Rosaria
With might light in your heart, not even a god can stop us.
early life
Joshua was born as the second son of Archduke Elwin and his wife, Anabella. Whereas his elder brother, Clive, never awakened as the Phoenix, Joshua was chosen as the Dominant of Fire. Because of this, Anabella doted on Joshua and scorned Clive. Although Joshua was a Dominant, he was sickly all his life. Throughout his childhood, he grew up alongside Clive and Elwin's ward, Jill Warrick. When Joshua was nine years old, he met Prince Dion of Sanbreque in a remembrance ceremony where the leaders of Sanbreque, Dhalmekia, and Rosaria were gathering.
Clive was chosen to become Joshua's First Shield, and an elated Joshua granted Clive the Blessing of the Phoenix, which allowed Clive to wield a portion of his magic. One day, Joshua and Jill watched Clive sparring. However, trouble was brewing because of the Blight spreading to Rosaria at long last, and reports were coming in that the Iron Kingdom might be moving against the duchy. Elwin decided to take action, and needed Joshua to come along. Clive, too, was to join them at Phoenix Gate castle, but he took a detour.
At the Phoenix Gate, Elwin, the ten-year-old Joshua, and the fifteen-year-old Clive enjoyed a meal during the night and Joshua talked with Clive, and Clive swore to protect him always.
During the night, Joshua woke up into a commotion within the castle. Assassins from the Holy Empire of Sanbreque had infiltrated the castle and killed everyone they could find. Joshua gathered with some Shields and fought off some of the imperials. Clive joined him, and he intended to remain behind to keep the imperials occupied while Joshua and Elwin escape. As soon as he left, they were ambushed and Elwin was killed. The sorrow of seeing his father dead caused Joshua's Dominant powers to go out of control, and he primed Phoenix and set the castle ablaze. Clive tried to reach him, but something impossible happened: a second Eikon of Fire, Ifrit, emerged and attacked Phoenix. In a titanic clash between the two Eikons, Ifrit seemingly killed Phoenix, and thus, Joshua. Clive swore to find and kill the Ifrit's Dominant, whom he believed killed his brother.
In the morning, Joshua's corpse was not found among the dead within the castle, but he was nevertheless believed dead. Unbeknownst to everyone, Joshua had been rescued by the Undying, a shadow organization which has protected the Rosfield family in secret for generations. The Undying spirited the comatose Joshua away, but he stayed unresponsive for five years until miraculously regaining consciousness in 865 when he was fifteen years old.
At age eighteen, his body finally healed from the tragedy of eight years ago, Joshua began to investigate the Night of Flames and the second Eikon of Fire. He delved into books he and the Undying could get their hands on, and to train with his sword again for self-defense. At age 20, the Undying heard of a Branded soldier in employment of Sanbreque seemingly wielding the Blessing of the Phoenix. The other Undying, especially their leader, Cyril, believed Clive could have been the destructive second Eikon of Fire, and wanted to send assassins after him, but Joshua believed something else was afoot and to find the truth.
At age 22 Joshua learned of Ultima from the journal of Moss the Chronicler that the Undying managed to procure. Joshua, going by a false identity as Margrace, set off alongside his attendant to find answers to the mysterious god unknown in modern day Valisthea. He knew his mother had conspired with the Empire and was now married to Sylvestre Lesage and the empress, and that Clive was still conscripted as a Branded soldier within the Empire, but he knew he could not reveal himself.
Joshua's travels eventually took him to the Empire's lands, where he was captured by Benedikta Harman who believed he was the Dominant who killed Phoenix, unaware she had captured Phoenix himself. At the same time, Clive, who had turned his back on the Empire and deserted, infiltrated the Caer Norvent stronghold Joshua was held at alongside Cidolfus Telamon, the Dominant of Ramuh. The commotion they caused allowed Joshua and his attendant to escape.
