Where have all the Roses gone?

Luthien Seregon

A fan-fic about Legend of Dragoon.

Chapter 1: Into the Looking Glass

Yes, if your wondering, my name is Mary Rose. And this story is about me and my way to The world of Legend of Dragoon. And how I changed it a little bit. . . .

The black lights streamed down to the floor of wild dancers. Each and every one going at the same pace, all together, throbbing as if they were all a single heartbeat in someone's chest. I could feel the music pump itself into me and my viens. My hips moved in junction with the rest of my friends and those around me. It was all packed in together, moving together.

But that wasn't the thing on my mind. The game that I gotten for christmas of year 2001. And have been obsessed with for over three years. Geeze I was fifteen, in serious need for study time for exams, yet I would once again play that game, complete every addition, get every item in the area and fight every monster at least a thousand times. My character stats had maxed out before I even got to Chapter Four!

Even though I danced with agility and tried to avoid going against the crowd, I felt a hand squeeze my butt. My natural reflexes told me to turn and punch, which I did without any more hesitation as posible. A boy with curly blond hair lay over the floor. People stared at me. His eyes was bleeding and a couple of his groupies swarmed around him. My friend Melissa grabbed my arm before the girls could take a bite out of me.

"What was that all for?" Melissa asked as we hit the muggy southern air of the night.

"He grabbed my ass!" I yelled, my rage catching fire.

Just then the door to the Dance Hall flew open and Ryan, the guy I had punched, walked up to me. Some of the girls surrounded Melissa and I. I whispered for Melissa to go. And so she did. So I positioned myself for an attack. At least I took martial arts. I took a deep breath and waited for them to move.

"You're a freak." Ryan said,"I thought you would have been glad to have your butt felt up by me!"

"Narcissist," I said.

Did Dart and Shana ever Have a kid? NO! KEEP IN LINE OF GETTING KILLED!

"You just don't know when to shut up, do you?!" Ryan yelled.

"Well I'm just telling the truth! You think every girl would fall for someone like you? Who do you think you are? Your gonna have some sort of STD before you get out of Highschool! Not to mention a major drug addict! I see you everyday on my way home, buying drugs!! You can kiss my ass for all I care!" I yelled. O yeah, that's right. Antagonize the groupies' leader. Go ahead, get your butt kicked and into a coma. Smart Mary Rose. Just pure genius.

Okay, I admit it all. I am only a fifteen year old girl who went and stayed out past curfew and got beaten up by a groupie gang. The cops brought me home after a quick trip to the hospital and making sure that the bruises on my face would heal. Along with the cuts and bloodied lip I had received. Oh Mom and Dad would be so proud.

I was taken home by the cops, which thankfully Melissa had called for, and climbed up to my apartment. Luckily they saw me as the victim and didn't go up to my apartment. I went in past my parents sleeping domain along with my overprotective brother and my overly-anti-family sister.

I walked into the small bathroom and sat on the toilet. I placed my head between my legs and wished I would disappear.

What ever happened to Zeek and Rose?

GAHHHH!!!! I have a one track mind, I swear . . . .

Sighing and wishing I didn't exist, I placed my head on the mirror. It then hit me! I hated living here! I hated my life! Why did I have to be born on earth?! Couldn't I have been born in Seles? Blast it all . . . .

"Hey wait . . ."

I knew something was wrong when I felt no mirror. I looked up to see just a black slab. Well, a door way into nothing. Yeah. Where did it come from? What was it doing here? I moved my arm through it. Nothing happened. Okaaay. I stepped in. Nothing happened. I stepped in a little bit more. Again nothing. So I sighed and started to go back to my Bathroom.

And I fell through. . . . .

Geeze, my back hurt. I rolled over in bed to get a more comfortable position. I had to get up soon. Exams was starting this Monday. My alarm would go off. Yeah my life sucked sometimes. Oh well. Maybe it would be better if I had a D-size bra up . . . or C for that matter. I brushed my shoulder length black hair away from my face and yawned. And snuggled back into the covers. Wouldn't life be miraculous if I woke up miraculously in L. o. D. with cool armor, a sword, a D-size cup and preferably a dragoon spirit? Yeah. D-size cup would be cool. Smiling I drifted off into sleep again. That's right. When in doubt just drift off into your own little world. Yeah, that explains me pretty well.

