Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy and all related characters are copyright: Square-Enix. So in a way this fanfic belongs to them, even though I am writing it. This story in available free for reading by the public. Aeon, Serina, Kodin, Redd, Dart, Grif, and the Forsaken Angel are copyright me though, I did essentially make them up. All rights reserved.
This story does contain violence, some gore, mild harsh language, and use of alcohol.
Final Fantasy 9: Forsaken Sorrow
Chapter 1: Blood-soaked Wings
The rain of Burmecia does what it always has done, fall. That's all if ever does. It just falls, never ending, never stopping. The sound of the rain hitting the stone roads and stone buildings is mixed in with the echoes of hammering. Despite the constant presence of rain soaking everything people work to rebuild the once great kingdom.
Burmecians scurry about carrying stones and lumber. The small amount of survivors of the sieges on the very kingdom they work to rebuild. Along the even smaller amount of survivors from Cleyra, which is now just a burnt, lifeless stump in the middle of a desert to the southwest. However, it's not just Burmecians and former Cleyrans here. Volunteers from Lindblum and Alexandria lend their assistance. Queen Garnet til Alexandros XVII also sent a number of workers there to help with the rebuilding in order to help make amends for the destruction that her mother, the previous ruler of Alexandria, caused.
Freya Crescent sits on a stone bench near a chapel that is missing a large part of its roof. Despite the lack of a complete roof she spots a group of Burmecians, her people, heading into the chapel. The rain rolls off her red helmet and rain coat. Her lance is allow to lean against her shoulder. Water drips off the tip. She moves her sliver hair from in front of her emerald eyes. A little wary of helping to haul stone and wood around she had sat down to give her time to rest some, and to think.
She can hear foot steps on the wet street coming towards her from behind. The owner of these foot steps is making no attempt to remain undetected by her.
"Lady Freya?" the person asks with concern in his voice.
Hearing her name spoken the red clad Dragon Knight turns her head and spots her visitor, Sir "Iron-Tail" Fratley. He stands there with his eyes seeming to hide under the brim of his hat. His spear slung on his back. His muzzle has a small amount of dirt from helping to stack stones. She gives a brief smile, but adverts her gaze and stares at the chapel.
"What troubles you?" Fratley asks as he moves closer.
"How long has it been?" she asks in return not looking at him. "How long has it been since we started to rebuild?"
"About two years," Fratley sits down on the stone bench.
"Two years…" Freya whispers and shakes her head in a subtle motion. "How long will it take before Burmecia even resembles its former glory?"
Fratley doesn't know how to answer that question, or if he even should try. He looks down at the ground. He has a feeling that Freya's not really think about how long Burmecia is taking to get fully rebuilt, but about how long it will be before he is fully rebuilt. How long will it be before his memory returns. He hears her sigh.
"How long will…" she starts to whisper to herself.
"It take for my memory to return?" Fratley finishes her question.
Freya's eyes widen for a brief second. She looks over at the man sitting next to her. The sound of distance rumbling rolls past as thunder clouds mingle with the ever present massive rain clouds over Burmecia.
"Lady Freya. I'm sorry, I wish I could remember. Everyday I try to recall my past life. I try to find the memories I know I have of you. I curse myself for forgetting someone," Fratley brings his hand up and strokes the side of her face, "as beautiful as you."
Freya blushes and smiles as she watches Fratley raise the brim of his hat so that his blue eyes fully meet with her emerald eyes.
"Will you allow me the honor," he slowly moves his head in closer, "of kissing perfection?"
"You always did have a way with words," she brings her hand up and glides her figures through his light brown hair.
Unfortunately the romance in the damp air vanishes as the two Dragon Knight hear screams of panic, pain, and death emanating from the chapel. With a gasp both look in the direction the screams came from. They are to their feet and running towards the building in split seconds. They have to head around since they were on the left side of the war torn chapel. Rounding the corner they spot two Burmecians scrabbling out the front door. When the reach the door a third Burmecian, a mother carrying her crying child, runs out. Fratley holds the door open as Freya stops her.
"What happened?" she asks loudly but calmly.
"A monster! Its in there!" the panic stricken woman screams. She continues running before either Freya or Fratley can ask anymore questions.
Freya looks at Fratley and nods. He nods in return, opens the door further, and swiftly enters. Freya enters after him and allows the door to close slowly and quietly. Ahead they can see a large area mostly devoid of furniture. Only a few pews can be seen, put there by the volunteers. Its disturbingly quiet. Only the sound of the rain coming through the massive hole in the ceiling can be heard. The Dragon Knights make their way through the entry way cautiously. Freya tightens the grip on her lance. The sound of breathing is now clear as the get closer to the main hall. They stop for a brief moment as they hear the ghastly sound of bones cracking and breaking.
Fratley points to his left and Freya nods. They turn the corner, weapons ready to repel any creature that might try to pop out at them. The strong scent of blood now overrides the scent of rain. They see the rain coming in through the missing part of the roof. They follow it to the right with their eyes. Then they see it. Both swallow a gulp of spit.
Standing just outside the edge of the incoming rain are two pairs of red and dull white feathered wings. An occasional drop of blood drips off of these wings. The creature is holding a dead Burmecian priest by the neck. Its fingers are sunk deep into the neck. Its victim hits the floor with a thud as he is dropped. Around the feet of the creature are six more dead Burmecians. Two have a look of terror on their faces. Three have no expression on their face because they have no head. The last one is sitting against the wall, a large splatter of blood above him with a streak leading down toward the poor soul. The creature shifts its wings and then starts to turn towards the Dragon Knights.
"What… is this abomination…?" Fratley asks as he stares at the creature.
