Part Two: Chapter Two

Unknown Lord

The mountains are most likely the worse place to get lost in, particularly if it's winter. It is even worse if you lost your memory and have no idea what anything sensible is.

A fierce blizzard had chosen to come in at the time that I was making an attempt to stumble my way to civilization. The blizzard truly helped make my journey a "stumble". Snow fell in such quantities from the sky that it appeared to be a giant blanket of snow that fell and not individual flakes. The wind helped to fiercely blow this snow about, and straight into my face. There was a dark blanket of clouds in the sky, but if you could even manage to see the sky, you were lucky. I couldn't even manage to see what was a few feet in front of me, let alone the sky above. My eyes were not used to blizzards, since prisons didn't have weather. Thus, I stumbled over anything that could be stumbled over, whether it be boulders or my own feet.

Sight problems aside, I was freezing, and weaponless. While the blizzard handicapped me, it apparently didn't handicap mountain inhabitants -- and there were plenty of those. Dark shapes would become actual creatures, and thus nearly collide with me, before I'd finally realize they were there and move out of the way. Furthermore, I didn't recognize Yetis, wild cats, or even Ice Hawks, let alone know their potential danger. It took a Blizzard spell from a Yeti for me to realize they were to be avoided, and it was impressive that I didn't become a meal for the Hawks.

To put it simply, the trip was miserable, and I could see no way out of it as I stumbled along in the cold, snowy, dark mountain range. I only knew to keep stumbling along, in what I didn't realize was an westerly direction.

Luck had to have been with me that day... There's no other explanation for how I had survived the mountains, survived the cold, the monsters, and the territory. Any other person in my place, I'm sure, would not have lasted all that long. I managed to make it out of the mountains, and away from the sheer cold that it provided.

The area I came upon was flat, that was the easiest thing to see. A light layer of snow covered everything around. The sky was clear, the sun managing to get few rays through the thick mist. It was a little warmer out in the flat territory, but something told me that it wasn't any safer. Regardless, I wanted to take a break; I had not stopped once in the snowy mountains, and resting in the plain seemed safe enough. Thus, I simply sat down quietly, admiring what could be admired in the area.

There wasn't much. The plains were very much plains; they were flat for many miles, before another sheer cliff rose from the depths of the earth in the far distance. Two rivers could be seen running through the area, and right near me was a massive, ominous forest. Even I could tell that entering the forest would be certain death. Therefore, I merely looked back toward the cliff -- And was stunned. For I was not the only one traveling about. There was another person, and it was impressive for me to see that they looked just like me.

Well, sort of. This Burmecian was quite a few years younger, probably a decade younger. He wore a simple, traveler's outfit, yet it was not at all like mine. He was walking at a casual pace, and I was impressed that such a youngster would be so bold as to travel alone, with absolutely nothing, through the wilderness... Even though I was doing the exact same thing.

Soon, the child finally lifted his head, and stopped in his tracks with surprise. He was close enough for me to see that he was blinking with surprise. He then gave his head a shake.

"Holy!"

It was about the strangest thing one could shout at that time. The kid raced a few feet closer, causing me to leap to my feet in complete shock. The kid screeched to a stop, tapping his clawed toes against the ground.

"Well, this is crazy!" the kid declared in a very loud voice. "It can't really be you, can it?"

"Who?" I asked stupidly.

Apparently the kid found it to be a pretty stupid thing to ask, judging by the glowering gaze he gave me.

"Gee, take a wild guess! Fratley! Everyone thinks you're dead, but here you are! What's up with that?!" the kid declared angrily.

"Fratley?" I asked, but this time my voice didn't hold as much stupidity. On the other hand, it held surprise, for it was the first name I had heard that actually rung a bell.

"Duh!" the kid shouted. "What's wrong with you?"

"Fratley...? Who's Fratley...?" I asked slowly, trying to figure out why the name "Fratley" would seem so familiar. It wasn't ringing out true, just faintly.

The kid blinked with surprise, then sighed heavily before saying, "Whoa, hold on! You can't mean... 'Who's Fratley'? This is a joke, right?"

"Joke? Can't you just tell me who Fratley is?" I asked, looking around. I could see no one else around, so I didn't understand who Fratley could be.

"You!"

"Me? I'm Fratley?"

The kid sighed again, heavily. "Wow, this is just stupid. Yeah, you're Fratley. Do you remember ME?"

"No."

"Puh, you couldn't have! How can you forget me, Puck!"

"I thought you said I was Fratley?" I was quite confused at this rate. It seemed like he was calling me "Puck".

"Not YOU! Me! Puck! HELLO?!" The kid's voice could get extremely loud when he wanted it to; I was learning that fact very quickly.

"Lord Puck?"

