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FantasySquare Fan Fiction
Memoirs of a Rose
Act 1: The Lonely Cherry Blossum
A fan fiction by Maya Nagao (Aka Sakura)
Hello again people! It's Maya here and with a break in tradition
I've decided to split my fic into parts. This is not because I feel
greedy and want to write as many chapters as I possibly can (far
from it ^_^), it's just to break up the story a little and to give
you guys a break. This is a special fic for me as I have dedicated
it to my best friend, Leanne Raine (Aka Seraphim) who was recently
wed to the love of her life, Chris (Aka ArchAngel). I really wish
all the best for these two and this is my Wedding gift from me to
Raine and Chris. Some of the staff cameo in the fic but not all (deepest
apologies to those who didnt make it). So let the show begin and
please don't knock your head on your way out of the theatre ^_^
The Theatre Troupe: Tantalus presents....
Memoirs of a Rose
Act 1: The Lonely Cherry Blossum
Please enjoy the show ^_^
***
A young woman looks outside her window. The rain dropping onto her
outstretched hand. It felt cool and refreshing. She wondered what
went on in the heavens when it rained. Were the Gods crying? Could
Gods cry? If they did why would they cry? Is it because the world
is so imperfect? These simple ponderings crept into the young woman's
mind. Today was the day she would succeed her mother as the 37th
general of Alexandria. Seraphim "Sera" Rose was only 20
years old but already she had been a master in the way of the sword.
The training she went through left her little time to appreciate
the small things in life. The fluttering wings of a butterfly. The
buzzing of a bee as it fussed about flower after flower. A beautiful
rose, a symbol of perfection but not without it's one flaw. The sharp
thorns.
"Miss Seraphim....why arent you excited? You are about to ascend
into the rank of General"
"What is there to be excited about....destiny has chosen the
path for me...." Sera's eyes narrowed. The sorrow in her eyes
gave the maid the hint to leave.
"Please.....let me be.....just a little bit....tell the queen
I'll be out in a while..."
Sera reflected on her past. The rain outside calming her mind and
soul.
"Sera-chaaaaaaan!!!!" Maya shouted
"Maya....you do know it's Seraphim right?" Davey said sweatdropping.
"I know! I just think Sera-chan is cute ^_^" Maya smiled
from side to side.
"Oh boy..."
"Sera-chaaaaaan!!! We're gonna be laaaaaate!!!!!!!"
Davey was busily distancing himself away from his psychotic friend
as people were looking on. Sera finally came out in a yellow dress
with a beautiful embroidered roses climbing up the left side, her
long and beautiful hair rested on her shoulders and her mothers rose
shaped hair clip was in her hair. She was blushing as she saw Maya
and Norco absolutely astounded.
"Wow!!! You look hot! hot! hot!!" Davey howled like a wolf.
Everyone stared at him as he sweatdropped. "Any way! Lets continue
to school eh??" he said nervously.
"I'm sorry....mum fussed about me like a constipated chicken.....she
said I had to look my best for my first day...."
"It shows!" Maya smiled. "I hope the final year of
learning magic won't be toooo hard....not to mention having to keep
up with literature, maths, science etc etc." Maya looked up
wondering if she'll survive.
"I'm sure we'll all do well" Sera smiled.
The group started walking it wasn't too far to the school. Walking
past the beautiful Alexandria castle they walked along chatting and
catching up with the goss. It had been so long since Sera had seen
everyone. She had been away training all holidays as she had always
done. She missed everyone so.
"So...I'm wondering....what does everyone dream of becoming
when...school is finished...?" Sera asked her face pensive as
she walked.
"uhh umm...."
The question really surprised Davey and Maya.
"Well....I don't know just yet.....I wish I could be a great
warrior like you though! You're gonna be the best General ever in
the whooooooole of Gaia!" Maya gave the thumbs up and smiled.
"I guess I'm still looking for my place in life...."
"Me...? well I think I want to work for Squaresoft one day!!"
