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Fandom: FFIV AU
Characters/Pairings: Rosa, Kain, Joanna (Rosa's Mom), Tellah, Theodore Harvey
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Captain Rosa Farrell has a feeling that all may not be right in Baron.
Notes: Yes! OBVIOUSLY AN AU. Notes after the chapter on certain things if you are interested, not gonna bore you with details before you read. Also, yes, the title will be part of a couple puns later. This is also unedited, because holy crap this chapter is longer than most of my stories and I just want to GET IT OUT. So be gentle on the typos, I know there are probably several. If anyone would like to tackle the editing before I post it to AO3, I have it in a gdoc for you. ^^
She only had to turn her foot slightly into his path and he went down like a tree.
“Rosa! Stop that.”
She snickered. “You must be nervous or something, that was too easy.”
He adjusted his Dragoon helm as he got up, and looked around to make sure that no one saw him. Kain had always been somewhat finicky about appearances. “Easy for you to say, you’re already the captain of the Redwings. I have a few more promotions yet as a Dragoon.”
Kain Highwind had been her friend, sort of brother, and almost rival most of her life. His father had died on a campaign when Kain was ten, and Rosa’s mother had seen to it that he didn’t end up a ward of the Kingdom.
“Well, then work smarter, not harder. That’s what my mother’s always said.”
“I know.”
Joanna Farrell, Rosa’s mother, had always been full of good advice, especially after her own father died on the same campaign. As a White Mage, Joanna would have normally gone into battle with him, but Rosa had contracted a fever and needed to be cared for instead. Maybe it was just how her mother was, or maybe it had been the experience, but her mother had warned her about following her heart into battle. She’d seemed relieved when Rosa had told her she wanted to be a Knight instead of a White Mage like her.
You need your head out there, your heart will only get in the way.
“This is supposed to be a simple mission anyway, seriously, why are you so nervous?”
He crossed his arms, his expression going blank. Kain did that sometimes, to pretend as if things didn’t affect him. But out of the two of them, he was by far the most emotional, and something had obviously gotten into his head.
“Fine, don’t tell me. Just don’t lose your head, ok? Mother said if either of us got killed stupidly--”
“--she would spit on our graves and give us an earful in the afterlife, I know.”
Rosa couldn’t help but feel her heart race as they approached the airship. Though, it wasn’t nerves, but excitement. Being a Dark Knight meant that she got to fly all over the world and lock blades with some of the best warriors in the land. And while she wasn’t the first female Knight in Baron’s history, she was certainly the first to make captain of the Redwings, a source of immense pride for her and her mother.
And who wouldn’t be proud of being the captain of one of the elite forces in the most powerful kingdom in the world, man or woman?
---
“We’ll be heading out soon, Mother.”
Despite being the age where most women had sweethearts already, there were only two people who Rosa made sure to say goodbye to before a battle; her mother and Cid Pollendina. Her mother was obvious; family was a tie in Baron that wasn’t even broken by death, if her and Kain’s fathers were any indication. And Cid had stepped in as a sort of uncle to both her and Kain, making him family in his own right.
“I don’t need to tell you to be careful, and to not give the White Mages too much trouble with heroics.”
She smiled. “You know I don’t do heroics, just a good job.”
Joanna Farrell was a curious combination of hard and soft that most White Mages gained when they reached her age. Though she hadn’t gone into battle since her father was killed, she still kept abreast of any issues those that were in the field had with the Knights and Dragoons. If she were to do anything stupid on the battlefield it was more than likely that her mother would hear about it before she returned home.
Rosa already had her armor on, but always left the helmet off when she came to say goodbye. Joanna tucked some hair behind Rosa’s ear and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Have I told you lately how proud I am of you?”
It was hard not to see how her father could have been such a good Dark Knight with a powerful woman like her mother at his side. Even if Rosa could see some of the worry lines starting to sprout around her eyes and mouth. She had to wonder which of them had caused those.
“Only every day.”
“Good. No complaints about being unloved, then, Rosebud.”
When she was smaller, she had wanted to be just like her mother. She was too young for any sort of training, and her father had still been around. When the children of her class would play at battles she would sprinkle the ‘wounded’ with flower petals until they dramatically rose again to continue fighting. Of course, she quickly got bored with running around sprinkling flower petals and would grab the weapons of the ‘dead’ and join the fray after a while. Kain had always complained that it wasn’t a White Mage’s job to do that.
“Are you... are you still worried I’ll end up like Father?”
But Joanna had sat her down one day, and told Rosa that she could only be herself, not what anyone else wanted her to be. That she didn’t have to follow in her footsteps if she didn’t want to. Maybe even as a child she could sense that being a battle Mage was already taking its toll on her mother.
“Every mother worries when their child goes to do something dangerous. But you’re old enough now that I can’t do anything to protect you, except for hope and pray.”
A week after her father was killed, she went to the King to ask if she could become a Page, with intent to be a Knight someday. It didn’t seem to ease her mother’s worry, like wanting to be a scholar or Lady in Waiting would have, but it felt more right. It was something for herself.
“If I asked you to, Mother, would you go into battle with me?”
“Never again. Not even for you.”
Being a Farrell meant having convictions and sticking to them.
“Good. I wouldn’t actually ask, you know.”
Joanna looked out the window, where some of Rosa’s younger Knights had started congregating. Her mother tried not to let any regrets show in front of her, but wistfulness sometimes slipped through. “Maybe someday Baron will finally have enough.”
Rosa did her best to ignore that last statement. If anyone asked, she would say that her mother was as loyal a subject as any. There were no vaguely treasonous ideas in this house.
“I should say goodbye to Uncle Cid, they’ll be needing me soon.”
The wistful look was gone from Joanna’s face, replaced by a smile.
“Good journey.”
---
Theodore Harvey had been the King’s favorite advisor for some months now. He was a High Black Mage, but his robes were always different than other mages she’d seen, and he never wore the hat, instead letting his long white hair flow freely, and his somewhat effeminate face be unshadowed.
Rosa always had a bad feeling when he showed up.
“Ah, Sir Farrell, I was wondering when you would grace us with your presence.”
Behind her, Kain almost tripped on something and she suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Kain was a graceful, capable fighter, but for some reason when Lord Harvey was in some proximity to him, he seemed to forget how to walk.
