"Cecil Harvey, at your service," he said, kissing her knuckle like a gentleman. With the smoothness and fluidity that came with formal training. He carried himself like a king, Rosa observed. Elegance and natural grace floated about every one of his lines, amplified by his perfect posture. Back ram-rod straight, chin up and shoulders back. His lavender armor added another layer of awe and majesty to him. The deep purple patterns, the jagged pauldrons, and the sharp-edged greaves mixed brilliantly with the swirls and free-flowing patterns of the light purple, the cloth draped over his hip, and the gold accents. It all gave him a sort of effeminate beauty that reminded Rosa of a star-lit luminescence. Every one of Cecil's weapons - his spear, the knife on his hip, and even the sword on his back - were polished to a near perfect shine, showing his care for them. Sharp. Pristine.
He carried himself tall and his very air exuded authority, but from his sweet smile and honest, innocent looking eyes, it was an inviting and approachable authority. A gentle modesty that wasn't at all condescending or arrogant. He had thick silver hair that framed his face, strung with lavender and deep purple beads. And a purple and gold headband that exaggerated the sharpness of his features: pointed nose and chin, slender jawline, wide-set eyes and delicate eyebrows. Thick lips, tinted purple. Balanced blue aura circling him.
His whole look, pulled together with the paleness of his complexion, gave him an other-worldly quality that Rosa couldn't place.
Only when Cecil gave her hand a soft squeeze did she realize she was staring. She quickly pulled her hand from his, blinking her way back to Order's Sanctuary and everyone else in the area. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she offered. A token response. She prayed he didn't take it to be any more than that. And to her relief he simply nodded. The gesture seemed to hang thick in the air. Staring into his eyes felt awkward to her after staring so obviously for so long. Instead, she directed her gaze down, pretending that the ribbon on the end of her staff needed re-tied. She stepped back to slide it over her right shoulder. Nobody was talking. Everybody was watching her. It felt like it, at least. A tingling prickled in her face, where they were looking. She chanced a glance up through her lashes to check, and she met Cecil's eyes again. She averted her gaze again.
The silence still felt like it was kind of directed at her. Choking her. She opened her mouth to ask him something, anything, the first thing that came to her mind. Cecil beat her to it.
"That's a beautiful staff."
"Thank you," she said, presenting it out in front of her. She gently rested the top in the water to finish tying the knot in the ribbon. Once she was finished, she twirled it around and tapped the bottom into the water to show him the top.
"A Crystal," he said. "Fitting."
Fitting? "How so?"
"The Overworld - our Homeworld, is powered by the four elemental Crystals. It's reminiscent of our origin." The way he roped her in still made her mildly uncomfortable. She didn't like that he knew more about her than she knew about herself. She hoped he didn't notice her unintentional grimace.
"I didn't arrive here with this," Rosa quickly told him, so he didn't get any ideas. "It was at my side when I awoke."
"That was my doing," Cosmos said. "When I called you here, I had the Moogle Cid craft you new weapons."
The pure white crystal at the top of her staff was about the size of a fist, set against a gold rim. A pair of crafted roses rested against the bottom, with thin gold ropes spiraling down and around the shaft on either side. A few times they curled around each other, setting a few other gems between them. About halfway down, the gold ropes faded to green, and turned into a stem. And small roses circled around the top of her ribbon.
"May I see your knife as well?" Cecil asked. Rosa unclipped the entire hilt from her belt and tossed it to him. He turned it all around, admiring the intricacies and the colors of the jewels. He slipped the blade from the hilt and checked it. "Very wide crosspiece. Beautiful cut to the blade. Nice shine. You haven't used it yet?"
"No. I just got here!" she said, holding her hand out to take it back.
"Oh. Oh, right," he chuckled. "It's beautiful," he said, handing it over.
"Thank you." She slid her staff back over her shoulder and replaced her knife to her belt. She looked up and made direct eye contact with Cecil, who was staring once again. Though, whether it was at her or through her, she couldn't tell. His eyes had a kind of distant look to them. She looked away. Nodded slowly, unsure of what else to do.
"Do . . . " she began, trying to come up with a question, "Do you know everyone here?"
"Yes. I've been here a while, and you were the only new warrior summoned."
"Ah. How long will this- How long have you been here?" She let her real question slip. How long would this 'defeat Chaos' mess take? Cecil's face fell for a moment, but he still answered her question.
"I've been here for . . . " He paused and tried to think through it. Finally, he settled on, "A while. I can't even remember."
For that long? So long he didn't even remember? Rosa wanted to end the conversation. So many things just didn't seem to sit right with her. So she left it at his answer. She turned and decided to talk to some of the others while waiting for Warrior to return with the rest. Who was that brown-haired man? The one who walked in with Zidane.
