[color=A0A0A0][h2]Fleuri Jodeau[/h2][/color]

It had become clear that in order to depart from this world, the Roses would have to do battle with whatever figures of legend that Merilia had opted to pluck from history and pit against them.  In addition to the possibility of having to face the original Roses, there was also the legendary Demonbreaker Erich Cazt, Prince Erion and his retinue, and, of course, the dragon Thrinax.  He also knew from the previous dream that if Merilia truly wished it, she could even bring back Volkstraad.

He hadn't seen any sign of Elionne, though.  According to the original Roses, she [i]did[/i] reside here, hence why Fanilly wouldn't be able to stay in the knight-captain's quarters, but there was no sign of her.  It was a shame that she wasn't present, because there were so many unanswered questions about herself and the direction that the Roses had taken that she could have answered.

If he had to guess, it was probably by Merilia's choice that such questions remained unresolved.

---

In a corner of the training yard, Fleuri readied his sword and advanced towards Florian, once again facing off in a sparring match against the ancient Iron Rose.

When it came to training in this strange world, Fleuri sought out two mentors specifically.  The first was the Mirror Knight Florian.  The ancient warrior's mastery of Fleuri's own style in the dream, far beyond even his own ability to use it, had left a deep impression on him.  It was obvious to him that if he wished to iron out his flaws and learn to master his swordsmanship, the Mirror Knight was the one to seek out.  He would learn to refine and tune his fighting style against one who could mimic it.  At the same time, it wouldn't be enough to just master it.  He would also endeavor to recognize any inherent flaws or shortcomings within the fighting style that might be evident in their sparring, with the Mirror Knight's help, improve upon it.

When he was not seeking lessons with Florian, or when the Mirror Knight was busy mentoring one of the other roses, he would pursue tutelage from Rui.  She might not have been a figure of legend in Thaln, but her mastery of the sword was nothing short of incredible.  While he did seek to learn some of her fighting techniques (regardless if they were for a different blade than the greatsword that he normally used), he wished to focus more on themental sides of martial mastery.  He wished to learn how a sufficiently dedicated swordsman's dedication and will could transcend ordinary human limitations or even achieve feats that seemed physically impossible.  It was also during training with Rui that Fleuri finally figured out that her Talderian dialect was derived from old Talderia.

And judging by her injuries, the knight suspected that Rui might be the very best person in Merilia's world to go to for tips on fighting a dragon.

For the moment, however, his focus was on the martial details.  One small step at a time on the path to mastery.  He was certainly improving, but Fleuri knew he was still a long way to go before coming close to the prowess of the original Roses.  Fortunately, in this world, time was something they had no shortage of- at least as long as Merilia and the world's inhabitants were willing to host them.

[color=A0A0A0][i]Once more...let's see how long I can last this time...[/i][/color]

[@Raineh Daze]