"Today is the day..." Quina thought, jumping out of bed at the crack of dawn. The strange creature got dressed and left the castle, heading for the market district as usual. It was a beautiful spring morning, and the cobbled streets of Alexandria were already bustling with life and color despite how early it was.
"Hmph... I can't believe Garnet and Steiner are going to take such a terrible risk. I hope my fears prove unfounded..." the toad-like creature thought while it expertly picked the freshest seasonal fruits and vegetables for the grand occasion, "How tragic... I was expecting peace to last a little longer. Sometimes I wonder how much more must we suffer for people's bloodlust to be quelled for good."
"Hey Quina, what do you say we throw the best party ever before Dagger leaves for Burmecia?" Zidane had suggested last night and the Qu had immediately accepted to lend its fabled culinary skills to the cause.
"Good morning, big white!" Quina's favorite grocer exclaimed, "How's everything going?"
"GOOD MORNING!" the Qu blurted out, "ME WANT BEST YUMMY-YUMMIES FOR BIG PARTY!"
"Ho ho! Someone's happier than usual today, huh?" the shopkeeper replied in a somewhat condescending manner.
"Well... that certainly didn't come out as I expected..." the chef thought, mentally cursing its strange speech impairment, "NO, ME WORRIED FOR FRIENDS, ME COOK TO MAKE FRIENDS HAPPY!"
"Oh! You're preparing a special meal for your buddies! That's so sweet! What do you have in mind?" the grocer asked.
"THE BESTEST FEAST EVER!" Quina replied, handing the shop attendant a ridiculously long list of ingredients, "WE GONNA NEED CART FOR THIS!"
"Again!" Beatrix ordered, raising Save The Queen, and charging it with a tremendous amount of spiritual power.
"I'm ready!" Steiner said, adopting a fighting stance, "Do your worst, Bea!"
"Here goes!" the general exclaimed, unleashing a devastating energy projectile with a swing of her sword. Her technique was so distressingly powerful that it left a deep crevasse on its wake.
"Hnnrrgghh!" the Pluto knight grunted when the green orb of destruction collided against the flat of his Ragnarok with the fury of a hundred charging Zaghnols, threatening to bend the blade inwards like a banana.
"Remember what I've taught you!" the general yelled, "Don't absorb it! Deflect it!"
"I swear I'm trying, my love!" Steiner screamed, putting his whole body into pushing the energy blast away from him.
"Come on, Adelbert, you can do it!" the swordswoman exclaimed, "Do it for Garnet! Do it for me!"
"Raaaaghhh!" the Pluto knight roared and with a final effort he managed to redirect his wife's technique upwards, punching a giant hole in a passing cloud.
"Yes! Yes!" Beatrix yelled, running towards her exhausted husband. He hadn't managed to catch his breath yet when the paladin tackled him to the ground and planted a kiss on his lips.
"Whoa, Bea, this is so... scandalous!" Steiner shrieked, gasping for air.
"Oh, shut up and kiss me, you big prude!" she shot back, resuming her affectionate onslaught. Two passing soldiers witnessed the scene and quickly walked away, lest they ended up like the now donut-shaped nimbus.
"... and the west wing corridor also has an exit... here, see?" Freya explained, marking the gate on the burmecian royal palace map that she had drawn, "It's possible to escape the building through that door, but it's safe to expect resistance, for it tends to be heavily guarded."
"Alright, so we have three possible ways out... good." Garnet commented, letting out a yawn.
"Do you want to take a break?" the dragoon politely asked.
"Yeah... I'd like to talk about something that doesn't involve the possibility of getting murdered." the queen replied, stretching out, "Tell me about you, girl... it's been so long since the last time we've had a good heart-to-heart."
"Me? Uhh..." the burmecian awkwardly muttered, "I don't have much going on... besides, well, all the dueling a god to the death business..."
"Heheh... I like your sense of humor." Garnet said with a crooked smile, resting her cheek on her hand, "I was talking about your dreams, Freya, your ambitions. What do you want to do after all this?"
"I... don't know." the knight replied, realizing that she didn't remember the last time she had been asked that question, "I guess that if everything goes as planned, and it never does, I'll work hard to become the leader my people needs.
"So, you're really going to do it... you'll challenge Berlioz and Ulrich..." Garnet said, clasping her hands together.
"I can't go back now. I won't let Ulrich hurt anyone else again." Freya firmly asserted.