The creature's skin is red and glistening. It doesn't even appear to be skin at all, but more like exposed muscle. Its fingers and toes are long and have sharp nails on the ends of them. The head is pointed, but the muzzle doesn't come to an actual point, but it is cut off making the mouth look square from the front. There are no lips, just four sharp fangs, two on the upper jaw and two on the lower jaw. There are a number of smaller pointed teeth as well. The ears lay flat at the top of the head and point back. Its eyes are a sickly green with cross-shaped pupils. A translucent red film covers the eyes then reveals them again, it obviously just blinked. It opens it mouth some. A long pointed tongue comes out and swings a couple of times before returning into the mouth. It extends it wings in a quick manner. Multiple drops of blood are flung from the wings across the wall, statues, and victims behind it. The wings slowly fold back in as the creature directs its gaze at the Dragon Knight in red.
Freya's heart starts to beat faster. She can feel the creature gaze upon her. She holds her Dragon's Hair lance up and takes a single step back. The creature starts to move towards her slowly. Its arms dangle as if limp, and sway back a forth with each slow step it makes. Its eye never stop looking at Freya. Even though it is not close to her, the creature raises its left arm like its trying to reach for her. Its slow advancement stops as Fratley steps in front of Freya.
He lefts up his long spear and points it at the winged creature. "Stop! You will not lay a hand on her, foul beast! I, Sir Fratley, shall make you pay for the crimes you have committed this day!"
The creature lets out a breath that gives off a since of disgusted contempt. Letting its left arm dangle again, it raises it right arm. A thin boney appendage bursts out for the forearm and heads straight at Fratley. Now he could jump out of the way, but that would put Freya at risk. Thus, he opts for using his spear to block the attack.
Freya hears sound of breaking wood and fur-covered skin being punctured. Fratley's spears falls to the floor in two pieces. He struggles to pull the bone-like appendage from the center of his chest. Blood runs between his clinched teeth.
"Fra… FRATLEY!!" she screams as the creature pulls the appendage from his chest and returns it to within its forearm. Freya catches her fallen lover in her arms, then lowers him down slowly to lie on the floor. She checks the wound. It doesn't seem to be too deep, but it has definitely incapacitated the brave Dragon Knight. Fratley grits his teeth and growls in pain. Freya hears the creature faint footsteps. She looks up and spots it once again moving forward and attempting to reach out for her.
She picks up the half of Fratley's spear with the blade. "GET BACK!!" She throws the weapon at the creature. The half spear becomes in bedded between its eyes. Its head jolts back as the weapon impacts. Blood pours out of the wound. The creature drops to its knees and then starts to fall forward. However, any though of this vile thing being vanquished ends when it catches itself. It breaths louder sitting there on all fours. The spear falls out of the wound it had inflicted.
'Its… still… alive?' Freya thinks to herself as she readies her Dragon's Hair lance. She prepares to move in to try and finish it off. Suddenly she hears a gut churning cracking splat as the creature slams its own head against the stone floor. "What the…?" she whispers to herself. Crack! Again, it slams its own head against the floor. A splatter of blood is not present. Crack! Again, it slams its head against the floor making the splatter of blood bigger. Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Over and over again, the creature brutally slams its head against the floor, which is now showing signs of become dented. Crack!! One last time, it slams its head into the floor and doesn't left it back up again.
'What the hell is wrong with this thing!?' is all Freya can think as she watches this thing resting its head in the splatter of blood it created.
The doors of the chapel can be heard opening, along with a number of armor clad footsteps getting closer. Burmecian soldiers enter the hall with their swords drawn. With them are two white mages from Alexandria. The creature looks up as they enter. Freya can see the bruising caused by it sadistic self beating, and the wound the spear caused, are quickly healing.
"What is that thing!?" a Burmecian shouts the obvious question.
"Keep away from it!" Freya warns having seen what its capable of.
The creature then lets out a loud wordless scream. The most vile of banishes would find this scream to be horrendous. Its wings unfold and begin flapping as it pushes itself off the ground. Hovering in the air it makes it way towards the area of the chapel where the rain is falling in. All the while keeping its gaze on Freya.
"Don't let it get away," a Burmecian soldier orders as two others rush in. Before they can even get near it, the creature gives its wings a heave and flies out of the hole in the roof. A flash of lightning allows Freya and others to see it escaping in the distance.
The two soldiers they tried to rush it sheath their swords and walk towards the unfortunate victims. One of them, a new recruit, has to cover his mouth and shallow. The other, a more experienced veteran, kneels down and gives a visual inspection of the grizzly scene.
Freya stares at the cloudy sky where they saw the creature escaping as the lightning flashed. The lightning flashes again, but there is no sign of the creature. There is, however, what appears to be a distant airship heading away from Burmecia. She wasn't able to recognize the shape of it, then again it was too far away to really make it out. She gasps. 'Fratley!' her mind is now on the one she loves. She turns to find the two white mages tending to the wounded Dragon Knight. They know the victims are beyond any saving at this point and concentrate on the one they believe they have a chance to save. Freya becomes greatly worried as she watches the male white mage cast Curaga and then casts it again. Her worry peaks when she hears the white mage say, "Damn it, come on."
Freya rushes over, "What's wrong!?" She tries to sound as calm as she can but only partly succeeds.
"The wound doesn't seem to be too bad, but it won't heal," the female white mage answers.
"What do you mean 'it won't heal'!?" Freya asks this time much of her worry making its way through.
The male white mage casts Curaga again and again Fratley's wound doesn't heal. "Get a potion! No, an elixir! Now!"
The female white mage takes an elixir from a pouch on her belt and takes the cork out. She pours it directly on the wound. It has no effect.
The male white mage hits his knee, "Damn it! Why doesn't anything work!?"
Fratley is breathing heavily and growls in pain. Freya gets down on her knees and rests Fratley's head on her lap. She stokes his hair and, in a bit of desperation, uses Reis's Wind on him. It fails just the same. She finds it impossible not to shed tears as she looks down at her hurt lover.
