Was he ok? No.

Did he survive? Yes.

Was he ready to face everything again? No.

Did he have to? Yes.

He was still at the base of the wall, his breathing uneven although they had long left.

He forced himself up, still trembling.

Roche... Wasn't feeling that great after the encounter.

He really wanted to just stay out of the fight this time, but he owed it to Firizt to help them. He helped him when no one else would.

Roche groaned as he clenched onto his head, the steady pounding was just easing.

 He stumbled around, trying to locate something on the floor.

After relentlessly tapping the wooden floor, he finally locates a hollow sound. He sighs in relief as he lifted off a part of floor.

He broke into a smile.

"Song and Lirius really thought this out"

He reached into the hollowness and lifted out two swords still in their sheaths. He dropped them onto the floor with a clank.

"Heheh... Suppose she really didn't know about this..."

He picked up the blades again as he studied the markings.

"The flora one is obviously Song's" Roche said slowly, "So the one with slashes has to be Lirius's"

He sighed, "Wonder where all of you are now..."

He reached his hand back in, leaning against the floor, "Now... Is there anything else?"

His hand grasped something wooden, and he let out a cheer.

His staff! He had almost forgotten, how could he? He traced his fingers over the markings, he let out a laugh as he remembered what he had named it.

Kindness.

It was an inside joke, Song keeps telling them to take things the kind route, where Lirius just goes for the kill.

And thus, Roche did the one thing he was good at back then; joking around.

Roche stood back up, the swords still on the ground, and his staff in his hand.

He took in a deep breath, it's been so long since he tried to do this...

"Dirigez-moi vers vos maîtres"

His voice echoed slightly in the room, as the swords began glowing. The flora sword glowed white, while the other glowed black.

They floated into the air, each pointing in different directions.

Roche stood there, still puzzled, "...I believe they said they would stick together...?"

He quickly shook it off, "I'm wasting time, I need to get to... well, I suppose he's Finn now... I need to catch up to them, or... I can just go by myself..."

"Who am I kidding?" Roche shook his head, his hood falling off "They're going to need help getting in... Now that they're back..."

Roche sighed, reaching behind his head to untie the gauze. The cloth fell to the ground, revealing amber eyes. He quickly shielded his eyes from the light.

"Agh... I suppose I really have to get used to this..." Roche slowly removed his hands, "I have to be able to see in order to fight..."

He opened his eyes.

"Well... There goes my life of peace..." Roche turned around to look at his hair, which was draping down his shoulders, "It's getting quite long... Enough of this, I need to get going"

He walked to the door, pushing it open to survey the surrounding forests, "Remind me why I settled here again..."

The blades drifted towards him, both still glowing their respective auras.

"Heh... I suppose I'll have you two flying around until I find them..." He looked at his right hand, which was holding the staff, "Now... Which way was the castle...?"

He pushed his hand outwards as the leaves rustled.

Roche smiled as the the wind swooshed through his hair. He held out his hand to feel the direction. "Alright, that way then"