his calves. Matching diamond guards covered his knees, and as Rosa's eyes trailed up further, she noticed that his armor had muscle definition carved into the shaping where his Paladin armor didn't.
His belt had a purple 'x' outlined in gold on it, and the accents and colors wrapped around it in a waving design as well. The abdomen and chest were well-defined, and his giant pauldrons were flat and round, outlined in gold with one curved spike that stuck straight up from each of his shoulders. Matching spiked gauntlets and a high collar nearly completed the set.
Nearly startling Rosa was the helmet that had formed over Cecil's face.
A grimacing, nasty face sneered back at her. The features of the face were slumped downward. The eyebrows were furrowed deeply, the eyes themselves were narrowed and completely white, like dead eyes. White and empty like that manikin of Zidane. It had six horns, three on each side, that trailed off both sides of it, making him look like a demon.
It was such a startling contrast to his usual emotion. He seemed generally pleasant, usually smiling when she looked at him. Always bathed in the purest of radiance and elegance in his Paladin armor. His light was the pride in his eyes and his stance, gentle and ethereal, and with it he floated above the world around him. Now he looked enraged. All the light was gone from him, and it looked like the armor was specifically built to keep it out - that, or lock every mote away tight, never to reach the surface again. He looked unrefined and rugged. More grounded and fierce, but at the cost of the light that he took so much pride in.
Even his battle stance had changed. He wasn't standing straight anymore, with his chin elevated, standing firm against his adversaries. His stance in the dark armor was hunched over. Low and threatening, with his spear back behind his left side. He was looking up at her through the helmet's furrowed eyebrows like a rabid animal about to attack.
Feral, Rosa realized. His dark armor looked feral.
"This is my Dark Knight," Cecil said, after a while. He must have caught her staring. Rosa quickly closed her mouth and blinked herself back to her surroundings. They still had a battle, after all. She quickly reached behind her to grab a few arrows, but Cecil lowered his spear and stood up straight. "Wait," he said. "Do you have any . . . questions, or anything?"
"Questions?"
"Oh . . . No, nothing. I was hoping that seeing the armor would help you remember something." He went to scratch awkwardly at the back of his head, but when his hand came into contact with the metal helmet, he simply dropped it back to his side.
"Nothing specific," she said. "All I know is that . . . you were the King's ward in Baron. He had you become a Dark Knight as he had been." She knew that from the memory she had of their discussion under the tree. She had asked him then if he even wanted to be a Dark Knight. By then, he was very nearly at the top of command.
He nodded. "Yes. I suppose it makes sense that you have few memories of this armor. I only wore it on missions during my time with the Red Wings, and His Majesty never sent you on any missions with me. You were only an Apprentice, and he only allowed Mages to accompany us- Well, I still had it when we went to Mount Hobbs. You, me, Rydia, and Edward."
A brief thought flashed in her mind, of the green-haired girl, of a blond man in a red and orange outfit holding a lute. Cecil, frowning at them from under his black helmet. She could remember standing on an orange raft-like vehicle, the propeller whipping the wind all around them, blowing Rosa's hair around her and tangling it all up. She stared over the side, and as they crossed the shoals and the shallow rocks on the water, a huge, rising mountain loomed overhead, growing taller and taller and taller the closer they got.
She supposed that was Mount Hobbs.
"Let's keep going," she said. The respite was nice and she felt like she was ready to continue, at least physically. The healing she performed earlier had removed the heaviness from her arm and from her muscles, and just to double check, Rosa called her bow and experimentally pulled the string as hard as she could a few times. Perfectly fine to keep shooting, she just hoped she wouldn't be sore later. In a way, she realized she could continue to battle indefinitely, or at least, until she lost all of her magic power. Either spending all of it or just being too physically weak to call upon the power.
Or mentally weak, she added. She could feel the battle's tolls on her mind. The memories were powerful, random, and completely overbearing, and Rosa could feel a bit of fatigue set in. She felt slow and tired, like she couldn't be bothered to muster the energy to be as high-strung as she was at the start of the battle. More fighting seemed like a momentous undertaking - but she quickly realized that her desire to remember more, to not be completely in the dark, sort of quieted some of her exhaustion.
At Bartz's call, Cecil started towards her, and Rosa noticed he was moving much slower than she had seen before. His dark armor must have been heavier. If she had to guess, his attacks would be stronger, but less quick as well. Rosa realized that's why the armor was so much more rugged in its design. It was built for durability. For slow, heavy-handed, deliberate skill.
