Remote Viewing
By: Tangerine Dream
From: Exit (1981)
...
Tap tap tap tap tap...
Night. Bedroom inside Alexandria's Castle.
Close up of Sir Fratley's face. Half-naked, sharing of a bed with Freya Crescent.
They both fell asleep. They look vulnerable.
Fratley is having trouble sleeping.
Tap tap tap tap tap...
...
[Fade in. Fratley falling into an endless, white void. He wears nothing. He feels nothing. The rodent male creature hits the ground. Surprised, Fratley finds himself drowning into an ocean of blood. He notices there's no blood. No ocean. Just words on a white screen filling the emptiness of a page. He does not understand what is going on. A bad nightmare, perhaps. Or maybe not. It's time to reveal him the truth once sealed. To show that everything is connected.]
Fratley: ...Everything is connected?...
Alexandria, Lindblum, Burmecia. For centuries, the nations of Gaia were in conflict with one another. And between that neverending conflict...
...
Who's who in the Final Fantasy IX Universe! According to Ultimania:
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1774. Fratley Irontail is born.
Fratley: ...That's me. I looked so adorable...
July 15th, 1778. Freya Crescent is born.
Fratley: ...And that's Freya. She looked so cute...
1783. Regend Cid Fabool of Lindblum develops an Airship engine that doesn't utilize Mist. Years ago, the conflict between Alexandria and Burmecia was resolved peacefully throught the Airship Revolution. It is unclear whether Lindblum fought any of the belligerent nations, or if the intervention was merely a show of force meant to pressure the warring parties to end hostilities.
Fratley: ...Every Burmecian children's dream is to become a Dragoon Knight one day. Everything is connected...
1792. South Gate's construction begins and is built to commemorate the friendship between Lindblum and Alexandria. While Lindblum and Burmecia developed close ties as well as a military alliance, some Burmecians got worried as its military power was getting increasingly overshadowed by that of the other nations of the continent.
1794. Freya becomes a Dragoon Knight.
1795. Driven by his duty to protect his homeland, Sir Fratley left Burmecia to keep peace, as other kingdoms were slowly gaining power. He promised Freya he would return until he became a stronger and better knight. Freya leaves Burmecia and begans to search for the missing man she loved. Freya meets Zidane in Lindblum for the first time.
Fratley: ...Stronger and better warrior... What a fool I was. Wait, when did I became a Sir? Why did Freya loved me? For what reason she became a Dragoon Knight? Was it her childhood dream? Did I too became a Knight because it's what I wanted to be as a kid? Did Freya developed feelings for Zidane? Did I thought I, alone, could prevent Alexandria from slowly growing power? Why... Why none of this seems important?...
1799. Kuja meets with Brahne in Alexandria and due to his influence, she begins to desire the power of eidolons and to conquer the neighboring nations to capture the other fragments of Alexander's summoning crystal. The Dali grain fields become an arrival and departure place for airships. A secret factory is being built in Dali to manufacture black mages under supervision from Zorn and Thorn. The new airship that doesn't utilize Mist, the Hilda Garde I, is completed. Hilda finds Cid has been having an affair, turns him into an oglop, and flees Lindblum on the newly constructed Hilda Garde I. Vivi, a prototype black mage, is born, but falls out of a cargo ship while Zorn and Thorn are transporting him over Treno. Vivi is found by Quan, a Qu who tried to eat the Black Mage.
Fratley: ...When did everything began to sound so nonsensical and ridiculous?... I had a happy live, friends that surrounded me, the grass was greener, the light was brighter... And what about me? What about Freya?... What happened with us? Did they... forget us?...
1800. General Beatrix and Alexandria's army (composed of humans and Black Mages) invade Burmecia and Cleyra in search of the eidolon Alexander's gem shards. Almost the entirety of Burmecian citizens got wiped out and Cleyra devastated by Odin's merciless attack. Sir Fratley was incinerated by the blast, but somehow a few residents that stood at Cleyra survived. Beatrix commits genocide and is never judged by her actions, but the ghosts of evil past haunt her to this day.
Fratley: ...Somehow I survived, without all my memories. So many deaths... for a stupid piece of gem... And that's when I disappeared from the mainline story, yet I returned at the very end... Why? Why did I came back to Freya?...
"The road remains wide open while your dreams are alive. Only fear can block the way"
"Let fear propel you forward. Do not look back. Do not let failure stifle you."
Fratley: ...Those quotes... These are mine. I said then... they were wrote in the Continental Map Regent Cid had in possession... Meaning... Did I explored the whole world?... Did I saw the entirety of Gaia and ended up losing my memories?... Was that the price for... For... There was no price. No punishment. No torture?... I wanted to forget Zorn and Thorn tortured me... They cut my skin, they stripped away my thoughts... Did I wanted to forget, or... Someone MADE me forget!?... Someone made me suffer... Who?... Why...
...
[Fade in. Transition to a familiar section of Burmecia. Sir Fratley and Freya are standing up near a fountain, close of each other.]
Fratley: I do remember this scene... Freya was surprised that I made a comeback, but how? Exactly how I came back to her?... Life ain't made of ellipsis, is it?... I know that I found out a way to survive at Cleyra, but.. but... why can't I remember!?... Did that really happened?... Did they cared to explain?... Did I cared to explain Freya?... No one cared to explain me...
