Rose Summer

"No religion. I just think it would be sad to be an all-powerful being and be all alone. But if I believe in multiple gods, then I'll feel a little bit better, because then no one has to be lonely."

-Rose Summer

Rose is one of the two main protagonists in A Child Named Loveless. She is a wizard of the moon and the girlfriend of Erica Snow, the other main protagonist of the story.

Profile
Rose is a wizard whose powers come from the moon. She is the reincarnation of Princess Amara and has the ability to reflect magic. She's a little bit naive and idealistic. Her girlfriend, Erica affectionately teases her for being 'childish' in her beliefs.

Appearance
Rose is a fourteen-year-old girl with darker skin and long, black hair. It is believed that her father was Asian due to her appearance (although this hasn't actually been confirmed).

She's a bit short for her age.

Personality
Rose is a bit idealistic and a little bit naive in that she tries to be kind to just about everyone. Her past incarnation attempted to save the Kingdom of Klen, but her attempts ultimately backfired on her, causing the people of the kingdom to shun her and demand that she be put to death after freeing slaves and causing a near economic crash.

She is a very kind and also very clever as evident when she managed to realize the truth about the monsters in the labyrinth and also in her patience and understanding with Erica after she confided in Rose about her own past and personal trauma.

She's very smart and good at solving puzzles as well, such as when she solved the Fox's Riddle in chapter seven of A Child Named Loveless.

She also has an interesting habit of singing when she's scared and playing around with her words.

Early Life
After her mother abandoned her when she was a baby, Rose grew up with her Aunt Violet. Her birth name is actually Loveless Summer. But her aunt changed her name shortly after Rose fell into her custody, knowing her sister had named her this out of spite.

At some point in the past, Rose suffered a bullying problem. She once spoke to Erica about her being picked on by a girl in elementary school who cut her hair. She never told her aunt that she was having problems and lied about what had happened.

A Child Named Loveless
During the events of A Child Named Loveless, Rose meets Erica near the end of the school year when she transfers into her class. Their meeting causes the Tower to come into existence which in turn causes an enormous and chaotic storm to hit the small town in which they reside.

Rose goes to Erica's grandmother after her aunt winds up missing and the three of them wind up at Erica's house where they try to wait out the storm.

Erica's grandmother ends up being injured when a window shatters prompting Erica to rush out into the storm, only for Rose to hold her back and pack up some supplies first.

The two of them start making their way to the tower, battling the storm, once they arrive at the tower, Erica kisses Rose.

Rose is surprised by the kiss and Erica regrets it almost immediately.

This event causes Rose to start questioning her own sexuality. While she has never been attracted to boys before, she's never really been attracted to girls either.

Aside from that, she's also a bit wary of Erica, seeing as it seems to be the two of them meeting that caused the Tower to appear in the first place.

Erica slowly starts to open up to Rose and it's clear that the other girl is starting to develop feelings for her. Erica appears to be a bit uncertain of Rose as well, thinking that maybe she might have something to do with the tower too, but her uncertainties don't appear to be as prominent as Rose's are, or seem to be dismissed more quickly.

They start climbing up the tower and realize that each level is much like a different world.

The level up the stairs is a large forest that seems to go on forever. There the two girls meet a talking fox who tells them that whoever reaches the top of the Tower will be granted one wish. He then gives them a riddle.

Rose thinks the riddle is like another riddle she's heard before, but since there are slight alterations to the original, she has to solve it all over again from the beginning.

Erica heavily relies on Rose to figure out the answer to the riddle at this point and it becomes apparent that Rose has a talent for word puzzles.

After solving the riddle, the two girls continue on their way towards a door which opens up to the next level.

This level consists of a maze full of monsters and another riddle engraved on the wall.

This riddle is a bit more abstract than the first one and seems to take the girls a while longer to figure out. It seems that the key is to head towards the monsters rather than running away from them.

Rose figures out, after winding back at the door they had come through several times that the monsters are actually herding back towards the entrance.

After realizing the monsters are not going to kill them, Rose starts to hear their roars as words.

The monsters tell them that in order to pass all they need to do is ask.

The girls continue on their way to the next level. This level consists of a glamorous mansion full of people who appear to be attending a ball.

The two of them are greeted by one of the guests, Adam who offers them food and a place to sleep for the night.

Rose and Erica decide to share a room that night as both are worried that something bad might happen while they sleep.

Rose reveals that she has started to develop feelings for Erica after being asked by the other girl how she feels and if she'd be willing to go on a date with her.

Rose tells Erica that she's willing to be her girlfriend but only after their whole adventure has been resolved since she's worried about how a relationship might affect their journey. But if Erica is willing to wait until it's over, she will go on a date with her.

The next morning, the two girls end up walking down the hall together, observing bookshelves that are empty. Along the way to the room full of guests, Rose and Erica discover a body, brutally murdered and a man standing in front of it.