"We need a white archmage," the male white mage states. He looks at a Burmecian soldier. "Is the cargo airship still here?"
"Yes it is," the soldier answers.
"Okay. Tell the crew to get it ready for take off."
"Right away," the Burmecian soldier runs out of the chapel as fast as he can.
"Get a tarp or something to carry this guy," the male white mage says as he gets up and puts his arms under Fratley.
Freya and the female white mage lend their help. Two soldier enter the chapel carrying a tarp they had just ripped off a crude tent close by. The white mages instruct them to lay the tarp down. Fratley is gently set down on the tarp. Freya takes off her helmet and places it over the wound to keep the rain water from entering it.
"Okay on three," the male white mage grabs a corner of the tarp. Freya, the female white mage, and a Burmecian soldier grab the other corners. "One, two, three." All four lift up Fratley and carry him out.
The ever present rain seems to be more of a nuisance now then a commonality as they move Fratley towards an open field where the cargo ship waits. Its propellers spinning and its small crew ready to operate it. The captain of the vessel moves to meet them.
"Can that your ship fly over the mountains!?" the male white mage yells over the roar of the airship's engines.
"Yes! We came over the mountains when we arrived," the captain answers.
"Good, we need to get to Alexandria fast!"
The airship captain nods and takes over for the Burmecian soldier, who doesn't resist him at all and makes sure Fratley doesn't fall out of the tarp during the switch.
They board the vessel and set the groaning Dragon Knight on the deck. The captain motions to the helmsman to get the ship in the air. The helmsman pushes a lever up. The captain runs into the wheelhouse and instructs the helmsman to head to Alexandria. With a turn of the wheel the airship turns east. Its improved and more powerful steam engines lift it into the air effortlessly.
Freya holds her head and cries as she watches Fratley suffering. She can only prey that they can reach Alexandria in time, and that the white archmage there can help. Images of the creature that attack them run through her mind.
It is a bright and sunny day in Alexandria. A group of three short black mages walk, or more like wobble, down the street. A fourth is lingering behind.
The four black mages look similar but are dressed in different colored outfits, with the exception of their signature hats. The one leading the group is dressed in a blue coat and white pants with blue strips. He is the original, he name is Vivi.
The one to his left is dressed in a forest green coat and solid brown pants. His hat is also decorated with a forest green bandana. This much more energetic black mage is one of Vivi's "sons." His name is Dart.
"Hey dad!" he asks hopping down the road. "You think Zidane will show us some of his moves?" referring more to the thief's stealing skills rather than his fighting moves.
Vivi ponders for a second, "I-I don't know. You have to ask him."
"Now Dart. You know stealing is against the law," the black mage to Vivi's right states. He is dressed in a grey coat with two pocket on the front of it and solid white pants. His hat is pointed and not limp like his dad's and brother's are. His name is Grif. "And you shouldn't be encouraging him, dad."
"R-right, stealing is wrong Dart," Vivi informs his son of what he has already been told.
"Whatever," Dart answers in what has become his signature carefree tone. "Hey, where's Redd?"
"Oh, he's behind us," Grif sighs and points behind him with his thumb.
"HEY REDD!! HURRY UP!!" Dart shouts.
The black mage lagging behind simply groans as he hears his brother's shout. "I'm coming," he says in frustration. He bass voice startling a couple of Alexandrian residents. They weren't expecting to hear such a deep voice coming for such a small person. He is dressed in a red coat and dark red pants. He is a tiny bit taller than his brothers and father. His name, as mentioned before, is Redd.
"What?" he asks as he walks past the Alexandrian residents giving odd looks.
"Move it slow poke!" Dart shouts out as he runs towards his brother.
"Why?" Redd asks. "It's not like we're in a hurry."
"Umm…" Dart ponders as he runs in a circle around Redd. He doesn't notice bucket of bricks a man is carrying. The man accidentally hits Dart right in the face with the bucket knocking the green clad black mage on his back.
"Oh lord!" the man shouts worriedly, "are you okay little guy? I'm sorry!"
Dart jumps up laughing, "Wow, you hit me good there! I'm fine!" He then runs off to rejoin Vivi and Grif.
"Huh?" the man scratches his head. "Is that kid okay?"
"An airship could crash on him and would just brush it off," Redd answers with his bass voice while pointing towards Dart. "He doesn't feel pain apparently." He grumbles as he continues to follow his family at his own pace, "I swear I've got the weirdest brothers in the world."
The man tries to figure out what exactly just happened, but gives up and continues with the task he was doing.
"Master Vivi!" a familiar voice calls out to the group of black mages. Vivi looks over to see Steiner walking towards him, his armor making its famous clank-clank sound as he does. "Hi, Steiner!" Vivi waves.
"Ah I see we have Master Grif and Master Dart here too," Steiner smiles. "And where is Master Redd today?"
"I'm right here," Redd's bass voice utters from behind Grif.
"GAH!!" Grif yelps. "How do you do that!?"
"Do what?"
"Sneak up on us without making a sound."
"I didn't sneak up on you. You're just too jittery."
"Yes you did. You always sneak up on me."
"No I don't."
"Yes you do!"
"Now, now," Steiner intervenes. "Is that any way to speak to thy own sibling?"
"No," both Redd and Grif answer.
Steiner chuckles, but he can't help but feel like someone is staring holes in him. Then he notices Dart, who has his eyes locked on to the Knight's sword. Steiner turns towards the little black mage. "And what kind of mischief have we gotten thyself into this morn?"
"None yet," Dart chirps.
