Refugees of Despair {Estharians}

[Rosa Farrell Harvey]

Rosa had been keeping a close eye upon the worlds events. For inside her mind her time spent within Alexandria had been eye opening. It was thanks to the attack upon her beloved Baron that her country was in a pitiful situation upon the world stage. She had spent many a night staying up late attempting to think of ways so that her country could be seen as strong and yet benevolent inside the other world leaders eyes. Then came the great disaster of Esthar where from what she had hear most of those living within the city had perished from an attack of some massive dragon. The information of the destruction came to her from one of the few Baronian spies she had allowed out into the world. He had been following the advancing Cocoonian army as it clashed with the Archadien army outside the city and he had born witness to the destruction of the city, Questions about the situation the man described where put out of the window as he spoke of it his face flushed as he recalled the horrors of that event. Upon hearing the events that transpired began wheels spinning within Rosas mind which in her head would make her small kingdom a force upon the world stage.

Taking a few days to gather her thoughts and advice from a few close advisors to the crown she stood before her people at the gates of the castle. Standing upon the raised portion where she could be seen by all those attending the small gathering she would speak up her voice loud enough for all to hear. "People of Baron I thank you for assembling before me this day. I am humbled to see how well we have recovered in these short months since the attack upon our very way of life. I now ask you for a short bit of your time. I have heard from reliable sources that the city of Esthar which was much larger than our own has been destroyed by an unknown enemy. It is a great disaster and we cannot turn a blind eye to such suffering even if we cannot do much about their plight. I have spent many a night since hearing the news laboring on what we could do as a nation to assist them. I as the Queen and co ruler of Baron have come up with a solution I hope that will assist us in this endeavor."

Rosa would stop to catch her breath as speaking before the assembled crowd took a bit out of her especially to project her voice so far. " What I came to the conclusion is that Baron will assist those from Esthar that survived by offering them safe haven and allowing them a place to get back on their feet with no prejudice upon them. We will offer them whatever they should need so long as it does not take away our ability to be self sufficient. Hear me people of Baron, spread this word to all the corners of this Distorted World if you can. Baron shall be a safe harbor for those displaced by the battles of this world. Now I take my leave of you my people of Baron. I thank you all for listening to me."

Her words where both a proclamation and one showing that her people where ready to begin repaying their debt to this world. Turning and reentering the castle she would stop the chancellor and the same spy she had report to her the destruction of Esthar. Looking both men in the face she would speak to them "If we are to bring in the people of Esthar in here we need to logistically place a section of the city for them. Make sure it is equal in every way to those of the regular citizens of Baron. You Mr. Spy go out and find the highest ranking member of the Estharian Military. We will need someone from Esthar to deal with the problems of the refugees that come here so as to not seem to be a dictator. Now get to work. I want results for both problems as fast as possible..."

With that she would fall back into the routine of the city as the word would spread across the world that Baron would be taking in the refugees from Esthars attack. After a week of her proclamation she saw the first groups enter her city. From that day onward the Queen would await each small group be it of a single person or as large as ten to fifteen people. She would greet them all and welcome them to Baron. So there she awaited the spy and the people he would find.

[Dona]

"How dare you?!" The summoner spat back at the Guard of Baron Castle. She was a summoner! The very same that would bring the Calm to the entire world, including this pitiful little town. Not that Dona knew that Sin was gone, nor Spira was broken into thousands of tiny pieces and scattered about this new world of calamity. To her, this was just another strange part of Spira. "I am Summoner Dona!" She quickly added onto her own retort. It probably would have helped her cause if she didn't openly insult the guard. But what was she to do? The pathetic man was giving her a rather odd look, one that Dona did not appreciate. Now he was denying her access to the castle.

"I am sorry ma'am, but the Castle is off limits." The guard simply replied in that monotone voice that Dona despised oh so much. It was like he could care less about her. Which only made her even angrier. Gah, not even that Yuna girl is as dreadful as this. She fumed to herself. "I will have you know that seeing Queen Rosa is imperative to my pilgrimage! Would you dare prevent my pilgrimage!" She shouted out, her anger only rising. Another blank stare came from the guard, followed by the word yes.

Her hands balled up in anger, HOW DARE HE! Okay, so Dona didn't really need to get to Queen Rosa for her pilgrimage. Even if it would help. She wanted to talk to the young Queen about the Estharians. It was odd for the summoner to look out for another, even if it was her job to put the needs of Spira's people above her own. Yet these Estharians, which she heard of in passing rumors, were dependent on the forbidden machina. From what Dona heard of their city was as great as Zanarkand a thousand years ago. Now it was in ruins, the same as Zanarkand and it was another valuable lesson to Spira. Machina was not the answer.. Even if the Al Bhed used it to save her life. Regardless now the people of Esthar were forced to find a new home, a new way of life. Dona felt that she could help, with the teachings of Yevon as her tools.

