Rosa opened her eyes, and immediately her injuries started to sting. She clutched at her shoulder, rolling it as gently as she could, groaning from the stiffness that already set in. She only made half way around before the searing hot flares of pain shot from the top of her collarbone down to her elbow and back again. It already sported a nasty bruise from where the manikin's magic phased through her. Dropping her arm, she looked instead to the wounds on her middle.
They hurt worse than they looked, she knew. The cut wasn't deep and wasn't bleeding as terribly as she had thought, but her yellow top was still stained in streaks from the trails it left. She took a few deep breaths, as deep as she could muster. When she was ready she heaved herself up to a hunched over standing position.
A small rush of blood poured from the stab wound on her stomach and she reached for it to probe it with her fingers. She determined it wasn't serious. Nothing she couldn't heal in a pinch. With that thought, she pushed the injuries to the back of her mind. She had larger problems at hand.
She stared at her new location, taking in every detail in the hopes of identifying anything about it she could use. She saw purple. Black, and blue, glittering stars, and the formations of galaxies. The floor was hard but translucent and she could see stars and galaxies below her, too. For a moment, she thought herself on the Moon overlooking the Overworld. Her hopes crashed down around her at the sight of an unfamiliar crystal mass in the very center of the area. It was bright orange, and lit the place with a warm glow, humming with the energy it possessed.
This place was not familiar to her in the slightest.
Feelings of panic tightened her chest, and her heartbeat pulsed in her throat. She didn't know who brought her there, either. She glanced down, at the claw marks perfectly visible on the flesh of her forearm. Ten pokes - four fingers and a thumb on her wrist, four fingers and a thumb underneath. Someone with clawed gloves or gauntlets.
The Emperor.
Of course. At the very mention of him, her breath caught in her throat. Alone, in an open and unfamiliar area, exposed from every angle. The panic she felt intensified. the hair on her neck stood on end as though he was already casting his Death spell behind her. She whirled around, and even though she didn't see anything, the overwhelming urge to sprint as far away from there as she could overtook her. She ran with her hand in front of her, looking for the barrier.
She eventually hit the clear wall, and pounded her fist against it fruitlessly. Realizing there was no exit on this side of the area, Rosa kept her hand on the wall and followed it around, circling the giant crystal hanging from the sky.
"Hello?!" she called, desperate for something familiar. "Cecil! Cecil, help!"
"He's not here!" a voice answered her, startling her so fiercely that she flinched away from the wall. She whirled around but saw no one. She couldn't place where the voice came from. It was echoey and insubstantial, and Rosa remembered the Emperor using a similar trick when she battled against him. He used his teleport abilities so she couldn't pinpoint his location.
"E-Emperor?" she called, cursing her stutter. Her throat felt dry and her breath felt short. "Show yourself!"
"Hahahahahaaaaaa! Not even close!" came the crazed reply. The voice was high-pitched and whiny, with a tense edge to it. Too shrill to be the Emperor. While that thought brought her some relief, she now needed to assess the new threat. A man appeared in front of her, dressed like a court jester. He wore an eclectic mix of colors, patterns, and feathers that swirled together too tightly for her to begin to describe. The feathers in his hair stuck straight up behind him, completing his look. His face was fully painted white, with a purple grin that stretched from cheek to cheek. It wasn't a real smile, she knew. His eyes were cold, and Rosa could only grimace. They were wide and crazed, and the red paints he used to accent them that should have looked silly only made him look more sinister.
"Do I look like him?" the clown asked. "I hope not." He threw a hand over his chest. His eyes widened and he wobbled forward until he hunched over. "Ungaaaaaaaaaah! Eh? Eh?" he prompted, leaning towards her. He spread both arms and bowed, and Rosa realized it was supposed to be an imitation of sorts. Perhaps the Emperor and this jester weren't friends, but it didn't bring her comfort.
Rosa summoned her bow, more than sure she wouldn't be able to draw it, but she hoped to at least intimidate him. The jester laughed and faded from view, his obnoxious cackle dwindling with him. When it reached her ears again, he reappeared behind her. She backpedaled furiously, towards the crystal.