Cecil beat her to that, too. "Well!" he said cheerily, "I'm going to . . . talk to some of our friends."
Despite their horrible introduction, Rosa admit she still followed Cecil around. Even as he gravitated to each of the warriors to chat superficially. She didn't have anyone else to talk to, even though he was slightly off-putting. He knew her world, he knew her, and he seemed to know a lot about this world and this conflict. And, despite the sometimes awkward turns of their conversations, she felt like she could talk to him. He was approachable.
He introduced her first to Tifa, who she liked, and Squall. Tifa was confident, cheery, easy to talk to as well. She asked Rosa a few questions about her and about their world, but when Rosa couldn't answer she didn't pry. Rosa was more grateful for that than she realized. She didn't like feeling stupid, standing next to Cecil who knew everything, and she didn't like not knowing so much about herself. She didn't like not knowing things in general. Squall simply stood and listened intently to their conversation, occasionally nodding his ascent or frowning his disagreement.
The Onion Knight vaguely irritated Rosa. He seemed overly confrontational. Arrogant, and quick to defend himself even when no one was attacking him. Always boasting his skills when they never came into question. Yuna, who he was standing with, was sweet. A kind-hearted summoner, always willing to put others before herself. When asked about her Eidolons she commanded Ifrit, Shiva, Bahamut, and a few others Rosa had never heard of before. Still, though, the thought of those few seemed familiar to her. In her mind she could see a face. A blurry face. Against a green background.
"Did . . . Did I know a summoner?"
"Yes!" he said, nodding enthusiastically. "We both knew her."
"She was . . . green. Or, something about her was green. I can't remember what she looked like, but I associate her with the color green."
"It was her hair. Her hair was green." Rosa framed the picture in her mind with curly, green hair, but it didn't make the picture of her face any clearer. It frustrated her, and she sighed exasperatedly before casting the image away.
Yuna smiled at her, gently reaching out for her arm. "Do you remember anything?" When Rosa told her no, she gazed sympathetically with her two colored eyes. "Don't worry. I know it's frustrating. But you'll remember everything soon, I'm sure of it!" She sounded genuine.
"Thank you," Rosa said, smiling back.
Firion took her hand and kissed it upon their meeting. He had every kind of weapon strapped somewhere on his body. And, according to Cecil, he knew how to use them. He was tall, he was obviously strong. He complimented the roses all over her weapons. And he asked to see her staff and bow, gently tracing the carved thorns as though in awe.
"You favor roses?" she asked. She had to. He was glancing far too intently at them.
"I do," he said. "They're my favorite flower. And they're part of my dream- my goal," he quickly remedied.
"Your dream?"
His face grew red. He blushed and looked down, handing her staff back to her. "I'll tell you about it some time later. Thanks for introducing us, Cecil."
"You're not embarrassed of it, are you?" Rosa asked. A feeling of pity spread through her heart. "You shouldn't be embarrassed, whatever it is."
"I know. But still. I'll tell you later."
As they walked away, Cecil leaned down and whispered to her, "He's sheepish about it because he's afraid it's too childish of a dream to have. He is proud of it, but afraid of the judgment in its wake."
"But what is it?"
"It's a dream to create a world of wild roses. A world of peace where flowers can grow."
"It's beautiful."
"Yes. And roses are his favorite. He'll definitely take to you. Come on, I think you already met Zidane and Bartz, but Vaan has yet to meet you." He led her over to their group, and Zidane immediately interrupted whatever he was saying.
"Heyyyyy," he purred, running a hand through his hair. "What's up, Rosa?"
He was trying so hard. It made Rosa smile. "Hello."
"Vaan, have you met Rosa?"
"Oh! No, not yet," he said. "Hiya! I'm Vaan." He was tall and lanky, like he didn't quite know what to do to handle himself. He had sandy blonde hair and a tan skin tone, obviously spending a lot of time in the sun. His vest barely covered his chest, but his waist-high pants and metal boots hastily covered the rest of him. It was an odd juxtaposition. He looked young. No older than eighteen.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Rosa."
"Rosa, huh? Makes sense, I guess, with all the roses on your weapons."
"I thought it was because you're beautiful, but feisty like a rose," Zidane tried. Bartz scoffed.
"Wow. Don't listen to him, Rosa. He's a hopeless romantic."
"You talk about it like it's a flaw!" he argued. He let out an exaggerated sigh. "You see what I have to deal with?" Rosa kept seeing the flash of tanish brown behind Zidane - his tail. It flicked back and forth vigorously, seeming to match his excitement and pattern of speech. The movement kept drawing her eye, to the point where she couldn't decide what to focus on, his eyes or his tail. Was it even real? It looked like it was real, but she was skeptical to believe it.
