Ashes to Ashes
by K.S.
(from Freya's pov)
The irony of the events in Clerya was too much to bear, hearing
again his voice, seeing his face, feeling his prescence. All of these things were
a blessing, except only that he wasn't the Fratley I had known. He had forgotten
me, forgot how important he was to me, to my life. Years ago he had said that
he would return to me, and he kept this promise, just not the way I had wanted,
the way I had planned it. Fratley had returned to me during the fall of Cleyra, the
time which I had sworn that I wouldn't fail them as I had Burmecia ... The surrender
of my Kingdom to the hands of the corrupted Brahne were too much to take that
day, and I had fallen myself ...
I was and still am eternally grateful for the friends I had with me that
fateful day, when Cleyra had fallen, as Burmecia had days before. Two great
nations, both shattered as panes of glass do when a stone is thrown savagely in anger.
Zidane had been there to pull me back when I had thought of giving up after Fratley had
returned ... He had refused to hear such a thing from me; and he also had refused
to let me give up on myself. He had pushed me on with encouragment, as he did
Vivi. The mage had also given me consolation, though quietly and the opposite of
Zidane's way.
After the general of Alexandria's army had realized the truth of what her
actions were doing, she joined me in the fight against Brahne... Beatrix risked her own
life to save Garnet, and for this, I'll always admire her bravery. I do remember her
words to me in the rainy relam of Burmecia, the way her tone had given the impression
that her heart was cold; that it showed no mercy for her victims. Beatrix had told us
that she had slain a hundred knights single-handedly ... I believe those words because
when she challenged us, Zidane and I, Vivi and Quina ... when we lost ... she also
crushed my spirit. My will to save Burmecia had been strong; stronger than the spirits
of the hundred knights that Beatrix had done away with. She had said we were weak ...
And it may have been true, but not in spirit. Our spirit and will were stronger and
surpassed any thought that Beatrix might have given us as a compliment. She didn't
care.
Cleyra was almost a savior to me; knowing that the King of Burmecia,
my home, had survived, was enough to make me try again to get back up and face
the world once more. I remember five years ago, when I had left the place I called
home to go out in to the world, and unknowingly search for the love I had lost long ago ...
I had been left with rumors; rumors of what had once been a phoenix, but then were ashes.
But the meaning of the word 'phoenix' is to rise again from the ashes ...In the legend of
the bird, every so many years it would burst into flames and turn to ashes ... Then it
would once again rise anew to greet a new life. Ashes to ashes.
Fratley had urged me to be strong while I watched him leave to the
outside, to watch while he greeted the wonders of the world with open arms. He had
embraced them, while I did not ... The knight which I had known told me that he would
return to me one day, and told me to be strong ... How could I have thought this was
a lie when his voice was comfident, when he told me that all was well? I remember
when he turned his back to me, his eyes smooth but filled with sorrow, and walked on
to what he had deemed 'destiny' ...
At first I had thought it was a dream when I saw him again in Cleyra at
the time that I had needed him; his prescence soft and innocent with the lost memories
of the past, as soft as fallen angel's wings. At first his standing in the room seemed to
be laced with a forgotten love that had once blossomed like a rose in the spring; the
love which I had remembered every night before I prayed to the heavens above to
return him safely to me ... I suppose they answer all prayers, we just don't like some
of the answers that return to us. Fratley had been brought to Cleyra by an unknown
force of a forgotten past ...
The phoenix, rising anew, had raised its beautiful head in Fratley's life ...
For he had forgotten me ...
And I had returned to the ashes to search for some memory, a trace of
comfort ...
Ashes to ashes ...
by K.S.
(from Freya's pov)
The irony of the events in Clerya was too much to bear, hearing
again his voice, seeing his face, feeling his prescence. All of these things were
a blessing, except only that he wasn't the Fratley I had known. He had forgotten
me, forgot how important he was to me, to my life. Years ago he had said that
he would return to me, and he kept this promise, just not the way I had wanted,
the way I had planned it. Fratley had returned to me during the fall of Cleyra, the
time which I had sworn that I wouldn't fail them as I had Burmecia ... The surrender
of my Kingdom to the hands of the corrupted Brahne were too much to take that
day, and I had fallen myself ...
I was and still am eternally grateful for the friends I had with me that
fateful day, when Cleyra had fallen, as Burmecia had days before. Two great
nations, both shattered as panes of glass do when a stone is thrown savagely in anger.
Zidane had been there to pull me back when I had thought of giving up after Fratley had
returned ... He had refused to hear such a thing from me; and he also had refused
to let me give up on myself. He had pushed me on with encouragment, as he did
Vivi. The mage had also given me consolation, though quietly and the opposite of
Zidane's way.
After the general of Alexandria's army had realized the truth of what her
actions were doing, she joined me in the fight against Brahne... Beatrix risked her own
life to save Garnet, and for this, I'll always admire her bravery. I do remember her
words to me in the rainy relam of Burmecia, the way her tone had given the impression
that her heart was cold; that it showed no mercy for her victims. Beatrix had told us
that she had slain a hundred knights single-handedly ... I believe those words because
when she challenged us, Zidane and I, Vivi and Quina ... when we lost ... she also
crushed my spirit. My will to save Burmecia had been strong; stronger than the spirits
of the hundred knights that Beatrix had done away with. She had said we were weak ...
And it may have been true, but not in spirit. Our spirit and will were stronger and
surpassed any thought that Beatrix might have given us as a compliment. She didn't
care.
Cleyra was almost a savior to me; knowing that the King of Burmecia,
my home, had survived, was enough to make me try again to get back up and face
the world once more. I remember five years ago, when I had left the place I called
home to go out in to the world, and unknowingly search for the love I had lost long ago ...
I had been left with rumors; rumors of what had once been a phoenix, but then were ashes.
But the meaning of the word 'phoenix' is to rise again from the ashes ...In the legend of
the bird, every so many years it would burst into flames and turn to ashes ... Then it
would once again rise anew to greet a new life. Ashes to ashes.
Fratley had urged me to be strong while I watched him leave to the
outside, to watch while he greeted the wonders of the world with open arms. He had
embraced them, while I did not ... The knight which I had known told me that he would
return to me one day, and told me to be strong ... How could I have thought this was
a lie when his voice was comfident, when he told me that all was well? I remember
when he turned his back to me, his eyes smooth but filled with sorrow, and walked on
to what he had deemed 'destiny' ...
At first I had thought it was a dream when I saw him again in Cleyra at
the time that I had needed him; his prescence soft and innocent with the lost memories
of the past, as soft as fallen angel's wings. At first his standing in the room seemed to
be laced with a forgotten love that had once blossomed like a rose in the spring; the
love which I had remembered every night before I prayed to the heavens above to
return him safely to me ... I suppose they answer all prayers, we just don't like some
of the answers that return to us. Fratley had been brought to Cleyra by an unknown
force of a forgotten past ...
The phoenix, rising anew, had raised its beautiful head in Fratley's life ...
For he had forgotten me ...
And I had returned to the ashes to search for some memory, a trace of
comfort ...
Ashes to ashes ...