"Hey."
"Hey..."
"Did you sleep well?"
"Not really..."
"Huh... me neither... c'mere..."
Freya smirked and wiggled closer to Puck. He hooked an arm around her shoulder as she laid her head on his chest, and they shared a delightful moment of peace.
"Gods... we should have done this sooner," she muttered half-jokingly, trailing her fingers over his collarbone.
The king nodded in agreement, wearing a satisfied grin from ear to ear. "Glad we got this second chance, though..."
"Uh-huh..." she concurred, basking in the sunlight seeping into the cabin through the curtains. It all felt so real, so warm, yet she knew it was not meant to last. "I wish life was always this simple..."
Puck remained silent for a moment.
"... Yeah... about that... I'm sorry..." he apologized, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Huh? What for?"
"Y'know... dragging you into this mess," he answered in a suddenly serious tone. "I had no idea things would escalate into a literal holy war, and the poison clouding my mind didn't help matters. Still, nudging you into challenging Berlioz was a total dick move. I almost got you killed... what kind of friend am I..?"
The dragoon raised her head and locked eyes with him.
"Puck... I may have had my doubts at first, and I know dealing with Berlioz and Ulrich will be tough, even with Reis on our side, but I want to do this," she reassured him, gently caressing his cheek.
The king averted his gaze in shame.
"I dunno, Freya... do you really want to spend the rest of your days chained to the throne? Or are you just trying to meet the unfair expectations we have heaped on your shoulders?" he asked.
Freya frowned.
"Look, I know I can be a bit of a people pleaser sometimes, but I'm not as naïve as you think..." she answered, climbing on top of him and pinning him to the mattress by the wrists. "I won't sit on the sidelines while everything I love burns. Not anymore. Understood?"
Puck blinked dumbly at her for a moment, completely lost in her gorgeous jade eyes.
"Understood..." he answered, a loving smile on his lips.
KLANG!
"... That all you've got?!" Freya exclaimed, deflecting a monstrous claw with a swing of the Dragon's Hair.
"Shut up and dance, rat!" Berlioz retorted, twisting his body to deliver a devastating tail swipe.
SWOOSH!
"Whoa! Too close..!" the knight thought, narrowly dodging the barbed appendage; she knew all the Dreki needed to win was a single decisive strike, so she played it safe, studying his patterns while waiting for an opening.
"Even with the power of a goddess you're still running away!" the Völsung cackled as he stood on his hind legs. The nooks between his scales glowed with purple light, heralding his flame breath.
"Now or never!" Freya thought, rapidly channeling energy into her legs.
STAB!
"Urgh!" Berlioz grunted, nearly losing his footing; the dragoon had closed the gap in a blink with a high-speed leap and plunged her spear into his neck. Had his spirit armor not absorbed the brunt of the impact, she would have punctured his throat in her first successful attack. "HOW DARE YOU, VARMINT!"
"Uh-oh..." Freya said, noticing the glowing fractures on the earth beneath them. She planted her feet on the Dreki's neck and backflipped, pulling the Dragon's Hair out of the wound at the same time. A massive pillar of fire erupted from the ground, engulfing the Allfather and setting everything ablaze, but by then she had put a safe distance between them.
"CRESCENT!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, activating the gigantic Dragon's Crest on his chest. An army of wraiths emerged from their mystical prison, chasing after the knight like howling hellhounds.
"Need a hand?" the Beast's voice echoed in Freya's mind, much to her relief.
"About godsdamn time!" she exclaimed as a blinding aura shrouded her, turning her flesh into burning steel. The empowered dragoon then rocketed skyward, the sheer power of her jump cracking the rocks beneath her feet. Thanks to her timely evasion, some of the spirits missed her and crashed into the ground, but most of them turned in mid-air like heat-seeking missiles and kept coming after her.
"Huh... this gives me an idea..!" she thought, a sly smirk on her lips. "This way, dimwits!" she taunted them, abruptly changing course with the ghosts still in hot pursuit, and flying straight at Berlioz.
