Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 10:32:45 -0700
From: Amethyst Rose <thepleiadescall@gmail.com>
Subject: Final Fantasy Rosa Chapter 6

Disclaimer: All rights for the Final Fantasy series goes to Square Enix.
This story is a fan fiction in this franchise universe, categorized under
fan fiction.

This story is obviously fiction. This story will also involve sexual and
intimate relationships between two (or more) males, and if this offends you
or it is illegal for you to be reading, then please leave. If you are under
the age of consent for your community, please leave. And if it does offend
you, I honestly don't know why you're even here in the first place. I mean,
seriously. Come on.

			    Final Fantasy: Rosa

				    VI

			       Sleeping City

Biggs tossed his rifle from one hand to the other. "...These things are
kinda weird." he said to Wedge, giving his rifle a funny look. "They're
heavy and bad at close range."

"Technology at its finest..." Wedge ran his fingers over the shiny red
ammunition barrel that was lodged into the top of his own rifle. "There's a
rumor the ammo cartridges are compressed Carbunkle MP."

"Iunno. I don't even know what that means."

"Shit, Biggs, you're an idiot. It means they extract MP from Carbunkle and
use it to load our guns."

The image of Carbunkle, the sweet, cute green hedgehog creature that was
confined back at the academy in Altamine, suddenly flashed through Bigg's
head. "From Carbunkle? I liked that thing..." he looked down at his gun in
disdain.

"Hey, do you know where we're going?"

Biggs tried to scratch his head but the helmet got in the way. The AS Ruby
was moving faster than usual, but General Morta didn't let them know where
their destination was. "Nah. I hoped you would know."

When they turned a sharp corner, they nearly bumped into a small girl with
long golden hair and a cute white robe. Despite her small size she
effortlessly shoved her way past them: not before flashing them both an
accusatory glare and a sticking out of her tongue.

As soon as they were sure she was out of earshot, they spoke up again. "I
hate that bitch." Biggs said.

"Yeah, you're telling me. I don't think I've even heard her say a healing
spell once. But I heard there's one thing she's really good at..."

"What's that?"

"Green magic. Check this out." Wedge seemed very eager to tell the story,
and his hand motions were accordingly emphatic. "Winnie Sharp's mother was
a priestess of the Polichinelle. She was-"

"Who?"

Wedge rolled his eyes. "Come on, you know. They invented Green Magic, they
wander around in caravans..."

"Oh, yeh, yeh, I do know them. They sold me flowers once in the market. But
I haven't seen Ôem in a while."

"...Noone has. I asked some of the guys back in Calledone, and they say
that some of our soldiers are being sent to wipe them out. Apparently the
Polichinelle are now a 'cult' that's 'dangerous to common society.'"

Biggs bit his lip. "That's nothing new. The Impirium never liked the
Polichinelle. They've always been trying to kill them."

"Well sure. But they could never actually FIND them until recently. Now if
you'd let me finish the story..."

"Sorry, sorry."

Excitement came over Wedge again. "Okay. So Winnie's mom was a Polichinelle
priestess. Apparently she married some paladin in the Church of
Columbine. But even though he was real gung ho Columbine and all, he was
okay with her religion, and I guess they turned out alright."

They rounded another corner. Wedge continued. "So when Winnie's born, they
teach her both Green and White magic. But get this. Her dad sends her to
learn at the temple in Altamine. She's indoctrinated; brainwashed. Winnie's
convinced that the Polichinelle are the root of disease and famine,
and... she believes in it so much, she gets her dad to thinking the same
thing. Winnie's mom is outnumbered. Her husband and only daughter threaten
her life, and she gives in. She gives them all the secrets of the
Polichinelle warp spells, and Winnie passes them on to the Impirium. Before
you know it, nine tenths of the Polichinelle are exterminated. And they say
it's all because of Winnie Sharp."

"...Damn!" Biggs whispered harshly. "You don't think it's true, do you?"

