Disclaimer: I don't own FFIX, or any of the characters. I'm broke anyway, so if you sued, you might get a penny.
Note: I use alliteration a lot. There's one already (I think...). I'm poetic, random, and I don't tend to take constructive criticism too well. But you can still give it to me as long as you don't ramble on into a list of terrible things about the story. Also, I don't know why, but I used Dragon Knight interchangeably with Dragoon. You can tell me if I'm wrong or I need to change it because I have no idea if that's wrong or right. Oh, what else...nope, that's it. =)
Heresy of Rain by cherry
Part I- Dragoon Dogma
Freya Crescent, an elite member of the royal Dragon Knights of Burmecia, was currently in the insane process of Christmas present shopping. The mad, chaotic rush of people scurrying around to buy presents was far more than irritating. Sure, it was a joy to receive and a joy to give, but who knew what sort of twisted minds were behind the aphorism-like prose of greeting cards. As far as she was concerned, Christmas shopping was hell on earth. The disorderly exodus of Burmecians from their homes to the shops was an unmistakable factor that made this time of year so vexatiousand frightening.
No sane person would venture out onto the foggy streets to get rain-soaked, possibly mugged, and, almost for sure, beaten for some reason or another. That was perhaps the reason that only Dragon Knights and Burmecian guards were seen during this holiday anymore. At least the Dragoons and guards could purchase their belongings with an air of gracethat is until they find the consumer who purchased the last of a certain giftthen it would become ugly.
Freya, however, maintained her benevolence and grace. She wasn't willing to stoop so low as to steal from the seemingly innocent Burmecian families. There were only a few families that didn't hire a Dragon Knight or guard to purchase their gifts or accompany them. Those that couldn't find a guard simply invaded the streets in their huge flocks, defending the carrier the bags of gifts in the center of the ring. Whenever Freya witnessed these strange happenings, she shook her head sadly and sauntered off in the opposite direction. She wanted no association with the mad shopping rush and had hoped that she wouldn't be asked by someone to accompany them.
Unfortunately, Puck, who favored her over all the other Dragon Knights, asked her of that very favor. She complied with his request, and thus she was wandering the streets, searching for the silly presents scribbled on a sheet of parchment.
Christmastime brought the worst instead of the best out of the usually kind, generous, and family-attached Burmecians. But perhaps it happened to be those same qualities that brought about their worst traits. They would rip through the streets, trying to bargain out one another for that rare wood-working tool and race to purchase the rare trinkets that the little ones pleaded for. They were all too family-devoted, if you asked Freya. Her connections with her family were severed long ago, and she wasn't about to reflect on it again. Why should she? After all, they were the ones who had so blithely insisted on her leaving, while they were at their darkest hour. But being young, priorities always seemed to be a twisted thing, never seeing the true light until it was finally too late and Fate stole her happiness.
Her family, who she thought she could trust and confide in, had fled Burmecia after being questioned of a Burmecian scandal. Freya remembered thinking that the family insisted on her leaving to end her own misery. But as it turned out, the family's intention all along was to leave her! By the time she was back, Fratley had learned of her family's fall from power. He almost ended it with Freya then, as he felt ashamed to be associated with her. It seemed to be the common attitude towards Freya at the time. She vowed to be independent and regain honor for her family name. She solved the problem by becoming a Dragon Knight. Her family's social status had been regained, but it didn't matter any longer to Freya. During her many years of training, she learned to despise her family for their infidelity and fall from virtue to dirty corruption.
Now was not the time to reminisce over past tragedies, however. She was in a new light now and she no longer had the burden of the past upon her shoulders. She looked around and tipped her hat upward a bit to get a view of her surroundings.
The ground was polluted with tattered wrapping paper lying defenseless against the battering rain and shreds of ribbons glittering in the strong gusts of wind. It looked as if someone had thrown a late-night party and everyone had hangovers. Hopefully, one of those drunken knaves won't come ambling over to me,' thought Freya in utter disgust.
Speak of the devil. As if on cue, a lanky Burmecian crashed full-force into Freya and caused both of them landed very awkwardly. The tall man was lying atop Freya but both were blinded by shopping bags. She was a bit uncomfortable at the circumstances and fidgeted nervously under the Burmecian who, surprisingly, wasn't drunk. She could tell he was sober as the strong smell of Burmecian alcohol was absent on him or his clothes. Not often was it that Freya lost her grace, but as it happened to be, this was one of the times.
Excuse meYou should exercise your discretionsir. I apologize, however said Freya with a hint of irritation evident in her voice. She had not known whether to be angry or sorry, thus her reply came out very strange indeed. But the reply was soon forgotten, as the stranger stood and brushed some silvery hair out of his face.
I see we meet once again, Lady Freya, said an unfazed Fratley, picking himself up off of Freya.
Sir Fratley! I-I'm terribly sorry! exclaimed Freya, turning crimson with chagrin. This cannot occur nowit's too early!' Freya thought frantically. She cleared her mind of the thought and continued despondently, must be leaving now
She picked up her bags full of gifts and slid away into the depths of darkness, the crystallized rain falling from the sky onto the pallid face of Sir Fratley.
~*~
Bah, Christmas!' thought Freya miserably. Her encounter with Fratley had shaken her, as she wasn't ready to face him. So it's true his memory still lingers,' she thought, distressed and uneasy. She was hoping that there would be a way to forget about him, but as much as she had tried searching for that way, her attempts were fruitless and to no avail.
