Kildea was still trying to take it all in as she strode up the newly restored Cleyran trunk with Blaine. They had done it; the Cleyran tree had been restored. Her dream of restoring the city seemed much more hopeful. That, plus she now had to take in the fact that she was walking beside an eidolon, manifested as a Burmecian. She was walking with her god, the creator of her race.
"Kildea, before we arrive in Cleyra I must ask something of you." Blaine said, coming to a halt.
Kildea snapped out of her thoughts and stopped beside him. "What is it?"
"I need you to promise me that you will not tell anyone about my identity." Blaine spoke in a serious tone. "I manifested myself so I could easily fraternise with the Burmecians without them feeling intimidated by my power. That, plus I fear someone might try and abuse my power, which would have terrible consequences."
"Okay..." Kildea answered. "I'll keep quiet..."
"Promise me." Blaine commanded.
"I promise you I will not reveal your identity." Kildea gave her word.
Blaine gave a smile and continued walking up the trunk. There were no monsters in the Cleyran trunk, but then neither of the two were expecting any. The tree had just been restored; no monster would have had time to get far into the tree. After quite a long time of climbing the tree, the two Burmecians reached the highest part of the Cleyran trunk.
Kildea was bracing herself. She thought it would weird to see the tree without the city in place. She also wanted to keep herself composed. The pain of the loss of her home would never truly heal; she had lost so much...
However, as Blaine and Kildea climbed over the last few branches, something quite astonishing was revealed. As Kildea looked at the top of the tree, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped with disbelief.
The reconstruction of Burmecia had been going well, especially seeing as more Burmecians had returned to the city. Rebuilt homes were starting to emerge, and the city was starting to look a little like its former self.
Walking amongst the newly reconstructed buildings was Sir Fratley, along with his adoptive brother Sir Frato, an arrogant Burmecian-human hybrid with short, scruffy brown hair and stormy blue eyes. Alongside them was Lady Freya, one of the Gaian war heroes. The three of them were making their way to the Burmecian Royal Palace, having being summoned by the young King Puck, who had finally decided to return to Burmecia after the war.
"I wonder what the Royal Brat wants with us..." Frato said curiously as they marched towards the Palace.
"I don't know, but you could show a little more respect for the new King..." Freya reprimanded him.
Frato just snorted in response as they continued walking. The guards at the Palace opened the gates and lead them through the castle to meet with King Puck. The Royal Palace had been one of the first places focused on in the reconstruction, and the castle looked as impressive as ever; although there were one or two places that were still left in rubble.
The three Dragon Knights were lead into one of the castle's meeting rooms that had been refurbished. A long wooden table lay in front of them, with Puck sat at the back of the room at the end of the table.
"Hey guys, what kept ya?" Puck greeted them as they came in. "Hurry up and sit down."
The three Dragon Knights did as they were told and each took a seat nearest to Puck. When they were all sat and comfortable, Puck eagerly started the meeting.
"Okay guys, we all know that the rebuilding of our home has been going very well, and various buildings have been restored quicker than we could have hoped." Puck explained to the group. "However, there is one thing that we should attend to..."
"Making a treaty with Alexandria?" Fratley suggested.
"No...and don't interrupt me." Puck replied irritably. "My advisor has suggested that we should make a memorial statue for Cleyra."
"Oh, that sounds like a good idea." Freya remarked.
"You're not expecting us to make the thing are you?" Frato asked incredulously. "Because I am no sculptor..."
"Don't be stupid!" Puck answered harshly. "I already have some people to work on the memorial statue, but I need to find a way to get the materials for it into the Vube desert. That, plus I need some escorts for the sculptors, the journey to Vube desert isn't just a stroll in the park. I don't want monsters harassing them."
"You're going to build the statue on top of the Cleyran ruins?" Frato asked with a slight scowl. "What's wrong with putting it in Burmecia someplace? Several of us died here too you know."