Wedge shrugged. "No idea. I don't doubt it, a lot of the soldiers that
actually know her don't doubt it. It's the public that does. They love her;
she's cute, she's sassy, she's young... General Morta couldn't have asked
for a better poster child."

When they rounded the last corner, they gasped and stopped in their
place. The Black Wizard, Void, stood in the hall, staff in hand. Wedge had
been talking loud enough for anyone to hear. He withdrew in embarrassment
as he saluted him. "Master Void."

"Privates." Void responded in a raspy dark song. He moved a little closer
until he was between the two of them. "...If I were you, I would be careful
what you say, about whom you say it, and where you are when you're
blubbering it. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Master Void." they both replied in unison.

A swift breeze passed them by as Void continued past. "One more thing,
privates." he said without turning his back. "Carry Potions and Phoenix
Down with you."

"Why?" Biggs asked.

Void looked at him with the corner of his round yellow eyes. "Your healer
may not be available when you need her. She'll be busy helping those more
harmonious with the Impirium." with that, he rounded the corner and
disappeared.

Panicked, Biggs looked to Wedge. "He's joking. Tell me he's joking."

"Probably not."

"Shit! I don't wanna drink some potion if my arm gets blown off or
something." Biggs pouted. "I miss Silver."

Wedge solemnly nodded. "Well... he may be alive out there somewhere, but
he's smart enough to know that returning'd be a bad idea. We'll have to
deal with this on our own."

"...You'll phoenix down me if I die, right?"

A pause. "I'll think about it."

"Wedge! Fuck, don't scare me like that, man!"

"Uh huh, yeah.  Come on, let's get to the bridge." Wedge let Biggs walk in
front of him. When they got to the bridge, the first thing Wedge did was
look down at the green earth passing fast below. He sighed. Where could
Silver be now?

					 -+-+-+-

"Hey, where are we now?"

That was a strange question coming from Tori. Silver turned around to look
at him. The logical response, "I thought you were supposed to know" or "Did
you bring us out here just to get us lost?" did not escape his lips, but
rather his expression seemed dismally disappointed.

"Oh, well, that's easy." Adrienne said, noting Silver's frustration. "See,
the sun's rising that way, so that's east." She held one finger
out. "...which means that's west..." she held her other finger in the
opposite direction. "So... that's north? No, no, I started with the wrong
hand... okay, so that's north. Alright. Then we just came from the
Calledone Mines, which are there, so that's about South Southwest, I
think."

As Adrienne continued fumbling with her cardinal directions and Tori was
just struck dumb, Silver peeked over the hilly fields in the north by going
on his tip-toes and shielding his pale blue eyes from the daylight. Tori
watched him. The light seemed to make his skin crystalline pale: a rich
sort of pale, certainly far from pallid or unhealthy. His blonde hair tied
back, wisps of it getting in his face, his black clothes that wrapped
around his delicate features, Silver really did seem like a crystal.

"...We're in the Kilike Mountain Range." Silver said, interrupting
Adrienne's train of thought. He motioned to the mountains far in the east
and west that ran northwards and southwards, enclosing the field in. Then
he pointed to the north. "If we head that way we'll run into the town of
Quatra. Then we can take the mountain pass and cut to the Meadowland, and
from there head east into the Lumiere Woods."

"Why there?" Adrienne asked.

Although he seemed reluctant to respond, Silver leaned in with soft
voice. "We'll find the Rebels there."

"Oooooh. Alright! Lumiere it is." Adrienne piped.

Seeing no choice but to walk the field to Quatra, the three moved on at a
routine pace. Tori and Adrienne drew back to match Silver's
speed. Desperate for distraction from their aching feet, they attempted to
strike conversation.

"So you were a rebel, right? What kinda stuff did you do exactly?" Adrienne
eagerly asked.

"Addy, that stuff's secret. Silver's not gonna-."

"Shut up, Tori. Let him answer himself." then a smile directed to Silver.