"Who are you?" she asked him.
"Oh, I'm nobody you need to know," he told her, waving dismissively, "considering you won't be around for much longer." Rosa's heart dropped into her stomach at his threat. She pulled an arrow from her hip and nocked it on the bow, gritting her teeth against the pulling of her shoulder. She briefly imagined how badly it would hurt if she pulled it to full draw. She questioned if she would even be able to do it. At her warning sign, the clown threw his head back and cackled, so hard his feet lifted off the ground. He floated there, suspended in the air.
On impulse, Rosa drew her bow as far as she could and loosed the arrow before she could question it. The clown's face fell and he disappeared, reappearing a step to the side. The arrow made a hollow tchink!-tchink! as it bounced weakly on the clear crystal floor, and Rosa screamed. Fiery agony punched through the deepest layers of her skin down to the bone. An ache so intense that black creeped into her vision erupted in her shoulder and ran down the length of her arm. She dropped her bow and pressed her arm to her side, holding it still with her other hand.
"Mwaaahahahahaha!" echoed another laugh, too deep to be the jester's. She heard another sound behind her, and spun quickly to face the new arrival that flanked her on the left. The man was at least seven feet tall - taller than Golbez. He wore a full suit of teal-tinted plate armor that covered his body and face so completely, she couldn't even make out a pair of eyes between the slit in the helmet. The skirts around his waist were brightly colored and intricately patterned, and they may have looked pretty if not for the maniacal laugh and curved sword in his vice grip.
"Well, look who it is!" the clown shrieked. His tone changed a second later, his face slumped into a frown, and he grumbled, "Weren't you supposed to be waiting here?"
"Do not question me, Kefka. We each have a role in this little game, and I intend to fulfill mine." He lumbered forward, entire body involved with moving himself one slow step at a time. He reminded her of a Demon Wall, she realized. Slow, creeping, inching at a snail's pace with every intention of crushing her like a bug if she gave him the chance. He looked around, though he had to twist his entire body in the suit of armor. " . . . Where is Ultimecia?"
"Mmm!" Kefka hummed, shrugging his shoulders. "She was supposed to follow me here. But I guess not. Wanna start without her, Exdeath?"
A low growl rumbled in Exdeath's throat, and he stared at Kefka. "I suppose," he said, but he sounded less than enthused. He released the sword clutched in his fist and it floated in the air next to him. Rosa assumed he was a mage of some sort. Kefka, she had yet to see. If he was an unpredictable as he looked, this would not be easy. They both inched towards her, closing her in.
She wanted to look for the exit, but she was too afraid to tear her eyes from either one of them. True helplessness set in. Crippled by her shoulder and unable to use her bow; horribly outmatched already and with a third opponent on the way. Rosa's hands trembled, and hot tears of fear and anger seared her eyes. She blinked them away, channeling her emotion into the fire she would need to fight. She drew her knife with her left hand and brandished it in front of her. They approached one step at a time, and when Kefka was close enough she took a swipe at him. He whooped with joy and flipped backwards to dodge, then kept advancing.
"Come on," he taunted, beckoning her forward. "Come on, come on! Let's see what you got!"
She flipped the knife in her hand and tried a backhanded swing, but Exdeath held up his hand. An invisible force grabbed her wrist and tossed her to the side. She slid on the ground, curling up to protect her injuries. She crawled to her feet and squared off with them again, staring down the clown. He smirked, then leaned backwards and reclined in the air, laying with his hands behind his head. He kicked his foot lazily and Rosa froze, unsure of what he was doing until the tip of his boot glowed blue. He flipped in the air and kicked, and huge geysers of Blizzard magic crystallized on the ground, shooting towards her.
Rosa dodged, then side-stepped again as Exdeath's sword cut the air where she was standing a moment ago. She ducked under the next slash, and dove to the side of his last thrust. She popped up from her roll, wincing from the tugging on her wounds. Her adrenaline dulled her to the ache, pumping through her body, and on a whim she decided to lunge for Kefka first.