"IT'S NOT GONNA WORK!" the Völsung barked, spewing concentrated flame blasts at the knight, so dense that they looked like lava jets, but she jinked out of the way every time without breaking a sweat. "GRAAAGH!" Berlioz roared in frustration, suddenly splitting the magma stream into a massive volley of fireballs.
"Dammit! Dead end!" Freya thought, but then she noticed a gap in the fusillade large enough for her to fit through. "Alright, here goes nothing!" she said, barrel-rolling like a hummingbird into the swarm. The heat became nigh-unbearable as the abyssal flames licked her armor, but she pressed on without hesitation. Unable to follow her, the revenants crashed right into the scorching wave, leaving her attack plan in shambles and forcing her to improvise.
"WHAT?!" the Dreki uttered in total disbelief as the knight emerged unscathed from hell itself.
"EAT THIS!" Freya roared, hoisting the Dragon's Hair over her head. Its blade shone a bright green as she loaded it with spiritual energy, but Berlioz, who was no stranger to the spear's powers, shielded himself with his wings and widened his stance to better absorb the attack.
FWOOOOM!
The Allfather grunted in pain as a gust of razor-sharp wind hit him, nearly knocking him off balance. Despite the shallow cut the technique inflicted on him, once again his defensive forcefield proved too tough to penetrate, much to the dragoon's dismay.
"You disgrace the Dragon's Hair with your weakness!" the Völsung guffawed, victoriously spreading his bleeding wings.
"... I need to find a way around that aura..!" the Burmecian thought, hovering out of reach in case the false god attempted something. Her eyes widened all of a sudden. "Wait a second... I got it!" she thought, channeling her energy into her spear until it glowed an iridescent pink.
"Oh? That spell again?" Berlioz sneered. "Out of tricks already?"
"Mother Reis... give me strength..." the dragoon whispered, and the blade's radiance increased tenfold.
"... Interesting... bring it," the Allfather said with a smirk.
"Careful, Freya... if one of you dies, thousands will pay the price..." Reis warned her through their telepathic link.
"Wait, what do you mean 'one of you'?!" the knight squawked. "This can't possibly kill him... right..?"
"... He's bluffing, but you've cut him twice, more than anyone ever has..." the goddess answered. "Because of its opposite natures, the Cherry Blossom can cancel out the Dragon's Crest, leaving him open for a direct strike... and now that you're powerful enough to hurt him..."
"... What am I supposed to do now..?" Freya thought, as she realized that by attacking Berlioz, she was essentially gambling with the fate of everyone in Folkvángr... including her family. "I-I don't know if I can do this..!"
"What's wrong, rat?! What are you waiting for?!" the Völsung boomed.
"Do it, honey..."
The knight gasped.
"Mom..?" she mumbled, and the glow of the Dragon's Hair decreased as she recognized Frigg's voice over the soul link.
"What?! I WON'T BE LOOKED DOWN ON BY A MORTAL!" the Allfather howled, utterly outraged. The massive Dragon's Crest on his chest roared back to life, and a massive army of phantoms burst out of it, numerous enough to bathe the entire dimension in their pale light.
"It's okay, kiddo... it needs to be done..." Grandpa Kain calmly added, causing Freya's eyes to well up.
"Dammit... DAMMIT!" she screamed as the surrounding air exploded into a storm of ghostly flower petals. She aimed her spear at Berlioz's heart and charged straight into the incoming swarm. The spirits crashed and burned against her protective cloak by the hundreds, but she kept plowing through them until she met her opponent face to face on the other side.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" the Völsung bellowed, spitting a desperate flame blast at the dragoon, but she didn't even bother dodging this time.
"THIS ENDS NOW!" Freya roared as his hellfire ineffectually bounced off her barrier, but once she was close enough to see the fear in the Allfather's eyes, her Trance died on her without warning.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
KRA-KOOOOOOOOOOM!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
...
...
...
"Nnngh..!" the knight croaked as the world slowly came back into focus. She tried to get up, but a sharp pain stopped her dead in her tracks. "A-Argh!" she yelped; her right arm was mangled beyond recognition, and at least two of her ribs were broken.
