"And just why should I do that?"

"He'll be important in the future, as will that group, at the very least you can direct him to my uncle and you can also tell him about my survival since he thinks me long dead...well maybe not long dead, but definitely believes I died at Phoenix Gate"

"And just why would I be directing him to your uncle?"

"Because he served the Rosfield house until that night"

"The Rosfield house?...of course and you're the only survivor of that house besides your uncle"

"Exactly, he'll be very glad to serve my house once more"

"Just one problem, how do I prove I'm from you? I mean, you just told me he thinks you dead"

"That's the one part of the plan I haven't managed to work out actually, and I've been thinking on it for a while now"

The entire group thinks on that conundrum and it was actually Cid who thought of the solution

"I have an idea, it's not a direct reveal of your identity Clive but it allows us the chance to reveal you to him in the future, I'm almost certain he's heard of the adventures of Cid and Wyvern since we started our activities together, Gav could mention he knows the two of us and that we would like to meet him on neutral ground at some point to see if he would be a good fit for our cause"

"The ground won't be neutral will it Cid?"

"Actually the initial meeting will be as neutral as I can get it without giving us the disadvantage"

"Cid?"

"There's a place that's between the current Hideaway, the new Hideaway that I never saw and Isolde, it's just close enough to Martha's Rest to get there quickly if needed but far enough that even your person would consider it neutral and safe to go to without risking civilian lives"

"Of course, I forgot about that location since I never used it myself when meeting informants, granted it was too dangerous to meet at locations other then in actual towns by that point but I still should have remembered that spot since we travel through it on the way to Martha's Rest"

"In any case I feel that's the best place for a first meeting, and your uncle can be there as well if you feel it might help the situation"

"No, not yet, unless he brings my uncle himself"

"Very well"

"Guess I'd best get goin' then, it could take me weeks to find him"

"Right, be careful though, Sir Wade might strike first and ask questions later"

"Right, how am I supposed to find him anyways?"

"Carefully see if there's been any word about anyone trying to keep Rosaria as free as possible all things considered, and mention rumors of Black Shields and wanting to know if anyone else has heard of something similar. The shields will be of more importance to Wade then anything else, and if you hear any mention of Guardians of the Flame then it's definitely Wade and his men so mention that you're someone who knows Cid and Wyvern and want to set up a meeting between the three of us"

"Right"

"And while we wait for you to report back the two of us have some other work to do Wyvern"

"Oh?"

"Yes, but I'm not explaining that until we leave the Hideaway ourselves"

"Right, best get going then, shall I come back here with the report or go to a different location where we'll meet up?"

"Here, the two of us should be back in a couple of days and your assignment will likely take at least a week if not more"

"Right"

And so Gav leaves and then he and Clive also leave

"So, what's going on?"

"A caravan with Branded is passing through the Nysa Defile according to some reports I recently got I figured we could free them"

"Let's go then"

"By the way you have yet to tell me how I'm going to fulfill the rest of my blood oath"

"My mother was behind everything and eventually we'll head there so that's when the rest of your vow can be completed...to a degree anyways"

"Right, well in any case we have a mission to focus on Wyvern"

And so the two free the caravan and help them return to the Hideaway so that they could learn to be free in a safe environment and then two weeks later Gav returned and signaled to Cid that he had news and so Gav, Cid and Clive head to Cid's meeting room

"What word do you have Gav?"

"Well, there's no Guardians of the Flame at the moment from what I can tell, but I believe I've run into your friend Clive, and he's willing to meet with you, but only on his terms and territory that he's chosen"

"How far is it from our own choice?"

"Well here's the thing, I don't know why but he wants to meet at Phoenix Gate"

"I...I see...and you're as sure as you can be that it is Sir Wade that you talked with?"

"All things considered yes"

"Shall we inform your uncle about this Clive?"

"Yes, however also tell him not to bring too many people with him since we suspect that the person we're meeting with is Sir Wade, a former soldier in the Rosarian army"

"Got it, Gav when does he want to meet?"

"A week from today"

"Then we have time, send the Stolas with the pertinent information"

"Right"

And so a week later Clive, Cid, and Gav openly met with the person that was suspected of being Sir Wade at Phoenix Gate while Byron Rosfield hid himself a short distance away, close enough to see prearranged hand signals, but far enough not to be discovered unless it was indeed Sir Wade and the knight had thought far enough ahead to have scouts on the outer boundary of the place like Cid and Clive and done

"I see you've agreed to my demands"

"Yes, though I'm surprised you decided to meet here, any particular reason?"

"Yes actually, I want to see how you react to the news I have about this place, if you've heard the same rumors as I have regarding a particular night"

"Oh?"

"Yes, my friends and I were betrayed three years ago right here on the night that's become known as the Night of Flames, betrayed by your people, you may claim to be Cid and Wyvern, and the person you sent after me says that his name is Gav and that he's not an Imperial but I don't believe it, not yet"

"I have proof that we're not with the Imperials and that two of them at least are who they say they are"

"Oh and what about the third person in your group?"

