Freya is inside the tent looking after badly wounded Tarsh. Zidane and Vivi were outside.
"Let’s just leave them alone," Zidane told Vivi.
"Why?" Vivi asked him.
"I just don’t want me interrupting the bonding between brother and sister. Let’s just watch the stars and think happy thoughts." Zidane said.
"Uh okay," Vivi said to himself. As the stars twinkle, Zidane saw a small vague object in the sky.
"What’s that?" Zidane said. He suddenly realized it was an airship, as it got closer he saw the airship that Cid gave them. It landed on grassland near them and he saw his love, Dagger come out from the bottom door. "DAGGER!!" Zidane shouted.
"ZIDANE!" She called back. The two approached each other, running happily. Zidane held her and she held him with her arms tightly. "I saw a campfire and a tent when I was searching for you," Dagger whispered to him. "And what are you doing outside?" Dagger asked him.
"I wanted to leave Freya and her brother alone for the moment," Zidane told her.
"What! Freya’s here too and she has a brother??" Dagger was surprised.
"Well, not a biological brother, I’ll tell you everything," Zidane told her.
Freya’s treating Tarsh’ wounds manually, he was looking at her, feeling the force of Fratley in him.
"Everything’s going to be fine now brother," she said quietly. "Don’t worry, I’ll give the best I could, I don’t have potions and ethers to use my skills to treat your wounds, I’m sorry," Freya said to him.
"I’m just fine. OW!!" Tarsh’ wound swelled.
"Here, I’ll handle this," She assured him truthfully.
"Don’t worry too much dear sister," Tarsh told her. "Did you know? A few weeks before we met, I saw you when I wake up, I thought it was a gift that I didn’t thought would be real, I felt that I was suppose to meet you, and that was the 1st step to complete the process of myself. If I didn’t talk to Eiko, then I would probably won’t understand any of this, and with her help, I think I already know what to do," He told her. "Aaaaaauuh, I think I can’t go on," he said to himself. Freya was shocked of what she heard.
"No! Don’t say that please don’t say that! You can’t you CAN’T go away! PLEASE, you promised!" Freya started crying and rested her forehead on his chest; her knight cap fell from her head.
"Stop being pessimistic, I only mean that If my wounds don’t recover tomorrow I can’t fight for a while, I won’t die. Freya, you know, you look more lovely without your cap, you have beautiful eyes and face, tears don’t become you," he comforted her. She stopped crying.
"Really? Well thank you. I’m sorry I was just too tense. Fratley would be surprise to see me like this no?" She said to herself. Tarsh looked at the ceiling.
"Just let me rest for now," He told her. Freya crawled to the corner of the tent and watched his brother as he was breathing. She smiled knowing that he was doing fine. She left her cap lying beside him. As she watched, Dagger entered the tent to greet Freya and his brother.
"Hello Freya, how’s it been, and how’s your brother?" Dagger asked her.
Surprised she became "What? You already know?"
Dagger replied, "Yes, Zidane told me everything," "Wow, I guess you guys are really close no?" Dagger asked her.
"Yes.. I’d be the loneliest person in the Gaia if I lose him, but I still miss Fratley, so bad," Freya told her.
"I know, somehow, he has, a fragment of soul of Fratley in him, that’s why you’re so concern about him, you feel him inside Tarsh, and that’s also why you guys got married in Conde Petie," Dagger told her.
"Does that explain all? I guess we’re really suppose to meet so I can get Fratley back," Freya asked her.
"Tarsh must recover tonight, and continue tomorrow if you want your love so bad. I’ll be honored to give you a hand, and Freya, I’ll give an advice, take off your cap if you could, you look a lot lovely without it.," Dagger insisted.
"Oh.. I don’t know how to be grateful.. Thank you so much," Freya thanked her. " *Sigh* I’m tired," Freya leaned on Dagger’s shoulder and calmed down. Dagger gently touched the side of her head and told her something.
"Freya, take care of him, he’s the only way to get Fratley back," Dagger went outside to stay with Zidane. "Tarsh, looks fine now, don’t worry guys." Dagger told them.
"Ms. Dagger? I just want to know. How could they be siblings if one of them is different?" Vivi asked her.
"It’s because of what they feel for each other, she cared so much for him and he cared so much for her, so they treat each others as siblings. But there’s something about Tarsh’ soul that made them close. Well you’re too young to know each bit of meaning of it," She told Vivi.
"Okay," Vivi replied. They saw Freya come out of the tent and sat beside them.
"Zidane? When you first saw Fratley at Cleyra, did you see something on him that looked familiar compared to the Fratley now?" Freya asked him.
"I think I remember something about his 1 eye, it was color red, it’s also he same color of his eyes he has now," Zidane told her.
"Before Fratley left Burmecia, I always remember he had blue eyes, could it be that he’s already starting to change that time?" Freya asked him.
"Yep, I think so, and Tarsh and Fratley had exactly the same eye color when they transformed, what’s the big deal with those 2 anyway," Zidane said.
"Eiko told me that Fratley was saying, "merge" over and over, if Tarsh and Fratley have the same kind of spiritual personality and react the same way, does it really mean that they HAVE to combine?" Freya asked him.
