Sabin found his way down to the infirmary encampment on the Fields of Renewal. Dozens of makeshift tents had been erected in the fresh, pure air that washed over the land. He breathed deep and savored the sensation like it was his last.
The morning sun hid behind an overcast sky, the grass was dewy beneath his feet, and the breeze felt chilly on his skin.
He found Terra in her own little tent they set up shortly after the battle.
"Mind if I come in?" he asked from beyond the cloth entrance.
Terra gave an affirmative and he slipped in.
Color returned to her face and her eyes sparkled with life. "Sabin." She stood without a sign of her old illness for now. "Can I see the others, now?"
Strago's cautiousness was warranted, but Sabin had a hard time seeing it as necessary. "More than fine." Sabin felt a deep comfort grow inside of him. "We had no casualties and with the magic in the air, some of the others are finding out how to use it. They'll need a teacher."
Terra smiled and snapped her fingers, summoned a tiny flame. "That might be nice, but… I have something I want to do first."
Sabin watched the fire float above her raised palm. "You're hired if you want it. Want to talk to the aliens with me?"
He held the cloth door for her and they left together.
They talked about nothing and everything on the way and he never enjoyed pointless talk more.
"Oh, hey!" Sabin raised a hand as he caught sight of the three underneath a canvas and talking to Setzer.
Leonora looked… better. But he could see their urgency to get her somewhere safer.
Sabin ducked under the covering with Terra behind him.
Palom folded his arms. "We're leaving. What do you want?"
"I wanted to say thanks. You made a difference out there."
"I wouldn't have." Terra sat on an old chair. "Sorry again."
"Please, don't worry about it." Leonora waved a hand from her bed.
Porom gave Leonora a worried glance. "Anyway, we were thinking of taking the train, if that's okay with you."
Man, shouldn't there be a better way? "Knock yourself out," Sabin said. "And feel free to visit any time."
"Actually…" Terra took a deep breath. "I was wondering if I could go with you."
Sabin drew up short. Jaw dropped. "You just said you wanted to teach… ?"
"I also want to leave." Terra looked at him with resolve in her eyes. "For now. I want to see what else is out there."
"You're barely better. What if you get stranded without magic?"
Porom said, "We're heading back to our own world. Assuming we can find it, she should be fine with the magic there, right"
"I will accompany you." Setzer rolled a few dice between his fingers. "Should be quite the travelling party at this size."
Sabin furrowed his brow. There was no chance Setzer had a reason outside of just wanting to travel. But he supposed he couldn't judge the man for his irresponsibility when he didn't have the same charges as Sabin and Edgar.
Palom adjusted his sashed belt. "Let's get going, already. I'm sick of this rotting planet."
"Manners," Porom hissed.
"No, I understand." Sabin leaned back. "I wouldn't want to stay on another world any longer than I had to."
"Even if your world is this one?" Palom asked. Porom dropped her face into her hands.
Sabin thought about it for a moment. "It's easy to say now, but yes. I wouldn't trade it for anything."
"If you're sure." Palom gestured to Porom, who glanced up from her hands. "Let's get Leonora ready to move."
She groaned and followed him.
Sabin took the cue to go check in on Edgar, who was right where Sabin thought he'd be. In the throne room of the castle, staring up at the old tapestries hanging above the throne.
"Think we'll get any for yesterday?" Sabin asked, stopping beside his brother. Edgar nodded.
"I'm sure some artists will produce renditions." Edgar rubbed at his head. "Relm was drawing up a storm of her own when I saw her."
Sabin chuckled lightly. The two thrones stood, still strong despite everything.
"Think he'd be proud of us?" Sabin asked. His father had wanted him to stay. "Proud of me?"
Edgar gave him an appraising look. "How would he not be? We've saved the world more times than he ever did." He chuckled.
Sabin felt a warmth inside, but couldn't bring himself to laugh just yet. Hoped that the issues of the greater cosmos steered clear of their world.
