It had been a fair while since Puck had left Fratley, and he felt a little uneasy. Fratley wondered how Puck was getting on. As he sat patiently in his place outside the city, something caught Fratley's attention. A weird sound reached Fratley's ears, the sounds of magic. The Burmecian looked to see where the sound had come from. He saw the sandstorm in front of him, slowly fading away. The sound stopped, and Fratley could see the blue sky and the desert which surrounded the great tree.
"This isn't good..." Fratley thought to himself.
Fratley then thought about what to do next. He was tempted to go and find Puck, but he knew that the removal of the sandstorm would likely mean that the Alexandrians were making their way up to trunk to invade the city. He could provide some defence and confirm when the Alexandrians would enter the settlement. Fratley remained where he was but readied his spear.
It wasn't long before he could hear voices and sure enough, he found two Alexandrian soldiers marching up the trunk. Fratley leapt from his position and threw his lance down at one of the soldiers. His aim was good, and one of the soldiers fell victim of his attack. Fratley landed and quickly retrieved his spear just in time to block the attack of the other Alexandrian, and in one might swing he slashed the other soldier down.
No more soldiers arrived to challenge Fratley, and he thought it was odd that so few had come. That wasn't enough soldiers to make a decent squadron for invasion. Something was up. Before he could think about the matter further, a familiar voice called for his attention.
"Fratley!" Puck cried. "You gotta go inside the city! Black mages are teleporting into the city!"
"What?" Fratley exclaimed, before making his way up to Puck. "Where are you going Puck?"
"I'm gonna go and find Freya and her friends." Puck replied and he ran down the trunk. "They just left the city...They will provide us with some help."
Fratley nodded and headed into the city. Sure enough, Black mages were floating down from the sky in mysterious, magical coloured bubbles. The smell of fire was becoming evident and Fratley was keen to find some civilians. As he ventured further into the city, mages appeared in front of him and marched forward, chanting "KILL!" in their monotonous, murderous voices. With a few swift slashes from his lance, Fratley dispatched the mages in his path and continued forward into the city.
He managed to find a group of Burmecian soldiers who were holding back a group of Black mages. Behind the soldiers were some Cleyran priests, cowering in fear. Fratley immediately jumped into the battle and aided the Burmecians in their attempt to fight off the mages. With Fratley's help the Burmecians were able to cut down a vast number of mages, but Fratley shared the same experience as Frato did in Burmecia. No matter how many mages he and his comrades eliminated there always seemed to be plenty more to replace them.
It was only a matter of time before the resisting group of Burmecians fell. There were only a small handful of soldiers and they were grossly outnumbered by the mages. Eventually, the soldiers fell victim to the mages attacks and became wounded or were killed. Fratley and the very few Burmecians that remained had no choice but to flee.
The mages were causing havoc in the city killing anyone and anything they found. The Cleyrans and Burmecian refugees were running for cover, either fleeing towards the cathedral, trying desperately to sneak past the Alexandrian soldiers climbing up the trunk to get out of the city.
Fratley headed further up into the city and decided to leap onto the top a very tall building to catch his breath and to try and rethink things. He could see the devastation being caused by the mages very clearly from his position. There had to be something that he and his friends could do.
As Fratley thought for some desperation strategy he heard some more people coming to the base of the building he was on top of. He looked down to see a blonde haired young man with a tail, along with a small black mage and an extremely weird looking creature with a huge tongue. There was also another Burmecian, a female clad in a red coat and helmet. They were accompanying some Cleyran maidens and a Burmecian mother with her two children. Fratley began to listen in to see what was going on.
The survivors were all asking where various people where, and the two children began to start crying. The tailed man was trying to reassure them, but Fratley's sensitive ears could clearly hear him say "I hope they're all safe inside the cathedral..." The young blonde then instructed everyone. "Alright, everyone inside!"
Just as he said this, bubbles came falling down from the sky and black mages appeared in front of the group. The remaining survivors then decided to separate, only to end up running into more black mages. The tailed blonde unsheathed his daggers and ran towards one of the mages, and the rest of the strange group all readied their weapons. However, the black mages had them surrounded. It was only a matter of time before they attacked the civilians. The mages chanted together in unison.
"KILL!"
"Dammit! I can't save 'em all!" The tailed man cursed.
Fratley decided it was time to make his move. "Minions of evil, you have gone too far!" Fratley shouted down at the mages, before leaping from his spot and landing in front of the group. He knew the mages wouldn't listen, but he thought it could reassure the civilians before he made his attacks. "My spear will purge this land of you! You shall fall like leaves in the wind under the force of my blade!"
It was then he made his attack, he leapt straight at the first mage, and in one graceful stroke he managed to slay the mage. He jumped at the second mage, and killed that with a swing of his lance, before the mages could even charge its spell. The third mage fell with the same fashion. Fratley then leapt back in front of the group as he finished off the last mage.
"Now, run!" Fratley yelled at the group. Without any delay, the civilians ran into the cathedral along with the small mage and the creature with the large tongue.
"Dunno who you are, but I owe you one!" The young man said it gratitude, before following the others into the cathedral.