She paused at the border between rain and snow. It seemed magical that the snow fell only over the town square during the wintertime. Elsewhere, the rain still battered on and on, bouncing back off of the stone grounds of Burmecia, like echoes straying afar from a yonder voice. Freya sat on the edge of a bench that was forlorn and abandoned, as everything except town square was, during this holiday season. She closed her eyes painfully, and recalled a memory from a time not so distant in the past
She had said it. Freya had finally spoken the three words of promise that were so hard for her to voice. It had taken a long time and now, she was ready to hear his response. Freya stole a glance at Fratley, hoping he would return her rather shaky vow. Her eyes were lucid with the hope of true love and flickered slightly as she anxiously awaited Fratley's approval. Her nervousness, however, did not bypass her elatedness, for she had contemplated the speech for many months, choosing the exact words to match her fickle emotions. Finally, she became convinced that he wouldn't turn her down. But Fratley, who was looked as if he was having some sort of mental argument or an epileptic fit, replied hesitatingly, You are a truly a woman worthy of her given name, in terms of beauty, skill on the battlefield, among other things as well. You are most deserving of the best man, someone who can support you and dedicate his entire life to youbut it is far too soon for me to be able to committo you. He was finished and turned away from Freya, his eyes shut to block out the heart-breaking image of her before him. It was evident that Freya's speech had hurt him as much as Fratley's reply had hurt her, but his last words stung the most and they echoed in her mind long after they were said.
I seeWell, I am sorry for wasting your time said Freya, shielding her eyes. She added in a soft undertone, Goodbye, Sir Fratley. This may be the last time we meet
Freya tipped her hat politely and ran off, faster and faster into the blinding monsoon until Fratley was out of view.
Freya's face twisted convulsively at the bittersweet memory. She was angry that she acted with such naïveté, letting herself fall completely for Fratley. Only an adolescent would act upon such a naïve whim! She thought she was past that stage in her life, but it seemed that she would always be head-over-heels in love for him. She shook her head wildly, trying to dispel the awful thought.
Seeing Fratley again after he had rejected her was humiliating and also sad. Sad, to see that he was faring well without her. Sad, to see he was enjoying the hellish thrashing of overenthusiastic shoppers. Sad, to seethat he wasn't the man she fell in love with anymore! As the thought occurred to her, she was even angrier with herself. Even though Fratley had changed to become someone she hardly knew, she still loved him!
What an annoyance, laughed Freya bitterly. She treaded somberly in the rainy and depressing Burmecian streets, wandering through familiar lanes made unknown by her anger that twisted her vision. She ambled on without a particular destination, just runningrunning away from her terrible thoughts and unpleasant memories. She felt she must have run hundreds of miles when she finally came to a stop. The air in her lungs was depleted and she gasped erratically. She stood motionless for a moment and just laughed. She laughed at the irony of the whole situation- she loved him wholly, yet, he could not even recall such an emotion. To him, Freya was just another woman, just another meandering body that walked the streets. To him, she was a nonentity- she basically didn't exist. And to this, Freya laughed and laughed until her laughs became sobs. Unwanted tears spilled out in a deluge and she angrily pushed them away. Crying was something worthy of only deep shame. It was ungraceful for a Dragon Knight to shed tears, unless they were tears for of a family. That was Freya's one hindrance to becoming a Dragon Knight- she was very sentimental and would cry often. But she remembered the words of her now-vanished mother consoling her one gusty night
It's all right, darlingCry if you feel the need. See the rain outside? It cries too. It cries almost everyday
Freya paused retrospectively and mulled over the thought. If these raindrops are the tears shed by Burmeciawhat reasons might it have for perpetually being forlorn?' She had stopped crying by this point and pondered at the thought and focused on the perplexing puzzle.
After many moments of fathoming, she came to a realization. Oh gods! I speak of such nonsense! Burmecia is not an entity and has no emotions! I must be logical and realistic.'
Realistic, she did become. She reverted back into real-life and cataracts of memories spilled upon her. The new memories of today that had been placed on a shelf in the back of her mind rose again to haunt her.
Freya regretted snapping back to reality. She wanted anything to just hide in her intriguing puzzle, drowned by theories and conjectures and material evidence. She let out a shrill shout, No, no, no!
There must be a way to rid these recollections!' Freya was frenetic for a solution, a distraction, anything to whisk her away from the harsh, tangible light of reality.
There was something- something that kept nagging at her. She recognized a voice in her mind that spoke to her softly. It wasn't Burmecianit sounded strangely foreign, but she was able to discern its dialect. She was comforted just by the angelic resonance of the voice and basked in its glorious euphony. But then she heard the voice fading slowly. She was in a frenzy to descry the last few words
Seek solace in the verse of the psyche
So if I say somethingI will recuperate? Freya was confounded as to which words out of millions to voice, but then became enlightened. Ah! I shall speak the words of loved ones!
Recalling words that her companions often used, she let out all her anger and grief through a string of profane words and concluded her philippic with, Damn this! Damn you! Oh, whatever! ...Ah, much better...
A low rumble answered her.
Freya was drained of most of her anger now, but she felt the cold close in on her. She shivered, thinking of the impending storm lying yonder, sending a roll of thunder as its warning.
Then the rumbling protracted longer.
Freya froze immediately and realized it wasn't thunder- someone was watching her. Someone was watching her with its unseen eyes, shrouded in a shadowed corner that was invisible to her. Which corner was it? Were they above her, below her, behind her, in front, left, right? The possible directions spun in her head, and she felt reality separate from her as if she was being spun around in a centrifuge. That one thought haunted her and caused her to tremble involuntarily.
Be confident. Be brave. There is no reason to fear!' Freya ran this through her mind, but to no avail. For her, there was a definite cause for fear. Freya fared well in combat and on the battlefield where she could physically see her opponent. In fact, she would almost always come out the victor with a nonchalant expression, but thisthis was entirely different. She was up against a mere specter and she had not a single idea of its location. It terrified her to think that the unknown shadow had the advantage here while she was at the other end of the spectrum.
It could see her.
It could watch her.
It could strike her.
She couldn't.