"You... arrogant... varmint..." Berlioz wheezed, lying in a pool of his own blood with a gaping hole where his heart used to be. "How dare you... hold back against... me..!"
"Oh gods, I'm so sorry..!" the knight apologized, feebly rising to her feet. "I didn't mean to..."
The Allfather chuckled laboriously.
"... Hurt me? Heh... I should thank you... you've enlightened me..." he stated, much to the dragoon's confusion. "Allow me to repay the favor..."
The Völsung's wounds shone a bright purple, and his flesh began to rot and decay at an alarming rate, as if the magic holding it together had been dispelled. Something large started moving within the fallen god's carcass, causing it to bulge repulsively. Suddenly, a clawed hand erupted from its stomach, and a tall, humanoid creature emerged from the corpse, its albino body covered in blood and glowing veins.
"Reis..?" the knight thought, feeling nauseous. "What's going on..?"
"Unbelievable... you actually killed his body..." the goddess stammered, still reeling from the shock. "I'm surprised Folkvángr remained stable... he must have bound it to that scion..."
"Scion..?"
"A new vessel for his soul, born from his own remains..." the Allmother explained. "Artificial reincarnation... his spirit magic really has come a long way..."
"You flatter me, but you're only half right," the reptilian creature intervened, its mouth twisted into a shark-teethed grin.
"You can hear my thoughts?!" Freya squawked.
"What do you mean?" Reis asked. "You're still Berlioz, right..?"
"Indeed... but you said soul, in singular..." the scion retorted as purple lightning arced around him, and the telltale aura that preceded a Trance began to manifest. "We are many..."
"... Oh, no..." the dragoon muttered, bracing for the inevitable.
FWOOOSH!
Freya frantically looked in all directions.
"Where did he go?!" she thought.
"Behind!" Reis exclaimed.
"Dammit..!" she said, sidestepping at the last second.
SNIKT!
"Agh!" she yelped; Berlioz had tried to tear her head off with his claws, but her timely dodge, plus Brahne's helmet, allowed her to survive the attack with only a cut on her cheek. "He's too fast!"
"Over here!" the Völsung taunted the knight, surprising her with a punch to the gut that bent her breastplate inwards, BLAM! followed by a knee to the face that cracked her helmet open like a walnut, TWHACK! and a vicious uppercut that catapulted her into the atmosphere, WHAM!
"Yaaargh!" she screamed, blinded by the pain. "Trance... I need a Trance... now..!"
"What's wrong? Tired already?" Berlioz sneered, suddenly appearing next to her in mid-air. "Let me entertain you while you catch your breath!" he roared, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her head-first into the ground.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
TWHOOOOM!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Before the dust settled, Berlioz sat on top of the barely conscious knight and began raining down punch after punch until his hands were drenched in Burmecian blood.
BLAM!
BLAM!
BLAM!
"Get... OUT!" Freya screamed, brusquely driving her hips upwards to throw her opponent off balance. The Dreki nearly fell flat on his face, and she used the opportunity to clutch onto his body, preventing him from resuming the assault. The dragoon then trapped his right arm under her armpit and rolled sideways until she was on top of him.
"Where's your honor, you piece of..?!" she yelled, raising her fist, but her massive internal injuries suddenly caught up with her. "Gwhk..!" she gurgled, coughing up blood. Her vision became blurry as her strength abandoned her, and she toppled over onto her back.
Somewhat disappointed, Berlioz got up and prodded her with his foot to see if she would react.
"Dammit... just when things were getting interesting..." he grunted, kneeling beside his opponent. "Can't you do something, Reis? Rats are your specialty, not mine."
"Freya..? Freya... listen to me..." Reis's voice echoed in the dragoon's mind.
"I can't... I can't feel my legs..." she mumbled, desperately struggling to remain conscious.
"I know, dear... I'm going to patch you up, but you need to stay with me, okay? Stay with me."
"O-Okay..."
"Hmph. Don't take too long, woman..." the Allfather huffed, wandering off to give them some space.
Crick... crack...
"Hrrrgh..!" the knight grunted as the goddess' magic hastily popped her joints back into place and mended her broken body.
"This is going to hurt, but we're almost done... you ready?"
