Chapter Thirty-three
Next Day; Burmecia; Late Morning
"He's going to attack. There's no reason he shouldn't attack," Freya declared when Amarant asked her, for the fifth time, what she was waiting for.
"You seem almost eager for him to come," Amarant grunted, leaning against the wall behind him.
They were in the streets of Burmecia. Freya had decided to take a walk alone to try and clear her thoughts. Amarant had decided to follow to make sure she didn't get killed. The rain was light, for once, and it only succeeded in making the first centimeter of snow slushy. No one walked in the streets; most were home, trying to escape work (and the dangers of working in slushy weather). A good group of people had been called to elect a new king. Fratley was with that group, along with Rose and Aireff. To Freya's anger and distaste, she had not been called.
"Julius has killed close to two members of my family," Freya said, staring coldly at the sleek, wet street below her. "He killed my father, and he nearly killed my sister."
"His organization nearly killed your sister," Amarant corrected.
"Does that make anything any different?" Freya asked, not looking up. "He is the one who owns the organization, sends the assassins out, gives orders..."
"Okay, I get it, he ultimately got close to nearly causing the premature death of your cynical sister," Amarant spat.
"I don't care how cynical she is. Arana is still my sister and we are still close!" Freya spat angrily, looking up at Amarant and glaring at him. "I know it doesn't seem that way..."
"I never had anyone to get close to," Amarant replied calmly.
"I know," Freya replied quietly. She turned away and looked in the direction of the palace, its half-damaged blue and white structure sticking out in the distance. "Many people don't."
Amarant lifted his gaze to the sky. He held his hand out and felt the cold raindrops patter steadily against his large hand. He chuckled softly, suddenly finding something very amusing.
"I think this rain is your problem. It's making you depressed," Amarant muttered.
"I like it here," Freya replied, beginning to resume a steady walk down the street. She stared at the ground, yet kept her head high enough to at least see where she was heading.
"Why? You like being depressed?" Amarant asked, following Freya slowly.
"No!" Freya declared, whipping her head about to stare at Amarant. Her hair whipped about with the movement, sending stray water droplets spattering into the snow. "The rain doesn't depress me! If anything I think it makes me stronger. I grew up with rain. I like the rain... I like what it has. I like this kingdom. I just hate when it looks like this!" Freya gestured to the damage still clearly seen on the stone buildings, the cracks within the streets, and of course, the damaged structure of the palace.
"You can't do anything about the state of your home until Julius and the COL are no longer concerned with you," Amarant grunted.
"I know that," Freya muttered. "But it's going to take a lot to get them away from me. This—"Freya lifted her hand to her face and lightly touched the ugly scar tissue on the right half of her face that replaced her white skin. "—Is proof that they won't give up."
Amarant nodded slightly in agreement. "And they always leave marks."
"That is very true," Freya agreed downheartedly.
Indeed, the fire had left devastating remembrances. The sight in Freya's right eye was forever blurry and distorted from the lens being permanently fogged from smoke and fire. The right side of Freya's face was no longer white and lightly fur-covered. Instead, ugly scar tissue – the remains of third-degree burns – covered her face. Though light, the scar tissue was not as light as Freya's fur, and the scars clearly stuck out. It was hard to use that side of her face for anything, whether it be smiling or chewing. It was simply too stiff, and Kitski's exercises to restore movement were extremely painful.
Freya's hands and arms were in similar condition. Thankfully her fingers had been spared the flames, but her palms bore scar tissue, as did her wrists and the upper side of her lower arms. Scar tissue on the tip of her tail prevented it from growing to normal length again. Her feet had been especially burned from walking on scorched ground. The bottom pads were covered with scar tissue and therefore especially painful. Walking was the only thing that exercised her feet properly, and it was also the main action that made her feet ache. Freya was just able to manage hiding the pain, but she knew for a fact that jumping was out of the question for now.
Everyone could see what she had suffered, and everyone, even Amarant and Meander, couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
Freya sighed, slowly coming to a stop. They were at one of the many four-way intersections within the city. At this one, there was no street. There was only dirt; the street had long been cracked, melted, and basically destroyed within the attack. Indeed, many of the streets were in similar condition, and would have to be replaced. It was a small wonder that Freya was depressed by Burmecia's condition.
But at that moment, there was no time to think about the condition of the city, for both Freya and Amarant heard a distinct snap. Almost immediately Freya got to the ground and rolled out of the way. She rolled to Amarant's feet, mainly so he could help her back onto her own scarred feet. From there, they both watched as a small arrow slammed into the snow and got stuck there.
Freya's eyes narrowed angrily as she lifted her head. She slowly walked out into the intersection. She looked down the east road, and saw Julius slowly padding in her direction. Freya slowly turned to face him. Amarant, immediately understanding who had arrived, drew his claws. Freya snorted softly.
"Stop right where you are," she spat suddenly.
"Why don't you just stay right there and die?" Julius retorted, continuing to walk. He was already reloading his crossbow, slowly.
"Very simple. I don't want to die," Freya replied. Her eyes were dark with anger, and her fists were beginning to tremble. Amarant took a few steps back.
