Final Fantasy IX: Rain of Remembrance: Ch 1

Memory and Hope


The rain was falling all around her, splattering against the hard stone beneath her feet and she could feel it running of the heavy red coat she was wearing. The open plaza was silent save for the rain sound of the raindrops against the cracked and broken stone. Around the edge of the plaza stood several young burmecians, holding either a spear or sword and watching her every move silently.

She shifted her focus away from these onlookers as she clasped the mythril spear firmly in her left hand, the tip pointed towards the sky. Her only focus was on her opponent ahead of her.

He was wearing a dark brown vest and a wide brimmed hat covered most of his face, a long glaive resting against one shoulder.

His eyes steeled on her, he gripped his glaive confidently and Freya returned the gaze as she lowered her spear and grasped it with both hands, widening her stance.

He also lowered his glaive, though held it in one outstretched hand, the ease of which he did speaking to the strength he wielded.

“Whenever you are ready, Fratley,” she said confidently.

“Then here I come, Freya,” he answered with similar confidence.

He crossed the distance between them in a single bound, the glaive singing as it cut through the air in a fast beautiful arc aimed at her left side.

She was ready and shifting her spear slightly she met the glaive with the shaft of her spear, blocking it without moving an inch as he landed in front of her.

He made a short hop backwards, before striking forward again, the glaive coming from above this time with a speed she had long ago admired.

However, it was long ago. She had faced giants of iron and various dragons in her long travels since she first had left Burmecia and she had become far stronger than she had even thought possible five years ago.  

She sidestepped the glaive easily, shifting the grip on her spear backwards as she thrust it at him without losing any momentum in her movement.

He rolled sideways to avoid her spear, lashing out in a wide sweep as he rose to his feet and she leapt far into the air to avoid it, only to come crashing down moments later, aiming for where he was now standing.

However, he quickly leapt backwards, creating distance even as her spear cracked the stone where she landed.

Before he could react, she took the initiative, dashing forward with her spear first and stabbing at his chest.

His reflexes were as fast as always, faster even, as he bashed the spear out of the way with the shaft of the glaive, gripping it in two hands as he transitioned into a sweeping counter attack.

She met the blow with the shaft of her own spear and they stood locked in a struggle of strength for a moment, their eyes locking as the rain continued to splash all around. His focus was clear from his expression; but his eyes burned with passion. It made her feel joyous, as they stood locked together.

At the same time, she felt his strength coursing through the glaive. The same strength that so easily wielded the glaive was present in every movement he made. However, it was far from enough.

Pushing back against the glaive, she forced him backwards and immediately spun right, slamming her spear towards his left side.

He reacted quickly, shifting his glaive to meet her blow, but his feet could not quite brace him against the strength of the blow as the force pushed him sideways, his feet scrambling for grip against the ground.

She followed him as he scrambled across the ground, charging at him with her spear beneath her shoulder, lowered and ready to thrust it forward.

He jumped backwards in reflex, but she continued her dash until she was underneath him, swinging the shaft of her spear upwards and knocking him to the ground.

He rolled sideways across the ground, trying to create enough distance to regain his footing, but she did not let him out of reach. As soon as he came to a stop and tried to get up, she placed a firm foot on his chest, pointing her spear at his face as she looked down on him.

He was smiling though and she returned the smile as she swung the spear out of the way, reaching down with her right hand. He reached up to grab her hand, his hair flowing freely around his shoulders and dripping with water, his hat rolling across the stones.

Helping him to his feet, she then went and grabbed his hat, placing it back on his head with a deep smile, which he returned. It was in moments like this that the time they had spent apart and his loss of memory did not matter. Because in that smile she saw the Fratley, she loved so dearly.

“I still had no chance,” Fratley said as he bowed his head gently in defeat.

“Which is exactly what I told myself so many times, those years ago,” answered Freya gently, “and you are even stronger than you were back then.”

He nodded, shouldering his glaive and they both took their places again, though this time their sparring match was focused on teaching the next generation of burmecian soldiers gathered around them.

The rain had turned into just a light drizzle as Freya and Fratley left the courtyard, the soldiers behind them still training with each other or against dummies. A few rays of sun were even starting to shine through the cloud cover.