He put one hand in front of him in a half-hearted block and took the cut across his glove to snatch her arm with his other hand. He dragged her close, pressing his sliced palm to her middle, and let loose a Thundaga that threw her on her back. Her whole body tensed, twisting uncontrollably from the residual shocks, and she felt the long cut she had tear and pull. Fresh, wet blood welled up as they burned and throbbed and Rosa curled around them. The shocks faded, and Rosa relaxed against the crystal with an audible sigh, panting in her breath.
She looked around for Kefka, and saw him dancing towards her. He hummed some cheery tune to himself, he twirled around, he kicked his feet up and over, while the armored man simply watched her. Vainly hoping that perhaps he would leave her at the clown's mercy, she flipped over and boosted herself up, ignoring the slight tremble in her arms. Instead, a white circle appeared beside her, and Exdeath appeared inside it. He threw his arm to the side and a white arc of power slammed into her back, pushing her back to the ground. Her chest collapsed, her breath caught in her throat, and she choked on the air. Black creeped into the edges of her vision, and she could only lay still waiting for it to clear.
A weight pressed down on her entire body, pinning her in place. She wheezed in breath after labored breath, squirming as much as she could. She blinked the dizziness away and looked around for the exit from her place on the ground. Her spirit sank as she realized how similar it all looked. She wasn't sure where she had already been. "No," she thought. "No! Where's the exit?" Despair welled up inside her chest, and tears welled up in her eyes. If she couldn't find it . . .
"I may not make it out of this." It crossed her mind before she could stop it, and the tears spilled as she choked down her sob. She called the strongest Shell spell she could manage, focusing it around her body. The barrier glowed green around her and fortified, and Rosa felt it break whatever magic Exdeath used to hold her. With a burst of strength she scrambled to her feet and took off towards the wall, praying with all of her that the exit would be there. "Please," she begged, "Please be close! Please."
She was steps from the wall when a rogue wind picked up around her. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw Exdeath with his hands outstretched. His sword floated in front of him, spinning faster and faster through the air, picking up momentum until a large grey tornado manifested in the center of the area under the crystal. Rosa's hair whipped across her face and neck, and she braced her arms across her face to block it. Her foot was picked up from the force and she slipped, dropping her hands to the ground to keep her balance. Her shoes squealed along the crystal and she was dragged backwards.
Her knee buckled and she collapsed to her hands and knees, losing all the purchase she hoped to have against the smooth floor. She grit her teeth and flipped over, facing her opponents, and let the spell drag her back towards them.
Kefka wound his arm and threw a Firaga like a pitch. Her momentum almost sent her careening into it, but at the last minute she called another Shell. To her relief, she didn't need it. The Firaga veered wildly off-course and the Maelstrom faded, and Rosa was able to surge to her feet. She could feel the adrenaline coursing through her, her heart beat wildly in her chest and her hands started to shake. Her chest felt sore with every breath and her wounds burned hot, but she pushed it away from her mind. A searing heat radiated across her back, and when she turned, Kefka's Firaga had turned and was on its way back, nearly three times in size. Rosa fortified her Shell and waited for the spell to connect.
It touched to her chest, and the intensity pulsing off of it like a star nearly made her recoil. Her Shell flickered, wrapping around the spell to keep it still, and Rosa poured more energy into it, a grunt of exertion escaping her throat. She changed the energy, morphing it instead into the cool, glassy energy of Reflect. Her gamble paid off - the green of the Shell changed to translucence, and the Firaga suddenly jerked away from her, ricocheting and angling back towards Kefka.
Kefka's twisted smile collapsed and he screamed, turning and floating away from his own spell. "Woah! Woah! No, wait! Come on!" he whined, waving his hands wildly to try and deflect it as though he still had control. She blinked and tried to track the Firaga as it trailed after him, but a sudden dizzy spell threatened to tip her over. She stumbled, wiping the sweat that trickled from her forehead down the length of her face. A distinctly vague feeling washed over her, and her hands felt weak and cold. The spell combination used too much of her energy at once.