The word "yet" gives Steiner a slightly uneasy feeling. He remembers the last bit of "mischief" that Dart caused. He ended up using a Freeze spell and froze part of the moat, which the ferry ran aground on. Luckily, Vivi melted the ice and the ferry wasn't really damaged, but it did cause some distress with a few nobles. Especially the ones riding on the ferry.
"We're hear to visit Zidane," Vivi tells his friend.
"Oh yes, of course," Steiner thinks for a brief second. "Last I saw him he was with her Majesty at the castle archery range. I would be honored to take you there personally."
"Thank you." Redd, Grif, and Dart chime in at the same time.
Vivi's eyes squint to indicate a smile, "T-Thank you, friend."
Steiner leads the Orunitias towards the castle. Redd still lags a bit behind them though, while Dart tries to get him to move faster.
An arrow flies towards a target and strikes the yellow bull's-eye. Garnet nods her head in approval of her shot. Her lessons on the use of the bow and arrow with Beatrix have paid off. She blushes and shakes her head as she hears loud whistling and clapping. She looks over her shoulder to see Zidane, her fiancé, cheering her on. She lets a giggle escape her lips as she hears him chanting "Dagger, Dagger, Dagger."
"Alright, alright," Garnet says as she picks up a quiver from a nearby table. "You can stop now."
"Aww," Zidane jokingly complains. "I was just getting into it."
"We have guests coming. So, we need to make sure things are prepared."
"We still have time," Zidane tip-toes up to Garnet and then embraces her from behind. "Besides, there are other activities I'm wanting to get into."
Garnet gasps a little when she is grabbed, "Zidane Tribal, you are impossible at times." She gives him a quick kiss.
Zidane grins, "You know someday you'll have to use to being Garnet Tribal."
"Actually, since I am the Queen," Garnet rubs Zidane's chin. "I was thinking you should change your last name to Alexandros."
"Hmmm… Zidane Alexandros… the first. Kind of has a nice ring to it." Zidane frowns when he hears a distance clank-clank and sighs. "Here comes, Rusty."
"We'll have plenty of time for romance tonight," Garnet reassures her fiancé with a flirting smile and kiss on the cheek.
"Can't wait," Zidane says as he reluctantly lets Garnet go.
"Your Majesty!" Steiner shouts from archway entrance to the archery range. "I present Masters Vivi, Grif, Dart, and Redd!" The mention friends enter the range one at a time, though Redd takes a few seconds longer than the rest.
"Zidane!" Vivi waves.
Dart runs and hops up towards Zidane and Garnet.
"Hey, it's the Dart-man," the thief gives the tiny black mage a gentle pat on the head. "Didn't see anything on fire did you?" he asks recalling the time the mage in the green coat almost burned up the castle's herb garden, while doing "pest control."
"Nope," Dart answers with glee. "I don't use fire magic anymore. It's more fun to freeze stuff!"
Zidane lets out a good laugh.
"We know, and the ferryman had his eye on you the whole trip across the moat," Grif states as he walks on up, along with Vivi.
"Yeah, I miss the old lady that use to do that."
"W-well, she retired," Vivi readjusts his hat. "Not much you can do about t-that."
"Of course," Grif continues. "It is better that you tend to freeze things now then set them ablaze now. Unlike a certain other black mage."
"Hey," Redd knows that remark was made towards him. "That Trick Sparrow was asking to get fried."
"But you didn't have to use such a strong fire spell on it," Grif shakes his fist at Redd in a similar manner that Steiner use to do at Zidane. "You ended up ruining my tomato plants."
"They grew back didn't they?"
"That's besides the point!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Zidane puts himself between the black mages. "That's all in the past now. Come on, Quina's probably has the food all set out and salivating over it by now."
"FOOD!!" Dart yells upon hearing Zidane mention Quina's cooking.
A short time later in the dining hall. Dart and Quina are having their own eating contest, something that occurs with every visit. While the others have their meals at the other end of the long table.
"So, w-where's Eiko?" Vivi attempts to strikes up a conversation.
"She's in Lindblum with Regent Cid and Hilde," Garnet answers. "She couldn't stop by for a visit this time due her lessons in proper etiquette." She can't help but smile at the thought of poor Eiko having to sit still for another lecture by that stuffy etiquette teacher of hers.
"Oh yeah," Vivi recalls that she has to attend those lessons.
"Well," Steiner adds. "Being a princess means she has much more responsibility now. That includes making a proper impression on her people. Perhaps, Zidane should take a few lessons from her instructor."
Zidane chokes a little on the mashed potatoes he's eating, of all things, upon hearing that. He shares the same feeling towards that instructor that Eiko does. In other words, he can't stand him.
"Perhaps…" Garnet feigns thinking of making Zidane take the lessons.
"No way," her fiancé objects. "I'm not going any where near that stuck up nut job." He sighs, "subject change. I wonder what our old friend Amarant is up too."
"Probably, no good. The scoundrel," Steiner responses.
"Speaking of which," Garnet speaks. "I wonder how Freya… is… doing…" She notices a cargo airship through the massive windows of the dinning hall.
Zidane, Steiner, and Vivi look out the window as well.
"Isn't that the cargo ship we sent to Burmecia?" Steiner ponders. "I didn't think they be back so soon."
"They use up all those supplies already?" Zidane puts his arms on his hips. Then he notices the red flag it is flying at the back of it. He knows this is a distress signal.
"They're in trouble," he hears people running down the hallway and looks to see the castle's white archmage run by. "Hey, Kodin!"
Kodin, the newly appointed White Archmage of Alexandria, stops to see Zidane and Garnet come out of the dinning hall. They are follow shortly by Steiner and Vivi. Grif and Redd come out too, but Dart and Quina are still too pre-occupied with their eating contest.