Together they walked through the streets of Burmecia, their path taking them upwards towards the hill upon which the castle lay, not that there was much castle about it at the moment, two airships docked at either side of the once grand building.

They reached a small house not far from the gate leading all the way to the castle, entering it. Relieving themselves of their rain soaked coats, Freya headed up to the second floor of the house and out on to the balcony, overlooking Burmecia.

It had been two years since she had returned following her journeys with Zidane and the others, an impressive journey that had spanned the breath of the world and even gone beyond it. Looking back it seemed almost surreal, but she could feel the strength she had gained from the journey causing through her body.

Still, there had been no rest for her following the end of their journey. Her home had lain in ruins, the surviving Burmecians scattered to all corners of the mist continent.

Yet, as she looked out over the city, the sound of activity easily reached her. The market nearby was open, farmers peddling their wares in loud voices, the laughter of children coming from a courtyard a few houses over and the sounds of stone carving were ever present as the rebuilding of the city continued.

It was not the hustle and bustle of Lindblum, but it was a city in repair.

However, it had been a long road there. Returning to Burmecia two years ago, she had been happy to find more survivors than she had initially expected, residents of the small farming villages around the basin who had hidden in the mountains and a group of survivors from Cleyra who had found themselves a way down the tree with Fratley’s help, Fratley staying to protect them and others.

Other Burmecians had reached Lindblum and they too had returned along with aid from Regent Cid. Workers from Lindblum, fresh of repairing their own city had flocked to Burmecia to help their neighbors and had been warmly welcomed.

Aid from Alexandria has been more coldly received, the memories still fresh in many survivors mind, but a visit from Queen Garnet herself as well as Freya’s own reassurances had helped warm the general perception.

The greatest loss had been that of their king, presumed dead at Cleyra even if they never found the body. The crown technically fell to the young prince Puck, but he remained absent. In this absence of royalty, a city council had formed to oversee the rebuilding of their city.

One of the first actions had been to convert the ruins of the great castle into an air ship dock to allow easy aid from Lindblum. Plans were also in place to make the air ship docks more permanent, the idea being to allow Burmecia to catch up in the booming airship industry. It was not much yet, but it was a look towards a new future.

As she stood there in her own thoughts, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her and a gentle hand reached her shoulder as Fratley stepped out on to the balcony as well.

“You were holding back again,” he said as he looked out over the city, “I know you can move faster than you did.”

“I am sorry, by no one benefits if I just end the sparring match in a single blow,” said Freya her head bowed slightly in apology, as she did not mean to make light of his skill by holding back.

“No need to apologize, you are correct that no one would benefit from that,” said Fratley in agreement, not a hint of disappointment in his voice. “Though it seems almost unreal. So many have told me that I am even stronger than when I left. People I do not remember ever meeting, yet all are in awe of my power.”

He looked at her with a discerning gaze, “yet your strength is on an entirely different level. And from what you told me I left to get stronger, yet now I am trying to catch up to you.”

“I could only wish I had had the strength I have now when we met again, so much might have been different,” said Freya, sadness flowing through her as she looked out across Burmecia, remembering the devastation. “You were far stronger than me by then…and yet…”

“Yet you went on to become greater than that,” he said reassuringly, before slowly continuing, “and yet it also frustrates me…”

Freya looked at him surprised and she could see his head bowed slightly, his long hair drooping forward and hiding his expression as he looked down at his right hand, slowly opening and closing it.

“Frustrates?” asked Freya with some concern.

“When I returned two years ago, all I remembered was the fact that I was a Dragon Knight and some part of me drove me to come to Burmecia’s aid. I leapt into battle without even really knowing why, my body remembering training I no longer even know where I got,” he said slowly, though his voice, breaking a bit.

He looked at her, his eyes filled with regret. “You have since tried telling me of who I was, but that only means I know, not that I remember, and that frustrates me. I know I have a connection to this place, I should feel horrified and sad about the things that happened here and happy at the progress that has been made. I should be happy at the results of my training and frustrated it was not enough…but I do not feel the connection. And my training is all I can say I truly remember…”

Freya took his right hand with both of her own, holding it gently as she looked him in the eyes. It pained her to see him like that, but she understood as well. “As I have promised you, I will do anything in my power to help you regain your memory. We will figure out what happened to you, my love.”