At some point Joshua visited the apodytery beneath the ruins of Phoenix Gate and saw an incomplete mural depicting a winged Ultima figure alongside the Eikons.
Clive, Jill, and Cid infiltrated the Sanbreque capital with the intention of destroying its Mothercrystal. After Cid destroyed the crystal's heart and was mortally wounded by the Ultima that emerged from there, Joshua arrived and prevented Ultima from taking Clive. On the edge of consciousness, Clive witnessed Joshua alive. Joshua used his Dominant powers to seal this shard of Ultima within himself. He then aided Clive and Jill to safety, but then departed, only leaving a single Phoenix feather for Clive as proof he was alive.
For the next four years, Joshua continued traveling around Valisthea to find out the motive behind Ultima's actions. Keeping one of the Ultima collective sealed inside him continually drained Joshua's powers and the crystals' curse began to spread through his body. In 878, he learned Ultima was behind the political unrest in Sanbreque, and his focus turned to the Dominant of Bahamut, Dion Lesage, son of Emperor Sylvestre Lesage. Joshua knew that his mother had conceived another child with Sylvestre, Olivier, and that this child was meant to overthrow Dion as the heir apparent. Hoping to gain Dion as an ally against Ultima, Joshua sought to meet with him, no matter what it takes.
Joshua and his attendant made a stopover at Dhalmekia on their way towards Twinside, the Empire's new capital at Crystalline Dominion after Drake's Head's destruction. While resting at the Dalimil Inn, they were forced to leave quickly when Clive and his uncle, Byron, caused a commotion with some Waloed soldiers. The brothers were briefly able to sense one another, but Clive did not manage to see Joshua.
Eventually, Joshua met with Dion personally. Dion recognized him as the Dominant of the Phoenix, and allowed him into his camp. Joshua told him the story of his life: what happened at Phoenix Gate, how his mother betrayed her own family and was now poisoning Dion's own, though perhaps she was unknowingly a puppet for Ultima. Dion did not doubt Joshua's story, as it would explain the strange things going on with his family, and why Sylvestre had all of a sudden named Olivier as Emperor.
After Dion confronted his father about his actions and suggesting he was a puppet of Ultima, Joshua asked Dion to join him in his mission to destroy Ultima and free Valisthea. Dion felt he had a duty to stay and lead a coup against Olivier and free his father and Sanbreque from Ultima's influence first, and join Joshua after.
When Dion set his coup into motion Bahamut emerged and began to lay waste to Twinside. Joshua transformed into Phoenix in an attempt to calm him down and save the city, but it was to no avail. Clive and Jill had also infiltrated Twinside, and when they saw Phoenix, Clive's only goal was to help his brother. As they made their way higher and encountered Anabella sheltering with Olivier, Phoenix fell nearly on top of them. Clive rushed to his brother, who was unconscious but alive. Determined to fulfill his duty as the Joshua's Shield, Clive walked up against Bahamut and transformed into Ifrit. Joshua soon awoke, and taking the form of Phoenix again, joined his brother against Bahamut. The two Eikons of Fire joined their powers, with brotherly love guiding their every move.
Bahamut fueled itself directly with the aether of the Mothercrystal and seemed to grow more powerful. Ifrit and Phoenix joined together as one, becoming Ifrit Risen. Taking the battle into the sky and eventually space, the Brothers of Fire defeated Bahamut with their combined power. Dion reverted to human form and the Phoenix grabbed him and safely brought him down to the ground, with Clive following after he destroyed the Mothercrystal's heart. Reverting to their human forms, the brothers had a tear-filled reunion and embraced for the first time in over eighteen years. When Dion awoke, he threw his spear at Olivier, killing him instantly as he evaporated into aether, showing that he was nothing more than a puppet of Ultima's. This left Anabella maddened with grief, her ambitions and plans having been for nothing. When Joshua tried to coax her to come with them, Anabella in her madness believed that Joshua was not real, but a shadow coming to punish her. Denying reality she grabbed a dagger and slit her own throat. Joshua and Clive only felt pity towards their mother, who had betrayed everything for a lie she had trapped herself in.