Norco said grinning from side to side.
"Whaaaat????" Sera and Maya said in unison and stopped
in their tracks.
"What? What's wrong...with working for Squaresoft??"
"Hahah only that they make like the woorst games. I mean come
on! who wants a game where you can cast spells and explore castles
and dungeons when you can do that in real life!" Maya pointed
out.
"Welll.....they need a more creative person! Like me! The great
Davey! I'm sure I'll make Squaresoft into one of the most respected
companies in Gaia!!!" Davey laughed and skipped ahead as Maya
sweatdropped. Sera looked on and smiled. She was glad she had friends
that were so full of life.
"Well I guess I'm like you Maya....I still dont know what to
make of my life...."
"Eh? Really? I thought you were going to succeed your mother
as the general of the queens army?"
"Well....I havent told mother this....but I dont know if I want
to fight anymore...." Her face was serious as Maya was quiet.
"....well I tried to fight these holidays....but I dont know
if my heart is in it anymore." Sera looked down. A comforting
arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"Well don't worry about it then! Me and Davey arent going anywhere,
whatever your decision may be!" Maya winked and gave the thumbs
up. Sera smilied as she skipped to gate of the school with Maya and
an impatient Davey waiting at the gate.
"I'm sure you girls can catch up on the goss later you know?
You two look like the smurfs! What with the skipping together and
all" as he opened the gate. The two girls sweatdropped as they
skipped through.
"Well come on Mr Squaresoft big shot!" Maya shouted at
the top of her voice (on purpose).
The kids passing by looked at Davey and just laughed as they walked
by.
"Maya...."
"Yes?"
"Why do you have to be so mean...?"
The three walked together to the cherry blossum tree on the hill.
It was said the ghost of a great warrior once died here and haunts
the place seeking young children to take with it to the underworld.
Maya said "Phooey! There's no such things as ghosts!" and
she proved it by sleeping underneath the tree for a whole night.
That was the first time Sera admired Maya's bravery. Of course they
were all 5 then. Even when Maya did survive the sleep under the tree
kids still felt there was something creepy about the hill. So it
was the perfect spot for the gang to gather around.
This spring was one of the best seen yet. The cherry blossums were
still young as they littered the tree top. When they blossumed it
was a beautiful sight. Maya said couples who kissed underneath the
blooming cherry blossums will have their love bloom and last for
the rest of eternity. Then again it could be Maya getting all romantic
again and just babbling out any random phooey ^_^;;; The three were
beaten by Tim and Ling who were sitting under the tree in eachother's
arms.
"Awwwwwwww! How romantic!!!" Maya had stars in her eyes.
"Uh oh.....Maya is going all romantic....again...." Davey
groaned
"What did you say?" Maya said through her teeth.
"Oh...oh nothing at all my dear ^_^" Davey said sweat dropping.
Maya flicked Davey's nose.
"Owwwwwww!!!!" Davey rubbed his nose. "What was THAT
for???"
"For insulting me!" Maya said turning her back to him.
Davey creeped up on her and smacked her on the head with a squeaky
hammer.
"Revenge! Hehehehe!"
"Why you little!" Maya ran after Davey-chan.
Sera laughed and she looked at Tim and Ling. They gazed into eachothers
eyes like how the twin moons gaze at Gaia. Sera sighed. She longed
for something more in her life. More than school and fighting and
succeeding her mother. A figure walked behind her and tapped her
on the shoulder. Sera was startled. But was relieved when she found
out that it was Lionheart.
"Don't they make a wonderful couple?" He remarked.
"Yes they do. They are in love aren't they?"
"Yeah, pretty much, who knew my younger brother was a romantic?"
He said sheepishly. "Hey did you know we're going to get some
new students today?"
"Oh yeah....the refugees fleeing Lindblum....its so sad that
they have to leave behind their homes..."
"Yeah I know.....the war seems to be at a standstill....neither
side winning...."
