Freya decided to stay in Lindblum for a while and earn some savings for her journey out of Lindblum doing the same job as Fratley: guarding the city gates from monster attack. She had also become quite good friends with Zidane, who had become a particularly good neighbour who always offered good conversation and advice.
In the meantime Fratley continued his pattern of doing farm-work and training with his lance. It had been over two years since he had woken up in that inn room in Alexandria and his training had progressed quite far; he was beginning to feel confident that he could survive on the plains. He even managed to recall one or two Dragon Knight skills from his training in the academy, although nothing else had returned to his memory.
During one of his days of labour in the fields he heard someone shout out behind him.
"Hey Fratley!"
Fratley did not recognise the voice, and did not know anyone in the village with the name Fratley. He decided to ignore it and continued his work. The voice shouted out again, this time much louder.
"Hey Fratley! It's me!"
Once again Fratley ignored the call and continued to toil at the field he was ploughing. Then, he felt someone tug at the bottom of his pants from behind him. He turned around and was greeted by a small Burmecian child with an orange helmet and a similar colour set of overalls.
"Hi Fratley! Long time no see?" The child greeted.
"Do I know you?" Fratley asked, not recognising the child.
"Of course you do!" Puck replied, looking hurt at Fratley's failure to recognise him. "It's me Puck! We've met a few times at Burmecia's royal palace don't you remember?
"I'm afraid I don't." Fratley answered truthfully whilst scratching his head.
Puck looked at him for a moment, before enthusiastically asking the question. "So what've you been up to Fratley?"
"Fratley?" Fratley repeated, looking confused. "Is that what my name is?"
Puck eyes widened with shock beneath his large orange helmet. "What happened to ya Fratley? You seem to have forgotten everything!"
There was an awkward pause as the two Burmecians looked at each other. Puck had a look of pity for Fratley, who was looking back at him with a confused look, trying to recall any long-lost memories of him.
The tense silence was broken by the farmer, who yelled at Fratley for dawdling and to get on with his task of ploughing the field. Fratley apologised and started ploughing again, whilst telling Puck that it probably wasn't a good time to talk.
Fratley finished his duties on the fields and returned to his lodgings where Puck was eagerly waiting for him. Fratley invited the young Burmecian into his small rented house and the two picked up their conversation again.
"So just what happened to you Fratley?" Puck asked as he sat down onto a chair in such a way that the back was facing his front and his legs were wrapped partly around it. "You must have had one hell of a bump to the head to lose your memory like that."
"I don't know what caused my amnesia." Fratley began. "All I remember is waking up in a bed in an Alexandrian inn. A man called Doctor Tot looked after me and told me I should leave Alexandria. I did so using a chocobo and some of his help. I've been living and working here since then, it's been about two years since I first came here."
"To think you've been here all this time." Puck mused to himself. "Rumours of your death have been flying around Burmecia only a few months after you left."
There was a small pause before Puck's eyes flashed with horror.
"Oh god, what is Freya going to say when she sees you like this?" Puck said sounding quite scared.
"Freya?" Fratley repeated in confusion. "Who's Freya?"
"She's your girlfriend." Puck answered. "And she'll fall apart when she finds you like this. She's searching for you as we speak. We've got to get outta here before she comes here looking for you!"
"How do you know she will come here? This is a very quiet village, very few people come here." Fratley stated. "Besides, why should I want to avoid her? Meeting her could help restore my memory."
Puck looked indignantly at Fratley. "She left Burmecia a couple of months ago to look for you. She will be searching for information about where you are and when she finds there is a Burmecian living in Dali she will come here as fast as possible. She'll get upset when she sees you've lost your memory and forgotten her. You don't want to upset her, do you Fratley?"
"No..." Fratley said, not really thinking. He didn't even know the woman, although he didn't really like the idea of upsetting someone if he could avoid it. Especially seeing as she had obviously been an old friend. "But just where am I going to go? If she's searching the land for me it will only be a matter of time before we meet."
Puck gave a slightly irritated sigh before thinking for a moment, his tail wagging slightly as he pressed his brain for an idea.
"I know! I can be a lookout!" Puck suggested. "I could go to Alexandria, seeing as she'll likely go there first, seeing as there have been a few rumours of you being there going around. I could make sure she doesn't come here or warn you before she arrives!"
"Alexandria?" Fratley repeated, sounding alarmed. He recalled what Dr. Tot had said to him whilst he was there. "Puck, if you go there, the guards will be on your back and you will be in danger. Besides, I think it's unfair not to let her know."
"Fratley, I've been surviving fine all by myself for the past couple of months. I know how to stay out of danger. Plus I think the Alexandrians have more to worry about than a Burmecian child walking in their streets." Puck answered looking slightly ticked off by Fratley's concerns of his safety. He'd had enough of that at home.
"But what is wrong with letting her know about my memory loss?" Fratley asked again. "Sure it will upset her, but she'll only get angry if she finds out we've been hiding it from her."
Puck looked up at Fratley, but didn't say anything. He couldn't think of a decent response. Fratley had a point, Freya would probably be mad at him if she knew he was lying about finding Fratley, although Puck could not bring himself up to breaking the news of Fratley's amnesia to her.
"Fine, do what you want." Puck spat. "I'm going to Alexandria anyway. Don't think I'll tell Freya where you are or what's happened to you though. I don't want to break her heart."
"Puck, I..." Fratley began, but he was unable to finish his sentence as Puck cut him short.
