Chapter 3: Freya

Alexandria Port…

Zidane walks up to Steiner and Dagger at the port.

Zidane: Okay then, are we set?

Steiner: Did you give my Polly a decent burial?

Zidane: Uhhh…yeah, I did.

Flashback

Zidane can be seen talking to a blind little boy with a wooden leg. The skeletal parrot is inside a rather beat up cage.

Boy: Oh boy, a real live parrot! How much?

Zidane: For you? Only 300 hundred Gil. And don't worry if Polly doesn't speak a lot, he's just very shy.

Boy: Deal!

End Flashback

Steiner: Well, so long as Polly rests in a better place I'm happy.

Dagger: Alright then, let's begin. First we need a mode of transportation.

Steiner: Say, I've got a great idea! Let's use my ship, 'The Sword of the Seas'!

All three of them look toward Steiner's termite infested junk.

Zidane: I've got a better idea. Let's not.

Dagger: Besides we were going to use our new airship.

Steiner: You have a new airship?

Zidane: Yep! Just got finished last month. It's really something. Come and have a look see!

So the Three Amigos left the port and headed topside. There in gleaming silver lay the giant royal airship, big, flashy and heavily armed.

Dagger: It's called the 'Sky Goddess'. Neat, huh?

Steiner says nothing but goes completely green from ship envy.

*****

Burmecia…

And so the Power of Three headed off in their massive airship on their brand new adventure.  Not much happened on the way to Burmecia (they were headed here for supplies), save for a game of 'What's That Cloud Look Like' which came up when they ran into a drift of oddly shaped clouds. The game ended suddenly when a cloud which looked like a particularly naughty sex act came along which Zidane immediately identified whereupon Steiner smacked him upside the head. Short story cut even shorter, it was midnight when the trio landed outside Burmecia. As they wearily trudged into the town a gang of criminals assaulted them.

Criminal #1 (opening up a switchblade): Hands up and give us all your money hyuk hyuk!

Zidane, Dagger and Steiner respond by whipping out their weapons.

Criminal #1 (hastily closing the switchblade): Or go about your business any way you wish it's all the same to us!

Voice from the shadows: NOT SO FAST!

Everyone looks up to see a shadowy figure perched on a rooftop holding a long spear.

Criminal #2: Oh dear lord it's HER!

Criminal #3: RUN!!

The criminals run off as the figure leaps down to the ground with admirable grace.

Figure: Pray tell, art thou weary travelers alright?

The trio gaze at the figure with a great deal of surprise. She is dressed in a pink dragoon's outfit with a coat of arms on the front while her pointy hat is pulled down over the top half of her face.

Dagger/Zidane/Steiner: …FREYA?!?

From the eyeholes of her hat-cum-mask Freya's eyes sparkled with shock.

Freya: HO! How dost thou knoweth my true identity?

Dagger: Huh? Freya, it's me! Dagger!

Freya: I'm sorry stranger, but thine face is as unfamiliar to me as the sun of a new day.

Zidane: …Could you please not talk like that?

Another Voice From The Shadows: I'm afraid she will not recognize you.

The four of them turned to face the speaker, who stepped out to reveal himself to be…

Dagger/Zidane/Steiner: LORD FLATLEY!

Freya: BLUEBIRD!

Steiner: …Bluebird?

Freya: Dost thou knowst these strangers Bluebird?

Lord Flatley (sighing): Yes, I do. (to the Doomsday Three) I'm afraid that Freya had lost her memory.

Dagger: What?! How?!?

Lord Flatley: Um…well…

Flashback – about a year ago

Freya and Lord Flatley are in a random field and are being menaced by a giant crab, which seems impervious to their Jump attacks and spear thrusts.

Freya: This might be the end, my love!

Lord Flatley: Perhaps not! Mayhap bludgeoning the beast's hide will provide better results!

Flatley gets in front of Freya and lifts his spear over his head and quickly smashes it down on to the crab. The cranky crustacean squeals in pain and cracks web out from the point of impact. Unfortunately, he had inadvertently whacked Freya on the head when he first lifted the spear and continues to do so as he rains blow after blow on the crab. Eventually the creature lay dead and broken.

Lord Flatley: Huzzah, my love we are- (looks behind him) FREYA!!

End Flashback

Lord Flatley: The blows Freya received to the head induced a sort of amnesia which wiped out her identity and the knowledge of people she had met. When she first gazed into a puddle she saw a reflection of herself wearing her hat like a mask. This along with her spear convinced her she was a vigilante fighting crime and saving the innocent. From that day on she called herself…DRAGOON WOMAN!!!

There is an awkward silence, prompting Flatley to continue.

Lord Flatley: And when she saw me she figured that I was her sidekick, whereupon she christened me Bluebird. Please don't ask why.

Another silence.

Zidane: I'm sorry but…Dragoon Woman?

Freya: And pray what is wrong with such a noble name?

Zidane opens his mouth to speak but Dagger quickly intervenes before he can cause any damage.

Dagger: Look, seeing as how we've found you, would you like to join us on our quest to recover the Eye of Losstarot?

Freya: Why do you seek such a bauble?

Dagger thinks for a moment.

Dagger: We seek it to keep it out of the hands of the dread scientist Doctor…um…

Zidane: Sebastian D. Lunatic!

Dagger: Yeah! That's it! Dr. Sebastian D. Lunatic, who plans to use the Eye to…err…

Steiner: Control the world's mackerel population!

Freya: Why wouldst the fiend do such a thing?

Dagger (shrugging): Why not?

Freya: Goodish point. Very well! I shall join thee on thy noble quest!

Dagger: Excellent! We'll rest at the inn and head out at first light.

Steiner: Why first light?

Dagger (shrugging): Why not?

Steiner: Fair enough.

*****

Back in Alexandria…

Dojebon: Hey, where's Captain Steiner gone?

To Be Continued…