Seraphim had been trained in effective measures in battles against
Lindblum. She had them drilled into her head all holidays. She closed
her eyes.
"Sera! You must try harder!"
Sera had just reeled from her third attempt at thunder slash. Rosalina
Rose looked at her daughter.
"It's too hard mama!" Sera helped herself up with her wooden
sword.
"There's no need to give up now Sera! Just try harder! It is
your destiny to succeed me one day you know..."
"I know...." Sera said looking away from her mother.
Sera tried again. This time she took a run up closing her eyes, feeling
the thunder flow within her building up until its peak. She jumped
high and slashed at the tree, A bolt of lightning struck the tree
and the thunder rolled. But Sera landed awkwardly, the force of the
lightning sending her flying back. Rosalina had a disappointed look
on her face.
"I know you can do better than that Sera...."
What if I dont wanna do this anymore? Sera thought. What if I could
just run away and keep running until i'm far far away....
"Again! you will try again until it is right!"
Sera's thoughts were interrupted by arms squeezing around her.
"Sera!!!!!" Mia shouted.
"Oh Mia!" Sera smiled, slightly choking.
"Where have you been all winter?"
"Oh well training with mother..."
"Oh of course you were! You're gonna be a powerful general of
Alexandria!" Mia smiled.
Sera looked distant. Mia sensed something was a little wrong. She
couldnt summon up the courage to ask, So she left Sera to herself
and helped Maya chase after Davey.
"Hmmm....is it really my destiny..?" Sera looked up. A
lonely cherry blossum fell from the tree and landed in her cupped
hands. A lonely cherry blossum. Was this her destiny?
"Waaaaaah!!!!" Davey cried. Maya and Mia were dragging
Davey along by his feet.
"Hey look what we found!" They both said in unison
"Pleeeeease!!! Get these two psycho's off me!!!!" Davey
pleaded.
Everbody sweatdropped.
"You three know we are the seniors of the school now....?"
Lionheart pointed out.
Maths class....what a great way to start the new year with. Sera
looked at her book as it was almost as big as the sword she saw a
spiky blonde haired man wielded once. She sighed.
"Class, Class? Pay attention everyone. Hey! Maya! Don't experiment
with spells in a maths class! Turn Mr Davey back into his original
form pleeeeease!" Mr Aravitz pleaded. The whole class was quiet.
Davey still a little dazed from being a toad for a few minutes. Sera
giggled as she sat down and paid attention. A young man walked into
class. He a scruffy look about him. His hair was blonde with streaks
of red running through it giving it a strange firey aura. Sera noticed
his hair looked alot like the feathers of a Phoenix. He was slimly
built, tall but not too tall, his skin was light but not too light.
His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. Sera found herself gazing
into his eyes. It seemed like there was no one else in the room except
for him and her.
"Well everyone! This is our new student! His name is Arc. Arc
Angel."
Rosalina stared outside the window of the palace. It had been such
a beautiful day, the birds were chirping songs of love and the beautiful
sky was high and clear. She wondered what Sera was thinking right
now. She knew she had reached the age where love could whisk her
away at a moments notice. Love is hard thing to find but sometimes
it can come right up and bite you on the bum when you least expected
it. She also knew how it felt to be a carefree teenager but also
knew how it felt to carry the burden of the Rose legacy.
"Well you now know our situation.....both parties of the war
are at ceasefire." The king said
"Do you think the Regent of Lindblum is pulling the wool over
our eyes?"
"No I do not think so. They would not dare attack Alexandria
without crossing the evil forest first and we have guards posted
on the outskirts of the forest and within the town."
"So it is not a time of peace, it is a time of unrest..."Rosalina
added.
"Yes...unfortunately Rosalina is right. The Regent may grow
impatient with us and choose to attack us unawares. I've been hearing
rumours of a great flying machine the Regent is creating with the
aid of scientists. Should this rumour be true..."
"...No......we'd be totally defenceless against an assault from
the air!" Rosalina stood up.