"Do you absolutely have to... you know..?"
"Kill him? No, it's not necessary. Even if he deserves it, I refuse to perpetuate the cycle of violence." the burmecian answered, "Exposing him as the criminal he is and then defeating him in honorable duel is more than enough for me."
"Wow... queen Freya Crescent, warrior demigoddess of Burmecia, it doesn't get much more badass than that, huh?" Garnet said, letting out a giggle, "pardon my lindblumese... spending too much time near former crooks can be noxious to one's manners."
They chuckled for a while, mostly because they badly needed to simply laugh about something.
"How is it like? To be a queen, I mean..." the burmecian inquired, realizing a second too late how childish that line sounded, "Sorry for the silly question... I find it hard to imagine such a different lifestyle."
"Well, that depends on which kind of queen you want to become." Garnet answered, taking a sip of her tea, "If you brainlessly let others use you as a pawn in their games, you'll become a figurehead, and you'll live comfortably until your masters decide that you have outlived your usefulness. If you blindly fight everyone you don't like without a plan, you'll become a martyr. Beautiful in paper, useless for your people. Now, if you play it smart while staying loyal to your beliefs, then you'll get to live a terribly stressful life, rife with enemies trying to kill you, and if you're really, really lucky, you'll manage to change something truly important for the better and be remembered for it."
The queen finished her cup in silence, painfully aware that her little speech had completely killed the mood. Freya found herself at a loss for words too, not because of her friend's grim outlook on politics (she expected something along those lines, given her recent experiences with Puck and Ulrich), but because of how the strong and independent Dagger and the kind and wise Garnet had merged into a woman who had survived no less than twenty years as a head of government without betraying herself or her loved ones.
"Garnet… I would like your advice on something that's been bugging me." Freya said, staring at her reflection in the teacup.
"Go ahead, I'm listening." the queen replied.
"Lately I've been feeling kind of... used..." the burmecian muttered, brushing a strand of hair away from her left eye, "Sir Wulfweard told me that, during his last months, Puck kept me in the dark about many things... mainly because he wanted to protect me from Ulrich."
"I see..." Garnet commented, "It's horribly frustrating when your loved ones do that."
"I know, right?" the dragon knight said, "I had no idea about the Partisans' existence, for example... how could he hide something so important from me? I'm a warrior! A dragonslayer! My skin is nothing but scars and calluses, Garnet!"
"... but people keep sheltering you, even when you'd be happier on the frontlines." her friend added with a knowing smile.
"It's so humiliating! First Fratley, then Puck, Wulfweard and now even bloody Berlioz... I've done nothing but to let others dictate the course of my life!" the dragon knight exclaimed.
Garnet briefly pondered if asking the question she had in mind to the soon-to-be Spear of Berlioz was a good idea, but she decided that Freya deserved to have at least someone who cared about what she wanted.
"Umm… Freya... how do I put this... do you really want to become a queen?"
The dragon knight lowered her eyes and thought for a moment before answering.
"I'm not sure if I can tell between my own desires and my sense of duty anymore..." she replied, "Someone has to challenge Ulrich before he starts a massacre, and I'm in the best position to do it. I don't know if I'm ready for what comes afterwards, but I know one thing: I love my people, and I want to see Burmecia bloom again. If becoming a leader is what it takes for that to happen, then I'll do it... whether I like it or not."
"I see... I can empathize with what you say." Garnet said, "I'm sure that you'll become the greatest ruler in burmecian history, but please, do your old friend a favor..."
"Whatever you need, Garnet."
The summoner rose to her feet and approached the dragon knight. She then rested her hands on the burmecian's shoulders and stared right into her eyes, almond and ebony meeting jade and silver.
"I want you to remember that there is no such thing as fate and that you are no one's tool." Garnet said, "Always be true to yourself, my dear..."
"I will... thank you, for everything." the dragoon answered with a warm smile. The queen then leaned in and gently kissed the burmecian's forehead, sealing their pact.
"Hey girls, are you still in there?" Zidane yelled from the hallway, taking the duo by surprise, "Everyone's waiting for us!"
"I hope you still remember how to dance." Garnet said with a devious smirk, much to Freya's confusion.
Alexandrian banquets felt very different to burmecian feasts, even if they were mostly similar. Used to the wild, torchlit parties of her people, Freya found the hustle and bustle of the grand hall soothing and was thoroughly enjoying herself, much to Zidane's amusement, who had almost forgotten how excitable and chatty she could become after a couple mugs of ale. The burmecian certainly was what people called a happy drunk.