"Oh, lord Zidane," Kodin addresses the soon to be king. He is no taller than Steiner, but not nearly as bulky in the gut department. Even though he is only in his upper 30s he has grey hair that is cut short. He is clean shaven, something his is ritualistic about. He is wearing the a royal white robe. The robe is a feather white with blue accents around the sleeves and hood, which is currently down. The crest of Alexandria is adorned on the front around the heart area. "I apologize, but I'm afraid I can't chat right now."
"Yeah, we know about the cargo ship," Zidane says. "You can tell us about it on the way."
"Very well," the group continues down the hallway following Kodin.
"Do you know the reason for the distress flag?" Steiner asks.
"They have a gravely wounded man onboard," Kodin answers as they turn a corner. "The white mages at Burmecian couldn't help him there. So they had to bring him here. Hopefully, I can use my magic and the equipment I have here to save him."
Zidane only has one question on his mind, "Who is it? Do you know?"
Kodin hesitates to tell them for a moment. "It's Sir Fratley."
Hearing Kodin say that name makes Zidane's chest feel a thousand times heavier. His run slows. He had a feeling that it was one of the two Dragon Knights he knew closely, but he had hoped he was wrong. Unfortunately, he was right.
"No. Freya must be devastated." Garnet slows up to keep with Zidane's pace. They watch as Kodin turns another corner and heads down the a long glass domed hallway leading to a loading bay built but two months ago.
"Come on," Zidane says as he sprints down to the loading bay. The rest follow after him.
Aboard the cargo airship Freya holds her helmet down over her eyes to hide her tear poring eyes. Her Dragon's Hair lance shakes in her grip. Why is this happening? Why must she endure such seemingly never ending torment. It never ends, it never stops. She looks at her beloved Fratley. A bandage is now around his torso. The white mages bandaged the wound the moment the airship cleared the rain clouds of Burmecia. Even being jolted forward a bit as the airship docks at the loading bay doesn't take her mind off Fratley or what had happened in Burmecia.
"One, two, three," the male white mage says again. He, the female white mage, and two of the airship's crew left Fratley with the tarp. Kodin watches as they exit the airship, the proceeds walk along side when they pass by.
"What's the diagnosis?" he asks.
The male white mage shakes his head, "Not quite sure. He has a wound on his chest that refuses to heal. Even pouring an elixir directly on to the wound did nothing."
"Okay," Kodin says while looking the patient over. "Take him to critical ward of the infirmary."
Zidane watches Fratley clinch his chest in pain as he is carried past. Garnet puts her hand over her mouth. Zidane sees Freya walking slowly down the hall.
"Freya! What happened?" he can't help but ask.
"We we're attacked," Freya answers without looking up.
"By who? I'll make them pay whoever they are." Steiner closes his fist.
"I… don't know. It was like…" images of the creature beating its head against the stone floor of the chapel and letting out that horrid scream flood her mind. "…a living nightmare."
Zidane paces back and forth down looking up at the closed wooden doors to the infirmary's critical ward every so often. Steiner stands next to the door to act as guard. Vivi sits on a cushioned bench with his three sons and Quina. The eating contest between Dart and Quina had ended in a tie, but that tiny contest is far from their minds at the moment. Freya and Garnet sit on another cushioned bench directly in front of the door. The Queen of Alexandria places her hand on the Dragon Knight's shoulder.
"Fratley will be alright," Garnet tries to reassure her. "Kodin is an expert in medicine and white magic."
Freya simply gives a half-hearted nod.
The door finally opens and Kodin steps out. While Freya is the first to stand up from the bench, Zidane is the first to ask the expected question. "How's he doing?"
Kodin sigh, "well we've managed to ease his pain, but the wound still won't heal up."
"Why?" Freya's hands ball up into fists and shake. "Why can't you heal him?"
Kodin actually giving an answer to that question is a surprise to everyone. "There's an infection. I've not seen one like it before, but I believe that is what is preventing the wound from healing. The infection is also spreading, but we've slowed it down considerably."
"What will happen if the infection spreads through his body?" Freya asks even though she is dreading to hear the answer.
"I don't know. I'm sorry."
"C-can we see him?" Vivi inquires.
"Sorry, but not right now. He needs to rest."
"I understand," Freya wants nothing more to do then to be at Fratley's side, but she knows the white archmage is right.
"I'll be sure to send word the moment his condition changes." Kodin reenters the critical ward of the infirmary. The wooden door closes and the hall is silent.
Zidane scratches the back of his nervously. "I think we all could use a drink. If anything it will help calm our nerves. I'll buy."
The others can't help but agree with the monkey-tailed thief. Even Freya hesitantly goes with them to a bar in town despite her desire to stay with her beloved.
While barely more than an hour has passed, a lot more time seems to have passed since they left the castle. Freya stares down at her glass of whiskey. She hasn't even touched it. Zidane takes only his second sip from his beer. Garnet and Steiner don't even have an interest in drinking. Quina had stayed at the castle to clean up the food and dishes that remained on the dinning hall table. Vivi and Redd enter the bar. They had just helped Grif tuck Dart into bed at the inn for a nap. Shortly after that Grif decided to get a little bit of sleep as well.
"What's with all the doom and gloom?" the barkeep asks.
"Let's just say the day took a bad turn," Zidane replies.
The barkeep shrugs and continues with this job of wiping glasses and serving drinks.
A moment of quiet between the friends.
"I can't stop thinking about it," Freya says. "That… thing that attacked Fratley."
Another moment of quiet.
"It kept staring at me…" Freya rubs her forehead. "Fratley tried to protect me when…"
"We'll get through this," Garnet tries to comfort the Burmecian.
"Yeah, he'll put through I know it," Zidane adds. "He not known as Sir 'Iron-Tail' Fratley for nothing."
"Even if he is forgetful," Redd blurts out without thinking.
Vivi elbows him in the arm, "Redd!"