"Yes I know.....that is why we have employed Montrieux Noir.
He is an ex-scientist of Lindblum who escaped and fled to Alexandria."
A young man appeared in the chamber. No one could've known that he
was an experienced scientist. He looked so young, no more than 25
at least.
"Yes....I am pleased to meet you all. I am Montrieux Noir. I
will leading the development of the anti air technology needed to
defend Alexandria."
"How can we trust you so easily...?" Rosalina asked, her
eyes narrowing. Noir thought for a moment.
"I dont know how to answer that question except that you will
have to try to trust me."
"We have no choice Rosalina, we must accept Mr Noir's help or
we will perish!"
Rosalina sat down still unsatisfied with the new recruit. For if
he can betray Lindblum then surely he can betray Alexandria just
as easily.
Maya passed a note to Sera during class.
"Isn't the new guy cute!?" it said with a cute smile face
^_^.
Sera sunk into her chair and turned red when she read the note. She
quickly folded it up until....
"Miss Seraphim. What have you got there?"
"Uhh ummm nothing Sir...." Sera tried to stick the note
in her pocket.
"Give me that!" Mr Aravitz opened up the note and read
it.
"Now Miss Seraphim," he said with a smirk "Please
read this interesting piece of literature to the class."
"Ohh.....uhhh......ummmmm....."
Maya (behind Mr Aravitz) motioned her to accidentally throw the note.
"Ohhh....uhh....oops!!!"
The note flew out of her hand and over Mr Aravitz's head. Before
Maya could zap the note it landed right in front of Arc. Arc quickly
hid the note as Maya sweatdropped. Mr Aravitz wondered where the
note went.
"Miss Seraphim, you will meet me after school for some clean
up work!" he fumed. Really he just was bursting for an excuse
to keep someone in class for that horrible job. Seraphim sighed as
she looked out the window, wondering what her mother would think.
Arc watched her, something in her grabbed his attention. He felt
like he was at home when he looked at her. A deep sense of security
and peace overcame him. He wondered why he felt this way.
Arc stayed after school was finished. The sun setting behind the
Cherry Blossum hill. He watched Sera clean the windows. Her blue
hair bobbing up and down as she did so. At first he didnt have the
guts to approach her, he wondered why he felt so nervous. He never
felt this way in Lindblum before. Even though he misses Lindblum
greatly he can't help but feel at home when he looked at her.
"It's Seraphim, isn't it?"
Seraphim was startled "Oh you scared me."
"This must be yours." Arc handed her back the note that
was still folded up.
"Oh....you haven't....read....it...?"
"Well no.....girls business should be kept as girl business..."
He smiled
Seraphim was instantly charmed by the young man. His smile was so
sincere and she felt like she could stare in his eyes forever. At
that instant she was lost for words which was rare for Sera.
"So how long does this cleaning thing take?"
"Oh I'm nearly finished...."
"I see..."
"umm...."
"yes...?"
"Thanks for giving my note back" Sera smiled
"It's ok." He smiled back. "Well I'll see you tomorrow
ok?"
"Yeah..." Sera blushed.
Arc waved and left the room as Sera let in a gulp of air. Little
did she know two girls and a guy were watching her.
"Ohhh geez it's squashy in here" whined Maya.
"Well if maybe you went on a diet...."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?!"
Maya punched Davey out of the cupboard. He lay on the floor with
a his mouth wide open. Maya blew their cover.
"ahhh oops" grinned Maya while everyone sweatdropped, Sera
included.
"How much did you guys see?"
"Oh enough to know that_something_special_is_going_on"
grinned Mia.
Arc walked home that day thinking about Seraphim. What secrets
lay behind those eyes of hers. He wondered if he'd ever see home
again.
"Mother...." He took out a pendant. He opened it and a
smiling couple stared back at him. He held it close to his chest
as he closed his eyes.
Fire. Burning Smoke. It was everywhere he looked. He couldnt escape.
