"Regroup!" Firion yelled. "Is everyone alright?"
"J-just a moment!" Cecil yelled back, breathless from chasing the Rosa manikin.
She looked just as exhausted and ragged as he did, if that was at all possible. Her chest heaved as though she could breathe and needed air like a real warrior. Her right hand was dismembered at the wrist from when the real Rosa shot her, but if she was in any pain she didn't show it. On her back, arms, and legs, she sported a number of slashes and stabs and wounds that would have done in a real warrior, but instead she staggered and dragged herself around the battlefield like a wounded animal.
She was the only one left. Cecil watched around him as the rest fell or were destroyed under his allies' blades while he played cat and mouse. Every time he had a go at her, he went full-force - a mistake that he knew better than to make after years and years of ingrained training and experience. As all of his sword masters warned him, all he did was tire himself out. His breath came short, burning in his dry throat. His spear felt heavy in his hands, and his limbs felt shaky and weak. "A little help here!" he called, hoping someone from their patrol group was well enough to help. Hopefully, Rosa was already working on them and sending them on their way.
"Here!" a light, higher-pitched voice answered him. For a moment, he thought it was Rosa, but one of the glyphs Yuna used to summon her aeons appeared beside him. Her aeon Valefor emerged from under the symbol and spiraled upwards, shooting pulses of light from its wings to overwhelm the Rosa manikin. Cecil groaned, pulling on a final reserve of strength to charge it a final time.
The manikin dodged, slipping in between Yuna's attack, but didn't have time to dodge Cecil as well. He focused all of the light energy he possessed, channeling it into the blade of his spear for a Zantetsuken slash. He ran as fast as he could carry himself, and his knees threatened to buckle more than once but he powered thorough it, cloaking himself in the light. When he was sure Rosa's manikin was off-balance he let loose, the light carrying him past her. He cut clean through her, and as the top half of her tumbled from the bottom she shattered, sending pink crystal in every direction.
He sighed, collapsing to his hands and knees.
"Are you okay?" Yuna asked, bending over him and laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"F-fine," he panted. "She was tough."
He looked around at his companions. Firion looked ragged after his bout with the Golbez manikin. His breath was labored too; the skin on his arms was shiny and slick with sweat; and his hair, though always a touch unkempt, was half-plastered to his face and half-stuck up wildly around the bandana. Laguna was drenched in water and shivering, hugging his arms tight around himself to preserve heat.
But where was Rosa? Cecil rolled over onto his backside and looked around, but he didn't immediately see her. Her, or Bartz. "Rosa?" he called. "Rosa, you alright?"
No answer.
"Rose?"
"Where is she?" Firion asked, his eyebrows furrowed. His eyes glanced around the field, locking on each of the piles of colored crystal left by the manikins. He walked past Cecil, and Cecil turned with him to watch him peer between the bottleneck, squeezed by two plateaus on either side of the path. He emerged a second later, looking even more confused.
"Rosa!" Cecil called again. "Answer me!" He dragged himself to his feet, muscles straining in stiffness. He fended off the dizzy spell and the twinge of concern burrowing its way into his heart. Perhaps she was healing Bartz, he thought quickly, and latched onto the rationale. Of course she wasn't answering, because she was concentrating on healing Bartz.
"Bartz!" Firion called, clearing following the same line of thinking that Cecil was.
"Yeah?" he called, from somewhere behind Cecil. He glanced over his shoulder and only saw a low mountain range.
"Where are you?" Cecil called.
"Back here! Behind the mountains!"
"Is Rosa with you?"
"No, she healed me and then got back in the fight!"
The little twinge of concern was turning into an overwhelming, heart-fluttering panic. His own pains forgotten, he ran past Firion and checked the bottleneck himself. The path beyond curved sharply to the left, then back to the right so he ran a few paces through just to check the way beyond.
There was nothing beyond. It looked untouched by anyone, let alone by a full-on battle. He retreated back to the open battlefield and ran to his right, to the little inlet he knew was hidden behind the rocks. Rosa wasn't there, either. The only evidence of anyone having been there was a spatter of crimson blood, a shocking red against the light tan of the sand.
Manikins didn't bleed.
"Whose blood is this?!" His heart thudded against his chest and his stomach twisted tight inside of him. "Was anyone bleeding over here?"
" . . . I wasn't over there," Bartz's distant voice called. "And I think I'm the only one bleeding."
"Rosa?!" he yelled again, growing frantic. Had she run? If she ran, it probably meant she was overmatched. What if they injured her? What if she was mortally wounded and alone? Bleeding out somewhere, hunted down by manikins and brutally murdered. At the very least she was gone.