There was only one person who stayed behind. The mysterious Burmecian female in the red coat remained to stay with Fratley. She was looking at him, her face showing that she was amazed by his presence. Fratley noticed her presence and decided to say something.
"Come on, we'd better get inside. It isn't safe out here." Fratley stated, wondering why she had not taken his advice and what business this woman had with him.
The woman looked at him, her green eyes watching him with admiration, and a smile formed on her lips. She then held out her hand for him. Fratley, unsure as to what this gesture was, slowly held out his hand and took her own. The Burmecian female then took a firm hold on his hand and walked with him to the cathedral.
"Oh Fratley..." She cooed happily as they walked.
As she said this, a cold chill ran up Fratley's spine, and one thought entered his mind.
"How did she know my name!"
Inside the cathedral, the citizens were sharing worried conversations with each other. Some of the Burmecian citizens were mourning the loss of their loved ones. Cleyrans were worrying about the whereabouts of their friends and relatives. Yet inside the centre of the cathedral, where Zidane's group had gathered with the King of Burmecia and the Cleyran high priest, a little reunion was taking place.
"Sir Fratley, I...I have missed you so much..." Freya began; she still seemed astonished by his presence. "I began my search for you immediately after you left Burmecia. Where have you been all these years...? To what corners of the world have you travelled?" She asked him, but gave him no time to answer. "My dear Fratley... I climbed the highest mountains only to hear rumours of your victories... I searched the deepest valleys only to find your footsteps. But I never found you. And in the end, I heard something..." Freya said, before turning away from Fratley and trying to compose herself as she spoke. "Something unbearable!"
Fratley was left completely confused by this speech. He didn't know this woman...yet she clearly knew him. "Freya, you say? I believe this is the first time we have met..." Fratley stated, sounding bewildered.
Freya's heart nearly skipped a beat after he said this. She immediately turned around to look him the eyes, her face now showing her disbelief. "What...did you just say?" She asked, looking aghast.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot remember you for the life of me..." Fratley apologised, whilst he cursed his lost memory inside.
"Y-You jest! You cannot have forgotten me!" Freya shouted, before she ran up to him and shook him by the shoulders. "It's me, Freya! Freya of Burmecia!"
"I am sorry..." Fratley apologised again. He could see the sadness and disappointment in Freya's eyes, and he couldn't help feeling incredibly guilty.
"No..." Freya cried out, as she backed off and lowered her head.
"Hey, wait a minute! You can't be serious!" Zidane decided to interrupt as he ran between the two. "It's Freya, your lost love! How could you forget her?" There was a pause as he waited for a response. "Well, say something!"
"That is enough, Zidane..." Freya said weakly.
"What!" Zidane cried in disbelief. "You've been searching for this guy for years, and now he's right here!"
"Fratley! Do you remember me, the King of Burmecia?" Another person decided to enter this startling discussion.
"Not at all, I'm afraid." Fratley answered apologetically.
"Impossible! Have you forgotten everything that has passed?" The King responded in surprise. "Then let me ask you this: What brought you back to Burmecia? Is it not because you learned of the crisis here in Cleyra, whose people are our brothers?"
"As a matter of fact..." Fratley began.
"As a matter of fact, I'll tell ya!" A young voice called out from the room's entrance. Puck ran into the room and stopped before Freya and Fratley.
"Puck!" Everyone said in a startled tone.
"I found Fratley during my travels around the world! And you guessed it; he didn't know who I was! Or even who he was!" Puck explained to the group. "But when Burmecia was attacked and he heard that Cleyra was in danger... His faint memories as a dragon knight called him back here!"
"Dragon knight..." Fratley said, recalling his title. "Yes, I was once called that... But now, that is all I can remember..."
"Fratley..." Freya said, feeling pity for her love.
"I must go." Fratley stated firmly, and with one swift leap, he leapt straight out of the cathedral.
"Freya, aren't you gonna follow him?" Zidane asked curiously.
"No..." Freya answered, having a hard fight against tears. "I am happy simply knowing that Sir Fratley still lives."
"I'm sorry, Freya." Puck apologised. "I knew you weren't ready to see him, but with
Cleyra under attack and all..."
"I need no such courtesy, Highness." Freya said gruffly.
"Uh...well, I'm gonna go after Fratley! Later!" Puck chirped before running out of the cathedral, knocking over Vivi as he ran out.
"Wait, Puck! I have not seen you in ages!" The King cried out, but to no avail. The young prince wasn't coming back.
Disclaimer: Only Frato and Redwind belong to me. Everything else in this story belongs to Square.
Author's Notes: Well, not only has this story not been getting the attention I think it deserves, I've also had a computer-hogging sister hindering my fan-fiction. Not only that, but I've found these seems people still want to nark at a story I wrote THREE YEARS AGO! That, plus the person behind these links refuses to acknowledge that I have moved on since then. S/he thinks all my recent stories (the Sentinel trilogy) is all Marty-Stu stuff and is complete rubbish...without even looking at it. If s/he paid attention, he'd know I made up with Guardian 1 a while back.
Dazz Cambo: I'm glad you like it. There is another game event here, but it will be the last one. Now I can write something that is pure original work. Keep reading!