“Lord Harvey. To what do we owe the pleasure?”
He gestured her to follow him across the deck of the airship. The crew was busy readying the flagship Odin for its flight; securing cargo and readying the great amount of propellers which gave it stability in the air. Cid had tried to sit down and explain to her how it worked many times when she was a girl, but she’d always gotten bored with it and ran off and hit Kain with sticks instead.
The target of the attack had been decided weeks ago; Eblan. Baron had been slowly expanding its empire through minor skirmishes, but the King had decided that it was finally the sufficient time to start making real attacks. Rosa had wondered about the timing; for what had resulted in her promotion was not necessarily that she was the strongest fighter, but that she had spent a lot of time with tactics.
“The King wanted me to see that this mission went well.”
“I have already assured him that with our preparations, we have a very good chance of victory in Eblan. They will be caught completely by surprise.”
“Eblan? My dear Captain, the target has been changed to Mysidia. Had no one told you?”
She rather hated the oily tone of his voice, with just the right amount of patronizing in it. Rosa should have been told, and the fact that she was clearly not a part of that meeting did not settle well with her.
“Mysidia? What quarrel do we have with them? Eblan’s been our enemy since the Incident at Mist back in my father’s time.”
“Surely you see the strategy involved in attacking Mysidia. Or do you underestimate Mages?”
Mysidia had not been chosen as a target primarily because they couldn’t be surprised like Eblan could. Their primary fighting force was comprised of ninjas, who while they had a great many skills did not have practically supernatural forces guarding them. Mysidia had all manner of magical early warning triggers and Sages and Mages of several disciplines. There was a great chance that their aerial forces wouldn’t even reach the city in the kinds of numbers that would be required to do enough damage, let alone occupy it as they meant to do with Eblan.
“It is because I do not underestimate them that I wonder about the wisdom of this plan.”
As a child Rosa had seen her mother teaching the oldest of the trainee White Mages the offensive spells associated with the discipline, something that they were only allowed to learn once they had mastered all of the healing arts. If a White Mage, who was taught mainly to protect could do that damage, it only reasoned that a Black Mage who was taught to attack could do that much more. And Sages were practically walking weapons.
“Do you wonder at the wisdom of your King?” Harvey’s smirk was well-practiced, and even though he was obviously not from Baron, he clearly knew it well. And no one in Baron questioned the King, for he was divinely chosen for that role.
“No, I do not.”
“Then prepare your Knights for the attack on Mysidia.”
It still didn’t settle well, even as Lord Harvey left her immediate presence went on to talk with the Captain of the Dragoons. Though she had developed the right detachment from her Knights in order to lead effectively, she was still bothered with the idea that they would be wasted on something as ridiculous as politics. Her youngest Squires who maintained the equipment were anything from sixteen to twenty, and full Knights like her from twenty to Rosa’s age of twenty-seven. Most achieved Lordships or Ladyships by the age of thirty, meaning they didn’t have to go into the field anymore. But the majority of them were quite young, as the ones that made it as far as she did were fewer in number.
Was this why her mother the great White Mage refused to go into battle ever again? Young men and women lost to the whims of committees?
Rosa closed her eyes, willing the treasonous thoughts out of her head. It wouldn’t do to tell her Knights of the mission with any emotions floating around, clouding her certainty. They had after all willingly chosen these roles, to serve out the Kingdom--and maybe someday the Empire--for the good of their families and friends. For the good of the divinely chosen King.
It was time to give out the orders, it would take them two days to get there. She had to make some semblance of a plan before then.
---
As expected, Mysidia was ready for them.
The frontline airships took so much damage that their pilots insisted they hold back from the Mysidian defenses. No matter how advanced the technology that went into their airships was, the main composition of them was wood, and the fireballs that teams of Black Mages were launching with their specially designed catapults were quickly draining any defenses the White Mages could put up. Their high ground advantage was no use from the distance they had to maintain to stay out of range.
It was going to be a battle on foot, then.
“A Squad, take the East wall, B Squad, the west. Once the Dragoons have cleared your entrance converge on this point.” Rosa pointed at what she hoped was the most accurate map of Mysidia they could get. Since the incident at Mist, such information had been harder and harder to get.
William Noreaster, the Captain of the Dragoons had agreed to let his forces be the front line for a change; they would be on much more even ground to fight if they got within the city walls. Dragoons, with the aid of their training and their spring-loaded armor would be able to scale the walls without ladders, and make way for the Dark Knight forces. Their speed and agility would make them less of an easy target than the harder hitting Dark Knights.
That was the plan, at least. Had she more time and this would have been better planned.
“Captain Farrell.”
She turned to the voice, and smiled under her helm as she saw that it was Kain addressing her.
“Good hunting, Highwind.”
“Good hunting, Captain.”
They nodded to each other then, it was a small ritual much like saying goodbye to her mother, but much more appropriate for a brother in arms. Kain was going to be part of the front gate’s assault force, as he was one of the elites, such as herself. It was for politicians like Lord Harvey to stay behind on the airship and plot to their heart’s content, a real Dark Knight Captain always took the squads in the highest risk positions, because of experience. Especially for a mission that was being made up as they went along.
With the squads all assigned to their targets, the Knights waited for their assigned Dragoons to anchor their ziplines. Hers was one of the first in place, and Rosa always took the front position. It wasn’t even traditional in this case, but more a reminder to her Knights that whatever danger they would be put into, she would be sure to lead it. The first year of her Captaincy had been rough due to petty things, but she could feel now in her second year that her men--and occasional woman--had the right amount of respect.
It was still hard to keep her breakfast down as she hooked into the line and hurtled down towards the ground. She wasn’t sure how Dragoons could stand that lurch.
Once her feet were firmly on the ground, she surveyed the conflict before her. As befitting any stronghold battle, the enemy remained behind their walls. The Baron troops where still out of range, but Rosa’s group was going to have to go through the thick of it. Magical fire still burned like normal fire, but it didn’t leave charred ground in its wake; it was always haunting what it could do to a person or monster, but disappeared into nothing for anything it wasn’t targeting.