The dragoon drew a few shallow breaths. "Alright... I'm rea-"
SNAP!
"Owww! Ffffuck..!" she yelled as she rolled on her side. "Arrrgh..!"
"Sorry for that... how are you feeling?"
"Angry..." Freya grunted as she propped herself up with the Dragon's Hair. "Two questions: how many people are linked to me right now?"
"... Nine..."
The implications of that statement sent chills down her spine.
"I see... can you bind Folkvángr to another master, in case something goes wrong?"
The goddess made a pause.
"... I think so."
The knight bared her gritted teeth. "No more doubts, then..." she declared, and a fiery aura wreathed her, turning her flesh into white-hot steel.
"Heh... you're awfully cocky for a walking corpse," Berlioz said, summoning his winged spear to his hand.
"Guess that makes two of us," Freya retorted, waving him closer. the Allfather's smirk deepened until it became a murderous grimace.
The two warriors charged at each other, leaving a blazing trail in their wake, and the shockwave caused by the clash of their weapons fractured the earth beneath their feet.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
TWHOOOM!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"All that power in the hands of an amateur!" the Allfather guffawed. Freya pushed his polearm away and unleashed a flurry of rapid-fire jabs. However, the Völsung swiftly dodged each blow and countered with a brutal hew, aiming for the knight's calf. KLANG! the spears went as she deflected his blade with her own, using the opportunity to close the distance and smash his face in with the butt of her weapon.
BLAM!
"Unf!" the Völsung uttered, nearly losing his footing.
"Your spirit armor has weakened..." Freya remarked. "What's wrong? Tired already?"
"I've got more than enough energy left to kill you!" Berlioz retorted.
The dragoon switched to a one-handed grip and launched a ranged thrust at her opponent's gut, but he repelled it with the shaft of his spear, closed the gap, and answered with an overhead strike that nearly blindsided her. BLAM! their weapons went, and the hill quaked under the might of his blow, but Freya took advantage of the situation and tried to kick him in the chest.
GRAB!
"Agh..!" she grunted; he had caught her foot by the ankle and was squeezing it so hard she thought it'd snap in half.
"Lindblum '78! Remember that fight!" Sir Wulfweard exclaimed through their telepathic link, and Freya immediately spun with her other leg, using the Völsung's grip as leverage to jump and nail him in the jaw with a flying back kick.
/\/\/\/\/\
CRACK!
\/\/\/\/\/
Berlioz screamed as the tremendous impact sent him tumbling downhill. Freya kipped up to her feet and chased after the god, spear in hand.
"I won't tolerate this humiliation..!" he snarled, using his superior agility to regain his foothold and charge at the knight at breakneck speed. She angled her weapon to parry him, but he changed direction at the last second, flanking her so fast that he seemed to have teleported behind her. "Gotcha!"
"Shi-!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\
SQUELCH!
\/\/\/\/\/\/
Freya howled in pain; Berlioz had run his blade through her left shoulder, nearly tearing her arm right off.
"And now, for the fun part!" he roared triumphantly, using his spear like a catapult to send her flying into the clouds.
FWOOOSH!
The rain hit her face like bullets as she dove into the storm.
"Freya! Can you hear me?!" Reis yelled, feeling her protégée teeter on the brink of unconsciousness.
"I'm not... making any progress..." the dragoon croaked. "At this rate... he's gonna kill us for sure..."
"No, he won't! You had him on the ropes just now!" the goddess answered, healing her wounds as fast as she could.
"He's too powerful... I can't even see him move at times..."
"He may be fueled by an army of ghosts, but unlike you, he's alone," Reis retorted. "Use that to your advantage, and you'll win."
"I'm not alone..." the knight muttered to herself. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and reached out telepathically for her friends and family.
"There you are!" the Allfather shouted, his arrival heralded by a flash of lightning.
"Here he comes!" Reis exclaimed.
Freya opened her eyes at the last second and deflected Berlioz's spear with a graceful swing.
/\/\/\/\/\
KLANG!
\/\/\/\/\/
"Huh. Maybe you're not as frail as I thought..." the Völsung complimented her, readying a spell with his free hand, but the dragoon was faster on the draw.