She turned and checked for Exdeath, hoping to hide her weakness. He didn't seem to care, she realized. He had barely moved from his last spell. She took a step towards the nearest wall and he turned with her, watching. She took another step and saw his shoulders tense as he probably prepared another spell. He was the guard dog, Rosa realized. He was only there to make sure she couldn't escape.
She clutched her knife tighter in her slick palm and ran towards him, hoping for a final blow to end it. It was another gamble. He had thick armor on, and she was using her weak hand, but she felt the desperation in her tight chest and the shortness of her breath that told her she needed to end it soon. She was only steps from him when she raised her knife, and she thought he wasn't going to move, even as she drove the knife down towards him.
Another warrior appeared directly behind Exdeath, stepping out of a portal. She caught sight of Rosa, and raised her hand. Before she could pull away, the air around her shimmered and the pressure dropped, sucking the already choked air from her lungs. The charged air pressed in on her, stopping her in its depths. Her arms moved slower and slower towards Exdeath until she stopped completely with her knife inches from his neck. The spell set in to her bones, locking them up with pins and needles and freezing her painfully in place. It crushed down on her chest, her throat, her face, and she couldn't cry out. She squirmed, but the Stop spell held her fast. Only her eyes were free, and she watched Ultimecia stride forward past Exdeath towards her.
She was dressed in a crimson red dress, with an immodest neckline lined with feathers. The bottom opened in a large slit that left her tattooed legs and black feet visible. Crow wings attached unnaturally to her back and extended out from either side of her, and her hair was pulled into two gilded horns atop either side of her head. Her bangs fell to her thighs and her irises were a rich gold, seemingly infinite in depth and cold as ice, and Rosa found herself unable to look away from them while she bent to look into her face.
She stared down at Rosa with an odd look in her eyes. A hungry look, and a shudder shot down Rosa's back despite being unable to move.
"And where were you, young lady?" Kefka scolded. He threw his hands on his hips and leaned towards her like a parent to his child. His voice sounded warped in the Stop spell, like she was hearing it from under water.
"Spare me, Kefka," she hissed, waving him off. "So this is Rosa," Ultimecia said.
"The Emperor sure knows how to pick 'em!" Kefka howled, slapping his knee.
Ultimecia reached into the spell around Rosa and tugged on her fingers one by one until she could rip the knife from her fist. Rosa struggled again, fighting through the pins and needles that stabbed into her whole body with each tiny movement. Ultimecia only chuckled and inspected the jewel-encrusted hilt, a look of disgust on her face. Then she tossed the knife away.
She looked to Exdeath and cocked her head towards Rosa. He disappeared, and his imposing presence teleported directly above her. He reached into the spell's field and grabbed a fistful of her gold cape, and with a loud grunt, he lifted her from the confines of the Stop spell and tossed her into the air. The spell broke, and sensation hit her all at once. Everything was too fast for her eyes to follow. The sound of air whirring in her ears was deafening and disorienting. The pins and needles seized her, and she didn't even see Kefka hop into the air below her and make a quick motion. Large, iridescent triangles materialized as she tumbled through the air, and without warning they attacked, jerking through her like sword blows.
They phased through her, cutting into the wounds she already had. They dug into the layers of skin, scraping and tearing the already raw flesh. Blinding pain brought tears to her eyes and loosed them immediately. The blood that was nearly staunched flowed freely again, and after an eternity she fell and hit the ground hard on her right side. Her hip cracked off the ground and her shoulder twisted at a horrible angle.
Her head ached. She felt blood trickle down her face, too. She must have hit her head and didn't realize it. Her double vision spun the world around her and she shook her head. Slowly, dizzily, she crawled for where she imagined the wall was on one trembling hand. Her shoulder screamed.