They couldn’t afford to bring the White Mages into the thick of this, particularly if they had to retreat at any point, so they’d been blessed with a Protect before leaving the airship. It made the edges of her vision shimmer blue-green. And the amount of time the spell would last was ticking down.
“Knights, take the lead until we reach the wall! Make sure nothing happens to your assigned Dragoon!”
Both Dragoons and Dark Knights could take a lot of damage even without the additional Protect, but they were heading for a quick retreat if they didn’t get over that wall. And the Mages were likely to start concentrating on the Dragoons when they realized what was happening. Her Dragoon was obviously Captain Noreaster in this instance, but she couldn’t help but think of earlier missions before she gained steam with her promotions, when Kain would have been at her back.
Rosa pushed that thought aside and focused on the hard march to the gates. Hopefully her squad would draw enough attention from the enemy so that the squads approaching other points in the wall would meet less resistance. If Dark Knight armor were built for more agility like Dragoon armor, they might have been able to go faster through the field, but they could only manage a shuffling march. Her vision was becoming tinged more orange-red as it was obvious they were drawing more fire.
Even with all the protections, the heat was becoming uncomfortable. But they made it to the front gate, and she would assess her squad once the Dragoons were well on their way up.
“Any stragglers?” she asked Captain Noreaster, whose Dragoon helm had some slight telescopic visibility enhancements.
“Two pairs.”
Rosa cursed a little under her breath; one pair was acceptable, but two already was going to cause issues as they tried to make it to the Elders and demand their surrender. They needed as many elites as they could get against the Sages in particular. And the blue-green shimmer was starting to fade into nothingness.
“We can only hope they catch up, Captain Noreaster.”
“Understood, Captain Farrell.” With a nod, he began the series of jumps to scale the wall, and shortly after him the other Dragoons followed.
Her Dark Knights were in varying stages of worse for wear. She wished it wouldn’t have been such risk to bring the White Mages, for there were several the could use a Cura at least. Rosa looked down at her own armored hands, and saw that a fair amount of burns, black on black, were now coloring her armor.
At least this close to the wall, the fire spells had a hard time reaching them.
She wasn’t surprised to find that her rope was one of the first lowered. Rosa didn’t pull her sword completely out of its sheath yet, but she made sure that it wouldn’t stick before grabbing onto it with both hands and beginning to scale. It was no small feat with the added weight, but at least the armor gave threefold the arm strength. It was part of the bargain they paid with its metal being near fused to their skin, allowing for it to have some of her lifeforce. It was a known fact that most Dark Knights didn’t live past fifty unless they were promoted into politics after a shorter service.
Rosa was nearly at the top when she felt the rope give.
She knew not to panic, but she still scrambled to get a grip on anything. She hated, heights, and gravity, and heights and when a lance and then a hand came over the wall to help her, she wanted to give that Dragoon a medal. Rosa gripped the nonbladed portion of the lance and let the hand help haul her up onto the wall.
She caught her breath, crouched at the top of the wall before she looked up and realized the one who had helped her was Kain. And that Captain Noreaster was no where to be found.
“Thank you, but... what happened?”
Rosa drew her sword, knowing that the Black Mages they kept at the top of the wall wouldn’t let them have a simple conversation. Kain was already grappling with one, not given enough room to properly Jump.
“They hit him a barrage of spells, the nasty kind that blind and paralyze you. He must have found a High Black Mage’s guard station.”
Her blade met a Mage’s staff, and she whispered promises to the Darkness that resided within it. His--hers?--staff broke into three pieces. Several more Mages appeared, as more of her Dark Knights reached the top.
Status spells? And a High Black Mage on wall guarding duty? “And then what?”
A Mage’s hat went floating down over the wall, and its owner followed shortly after Kain’s lance connected. “He fell.”
Rosa hazarded a look over the wall, and could see the distinctly small shape of a Dragoon, limbs out at angles that suggested it would take several White Mages to repair him, if he were alive at all. A conscious Dragoon with his full faculties could have made that fall without even a scratch, but a confused and blind one that probably tripped over the edge...
The Mages approaching her now were making a convenient arc, and Rosa hissed as she gave her sword some immediate energy to take them out in a wave of Darkness. “Well, Acting Captain, I think we’ve played on this wall enough. Our objective is the Elders.”
“Right you are.”
If this were an airship, they would simply be able to zipline down, but with the only option of anchor in an enemy territory, particularly around Mages who could make fire a zipline was impossible. Baron Knights and Dragoons were always taught a different technique in these situations.
“Remember Kain, if you drop me my mother will kill you.”
“I’d sooner gouge out my eyes with a spoon.”
When they had been neck and neck with rank, Rosa and Kain had often been used as an example of how to best use the Paired Drop. After all, they’d been practicing things like that since they were children. Rosa had broken her nose in one of those early, unarmored attempts, and Kain had freaked out about how her mother was going to kill him and she’d never be able to show her face to a gentleman...
But her nose had healed just fine and they got their grips, jumping just before an ambitious little Black Mage decided to try an ice spell on them. Rosa ignored the awful lurch of falling, and tried not to hold her breath until she felt the springed jerk when Kain’s boots hit the ground. Then she did her tumble on the ground, so as not to break his arms.
“You alright?” He asked, unnecessarily. Then again, unlike a lot of her other comrades, he knew her problem with heights.
“Of course.” Rosa got her bearings as the other Dark Knights and Dragoons fell in near her. Unlike Eblan, which used mazes and illusions as a major part of its defenses, Mysidia made the most important Hall an obvious fixture in the city’s layout, as if trying to intimidate invaders.
It was rather imposing.
She turned to the squad, which was uneven now due to Captain Noreaster’s loss. “We make a straight charge for the Elders. We do not stop. Our support troops should be tying up their other forces, but we must not split up in the off chance that they haven’t.”
Kain was similarly relaying orders to the Dragoons, who were now in the position of backup again. Without large walls in the way this was now the Dark Knights’ show, as they were best with close combat.
“Oh and do not be a hero and try and take on a Sage alone. You WILL die.”
Last she heard, there were only three living Sages; and one of them split his time between Mysidia and Damcyan, while the other two tended to travel the world on whatever whims they felt. They had enough High Mages to defend the city, but if this was one of the times a Sage, or Odin forbid two, were in the city they were going to have a hard time capturing the Elders.