"So, Bartz," she questioned, changing the subject to keep attention away from her staring. "You don't remember anything, either?"
"Uuuh," he said. He crossed his arms, glancing up into the air to think through it. "Nnnnope. I don't think so. I'm in the same boat as you. Freshly called here, don't remember anything."
"You're a new warrior? Cecil told me I was the only new one-"
"I must have made a mistake," he interrupted. "Sorry, Bartz, I forgot about you. Please accept my apology."
He laughed, waving his hands. "It's fine! Don't worry about it!"
"It's alright, Cecil. I know I forget about Bartz all the time," Vaan joked.
"Ouch. Get outta here, Vaan!" he said, pushing him lightly.
They continued their banter, so Rosa took it as the opportunity to leave. She walked back towards Cosmos, and Cecil followed a close distance behind her.
"So this place acts as our base?" Rosa asked him.
"Yes. This is Cosmos' throne. Her strength replenishes here."
"Are you our leader or something?"
"No. Warrior is - well, I try to help as much as possible. I feel confident in my knowledge and skills, and my ability to judge a situation. If I had to make a decision, I feel I could do so. Warrior's our leader in name and in practice."
"Question: is Zidane wearing a tail?" she asked, pointing back to Zidane.
"Oh, he's not 'wearing' it. It's real. Don't pull on it," he said. "Another warrior found out the hard way once."
"Hey! There he is!" Vaan said, pointing to where Warrior entered Sanctuary. He led a crowd of people behind him. It was almost comical. They looked like the most informal, patched-together group of people someone could stumble upon. Some were in full armor, some were dressed down. Some were tall, some were short. Most were men, Rosa observed. There was one girl, no, two. What was shocking about one of them towards the front was that she had pink hair. Speaking of hair, one of them had blonde hair that stuck straight up in gravity-defying spikes. As they drew closer he happened to raise his eyes, and Rosa met with the most striking blue eyes she'd ever seen in her life.
"Kain!" Cecil yelled next to her.
Rosa saw a purple dragon head perk up in the crowd, mostly because it belonged to the tallest warrior in the crowd. She tried to look collected, but despite herself, her curiosity got the better of her. She leaned this way and that to try and get a better view of the rest of the man under the dragon, but he was impossible to see through the crowd. Luckily for her, he pushed his way to the front, bolting ahead of the rest of them to catch up with Cecil.
He towered a full head over her, and a bit over Cecil, and he has to lower his head down to look at everyone properly. The dragon head was actually his helmet. The nose of the beast rested just above his nose, so when he was looked at full-on it looked like his opponent was facing down a real dragon, complete with glowing red eyes. The curvature of his helmet arched down his cheeks, ending below his eyes, making his sharp nose and frowning lips the only visible part of his face. The rest of his armor was purple and scaly as well, with spikes, fins, and even purple claws on his hands.
He made her wary. He was so tall and imposing, with broad shoulders and well-defined muscles, that she instantly felt belittled. She wanted to see his eyes and know what his face looked like, if only to appease her inexplicable fear.
"Kain, I want you to meet someone," Cecil said, gesturing to Rosa.
His face turned towards her. He walked up to her, bearing down on her with his wide shoulders. Leaning down slightly, unconsciously, boxing her in. And before she could help herself she made herself smaller, cursing the fact that she didn't even know him but he still made her feel small. His lips parted when he stopped in front of her as if in shock, then abruptly snapped shut.
"Does he know me as well?" she thought, as Cecil cleared his throat.
"Rosa, this is Kain Highwind, my lifelong friend. Commander of the Dragoons of Baron, and my right hand. Kain . . . Rosa."
Kain Highwind. Something about him unsettled her. She couldn't place it. He bothered her.
Kain knelt, reached out, and took her hand. He raised it to his lips. "My lady," he said.
Then he kissed her hand.
She gasped. Like a spark, a flicker of a memory flashed before her eyes.
Her shoulders ached. Her back ached. Everywhere she moved she lay uncomfortable on her arm. The ropes were starting to chafe, wrists stinging every time she even tensed them. How long had she been laying there in the dark? She shivered; the cold rising off the metal had seeped into her bones and blood and skin. Metal, metal everywhere. Had she been asleep? Or just lost track of time? She had no idea. All she knew was that this time Kain and another figure stood before her. A huge man in black armor.
Her heart dropped into her stomach with dread. "What are you going to do to me?" she asked. Her voice came out in a whisper.
Kain turned towards her. His lips stretched over his teeth. And he smiled at her.
She ripped her hand from Kain's and stepped back, a small cry escaping her lips. Cecil gripped her arm.
"A memory?" he asked excitedly.
She nodded, just as Cosmos addressed the crowd. "My warriors."