He felt so alone.
"Yes! Burn the place down! Burn! Burn! Burn!!" Kami yelled,
the flames reflecting in his eyes.
"But sire is all this really necessary?"
"Well we need to flush out that Alexandrian spy out of her home
why not do it with a bit of flair" he grinned
"Arc! Arc! Arc! where are you?!" Selaina shouted.
"Mother!!!"
"Arc!!!"
Coughing and wheezing Selaina desperately tried to find her only
son. Arc was blocked. He couldnt get out of his room because flames
blocked the exit. He tried to command the flames out his way but
to no avail. Selaina heard Arc shouting.
"I'm coming dear! Hold on!" Selaina coughed. She found
Arc trapped behind the flames. She used her water magic to expel
the flames but it didnt work. She tried again and again but to no
avail. Frustrated she summoned all the strength she could muster
and in a burst of water gushed out of her hands and extinguished
the fire. Drained she collapsed to the floor, her conciousness wavering.
Arc coughed and ran out and found his mother. She was still awake
but she was drained of all her energy. He carried her on his shoulder
shielding her mouth from the smoke. He staggered down the stairs
and outside only to meet the eyes of Deputy Commander Kami Kaze Scholtberg.
"Seize her!"
Arc drew his sword his sword. Burning with anger he attacked the
oncoming platoon of soldiers. But he was no match. He was outnumbered
and badly beaten.
"STOP! STOP!!!!" Selaina shouted. Her face determined.
"Ok...I'll go.....but u have to let Arc go. Is that a deal?"
"Hmmm an interesting proposition..." Kami considered. "Ok
deal...so long as we have your full cooperation.."
"Fine..." she looked down.
"NO!!! NO!!! You cant go with them!!!" Arc ran forward,
soldiers pushing him back "....you can't leave me too...."
tears rolled down Arc's face. Selaina looked back with sorrow in
her eyes before being shuffled forward by Kami's soldiers. Arc was
on his knees. Pounding the ground with his fists. A voice talked
to him inside his head.
"Please Arc. Don't cry....I'm not gone yet. I want you to leave
Lindblum as we previously planned....there you will be safe. Hush
my brave son do not worry about me, only when you are safe and away
from Lindblum will I truly be happy. I won't let them win....I swear
upon it...I will be here...waiting for you..."
"But....But...." he whispered as the voice faded away.
He pushed himself up with the help of his father's sword. He swore
one day that he would return to Lindblum and rescue his mother. He
walked away, his eyes burning like the fire that was in his soul.
Arc finally reached home. A home commissioned by the King of Alexandria.
It certaintly wasnt the best place to live in. But it was better
than war torn Lindblum. He walked in. He looked at the empty kitchen,
his eyes unblinking. Arc sighed and walked into his room. He lay
on his bed and looked at the ceiling. It was cracked and mould was
beginning grow in the corner, tarnishing the sterile white. The view
wasnt too flashy. It was just another brick wall. Talk about the
slums. He wondered if there would be any peace between the kingdoms
at all. He wondered what the Regent was planning. This ceasefire
is not peace. It is called that to hide the pressure building up
between the two kingdoms. One of them's got to burst, its just a
matter of who draws the blood first. He curled up, thinking about
something else when Seraphim somehow weaved her way into his mind.
He remembered her eyes, her beautiful green eyes and her hair a deep
blue colour, like the sea. He started to subconiously sketch her
face. He felt like he knew it so well. Her eyes, her nose, her mouth,
her hair. But he was unsatisfied with it. He brushed the image away
from his thoughts. He lay back on his bed wondering what to do. He
slowly lulled himself to sleep. An image of his mothers face in his
dream forcing a tear to roll down his face.
***
Well Thats part one folks! Take a breather people you deserve it!
Part 2 will be coming to the theatre very soon ^_^ Hope you guys
enjoyed it the first part ^^
This is ANOTHER Maya Nagao Production.
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