Which was yet another reason this was a stupid battle. If she lived through this she was going to bring her grievances about Lord Harvey to the King, for certain.
It only took three Knights to break down the large doors to the Hall. Magical protections only went so far when faced with their armor. Dragoons sprung off behind them, to the corners of the great room to handle the High Mages who were likely to flock to defend the chambers of the Elders. Rosa couldn’t help but imagine Lord Harvey’s smug face as she cut down a particularly tall High Black Mage, who was trying to create a wall of fire in front of one of the chamber doors.
Even after he fell to her blade, she could still smell charcoal and the eerie fresh odor of the spell itself.
Rosa kicked down the door to the chamber, which revealed a long hallway. She quickly looked back for Kain, and he landed beside her, a High Mage’s hat still impaled on his lance.
“You should go ahead, Rosa, I’m right behind you. The others will follow.”
The squad couldn’t split up, but she was the Captain. They would know to follow. Rosa moved as close to running as she could and found that the hallway opened up to a room which almost appeared to be glass.
So the crystal rooms did exist.
“I don’t think this is what we’re--”
Rosa was cut short as a Thundaga spell just barely missed her.
“THIEVES! YOU SHALL NOT HAVE IT!”
His varied robes, which were acquired from years of travel and likely contained exotic charms within the folds marked him as a Sage.
“Kain! We need to....”
But a quick inventory revealed that Kain was nowhere in her sight. And the Sage was charging another spell in his twisted staff.
Rosa bargained with her sword, hoping that it wouldn’t make her legs give out. She was alone in a magical room with a Sage and she needed whatever power to attack him as she could. The purple-black wave of Darkness hit hard, and his cast hit wide, sparking a column nearby.
“Baron devil!” he cursed at her, and showered a Curaga on himself. She took the opportunity to lunge and try and knock his staff out of his hands. While it was true a Sage could cast without it, it allowed for a greater focus.
When he sword made contact with the staff, it sent a wave of energy up her arm which nearly made her lose her own weapon. Tricky.
“You all think alike, don’t you?” He was a mouthy old man, for certain. His long white beard and messy hair made him look more like an old beggar than a master of magic. She didn’t believe in talking enemies to death.
She crouched and rolled out of the way, knowing that proximity would make some of his spells worse. And he probably was intimately aware which spells those were. Unfortunately, he’d anticipated that, and she was hit hard by a Thundaga that time.
Rosa scrambled for a potion, almost forgetting that she’d had to carry it since they’d left the White Mages on the airship. The Sage chained the first attack with a second, just as her armor caught the last of the liquid, surrounding her in the healing glow.
She should have followed that up immediately with another potion, but she couldn’t remain on the defensive for long and live. So she slid at him, swinging her sword at his knees. He had enough protections on him that she couldn’t slice through them, like she would most other foes, but it was enough to make him buckle.
A blue-black flame encased her sword, the last bit of magic the bargain allowed, and it was likely if she missed that whatever powerful spell the Sage was chanting would kill them both. And after all that talk about not being a hero, her mother was going to spit on her grave...
At first, the explosion looked like the Sage had cast one of the fabled Forbidden magics, which seemed like this old man’s style. But by the surprised look on his face and the fact that it flung the both of them into a wall, it was obvious that it had been cast or created against the both of them.
Sparks of light were clouding Rosa's vision, and she remained conscious long enough to see a lone Dragoon stop, mouth something that looked a little like ‘I’m sorry’ and run down the hall.
The Notes
- So, if you'll notice by my geeking in some explanations, I assume a large part of Baron's military superiority is due to their airships and TECHNOLOGY. This will come into play later. Also, I'm an engineer, I really just can't help but insert some tech in a magical world. And as you can tell, I kind of battle meta a lot.
- Why yes, I believe Dark Knight armor is partially fused to the wearer's skin and that the loss of HP when you cast Darkness is part of a magical bargain. Dark Knight armor is kind of alive. AND CREEPY.
- Yes, I rewrote the incident at Mist to be something Rosa and Kain's dads were a part of. This is partly because one of my biggest pet peeves about FFIV is how Rydia starts out as a child and is suddenly sexy. So this allows her to age at a much more normal pace. Also, it gives a better basis for some of Rosa and Kain's behaviors. So Rydia gets to besexy an adult the entire time you see her in this fic. Of course, there will be other changes to her background because of this...
- Why is Rosa a Knight? Aside from the fact I think it would be awesome, I think that if Cecil weren't around, this might have been more like where her ambitions would lie. She's less swept up by ~romance~, and especially considering that I've done a bit more with her family (and you'll notice her mother who in normal canon DIDN'T want Rosa to follow in her footsteps) it just makes more sense. Hopefully the core aspects of her personality still show, they're just less directed at her love interest and more her family and country and all that.
- Why isn't she with Kain then? I didn't want Rosa's characterization to be taken over by whatever guy she is with. There's also already a lot of lovely FFIV fic that explores the love triangle, I just figured if I was going to AU, I'd be, well, different. Also, considering the setup I've given them, being good friends with a bit of sibling rivalry strikes me as a better characterization (and kind of adorable). She's not getting with Cecil either, so it's not even a Cecil/Rosa bias that made this happen. This doesn't mean this is a pairing free fic, just that I wanted to try something different. ~_^
- Rosa is older than Kain by two years. I don't know why I did that, but I like it. XD
- This is not the last time you see Joanna. After all, Rosa is one of my POV characters (the other will be Edward). She's important to Rosa, thus she's not going to just disappear.
- That old Sage at the end was Tellah, who did not have memory loss happening at that time. But you'll find out more about that later. PS: I love Tellah. Everyone should.
- Wait, what's up with Theo Harvey? DO YOU MEAN GOLBEZ? Yes, he's still Golbez. I just wanted to go somewhere other than the ~mind control~ route and play more with his dual nature as Cecil's brother and Golbez. This is mostly inspired by the DS version of FFIV and Dissidia, where he actually has some personality. He's still a bad guy, though.
- WHAT'S UP WITH KAIN IF THERE IS NO MIND CONTROL? You'll find out! But suffice to say, you don't necessarily need mind control to get people to do things they normally wouldn't do. ~_^ Kain has issues.