He didn't seem particularly excited to regale stories, but Silver went
ahead anyway with a slow reminiscence. "Well... I guess I was a rebel since
the very beginning. I went through the classes at Altamine Academy and I
specifically asked for a position on one of the airships when I graduated."

"So you got on an airship?"

"Not right away. At first I was a stationed white mage in Calledone. I had
to... convince General Morta to let me onto his airship. I became the White
Wizard for the AS Ruby."

"What did you do there?" Adrienne's inquisition was consistent and fast
paced.

"Minor sabotage. But I mostly did surveillance and observation. As the
chief of the infirmary and one of the General's right hand advisors, I
usually caught wind of important military information and strategies in
time to caution the rebels. The Ruby did a lot airstrikes... or at least,
tried to. I managed to warn cities like Quatra and Velisade before the Ruby
reached them."

"Oh, wow... you must've saved a lot of lives." Adrienne said. Tori was
similarly admiring, but he didn't show it.

Silver didn't respond. In fact, he looked more remorseful than ever. "Not
enough."

Tori pondered what he meant by that. But whatever the meaning was, Silver
seemed very stricken by it. Tori opened his mouth to ask what was
wrong. But before he could, Adrienne cut him off. "Look!" she yelled.

There, over the horizon, was a town just bordering the far mountain like a
mound at the foot of a giant. Quatra had no towering buildings, for it was
built on an incline, almost as if it was continuous with the mountain
itself. So as a result Tori saw it as a very wide town, but not a very tall
town, with boring red and grey complexes that became more clear as they
approached.

But before they came close enough to enter, Silver stopped them. "There are
a couple of things to know about Quatra." he said. "The most important
thing is to make it clear that you support the rebels. Quatra's on our
side."

"We know that." Tori replied.

"Okay. The next most important thing. If you see any statues, do not touch
them."

"Why?"

But Silver had already started on the dirt path, entering the humble gates
of Quatra.

					 -+-+-+-

The afternoon sun smiled high on Calledone, as the seeming perpetually
active market bustled in the heat. Seb put on a charming grin as he put a
hand through his short hair and accidentally bumped into a rich-ish looking
woman with a parasol. "Excuse me, miss." he said with velvet on his tongue.

Madame Jessica was speechless as she caught sight of the rogue, suddenly
reminded of a romance novel. "W-why, of course."

Deciding to proverbially milk it, Seb winked and clicked his tongue at her
before disappearing into the crowd. Then he reached his hands into the
purse he pilfered and pulled out the gil it held, putting it into his own
pocket.

As he dodged further away from the lady he just robbed, Seb was hit with a
sudden and unexpected thought. To be more specific, one of Tobin. What a
strange guy, he thought to himself. But so pretty! And... in no way
physically or personally similar to Tori. The more Seb thought about it,
the more Tobin didn't add up. You'd think that Tori would know who his
parents were if he knew that Tobin was his cousin. And Tobin walked from
Quatra? Impossible, unless he bypassed the embargo or crossed the Kilike
Mountain Range. And Quatra definitely wouldn't let any White Art
practitioner leave, no matter how novice.

Then he began to wonder: what had Tori gotten himself involved with? Seb
smirked. Whatever it was, it swept his girlfriend and that blonde cutie
with him. And apparently it was also enough trouble to get the Winnie Sharp
to lead a search and destroy team for, and danger enough to flee through
the infamous Calledone mines for. This was definitely big. Tobin was
definitely big. Maybe something definitely big was bound to happen.

Whatever, Seb thought to himself. No matter what happened, it would
probably be better than the current state of affairs. Better than the
famine, better than the poverty, better than the posters- posters
everywhere! Of dirty Polichinelle scapegoats, of the evil rebel destroying
freedom of the just Dostravi Impirium, of the Queen's noble visage and more
recently Winnie's winning smile. In a world where posters were more
important than food, and profit more important than humanity, anything
could be better.