"Then you're going to die the painful way," Julius replied.
Freya shook her head. "I don't think so, honestly. Rather I think that you – are going – to die – very – soon." Freya was beginning to breathe so heavily with anger that pauses appeared in her speech.
"And what makes you so sure?" Julius asked, lifting his crossbow so the arrow's point aimed at Freya's chest.
"I just have a very – funny – feeling!" Freya shouted. She then suddenly charged forward, her feet barely touching the ground.
A snap filled the air, but Freya had been ready. She immediately slid out of the way of the arrow, then surged forward and tackled Julius. Julius fell to the ground from the hit while his crossbow was sent flying into a snowman made by Burmecian children. Freya, meanwhile, stood where she was. She knew she couldn't move at that moment.
For at that very moment, an unbelievable amount of energy and adrenaline surged through her anger-filled veins. Freya began to shake very slightly as she closed her eyes. The energy was too much for her at that moment, and she felt a blinding power. To Amarant and Julius, she was being covered by a shot of purple light. Long streams of bright energy flowered from the light. Freya could feel strength filling her. The pain in her feet, face, and other parts of her body slowly left, and seemed to float away. Freya's strengths seemed to – and did – triple. Her energy levels skyrocketed.
Freya had felt this feeling before. Yet each time, it always shocked her, overpowered her. She fell to her knees, hitting the ground hard, yet never feeling it. The light slowly began to leave, yet the energy, the power, and the endless feeling of anger, rage, and strength didn't leave. And when the light finally left, Freya had changed, though not by much. Rather, her entire body was a purple tinge, and her clothes had suddenly evolved into body armor. When she opened her eyes, Freya's vision was slightly purple.
Amarant and Freya both knew and recognized the feeling all too well, and clearly Julius knew what it was as well, for he spat bitterly at the ground.
"Oh boy, Julius," Amarant muttered, smirking. "You've gotten her pissed."
Freya immediately leapt to her feet, yet she leapt straight above the roof of a nearby building instead of to her feet. She soon landed easily. The pain was gone. The depression, weakness, pain, all of it was gone. There was only energy, anger, and power.
There was only Trance.
Julius immediately took out his sword. Freya took out her lance, the lance Fratley had given her to borrow for the day. It was Fratley's lance, and it felt strangely wrong to be holding it, with its strong wood and the mysterious jagged edge that could not only be used to pierce, but also to cut. Yet the strange feeling quickly left. Freya knew exactly what to do.
She leapt straight into the air, soaring above the roofs of the buildings and beyond the city gates. The power she felt led her a countless amount of feet into the air. Freya lifted the lance to the air. She then closed her eyes and called upon the power of Trance.
The lance in Freya's hands was surrounded in a flash of bright light. Then, the raindrops falling from the sky over the east street near the ruined intersection also began to shine. Then, suddenly, the raindrops became exact duplicates of the lance, except smaller.
Below Freya, Amarant rushed to the south street. Julius, meanwhile, had not expected the event and was punctured in the shoulder with a lance. Realizing that Trance had magically-enchanted the lances, he took cover in the north street. Amarant took this time to take a Wing Edge and throw it at Julius' throat. Julius just managed to move out of the way of the weapon; the flaming disk instead cut open his already-injured shoulder.
The rain on the east street returned to normal while Freya, who had spent five minutes in the air, landed neatly on the ground. She spun her lance about, and it began to gain white energy. She then rushed forward, startled Julius, and slammed the charged lance straight into his stomach. The extra energy made the wound larger. Julius staggered back, but was quick to slash at Freya, cutting a deep wound in her thigh. The two warriors backed away from each other. While Julius took out a potion, Amarant threw another Wind Edge. The flaming disk neatly slammed into the potion and shattered it. Cursing, Julius took out another potion, but this time made sure to turn away from Amarant.
Meanwhile, Freya lifted her lance to the sky and softly muttered ancient words. Dragon spirits surrounded she and Amarant, sending a soft white powder onto them. The minute the powder touched them, their bodies shone a white light, and any wounds they may have sustained began to heal themselves. Due to the silent nature of Reis's Wind, Julius did not notice Freya had used the Dragon ability.
Having healed his wounds with the potion, Julius still had plenty of fight left in him. Backing up carefully, a fire spell quickly appeared in his hand. He sent it flying straight into Freya's left shoulder, sending the warrior sprawling into the intersection. Quickly Freya bounced to her feet. She looked over at Amarant, and quickly noted that he was taking out a few pieces of Gil. The two made eye contact, and quickly nodded to each other.
Freya suddenly rolled into the west street while Amarant threw the pieces of Gil toward Julius. The pieces of Gil slammed into Julius' hands, startling him into dropping his sword. Freya darted forward and grabbed the sword before Julius could react. Just as quickly, she tossed the heavy weapon to Amarant, who caught it, then threw it behind him, sending the sword sprawling many feet away from its owner.