If he was Slowed, she could definitely use that to her advantage.
Rosa called upon the cold, tingling power of offensive White Magic, and shuddered as it pooled down near her stomach. She whispered, "Time, hasten to my aid." Second nature to her, as though she never forgot. The piercing chill spread through her whole body, into her chest, her legs, her arms, and fingers.
From within, the chill touched her muscles, and everywhere it went she was left with a slight buzz. An intense vibration that awakened her senses and shivered up and down her body in waves. The Haste spell spread itself through her, and all around her, Sanctuary seemed to slow down. Cecil's slow and controlled run seemed even slower. Bartz's blinking face looked robotic and methodical. Rosa looked around - she knew she had time - and took in her surroundings. There weren't any white barriers around in this area of Sanctuary, but one of the green bands that she saw earlier curved and touched the ground not far from them. The course of the battle had sent her close to some of the arrows she shot earlier, so she circled around and picked some of them up. Her quiver wasn't close to empty, but it never hurt to keep a few extras. She could even use magic arrows if she had to. She turned back to Cecil and he was halfway to her, still running at her.
Nocking the first of the arrows she picked up, an idea came to her. With no barriers, she needed something to distract him with. Or something she could use to give herself the upper hand. She held the next arrows in her draw hand and prepared for another Rapid Shot, but before she shot the volley, she aimed the first arrow far over Cecil's head. Not even close to him. Her eyes scanned the area over his head, trailing a wide path through the air then crossing it back to Cecil.
She loosed the arrow, and it sailed far over Cecil's head. He paid it no attention, still running towards her at a slow and steady pace due to her Haste. She then finished her Rapid Shot, shooting arrow after arrow after arrow, one right after the other at him. Cecil leaned to the side and dodged the first one, but the second one came too fast for him. It pierced his right shoulder, punching through the thick pauldron. He grunted in pain, stumbling as the cadence of his sprint was thrown off. The next arrow stabbed just above his collarbone on the same side. He backpedaled away, and happened to dodge the third arrow by chance.
She kept them away from the left side of his chest, away from his heart just in case the arrows buried too deep in him and actually drew blood. The other two sailed for him, too fast for his eyes, and while he handled them, Rosa kept her eyes on the arrow she sent through the air before the Rapid Shot. It slowly trailed up and up, along the path Rosa drew with her eyes. It curved along the wide arc, seeming to slow to a dead stop before circling back around and swept back down towards Cecil's back and honed in on him, picking up speed and power.
He was still reeling from the two shafts that managed to pierce into his shoulder and arm, and didn't even notice the arrow coming for his back. It slammed straight into the center of his shoulders and threw him down flat to the ground. Flat on his stomach. His weight snapped the two already in him, and Rosa panicked for a brief second while he slid forward in the water from the force of her Homing Arrow. She started towards him, afraid that his fall had buried the arrow tips even further and potentially caused him more damage than she intended.
To her relief he slowly dragged himself to his hands and knees, and it looked even more slow and labored to her because of the spell. She went to call out to him, and waved her off. "Good shot," he said.
"Did those arrows hurt you?"
"No. They're just stuck in my armor. Keep going!" he said, trying to reach around to grab at the other one. He couldn't get to it in his armor, and resorted to leaving it there.
The tingle Rosa had felt from her spell was growing more and more faint, fading away from the fibers of her muscles. Occasionally a residual twitch came to her, or a pulse, but gradually the world around her seemed to speed up as she slowed down. Cecil used his spear to haul himself to his feet, groaning with the effort. He continued to run towards her, and a cold chill spread down Rosa's back as she realized how quick he seemed now that she no longer was Hastened.
She called upon one of the spells she knew from her memory of the Cait Sith, and sent a Paralyze spell his way. She actually positioned the magic in front of him, so that he would run right into it. To her relief, his path carried him straight through the center of its concentration, and immediately she watched the effects set in. He stopped exactly where he was, with his body leaned forward, poised for the next step. His body started to tremble with the effort of trying to break through the spell and move. With tremendous strain he picked his foot up and it inched forward, almost painfully, but before long he froze like that. He struggled, growling low in his throat - Rosa could see the occasional jolt of his body.
