Return

While Rydia was in the Feymarch, Cecil and the others continued their quest to stop Golbez. After a few plot points, the party goes in the underground world, in order to protect the Dark Crystal located in the Dwarven Castle. Despite their efforts, when they face Golbez no one, save for Cecil, survives the attack of his Shadow Dragon.

When all hope seems lost Rydia, accompanied by her Mist Dragon, appears and rejoins the party. Thanks to her help, Golbez is defeated. lthough they aren’t able to prevent him from stealing the last crystal and go away with it. Everybody is baffled at Rydia’s sight, but she calmly explains what happened to her during her absence. Time moves faster in the Feymarch, so while Cecil and his allies were separated from Rydia for only a short period of time, years went past in the Feymarch, and Rydia grew into a young woman at an accelerated rate.

Rydia’s growth is not only physical, but also mental. While she doesn’t become a completely different person, all the relationships she had are bound to change.

Cecil and the new Rydia. Cecil is no longer someone older than her, but being the party’s leader gives him an aura of superiority (in a good sense!). Rydia probably still views Cecil more mature than her. Again, his position helps to reinforce this idea. After Rydia grows up, Cecil becomes her closest friend, together with Rosa and, seeing how Rydia supports both of them, she wants them to be together. In other words, I don’t think Rydia has any kind of romantic interest for Cecil and probably, if either Cecil or Rosa suspected that, their friendship wouldn’t last for long.