Julius took this opportunity to kick Freya in the stomach, causing her to stagger. She replied by slashing a deep cut in Julius' fist when he tried to punch her again. With a bitter curse, Julius vanished into thin air. He reappeared near his sword, picked up his sword, and then rushed toward Amarant.
"Look out!" Freya shouted, but she was one second too late.
Julius' sword slashed across Amarant's chest, sending the warrior a few feet back. Amarant replied by quickly charging his claws his red energy and slashing Julius in the right arm. Julius' shoulders sagged, as his sword seemed too heavy. With a groan, Amarant backed up, took a potion out of his pocket and quickly drank it. The wound in his chest became less serious, and the Regen Reis's Wind had cast continued to do its work.
At the same time, Julius was clearly getting tired of his own work. He staggered backward, trying to hold onto his sword and get a potion at the same time. When Freya saw his struggles, she dashed forward, charging her spear with white energy as she ran forward. Quickly, however, Julius spied her rush. He put both hands firmly on his sword and held it up in a defense. Freya's lance and his sword met in a clang and a shower of sparks where the two metal blades met.
With a strangely calm expression, Amarant proceeded to watch the struggle. He seemed to know what would be the end result. And indeed, it was the result. Suddenly, Julius vanished into thin air, sending Freya falling from the suddenly leave of force. She was soon sprawled out in the snow. Three minutes passed, and Julius did not return. Freya's trance, on the other hand, left quickly. The purple light came, startling Freya. With it, it sucked up the extra energy and power. When the purple light had left, Freya felt drained and exhausted. She rose into a sitting position, panting softly.
"One drawback of Trance," Amarant suddenly announced, his gruff voice filling the air. "You want to sleep for three days after it."
Freya rose to a standing position, only to nearly stagger and fall to the ground from the pain in her feet. Amarant managed to catch her before she fell face-first. Freya put her spear away, then took a few seconds to steady herself. Once she was steady, Amarant backed away.
"There's another drawback," he grunted. "You forget about the pain that left."
"I agree with that," Freya muttered. She sighed angrily, staring at the ground. "God-damn it, he got away! Yet again!"
"He's always going to get away until we think of a good plan to keep him from getting away," Amarant said calmly. "But that isn't something we can do right now."
"I need to go to bed," Freya groaned. She looked over at Amarant. "But I'm tried of sleeping underground. It's kind of strange."
"Where are you going to sleep, the pile of ashes that remains of your house?" Amarant asked, folding his arms across his chest in a typical position.
Freya winced slightly, painfully reminded of the fact that she had lost everything she had owned, except her life. She shook her head at Amarant, then turned around and began heading back the way they had originally came. Amarant followed quietly. Walking slowly and painfully, Freya took many twists and turns before she came upon a two-story house. It was clearly an old fashioned house due to the stone walls yet the wooden supports. Freya walked over to the old wooden door and carefully opened it.
"What is this place?" Amarant asked, following Freya.
They entered a small room that led no where but up. Freya slowly climbed the stairs and soon emerged into a small yet homey kitchen. She headed toward the small hallway off to the side of this kitchen. Amarant looked very confused as he viewed the small wooden table, the old stone counters, and the large fireplace.
"Where are we?" Amarant asked.
Freya looked over at Amarant as she reached the door at the end of the hallway. She opened it, revealing another staircase.
"This is the house of Rose and Aireff. Fratley lives here, too," Freya informed Amarant. "They won't care if I sleep here."
"Will they care if I do?" Amarant asked.
"Well, there's a couch," Freya replied with a shrug.
With that, Freya headed down the staircase. Amarant followed, closing the door behind him. They emerged in a massive room that contained a couch, an old bookshelf, a bed, and little else. Freya walked over to the drab bed with white, dirty sheets and nearly flung herself onto it. The bed creaked, yet stayed standing. Freya stared at the ceiling.
"You look like a ragdoll flung carelessly into a toy chest," Amarant commented with amusement.
"Oh shut up," Freya replied, but she moved into a more comfortable position. Amarant, meanwhile, lied down on the couch. "Now I'm sure you look like an ugly rag doll flung into a wall."
"I'm going to kill you for that later," Amarant spat.
"50 years later..." Freya muttered quietly, closing her eyes. "Amarant remembers what I said..."
Amarant immediately grabbed a pillow off the couch and flung it at Freya. It slammed into Freya's face. Without opening her eyes, Freya took the pillow and put it under her head.
"That was real mature, Amarant," she muttered.
Amarant chose not to reply, mainly because he wanted Freya to finally go to sleep. Within a few minutes, he got his wish.
Five hours later, Meander looked about the dark city of Burmecia, his black eyes examining the streets for someone, anyone, that was familiar. He knew where Freya was – she had retired to Fratley's, according to Eiko. But he didn't know where Dominic and Vivi had gone.
Snorting, Meander gave his head a quick shake, sending water droplets flying. He grumbled bitterly, realizing he needed to cut his hair. The graying, black hair was beginning to become a little too long... And aggravating.
Suddenly Meander heard a noise. Meander immediately looked out into the streets, only to smile grimly. Vivi had returned; but where was Dominic? Meander knew he'd probably find out.