Before he could stop the mental images, they attacked him. Rosa lying on the ground, surrounded by manikins. Bleeding, lying in a puddle of her own blood. Her arm outstretched, reaching for any kind of salvation that wasn't there. Reaching for him. Completely alone. Crying, screaming, manikins forcing noises of pain and fear out of her.
And he wasn't there to save her.
"Has ANYONE seen her?!" he screamed.
"Not since she healed me!"
A small spark of a thought followed on the backend of those images. A thought that burrowed its way into his consciousness until it was the only thing he could think. And it played on repeat in his head, even working its way down into his heart. His chest clenched around it, constricting his throat and threatening to bring tears straight to his eyes before he could control them.
She was dead.
There was a flash of gold behind him, so bright that Cecil saw it gleam off of the rocks and sand around him. He turned and ran back around the rocks to the main area where they battled, and saw Cosmos standing there in the middle of their group. The other warriors gathered around her, already asking questions.
"Cosmos?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Aren't you supposed to be guarded in Sanct-"
"Where is Cecil?" she asked, spinning around.
"Here," he said, and when her eyes met his, the fear and concern he saw there froze his soul. The little spark embedded deeper, and his heart collapsed into his stomach. He knew it was bad news, he just knew. " . . . Where is she?"
Her mouth opened. He stared pleadingly into her eyes. "Please don't say she's dead. Please." The tears welled up, and Cosmos tilted her head in sympathy.
"They took her."
"Who did?"
"I don't know - three Chaos warriors-"
"Where are they now?!"
"They took her to the Eastern Mirage gateway in the Mirage Sand-"
"Is she injured? Is she-" He choked on the word.
He didn't wait for her reply. He was nearing the Teleport Stone before his mind caught up. Warriors yelled things at his back, but he couldn't hear them. They didn't mean anything. He reached out for it.
Someone grabbed him. "Hey! STOP! We gotta figure out a plan!" He violently ripped his arm out of Firion's grip, but he moved and placed himself between Cecil and the stone. "There's at least three Chaos warriors there already, if not more by now! We can't just chase her into a potential ambush!"
"You don't think we can handle it?" Laguna asked. "'Cuz we're obviously going with him! Right?" he asked, appealing to the other warriors around. They all agreed, and Cecil even heard a tiny, "Yup!" from where Bartz was secluded.
"I'm on board," Cloud said, stoic as ever. He shrugged his shoulders. "Just make sure you know what you're doing first, Cecil."
Every precious second that ticked by solidified the fear in his heart that she was being injured. Being injured, or being killed. And they were standing around talking. He bounced on the balls of his feet, unsure of what else to do to urge them on. "We need to go, NOW! We're wasting time, and who knows what they're doing to her?"
Cosmos nodded. "I will take Bartz back to Sanctuary. It's not far, and it won't use too much of my strength. Another Chaos warrior has already shown up to Rosa's location. You need to go now-"
He reached around Firion and touched the teleport stone. The world spun away from his feet, but not nearly fast enough. He fell, weightless, and when his feet hit the ground he was already running. The sandsea dunes rose and fell around him, and he oriented himself while he ran. The Teleport Stone rested on the north end, closer to Chaos' throne than to the path leading to Cosmos' domain. He faced the entire expanse of sea, and the gateway closest to him on his left was the one he wanted. The other was at almost the other end. The free-roaming manikins in the sea, four or five in all, all turned towards him in one eerie swivel motion, but Cecil knew he would get to the gateway before they would get to him. He ignored them, pushing on, resisting the sand as it sucked his metal-clad feet down, slowing him.
He ran so quickly, the wind on his face made his eyes water. He had never run so hard in his life. Not even in battle. But he knew time was of the essence, and he knew he would run to the farthest reaches of the Underworld if it meant Rosa's safety. His foot slipped on a dune and, and his weight slid out from under him. He threw his hand to the ground and maintained his balance and pushed onward.
His blood pounded in his ears. The ragged huffing of his breath echoed across the sand.
His side already hurt. His chest hurt, never recovered from its exhaustion of the battle.
But he would keep going.
For Rosa.
He reached the gateway and practically dove through the sigil. He leapt over manikins, he tore through entire floors in mere seconds, and each one he encountered weighed heavier and heavier on him that he was too late. He was probably too late for her. He wouldn't be able to save her.
Finally, he broke through the last floor, touching the Chaos sigil. He was transported to the outside of the Empyreal Paradox and saw a figure lying on the ground.
Lying on the ground, and bleeding.
"Rosa!"