Seb sighed as he stood in front of the Orphanage. He closed his eyes. It
was beautiful once. It was alive, once. When the morning sun was laced with
sweet scent and dew, when all were fed and none thin from unbanished
hunger. Maybe Tori thought he remembered it, but he only remembered it in
image. No, the Orphanage was more than a vision- it was a smell, it was a
subtle taste, and most importantly, it was a fragment of history blown to
bits by a Dostravi bomb. At least memory could put it back together
again. One night, Tori arrived. He was five, and had wandered in on his
own. Seb, ten years old at the time, remembered his parents reaching down
and grabbing Tori, bringing him into an empty room and washing him up. Then
the next night, Adrienne arrived. She was a doorstep baby, left in a basket
with a pretty pink blanket. She roomed with Tori for the rest of their time
together. And for a while... things were great.

He opened his eyes and shook his head. Seb missed true sunshine. Yeah. He
missed it a lot.

					 -+-+-+-

Although Calledone always stored an endless supply of noise no matter what
time of day, Quatra was eerily quiet. In fact, it almost looked
abandoned. The dirt paved roads were littered with weeds. And the streets
themselves were empty. But Tori and Adrienne knew that Quatra wasn't a
ghost town. Was it?

Adrienne decided to pop the question after she realized she didn't know the
answer.

"It's not." was all that Silver replied. And that apparently was the end of
the matter, as he didn't turn around to face her and Tori again.

Upon enough searching, Silver spotted a house with an open door. He turned
on his foot and stuck his head into the darkness. "Hello?" Tori heard him
yell inside. "Is anyone there?"

Tori and Adrienne approached Silver to similarly peek inside, but Silver
rather suddenly turned around and blocked their way. "No one's here." he
stated.

"Well... we might as well take advantage of an open door then." said
Adrienne. "You know. Take some stuff." she reiterated, in case Silver
didn't quite understand. He did, but still didn't say anything. She finally
gave up and meandered down the road more. Tori, however, put more effort
in.

"Hey, you're hiding something." he declared to Silver.

Silver knew he was guilty, and he knew that Tori knew, but he simply
shifted his eyes and ground his foot into the dirt. "...There's no one here
who will help us."

"Then there's no harm in checking it out." Silver didn't budge. Tori made a
frustrated noise then shoved his way past Silver into the house. The house
was only several rooms, and the far bedrooms were closed. The entryway
which was also the dining area held nothing but three wooden chairs and a
table. The strangest thing was the grey stone sculpture seated in the
chair. It was a thin woman, almost emaciated, with her hands folded in her
lap and her eyes closed in repose. Tori approached her. Her long stringy
hair was carved with precision detail. In fact, every single detail from
her fingers to her face was perfect.

Adrienne, wondering what all the hubbub was, ran to Silver's side and
looked into the entryway. "Oh!" she exclaimed.

The loud noise surprised Tori, who was crouched at the statue's side in
inspection. He turned his head to Silver. "These are the statues you're
talking about?" Then he turned back to the statue. "...No wonder you don't
want us to touch them. They're perfect."

"Tori, you're stupid." Adrienne said. "He doesn't want you to touch the
statues so you don't break them."

"Psh. I knew that."

"He doesn't want you to break them because they're actual people, moron!"

Panic. Tori's eyes widened, his muscles tensed, and he accidentally fell
from his crouched position onto his bottom. He wrinkled his face as if it
would help him focus on the statue more. "...Th-that's a person?"

"Yeah. Duh. What, you thought anyone could actually carve something like
that?"

Tori felt his face turning hot and red. In desperation and embarrassment,
he looked to Silver. "How'd this happen? What's going on?"

"Petrification is high level Green Magic. And she had it cast on her
willingly." Silver stated. This only served to deepen Tori's
confusion. "...An Esuna spell or a soft can cure petrification and restore
her to normal. But even if I could cast Esuna right now I wouldn't."

"Huh? Why not?"

A shadow appeared over Silver and Adrienne's shoulders. "To save them."