"Goodbye Fratley!" Puck shouted, storming towards the door and slamming it as he passed through.
Fratley slumped into a nearby chair. He wasn't sure what he was angrier with, Puck or his own memory. When he found Puck he had hoped he could bring back some memories of his past life, but that hope had been dissolved now.
Fratley looked through the village to see if he could find Puck again, but to no avail, evidently Puck had left the village as soon as he left Fratley's house. Feeling down-hearted, Fratley returned to his home. It wasn't long before he retired for the night.
Fratley found himself in a massive crowd of Burmecians, none of which he could recognise. In front of him there was a raised platform. The sounds of the crowd fell silent and the sound of a bell ringing could be heard. Fratley had no idea about what was going on.
The bell stopped ringing, and a Burmecian in elegant blue robes walked onto the platform.
"It is time for the knighting ceremony." The robed Burmecian announced. "We are here today to acknowledge the strengths of the younger generation who have graduated through Dragon Academy. These members of the Dragon Academy are now to be knighted, and to join the ranks of our army."
Fratley watched as one by one Burmecians came to the stage and were knighted with a sword wielded by the robed Burmecian. He still could not figure out just what was going on. He didn't recognise any of the Burmecians that were being knighted.
Then, a rather unusual Burmecian walked to the stage. His fur was short and light, he had five fingers and his tail and ears were shorter than a usual Burmecian. Fratley watched as "Sir Frato" was knighted, but he could not recognise him. Only his appearance stuck out in Fratley's mind.
Next, to Fratley's surprise, a woman walked onto the platform wearing a beautiful red dress. She knelt in front of the robed Burmecian and had the blade passed across her soldiers.
Fratley watched eagerly, wanting to know the identity of the mysterious female knight, but he was distracted as he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned and saw a Burmecian servant who was pointing him to the stairs leading to the platform. Fratley looked confused for a moment and he was pushed towards the stage. The servant began leading him to the stairs leading to the stage.
Fratley's attention was still on the woman as he was lead to the stage, the name of her sending a surge of emotion through him.
"I now knight you: Lady Freya." The robed Burmecian announced.
"She's Freya?" Fratley thought, trying to register the information in his brain. "She's Lady Freya?"
He stared at her as she walked off the stage, but he couldn't talk to her, or get her attention as he was currently be forced onto the stage by the servant behind him, and the Burmecian on the stage was waiting for him to come for his knighthood.
Fratley stepped onto the stage cautiously, wondering just what was going on. He stopped in front of the Burmecian, who spoke clearly to him.
"Please kneel, Fratley."
Fratley obeyed and knelt, he felt the Burmecian's blade touch his shoulders.
"I now knight you: Sir Fratley." The Burmecian announced. The sword was lifted off Fratley's shoulders and he rose to his feet. Fratley then heard the Burmecian speak in a quieter voice closer to his ears. "I will have great expectations of you, Sir Fratley. Good luck in the Dragon Knights."
"Dragon Knights?" Fratley thought, wondering what they were. He didn't have time to ask, he was led of the stage and as he walked off, darkness surrounded him.
Fratley's eyes flickered open and he rose from his bed. He wondered just what that dream had been about. Had it been a past memory? Or was it just a strange dream? He had never seen Freya before, but the only way he could be sure was either to meet her or ask someone who knew her.
Puck obviously knew Freya, but he hadn't been in the dream at all. Fratley was keen to tell him about the dream that eh had, wondering whether it was a past memory and just what it meant. Unfortunately, Puck had already left Dali the previous night and Fratley did not want to return to Alexandria.
No-one in Dali would be able to decipher his dream for him; many didn't even know where Burmecia was.
Fratley kept replaying the dream in his mind, trying to make out just what it was. Who was the Burmecian who was knighting them? Who was the strange man with five fingers but with fur and a tail? Who was Freya? Had that knighting ceremony taken place before? What did it mean?
If it was a memory, then perhaps he has slowly recovering from his memory loss. Yet Fratley wanted to learn more about himself. He needed to know just who he was and what he had done.
"What can I do?" Fratley asked himself. "Where can I go?"
Fratley sincerely hoped he would get his memory back, but only time would dictate whether he would.
Disclaimer: Look, nobody cares about me doing this, it's just a pointless thing I end up writing at the end of each chapter. I'm just going over there and take a nap for this one, okay?
Author's Rants: I know this is probably the most unusual way to end a story but this is going to be the end of the Burmecian Chronicles. Don't panic though, I will return shortly with another story that is basically a direct sequel to this, continuing as if it was chapter 41. The thing is, this story is getting too big, I got so carried away with the back-story of the characters I did not get to write the actual story I wanted to write about! This story sort of forms a whole story on its own, and so will the next story I write, as it begins at the attack on Burmecia in the game. I don't think it will be as long as this, but then again I thought I would have wrapped up my whole story and gone away to do something else by now. Man my stories drag on...at least you guys enjoy them, that's all that matters.
Valdris: Well, I followed your advice, despite the fact I racked my brain to put something interesting in it and that it gave me a weirder ending then what chapter 39 would have given. Anyway, the second part can begin and the interesting stuff will start to happen.
Puppy Blu: Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like it. I already do give my chapters a once over. I think I must miss some mistakes. The thing is, I can't find anyone to beta-read this and no-one actually points them out in their reviews.
Noelly and Chloe: Yes, well I have no idea why two reviewers have popped out of the blue all of a sudden. I'm glad you like it and I hope you will read the second part of the story, which is likely to be entitled the Sentinel once again.