This world was not her own.

The idea seemed strange -- insane even -- and yet, it was the only conclusion that Rosa could come to when walking through these strange and foreign paths. These were not the fields and forests that she knew. The cities here were carved from towering stone, metal, and glass. The people dressed oddly without the capes and armor she'd grown used to -- they looked at her strangely from her high-heeled boots to her white leotard to the bow on her shoulder! Yet Rosa only smiled her uncertain smile and continued on. Something strange had happened to her or perhaps to the whole world. Yet she could think of nothing but him.

'Cecil, my love. Why have you left me?'

Rosa remembered nothing from before her fall. There were hazy images, perhaps, of granite towers and water flowing sweetly through patches of wildflowers. Baron -- her home. Yes, the last she knew, she had been home with him. Her dear, sweet Cecil. She had touched that pale cheek, had run her fingers through his soft hair, and he had taken her hand in his as she rest her head against his chest. Cecil. Her Cecil. The man she had always loved, no matter his past, his darkness, or his heritage. Cecil had promised they would never part again. He had promised, and yet...

And yet she had awoken alone at the edge of a mountain cliff. Her arms and legs were still covered in the pink blemishes of old scrapes and scars. Her ankle had swollen so that she had hardly fit in her boots for four days. Then, of course, there was the concussion. For the life of her, she could not find the wound, yet she had woken confused and without recent memory. Amnesia -- she knew its name -- but why on earth she should suffer from it, Rosa had no idea. It was all she could do to stumble from the mountain's summit to the lonely fields beneath. She had dragged her lame foot after her, clutching at rocks and ledges for support as she called again and again for those she loved.

No one had answered. Not until an old herbalist had found her on his journey to pick the mountain's wild juniper berries. He had frozen as she pulled her bow on him, arrow taught in its string. She had already shot down three predatory birds who had made the mistake of attacking her, but upon seeing his shocked and fearful eyes, she lowered her aim. "Oh. I'm sorry. I...I thought..."

The man's cloak shrouded him from the mountain's bitter wind, but his eyes were rimmed red. They glanced from her blood-streaked tights to the hastily wrapped laceration on her right forearm. He breathed a quiet curse. "Are you alright, miss?"

Rosa bit her tongue. She was battered, bleeding, cold, lost, and alone, and yet she nodded, "Yes. I'm fine."

The man had offered her a shoulder to lean on and guided her down the rest of the path. She had rested in his home near the mountain's base as he gave her herbal balms and clean bandages. Her magic had done the rest. He watched her with quiet amazement as she melded together skin and dulled the deep purple edges of bruises. Once she had finished, he asked her what she had done.

She frowned. "Only a few magic spells."

"Magic?"

"Yes. I've trained as a white mage. For the kingdom of Baron."

He had never heard of Baron and told her so. Rosa stared at him. "Never heard of...?" she started, but the words wouldn't come. It seemed insane to her that anyone could have remained ignorant of her kingdom. Perhaps she might have understood some lonely woodsman having little interest for Mysidia or Damcyan or Fabul, but Baron? Baron had, only a short time ago, attempted conquest of the world. Their armies had stolen precious cultural artifacts from the temples of every kingdom above and below the earth. "What do you mean?"

It was then that she learned the names of this place -- Zephon, Serentestra, Mount Hotan. They were currently far north of Provo and the Crystallus Divider. Rosa tried not to stare at the rush of new words and phrases she couldn't have imagined before. Somehow, impossibly, she had come to a whole new world like the underworld of the dwarves or the far reaches of the moon. 

There would be no return to her Baron, and Cecil was not to be found.

The man offered her a place to sleep at the base of the mountain, but Rosa politely declined. She inquired as to the nearest chocobo stable and spent her remaining money on one of the strongest birds. She had a mission which could not be stopped by confusion, exhaustion, or the dull throbbing of her newly healed wounds. It was the same mission as always -- one as familiar to her as her own name.

No matter how far she must travel, no matter the danger to her own life, Rosa would find Cecil safely and she would bring him home.

It was this mission that brought her past Provo, past the Crystallus Divider, and then to the city of Torensten. The city had recently been under siege by some terrible monster, and she provided what aid she could for the survivors. They spoke of a hideous beast which had covered the sky in red. It was only by the strength of a few lone warriors that the monster was driven away. 

"There was this girl, and I swear she was flying. Glowing and flying like some kind of fairy. Then there was this man in armor. Long, purple hair. I'd heard he called himself a pirate, but everyone who'd seen him before said he was always drunk. But the one that really saved us was this knight. Dressed all in white, I swear. Like something out of a fairy tale."