"I'll admit that I'm going by a false name, but only in the field and that false name is keeping me alive, however here's the proof I'm not with the Imperials"

Suddenly Clive let's out a ball of flame and flings it just to the side of Sir Wade who drops his ax in surprise

"It can't be...I was there when you died, and yet, you have the blessing of the Phoenix"

Clive let's down his cloak and Sir Wade does the same and gives the traditional salute of the Shields

"I knew not who you were my Lord, and I apologize for thinking you were a treacherous Imperial"

"It's okay Sir Wade, and I don't blame you for thinking me dead all things considered, are you willing to help the cause that Cid and I fight for?"

"What cause might that be my Lord?"

"Freeing Bearers and Branded"

"Of course, but I also fight to free Rosaria, our goals are now different I'm afraid"

"Nay Sir Wade, for that is now also part of our goal, we just haven't been able to make it one since we lacked the resources ourselves"

"I see...I'll gladly be part of your group then Cid, my Lord...my Lord, shall I call you Wyvern in the field as well?"

"Yes, it's a disguise in a way that keeps me safe, and let's my treacherous mother still believe me dead since Cid here said he made sure to spread that belief when he rescued me and prevented me from becoming a Branded myself"

"Then that is what I shall do, though still...I wish Lord Joshua and your father had also survived that night three years ago"

"I know Sir Wade, and who knows, Joshua may yet have survived since Cid never found his body, though he found father's and made a blood oath over it"

"A blood oath, are you serious? I mean...you do know what those mean in Rosaria right?"

"I know, and I already fulfilled half my oath a few days after making it by making sure that Clive was never Branded, it's just the other half I'm still working on"

"I see"

"Listen Sir Wade, my mother will pay for that night, but we must be careful of how we go about it, I want you to continue your work but carefully, and if you hear any rumors about a group calling themselves the Black Shields you are to act swiftly against them. I also want you to do what you can to defend the towns known to harbor Bearers and Branded, make sure that they're not destroyed if at all possible, my uncle will help with that goal, speaking of which, you can come out now uncle Byron!"

Byron revealed himself to Wade and then Clive let Wade and his uncle discuss everything regarding Byron supporting the Guardians and other details including being the main contact between Wade and Clive and then Clive decided to ask Sir Wade a question before separating once more

"Sir Wade, I know you wanted to confront us about what happened that night at Phoenix Gate and see if we were really who we were or not but why? I would think you would hate to ever see this place ever again"

"That's true my lord, however there is another reason for coming here and confronting Imperials at the sight of our betrayal, depending on their reaction we can find out if they were here that night or not and were part of the ones spreading the rumors. If that's the case we try and take them out to prevent it from being spread any further and to punish them as much as possible for that night, though I will admit I don't come here that often due to the memories of that night"

"I see, Cid, perhaps it might be best to work with Sir Wade for a week or two before going back ourselves, and uncle I think Isolde would be a good place to just...talk, about a lot of things, including things that Sir Wade may or may not be allowed to know now, Cid and I have to agree on that bit though, as does Jill actually now that I think about it"

"I did while you were preparing for the mission Wyvern, and she gave full permission knowing what might be discussed with Sir Wade"

"I see then it's just the two of us who have to be in agreement with her decision"

"Exactly"

Ultimately Cid and Clive agreed to tell Wade everything about the past few years including the time travel bit that very, very few knew of for safety reasons and tell him they did once in the safety of Byron's home

"I see...how many people know about this?"

"Very few, uncle Byron is one of those who knows the truth, but only because of factors that forced us to reveal it to him"

"So Lord Joshua is alive, but doesn't remember the future and you're not sure if he ever will"

"Exactly, and you're not to seek him out Sir Wade, it's too dangerous, besides he already has his protectors and they're doing a fine enough job on their own"

"Understood, now then shall we get to training and agreeing on certain code phrases?"

"Indeed we shall"

And so over the next two weeks a lot of talking was done but eventually Clive and Cid knew they had to return to the Hideaway and thus return they did and as soon as they returned Gav spoke up

"There's a message for you Clive, and they used your actual name, not your field name which means it might be a trap, I already did what I could to make sure that it was safe, and of course nothing in regards to magic can hurt you but still...took what precautions I could anyways"

"My thanks Gav, Cid..."

"Right, I'll stay outside just in case then"

And so Clive entered the shared office and carefully opened the letter and realized that it was good news instead of more bad news, though it was also unexpected news as well, especially considering how long the person writing had been of age

"Cid, Jill you can come it"

Once inside Jill speaks up

"So...who's it from?"

"Dion, I don't know why he's only just making contact since he turned fifteen before you did Jill, but he is, he remembers everything and is actually talking of defecting and joining us at the Hideaway within a month if he can get away with it, but only with my permission. He used my real name since he knows that the original Cid is currently alive"

"Well, if you and Jill trust him I'll allow it...but he does realize that as the crown Prince and Bahamut he can't leave his country that easily right?"

"Which is why part of his proposal involves faking his death at some point"

"And yet as soon as Bahamut is seen again the ruse will be up"

"Which is also why he'll be giving me Bahamut as soon as he joins us, he says he's figured out a way of doing so without dying"

"I see"

Ultimately the three agreed to work around Dion's plans so that they could fake his death and Clive let Dion know that along with the fact that he was to use the name Wyvern from now on when communicating with Clive until he reached the Hideaway, explaining that Wyvern was Clive's field name. A week later though everything changed

"Clive there's a message for you from one of your contacts"

"Thanks Gav"

And so Clive opens the letter and as soon as he reads it he calls for Jill and Cid