“I know we will. As long as you are beside me, I believe this can work,” said Fratley with a smile.

They turned away from the balcony and headed inside; together walking over to a large desk.

A map of the mist continent lay spread out across the desk, markers placed across it, most prominently Lindblum and Alexandria. A few flashes of memory had returned to Fratley over the years and the marked areas were all the places he knew he had been.

However, as she looked at the map it was not much to go by. He had visited Lindblum and Alexandria. That much he knew, but that was also hardly surprising. Puck was the one who had found Fratley, but Puck himself remained missing.  

As Freya watched, Fratley leaned over the desk, his tail hanging limply as he traced one finger across the map, from Burmecia to Lindblum and onwards to Alexandria. “I feel so close…like there is a path I walked in my mind, but it was all in fog.”

Freya walked up next to him placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “we will find the path, even if it takes time,” she said, trying to sound confident, but she herself not entirely certain.  

Though Fratley had certainly made progress over the past two years, it had not been much. Whatever had happened to him had affected him deeply and just her presence or they being in Burmecia had not been enough, as she had silently hoped at times.

It was not physical either, at least not anymore. The cause might have been physical trauma, but if so, it had not healed with the wounds. Only Puck was the one who could potentially tell them that as Fratley himself only remembered as far back as being in the company of Puck, not remembering how he got there.

His movement shook her from her thoughts, her hand sliding of his shoulder as he turned to her. “There you go looking all melancholic again,” he said gently as he drew her in close, “you have no reason to be sad anymore, I am still here.”

She closed her eyes as she just enjoyed standing there for a moment, knowing that he was right. Compared to the long years searching, the long years of not knowing, this was bliss. And as for Fratley’s memories, all they could do was try, try to find that spark that would help him remember again, that was after all what they had planned this journey for.

For a moment, they simply stood there, before Fratley let go and stepped back. “Are you ready to go?” he asked gently.

“I thought I would be the one asking that,” said Freya with a smile, before quickly turning towards a drawer standing near the room’s bed. “But, not quite, I have two things I need to grab.”

“Okay, I will grab our traveling supplies and meet you downstairs,” said Fratley and Freya could hear him descending the stairs as she walked to the drawer.

Her hands went to a small casket at the top. Opening it, she found a single coral earring. Picking it up, she admired it for a moment. Though pretty, it was nothing a half decent synthesis shop could not make with the right materials, but this one held special importance as a trophy. They would be arriving in Lindblum just in time for the festival and she was expecting to see him there again.  

She then turned to the stairs, stopping briefly to roll up the map on the desk and place it in a waterproof holder, before descending to the main hall. There she found Fratley packing up the last few things in backpack and she walked over to him. “You forgot this,” she said briefly as she handed him the map.

“Right, that I did,” he said as he briefly looked at it before placing it in the backpack.

Meanwhile Freya walked towards the fireplace, her eyes focused on a long spear hanging above it. It had a tip of dark blue continuing all the way down the shaft of the spear.

Only the wrapping around the shaft broke the line of blue and a crown of jagged orange metal rose from just beneath the tip, unfurling almost like wings just above the shaft.

Freya reached up and grabbed the spear from its mantle above the fireplace. It was light in her hand, but even just by touching it, she could feel the power radiating beneath the surface. Dragons Hair was its name, supposedly forged from a part of the Dragon King himself. Freya knew not if this was true or not, but this weapon was no doubt the greatest of the weapons she had ever wielded and for this journey she would wield it once again.

“Now I am ready,” she said as she turned to Fratley, who stood watching her with the two closed backpacks beside him.

Fratley picked up his own backpack as Freya put on her large red coat once again and then he handed her backpack to her.

Fratley held the door for her and she simply smiled as they stepped out on to the streets.

The rain was back in full force as they made their way down towards the main gates, many a person stopping to greet them as they passed.

Reaching the gate, Freya stopped on the threshold, looking back up at Burmecia. In her mind, she remembered how she had said goodbye to Fratley here years back and then later she herself had left the city, only to return to find it in ruins.

Now she left it with hope, hope for the future of the city and hope for Fratley. “Shall we?” she asked with a joyous smile as she turned to Fratley, who nodded confidently and the two of them set out across the rain soaked plains towards Gizamaluke’s grotto and Lindblum beyond.