"Stop thinking, it's not your forte," she answered, aiming her open palm straight at him.
"What the..?!" he uttered as a glowing Terran rune manifested before his eyes.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
KRA-KOOOOM!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"Uwaaaargh!" the god screamed as he fell out of the sky, propelled by four gigajoules of raw energy to the face.
"Yikes, Zid... we may have gone slightly overboard this time..." Freya said, biting her lip.
"Nah, he'll be fine," the Genome answered nonchalantly. "Nice one-liner, by the way."
"Hah, thanks... for everything..." the knight replied. "Ready to go home, dragon pal?"
"I thought you'd never say it."
Like a falcon, the dragoon swooped down on the plummeting god. The storm raged on around her, getting worse by the second, but she was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she nearly failed to notice it.
"What if beating Berlioz without killing him was actually possible..?" she wondered, trying to be realistic about her situation. Even at his weakest, the Völsung was terrifyingly powerful, and she had only gained the upper hand by constantly surprising him... but she was running out of tricks and he still seemed no worse for wear. The Cherry Blossom was the only thing in her arsenal that had come close to defeating him, yet it had also accidentally jeopardized the fate of Folkvángr and its inhabitants.
She wasn't naïve about her role in this holy war either; killing or being killed were possibilities she had already accounted for, and the Allfather had proven too dangerous to be left unchecked. Still, Mikoto's speech had deeply affected her, and she yearned for a third outcome; one in which she wouldn't need to sacrifice anyone for her cause.
In order for Burmecia to change, the cycle of bloodshed had to end right there and then.
"This is my world... my empire... I built it with my own hands..." Berlioz snarled, snapping the knight back to reality. The Dragon's Crest on his chest flared into life again, but this time its hue changed from its normal pale blue to a deep shade of purple.
"He's forcing his souls into a collective Trance... how unoriginal..." a disembodied voice Freya couldn't readily identify warned her.
"This... is MY WORLD... AND YOU'RE NO LONGER WELCOME!" the Allfather roared, and the largest swarm of Drekar spirits in history exploded out of his body, so vast that the night turned to day, and not even the lightning could compete with its radiance.
"This is it..! You ready, guys?" the dragoon exclaimed, channeling all of her energy into the Dragon's Hair.
"We have your back, honey!" Frigg said, and the Crescent pendant began glowing intensely. Two spirits emerged from it and flew ahead, heading straight towards the incoming wave. Much to Freya's surprise, they weren't her parents, but a pair of Genomes she couldn't believe were working together.
"Shall we hold the door for the lady?" Kuja quipped as he readied an Ultima spell.
"Let's give 'em hell, brother!" Zidane answered, casting his biggest Grand Lethal yet.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
KRA-KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Freya had to close her eyes and cover her ears; even with Reis's powers, the resulting blast was so destructive that it nearly blinded and deafened her simultaneously.
"Survivors! Watch out!" Frigg yelled. The dragoon gasped; some wraiths had gotten past the siblings' barrage.
"It's now or never!" Kain exclaimed as his soul burst out of the pendant, along with Frigg, Fridgeir, Wulfweard and Puck's. Freya aimed her spear at Berlioz's heart, and her guardian spirits burst into a whirlwind of cherry blossom petals, shielding her from the howling phantoms.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
KABOOOOOOOOOOM!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
The resulting explosion set the skies ablaze and scattered the storm clouds, allowing the sun to gloriously shine through.
"... Did I get her..?!" the Allfather wondered, shielding his eyes from the blast with his hand.
After a moment, a silhouette emerged from the flames, still flying at him.
"No way... she couldn't possibly..!" he panicked, but then he realized the figure wasn't actually Freya, but a young warrior he knew all too well: King Athelric himself.
Berlioz's eyes widened at first, but then he closed them and smiled peacefully.
"I see... so you've finally come for me..." he muttered.
His Trance died out and his spirit armor evaporated, but he couldn't care less. If Athelric, of all people, was so disappointed in him that he would side with his enemies, then he had no reason to keep fighting anymore.