So yeah, just making note of a few things, so hopefully you realize what's intentional. XD
Characters/Pairings: Rosa, Kain, Joanna (Rosa's Mom), Tellah, Theodore Harvey
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Captain Rosa Farrell has a feeling that all may not be right in Baron.
Notes: Yes! OBVIOUSLY AN AU. Notes after the chapter on certain things if you are interested, not gonna bore you with details before you read. Also, yes, the title will be part of a couple puns later. This is also unedited, because holy crap this chapter is longer than most of my stories and I just want to GET IT OUT. So be gentle on the typos, I know there are probably several. If anyone would like to tackle the editing before I post it to AO3, I have it in a gdoc for you. ^^
She only had to turn her foot slightly into his path and he went down like a tree.
“Rosa! Stop that.”
She snickered. “You must be nervous or something, that was too easy.”
He adjusted his Dragoon helm as he got up, and looked around to make sure that no one saw him. Kain had always been somewhat finicky about appearances. “Easy for you to say, you’re already the captain of the Redwings. I have a few more promotions yet as a Dragoon.”
Kain Highwind had been her friend, sort of brother, and almost rival most of her life. His father had died on a campaign when Kain was ten, and Rosa’s mother had seen to it that he didn’t end up a ward of the Kingdom.
“Well, then work smarter, not harder. That’s what my mother’s always said.”
“I know.”
Joanna Farrell, Rosa’s mother, had always been full of good advice, especially after her own father died on the same campaign. As a White Mage, Joanna would have normally gone into battle with him, but Rosa had contracted a fever and needed to be cared for instead. Maybe it was just how her mother was, or maybe it had been the experience, but her mother had warned her about following her heart into battle. She’d seemed relieved when Rosa had told her she wanted to be a Knight instead of a White Mage like her.
You need your head out there, your heart will only get in the way.
“This is supposed to be a simple mission anyway, seriously, why are you so nervous?”
He crossed his arms, his expression going blank. Kain did that sometimes, to pretend as if things didn’t affect him. But out of the two of them, he was by far the most emotional, and something had obviously gotten into his head.
“Fine, don’t tell me. Just don’t lose your head, ok? Mother said if either of us got killed stupidly--”
“--she would spit on our graves and give us an earful in the afterlife, I know.”
Rosa couldn’t help but feel her heart race as they approached the airship. Though, it wasn’t nerves, but excitement. Being a Dark Knight meant that she got to fly all over the world and lock blades with some of the best warriors in the land. And while she wasn’t the first female Knight in Baron’s history, she was certainly the first to make captain of the Redwings, a source of immense pride for her and her mother.
And who wouldn’t be proud of being the captain of one of the elite forces in the most powerful kingdom in the world, man or woman?
---
“We’ll be heading out soon, Mother.”
Despite being the age where most women had sweethearts already, there were only two people who Rosa made sure to say goodbye to before a battle; her mother and Cid Pollendina. Her mother was obvious; family was a tie in Baron that wasn’t even broken by death, if her and Kain’s fathers were any indication. And Cid had stepped in as a sort of uncle to both her and Kain, making him family in his own right.
“I don’t need to tell you to be careful, and to not give the White Mages too much trouble with heroics.”
She smiled. “You know I don’t do heroics, just a good job.”
Joanna Farrell was a curious combination of hard and soft that most White Mages gained when they reached her age. Though she hadn’t gone into battle since her father was killed, she still kept abreast of any issues those that were in the field had with the Knights and Dragoons. If she were to do anything stupid on the battlefield it was more than likely that her mother would hear about it before she returned home.
Rosa already had her armor on, but always left the helmet off when she came to say goodbye. Joanna tucked some hair behind Rosa’s ear and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Have I told you lately how proud I am of you?”
It was hard not to see how her father could have been such a good Dark Knight with a powerful woman like her mother at his side. Even if Rosa could see some of the worry lines starting to sprout around her eyes and mouth. She had to wonder which of them had caused those.
“Only every day.”
“Good. No complaints about being unloved, then, Rosebud.”
When she was smaller, she had wanted to be just like her mother. She was too young for any sort of training, and her father had still been around. When the children of her class would play at battles she would sprinkle the ‘wounded’ with flower petals until they dramatically rose again to continue fighting. Of course, she quickly got bored with running around sprinkling flower petals and would grab the weapons of the ‘dead’ and join the fray after a while. Kain had always complained that it wasn’t a White Mage’s job to do that.
“Are you... are you still worried I’ll end up like Father?”
But Joanna had sat her down one day, and told Rosa that she could only be herself, not what anyone else wanted her to be. That she didn’t have to follow in her footsteps if she didn’t want to. Maybe even as a child she could sense that being a battle Mage was already taking its toll on her mother.
“Every mother worries when their child goes to do something dangerous. But you’re old enough now that I can’t do anything to protect you, except for hope and pray.”
A week after her father was killed, she went to the King to ask if she could become a Page, with intent to be a Knight someday. It didn’t seem to ease her mother’s worry, like wanting to be a scholar or Lady in Waiting would have, but it felt more right. It was something for herself.
“If I asked you to, Mother, would you go into battle with me?”
“Never again. Not even for you.”
Being a Farrell meant having convictions and sticking to them.
“Good. I wouldn’t actually ask, you know.”
Joanna looked out the window, where some of Rosa’s younger Knights had started congregating. Her mother tried not to let any regrets show in front of her, but wistfulness sometimes slipped through. “Maybe someday Baron will finally have enough.”
Rosa did her best to ignore that last statement. If anyone asked, she would say that her mother was as loyal a subject as any. There were no vaguely treasonous ideas in this house.
“I should say goodbye to Uncle Cid, they’ll be needing me soon.”
The wistful look was gone from Joanna’s face, replaced by a smile.
“Good journey.”
---
Theodore Harvey had been the King’s favorite advisor for some months now. He was a High Black Mage, but his robes were always different than other mages she’d seen, and he never wore the hat, instead letting his long white hair flow freely, and his somewhat effeminate face be unshadowed.
Rosa always had a bad feeling when he showed up.
“Ah, Sir Farrell, I was wondering when you would grace us with your presence.”
