Despair (Freya Cresent, Dragon Knight of Burmecia)

I kneel here, barely listening to Zidane and Vivi. They're talking about about something. A part of me acknowledges it may be important. But that doesn't matter right now. I'm more concerned about Sir Fratley.

He was right there... actually there! And alive! I knew he was, deep down inside...but I needed to see it with my own eyes. And now I have. And yet...I imaged our meeting day as being a happier occasion. So we met again in a war torn city, when black mages were on the way. But if he had just remembered me, everything would have been alright. Yet in reality he just stood there, asking who I was, where I knew him from. The moment, the piece of time, that hurt. More than the rumors of his death, more than the waiting.

I can't believe he doesn't remember...but I still do. I remember when I first met him, when we were both dragon knights. For a long time we were friends, fighting together, willing to die together. And yet, so much changed after I met him, just as so much changed on that fateful day three years ago, when Fratley left to train, to better fight for the glory of Burmecia.

My Burmecia! Once so proud, but now it is merely a dead city, a ghost town...

I am suddenly aware of Zidane and Vivi talking to me. "Just leave me alone." I murmur, unwilling to move. I don't think my legs can support me. So many shocks, all in one day...

"Someone's coming!" I hear Zidane say. I gather my strength, and follow them to a hiding place behind the stairs, where I once again collapse to the ground. I can once again hear the world passing me by, but I do not care. All I want is solitude, and my thoughts.

I cannot believe Queen Brahne destroyed my city. We did nothing to her, nothing! And yet she comes, with those black mages and the powerful Alexandrian army. And that General Beatrix! Fratley left to challenge her, to become the most skilled spearman Burmecia and the entire Mist Continent had ever seen. Oh Burmecia, my last memories of you are from three years ago...now it is gone. I must accept that and move on, just as I must accept Sir Fratley remembers nothing, and move on. But I can't move on, I don't want to move on.

"Let's go up there, and find Queen Brahne!" Zidane says, and I follow him once again. We run up the stairs, down a walkway, and end up at a dead end. And there she is. Queen Brahne the destroyer herself. But... she has a glint of malice in her eyes, as she looks down at helpless Cleyra. She speaks to Beatrix...that foul Beatrix! But it is like watching a movie on mute, I don't know what was said. But Beatrix is walking away, looking...confused? Not precisely how I had imagined a terrible, cold-hearted killer to look. But my attention is once again focused on Brahne. She summons an orb up, calling to Odin. ODIN?! How...how can she?!?! I can't believe this...please let this be a bad dream I just want to wake up please let me wake up this can't be real oh please someone anyone please please make it go away it's not happening! I pull myself together. This is not the behavior of a dragon knight. I must accept what has happened, and face what is happening. I look at the reddened sky, knowing what must come next. But then I look down. I must remember Cleyra as the magnificent city in the treetops. I must have one last glimpse, something I will never have with Burmecia. I see Odin appear above Cleyra, and a terrible beam of unspeakable evil shoot from it, engulfing Cleyra. Odin returns to the fiery abyss from whence he came, and Brahne speaks. But I remain fixated on Cleyra, a smoldering crater. Not wanting to remember Cleyra like this, I focus on Brahne's words.

"...Garnet will be executed upon my return."

"Dagger!" Zidane yelps from his position on the walkway next to me. "We've got to do something! We need to get there before her!" I resist the urge to laugh, knowing it will infuriate him. That Zidane alright. Always wanting to help other people.

"We'll find a way." I say, but I am not so sure.

"Follow me!" Vivi speaks up from behind me, and walks away. I immediately follow, although Zidane lags behind, doubtful. But I know Vivi has to be sure. Vivi rarely suggests things, and rarely so confidently, I know he must have a good idea. I see him stop near the teleporters we used to get here, and wonder why we are here. Zidane walks up behind me.

"That guard said these went to Alexandria." Vivi says, by way of an explanation.

Zidane thinks for a split-second. A record for him, I am sure. "Alight then, let's go!" he says. We all jump into a separate teleporters.

"I'm coming, Dagger!" I hear Zidane say, before we are compressed into little spheres for travelling.

I can't believe he doesn't remember...but I still do. I always have, and I always will.

To be forgotten is truly worse than death.