March 24th, 1820, Kingdom of Alexandria.
"What..? Where..?"
She felt the world spinning around her.
"Auntie Freya? Auntie Freya! Are you awake?"
Her mind ground to a halt.
"Huh..? Little Tot? What... are you doing here?"
"Mom! Dad! Auntie Freya is awake!"
She could hear a child's voice echoing across the hallway as he ran away to find his parents.
"Am I dreaming?" the dragoon wondered. She slowly sat up to give the room she was in a closer look. It was undoubtedly one of the main guest chambers of the royal palace of Alexandria. She used to sleep in one of those whenever she came to visit her old comrades and, she had to admit, was particularly fond of the view they had.
"Hey, rat-face..." greeted her a familiar voice, raspier than it used to be but still as playful and insolent. Freya didn't even turn her head, knowing exactly who had just insulted her.
"Rat-face...", she muttered with a nostalgic smile, "When I get out of this bed, I'm gonna kick your butt, monkey-tail."
Zidane Tribal, king consort of Alexandria stepped into the room with a big, goofy grin on his face. Time had been kind to him, the Burmecian noted, for he had become even more handsome than he was as a teenager. Unexpectedly, maturity suited him really well.
"It's been far too long, Freya. We've missed you a lot around here..." he said, leaving the door half-closed.
"I'm sorry..." she replied, offering her old friend a sad smile "Life in Burmecia has been... quite rough lately, to put it lightly."
The Genome's expression became unusually somber, and the knight knew exactly where was the conversation inevitably headed towards.
"Quite rough, you say..? Wanna talk about it?"
"Zidane... I..." she stammered. She didn't know how to tell him that his old friend, Puck, had recently been...
After way too many years of holding back the tears, the battle-hardened dragoon finally snapped and started crying silently, hiding her shame with her long, silver hair. Zidane felt a lump in his throat. He hadn't seen her like that since the day she found out that her lost love did not remember her anymore.
"Dad... why is Auntie Freya crying?" Little Tot asked, shyly peeking into the room.
"I think she needs a big hug from her favorite nephew," the king answered with a tender smile. Freya hiccuped and chuckled, wiping her eyes with her wrist.
"Come here, little one..." she said, extending her arms. The young boy immediately glomped her and the three of them had a good laugh.
"Tot, Aunt Freya and I need to discuss a couple things. Adult things. You know, the boring ones? So, would you please go play outside so we can talk for a moment?" the Genome said, gently patting his son on the shoulder.
"Will Auntie be alright?" the child asked, genuinely concerned. The Burmecian kissed him softly on the forehead and helped him back to the ground.
"Don't worry about me, Tot... I'm an invincible dragon knight, remember?" she said, winking at him, "Now go, have fun, it's a beautiful day out there."
With a radiant smile, he waved her goodbye and ran away, happy to have helped.
"I never imagined that a lecherous knucklehead like you could be such a good father," Freya commented with a smirk.
"Let's just say that I have a big soft spot for that little guy. Kind of reminds me of..."
"... I know." the dragoon said, "I didn't want to bring that up, but his demeanor is oddly reminiscent of Vivi's..."
Both friends stayed silent for a while, not knowing what to say.
"Please, tell me I didn't kill any innocents..." Freya broke the ice, closing her eyes.
Zidane angled a worried look at the Burmecian. She was gripping the bed sheets, bracing for the inevitable.
"Truth is... we don't know yet. Collateral damage was... big. We paid for the material losses, obviously, but... people got caught in the crossfire, Freya," the Genome replied.
"How many..?" the knight's broken voice made Zidane flinch, but he decided that it was best to be honest.
"Three. Their wounds are being tended to by our best white mages. They said most of them will recover quickly, but there's this little girl..."
"No... please... not a child..." the dragoon grabbed her head in desperation. "Where is she? I must go see if there is something I can do to help!"
"You will stay here for a while," the king ordered, leaving her no room for argument. "You went into Trance for the first time in decades, Freya. Your body won't be able to handle the walk to the hospital."
"But... I need to know..."
"No. Whatever happens, we'll tell you. I really hate to say this, but you killed six people and wounded another three in Alexandrian territory in broad daylight. I understand why you did it, and rest assured Garnet and I will protect you, but we need you to stay put until things cool down a bit, okay?" Zidane replied in a dead serious tone.
Freya nodded silently, then she lowered her head and looked at her hands: part of their fur had been burned away by the monstrous energy release.
"Guess I wasn't dreaming after all..." she thought.
Author's note:
Hi and welcome back to Gaia, dear reader!
The Prologue has been revised by Myshu. I'd like to use this space to properly thank her for all her support =)
I'd also like to thank Janet K. Wallace for her beautiful allusive artwork. You can see it here: i -dot- vgy -dot- me/EX1Rvl -dot- jpg (replace each -dot- for . and leave no spaces).
Have fun!