I still have no idea where I got that. Perhaps I had heard the guards talk about a "Lord Puck", and I mistaken the kid for it. I still don't know. Apparently the kid had no idea either, for he didn't yell. He instead stared at me with a dumbfounded look.

"Lord...?" the kid mouthed slowly. He then remembered his voice. "Whoa... Whoa, okay, this is no good. You got the 'Puck' part right... But Fratley, what's the matter with ya? Did you take a really bad hit to the head or something?"

"Hit to the head?" I asked. It rang a bell as well... Something within my mind flashed through suddenly, breaking through...

... Hit the ground with a sickening thud... My head slammed hard against the hard pavement... Sword pointed at my throat... Threatening the Queen and the country...

"Hey now! GET UP!"

I was jolted to my feet by the shouts -- no, bellows -- of the aggravated Puck -- that, I assumed, was indeed his name -- who was looking very concerned and annoyed. I stared at him with confusion, rubbing my head with light pain. The flashes of events... They were memories. I didn't know how, but suddenly I remembered something. It was strange, and thus confounded me further.

"Yes... Yes, I hit my head," I muttered quietly. "I fell from the sky..."

"Say what?!" Puck began, but I was on a roll.

"I fell from the sky... Hit my head on the road... There was a blade at my throat... Someone was talking, I can't remember their words..." I murmured, repeating many of the phrases.

"Eh? You fell from the sky... Hit your head... Oh, Fratley, I get it!" Puck declared downheartedly. "I see it now!"

"Huh?" I still wasn't the smartest person.

"You went off to fight that Beatrix lady, and got yourself clobbered. And NOW you've lost your memory. Oh hell, what's Freya going to say?!" Puck declared, shaking his head with disbelief. "Can't go back to Lindblum now! Freya will freak!"

"Freya?"

"Oh, shut up, Fratley, I'm thinking," Puck spat, beginning to pace.

"For a kid, you sure are loud, Lord Puck."

"Lord? Okay, I'm not a Lord. I'm a Prince," Puck snarled. "Let's start with that."

"All right, Lord," I replied, not really getting the hint too well.

"Oh fine, call me Lord then. At least you get that I'm Puck. Okay... See that forest over there. It's the Evil Forest. Don't go there."

"Got it."

"And there's a city on--"

"Top of the plateau," I finished, wanting to actually know something for once. "The princess's birthday is soon."

"At least you know something. Yes, that city is Alexandria. The Princess is Garnet..."

"She helped me, you know."

"Sure she did." Puck, quite obviously, did not believe me.

"I'm serious."

"Ha! You were a prisoner, right?"

"Yes..."

"Then I doubt you were helped by royalty."

I snorted softly, but didn't make further comment. I could tell that no matter what I said, Puck was not going to believe me at all. So I decided to let him not believe me. He could think of some other way for me to have gotten out... And he did. He never necessarily said it, but it was clear to me -- for once something was clear -- that he thought I had gotten free by fighting.

"Okay, so whatever. We're going to Dali," Puck declared. "You can fight, right?"

"Eh? No, not at all," I replied.

Puck's jaw dropped slightly with shock. I merely stared back, and the two of us must have looked like complete idiots. Finally, Puck closed his mouth, then sighed.

"Oh God. This is bad. Well, come along now, I've got a lot to tell ya," Puck said, motioning for me to come. "Ya don't want to be stuck here, do ya?"

I definitely did not, so I merely decided to follow Puck. He apparently knew what he was doing, which was more than could be said for myself, so I decided following him would be best. Soon, the two of us were heading along the place quietly, and Puck was talking about many things that I, honestly, wasn't paying attention to. I was too busy focusing on the things he had already told me.

I was Fratley... The name rang a bell, but not loud enough to spark something. I had fought someone, and lost my memory. There was some person named Freya who would freak, and that name faintly sounded familiar. I was apparently supposed to be able to fight, but I remembered nothing of it. It was all too confusing to me. What had happened to me, and why?

"Hey! Ya listening?" Puck's voice intruded on my thoughts.

"Yes." It was my standard response.

I could tell it was going to be a long walk...

----- Hey. I'm alive. And I'm incredibly lazy, which explains (poorly) why I haven't updated until now. Apologies? Not really, because I simply didn't want to write this. It's boring me... I didn't want to write it until today. If I wrote it when I didn't wish to... It would've come out a lot worse than it is O.o And that's scary. So... Anyway, I think I explained how he lost his memory (It was Beatrix). Now Puck has come into the scene, and he is so out of character in this chapter it makes me scream. And there's very little description, because I couldn't be bothered (for once; I told you I'm lazy) Oh well. I tried. And I know, this chapter is short. I apologize, but I wanted to give you guys something to read, to let you know that I exist! Okay, I'm done.

This story is copyright to me. All Final Fantasy IX material is copyright to SquareEnix.