Back at Clive's Hideaway, Joshua slept for a long time. When he awoke he discussed with Clive and Jill the events that had transpired since the disaster at Phoenix Gate. The reason Joshua had not been found among the rubble was because he had been spirited away by a third party who were now studying Ultima. Clive told Joshua about his vision of what transpired in Twinside: Dion stormed the throne room, intending to eliminate the demon that had poisoned his family: Olivier. Sylvestre did not believe his claims, and when Dion threw his spear at Olivier, Sylvestre shielded him; thus, Dion unintentionally killed his father. Olivier had smugly revealed he had planned to have Sylvestre killed in such a manner, and he manipulated Dion's grief to have him lose control, and transform into Bahamut, destroying Twinside.
Joshua realized Olivier had only been a vessel for Ultima, all for the purpose of claiming Clive. The reason Ultima wanted Clive was because he was special; whereas Joshua and Jill could only wield the element of their respective Eikon, fire for Joshua and ice for Jill, Clive could wield any element after absorbing the Eikon from its original Dominant. The fact that Ifrit, a second Eikon of Fire, could even exist, further proved this. Joshua speculated the reason Ultima had not claimed Clive yet was because present circumstances made Clive incompatible with Ultima. Since Ultima was a construct of the mind, Joshua believed he would have to erase Clive's mind, allowing Ultima to claim him. He confessed to absorbing a shard of Ultima back at Oriflamme; it was either that or let Ultima claim Clive. With the power of the Phoenix, he kept that shard locked away, but at a cost to his health.
When Clive intended to meet with Midadol and Gav at the Free City of Kanver, Joshua came along to rendezvous with Jote, his attendant, in the village of Tabor. At Tabor, Clive and Jill met with Jote, who knelt before Clive and revealed she was a member of the Undying, a secret order of Rosarians devoted to the service of the Phoenix and the duchy. Only a few people within Rosaria knew of the order's existence, mainly the royal house. Joshua revealed the Undying had rescued him at the Phoenix Gate, and since then they had been his eyes and ears within the realm about Ultima's activities.
They found the Free City of Kanver in chaos and teeming with Akashic of apparent Waloeder origin. Joshua and Jill went together while Clive ventured ahead. After being knocked out by Barnabas Tharmr, the king of Waloed and Dominant of Odin, Clive was rescued by the pair's timely arrival. Joshua escaped with Clive, but Jill was captured. Clive and Joshua met with Cid's daughter Mid with the intent on taking her ship, the Enterprise, on a chase of Barnabas's ship, the Einherjar. Joshua reunited with his uncle Byron. The Ironworks shipyard was attacked by Akashic and Sleipnir Harbard, Odin's Egi, but Clive, Joshua, and their comrades bought Mid enough time to set sail.
Eventually, the Enterprise caught up with the Einherjar. Clive boarded it to rescue Jill, while Joshua was forced to fight Odin in his Phoenix form. Odin defeated him, but Joshua survived. Mid was forced to give up the chase after Odin cut the sea in two, leaving Clive and Jill stranded on the shores of Ash, only to be rescued the next day.
Taking only a small force to avoid attention, Clive traveled to Stonhyrr on Ash to deal with Ultima as well as Barnabas, Ultima's faithful lackey who has been orchestrating his master's plans all across Valisthea. While Gav went on to scout ahead, Joshua confronted Clive about his decision of taking Jill's Eikon. Assuming Clive coaxed her into giving up Shiva rather than her giving up the Eikon willingly, Joshua struck his brother. After lecturing Clive on doing everything on his own, Joshua soon cooled.