Exdeath teleported next to her and stomped on her hand, and she felt the bones in her wrist and fingers gnash together, perhaps snap. She knew she screamed, but couldn't hear it. Exdeath tangled his hand into her hair and pulled her to her feet, pushing her towards Ultimecia. Rosa collapsed, unable to hold herself up, so Exdeath approached again. He grabbed the back of her neck, claws digging into the skin, and held her upright.
"It's really nothing personal, deary!" Kefka taunted from somewhere behind her. "We just want to have some fun."
Ultimecia clicked her tongue and leaned down to trace a purple claw down Rosa's jawbone. She dug it under her chin to tilt her face up towards her. "Tsk! The Emperor thought you a worthy opponent?" Ultimecia teased. The mention of his name brought a bit of clarity to her, and the alarm she felt had her writhing in Ultimecia's hold. She dug her claw into Rosa's chin, and the pain worked to ground her further. She was able to focus on her eyes, and Ultimecia smiled down at her. "Did you think this was some random attack?" she asked.
Rosa tried to consolidate her power so she could scan for his presence, but the warmth refused to build. Her entire body was shaking from exhaustion and pain and blood loss, and she was too weak to call that kind of power anymore. Exdeath threw a punch into the soft of her spine, and Rosa stiffened against it. Ultimecia jerked her chin up again. Rosa felt a chill build in Ultimecia's hands instead and draw straight to her throat, and the noise of discomfort stopped dead.
Ultimecia Silenced her.
"Don't worry, he's not here, dear," she said.
Rosa's sob refused to escape and died on her tongue, but the tears continued to fall freely. She struggled in Ultimecia's grip, and her face fell in a scowl. She clawed at Rosa, and she threw her arms up as far as she could to block with her forearms. Ultimecia leaned over her and pressed against Rosa's weak defense, and with her other hand, Ultimecia waved. A reddish-black dart of magic energy appeared in the air. Before Rosa could react, it shot towards her and embedded to the hilt in her thigh.
Her mouth opened in a silent scream and her defense crumbled. Ultimecia's claws scraped across her cheek and Rosa fell to the ground. She braced her hands around the knife as though to stop the pain. She lay there, head swimming as the pain became overbearing. The blackness appeared around the edges of her vision, and her tears salted the new wounds on her cheek. She could only hope the knife missed everything major.
"I like her!" Kefka yelled. "It's just so cute the way the wittwe giwl tinks she can fight back! You're jush too adorable, yesh yoo are!" he cooed, pinching Rosa's cheeks. She smacked his hands away. Rosa crawled away from him, dragging her leg behind her, but her racing heart and her trembling arms made it difficult. She finally pushed herself to her feet. "Look at her go!" Kefka cheered.
She limped for the wall again, but Exdeath teleported in front of her, blocking her exit once again. She skid to a halt as he aimed a Delta Attack at her. A sigil of blinding light appeared in front of her and she shielded her eyes, nearly toppling over from the brightness. Exdeath pierced the shield of light with his sword and the light shot towards her, catching her in the stomach. She landed on her back once more, so dazed she barely felt anything.
Kefka pranced back over to where she lay and stood over her. "Just so you don't get any more bright ideas . . . " He cast a fire in his palms and pressed it to her ankle, jabbing his knee into the flesh of her calf to keep her leg still. She shut her eyes and allowed her silent shriek of pain as she felt the skin of her ankle singe and blister inside her boot. Kefka cackled in delight. "Oh, this is SO FUN!"
He stood and kicked Rosa, and it connected with her cheek, over the cuts Ultimecia gave her earlier. She could feel it swelling immediately. Kefka grabbed her outstretched leg and pranced around, dragging her across the ground. Her nails scraped uselessly off the ground, and Kefka spun around with enough force to pick her up off the ground, and when he built up enough momentum he threw her across the world.