Thinking this man is the murderer, the two run away, only for the man to notice and chase after them.

The man turns out to be Trinket Deadlock, a wizard who came to the Realm of Words to investigate something. It's hinted that Elliot Crow might have something to do with his presence there.

Trinket then causes everyone in the room save for a few people to disappear, proving that most of the guests were actually illusions cast by a wizard.

Trinket also believes that the same wizard that cast the illusion is also the murderer of Eriol, The King of Words, and one of Those with Responsibilities.

Rose and Erica are introduced to Kendra, a Wizard of Sound. Adam, one of the guests from earlier is also still around.

They all split up into groups in order to search for evidence and find the Wizard of Illusion that is hiding amongst them. Rose and Erica are paired together, since they slept in the same room the night before and thus, have alibies.

The two discover a magic mirror, upon entering it, Rose and Erica discover where all the books from the empty bookshelves had wound up.

They also find Eriol in the reflected version of the library where he informs them that he allowed the man who tried to kill him think he was dead and that the wizard of illusions is a member of an organization called Dark Moon. The killer is actually Adam who is after the wish available at the top of the Tower in order to gain control of Those with Responsibilities.

Erio is convinced to open the gateway to the next level of the tower by Rose and Erica, but they only have a few minutes to reach the door.

They find themselves trapped in the mirror, only to be saved by Trinket who helps them reach the library where the next door is.

The three are attacked by Adam who turns out to be a formidable opponent.

Rose then ends up canceling an illusion Adam cast, showing her magic for the first time. Trinket hints that Rose's abilities could be an indication that she's a Wizard of Reflections or possibly something else which he doesn't say.

Erica and Rose make it through the door just in time and wind up being pulled towards the moon. They see Kendra enter before they're pulled away.

It's a long fall to the moon, after a while, they land.

As they walk, the two of them are approached by a pegasus who offers them a lift the castle in the distance. The Castle is where the Moon Lady resides and will grant them their one wish.

Erica and Rose argue about who will go as the Pegasus will only take one of them. Eventually, they decide they'll continue on by foot as they work best together. Adam arrives and tries to use the Pegasus for himself and kill Rose and Erica.

Erica uses the sword she took from Adam earlier and duels him.

The battle ultimately ends when Rose uses her magic once again and reflects Adam's sword back towards him, causing his own sword to kill him.

They continue on their way towards the castle, coming across a town part way there where a festival is taking place.

The two of them are allowed to have some food and Erica asks Rose if she'll dance with her. Rose agrees and the two of them both dance.

Erica steals some dumplings during supper and they have them the next morning for breakfast.

Erica and Rose continue on their journey to the moon castle. Once they arrive, the moon lady reveals herself. She's possessing Rose's aunt, Violet.

Rose is upset and pleads for the moon lady to release her aunt, but the moon refuses, telling them that a wish needs to be granted first.

Erica goes over to the moon lady and whispers her wish into her ear.

Her wish is then granted.

After A Child Named Loveless
Rose and Erica are dating at the end of the story. On their birthday (which they share), Erica tells Rose what she wished for. She "wished for a miracle." It then starts to snow.

Abilities
Dispelling Illusions Rose accidentally dispelled Adam's illusion magic back in the kingdom of words.

Reflection Magic Rose and her past incarnation, Amara have both been shown to have the ability to reflect a sword back at their wielder.

Spell Casting Rose has shown to have a talent for spell casting, but she hasn't had any formal training.

Word Puzzles Rose is very proficient in solving riddles and takes great pride in it.

Song Writing and Poetry Rose is good at coming up with poems and rhyming schemes on the spot. This is hinted at being tied to her talent with magic.

Trivia

 * Rose's family has a tradition of naming their daughters after flowers
 * A.R. Shanks wrote at the end of A Child Named Loveless in her Author's Note that she used beta names when writing the story but Rose's name that she kept.
 * Rose and Erica might have been inspired by Haruka and Michiru from Sailor Moon.
 * It's possible that Rose and Erica might have also been inspired by Revolutionary Girl Utena.
 * Rose's past incarnation, Amara was named purposefully after the DIC English Dub name given to Haruka.
 * Rose's powers were originally supposed to come from dreams rather than the moon. It's unknown why this was changed.
 * Rose is a confirmed pansexual.
 * It's possible that Rose and Erica will appear in future novels since The Chronicles From Those with Responsibilities all take place in the same universe but usually with different main characters.

Quotes
"No religion. I just think it would be sad to be an all-powerful being and be all alone. But if I believe in multiple gods, then I'll feel a little bit better, because then no one has to be lonely."

"My parents abandoned me too. I don't know why. My aunt took me in and raised me. I live with her."

"It might sound silly, but I believe in true love. I've seen it before..."