"I don’t know, but that sounds weird," Zidane said to himself. Freya lay down on the bed of grass and started laughing happily.
"What’s wrong?" Dagger asked her.
"Hahahaha…. Zidane is right, not only it’s weird but it’s really funny, come to think of it, you see 2 people literally combine and become one, I’ve never been so amused in my life, hahahaha!" She said loudly.
"Hey, I think you’re too tired," Zidane told Freya.
"No, I’m sorry, actually, I’m just glad that I’m going to see Fratley again very soon, and that I have good brother," she told Zidane.
" YAWN.. And actually, I’m tired right now, I need a long nap right away" Zidane told everyone outside.
"Me too, come on," Vivi followed up. As they enter the tent, Tarsh, carrying Freya’s cap, slipped on Zidane’s side while coming out.
"Hey, aren’t you tired?" Zidane asked him.
"Never been better," Tarsh told him.
"What ever you say, I’m just worried," Zidane told him, and gone inside the tent. Freya and Dagger saw him walking towards them.
"Hey, your wound hasn’t recovered yet, you got to be careful!" Freya told him.
"Don’t worry, I’m still weak but I can walk now," Tarsh told them. He sat beside Freya and started discussing something. "I can’t believe I’m still alive after he stabbed my stomach, is it suppose to be like that?" He asked himself.
"I know, the answer for that question, you are a very important person because you are indeed required to complete someone and to find what you’re looking for, for a long time," Dagger explained. "By the way, my name is Queen Garnet Til Alexandros 17th, but you can call me Dagger," She introduced herself formally.
"Um.. Yes your highness, by the way, you’re the girl of Zidane right? And… how did you know something about our mission? Your highness?" Tarsh politely asked her.
"Zidane told me everything, and that you’re her brother also," Dagger told him.
"Yah!" Tarsh replied.
"Well then, I’m tired, the airship is just over their incase you need something, good night!" Dagger told them.
Freya leaned on his brother’s shoulder and closed her eyes. He handed the cap to her.
"Brother, I’m too bombarded with what’s happening around, let’s talk about something else, just for this night, like something about our past lives or something," Freya inquired.
"Sure, why not?" Tarsh told her.
"Then please tell me yours first, I really want know," Freya pleaded.
"Okay. I’ll start off when I first opened my eyes. I began opening my eyes 3 and a half years ago; I even had long hair that time. I saw mist above, it was so vague, I was only being able to see the outline of objects afar, I obviously didn’t know where I was, but I just walked forward. I fought some wild beasts; certainly, I didn’t know why I was able to fight. So I continued on, and I saw a beast that looked like the on Fratley’s back, I braced myself, but it ran away. I had no idea why but I still went on. Then, after hours of walking the same path, I saw a line of people, going towards a large gate, weird, I knew what it was. It was Alexandria. I followed all of them, knowing that it was the way. As I entered the gate, I saw someone who I already know now, it was Vivi, as I watched him go forward, I saw a young boy, like you Freya, running fast and hit Vivi. Somehow, that time, I knew who he was; I was naturally forced to follow him. But then I lost site of him because the crowd covered him. I was too determined to follow the boy. I didn’t know where I was then. I got tired so I’ve entered the bar near the town square to buy a drink. I sat there for a few minutes, drinking water, just water. Suddenly, I heard the boy’s voice from afar, saying something like if you wanna see the play then you gotta be my slave," Tarsh told her slowly.
"So, who was he? Did you follow him?" Freya asked.
"Of course, I got through an alley and saw a glimpse of him. I followed on and saw him with Vivi. They were far away, but I still followed them. They went through a tower. Though I was a little tired, but I had to follow him. I tried to tail so I followed them from rooftop to rooftop. Not know where they were heading, I finally stopped and ended up behind a wild audience. I heard a sequenced explosion and looked at where it was coming from. I was too amazed; I kept staring at the beautiful sparks and listening at the wonderful music the orchestra was playing. I’ve wasted 5 minutes of staring; after that, I immediately saw him and approached him. "Um, hey there aren’t you?" I said to him. "Who do you think you are, my name is Puck," He told me. The name Puck stalled me, and I was forced to kneel before him. I could understand why Vivi wasn’t able to recognize me. It’s because my hair was very long and I was wearing something else different. After that, they suddenly disappear. I didn’t know where to look because of the countless number of people around. I didn’t give a damn about the play despite the amazing introduction, so after that I just left Alexandria and went the opposite way. Nothing much has happened then, just fighting monsters and all. The next significant thing happened then, after many days,"
"What was it then?" Freya asked her.
"I didn’t know what it was at first, but after a long time of hard thinking, I saw a vision of a huge tree, bombarded with bursts of fire and sounds of clashing swords and shrieks of suffering people. That wasn’t finished, after the vision, I couldn’t believe what I just saw, and a devastating explosion then engulfed the tree. My goodness, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was too shocked so I knelt and felt so worried and I didn’t know why I started to shed a tear,"
"So, would you believe me, that Puck, the prince of Burmecia, the King some of our people, was in that tree?" Freya asked him.