"Where's Dominic?" Meander asked, his rough voice penetrating the peaceful silence.
"He's with Wanderer," Vivi said nervously, clearly not fond of Meander's current attitude.
"The new King?" Meander asked, eyebrows raised.
"Y-Yes," Vivi replied.
"Figures," Meander snorted, looking behind him. The entrance to the underground chamber was hidden, just like it should be. Meander didn't understand why he felt so paranoid.
"Fratley's going to tell Freya," Vivi said quickly.
"Like he's supposed to," Meander grunted.
"What are you guys doing? Shouldn't you be talking inside?" Eiko suddenly said, appearing before the two.
Meander groaned. "We're waiting for Dominic."
"He won't be back for a while." The new voice belonged to Kitski, who padded over from the direction Vivi had come.
"What a crew," Meander snorted.
"Oh, and you don't add to the excitement?" Kitski spat.
Vivi looked out into the street, clearly seeming as worried as Meander was paranoid. The little mage walked out into the street, looking around nervously. Something seemed eerily wrong.
He couldn't have been more correct. Suddenly, a burst of fire erupted from nearby alley. Meander's eyes widened as he watched. Then, his eyes only widened further when, suddenly, a yellow blur shoved Vivi out of the way of the flames. There was a panicked, pained cry, and then a yellow bird stumbled to the ground.
Kitski immediately rushed over to the chocobo while Vivi took out his staff. Duchess kwehed weakly, trying to get to her clawed feet. Vivi approached the alley, seeing a dark figure within it.
Suddenly, a small flicker of fire came from within the alley. The growing Firaga spell soon lit up its owner: Julius. Vivi held out his staff, watching Julius with a strange calm. The staff – and Vivi's hands – began to glow a blue tinge.
The Firaga spell launched toward Vivi, but never reached the mage. Suddenly a splash of water surged from Vivi's staff and met the Firaga spell in mid-air. Smoke issued from the extinguished spell. Vivi then spun his staff about and sent an explosion of electricity from the staff toward Julius. Julius vanished into mid-air, and didn't reappear. Meander cursed vilely.
"Damn it, why does he have to be so smart?" Meander growled.
"He knew about Vivi," Kitski said, rubbing salve on Duchess's burns. "He knew Vivi's potential. He was trying to get rid of him to get rid of Freya easier."
Meander cursed again, then followed it up with an angry bellow, "Gee, Julius, why don't you just blow up the place?!"
"Don't give him any ideas," Kitski spat angrily.
"What's going on here?"
Time seemed to stop as everyone became stiff from the new voice. Vivi, Kitski, Meander, and Eiko all exchanged glances. Immediately, Eiko dashed to the underground chamber and opened it. Kitski surprised everyone by lifting Duchess into her arms. The group them rushed down into the underground chamber and closed the door quickly.
A Burmecian guard padded down the street, looking around with confusion. He had heard the voices; where had everyone gone? Confused, the guard walked over to the snow where Vivi had stood seconds before. He could see footsteps everywhere in the snow. Some came from boots, some from bare, clawed feet. Muttering, the guard followed the footsteps straight to a dead end. The guard knelt down beside the ground where the footsteps disappeared. He felt the ground, and soon felt indentations; was there a door? The guard felt for a latch, but found none. His brow furrowed with confusion as he rose back to his feet.
"Weird," the guard muttered. Deciding the new king would probably be interested, the guard turned around and left the alley.
"We're in a pretty sad state, running from guards," Meander muttered.
"Ah well. If it saves us from questioning, I'm in for it," Kitski said, placing Duchess on the ground. The chocobo kwehed with worry.
"Don't worry, you're safe," Vivi said with encouragement, walking over to the injured chocobo.
"She sure does appear in the oddest places, though," Eiko said. "That nutty chocobo. I bet 5000 Gil Dominic sent her to check on us."
"Dominic knows we need checking-on," Kitski said, rolling her eyes.
"We're a sad rescue squad," Meander said. He smirked and chuckled. "No wonder Freya doesn't want to sleep down here. We're too annoying, and we don't help anyway."
"I'm not annoying, and I help," Kitski declared. "It's just you, Meander, that ruins everything I do."
Meander's eyes narrowed. He walked toward the hallway, but before heading toward his room, he looked at Kitski and replied, while baring his fangs, "Shut up."
---- ((Please note that I am not going to touch on the Fratley-teleport subject and the Kitski subject. Why? Simply because they are not major problems in the story, and I find no reason to change my entire story just to fix two unimportant problems. Thank you))
Okay-dokey! I rewrote the ending of this chapter because the first one was just plain stupid. Besides, this ending revives characters in desperate need of showing up, like Eiko and Vivi. Other than that, not much to say... I finally incorporated Trance into this (gasp!), Reis's Wind (more gasp!), and we know who the new king is as well.
Updates will be slow because A) I am ill, B) I am doing a lot of work for my teacher, and C) I haven't had a lot of time to write. Apologies.
This story is copyright to me. Some characters, locations, and Gaia in general are copyright to SquareEnix.