Sir Fratley: Freya, you're leaving soon, are you not?
Freya: Yes. I can hardly wait to see everyone.
Sir Fratley: Alexandria... I went there many years ago.
[They both sit down beside each other, mirroring Cloud and Tifa's speech at Nibelheim's tower under a starry night.]
Sir Fratley: How long will it take to rebuild Burmecia...?
Freya: I don't care, as long as I am with you.
[Fratley puts an arm around Freya. They kiss each other. Freya rests her head on his shoulder. ]
Sir Fratley: ...I love you, Freya.
Freya: I just want to cherish our time right now.
Fratley: We didn't kissed... What's going on? None of that happened... No kissing, I mean... No more. No more ignorance. I am done. The truth... Where's the truth?...
...
[Fade in. Fratley falls into the void. He lies before an unforgettable silhouette of himself. Another Fratley, wearing earth-tone clothes, with a long spear in hand and a wide-brimmed brown hat with a tassel at the top. This Fratley that appeared looks disappointed and frustated.]
Sir Fratley: The truth, you say? You stand before it.
Fratley: I don't get it...
Sir Fratley: I was a Dragoon Knight. Freya loved me. I wanted to become stronger and better by the time I left Burmecia. Freya searched for me, we met at Cleyra and I got amnesia. Simple.
Fratley: But not fair. You were not just a Dragoon Knight. You were a child with dreams, a human being with dedications other than duty. A flawed human being, of course. None of us are perfect. That day you left, you were inconsiderate with Freya's feelings, but there was a time you stood by her side when she felt weak and frail, because that's what humans do, they stand by one another. It's because you are weak that you are able to develop kindness... and never look down on people.
Sir Fratley: I am the real Fratley. I know who I am, and I am none of these things you've said. I was a Dragoon Knight. Freya loved me. I wanted to become stronger and better by the time I left Burmecia. Freya searched for me, we met at Cleyra and I got amnesia. Simple.
[Fratley does not find it 'simple'. The naked burmecian stands before himself and tears up his clothes to reveal they're the same.]
Fratley: If you are the real Fratley... then, who I am? Who are we? We're the same, idiot!
Sir Fratley: You're wrong. I am the Fratley everyone knows. I was a Dragoon Knight. Freya loved me. I wanted to become stronger and bet-
Fratley: Is that all you have to say!? All your character?
Sir Fratley: Non-playable character. That's who I am. I was not given same treatment as the main characters.
Fratley: Fool! You are your own character with your own tale! Didn't you tried to improve your skills to bring peace to this world? Isn't that a hero's trait?
Sir Fratley: A noble trait... disguising selfish goals.
Fratley: See? You are indeed a character, with flaws. You are not just an emotionless piece of crap. You can be more than Sir Fratley the Dragoon Knight, you are Fratley! A living being with its own life, isn't that wonderful? You have friends, someone that loves you dearly, a reputation to carry on...
Sir Fratley: Friends? Reputation? Love?... Our lives are not ours, don't you see?
[The real Fratley began to cry.]
Sir Fratley: We don't live our lives on our own, they don't belong to us. It's not fair. My name is Sir Fratley Irontail, I am a 25 year-old legendary Burmecian Dragon Knighr, explorer of Gaia,lover of Freya Crescent... Was not I good enough?
Fratley: What do you mean?
[The real Fratley grabs its mirrored improvement by the arms.]
Sir Fratley: What do I mean, you ask!? Bastard! You've taken my place! Because of you... I'm not real anymore.
Fratley: I... I didn't meant to.
Sir Fratley: No. It's not your fault. It does not matter what we do. We're all just characters in a bad story, it's not our fault. Not my fault I was made this way, that they appeared and made me something else. I'm so afraid, but I'm a fearless knight... why do I feel fear?... I am afraid... So afraid...
[After shedding ots its tears, Sir Fratley vanishes in the air. The remaining Fratley is on its knees.]
...
Fratley: Wait!... Who are they?... Who are they...
[A deep, mysterious voice fills in the Burmecian's pointy ears.]
Mysterious voice: ...Turn around.
Fratley: Who? Who said that? Who are you?
Mysterious voice: Turn around and you will see...
Fratley: See what?... I saw myself die in front of me... Worse, he ceased to exist. That Fratley felt no more relevant, and he... he is gone.
Mysterious voice: Do you really want to know the truth? Want to know why you suffer? Why you exist? Why I gave your life meaning?
Fratley: You... what you did to me?
Mysterious voice: I made you a better and stronger Fratley. A fully-fleshed character.
Fratley: ...Am I some kind of joke to you? Was not I good enough the way I was?... Even without my memories, I have returned Freya's affection. Was not that enough? Answer me!
Mysterious voice: Turn around, and you'll see why. The reason why you suffered, why you laughed, why you cried... before you.
[Fratley slowly turns around and he's horrified at what he sees.]
Fratley: Oh God. Dear God. No... God, no. It can't be. No, no... It can't be... It can't be...
...I CAN SEE YOU!