"I know that!" Puck snapped back at Frato. "I just think it would be better if there was something left in Cleyra's place. I'd feel better that way."
"So would I..." Freya commented, before looking at Fratley. He showed his approval with a weak smile.
"Anyway, I want you three to be the escorts." Puck continued. "I'll order some of the Burmecian guards to accompany you."
"Yes, your majesty." The three Dragon Knights replied.
"Okay, this meeting is over. Move it!" Puck ended the meeting rather informally. He still had a lot to learn about royalty, and the advisors were in for a hard time in teaching him.
The three Dragon Knights left the meeting room and began preparing for their latest journey. The young King had managed to get them a series of chocobo carts to transport the heavy rock and material to Cleyra to make the statue. Freya decided to brief some of the soldiers about their upcoming mission. Fratley talked to the sculptors about the journey and Frato supervised the people carrying the rock that was obtained from the Western mountains.
The following morning saw the Dragon Knights up early for their journey. They left Burmecia in the early hours and made the journey across the plains outside Burmecia towards the desert. Frato decided to look ahead as they travelled along in the carriages; it was his first time out venturing into the Vube desert, or anywhere other than Burmecia and the mountains that surrounded it. There may have been the odd time that he took a post at Gizamaluke's Grotto, but he hadn't really had many adventures out into Gaia. As he admired the view outside of the chocobo carriage, he spotted something peculiar.
"Uh...I heard that the Cleyran tree was destroyed..." Frato said back into the carriage.
"It was." Freya replied simply. A tone of regret entered her voice. "I watched it get destroyed."
"That's what I thought." Frato answered. "So can someone please explain to me why there is a huge tree in the distance, at the area where we are heading?"
Both Freya and Fratley looked at Frato, who nodded towards the horizon. The two Burmecians turned from their discussion and looked at where Frato had been talking about. Just like he said, the gigantic tree of Cleyra stood tall in the distance. Freya and Fratley both looked dumbfounded at the sight.
"This has to be some sort of illusion..." Freya managed to stutter.
At the top of the newly reformed Cleyran tree, Kildea was looking just as dumbstruck as Freya and Fratley were as she looked at the top of the tree where the Cleyran settlement had stood. The thing was, Kildea hadn't expected to see the Cleyran town completely rebuilt to the way it once was. The eidolon had restored the city as well?
Then another surprise hit her as she looked closely at the paths and stairways in the city. She could see movement. There were actual Cleyrans and Burmecian refugees walking around the city, many with confused looks on their faces. Kildea actually recognised some of her friends as the two walked closer to the sandy city.
"Are you alright?" Blaine inquired as he noticed Kildea's expression on this sight.
"I...don't believe this..." Kildea stuttered. "You restored the city and the lives of everyone who was in it too?"
"You wanted Cleyra to be restored didn't you?" Blaine replied simply. "The city and the people in it make up Cleyra as well, it isn't just the tree."
"I didn't know you had that kind of power..." Kildea answered, still letting the fact sink in. "This worked a lot better than I first imagined..."
"I suppose this must be a shock for you." Blaine said in an emphatic tone. "But it is for the better, isn't it? Besides, we have to compose ourselves. We have a lot of explaining to do."
Kildea nodded, before Blaine led her into the settlement.
The three Dragon Knights continued to their destination along with the other Burmecians accompanying them. When they reached the Cleyran tree the Burmecians hastily climbed up to find out what was behind the resurrection. As Blaine and Kildea found, there were very little monsters to hassle them and the Dragon Knights easily escorted everyone up the tree safely.
Everyone was taken aback when the group reached the top of the tree and found the entire Cleyran settlement standing in front of them. Many of the Burmecians were speechless.
"I don't understand this..." Freya managed to stammer. "How did this happen? I witnessed this entire town get annihilated."
"We aren't going to figure it out by just standing here staring!" Frato sniped at the group. "Come on! We might find out something in the city."