"Ow, sorry. I deserved that." Redd rubs his arm feeling bad about what he just said.
"Well he is," Freya says with a faint smile. Redd's comment actually lightened her mood a little.
Screams of panic and terror echo through the streets of Alexandria and enter the bar's open windows. "It's a monster!" and "What is that thing!?" are heard as people run by the bar in the street. These kind of screams are familiar to Freya. After all, she heard similar in Burmecia not too long ago. The six friends scrabble out of the bar.
A crowd of people running past prevent them from seeing the cause of the disturbance at first, and the screams make asking anyone what's happening useless. They don't have long to wait till they see what the reason for all the panic is. A pair of blood-soaked wings stretch out.
Freya recognizes it immediately. How could she not? "That's it! That's what attacked us in Burmecia!"
"Holy crap," is all Zidane can say.
The creature's red, glistening, skin is even more grotesque in the sunlight.
"It looks as if it has been skinned alive," Steiner observes.
The creature looks up at the group of six before it. Its arms are allowed to dangle as it stands stumped over. Déjà vu occurs as it once again fixes it gaze upon Freya, slowly starts to move forward, and raises its arm to reach out for her.
Steiner draws his sword, "foul beast! We will make you pay for what you did to our comrade!"
Zidane pulls out his dual daggers, "just what I was thinking!"
The creature lets its arm dangle once again. It takes in a deep wheezing breath, and then lets out a earsplitting screech. The screech echoes through the town and can even be heard at the castle.
"Real scary," Zidane states with a confident smile on his face.
"Zidane," Freya warns, "don't underestimate it."
The monkey-tail thief rushes towards the creature. He slides in and slashes it across the chest. The creature makes no attempt to dodge or block the strike. He slashes it across the eye, then stabs it in the gut, and then slashes its throat. He then takes a couple of steps away from and turns with his daggers ready to do more damage. The creature remains standing. Blood pours out the cuts it has. Then the wounds start to heal on their own at an unbelievable speed.
"What the hell?" Zidane complains as he sees his work being reversed before his eyes.
"Get away from it!" Freya shouts out.
Steiner begins his own charge towards the enemy.
The creature's injured eye heals up and the cross-shaped pupil changes it shape to a diamond. It raises its right arm, and before the thief can even react stabs him in the shoulder with a boney appendage from its forearm.
Zidane drops his daggers and yells in pain as the creature lifts him off the ground.
"Zidane!" Garnet cries out as she fires an arrow into the creature's chest. The arrow is simply pulled out and the one who fired it ignored.
Vivi casts Firaga on Steiner's sword. The knight brings the flaming blade down on the creature. A plume of fire forces the creature back, and then boney appendage comes out of Zidane's shoulder. Steiner catches the hurt future king and carries him back to Garnet. The fire clears and the creature, who's minimal injuries from the flames are already almost healed, sends the boney appendage towards Garnet. However, Freya cuts it off with her lance. The severed part turns to dust and vanishes in the air. The creature recoils the appendage back into it forearm and gazes at Freya once again. The pupils in its eyes returning back to their cross-shape.
What is heard from the creature's mouth sends shivers down the Dragon Knight's spine. "Freeeeeeeyaaaaaaaaaa…" its says with a hissing whisper.
"What? Who… what the hell are you!?" Freya points her lance at the creature. "What did you do to Fratley!?"
Zidane is heard crying out in pain the way Fratley did in Burmecia.
"Zidane!" Garnet holds her fiancé, "Hold on!"
"The beast is just playing mind games!" Steiner stands next to Freya with his sword ready.
Vivi and Redd are near Zidane and Garnet to shield them from any further possible strikes from the creature with blood-soaked wings.
The streets darken as a shadow comes over them. They, and the creature, look up to see an airship above them. The underside of this airship is just a few feet above the highest rooftop. The airship is large, in fact it's big then the Hilda Garde III is. Its hull is painted white. The top half of the airship is similar to the Hilda Garde III's top half except being a hue of white of course. The bottom half is a long oval bowl shape with added part that extends out past the top half in the front. This extension is a glass canopy with windows that go around the top and bottom giving a clear view in almost all directions. Between the top and bottom parts of the ship is a center section that connects them together. There are two large wings on the back of the bottom part. There are also a number of smaller wings on the top half. These wings lack the wing-like look like the ones traditionally found on Lindblum and Alexandrian airships. They are smooth and much more mechanical looking. A pair of large propellers are on the back of the vessels lower half. Four propeller engines of considerable size are located on the upper half, two on each side. The most noticeable feature are the huge twin-lances on the side of the vessel. Located just behind the glass canopy, on both sides, is an emblem. A shield with a red "C" on the front and four swords crossing each other behind it. Below the emblem is the name of this airship, Dual Lance.
"That's not one of ours," Steiner states the obvious.
Part of the underside opens revealing a cannon with a harpoon in its barrel. Boom! The cannon fires its special ammo at the winged creature. The harpoon pierces straight though the creature's chest and stabs into the cobblestone street. Hooks on the back of the harpoon extend out. The harpoon is reeled back until the hooks skin into the creature's back. The hooks inject some kind of glowing liquid that seems to sedate the creature. Despite having a harpoon through its torso, the creature remains very much alive. The airship moves forward until the chain attaching the harpoon to the cannon is completely vertical.
"What the hell is going on!?" Steiner shouts. As he does two airboat fighters descend on the scene. They are the same hue of white as the Dual Lance. One stays in the air, while the others lowers enough to the ground to let out some of the passengers. Two red mages, three armored knights and a female Burmecian.
"Okay!" the Burmecian shouts. "If everyone stays calm and doesn't do anything stupid! We'll be out of your hair in no time!" She is wearing a tan leather cuirass and pants. She has a short sword and dagger on her belt. Unlike other members of her race she is actually wearing a pair of dark brown leather boots. These boots are specially designed to fit on her rat-like feet comfortably. Her red hair is made up into a braided ponytail. She is slider with an athletic body.