Rosa stood on the upper walls of Castle Baron, watching the sun sink beyond the horizon. It lit the skies and grounds of Baron in brilliant hues of orange, yellow, and red. The air was cool from the early autumn, a warm breeze from the west.
Nothing happened since they obliterated the gate. None other appeared and no other intruder found their way onto their world.
Rosa swept a hand across the battlement, roughened stone cool beneath her touch. They all struggled to find an answer to the looming question. How were they meant to respond to this?
Rosa sighed as the last of the light slipped beyond the horizon and accepted that it was past time to head in.
The air inside the castle was warmer than outside with the sun gone and Rosa shivered despite her robe. Descended the center stairwell.
She stayed above too long.
It was a futile hope that kept her up. She went every day to pray for the world and oft stayed to watch the sun set. But no answer came to ease the pain, the uncomfortable weight that pressed on her chest.
No sign yet of those who vanished in Mysidia.
The halls were emptier than she expected. Perhaps Cecil or Kain attended a council. Rosa arrived at the table she usually ate at with her husband and her son, but not a soul met her.
She turned away from the empty table and walked into the throne room. There, she finally found guards.
"Where is the King?" Rosa asked, voice echoing off the otherwise silent stone walls. The guards saluted her.
"Called to the stabled fleet on a word of urgency, Majesty."
Rosa nodded in thanks and made her way there. Lifted the hem of her robe to avoid tripping as she descended the staircase and pushed through the front door. On her way she saw a scattering of soldiers, but once out the door she found dozens more, led in drills by Kain.
"Hold! Salute!" Kain led the soldiers in acknowledging their queen. The Red Wings remained on the ground.
"Your soldiers follow orders exceptionally well, Sir Kain." Rosa kept it formal in front of the troops, even though she saw Ceodore amongst them.
Kain stood stiff. "Of course, my Queen. As anything may prove, we must be ready at a moment's notice for the good of our whole world." His silver and blue armor sparkled even in the low light.
"Please, return to your duties." Rosa left them before Kain could question her.
And there, at the base of the fleet, was a gathering of people. Many of whom wore no Baron uniform.
"I've missed much." Rosa came to stand beside Cecil and eyed the gathering. "When were we meant to entertain so many visitors?"
Luca was no surprise. Rosa was convinced the Dwarfish princess spent more time in Baron than her own kingdom, but she did not expect Edge.
"Rosa." Cecil offered a hand and she took it. "Luca brought us some visitors and relayed a communication that she received hours ago."
"Edge?" Rosa asked. "What are you doing here?"
He stiffened. Said nothing.
"Hey!" Cid disembarked from one ship, which Rosa only then realized wasn't adorned with the red sails of the Wings. "Cecil, you good with housing 'em for now? They're lookin' dead tired!"
Rosa's heart stopped as a few figures showed up behind him. Gaunt, thin, and shaking, but alive. Palom, Porom, and Leonora descended the ship's ramp after Cid.
"You…" Rosa choked on the words. "They're alive?"
Two more followed them, ones Rosa didn't recognize. A pale, young woman wearing a short red dress with curly, platinum blonde hair tied up behind her head and a man with long silver hair and a black coat who looked healthier than any of the other four.
"What's this?" Rosa asked.
Porom waved their way with a thin smile. Leonora leaned on Palom and he guided her through the crowd. Medics rushed to their side, but he wouldn't let them take Leonora from him. Porom kept close and the lot of them moved off.
"Mana deprivation," Luca whispered their way. "Like they went underwater and held their breath for too long."
"We're Terra and Setzer of the World of Ruin." The girl with curly hair met them. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
They brought back aliens? Rosa saw a lot in her lifetime, but… they were just going to take aliens to and from? "Good to have you," she managed. "You look ill – can I take you to the medicinal wing?"
There was no argument. On the way back, Rosa kept an eye on the two. Terra and Cecil spoke on harmless subjects while Setzer talked quietly with Luca.
Minutes later and they were all inside the healing room. Palom, Porom, and Leonora beat them all and Rosa made out dried blood near Leonora's headpiece.