"A white knight?" Rosa sat up from her work. The bandages nearly fell through her fingers. "What did he look like?"

"Like I said, he wore a lot of white. Lots of armor, a big sword and shield. His hair was even white! And he used this light..."

Rosa stared at the man and then slowly stood. "Where did he go? This knight?"

"They're saying they saw him leave with a woman in his arms -- heading down South towards the Reikin Woods. Hey, where are you going?"

Rosa said nothing as she slipped through the door. Her heart was pounding. 

If Cecil were here, if Cecil were alive, then of course, he would defend a town like this from danger. It would attract him like a song -- the call to heroics and the defense of the innocent. Cecil had always sought the chance for redemption, and he had never been able to stand by at the thought of destruction. If Cecil had come, then she had no doubts that he would have involved himself with a deadly attack like this.

It took Rosa two days on the back of a chocobo to reach the Reikin Woods. She took the bird as far as it could safely trot, and then dismounted to travel on foot. 

The forest was not a foreboding one. There were no tangled brambles, no densely knit branches, and no sudden crags which caught her boots and caused her to stumble. Rosa listened to the chirping of birds, to the rustle of small creatures in the underbrush, and to the soft mutterings of a forest stream. Had Rosa's mission not been so urgent, she might have enjoyed the walk through this idyllic woodland. She might have closed her eyes to the smells of warm earth and the subtle perfume of wildflowers. Perhaps she would have slowed her pace had she not caught a shadow creeping along her peripheral vision. 

Rosa clutched tightly at her bow and slowly drew it to her side. She stood stock-still, watching and listening for any signs of pursuit. After a moment, she saw it again -- a shadow skimming along the treeline. Rosa slid an arrow into place and crept forward after it. It was moving away, low to the ground in a predator's stance. She followed it quietly. 

The sounds of the stream grew louder as she went on. Soon, other shadows joined the first. They moved together, far too interested in their current target to notice her. Ahead, Rosa caught a quiet voice -- a slow and careless song. The words were lilted and half-tuned in the piping notes of a child. The shadows perked in interest as they crept closer to that voice. Rosa held her bow taut.

There were footsteps ahead and the singing stopped. In its place came another voice, "One so young shouldn't wander alone." Rosa peered through the trees and saw them -- a woman and a young girl standing in a flowered meadow. The woman wore a simple white dress with her red hair cascading down the back. With her bright eyes and bare feet, she might have been a spirit of the forest itself. The girl beside her couldn't have been older than eight years old. She wore her dark hair in a pony tail with a bright pink bow. The shadows stilled at the clearing's edge. Rosa caught a glittering yellow eye before, suddenly, one lunged. 

"No!" Rosa's bow was up in an instant, and without thinking, she fired. Her arrow caught it mid-leap. There was a high-pitched yelp and a splatter of blood, but the beast's momentum had not slowed. It tumbled into the girl in a mass of yellowed fangs and dense brown fur. There was a growl to Rosa's left side, a flash of movement, and then snapping teeth. Rosa let out a cry of fear and dodged back into the meadow. The flowers caught her heels and she stumbled. Her hand flashed to her quiver and she shot twice into the cover of the trees. There was a thump and then a low whine. Rosa reached for another arrow.

Rosa saw only a flash of gray before it was on her. It came from the side and leaped before she could draw the string of her bow. Sharp teeth clamped down upon her arm, snapping and smearing with blood. It ripped her sideways, crying out in pain as the great, sneering head pulled her down. Without thinking, Rosa clenched the arrow in her palm and rammed the tip hard into the side of the beast's neck. It gave a sharp yelp, but wouldn't let go until she drove it deeper, twisting and snaring until her hands until the creature's eyes went glassy. The moment she felt its grip loosen, Rosa kicked hard into its stomach and sent it tumbling into the flower-bed. The wolf gave a dying kick of its hind legs and then stilled. 

Rosa clutched at her bleeding, mangled arm and backed away from the beast. The pain seared up her shoulder, and her breath came in pants. From the shadows of the trees, Rosa heard growling and the rustle of paws. She reached for her bow.

"Run." Rosa looked to the two would-be victims -- the woman and the girl. "Hurry! They're coming!" She tried to fit her bow, but winced at the movement of her injured arm. In a moment of panic, she would be able to pull it back, but the damage would keep her from acting quickly. Still, she looked at the two with a sudden urgency and said, "I'll cover you," because there really was no other way. 

Had Cecil been at her side, she might have defended him from behind. She would have aided him with her magic as he took the threat head-on with his sword. But Cecil was not here. There was only her standing between life and death for this child, and she would not back down. 

With a hiss of pain, she brought the bow up again and fired.

ulla