Next Day; Burmecia; Late Morning
"He's going to attack. There's no reason he shouldn't attack," Freya declared when Amarant asked her, for the fifth time, what she was waiting for.
"You seem almost eager for him to come," Amarant grunted, leaning against the wall behind him.
They were in the streets of Burmecia. Freya had decided to take a walk alone to try and clear her thoughts. Amarant had decided to follow to make sure she didn't get killed. The rain was light, for once, and it only succeeded in making the first centimeter of snow slushy. No one walked in the streets; most were home, trying to escape work (and the dangers of working in slushy weather). A good group of people had been called to elect a new king. Fratley was with that group, along with Rose and Aireff. To Freya's anger and distaste, she had not been called.
"Julius has killed close to two members of my family," Freya said, staring coldly at the sleek, wet street below her. "He killed my father, and he nearly killed my sister."
"His organization nearly killed your sister," Amarant corrected.
"Does that make anything any different?" Freya asked, not looking up. "He is the one who owns the organization, sends the assassins out, gives orders..."
"Okay, I get it, he ultimately got close to nearly causing the premature death of your cynical sister," Amarant spat.
"I don't care how cynical she is. Arana is still my sister and we are still close!" Freya spat angrily, looking up at Amarant and glaring at him. "I know it doesn't seem that way..."
"I never had anyone to get close to," Amarant replied calmly.
"I know," Freya replied quietly. She turned away and looked in the direction of the palace, its half-damaged blue and white structure sticking out in the distance. "Many people don't."
Amarant lifted his gaze to the sky. He held his hand out and felt the cold raindrops patter steadily against his large hand. He chuckled softly, suddenly finding something very amusing.
"I think this rain is your problem. It's making you depressed," Amarant muttered.
"I like it here," Freya replied, beginning to resume a steady walk down the street. She stared at the ground, yet kept her head high enough to at least see where she was heading.
"Why? You like being depressed?" Amarant asked, following Freya slowly.
"No!" Freya declared, whipping her head about to stare at Amarant. Her hair whipped about with the movement, sending stray water droplets spattering into the snow. "The rain doesn't depress me! If anything I think it makes me stronger. I grew up with rain. I like the rain... I like what it has. I like this kingdom. I just hate when it looks like this!" Freya gestured to the damage still clearly seen on the stone buildings, the cracks within the streets, and of course, the damaged structure of the palace.
"You can't do anything about the state of your home until Julius and the COL are no longer concerned with you," Amarant grunted.
"I know that," Freya muttered. "But it's going to take a lot to get them away from me. This—"Freya lifted her hand to her face and lightly touched the ugly scar tissue on the right half of her face that replaced her white skin. "—Is proof that they won't give up."
Amarant nodded slightly in agreement. "And they always leave marks."
"That is very true," Freya agreed downheartedly.
Indeed, the fire had left devastating remembrances. The sight in Freya's right eye was forever blurry and distorted from the lens being permanently fogged from smoke and fire. The right side of Freya's face was no longer white and lightly fur-covered. Instead, ugly scar tissue – the remains of third-degree burns – covered her face. Though light, the scar tissue was not as light as Freya's fur, and the scars clearly stuck out. It was hard to use that side of her face for anything, whether it be smiling or chewing. It was simply too stiff, and Kitski's exercises to restore movement were extremely painful.
Freya's hands and arms were in similar condition. Thankfully her fingers had been spared the flames, but her palms bore scar tissue, as did her wrists and the upper side of her lower arms. Scar tissue on the tip of her tail prevented it from growing to normal length again. Her feet had been especially burned from walking on scorched ground. The bottom pads were covered with scar tissue and therefore especially painful. Walking was the only thing that exercised her feet properly, and it was also the main action that made her feet ache. Freya was just able to manage hiding the pain, but she knew for a fact that jumping was out of the question for now.
Everyone could see what she had suffered, and everyone, even Amarant and Meander, couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
Freya sighed, slowly coming to a stop. They were at one of the many four-way intersections within the city. At this one, there was no street. There was only dirt; the street had long been cracked, melted, and basically destroyed within the attack. Indeed, many of the streets were in similar condition, and would have to be replaced. It was a small wonder that Freya was depressed by Burmecia's condition.
But at that moment, there was no time to think about the condition of the city, for both Freya and Amarant heard a distinct snap. Almost immediately Freya got to the ground and rolled out of the way. She rolled to Amarant's feet, mainly so he could help her back onto her own scarred feet. From there, they both watched as a small arrow slammed into the snow and got stuck there.
Freya's eyes narrowed angrily as she lifted her head. She slowly walked out into the intersection. She looked down the east road, and saw Julius slowly padding in her direction. Freya slowly turned to face him. Amarant, immediately understanding who had arrived, drew his claws. Freya snorted softly.
"Stop right where you are," she spat suddenly.
"Why don't you just stay right there and die?" Julius retorted, continuing to walk. He was already reloading his crossbow, slowly.
"Very simple. I don't want to die," Freya replied. Her eyes were dark with anger, and her fists were beginning to tremble. Amarant took a few steps back.