Steiner growls and hops in frustration. This is all become confusing to him and he's determined to find some answers. Freya, Garnet, Vivi, and Redd share his need for answers.
The harpoon pops out of the cobblestones its in and the sedated creature starts to get lifted into the airship.
"Who are you, and what is that!?" Steiner shouts out trying to get the answers he, and the others, seek.
"Just stay where you are old man, and you won't get hurt," the Burmecian in tan leather smirks.
Steiner's eye twitches, "old man? Fine! If you curs won't give us any answers then we'll just have to make you!" He and Freya charge forward.
The Burmecian snaps her fingers and two of the armored knights step in front of her and hold up their large shields. Both take out a one-handed axe from the back of the shield. Their faces are concealed by their helmets and their armor looks to be able to withstand plenty of attacks. Steiner swings his sword, which hits the knights shield with a sharp sounding clank and a spark. The enemy knight takes a swing with his axe at Steiner. The captain of the Knights of Pluto deflects the counter. He is shoved back when his opponent jabs his shield forward.
Freya jumps over the knight facing her and points her lance at the leather clad Burmecian. The other Burmecian smiles and hops backward. Freya's lance strikes the street. She quickly takes it out of the ground.
"Why did you send that thing to Burmecia?" Freya growls.
The other Burmecian laughs, "we didn't send it anywhere." She unsheathes her weapons, "I'm kind of glad you were dumb enough to try and interfere. I've always wanted to humiliate a Dragon Knight. The name's Serina by the way. So you'll know who to curse after you lose."
The two Burmecians leap into the air. The echo of colliding metal ripples through the streets as they clash in mid-air. They land and Serina dashes at Freya. The Dragon Knight side steps to avoid the dagger aimed at her throat. She counters by thrusting her lance at a downward angle at her opponent. She hits the stones of the street as her attack is avoided. Freya spins around and takes a sweeping swipe, but this is avoided as well.
The enemy knight who Freya had jumped over uses his shield to deflect arrows being fired by Garnet. "Vivi!"
Vivi starts to cast Fira, he is not sure he should use the more powerful firaga inside the city. The knight gets down on one knee, plants the shield on the street, and takes cover behind it. Vivi's Fira spells makes it way towards the knight but the shield has a curved design, which means the spells literally rolls of it. One of the red mages steps forward and sends a Thunder spell at Vivi. Redd steps in front of his dad. The spell sends jolts of electricity through his body.
"Ow, that hurt," Redd shakes his head. He then retaliates with a Firaga spell. The knight moves in front of the red mage and does as he did before. The mage casts Shell on him. The same result occurs as with Vivi's spell.
"Oh, come on," Redd complains. It is obvious that these aren't just some ragtag group bandits or amateurs. These are trained warriors. The knight stands and throws his axe towards Vivi and Redd. Not wanting the wounded Zidane to be in harms way, Garnet casts Protect. The spell knocks the axe away. The knight takes out a second one-handed axe from behind his shield. Garnet glances down at Zidane, who is holding his shoulder. She loads her bow with an arrow then pulls back on the string. It's time for her to protect him.
"Garnet! L-look out," Vivi cries out. An arrow collides with the Protect spell. On the airboat hover above two crossbowmen aim their crossbows at Garnet. They fire and the arrows are deflect by the Protect spell again, but the spell is showing signs of weakening. The crossbowmen grip an small handle sticking out of the side of their weapons. They pull it back. Another arrow rises up out a long opening and comes to rest as the same handle pulls the string back. Their bolt-action crossbows are ready to fire again.
Garnet fires an arrow at the airboat. The crossbowmen duck for cover as the arrow hits the side of the boat. She takes another arrow from her quiver and fires again. She might not be able to get a clear shot on the crossbowmen, but she can at least keep them from firing anymore. That is until she runs out of arrows. She fires another arrow, then reaches for another arrow. She can only feel five of them. Vivi and Redd are busy trying to keep the knight and red mage at bay. 'Where's a miracle when you need one?' she thinks to herself firing another arrow at the airboat.
The second red mage and third knight observe the creature being raised into the belly of the Dual Lance. When the red mage feels a presence behind him. He unsheathes his sword and turns to see mass of red hair.
Amarant Coral cracks his knuckles.
The red mage takes a swipe with his sword. Amarant bends back to avoid it, then counters with a hard palm jab to the chest. The cracking of ribs is heard. He lets loose a series of hard palm jabs to the same spot and finishes the red mage with a upper jab to the face, which sends the nose cartilage into the brain. The dead red mage collapses to the ground. The third knight wields his claymore and charges towards the Flaming Amarant, who takes out his claw.
The knight does an upward swing. Amarant ducks the claymore and jabs his claw. The knight knocks the claw away with his hand and swings the claymore back downwards. It only grazes Amarant red locks. He catches the claymore with his claw to block another swing. He jerks his arm with the claw out. His opponent stumbles back a few steps because of this, but quickly regains his balance and brings his claymore into a ready position that is good for both striking and deflecting.
Amarant must confess that he is sort-of impressed. These guys are not the pushovers he's used to having to deal with. Then again, neither is he. He notices in the corner of his eye a Burmecian in tan leather land and slide a short distance. Then he sees Freya land next to him.
"So who'd you piss off this time, rat?" Amarant keeps a steady eye on the claymore wielding knight in front of him. Freya doesn't answer, but it's not like the monk expected her to.
Serina notices the creature is almost inside the airship. She lets out a sharp whistle, "the Angel's almost loaded up! Time to pull out!"
'Angel?' Freya looks up at this "Angel" being pull up into the airship.