"So, we're face to face with the Zaghnol and monkey boy here present gets, like, rammed into a wall. I start stabbing the damn thing to draw its attention and then Zidane jumps out of the pile of rubble he was buried under like a freaking zombie chimp, yelling at the top of his lungs 'Let me get the final kill! I have a date on the line here!'" the dragoon recalled, making a surprisingly accurate impression of the genome's younger self. Needless to say, everyone burst into laughter, king and queen included, and Quina made things even funnier by appearing out of nowhere, bringing a hilariously oversized roasted Zaghnol leg.
After dinner, the tables were hastily removed and the musicians started playing upbeat tunes. Like an excited child, Zidane dove straight into the crowd, leading Garnet and Tot by the hand. The household staff cheered when the royal family took the dance floor by storm, a habit that consistently drove the conservative nobles up the wall.
"Look at Garnet!" Freya exclaimed, cheerfully tugging at Steiner's sleeve, "Where did she learn to move like that?"
"I... have no idea..." the Pluto knight mumbled.
"Oh, that's an easy one, Lady Freya." Beatrix commented, standing up and cracking her neck as if psyching up for a fight. She then offered her hand to her bewildered husband with a sultry smile, "Shall we show her, Adelbert?"
"Huh..? Uhhh..." Steiner mumbled, turning various shades of red at once. He desperately glanced at Freya, looking for help and gulped when she nodded repeatedly at him with a drunken grin, "Yes, of course, my love..."
The dragoon cackled exaggeratedly at the sight of the general dragging her fully-armored husband to the dance floor. "Hey Quina!" she exclaimed, craning a glazed look at the strange creature, "What do you say we go dancing too?"
"I'm flattered by your proposal, but I'm busy right now exploring the delicate symphony of tastes and aromas that I have composed to celebrate our friendship." the Qu thought, "NO THANKS, ME HAPPY HERE!"
"Oh? Okay... your loss. Hic!" Freya replied, downing her drink in a single gulp and wiping away the resulting frothy mustache, "Ahhh... hey! Those burmecians over there seem to be having fun!"
"WHY NO GO JOIN THEM?" Quina suggested, "THEY HELP ME COOK, THEY GOOD PEOPLE!"
"You know what? You're damn right, Quen. Hic!" the dragon knight said, decidedly planting her empty mug on the table and leaving to mingle with the group of ratlike workers.
"Hey Dag, look at Freya!" Zidane exclaimed, pointing at her, "Ain't she popular tonight?"
"Yes... has she always been so social?" the queen asked, realizing that the dragoon had actually managed to befriend the other burmecians.
"I've traveled with her long enough to know that there are two Freyas: the fun one and the sober one." the genome answered, "Speaking of which, I have a stupid idea. Tot! Would you do your old man a favor?"
"Of course, dad!" the young prince replied.
"Here's what I want you to do..." the king said and then he knelt to whisper his plan on his son's ear. He gave the child some gil and a pat on the back and the boy left the dance floor running.
"Heh, I think I know what you're up to." Garnet said, stealing a kiss from her husband "You're so cute, Zid."
Tot hastily approached the hard-working bards and whispered a request on the lead singer's ear. The prince then gave the man the money his father had lent him and the artist smilingly bowed to him.
"The king has requested us to play Reel Around the Moon, lads! On my mark! One, two, one, two, three, four!" the musician exclaimed, much to the rest of the band's confusion. They nevertheless obeyed and started playing the wildly famous burmecian melody.
"What the..?" one of the demi-rodents muttered, caught off-guard by the song's initial chords.
"Is this what I think it is?" an old cleyran maid asked, excitedly flicking her drooping ears.
Freya turned around and saw Zidane and Garnet grinning at her. She nodded at them and asked her newfound friends to follow her. Once they were in the middle of the grand hall, they started rhythmically patting the floor with their dainty rat feet.
"Alright, brothers and sisters!" the dragon knight exclaimed when the music kicked in, "Let us show them how it's done!"
With vigorous elegance, the demi-rodents performed their traditional footwork in surprisingly good synchronization. Most of the people in the room had never witnessed burmecian step dancing and many started clapping their hands, trying to follow the febrile rhythm of the song.
"Zid! Look at the guests!" Garnet whispered in her husband's ear, "They love it!"
"I'm glad it worked out." he whispered back.