"Then you're going to die the painful way," Julius replied.
Freya shook her head. "I don't think so, honestly. Rather I think that you – are going – to die – very – soon." Freya was beginning to breathe so heavily with anger that pauses appeared in her speech.
"And what makes you so sure?" Julius asked, lifting his crossbow so the arrow's point aimed at Freya's chest.
"I just have a very – funny – feeling!" Freya shouted. She then suddenly charged forward, her feet barely touching the ground.
A snap filled the air, but Freya had been ready. She immediately slid out of the way of the arrow, then surged forward and tackled Julius. Julius fell to the ground from the hit while his crossbow was sent flying into a snowman made by Burmecian children. Freya, meanwhile, stood where she was. She knew she couldn't move at that moment.
For at that very moment, an unbelievable amount of energy and adrenaline surged through her anger-filled veins. Freya began to shake very slightly as she closed her eyes. The energy was too much for her at that moment, and she felt a blinding power. To Amarant and Julius, she was being covered by a shot of purple light. Long streams of bright energy flowered from the light. Freya could feel strength filling her. The pain in her feet, face, and other parts of her body slowly left, and seemed to float away. Freya's strengths seemed to – and did – triple. Her energy levels skyrocketed.
Freya had felt this feeling before. Yet each time, it always shocked her, overpowered her. She fell to her knees, hitting the ground hard, yet never feeling it. The light slowly began to leave, yet the energy, the power, and the endless feeling of anger, rage, and strength didn't leave. And when the light finally left, Freya had changed, though not by much. Rather, her entire body was a purple tinge, and her clothes had suddenly evolved into body armor. When she opened her eyes, Freya's vision was slightly purple.
Amarant and Freya both knew and recognized the feeling all too well, and clearly Julius knew what it was as well, for he spat bitterly at the ground.
"Oh boy, Julius," Amarant muttered, smirking. "You've gotten her pissed."
Freya immediately leapt to her feet, yet she leapt straight above the roof of a nearby building instead of to her feet. She soon landed easily. The pain was gone. The depression, weakness, pain, all of it was gone. There was only energy, anger, and power.
There was only Trance.
Julius immediately took out his sword. Freya took out her lance, the lance Fratley had given her to borrow for the day. It was Fratley's lance, and it felt strangely wrong to be holding it, with its strong wood and the mysterious jagged edge that could not only be used to pierce, but also to cut. Yet the strange feeling quickly left. Freya knew exactly what to do.
She leapt straight into the air, soaring above the roofs of the buildings and beyond the city gates. The power she felt led her a countless amount of feet into the air. Freya lifted the lance to the air. She then closed her eyes and called upon the power of Trance.
The lance in Freya's hands was surrounded in a flash of bright light. Then, the raindrops falling from the sky over the east street near the ruined intersection also began to shine. Then, suddenly, the raindrops became exact duplicates of the lance, except smaller.
Below Freya, Amarant rushed to the south street. Julius, meanwhile, had not expected the event and was punctured in the shoulder with a lance. Realizing that Trance had magically-enchanted the lances, he took cover in the north street. Amarant took this time to take a Wing Edge and throw it at Julius' throat. Julius just managed to move out of the way of the weapon; the flaming disk instead cut open his already-injured shoulder.
The rain on the east street returned to normal while Freya, who had spent five minutes in the air, landed neatly on the ground. She spun her lance about, and it began to gain white energy. She then rushed forward, startled Julius, and slammed the charged lance straight into his stomach. The extra energy made the wound larger. Julius staggered back, but was quick to slash at Freya, cutting a deep wound in her thigh. The two warriors backed away from each other. While Julius took out a potion, Amarant threw another Wind Edge. The flaming disk neatly slammed into the potion and shattered it. Cursing, Julius took out another potion, but this time made sure to turn away from Amarant.
Meanwhile, Freya lifted her lance to the sky and softly muttered ancient words. Dragon spirits surrounded she and Amarant, sending a soft white powder onto them. The minute the powder touched them, their bodies shone a white light, and any wounds they may have sustained began to heal themselves. Due to the silent nature of Reis's Wind, Julius did not notice Freya had used the Dragon ability.
Having healed his wounds with the potion, Julius still had plenty of fight left in him. Backing up carefully, a fire spell quickly appeared in his hand. He sent it flying straight into Freya's left shoulder, sending the warrior sprawling into the intersection. Quickly Freya bounced to her feet. She looked over at Amarant, and quickly noted that he was taking out a few pieces of Gil. The two made eye contact, and quickly nodded to each other.
Freya suddenly rolled into the west street while Amarant threw the pieces of Gil toward Julius. The pieces of Gil slammed into Julius' hands, startling him into dropping his sword. Freya darted forward and grabbed the sword before Julius could react. Just as quickly, she tossed the heavy weapon to Amarant, who caught it, then threw it behind him, sending the sword sprawling many feet away from its owner.