Behind her, Kain almost tripped on something and she suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Kain was a graceful, capable fighter, but for some reason when Lord Harvey was in some proximity to him, he seemed to forget how to walk.
“Lord Harvey. To what do we owe the pleasure?”
He gestured her to follow him across the deck of the airship. The crew was busy readying the flagship Odin for its flight; securing cargo and readying the great amount of propellers which gave it stability in the air. Cid had tried to sit down and explain to her how it worked many times when she was a girl, but she’d always gotten bored with it and ran off and hit Kain with sticks instead.
The target of the attack had been decided weeks ago; Eblan. Baron had been slowly expanding its empire through minor skirmishes, but the King had decided that it was finally the sufficient time to start making real attacks. Rosa had wondered about the timing; for what had resulted in her promotion was not necessarily that she was the strongest fighter, but that she had spent a lot of time with tactics.
“The King wanted me to see that this mission went well.”
“I have already assured him that with our preparations, we have a very good chance of victory in Eblan. They will be caught completely by surprise.”
“Eblan? My dear Captain, the target has been changed to Mysidia. Had no one told you?”
She rather hated the oily tone of his voice, with just the right amount of patronizing in it. Rosa should have been told, and the fact that she was clearly not a part of that meeting did not settle well with her.
“Mysidia? What quarrel do we have with them? Eblan’s been our enemy since the Incident at Mist back in my father’s time.”
“Surely you see the strategy involved in attacking Mysidia. Or do you underestimate Mages?”
Mysidia had not been chosen as a target primarily because they couldn’t be surprised like Eblan could. Their primary fighting force was comprised of ninjas, who while they had a great many skills did not have practically supernatural forces guarding them. Mysidia had all manner of magical early warning triggers and Sages and Mages of several disciplines. There was a great chance that their aerial forces wouldn’t even reach the city in the kinds of numbers that would be required to do enough damage, let alone occupy it as they meant to do with Eblan.
“It is because I do not underestimate them that I wonder about the wisdom of this plan.”
As a child Rosa had seen her mother teaching the oldest of the trainee White Mages the offensive spells associated with the discipline, something that they were only allowed to learn once they had mastered all of the healing arts. If a White Mage, who was taught mainly to protect could do that damage, it only reasoned that a Black Mage who was taught to attack could do that much more. And Sages were practically walking weapons.
“Do you wonder at the wisdom of your King?” Harvey’s smirk was well-practiced, and even though he was obviously not from Baron, he clearly knew it well. And no one in Baron questioned the King, for he was divinely chosen for that role.
“No, I do not.”
“Then prepare your Knights for the attack on Mysidia.”
It still didn’t settle well, even as Lord Harvey left her immediate presence went on to talk with the Captain of the Dragoons. Though she had developed the right detachment from her Knights in order to lead effectively, she was still bothered with the idea that they would be wasted on something as ridiculous as politics. Her youngest Squires who maintained the equipment were anything from sixteen to twenty, and full Knights like her from twenty to Rosa’s age of twenty-seven. Most achieved Lordships or Ladyships by the age of thirty, meaning they didn’t have to go into the field anymore. But the majority of them were quite young, as the ones that made it as far as she did were fewer in number.
Was this why her mother the great White Mage refused to go into battle ever again? Young men and women lost to the whims of committees?
Rosa closed her eyes, willing the treasonous thoughts out of her head. It wouldn’t do to tell her Knights of the mission with any emotions floating around, clouding her certainty. They had after all willingly chosen these roles, to serve out the Kingdom--and maybe someday the Empire--for the good of their families and friends. For the good of the divinely chosen King.
It was time to give out the orders, it would take them two days to get there. She had to make some semblance of a plan before then.
---
As expected, Mysidia was ready for them.
The frontline airships took so much damage that their pilots insisted they hold back from the Mysidian defenses. No matter how advanced the technology that went into their airships was, the main composition of them was wood, and the fireballs that teams of Black Mages were launching with their specially designed catapults were quickly draining any defenses the White Mages could put up. Their high ground advantage was no use from the distance they had to maintain to stay out of range.
It was going to be a battle on foot, then.
“A Squad, take the East wall, B Squad, the west. Once the Dragoons have cleared your entrance converge on this point.” Rosa pointed at what she hoped was the most accurate map of Mysidia they could get. Since the incident at Mist, such information had been harder and harder to get.
William Noreaster, the Captain of the Dragoons had agreed to let his forces be the front line for a change; they would be on much more even ground to fight if they got within the city walls. Dragoons, with the aid of their training and their spring-loaded armor would be able to scale the walls without ladders, and make way for the Dark Knight forces. Their speed and agility would make them less of an easy target than the harder hitting Dark Knights.
That was the plan, at least. Had she more time and this would have been better planned.
“Captain Farrell.”
She turned to the voice, and smiled under her helm as she saw that it was Kain addressing her.
“Good hunting, Highwind.”
“Good hunting, Captain.”
They nodded to each other then, it was a small ritual much like saying goodbye to her mother, but much more appropriate for a brother in arms. Kain was going to be part of the front gate’s assault force, as he was one of the elites, such as herself. It was for politicians like Lord Harvey to stay behind on the airship and plot to their heart’s content, a real Dark Knight Captain always took the squads in the highest risk positions, because of experience. Especially for a mission that was being made up as they went along.
With the squads all assigned to their targets, the Knights waited for their assigned Dragoons to anchor their ziplines. Hers was one of the first in place, and Rosa always took the front position. It wasn’t even traditional in this case, but more a reminder to her Knights that whatever danger they would be put into, she would be sure to lead it. The first year of her Captaincy had been rough due to petty things, but she could feel now in her second year that her men--and occasional woman--had the right amount of respect.
It was still hard to keep her breakfast down as she hooked into the line and hurtled down towards the ground. She wasn’t sure how Dragoons could stand that lurch.
Once her feet were firmly on the ground, she surveyed the conflict before her. As befitting any stronghold battle, the enemy remained behind their walls. The Baron troops where still out of range, but Rosa’s group was going to have to go through the thick of it. Magical fire still burned like normal fire, but it didn’t leave charred ground in its wake; it was always haunting what it could do to a person or monster, but disappeared into nothing for anything it wasn’t targeting.