Silver and Adrienne turned around. Tori got up and looked over Silver's
shoulders. Three hooded figures, one in front and two behind, stood in the
middle of the dirt road. The one in front spoke with a strange accent but a
lilting voice. "What brought you here?" she asked.

While Tori and Adrienne seemed frozen Silver took charge. "I recognize your
voice. Surely you do mine."

Indeed she gave visible response. "...You're... Silver."

"Trikitixa. It's an honor." said Silver.

The women pulled down their hoods. The one named Trikitixa had a beautiful
profile and fair skin, her rose red hair straight but curling around her
ears. One of her companions had long black hair with deep blue eyes, while
the other was sandy blonde with a sharp face. Trikitixa smiled and extended
her arms. "No, pronk. The honor is ours."

Adrienne wrinkled her face. "'Pronk?' Did she say 'pronk?'"

Trikitixa gave a kurt look to Adrienne. "It is Polichinelle. A term of
endearment."

"Oh. Okay then." Both Tori and Adrienne suppressed a raucous giggle, but
Trikitixa was not amused.

"Um... Trikitixa." Silver started again, attempting to be
diplomatic. "We're sorry to intrude. But as I'm sure you've heard, my
position on the Ruby was apprehended by the Impirium."

"For that, we're truly sorry." Trikitixa said. The two women behind her
bowed their heads. "But we thank Light for your safety."

Silver shook his head. "Thank these two. I would have been executed if it
weren't for them."

Tori shrank from the attention, especially when Trikitixa gave him a smile
with her perfect teeth.  "Ah! How gallant!" Trikitixa and the women
suddenly began to murmur and giggle to each other quite coquettishly.

"Err... yeah." Tori said. He scratched the back of his head in
embarrassment.

"Is there someplace safe we can go?" asked Silver.

The woman with black hair gave a smug smile. "Our house. We're the last
ones here."

"Very well. Lead the way." The women turned down the road. Adrienne
followed after giving a shrug to Tori, and Tori fell behind to walk with
Silver.

"These girls rebels or something?" he asked.

"...kind of." Silver replied. "They're Polichinelle."

"I know that. I meant if you know them."

Silver rolled his eyes, the first sarcastic motion Tori had ever seen him
take. "Yes. I know them. Trikitixa was the woman I contacted to warn
Quatran forces against our airstrikes."

"Oh."

"Look, you're curious about the statues, aren't you?" Silver said. "I'll
let them explain it when we get there."

Tori, Silver, Adrienne and the women now stood in front of a large blue
house with a crystal above the door. Trikitixa winked. "Here we are."

					 -+-+-+-

"What happened is as follows." Trikitixa said. Adrienne crossed her legs
and Tori leaned over, putting his hands on the table. "Quatra, like a good
lot of the cities on this continent of ours, was conquered by the Dostravi
in the Windy Offensive. But Quatra's located right on a mountain range, so
obviously it's a bit hard to reach. The Impirium couldn't afford to keep
sending troops on arduous journeys through the pass, so Quatra was always
isolated from its masters."

"Because of this, many Polichinelle, myself and my sisters included-"
Trikitixa motioned to Livenka and Concertina, who were at the kitchen with
Silver. "-fled persecution by coming to Quatra."

"It was quiet enough to not be lynched..." said Concertina, flipping her
black hair over her shoulder as she placed cups of water on the
table. "...but it was still a Dostravi protectorate. We had our fair share
of insurgent imprisonments."

Tori, who was marvelously thirsty, gulped down a deluge of water. He
regretted it instantly, as a chalky aftertaste stuck in his mouth. He
glanced down in the cup; sediment swam inside.

Trikitixa continued. "However, the Dostravi never learned an important
lesson: don't cage the Polichinelle. We banded together with the native
Quatran militia. The Dostravi were so few that they could not stand against
the coup we planned. For a while we were victorious. We could easily ward
off troops sent down the narrow mountain pass, and the only thing standing
in our way were the airstrikes." Trikitixa gave an admiring look to Silver,
who had entered the room with Livenka. "And Silver saved many lives with
his help."