She froze, unsure of what to do next. If she attacked him now, he would be defenseless, and after her accidental stunt with Confuse she didn't think that would be very sportsmanlike. In the same breath, she didn't want to just sit and watch him struggle. If this were a real battle, she wouldn't watch her enemy, gloating like that. She couldn't even remember if the spell faded or if she had to remove it herself, like Confuse.
Thankfully, Cecil saved her from her conflict. He yelled out again, and with a bright flash of white light, he shifted back to his Paladin armor. The shift allowed him to break through the spell, and Rosa could feel it collapse pathetically around him. He only spent a second back in his Paladin armor before he stood up on his toes, raising his spear straight up with both hands, as far above his head as he possibly could. He shifted back to Dark Knight, and slammed his spear to the ground.
A column of crackling, black and purple flame spouted out from the spear with a boom that sounded like an explosion. It shot up high, flickering and spitting, and before it fully dissipated another shot up in front of it. Then another, then another, coming towards her in a line. All thought left her, awestruck at the sight before her. She had no idea Cecil could be that powerful.
Rosa staggered to the side at the sight of it, and to her horror it seemed to track her movement, inching to the side after her. Her panic swelled and her heart jumped into her throat as she realized to completely dodge this she would have to time it exactly right. The closer and closer it drew, gaining speed and power with hit, the more she felt it. It shook the ground it was so powerful. It shook her, rattling her bones inside of her.
The Tower of Zot shook around them, so hard that it rattled the bones inside of her. The walls visibly trembled, and bits of concrete, glass, and crystal rained around them as it broke free from the ceiling.
"The tower's collapsing!" Cecil yelled.
"Look out!" Kain yelled next, head reclined to stare straight up at the falling debris.
A single, forceful crash shook the entire tower further, and Rosa knew that the upper floors and the tip of the tower were shaking loose and collapsing. As if to confirm what she thought, larger chunks of the tower fell around them. She had to get them out of there. She pushed her way to the middle of their little group. To the middle of Cid, Cecil, Kain, and Yang. "Hold on to me!" she yelled, throwing her hand out, Cecil was the first to grab it, and Kain held on to Cecil while Yang grabbed her other hand.
They had seconds, maybe.
Rosa called as much of the magic she possessed inside of her and focused it straight from her heart. She pictured Baron. The castle. The West tower. Cecil's bedroom in the West Tower. She surrounded all of them with the power and yelled, "Teleport!" as loud as she could.
The Dark Flame drew closer and closer to her, only feet away. She could feel the heat. Radiating off of the flames and scorching her face. Scorching her entire body. Her cheeks burned, her eyes felt hot, instantly tearing up.
She had seconds, maybe.
Rosa called the same power, picturing the other side of Sanctuary. "Teleport!" she yelled.
The warmth enveloped her whole body. The world fell away from her. Sanctuary's light blacked out instantly, as though she had gone blind. The floor collapsed away from her feet and she flailed, thinking she was going to fall. A sound like moving air whirred in her ears for just a second, before everything stopped. The ground slammed against her feet and the light came back.
She was where she pictured, on the other side of Sanctuary. Far away from Cecil and his attack.
It faded away, with the column shrinking and shrinking until it disappeared, and Cecil looked around in confusion before spotting her on the other end of the battlefield. The heat from it was unbearable, and she could still feel it on her cheeks. She felt like her eyes were burning hot, like her skin was on fire. The very air felt dry and hot, and she gasped-
She staggered again, nearly face-planting in the sand. So hot . . . she had to be close to Damcyan. Or Cecil - she wasn't even that far behind Cecil. He only left . . . three days before she did. Word only reached her that he perished hours ago. Or was it a day?
The sun beat down on her skin, and she felt like she could feel the waves of its heat beating down on her face. She was dehydrated. She knew she was. She was dehydrated, and had probably taken a wrong turn in the endless dunes. The sand blew again with a dry gust of hot wind and her eyes blurred, burning her vision-
Rosa blinked hard, wiping furiously at her eyes, to clear the memory's searing sand.
She trudged through the endless sand, each new step like a leaded weight upon her legs. She shivered again. The dull throb of simple fatigue had long since subsided to a feverish ache in every single muscle. Her foot sunk in the soft dune, and she lost the effort to lift her boots from the suck of the sea.
She collapsed there, shivering uncontrollably with a chill as the sun glared down at her. Burning her skin. Drying her out. Leaving her there, without mercy. Weakly she lifted her head and tried to call out, but her parched, swollen throat failed her. She only managed a hoarse whisper as the desert fever took over her completely.