They couldn’t afford to bring the White Mages into the thick of this, particularly if they had to retreat at any point, so they’d been blessed with a Protect before leaving the airship. It made the edges of her vision shimmer blue-green. And the amount of time the spell would last was ticking down.
“Knights, take the lead until we reach the wall! Make sure nothing happens to your assigned Dragoon!”
Both Dragoons and Dark Knights could take a lot of damage even without the additional Protect, but they were heading for a quick retreat if they didn’t get over that wall. And the Mages were likely to start concentrating on the Dragoons when they realized what was happening. Her Dragoon was obviously Captain Noreaster in this instance, but she couldn’t help but think of earlier missions before she gained steam with her promotions, when Kain would have been at her back.
Rosa pushed that thought aside and focused on the hard march to the gates. Hopefully her squad would draw enough attention from the enemy so that the squads approaching other points in the wall would meet less resistance. If Dark Knight armor were built for more agility like Dragoon armor, they might have been able to go faster through the field, but they could only manage a shuffling march. Her vision was becoming tinged more orange-red as it was obvious they were drawing more fire.
Even with all the protections, the heat was becoming uncomfortable. But they made it to the front gate, and she would assess her squad once the Dragoons were well on their way up.
“Any stragglers?” she asked Captain Noreaster, whose Dragoon helm had some slight telescopic visibility enhancements.
“Two pairs.”
Rosa cursed a little under her breath; one pair was acceptable, but two already was going to cause issues as they tried to make it to the Elders and demand their surrender. They needed as many elites as they could get against the Sages in particular. And the blue-green shimmer was starting to fade into nothingness.
“We can only hope they catch up, Captain Noreaster.”
“Understood, Captain Farrell.” With a nod, he began the series of jumps to scale the wall, and shortly after him the other Dragoons followed.
Her Dark Knights were in varying stages of worse for wear. She wished it wouldn’t have been such risk to bring the White Mages, for there were several the could use a Cura at least. Rosa looked down at her own armored hands, and saw that a fair amount of burns, black on black, were now coloring her armor.
At least this close to the wall, the fire spells had a hard time reaching them.
She wasn’t surprised to find that her rope was one of the first lowered. Rosa didn’t pull her sword completely out of its sheath yet, but she made sure that it wouldn’t stick before grabbing onto it with both hands and beginning to scale. It was no small feat with the added weight, but at least the armor gave threefold the arm strength. It was part of the bargain they paid with its metal being near fused to their skin, allowing for it to have some of her lifeforce. It was a known fact that most Dark Knights didn’t live past fifty unless they were promoted into politics after a shorter service.
Rosa was nearly at the top when she felt the rope give.
She knew not to panic, but she still scrambled to get a grip on anything. She hated, heights, and gravity, and heights and when a lance and then a hand came over the wall to help her, she wanted to give that Dragoon a medal. Rosa gripped the nonbladed portion of the lance and let the hand help haul her up onto the wall.
She caught her breath, crouched at the top of the wall before she looked up and realized the one who had helped her was Kain. And that Captain Noreaster was no where to be found.
“Thank you, but... what happened?”
Rosa drew her sword, knowing that the Black Mages they kept at the top of the wall wouldn’t let them have a simple conversation. Kain was already grappling with one, not given enough room to properly Jump.
“They hit him a barrage of spells, the nasty kind that blind and paralyze you. He must have found a High Black Mage’s guard station.”
Her blade met a Mage’s staff, and she whispered promises to the Darkness that resided within it. His--hers?--staff broke into three pieces. Several more Mages appeared, as more of her Dark Knights reached the top.
Status spells? And a High Black Mage on wall guarding duty? “And then what?”
A Mage’s hat went floating down over the wall, and its owner followed shortly after Kain’s lance connected. “He fell.”
Rosa hazarded a look over the wall, and could see the distinctly small shape of a Dragoon, limbs out at angles that suggested it would take several White Mages to repair him, if he were alive at all. A conscious Dragoon with his full faculties could have made that fall without even a scratch, but a confused and blind one that probably tripped over the edge...
The Mages approaching her now were making a convenient arc, and Rosa hissed as she gave her sword some immediate energy to take them out in a wave of Darkness. “Well, Acting Captain, I think we’ve played on this wall enough. Our objective is the Elders.”
“Right you are.”
If this were an airship, they would simply be able to zipline down, but with the only option of anchor in an enemy territory, particularly around Mages who could make fire a zipline was impossible. Baron Knights and Dragoons were always taught a different technique in these situations.
“Remember Kain, if you drop me my mother will kill you.”
“I’d sooner gouge out my eyes with a spoon.”
When they had been neck and neck with rank, Rosa and Kain had often been used as an example of how to best use the Paired Drop. After all, they’d been practicing things like that since they were children. Rosa had broken her nose in one of those early, unarmored attempts, and Kain had freaked out about how her mother was going to kill him and she’d never be able to show her face to a gentleman...
But her nose had healed just fine and they got their grips, jumping just before an ambitious little Black Mage decided to try an ice spell on them. Rosa ignored the awful lurch of falling, and tried not to hold her breath until she felt the springed jerk when Kain’s boots hit the ground. Then she did her tumble on the ground, so as not to break his arms.
“You alright?” He asked, unnecessarily. Then again, unlike a lot of her other comrades, he knew her problem with heights.
“Of course.” Rosa got her bearings as the other Dark Knights and Dragoons fell in near her. Unlike Eblan, which used mazes and illusions as a major part of its defenses, Mysidia made the most important Hall an obvious fixture in the city’s layout, as if trying to intimidate invaders.
It was rather imposing.
She turned to the squad, which was uneven now due to Captain Noreaster’s loss. “We make a straight charge for the Elders. We do not stop. Our support troops should be tying up their other forces, but we must not split up in the off chance that they haven’t.”
Kain was similarly relaying orders to the Dragoons, who were now in the position of backup again. Without large walls in the way this was now the Dark Knights’ show, as they were best with close combat.
“Oh and do not be a hero and try and take on a Sage alone. You WILL die.”
Last she heard, there were only three living Sages; and one of them split his time between Mysidia and Damcyan, while the other two tended to travel the world on whatever whims they felt. They had enough High Mages to defend the city, but if this was one of the times a Sage, or Odin forbid two, were in the city they were going to have a hard time capturing the Elders.