It wasn't until I felt the warmth of day that I realized my alarm hadn't gone off. My head snapped up. My gray eyes searched the area. Oh no. My alarm clock hadn't gone off! It was broad freakin' day light! I jumped out of bed. Even though I had last nights clothes on, I still need clean jeans. My face didn't hurt at all from my beating, so at least I was lucky. I searched under the bed for my jeans when . . .

"Hold on . . . I'm not in New Orleans anymore . . . Where's my dog Toto?" I asked sarcastically. I rubbed my eyes a little bit and examined the area.

The room was simple. Hardwood floors with a bed and a notable hand stitched quilt. The bed itself had a feather mattress with a little bit of hay sticking out from the bottom. I never thought that a bed like that would have been comfortable, but it wasn't all that bad. Okay I wonder how many Litotes I used in my friggin' mind lately. Oh well. I check out the dresser and nightstand, they were nothing elaborate, just simple and strong enough to handle what was put in them. Clothes. I looked at the garb and ran my hand over the material. It was rough and the colors were simple. It smelled of the woods and flowers. It seemed to be formed for masculin people, so I took it as a male's shirt. I breathed in the sent once more, wondering. What was this? I asked myself as I placed my face into the fabric. My eyes had started to well up with tears, making them brun and my face hurt.

"Oh, your awake! I'm so glad you're still alive!" said a woman's voice behind me. It sounded just like Shana's.

I turned to face her and then we both stared at each other.

"Rose?" Sha asked. I gulped a little bit before clutching the shirt to my chest.

"That is my name. You are Shana?" I asked, trying not to sound as if I was the Rose.

"Yes, are you . . ." She started to ask, examining my features blatantly.

"No, ma'am. I am Mary Rose. Call me Rose is you wish." I told her politely.

"Ah, I see. Well, you are doing a lot better than when my husband brought you in. You've been sleeping in my son's room hile they've been gone. They're at Lohan competing in the Hero Contest." Shana said, taking the shirt out of my hands and folding it up. She looked just like she did in the FMVs only real . . .

"Where am I, Miss Shana?" I asked. She looked at me for a moment.

"You are in the town of Seles."

"You have a husband and son?"

"Husband named Dart, and my son is named Zeek. Oh dear, I am so dense at times, you must be hungry!! You've been asleep for five days since you got here! I don't know how long it took for Dart and Zeek to find you, but you haven't eaten anything. I tried to drip water in your mouth every hour, hoping to revive you. Come on dear, It's lunch time. After you eat, I'll help you wash up at the stream."

"Thank you," I replied.

She fed me something to eat. The food wasn't too bad, but sort of average. I didn't mind. I was so hungry! I ate everything that she gave to me.I felt like Faye did when she awoke from Cryogenically freezing in Cowboy Bebop. While I ate I mused that Dart and Sana had children. Just as I thought it another child came running through the door. She had brown hair and blue eyes. She smiled as she sat across from her mother.

"Hey, Mama, is the strange girl gonna live here now?" She asked, blunt and out-there.

"Rose, this is my daughter Wink. She's ten so she think's she knows everything." Shana added pinching the girl's arm as a warning. I smiled at them. There was a warmth that enveloped my insides, not content, but happy all the same.

After I ate, I was taken to a stream in a secluded area. It was like the bathing spot for the village. Wink stripped immediately without any shyness and cannon balled into the water. Shana laughed a little as she sat on the bank. I blushed a bit when she started to remove her dress and slipped into the water.

"Come on in Rose, you must feel all dirty after all that time. Come on in and wash up," Shana said. I nodded and took off my clothing. When I stepped into the water, it was almost freezing. I jumped in and felt the shock take over my system. I surfaced and gasped. The two looked at my blue lips and laughed a little bit. We played in the water and then washed. We washed our clothes and Shana gave me some clothes from the bundle she had brought. We went home after that.

Wait. Did I just say home? It was their home. I didn't belong. I remembered that as I helped cook dinner. I sniffed a little bit as I felt tears prick my eyes. Shana looked at me for a moment and rubbed my cheek.

"So where do you come from. When Dart gets back, He can take you home." She said. I looked at her for a moment, my thoughts abandoning me.

"Where . . . Where was I found?" I asked.

"In the desert. Near the city Ulara. Is that where you were born?" Shana asked.

"No ma'am. My home is very far away. In fact I don't think it exists." I replied.

Shana was silent for a while. We both said nothing throughout the evening. We ate and talked of the past events,most of which I knew through the game. But this time it was real. As I went to sleep in the bed I smiled. And then I wondered if this was how Alice felt when she feel through the looking glass.