Work Text:
One life ends… and a new life begins. For what it’s worth, I am so sorry my child.
The sound of a sword meeting wood disrupted the serenity of the Twelveswood. An aborted scream rings out as well, the lone Viera’s face contorted into a downright caustic snarl. Here the Warrior of Light stood still in full plate armor, adrenaline pumping through her system as she fought to gather herself. To the citizens of the city state, this all red Paladin was a beacon of hope for Eorzea. The hero who fought alongside her party at the battle of Carteneau. A hero presumed dead by Rose’s estimation. A whole moon falling on your head would usually make such a thing a foregone conclusion.
Rose pulled her blade from the tree, bark crumbling beneath the might of her previous strike. Her face relaxed into something more neutral, mind racing a malm a minute. Louisoix used some sort of spell to get her out of Carteneau before she became a smear of charcoal in the crater, it was the only explanation for what happened. At that realization, her face became wet. Hands still in her armor shook slightly as they brushed her wet cheeks in surprise. She hadn’t known the man for long, but he was a rare sort. A brilliant mind that fought tooth and nail for this land, it only felt right to help carry his burden.
First things first. She needed to figure out what happened, how long its been since the battle, and if her aunt and friends were okay. Her sword now sheathed on her hip and shield on her back, Rose stumbled down the hill she had been transported to. Foliage and branches gave way to a cobblestone road, one that didn’t seem to get much use. At least in the current day. Considering this was the Twelveswood, her aunt’s home was not far. As smart as it was to stop by one of the city states first to check in and gather her bearings, family came first. What little of it she had left at least. With that sobering thought in her mind, she put one foot in front of the other down the road. The end of one journey, marked by a calamity she couldn’t really fathom as of yet and the start of a new one. Rose prayed to her deity of choice Menphina this journey started off with a happy reunion.
“You’re a big girl Rose. Get the fuck out of your head and get moving… the doom and gloom can come later. I’m coming, aunt Wisteria.”
-
Aunt Wisteria came to Eorzea to escape the Mad King Theodoric and most of all, to be left alone. Rose never pried about the reason why, but she still took her in when Ala Mhigh was in the middle of the Mad King’s purges. Her parents, two Red Mage duelists sent her away right before the whole order was purged a week or so later. They couldn’t have known the order would be next, but her aunt suspected they had a feeling with how Theodoric saw traitors in every shadow. Her aunt, estranged as she was from the order took a teenaged Rose in and taught the young Viera everything she needed to know to carry on their line’s preferred method of battle.
Which is why the battle hardened adventurer fell to her knees in front of a crater that used to be a clearing. A cottage once stood there, with a fenced off yard that had dummies for practice. She always had to replace them herself if she destroyed one beyond repair…
A sob tore from her chest, gauntleted hands making fists in the moist grass. A golden necklace, smeared in soot and stained in blood sat near the end of the crater. Calling it a necklace still was generous, the metal warped and tarnished until it was almost unrecognizable. The only other sign that her aunt never made it out alive was the macabre sight of scattered bone fragments, all over the right edge of the crater where their home used to be.
“Gods damnit all! I was supposed to protect you. To take up my shield to defend the only family h-had left.”
Rose took a shuddering breath, tears landing with a faint splatter onto her gauntlets. She stared at the blackened earth, anguish quickly turning to an old hatred given new fuel.
“Those fuckin’ Garlean bastards… Nael van Darnus. All of you monsters, still causing me misery even after death. They will pay in blood and tears. This I swear to you Wisteria.”
She had ample reason to hate Garleans before this. 20 years ago they had invaded her homeland after Theodoric made it frustratingly simple for them. She may have been gone for a long time, but Ala Mhigo was her birthplace and pride in her land still burned bright in her breast alongside her love for her second home. Eorzea had been kind to her despite setbacks. This however? Wisteria’s death transformed her hatred from a bonfire to a roaring forest fire, one only Imperial blood could quench.
The crimson clad Viera rose from her positon with a new goal in mind. The last of the Tannis line needed to get to Ul’dah and get a lay of the land. Getting into contact with Louisoix merry band of misfit scholars shouldn’t be too hard. They’d know where her adventuring party vanished off to with any luck. Not to mention she was a known quantity around the three cities. If she knew Y'shtola at all she’d still be hanging around Limsa Lominsa.
Before she went off to Limsa, there was one more thing to check before she could leave her former home. Making her way over to the cottage properly revealed a cellar, blasted wide open presumably when Dalamud fell. Swiping cobwebs out of the way she walked down a few wooden steps into the heavily damaged cellar her aunt made. Stuck underneath a rotting wood workbench laid a chest, gilded in silver with the crest of the Red Mage ensnared in a bouquet of flowers.
The Tannis family crest. They were never rich or some noble house, but they did pass down a martial and magical discipline from generation to generation. Most Red Mages didn’t work like that, taking on an apprentice. Rose however could trace her family’s dedication to the craft 3 centuries or more. Recent developments over the past decades had culled her family from sizable to just her parents and her aunt until they had her.
Channeling a small amount of aether to the ornate lock on the front revealed the chests contents. Her father’s spare Red Mage garb, re-tailored to fit her once she grew a bit. Considering she was a grown ass woman of 36 years, “grew a bit” was an understatement. Thankfully it all still fit. Her father, Dianthus named the whole set “Roseblood” seemingly after her even though she wasn’t born yet. The rapier and focus Colada were safely wrapped in cloth. In a flash of aether, her armor and sword and shield vanished to her “pack”. Within a few minutes, Rose stood in her fathers Red Mage gear. The rapier however, was custom made for her when she was about 12.
The Paladin discipline had treated her well, it served its purpose as a shield for her comrades and a light to strike down her enemies. With things as they stood now though, Rose needed this. The feeling that her family was with her always, with every thrust of her sword and every spell she cast.
“Okay. Now I’m ready to leave this place behind.” Rose looked around the cellar one final time and made her way out. The route to Limsa was extremely annoying considering her current location, so she needed to get moving. Maybe her friends were at her usual haunts, they knew where to look to see if she’d turn up. She had a goal and motivation! Now to see it through.
-
“...The fuck do you mean ‘who am I?’ I drank 5 men under the fuckin’ table a week before Carteneau, Baderon! Did you hit your head with a bleedin’ wine bottle?!”