Cid’s “Journey of Self-Discovery” brings him to the war-ravaged First Castle Town, and as fortune would have it, he ends up staying at an inn opened by Maria, the prostitute he saved in the Lawless City. It’s here where Cid thinks out loud and is totally misinterpreted by Maria for the first time.
She agrees with him that “things can’t go on like this”, even though he’s talking about his so-far aimless quest to determine what kind of Eminence in Shadow he needs to be while she’s talking about the desperate situation in the town.
While last week was all about the Seven Shadows, this week focuses on 664, 665, and Rose, who are not only in First Castle Town doing recon, but staying at the same inn as Cid. Naturally he doesn’t recognize two of the lowest-ranked Garden members.
He and Rose don’t cross paths, as she’s up in her room with the same basic dilemma as Cid: she’s not sure what to do now, but things can’t go on the way they have. Joining Garden wasn’t the cure-all she thought it would be.
To make matters worse, when she and her fellow 660s meet with the distinguished 559, while they’re the only two on-Seven Shadows who derive their power directly from Lord Shadow, 559 tells 666 she’s weak. The last thing poor Rose needs is people reinforcing her delusions!
Unfortunately, that’s not the only blow 666/Rose endures this week. 559 leads them to ruins where the Cult is operating, and Rose is shocked to find her own mother the Queen appears to be cooperating with them to unlock a Sanctuary-type lock.
559, who seems more than a little eager for a fight, swoops in and prepares to assassinate the queen, but it isn’t a Cult officer who blocks her strike—it’s Rose. Whatever is going on here, and whatever oaths she made with Shadow Garden, she’s not just going to let this bitch kill her mom. I can’t blame her!
Back in Midgar, Nu gives a detailed report to Gamma about 559 and Rose, whom Gamma is willing to give up to the Cult for now. Her main concern is Mordred, AKA the Knight Beyond Men, who is controlling the Oriana Kingdom from the shadows with Asshat as his public-facing partner.
Gamma is content to not only allow Asshat and Mordred to make the first move, but give Rose to them, because she believes everything is unfolding according to the will of their Lord Shadow. Princess Rose is where she is because that’s where Shadow wants her. To what end? That’s for Shadow to know and Gamma & Co. to find out.
Of course, this is all a complete fantasy! Cid is, as always, making shit up as he goes along. As he continues his stay at Maria’s inn, he reads up on the current deteriorating civil and political situation in Oriana, notes how that’s a perfect situation for an Eminence to intervene, and learns from a headline that Princess Rose has returned to the capital.
“Maybe I should help with that,” Cid thinks out loud, “that” being the crowning of a new ruler in Oriana. Maria thinks he’s talking about breakfast, and says she’s fine making it on her own. He goes over in his head his role as “fixer”, guiding the new ruler of his choosing to victory.
He then thinks back to his heart-to-heart with Rose and considers that perhaps she looked so determined to do anything because she actually did seek the throne, and killed her father to pave the way for that outcome. He can respect hustle, and vows to help Rose become the next ruler.
“Yes, it’s delectable,” he says out loud of his plan, and Maria thinks he’s talking about his drink. I love their dynamic so much. As far as she’s concerned, they’re on the same wavelength, but they’re not even using the same radio equipment.
When some bandits burst in to “procure” what little money and supplies Maria still has for “the war effort,” and even propose she pay them with her body (talk about dropping the pretense!) Cid steps in … and proceeds to act like a complete weakling, allowing them to beat the crap out of them.
Even so, Maria thanks him for rescuing her, mentioning that in her former life as a prostitute she had to deal with their sort every day. She came so close to giving up so many times, but never did. She believes that defiance in the face of despair is what brought Shadow to her room, and led to her deliverance.
Cid proceeds to quickly run through all the adventures he went on while trying to execute the “Birth of Tyrant Rose” plan, including infiltrating a prison, staging a break, joining the volunteer army and winning a great victory without getting the credit for it. As he puts it, a fixer “is supposed to, like, stand out by not standing out when standing out,” which reminds me of my favorite fortune cookie fortune: “Show-off always shown up in showdown.”
Cid’s wanderings through the bombed out town bring him to the hideout of the bandits who robbed Maria. He learns they picked the side of the cult, and talk about a legendary treasure in the mountains. One of the bandits continues to talk about how they should have their way with the girl at the inn before getting out of there.
It’s only when this bandit doesn’t get a reply that he realizes all of his mates have been gruesomely slaughtered by Cid. He recites to them the only law of Lawless City: The strongest guy is always right. That makes him right.
That very night, Maria is going through her books and concludes that she’ll have to start selling her body to make ends meet. But she hears a bump from behind her door, and when she opens it, finds a huge bag of gold coins on the ground. Whether Cid intended it or not, she happens to catch a momentary glimpse of Shadow.
I love how he’s reflected in her green eye. Maria, realizing the same person who saved her in the Lawless City is continuing to watch over her, will most certainly never give up. I don’t know if she’ll ever join the Garden, but she’d make a valuable addition with her steadfast determination and tolerance for unpleasantness.
By the time we check back in on 559, we learn she’s been fighting the Cult officers for three days and three nights. 665 and 664 lie nearby, defeated and bloodied, while 559 herself is missing and arm and is low on magic, blood, and time.
Her haughty Cult opponent begins to describe how he’ll torture her before she dies, but we get another cool reflection of Shadow, the yellow full moon behind him, in 559’s eyes. Her grim expression turns to pure giddiness at her lord’s arrival, her arm is immediately regrown, and she slashes the Cult guy so definitively he explodes in a cloud of blood and viscera.
The first thing Cid wants to know is where the ruins are, because he wants treasure. Instead, 559 reports 666’s defection. Cid doesn’t get it, wondering if that’s an Employee ID number or something. When 559 recommends 666 be immediately executed for her betrayal, 664 and 665 protest, as 666 was only protecting her mother.
As 559, 664, and 665 continue to bicker, Cid isn’t really paying attention. He checks a newspaper that happens to fall into his hands with an article about Princess Rose planning to marry Perv Asshat. Because this doesn’t fit the plan to seize power he thought Rose was implementing, he becomes enraged, and promises that Rose Oriana’s “betrayal will be punished.”
Like Maria, 559 misinterprets these words to mean he agrees with her recommendation. But as he flies off towards Oriana, Cid is actually pissed that his latest plan to become a really good Eminence in Shadow is being undermined by Rose suddenly deciding to get married.
If there’s one thing me and Cid agree on, it’s that such a marriage can’t happen. He’s going to ensure Rose becomes Oriana’s next ruler, all while standing out by not standing out when standing out.
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