The music rose to a crescendo. With an audacious smirk, Freya moved forward and performed the extremely difficult solo part of the choreography with enough grace to earn a standing ovation from the crowd.
"Holy..! Did you see that?!" Garnet exclaimed, covering her mouth in astonishment.
"Of course I did!" Zidane said, "Good ol' Rat-face still has the moves! Go Freya, go!"
The dragon knight winked at the royal couple and then spun around, facing the rest of her improvised troupe.
"Everybody is staring at us..!" a young burmecian cook squeaked, almost in panic.
"Then let's give them something to remember!" Freya answered, "Ready for the finale? Three! Two! One! Now!"
The dancers performed the complicated final sequence successfully and the grand hall erupted in applause for almost an entire minute.
"Thank you, thank you!" the dragoon exclaimed, bowing to her 'public'.
"Oh, man, that was awesome!" Zidane told his wife, clapping his hands so hard they hurt, "I wish she was always like this!"
"Hmm, this hidden side of her is very interesting, indeed." Garnet replied, proudly smiling at her old friend, "I wonder if we can help her consciously tap into it..."
"It would make her life easier, that's for sure." the genome commented, "Do you think it's possible?"
"I think she has a lot of potential, but she'll have to overcome her insecurities to fully realize it." the summoner replied, "I believe we can, and certainly should, give her a little push in that direction."
"Agreed." Zidane said, hugging his wife from behind and gently resting his chin on her shoulder, "Promise me you'll come back so we can permanently put Rat-face into drunk mode."
Garnet laughed and moved closer to him, wishing she could somehow grasp that moment and take it with her wherever she went."I promise you we'll do far more than that when I return from Burmecia." she whispered in her husband's ear.
"Oh? Now that's an interesting proposal..." Zidane murmured with a cheeky smile, "But why wait until then? Don't you always say that one shouldn't leave for tomorrow what could be done today?"
"You never change, don't you?" the queen replied, letting out a chuckle, "I love you."
"I love you too."
Long after the party had died down and everyone had retired to their own rooms, Freya found herself sitting atop the castle's highest tower, idly gazing at the alexandrian skyline.
"Can't sleep?"
The dragoon turned her head and saw Mikoto standing behind her.
"Oh, hello Mikoto!" Freya said with a friendly smile, "We missed you at the grand hall tonight!"
"I don't like crowds. I find them terrifying." the genome replied, "Mind if I join you?"
"Please, do." the burmecian replied, "I could use some company right now."
"Thank you." the scientist said and sat beside her. They stared at the sky in silence for a long while.
"I love it up here. It's so peaceful..." Mikoto commented.
"It's perfect." Freya affirmed, "I'd give anything to freeze time at this very second for eternity."
"Wouldn't you get bored eventually?" the genome innocently inquired. Freya chuckled, amused by her literal thinking.
"Heh... boredom is a rare and valuable commodity, Mikoto." the burmecian answered, "I don't know if I'll ever get to experience it again."
"You can sense them too, right?" the blond girl asked, "the winds of destruction, approaching."
"Yes... that's why I'm restless." Freya replied, lying on her back to better contemplate the firmament, "This is it... the calm before the storm."
That same night, far away from Alexandria, a heavily armored airship flew under the rain towards the capital city of Burmecia. Deep within its bowels, Sir Fratley quietly pondered the past while sitting against the wall of his cell. He was chained with magic nullifying shackles, covered in fresh cuts and bruises and his eyelids were so swollen that he was almost completely blind. He knew he would be tortured and executed soon, but he had found some measure of comfort in thinking that if Ulrich's henchmen kept trying to get information from him, it meant that they hadn't managed to find Freya yet.
The dragoon was lost in thought when his extremely sharp hearing picked up a faint thud in the dark, followed by a muffled scream and then silence. He held his breath, trying to determine what was happening. After a moment, he detected the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Who's there?" he muttered, unable to see the hooded warrior that was now staring at him from outside his cell.
"Do you want to atone for your sins, Irontail?" a familiar voice asked him.
"Sigrunn..?" Fratley mumbled.
Author's note:
Hi everyone! Sorry for the unusually slow update rate, I've been traveling during the last two weeks and I've not been able to actually sit down and write. Also, we are halfway through the story, so I really wanted to polish this final "festive" chapter before everything goes to hell, hah. Thank you so much for reading this and for supporting my work, I hope you're having as much fun as I am!