Julius took this opportunity to kick Freya in the stomach, causing her to stagger. She replied by slashing a deep cut in Julius' fist when he tried to punch her again. With a bitter curse, Julius vanished into thin air. He reappeared near his sword, picked up his sword, and then rushed toward Amarant.
"Look out!" Freya shouted, but she was one second too late.
Julius' sword slashed across Amarant's chest, sending the warrior a few feet back. Amarant replied by quickly charging his claws his red energy and slashing Julius in the right arm. Julius' shoulders sagged, as his sword seemed too heavy. With a groan, Amarant backed up, took a potion out of his pocket and quickly drank it. The wound in his chest became less serious, and the Regen Reis's Wind had cast continued to do its work.
At the same time, Julius was clearly getting tired of his own work. He staggered backward, trying to hold onto his sword and get a potion at the same time. When Freya saw his struggles, she dashed forward, charging her spear with white energy as she ran forward. Quickly, however, Julius spied her rush. He put both hands firmly on his sword and held it up in a defense. Freya's lance and his sword met in a clang and a shower of sparks where the two metal blades met.
With a strangely calm expression, Amarant proceeded to watch the struggle. He seemed to know what would be the end result. And indeed, it was the result. Suddenly, Julius vanished into thin air, sending Freya falling from the suddenly leave of force. She was soon sprawled out in the snow. Three minutes passed, and Julius did not return. Freya's trance, on the other hand, left quickly. The purple light came, startling Freya. With it, it sucked up the extra energy and power. When the purple light had left, Freya felt drained and exhausted. She rose into a sitting position, panting softly.
"One drawback of Trance," Amarant suddenly announced, his gruff voice filling the air. "You want to sleep for three days after it."
Freya rose to a standing position, only to nearly stagger and fall to the ground from the pain in her feet. Amarant managed to catch her before she fell face-first. Freya put her spear away, then took a few seconds to steady herself. Once she was steady, Amarant backed away.
"There's another drawback," he grunted. "You forget about the pain that left."
"I agree with that," Freya muttered. She sighed angrily, staring at the ground. "God-damn it, he got away! Yet again!"
"He's always going to get away until we think of a good plan to keep him from getting away," Amarant said calmly. "But that isn't something we can do right now."
"I need to go to bed," Freya groaned. She looked over at Amarant. "But I'm tried of sleeping underground. It's kind of strange."
"Where are you going to sleep, the pile of ashes that remains of your house?" Amarant asked, folding his arms across his chest in a typical position.
Freya winced slightly, painfully reminded of the fact that she had lost everything she had owned, except her life. She shook her head at Amarant, then turned around and began heading back the way they had originally came. Amarant followed quietly. Walking slowly and painfully, Freya took many twists and turns before she came upon a two-story house. It was clearly an old fashioned house due to the stone walls yet the wooden supports. Freya walked over to the old wooden door and carefully opened it.
"What is this place?" Amarant asked, following Freya.
They entered a small room that led no where but up. Freya slowly climbed the stairs and soon emerged into a small yet homey kitchen. She headed toward the small hallway off to the side of this kitchen. Amarant looked very confused as he viewed the small wooden table, the old stone counters, and the large fireplace.
"Where are we?" Amarant asked.
Freya looked over at Amarant as she reached the door at the end of the hallway. She opened it, revealing another staircase.
"This is the house of Rose and Aireff. Fratley lives here, too," Freya informed Amarant. "They won't care if I sleep here."
"Will they care if I do?" Amarant asked.
"Well, there's a couch," Freya replied with a shrug.
With that, Freya headed down the staircase. Amarant followed, closing the door behind him. They emerged in a massive room that contained a couch, an old bookshelf, a bed, and little else. Freya walked over to the drab bed with white, dirty sheets and nearly flung herself onto it. The bed creaked, yet stayed standing. Freya stared at the ceiling.
"You look like a ragdoll flung carelessly into a toy chest," Amarant commented with amusement.
"Oh shut up," Freya replied, but she moved into a more comfortable position. Amarant, meanwhile, lied down on the couch. "Now I'm sure you look like an ugly rag doll flung into a wall."
"I'm going to kill you for that later," Amarant spat.
"50 years later..." Freya muttered quietly, closing her eyes. "Amarant remembers what I said..."
Amarant immediately grabbed a pillow off the couch and flung it at Freya. It slammed into Freya's face. Without opening her eyes, Freya took the pillow and put it under her head.
"That was real mature, Amarant," she muttered.
Amarant chose not to reply, mainly because he wanted Freya to finally go to sleep. Within a few minutes, he got his wish.
Five hours later, Meander looked about the dark city of Burmecia, his black eyes examining the streets for someone, anyone, that was familiar. He knew where Freya was – she had retired to Fratley's, according to Eiko. But he didn't know where Dominic and Vivi had gone.
Snorting, Meander gave his head a quick shake, sending water droplets flying. He grumbled bitterly, realizing he needed to cut his hair. The graying, black hair was beginning to become a little too long... And aggravating.
Suddenly Meander heard a noise. Meander immediately looked out into the streets, only to smile grimly. Vivi had returned; but where was Dominic? Meander knew he'd probably find out.