Setzer refused care, but Terra sat on a bed with little prompting.
Rosa took to Terra's bed. "What is it I can help you with?" She pulled white magic from her core to her fingertips and put her hands together in focus.
Terra smiled and gave a quiet, twinkling laugh. "I don't know if I need it anymore. I'm half Esper, so I needed only energy to absorb." She glanced around the room. "I feel whole already."
Setzer folded his arms beside her with a small smile. "Good to hear."
Rosa dampened the magic in her hands. "That's… impressive."
"What's an Esper?" Edge asked.
"Um." Terra paused. "Like… what was it they said lived here?"
Edge looked between Rosa, Cecil, and the trio. His mask was down, and his mouth twisted into a grimace, but again, said nothing to explain his displeasure.
"Is something wrong?" Terra asked.
Edge scoffed. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"Edge, they're back." Rosa nodded towards the trio and prodded Terra's systems with white magic. She did seem healthier than she appeared.
"Not talking about them."
Then…
"I went to Mist. Have any of you been to Mist recently?" Edge shook. "Rydia's gone. She never came back after she left with that… that creature."
"Rosa." Cecil came to stand beside her. "If I recall, Rydia was last seen with Bartz?"
Rosa nodded, head light.
"These two aren't malicious, I promise." Porom came their way. "We saw their world. It was tattered and it fairs better now, but we've seen enough to know that they are not our enemies."
"Think what you will." Edge turned on his heel. "Whenever you two are up to it, we'll talk about world travel and protecting our borders. Meanwhile, I'm going to go keep Cuore under control."
He slammed the door behind him.
If there were worlds out there struggling to survive, then was it right to stay on their own, watching from a distance?
"We had some news to share with Rydia," Leonora said after an extended silence. "We saw Eidolons, just like when she summons."
Rosa paused. "The Cie?"
"Um, I don't-" Leonora glanced to Palom and Porom.
"Probably," Palom said.
"It sounds like we should be ready to take action," Cecil said.
Cid huffed by the door. "I think it's about time Luca and I show you all what we've been working on. Thinkin' it could be good for our visitors."
Rosa looked up. "Already?"
"I think I need to help the three of you a little more before you go anywhere." Aden, their top mage, stopped Porom from leaving.
Rosa, Cecil, and Luca, along with the two curious visitors, followed Cid out to his engineering bay, a large room made mostly out of temporary wood. They constructed it under his pleas after recovering control and healing many broken pieces of Baron after coming back from the moon the last time.
They stepped inside.
Cid had released snippets here and there, as had Luca, about learning a thing or two from the Lunar Whale's construction and using that to create some incredible new type of airship. Rosa understood that it was meant to mimic the Lunar Whale, to be their own rowboat to the stars.
But the massive thing that stood in front of her was no new model. It looked like a piece-by-piece recreation of the Lunar Whale itself. It loomed above them, looking somehow more massive than the original.
"I should have found more time to check on this." Rosa gasped, breathing hard. It was so far along. There were few construction railings still standing, it had to be near complete.
Luca chuckled and stood proud, hands on hips. "You could actually thank the dolls for that. Calca and Brina were able to record just about all of the ship's specs. Most everything about this thing was a breeze, to be honest."
A Lunar Whale stood proud in front of them. One that they themselves created.
"I'm sorry, what is that?" Terra asked.
Cid guffawed. "It's a ship, lass. One that can take you to the stars."
A smile spread across Setzer's face as his eyes widened. "Would you allow a look inside?"
Luca paused. "Sure, but I don't know what that would help."
"Ah." Setzer brushed his long silver hair behind his ear. "I've constructed an airship of my own, in the past. I'm quite interested to see how this one works."
Luca's mouth hung open. "Really? Yeah, sure, I'd love to show you around!" She jumped forward, Setzer on her heels. Terra hung back, still admiring the ship from a distance.
"A full new Lunar Whale." Cecil's eyes sparkled. "It may just be a rowboat, but it can still take us so far."
Rosa took his hand in hers. "Farther than we've ever gone."