"I've been so lonely, old friend... why did you leave me behind..?" he whispered, opening his arms to welcome death. "It doesn't matter now... I'm glad to see you again..."
Then his body hit the ground at terminal speed.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
KER-KRAKKK!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Ugh..." Berlioz croaked as he slowly regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the cold cobblestone floor against his back, then the warmth of the sunlight seeping into the throne room through a large hole in the ceiling. "Where..?"
"Welcome back..." Freya greeted him, sitting on a large piece of rubble. "Looks like we've crash-landed right into the Royal Palace... ironic, don't you think?."
The Allfather confusedly looked around and flinched: the Dragon's Hair had been driven deep into the ground, mere inches to the right of his head.
"Why..?" he grunted. "Why did you spare me..?"
The knight sighed.
"... Must I repeat myself? I'm not here to fight you," she said, offering him her hand.
The Völsung slapped her arm away and tried to get up on his own, but his legs gave way under him and he collapsed in an exhausted heap.
"Accepting help doesn't make you weak, you know?"
"... I hope you're having fun lecturing me like that... because when I'm back on my feet again, I will erase that smile from your face..." he growled, shivering from the pain.
"I'm not smiling. No one is," she retorted, pulling her spear out of the ground. "Tell me, Berlioz... do you think Athelric is smiling right now?"
Outraged, the Dreki opened his mouth to insult her, but the lump in his throat prevented him from talking.
Freya sat down next to him.
"... The world is changing, and we must adapt to survive... but that doesn't mean we will forget who we are," she said. "Puck knew it, and I'm sure that, deep down, so do you. That's why you chose me over Ulrich, didn't you?"
The Allfather remained silent, yet the knight understood he was conceding the point in his own taciturn way.
"Look... I know clinging to the past is tempting... we've lost so much, and our lives will never be the same..." she said, gazing at the sky through the hole in the ceiling. "... but hey... we're still here, right? And I believe we can rebuild our nation... stronger, fairer, and better than it ever was."
The way the sun played tricks with her hair brought long-forgotten memories to Berlioz's mind. "You're only half right..." he answered, his voice a hoarse whisper.
"Oh..? About what?" she asked.
"I chose you because at times... you remind me of him..."
She couldn't help smiling. "How so?"
The Völsung let out a wry chuckle, but his aching bones cut it short.
"... He was just as annoyingly idealistic..." he croaked. "... and beautiful... so beautiful... he meant everything to me."
"What happened to him..?" the knight asked, knowing she was treading potentially dangerous waters.
The Dreki averted his eyes.
"... He passed away a year before Folkvángr was completed..." he replied. "I was too late... too weak to save him..."
Freya lowered her gaze. She knew exactly how that felt.
"Oh... I'm sorry..."
The seal on her shoulder suddenly began to change on its own, billowing and shifting like ink in clear water, until it became an iridescent amalgam of the Dragon's Crest and Reis's emblem.
"Huh..? is this..?" she stammered, shocked beyond words; the Allfather had finally granted her his blessing.
"... Perhaps you're right..." Berlioz muttered, gently closing his eyes. "Maybe the only way to preserve his legacy... is to set it free."
...
...
...
Author's note:
Two years. I've been planning this chapter for over two years, and seeing it finally published brings a tear to my eye T^T
I have a few things to share. First, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Janet K. Wallace, an amazing musician, prolific fic writer, and a dear friend of mine, who has composed a breathtaking song about Freya's journey. You can listen to it here: sound cloud (dotcom) /user-86435371/the-last-cherry-blossom
I also want to give a special thanks to my dragon pal Brayden, AKA BloodyCrow534, who's been helping me with my English writing, and took it upon himself to read a bazillion versions of this chapter until we found the right one XD He's also a fellow writer, and a damn good one, so go check out his works. You won't be disappointed!
As always, I want to thank all my readers, reviewers and followers for sticking with me despite my horribly slow writing rate; I wouldn't have gotten this far without your support, guys! :)
Only three chapters left! Freya's journey may be coming to an end, but it was an unforgettable ride. Thanks to you all for sharing this adventure with me!
Jota Te