She landed in a heap in front of Ultimecia, and she grabbed Rosa's hair and pulled her up onto her knees to stare into her face again. "Poor girl," she drawled sarcastically. She wiped a tear from her cheek with the back of a clawed thumb, leaving a stinging red scratch from her nose to her earlobe. Rosa couldn't focus her eyes on her. The black spots were growing bigger. She silently urged them along, praying she would fall unconscious before they decided to end it. "Look at me," Ultimecia said, and Rosa blinked, head lolling forward. Ultimecia shook her slightly, calling another arrow, this one purple in color. She pulled Rosa to her feet and back handed her hard enough to bruise her cheek. Blood burst in her mouth as her lip split. "Look at me!" she said again, and pushed Rosa back into the wall of the realm. She drove the purple arrow into her wounded shoulder. "Hold her down," she snapped to Exdeath.
Rosa flattened against the wall as a Constrict spell pressed against her and held her. Ultimecia grabbed the arrow, jerking it. She felt muscle tear under the point and Rosa sucked in a breath through her teeth, expecting pain but too dazed to feel the full extent of it. Kefka kicked the side of Rosa's knee, breaking the spell, and she collapsed. Ultimecia bent over her and summoned another arrow.
She jammed the arrow into Rosa's side under her ribs. The icy crystal pierced into her. Her breath caught and she froze in pain as a fresh wave of agony crashed over her, bringing her back to sensation. She coughed weakly in shock, but sucked in a sharp breath, grimacing at the strain it caused on her wound. She let Rosa go, and she lay still against the ground. The blackness almost overtook her.
Ultimecia smiled coldly as blood began to seep from the wound and over her fingers, onto the crystal floor. She turned to the others. "I think we're done here. Wouldn't you say?" Ultimecia asked them. "Exdeath, the floor is yours. End her."
"Woah, woah, woah! I'm sorry, but I distinctly remember you fighting with me over the chance to kidnap her! And now you're backing out last minute?!" Kefka wailed. "Didn't any of that mean anything to you?"
"I told the Emperor I would lead our little excursion. You and Exdeath both said you would love the chance to destroy her, and I provided you with it." She gestured to Rosa, shivering on the ground. "She's there for the taking. If you'd rather not," she said casually, "those wounds will kill her anyway. But how could you pass up this chance? Clean up when you're finished."
She teleported away.
Kefka huffed. "I hate it when she's right. Oh well, more for us, right, Deathy?"
"No. It is finished." Exdeath strode forward, drawing his sword. He stood over Rosa and raised it over his head to crash down on her.
"What have we here, Exdeath?" The voice was so deep and familiar that it startled Rosa, and dragged her back from the edge of unconsciouness. It resonated through the area before the owner appeared. She heard the whoosh of rushing air from his teleport. She knew who it was. She wanted to turn towards him and let him know she needed help, but she was too injured and exhausted to even try.
Exdeath tensed and fully faced him. She felt his footsteps as he turned inch by inch, stomping on the ground next to her and jarring her injuries. He blocked his view of her on the ground.
"Golbez! Come to join in on this fun?" Kefka squealed.
Exdeath held up a hand to silence Kefka. "No. We are finished-"
Kefka pouted, slapping Exdeath's hand away. "Awww, come on! Not sure when torture became your style, Golby, but hey, we'll let anyone in on this party!"
Exdeath growled softly, but Golbez laughed. He waved his hand dismissively.
"Of course not! Torture is far beneath me." A direct jab at the two of them. "I could hear your . . . 'party' . . . from some ways off. I decided to investigate. Who, may I ask, has the misfortune of being your target?" Rosa could feel his armored footfalls crash towards her and she braced for the arrows and wounds to shake and tremble. He approached until he was face to face with Exdeath, then waved his hand. His magic knocked into Exdeath's shoulder and pushed him gently to the side.
She couldn't see his face from her position on the ground, but she heard his gasp. She felt his cold, metal hand on her injured shoulder and she felt him turn her towards him, though she couldn't see him. His hand was trembling - or was that her?
The man straightened quickly, staggering back a few steps. "Rosa!" he said.
The blackness finally overtook her, and she let the world fade away as Golbez spun on Exdeath and Kefka.