"Where's Dominic?" Meander asked, his rough voice penetrating the peaceful silence.
"He's with Wanderer," Vivi said nervously, clearly not fond of Meander's current attitude.
"The new King?" Meander asked, eyebrows raised.
"Y-Yes," Vivi replied.
"Figures," Meander snorted, looking behind him. The entrance to the underground chamber was hidden, just like it should be. Meander didn't understand why he felt so paranoid.
"Fratley's going to tell Freya," Vivi said quickly.
"Like he's supposed to," Meander grunted.
"What are you guys doing? Shouldn't you be talking inside?" Eiko suddenly said, appearing before the two.
Meander groaned. "We're waiting for Dominic."
"He won't be back for a while." The new voice belonged to Kitski, who padded over from the direction Vivi had come.
"What a crew," Meander snorted.
"Oh, and you don't add to the excitement?" Kitski spat.
Vivi looked out into the street, clearly seeming as worried as Meander was paranoid. The little mage walked out into the street, looking around nervously. Something seemed eerily wrong.
He couldn't have been more correct. Suddenly, a burst of fire erupted from nearby alley. Meander's eyes widened as he watched. Then, his eyes only widened further when, suddenly, a yellow blur shoved Vivi out of the way of the flames. There was a panicked, pained cry, and then a yellow bird stumbled to the ground.
Kitski immediately rushed over to the chocobo while Vivi took out his staff. Duchess kwehed weakly, trying to get to her clawed feet. Vivi approached the alley, seeing a dark figure within it.
Suddenly, a small flicker of fire came from within the alley. The growing Firaga spell soon lit up its owner: Julius. Vivi held out his staff, watching Julius with a strange calm. The staff – and Vivi's hands – began to glow a blue tinge.
The Firaga spell launched toward Vivi, but never reached the mage. Suddenly a splash of water surged from Vivi's staff and met the Firaga spell in mid-air. Smoke issued from the extinguished spell. Vivi then spun his staff about and sent an explosion of electricity from the staff toward Julius. Julius vanished into mid-air, and didn't reappear. Meander cursed vilely.
"Damn it, why does he have to be so smart?" Meander growled.
"He knew about Vivi," Kitski said, rubbing salve on Duchess's burns. "He knew Vivi's potential. He was trying to get rid of him to get rid of Freya easier."
Meander cursed again, then followed it up with an angry bellow, "Gee, Julius, why don't you just blow up the place?!"
"Don't give him any ideas," Kitski spat angrily.
"What's going on here?"
Time seemed to stop as everyone became stiff from the new voice. Vivi, Kitski, Meander, and Eiko all exchanged glances. Immediately, Eiko dashed to the underground chamber and opened it. Kitski surprised everyone by lifting Duchess into her arms. The group them rushed down into the underground chamber and closed the door quickly.
A Burmecian guard padded down the street, looking around with confusion. He had heard the voices; where had everyone gone? Confused, the guard walked over to the snow where Vivi had stood seconds before. He could see footsteps everywhere in the snow. Some came from boots, some from bare, clawed feet. Muttering, the guard followed the footsteps straight to a dead end. The guard knelt down beside the ground where the footsteps disappeared. He felt the ground, and soon felt indentations; was there a door? The guard felt for a latch, but found none. His brow furrowed with confusion as he rose back to his feet.
"Weird," the guard muttered. Deciding the new king would probably be interested, the guard turned around and left the alley.
"We're in a pretty sad state, running from guards," Meander muttered.
"Ah well. If it saves us from questioning, I'm in for it," Kitski said, placing Duchess on the ground. The chocobo kwehed with worry.
"Don't worry, you're safe," Vivi said with encouragement, walking over to the injured chocobo.
"She sure does appear in the oddest places, though," Eiko said. "That nutty chocobo. I bet 5000 Gil Dominic sent her to check on us."
"Dominic knows we need checking-on," Kitski said, rolling her eyes.
"We're a sad rescue squad," Meander said. He smirked and chuckled. "No wonder Freya doesn't want to sleep down here. We're too annoying, and we don't help anyway."
"I'm not annoying, and I help," Kitski declared. "It's just you, Meander, that ruins everything I do."
Meander's eyes narrowed. He walked toward the hallway, but before heading toward his room, he looked at Kitski and replied, while baring his fangs, "Shut up."
---- ((Please note that I am not going to touch on the Fratley-teleport subject and the Kitski subject. Why? Simply because they are not major problems in the story, and I find no reason to change my entire story just to fix two unimportant problems. Thank you))
Okay-dokey! I rewrote the ending of this chapter because the first one was just plain stupid. Besides, this ending revives characters in desperate need of showing up, like Eiko and Vivi. Other than that, not much to say... I finally incorporated Trance into this (gasp!), Reis's Wind (more gasp!), and we know who the new king is as well.
Updates will be slow because A) I am ill, B) I am doing a lot of work for my teacher, and C) I haven't had a lot of time to write. Apologies.
This story is copyright to me. Some characters, locations, and Gaia in general are copyright to SquareEnix.