The other airboat swoops in and hovers close to the ground. Serina and the knight with the claymore begin to head towards it.
"We can't let them leave! They know what that thing is!" Freya starts to run after them.
"Excuse me?" Amarant raises an eyebrow as he watches the Dragon Knight rush towards the airboat.
The remaining red mage casts a Thunder spell at Freya. She has to jump out the way. Missing her chance to stop them from boarding the airboat.
"Come back here cowards," Steiner tries to chase the knight he was fighting, but arrows from a crossbowman in the other airboat prevent him from doing so. Instead of following the knight he has to run the other direction as arrows bounce of the stone streets.
Serina smiles and waves as the airboat gains altitude. The airboats fly around the side of the Dual Lance and enter through two openings on the sides of the middle section. Freya sees the doors on the underside of the airship starting to close. Using her strong Burmecian legs she jumps on a roof. Amarant follows her. He has an idea of what she intends to do, but he's not too thrilled about it. She leaps off the roof and grabs on to the closing door. She pulls herself up and into the airship just moments before they close. Amarant missed his chance to make it into the ship, but that doesn't mean he has missed his chance to get on it.
"Stupid rat," he looks around and sees that one of the wings is very close to another rooftop. Without hesitation he moves as swiftly as he can. He is jumps on the wing just as the ship starts to rise up further into the air.
Inside the bridge of the Dual Lance a man watches Alexandria begins to lower from his view from within the canopy. He wears a suit of armor that is polished to a grand shine. This shine gives the armor a silvery color. A white cloak bearing the same emblem that is on the side of the airship is draped around his shoulders. His black hair is combed back, slick, and short. He holds a long sword that is pointed downwards with it tip resting on the floor of the bridge. It is just as polished as his armor is.
He hears "the Angel is onboard and secured, Lord Aeon," from one of the many pipes around used to communicate throughout the airship. He also hears "all airboats are docked as well." Lord Aeon smiles.
"My lord," one of the crew on the bridge speaks, "enemy airship approaching. It's the Red Rose."
"Slow to react aren't they?" Aeon motions his arm. "Let us take our leave. Head for home, full speed."
The Dual Lance starts to move forward. The Red Rose approaches it from the left. The white airship turns away from the Alexandrian flagship. The engines roar and the vessel proceeds to gain speed surprisingly fast. The small wings on the upper part fold in as it goes faster. Amarant grips front edge the large wing he jumped onto.
"Follow that ship!" Beatrix orders from the bridge of the Red Rose.
"It's no use ma'am," the helmsman states. "The unknown airship is too fast. We won't be able to catch it."
"I don't want to hear excuses! Push this ship to it limits if you have to!"
The Red Rose's engines roar as they try to push and pull the ship faster, but the Dual Lance is already out of sight. Beatrix hits the railing with her fist.
"Hold on Zidane!" Garnet and Steiner carry the thief as fast as they can to the castle. Zidane can feel the wound in his shoulder getting hotter and more painful.
Freya scans the inside of the Dual Lance. The inside is lined with metal beams, the frame of the airship. There is an arrangement of catwalks above her in the shape of an "H". She can see the underside of a huge glass cylinder suspended from the ceiling, which the catwalk surrounds.
"We have an intruder!" she hears someone shout. "Open the bay doors." A crossbowman slides a rectangular box onto the bottom of his bolt-action crossbow. He pulls back on the bolt and fires.
Freya avoids the arrow and starts to make her way up the side to avoid being literally dropped off the airship and leaps onto the catwalk near the crossbowman. She drives her lance into the crossbowman. She removes her weapon and he drops to the floor dead. She walks around the catwalk looking at the ocean rushing by below. An incredibly uneasy feeling of being watched comes over her. Then she hears heavy breathing and a shiver runs up and down her spine. She turns to see the creature looking at her from within the glass cylinder. The harpoon still stuck straight through it. Freya takes a step back and bumps into the railing.
"Freeeeeeyaaaaaa…" it hisses. This creature, this "Angel," stares at her like a stalker.
"Who are you?" Freya whispers trying to compose herself. "What do… ugh…" Her head starts to hurt. It feels like she's being hit by a hammer from the inside. Every single painful memory of her life force their way to the front of her mind. Fratley leaving her, the years of searching, people telling her rumors of his death, returning to a Burmecia in ruins, watching Odin destroy Cleyra, finding a Fratley who doesn't remember her, and seeing him lying on the chapel floor. They all come rushing back demanding her mind's attention. Then she sees an image of an angel tearing itself apart in her mind. An angel going from beautiful to horrific as other angels simply walk away.
"Stop… it… please… stop…" Freya lets out a scream as the pain inside her head becomes unbearable. She begins to blackout, falls over the railing, and out of the airship.
Amarant spots a body falling from the open bay doors and knows its Freya. "Damn it," he dives off the wing and into the water below.
Armored knights enter the room of the airship with the glass cylinder, their weapons drawn. Behind them is the man known as Lord Aeon. They search around for the intruder. One checks the pulse of the crossbowman. He declares him dead of course.
"The intruder is not here sir," a knight reports.
"Search the rest of the ship just in case," Aeon orders.
"Yes sir," a couple of knights leave the room.
Aeon looks down at the ocean as it streaks by, "close the bay doors."
"Yes sir," a knight pulls a lever on a small control panel on the railing.
The bay doors begin to close as Aeon walks over to the glass cylinder. "You caused a good bit of trouble. My dear Forsaken Angel."
The creature he just called the Forsaken Angel doesn't respond at all, but instead just tilts its head around.
Aeon smiles, "you are going to help me avenge my family. Oh yes, you are."
The Dual Lance soars over the vast waters of Gaia. The tip of large mountain range can be seen on the distant horizon.
__________________________