"Cecil . . . "
"Cecil," she whispered, and she paused in embarrassment as she realized she said his name out loud. She spun around, hoping nobody heard, and sighed in relief when she saw that Cecil was still across Sanctuary, headed towards her, and the others were lined over by where he was.
"Well done!" Cecil yelled to her loudly. He closed the distance quickly and smiled at her, but when he saw the seriousness in her eyes, he broke stride and hesitated. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I just remembered something that really . . . I tried to follow you, and got sick."
"You got desert fever."
"I collapsed in the middle of a desert? How did anybody find me?"
"You weren't minutes from Kaipo before you collapsed. Luckily, a traveler found you and took you to their home. They let you stay there while you recovered."
"Oh," she said, unsure of what else to say.
"I was worried sick about you. Rydia, Edward, and I were able to cure you, but it was close. Your fever was far too high, and wouldn't break." His voice grew distant, and Rosa couldn't see his eyes. But imagined that if she could, she'd see them fixated on the ground in front of him. He was remembering his part of the experience. "You wouldn't stop calling for me. It was heartbreaking. But," he said brightly, breaking himself of the solemnity. "You were fine! The three of us went and found what we needed to cure you. Almost immediately you insisted upon coming with us to our next destination. I refused, of course, but that stubborn streak . . . " he said, allowing the smile to cross his face. "Are you good to keep going?" he asked, reaching out and gently touching her arm.
Leaving it there as he peered down into her face.
She noticed he had kept his hand on her arm.
For far longer than was proper.
He was still smiling at her. For far longer than was proper.
She noticed that about him, lately. They'd spent day after day at the tree and behind the waterfalls. She was starting to feel a change in him.
He had begun with glances. Keeping his eyes on her for longer than was proper while he bowed, before finally lowering them to the floor. Smiling at her when she caught him staring. Roving his eyes over her face.
Then it was hand kisses. His lips would brush her knuckles first before the most gentlest of touches to her hand. He wouldn't exactly clasp her hand in his, but he would open his hand and allow her to rest it there for as long as she would.
She had started to notice she didn't always want to pull away.
And he had no doubt noticed her own stares. Her own smiles.
And then he moved on to gentle touches. Holding her hand, hooking his arm in hers. Maintaining that contact.
His touches had started to burn her. When she reciprocated his instances of contact, he would light up in joy that was nearly blinding.
Sometimes she wished he'd hold her closer.
Touch her longer.
Steal a kiss already-
Rosa shook her head violently, as though to shake the memory from her mind. Her cheeks heated in embarrassment, and when she raised her eyes and saw his look of genuine peace , her cheeks reddened, even hotter.
"A-actually," she stammered. "I think I'm done."
"Oh!" he said quickly. He shifted back to the bright white of his Paladin armor, and his face looked dejected and a little bit hurt. "Okay. Are you alright?"
" . . . Fine. I'm just tired. The memories hit me hard," she told him honestly. "I need to rest. And to think."
"Yes, of course," he said. "If you have any questions, please let me know."
"I will," she told him, nodding to him. He held his hand out to her and she pressed it into his palm. He pulled her hand to his lips, gently kissing her knuckle. "You did well, Lady Rosa. I look forward to our next encounter."
"Thank you," she said. She waited patiently for him to release her hand so she could curtsey. She waited. Smiled at him, and he smiled back. Finally, she pried her hand from his and offered a shallow curtsey. "Until our next encounter."
A/N: Whoo, this chapter's a big one!
With the arrival of Dissidia NT and the upgraded attacks, attack mechanics, body movements, etc. I have decided to combine elements of the original Dissidia ( and 012) as well as NT. The two named attacks I had Cecil use were the new Dissidia NT attack called Sacred Cross, and Radiant Wing - which is both in the old Dissidia and NT. I also used Dark Flame, which is in all Dissidias. The description of battle was hard. It probably won't ever be this meticulous again, but this was the first time Rosa was seeing anything of Cecil's attacks. I wanted to make sure the reader had enough information to know what Rosa was seeing in real time, without it being mechanical.
Let me know how I did.
I got a CuriousCat! I'm Keyblader41996 on there, so look me up and ask me anything about Petal!
Thanks to everyone who kudosed/commented! And thanks to my beta!
~Keyblader