Frato then marched into the city, and was quickly followed by Freya, Fratley and the rest of the Burmecians. The group found another surprise when they found Cleyran citizens walking around and Burmecian refugees who had been listed as dead. When a Cleyran Oracle welcomed them the Dragon knights nearly jumped out of their skin.
"Are you a ghost?" Frato asked the Cleyran.
"I don't believe so." The Cleyran answered. "My name is Satrea. Oracle Kildea usually welcomes visitors and acts as a tour guide, but she has been busy talking to the High Priest. Strange things have been happening recently."
"What things?" Freya asked. "This town was annihilated by the eidolon warrior Odin. All of the inhabitants were believed to be dead. Just what happened here?"
"I am uncertain my Lady." Satrea replied simply. "It was the most peculiar thing, I can remember the sky becoming black, and I felt immense pain for a short moment." Satrea looked rather uncomfortable as she recalled the event. "Then there was blackness, and all of a sudden I saw this strange, bright blue light and I woke up here."
"A strange blue light?" Freya repeated in a confused tone.
"Oracle Kildea and a Burmecian Oracle Blaine are talking with the High Priest in the cathedral about what happened." Satrea explained. "You may wish to talk with them after they are finished."
"Yes, of course." Freya closed their discussion. "Thank-you for the information."
"You're most welcome!" Satrea replied happily.
"Well, you heard the woman." Frato said to the other two Dragon Knights. "All the answers are in the cathedral. Let's get going!"
The three Dragon Knights decided to let the sculptors and the rest of the group explore the city whilst they made their way to the cathedral. It would be too troublesome having an entire squad of Burmecians in the cathedral, especially when they weren't needed. As the Dragon Knights walked through the city, someone called out to them.
"Freya! Fratley!"
The three Dragon Knights turned to see Dan, and old friend from the Dragon Academy. He was running up to greet them, with his wife and two children walking behind him.
"It's great to see you guys!" Dan exclaimed happily. "Frato, I didn't know you were in Cleyra...I thought you stayed behind in Burmecia..."
"I did." Frato responded simply. "But that was last year. King Puck sent us out to protect a group of Burmecians so they could make a memorial statue for Cleyra."
Dan looked confused, and Freya decided to try and clarify things for him.
"Cleyra was destroyed by the Alexandrians a year ago." Freya explained. "Me and Fratley managed to escape. We then got sent by King Puck to escort some sculptors here and make a memorial statue, but we were shocked to find Cleyra still standing and with all the inhabitants revived."
"Oh, so that's how it is..." Dan said, his mind filling with ideas. "Something weird has been going on. The Cleyrans are all saying it is a blessing from the Gods, and that we have been given a second chance... I was unsure at first, but now I think they may be right."
"It's good to see you alive and well Dan." Fratley said gratefully. "But we must move on. We have to see the Cleyran High Priest and find out exactly what has happened here. We'll talk to you later..."
"Right...Well I'll see you again sometime eh?" Dan said, giving his farewell. "It was good to see you."
The Dragon Knights said goodbye to their long lost friend and continued up to the cathedral. Inside the first room of the cathedral there were two Cleyran Oracles acting as guards.
"We are here to see the High Priest." Freya said firmly to one of the Oracles. "We have to travelled from Burmecia to give a memorial service ad we would like to know what has happened here."
"I am afraid the High Priest is busy at the moment, but I will see what I can do." The Oracle replied in a calm tone. "Please wait here."
The Cleyran entered the main room of the cathedral, leaving the other Cleyran to watch over the knights. The three Dragon Knight waited patiently, although Frato started to tap his foot and his tail started twitching. They were eager to find out what had resurrected the dead city and were waiting for the answers.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy IX or any characters and locations in it. However, Blaine and Frato are my original characters and belong to me.
Author's Notes: Sorry I took so long to update, although I have been busy with other things recently and my sister has been consistently hogging my computer. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you will leave a review.