Which was yet another reason this was a stupid battle. If she lived through this she was going to bring her grievances about Lord Harvey to the King, for certain.
It only took three Knights to break down the large doors to the Hall. Magical protections only went so far when faced with their armor. Dragoons sprung off behind them, to the corners of the great room to handle the High Mages who were likely to flock to defend the chambers of the Elders. Rosa couldn’t help but imagine Lord Harvey’s smug face as she cut down a particularly tall High Black Mage, who was trying to create a wall of fire in front of one of the chamber doors.
Even after he fell to her blade, she could still smell charcoal and the eerie fresh odor of the spell itself.
Rosa kicked down the door to the chamber, which revealed a long hallway. She quickly looked back for Kain, and he landed beside her, a High Mage’s hat still impaled on his lance.
“You should go ahead, Rosa, I’m right behind you. The others will follow.”
The squad couldn’t split up, but she was the Captain. They would know to follow. Rosa moved as close to running as she could and found that the hallway opened up to a room which almost appeared to be glass.
So the crystal rooms did exist.
“I don’t think this is what we’re--”
Rosa was cut short as a Thundaga spell just barely missed her.
“THIEVES! YOU SHALL NOT HAVE IT!”
His varied robes, which were acquired from years of travel and likely contained exotic charms within the folds marked him as a Sage.
“Kain! We need to....”
But a quick inventory revealed that Kain was nowhere in her sight. And the Sage was charging another spell in his twisted staff.
Rosa bargained with her sword, hoping that it wouldn’t make her legs give out. She was alone in a magical room with a Sage and she needed whatever power to attack him as she could. The purple-black wave of Darkness hit hard, and his cast hit wide, sparking a column nearby.
“Baron devil!” he cursed at her, and showered a Curaga on himself. She took the opportunity to lunge and try and knock his staff out of his hands. While it was true a Sage could cast without it, it allowed for a greater focus.
When he sword made contact with the staff, it sent a wave of energy up her arm which nearly made her lose her own weapon. Tricky.
“You all think alike, don’t you?” He was a mouthy old man, for certain. His long white beard and messy hair made him look more like an old beggar than a master of magic. She didn’t believe in talking enemies to death.
She crouched and rolled out of the way, knowing that proximity would make some of his spells worse. And he probably was intimately aware which spells those were. Unfortunately, he’d anticipated that, and she was hit hard by a Thundaga that time.
Rosa scrambled for a potion, almost forgetting that she’d had to carry it since they’d left the White Mages on the airship. The Sage chained the first attack with a second, just as her armor caught the last of the liquid, surrounding her in the healing glow.
She should have followed that up immediately with another potion, but she couldn’t remain on the defensive for long and live. So she slid at him, swinging her sword at his knees. He had enough protections on him that she couldn’t slice through them, like she would most other foes, but it was enough to make him buckle.
A blue-black flame encased her sword, the last bit of magic the bargain allowed, and it was likely if she missed that whatever powerful spell the Sage was chanting would kill them both. And after all that talk about not being a hero, her mother was going to spit on her grave...
At first, the explosion looked like the Sage had cast one of the fabled Forbidden magics, which seemed like this old man’s style. But by the surprised look on his face and the fact that it flung the both of them into a wall, it was obvious that it had been cast or created against the both of them.
Sparks of light were clouding Rosa's vision, and she remained conscious long enough to see a lone Dragoon stop, mouth something that looked a little like ‘I’m sorry’ and run down the hall.
The Notes
- So, if you'll notice by my geeking in some explanations, I assume a large part of Baron's military superiority is due to their airships and TECHNOLOGY. This will come into play later. Also, I'm an engineer, I really just can't help but insert some tech in a magical world. And as you can tell, I kind of battle meta a lot.
- Why yes, I believe Dark Knight armor is partially fused to the wearer's skin and that the loss of HP when you cast Darkness is part of a magical bargain. Dark Knight armor is kind of alive. AND CREEPY.
- Yes, I rewrote the incident at Mist to be something Rosa and Kain's dads were a part of. This is partly because one of my biggest pet peeves about FFIV is how Rydia starts out as a child and is suddenly sexy. So this allows her to age at a much more normal pace. Also, it gives a better basis for some of Rosa and Kain's behaviors. So Rydia gets to be
- Why is Rosa a Knight? Aside from the fact I think it would be awesome, I think that if Cecil weren't around, this might have been more like where her ambitions would lie. She's less swept up by ~romance~, and especially considering that I've done a bit more with her family (and you'll notice her mother who in normal canon DIDN'T want Rosa to follow in her footsteps) it just makes more sense. Hopefully the core aspects of her personality still show, they're just less directed at her love interest and more her family and country and all that.
- Why isn't she with Kain then? I didn't want Rosa's characterization to be taken over by whatever guy she is with. There's also already a lot of lovely FFIV fic that explores the love triangle, I just figured if I was going to AU, I'd be, well, different. Also, considering the setup I've given them, being good friends with a bit of sibling rivalry strikes me as a better characterization (and kind of adorable). She's not getting with Cecil either, so it's not even a Cecil/Rosa bias that made this happen. This doesn't mean this is a pairing free fic, just that I wanted to try something different. ~_^
- Rosa is older than Kain by two years. I don't know why I did that, but I like it. XD
- This is not the last time you see Joanna. After all, Rosa is one of my POV characters (the other will be Edward). She's important to Rosa, thus she's not going to just disappear.
- That old Sage at the end was Tellah, who did not have memory loss happening at that time. But you'll find out more about that later. PS: I love Tellah. Everyone should.
- Wait, what's up with Theo Harvey? DO YOU MEAN GOLBEZ? Yes, he's still Golbez. I just wanted to go somewhere other than the ~mind control~ route and play more with his dual nature as Cecil's brother and Golbez. This is mostly inspired by the DS version of FFIV and Dissidia, where he actually has some personality. He's still a bad guy, though.
- WHAT'S UP WITH KAIN IF THERE IS NO MIND CONTROL? You'll find out! But suffice to say, you don't necessarily need mind control to get people to do things they normally wouldn't do. ~_^ Kain has issues.
So yeah, just making note of a few things, so hopefully you realize what's intentional. XD