"Nothing but my job."

"But we're grateful anyway." Livenka said with a very heavy accent, her
eyelashes fluttering. She exchanged glances with Concertina and giggled.

"As for our struggle... I'm sure you know what happened." Trikitixa said.

A long, seemingly sad pause. Finally, Tori cleared his throat. "Uh, no, I
don't."

All three of the sisters seemed startled. "But- you saw the statues, did
you not?" Concertina said with a falsetto voice.

"Yeah. Well, I saw A statue."

The look that Silver gave seem to indicate embarrassment that he knew
Tori. Tori got a little bit irritated. Trikitixa tapped her fingers on the
table. "...The Dostravi knew that sending troops was no longer a viable
option, and their airstrikes were leading nowhere. But they figured out how
to beat us. Quatra's isolation is both its greatest blessing, and its most
nightmarish curse. The Impirium enforced an embargo. The supplies we
formally received from Altamine and Mysidia could no longer come through."

"Naturally, the first thing to run out was food. The Impirium was going to
starve us to death. And it worked. After the first families died, we
knew... we knew we couldn't fight any longer."

"So..." Trikitixa sighed. "We came to the consensus that those who would
otherwise succumb to the talons of famine would be better off laid in
stone. Petrify is very advanced Green Magic. I, my sisters, and a select
few other priests were the only ones who could cast it in this entire
town. And as you speak to us today, our food is so sparse that only us
three are left."

"You used Petrify to prevent the people from starving to death?"

"...Yes, I believe that's what I just told you."

"So everyone here is made of stone."

"Get it yet?" Adrienne asked, rubbing a knuckle into Tori's shoulder. "I'm
beginning to think your head's made of stone too."

Tori pouted. He felt frustration building up- compounding into a rumbling
in his chest. No, wait, that wasn't frustration. That was the earth itself,
beginning to shake like a seismic shiver. Silver got up first, followed by
the sisters. Silver darted out the door and stopped in the middle of the
road, looking up at the sky. Adrienne and Tori followed.

The sun blotted out. Tornados of wind pummeled the earth and whipped up
dust. A deep, baritone bumbling noise shook in the air. A gargantuan heap
of steel, perhaps the most unlikely, unwieldy thing to ever sail the skies,
loomed above Quatra. Tori spotted the letters emblazoned on its hull: "AS
RUBY"

					 -+-+-+-

"Sir. Navigation confirms position over Target A."

General Morta smiled. "Good." He made his way over to the glass. There lay
the Sleeping City, Quatra. Soon to be the city that'd never wake up. The
General turned and gave a sharp look to a wandering
Private. "You. Soldier."

Biggs looked around. General Morta was talking to him. He cursed in his
head before saluting. "Uh... Sir."

"Why do we attack Quatra?"

"Err- I'm not fit to answer that question, sir."

"Of course not." General Morta tightened his leather gloves, then stared at
the shiny metal floor as he paced back and forth. "Perhaps the better
question is, what is justice? Or rather, what is dissenting? As soldiers in
the Great Impirium, we fight for blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah
blah blah blah-"

The conscience of Biggs was easily lost, very susceptible to slip away in
the cracks of distraction. The General's words began to fade into each
other. Biggs began to wonder if he gave a soliloquy before every one of the
Ruby's air strikes. Hey, what was that one song again? It was about
Moogles. Maybe Wedge would know it. He should ask him later.

"-for the Great Impirium! For the Queen!" The General gave a particularly
intense look to Biggs that made him wake up. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir! Of course, sir!"

"Very good." General Morta motioned him away. "Now go man the cannons."

"Sir." Biggs turned and quickly walked in the other direction. Wedge joined
him at the door. "Oh shit... I hate it when he does that."

"Does what?"