Ahead, they found a castle pouring out Akashic. Joshua decided to explore the castle to learn about Ultima's main motive for Clive. He found the structure to be an ancient apodytery for the Circle of Malius faith, just like Phoenix Gate. He found an intact mural, the same Clive had witnessed several times before, first at Phoenix Gate. Joshua was able recognize all the Eikons: Ifrit, Shiva, Garuda, Titan, Bahamut, Odin, even Leviathan the Lost. To his surprise, the mural did not include Phoenix. He theorized that while Ultima desired to use Clive as a vessel, the vessel would not be complete without Phoenix; thus, what Ultima really needed was Ifrit and Phoenix combined, the same way they had done while fighting Bahamut at Twinside.
While Joshua explored the apodytery, Clive and Gav found a village with a lone survivor, and while Gav escorted her back to the Enterprise, Clive climbed Reverie and fought Barnabas at the summit, claiming Odin. Clive now had all Eikons but Phoenix and Leviathan, Barnabas having deemed him ready as "Mythos". Joshua rejoined Clive and they made their way to Stonhyrr amid endless hordes of Akashic, people and beasts taken by primal aggression as a result of Ultima's Primogenesis spell. When fighting a behemoth, Joshua used the Phoenix's magicked barrier to shield them, though doing so consumed a lot of his aether. At the gates of the final Mothercrystal on Valisthea, Drake's Spine, their friends arrived to help them on the Enterprise, now also including Dion and Goetz. As they were about to set foot into the Mothercrystal, Joshua and Clive were spirited away and found themselves inside the Interdimensional Rift, an otherworldly dimension where various structures floated about in space, making footpaths for the pair to advance toward the platform where they met Ultima face to face.
Ultima declared to have "invited" the brothers to his abode, and explained the plan the Ultima collective had for Clive, their "Mythos", and revealed Ultima as mankind's original creator, who thus commanded their subservience. The pair rebelled against the self-appointed god of mankind, who fought them as Ifrit Prime, apparently his former physical body, a dark version of Clive and Joshua's combined Eikon form: Ifrit Risen. Clive and Joshua persevered and Ifrit Prime was defeated, destroying the Mothercrystal. With all Mothercrystals thus destroyed, Ultima raised Origin to the skies of Valisthea where he was to wait for Mythos's arrival.
Everyone returned to the hideaway to plan their next action. Joshua promised to take them as the Phoenix, but Dion volunteered instead, wanting to atone for the damage he had caused Twinside. Before the three would set out, Joshua convinced Clive to go on a date with Jill to somewhere where snow daisies grow. They also visited the Undying's archive in Tabor and learned of the will their father had left for them. They finished the matching bracelets that Elwin had intended for them to wear, and visited Elwin's memorial in Rosaria.
They bid their farewells to everyone at the hideaway and flew to Origin on Bahamut's back. They fought Ultima Risen there in one of his Ifrit-like bodies, each priming their Eikons and unleashing a combined Tri-Disaster attack. Clive was defeated first and Dion sent Joshua after him while he defeated this incarnation of Ultima alone at the cost of spending all his powers, losing his prime, and falling from the sky, yet happy he had atoned for his mistakes.
Joshua found Clive inside Origin, and though Joshua had expended too much of his power in the previous battle, they made their way to the center of the complex where they found a mysterious aetherial contraption and numerous cast-aside bodies that looked like Ifrit Prime: the erstwhile bodies of the Ultima collective, who existed in a hivemind. Ultima welcomed his "brother" home and summoned the imprisoned Ultima from inside Joshua's chest. Joshua realized that Ultima did not need both Ifrit and Phoenix after all, only Clive with Phoenix's power. Putting all his faith that his brother will succeed and save the world, Joshua made a rousing speech on how Clive was the vessel for all of humankind's dreams for the future, something they all believed in. Though Clive protested, Joshua passed the power of the Phoenix onto Clive and passed away.