"Unless I finish my pilgrimage, then Sin will surely destroy Baron as it did Esthar!" She exclaimed. Okay, that was a lie. A big one. Dona had no idea what actually destroy Esthar. Not to mention that she hadn't seen Sin she she awoke in that strange Cocoon place. Heck, almost no one heard of Sin. She wondered where in Spira she was. People whom never heard of Sin nor Yevon.The entire time she wasn't even sure if this was reality or not. Even in her wildest dreams she could not think of a world without Sin. It was eternal.

This seemed to capture the interests of the guard. Not because of Dona's attitude, but she seemed to actually know what caused Esthar's destruction. Or at least what it was. She had a name for it, something different from the rest. Sure she might be crazy, but hey who knew? "I will be back shortly. I will inform our Queen." The guard said before vanishing into the castle. There he would find Rosa, no matter what the cost and tell her of this strange woman who claimed to know what destroyed Esthar, and what it truly was. Of course he didn't know that Dona was lying her arse off.

[Rosa Farrell Harvey]

Rosa was standing at her place near the entrance she made for the Estharian refugees section of town. Smiling at the combined people of Baron and Esthar that seemed to be working together rather well she would not notice the footsteps of a nearby soldier. That is she would not notice the man until he spoke up directed toward her. As he spoke Rosa would turn to face the man. "Milady Rosa. There is a woman at the castle claiming to be a summoner. Also she is wishing to see you personally. She is being quite rude to the guards of the castle, and yet she believes to know the name of whatever it was that destroyed Esthar. What should I do with her?"

Giving the man a brief wave of her hand Rosa would start walking away from her spot. "I shall go talk with her in person.as she asked. I feel that within this world there is nothing that happens at random. Everything seems guided by some unseen hands." As Rosa spoke she would leave the bewildered guard at the entrance of the Estharian district. Walking slowly enjoying her time as she would chat with certain citizens as she moved toward the castle where by the time she arrived Dona would be quite agitated at being left alone for so long.

Approaching the woman Rosa would be coming from within the castle proper as the route she had taken had taken her around to the back of it and inside. Walking out she would walk with a purpose and a resolve of someone of her age and stature would easily be able to feel. Spotting the strange woman and her attire Rosa would easily tell she was the one who had been accosting her guards and who had information vital to this world. "You wished to speak with the Queen here I am. I am a rather busy woman with assisting the poor citizens of Esthar with whom I gave refuge after their cities destruction, so my time is rather short. First off you call yourself a summoner then I ask you how fares the village of Mist and the Village of the Eidolons? Has there been any word from one of your own named Rydia? You know of the creature that destroyed Esthar and killed off most of the people who those I now protect cry over? If you do then I emplore you to tell me so that we can get ready for some type of defense against such a creature."

[The Remnant]

An observer had been present for the duration of Queen Rosa's speech. The old world historian forced into his role by a stronger power than he. To be completely honest, this world in particular had impressed him a lot. There had been squabbles... but nothing like the widespread wars of the other worlds he had kept the records for. It was a pleasant kind of surprise, however; that meant that this world had a much better chance at stopping the cycle. Coupled with the destroyer and her minions' recent arrogance, they had a chance. To his remembrance, the destruction of other worlds took much longer. He was here for two reasons, the first was to listen to the queen's speech. The second was to speak with her. It seemed he had been beaten to the punch, however.

The arrogant woman from Spira. The summoner, not the one he wished to speak with. The one who would get herself killed in due time. He decided to spare Queen Rosa the problem, striding quietly to where they stood, his duster fluttering from the motion until he stood nearby enough to hear their conversation. The woman had apparently thought she knew what had destroyed Esthar. It wasn't surprising; not many knew what the plagues were, but for them to be completely unaware of their existance was simply ridiculous. "No. She doesn't. I do," The old world's remnant said plainly, not giving the arrogant woman a chance to speak. "Plagues from the destroyer, sent to burn flags and tear down symbols. Help her to destroy worlds. Courier, breather of death, they serve her regardless of what they have to do. Courier burned his own flag a long time ago, traitor to his world. Tore down Esthar's flag and most who served it. To them, he is Domminitus. Not my name for him. Probably stirred a lot of questions. Ask."

The man paused for a bit, waiting for a response from either woman. Preferably from the queen, though he would answer whatever questions they had in turn.