"You know, that super-evil speech thing. He gets all crazy and keeps saying
'the Great Impirium' over and over again."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. No sense of subtlety..."

The two descended flights of stairs, making their way to the bowels of the
ship. The temperature grew hotter, and Wedge wiped the sweat off his
brow. "...You saw where we are, right?"

"Uh huh. Quatra."

"Can't believe it... now we're killing people who're already worse than
dead." Wedge said regretfully. "I'm just thankful we weren't on the Ruby
when it attacked Mysidia."

"We could've seen Silver one last time."

"Yeah... But he's safe now. Besides. I don't ever wanna see this Rose thing
in action. It gives me the creeps just thinking about it used on Quatra."

Just as he said that, they stopped. In the red light of the lower level, a
big door on the right was illuminated: ROSE ROOM. Biggs and Wedge exchanged
glances. "...Ok, I gotta admit. I don't know about you, but I'm just a
little bit curious." Biggs said.

"Wh- fuck you!" Wedge whispered. "That's a weapon of mass destruction in
there! Inside that room is a force that instantly vaporized a thousand
innocent souls without so much as letting them scream! You want to see
that?!"

Biggs gave a guilty look. "...Does that mean you won't go in with me?"

Silence. Wedge gave a rather comical flailing of his arms. "Fine!" He
turned and slid the door open. He and Biggs shimmied in, and closed the
door behind them.

The Rose Room was everything they anticipated. A tall, cylindrical shaft
lined with a winding catwalks dotted with technicians, it was illuminated
by an otherworldly white light. There, floating in the middle of a series
of mechanical rings, was the Rose- closed and asleep. Biggs motioned Wedge
to the bottom railing. There was Winnie, a girlish smile on her face, and
Void behind her, his arms crossed.

Winnie gathered around a screen on her control panel. Biggs and Wedge could
hear the voice of General Morta. "The time has come."

"Aye, sir." Winnie turned to a technician above her. "Turn on the Carbunkle
Siphon!"

"Yes, Master Winnie."

Wedge and Biggs exchanged glances. The mechanical rings spun around the
rose. A ruby-red forcefield conjured in place.

"By your command!" Winnie yelled over the noise. Void, still perched in
silence, gave a grim tilt of his head.

"Do it."

"Sir." Winnie held her sparkling staff above her head. She smiled and then
winked at Void. "Watch this, gramps." she said with a sense of
triviality. "Heavenly light, purest tempest, swirling among the skies with
undefiled beauty!" Something seemed amiss. Void uncrossed his arms as he
looked at the rose, which was prematurely beginning to bloom. Wedge held
his breath. Biggs regretted his curiosity. "Break out through the twisted
veil of the earth. Shatter the curse of matter. Show the world your hand of
judgment!"

Suddenly, Void outstretched his hand to Winnie's back. "No!" he tried to
yell. But it was too late.

"Break Seal, Rose of Justinne!"

The hole under the rose opened, revealing the city of Quatra below. But
there was no furious light. The rose, in full bloom, floated in place with
a gentle glow. Winnie furrowed her eyebrows. She looked at Void. "What
happened?"

"...It's not listening to us anymore." Void replied.

And then there was light. But not a shaft that traveled down to Quatra;
rather rays of coordinated flares that shot out of the rose's petals, and
targeted the metal rings of the Carbunkle Siphon. Sparks and explosions
created a smokescreen that forced Winnie away. Chunks of steel flew in
every which direction.

Red light faded away, and the Carbunkle Siphon was destroyed. Winnie looked
up in horror. The rose, in all its shining, let loose its fury; white beams
of light burst from its center, straight into the walls. A klaxon
sounded. Screams, shouts, cries of pain, technicians impaled by pure energy
falling to the ground, metal railings pulverized. A flare burst towards
Winnie. She covered her face and yelped, her auto-shell narrowly
encapsulating her in a protective orange shield. Void, unharmed, shouted
over the pandemonium. "Contain it, girl! Contain it!"