Clive mourned Joshua before using his powers as "Mythos" to defeat the Ultima collective who combined into Ultimalius, and then absorbed their power in turn. Joshua gave spiritual support for Clive late into the battle against Ultimalius, telling his brother "forevermore..." as the latter overpowered the god's use of Phoenix's abilities. With the power of god in his palm, Clive restored Joshua's bodily injuries, but Joshua did not stir. Clive then used the rest of his power to destroy the nexus in the center of Origin, erasing magic from the world. Origin disintegrated and Ultima's Primogenesis spell broke, clearing the skies of clouds and the land of aetherfloods. Clive washed ashore with a part of his body petrified.
Valisthea entered a new magic-free era, and in the future when Eikons had become but a fable for children's fairy tales, the book Final Fantasy by Joshua Rosfield lived on.
I thought... it was me...
But it wasn't my grasp that grew weaker.
personality
Joshua is kind-hearted, compassionate, and bookish, and despite being frail and sickly, he wants to do his part to help his family and their home. As a child he was especially close to his older brother, Clive, viewed Jill as a sister, and had a close bond with Clive's wolf pup, Torgal. Joshua admires and respects his father Elwin, coming to him for advice regarding his role as the Phoenix's Dominant. His relationship with his mother, Anabella, is uneasy despite being her favorite. Joshua feels constrained and pressured after being chosen by the Phoenix, as Anabella often kept him in the confines of the castle and objected to how he mingled with the people due to her obsession with prestige and lineage. Though he would later on come to be disgusted with his mother's actions, a piece of Joshua nonetheless still loves her and he even tries to save her after all of her plans come crashing down, leaving Anabella to be driven mad. He is left saddened that his mother refused to be saved and denied reality until the end.
Though Joshua was chosen by the Phoenix over Clive, he did not hold anything against his brother and silently objected to their mother's poor treatment of Clive. Even at ten years old Joshua believed Clive would have been the more suitable choice as the Phoenix's Dominant, given how his older brother was more confident, daring, and skilled in combat, but after encouragement from Clive, he accepted his position and vowed to fulfill his duty. Since Joshua was still naïve and inexperienced, he was emotionally unprepared for the struggles of combat, much less the horrors of war, as he quickly lost control over his Dominant abilities after seeing his father die.
Following the Night of Flames and going into hiding, Joshua has become more serious and determined, but his compassion for his people remains, as well as his love for his older brother; he does not blame Clive for what happened with Ifrit. After learning of Ultima's existence and of the deity's plans for Clive, Joshua made it his mission to stop the powerful being from using Clive as his vessel, even willing to use himself to hold one of his extensions prisoner, despite the risks to his health. Joshua is a capable leader like his brother, having contributed to the leadership of the secretive order, the Undying, taking measures to preserve Rosaria's culture and find any valuable information regarding Ultima. Joshua can hold his own in battle since mastering his Dominant abilities and practicing swordsmanship, such as holding off a rampaging Bahamut, but welcomes aid from Clive in subduing him. Joshua carries his own weight on missions despite the toll trapping Ultima within himself is costing him, refusing to be seen as a burden that needs constant protection, which Clive takes pride in. At the same time, Joshua objects to those who carry all the burden, admonishing and punching Clive after learning he accepted Shiva's power from Jill.
Joshua displays unwavering resolve in defeating Ultima, not just to protect his beloved brother, but also to save the world. His willingness to use his own body as a prison to hold Ultima and delay his plans only shows Joshua's strength of will and the lengths he is willing to go to.
Much as Joshua has matured over the years, a part of him is still naïve in certain social situations. He still cannot stand eating carrots, and when meeting Midadol Telamon for the first time, he greets her in a formal manner that leaves the young engineer confused and uncomfortable. Joshua wants to protect his loyal attendant, Jote, and asks her to stay at the hideaway while he travels with Clive for her protection; Jote theorizes that being burdened by duty all his life, Joshua wanted to free her from duty, and give her freedom.
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