Winnie gave him an angry look. The surviving technicians now ran down the
railings and out the door, pushing petrified Biggs and Wedge to the sides
of the walls. Winnie pointed her staff to the rose. "Enduring light, shield
from roaring magic! Shellga!"

An orange cage embraced the rose. It seemed to barely hold the white energy
in. The rose, almost enraged, tried to barrage its walls with an storm of
light, but to no avail. As though in surrender, it finally ceased its
attack and closed its petals in sleep.

The catastrophe over, Winnie dropped her arms and made a frustrated
noise. Wedge straightened his helmet. His eyes surveyed the destroyed
technology, the showers of sparks, the lifeless corpses. The rose slumbered
in an floating bubble. He looked to Biggs. "...THAT's why I didn't wanna go
in."

				  -+-+-+-

It was much to their surprise when the AS Ruby, as though changing its mind
about an attack, took an about face and flew into the northern horizon.

"What was that all about?" Adrienne asked, shielding her eyes from the sun
as she observed the airship's departure.

"Perhaps reconnaissance." posed Concertina.

To this Silver shook his head. "No... The central port of the hull was
open. They were trying to destroy Quatra."

"Wha?!" exclaimed Tori and Adrienne in panic.

"We got lucky. Quatra could've been the next Mysidia."

Tori wagged his finger in recollection. "Yeah... Yeah, I remember
that. Mysidia was destroyed. Did you have something to do with that?"

That was evidently the wrong thing to say, as it shut Silver up and revived
his withdrawal. Adrienne glared at Tori. Tori mentally kicked himself.

"I assume that you three aren't here to stay." Trikitixa followed up. She
waved to the north side of Quatra, which was on the slanting foot of the
mountain. "You can take the pass out. I can be your guide."

"But..." Adrienne surveyed the empty town. "...Who'll protect the statues?"

"That's our job, pronk." Livenka said. Adrienne couldn't help but laugh
again upon mention of that ridiculous word. And yet again, she was met with
dead serious stares.

The plan was set. "We can all sleep here for the night, and restock some
potions from the Shop if you need them." Trikitixa said. "We'll depart in
the morning."

"Thank you." Silver curtly returned inside, saying to Tori and Adrienne
"Let's get some rest" before disappearing.

					 -+-+-+-

                                            To be continued...



"Fun" fact for fans!: Trikitixa, Concertina, and Livenka, or the Porrima
sisters, are all high ranking Polichinelle priestesses. They are also based
off of the Pipettes, a British girl-pop group, who recently had a member
switch-off, which is quite sad. But the Pipettes that the Porrima sisters
are based off of are Gwenno for Trikitixa, Rosay for Concertina, and
RiotBecki for Livenka, so if youÕre interested in looking them up, you can
go ahead ;). Green Magic, the patron art of the Polichinelle, has two
branches: Rhythmic and Melodic. Although rhythmic can be expressed in
chants (as demonstrated by Winnie), melodic is expressed exclusively
through song. Trikitixa is good at melodic. So in a sense, sheÕs a
songstress ^^.



How-day!

Well, hereÕs part 6. Basically a fairly big set-up for some important plot
points, like... what the freakÕs up with the Rose? I also thought IÕd throw
that part with Seb in there while I was at it, since heÕll play a little
bit more prominent role later on :). You know what else I noticed? I used
the word "embarrassment" like, five times, and I spelled it wrong each
time! Thanks spell check :P. See you next chapter!


Thanks for reading this far ^^.

Questions? Comments? Recommendations? Fan Mail? Hate Mail, maybe? Wanna
just chat? Email me at ThePleiadesCall@gmail.com . Love to hear from you!



If you like FF Rosa, maybe there's the very vague possibility you'll like
other stories I've submitted:

Charmed Reborn (Celebrity), Pokemon: Amethyst (Celebrity), Teth (Fantasy),
Diana Celes (High School), and Hallow (Sci-Fi/Fantasy).