"OOH, nooo, it couldn’t be, so, he’s gone now?" Tarsh asked her.
"That’s right, most of my people, the noble blood, gone, the only ones left are me and Fratley, and some soldiers and families," Freya told him.
"I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Anyway, I forgot all about that vision and went on, I was just wandering all the way. But, every time I stumble upon an unusual event in my life, I keep on discovering new things about myself. Those years have passed, and I was walking in a forest, not knowing where to go next, and there, I saw you sleeping, which lead me the way," Tarsh ended his story. Freya got up from Tarsh’ shoulder and looked at him. "Tell me about you and Fratley, I really have to know," Tarsh told her.
"Okay. I’ve first met him, when I was young, about 6 years old; we were training to be a dragon knight at that age. At training, he was constantly giving me a lot of advice. I was extremely grateful to him because I’ve greatly improved. Several days later, we became best friends. We treat each other as siblings, like we do now. We used to chase each other under the rain, when one falls, we laugh as hard as we can. 2 years have passed; I was 8 years old. Fratley and I have grown taller. Our voices became bigger and still best friends. That time, I was going to Lindblum with Fratley and his guardian Mr. Treik, who was the one training us to be a dragon knight, to watch the play, "I want to be your Canary". We were too exited to see it because people always say that it was so far the best play ever. When we got out of Burmecia, we were afraid of the cursed Mist, even though we were half as good as the dragon knights we are now, we greatly lack experience. We immediately encountered 2 beasts at the moment we got out of the kingdom. His guardian instantly killed the first one with just a single strike of his pike. He told us to handle the last one to test our skills. At the same time, we jumped very high and crashed on it with our spears. We were surprised that we instantly killed it. We cheered wildly for our first victory and hugged each other, shouting, "WE DID IT!!" I felt redeemed that time. We continued on and let the rest to be handled by Mr. Treik. He held us both and juped through mountains so we’ll go in the main entrance. We finally reached Lindblum without any scratch. Mr. Treik showed the guards the tickets to the show that we got from some guy going around the continent with an airship selling tickets. They let us all pass. It was our first time in Lindblum, Fratley and I was surprised of how big the whole place is. We were too exited; we didn’t know where to go. He showed us around first and told us, "Um, I think we’re too early, why don’t we look around for a while?" I told him that I would like to walk around by myself; he told me that our checkpoint was the INN near the main exit. I separated from them. I didn’t know then where to go, but I just followed the road. The kids around there seem nice, and I was wondering if I could join in. While walking, I did a side-glance and saw a fast glimpse of a yellow monkey tail. I tripped, I didn’t know why. Lying flat on the floor, I saw a kid with the monkey tail near my feet, also lying on the floor. He shouted at me "HEY watch it!" It was Zidane himself, younger than me of course. "I wounded my left knee. I was resisting crying because that time I thought that crying was only for weaklings, but you taught me how to cry Tarsh, the right way to cry," Freya looked at his shimmering blue eyes, smiled.
"I know, people must learn how to cry to know the truth of what they’re feeling," Tarsh told her.
She continued with her story "So I really forced myself not to cry, but somehow Zidane knew what I was feeling. "Um, hey I’m sorry, I thought you did it on purpose," As usual, always being the helpful type, he helped me stand up and treated my abrasion with some medicine he’s carrying. Obviously, we did what is necessary, introducing ourselves and this and that. We became good friends after. Eventually, I went back to Mr. Treik on time for the play. The play was really good though. After that, I was looking for Zidane. Surprised, I saw him again at the same spot sitting on a bench. I walked towards him with Fratley beside me. I’ve introduced Zidane to him. They got to know each other good as well and also became friends, but only for a short time because after a few days of vacation in Lindblum, we went home, but while there, I’ve spent my time knowing Zidane, but for Fratley, well he couldn’t approach Zidane where ever he goes. Those days were enough for Zidane and me to become close friends. Anyway, we came back safely, Fratley forgot about Zidane, but Fratley and I have been so close to each other because of the influencing romance of that play. Nothing much has happened then, just training, traveling, visiting Zidane in Lindblum and the most is spending time with Fratley. A year later, we’ve become full-fledged dragon knights, and on top of that, we’ve matured. My relationship with Fratley turned different, and eventually, we turned out to be lovers. That year was the best one in my life; I was like the happiest person in the continent. Then he heard about the Alexandrian Holy Knight Beatrix. He told me that his training wasn’t complete, and that he would travel around the continent to find his strength to match Beatrix. He promised me that he’d come back to me, but after he left Burmecia, I’ve immediately begun my search for him. The good days became dark and lonely; my heart was devastated. I’ve searched through forests, kingdoms, mountains, and the whole continent. Then I heard a rumor that my love, Fratley, died. Shattered, my heart is, but I couldn’t accept it," She ended her story.
"How tragic," Tarsh told her. "You don’t have your coat, wear mine, it’s cold here. Don’t worry, my under shirt is thick and warm.
"Thank you, brother," Freya said. "It feels nice and softer, than my coat," Freya exclaimed with a silent voice.
"Freya, sleep inside with the others already, I’ll stay outside to patrol incase something bizarre happens again," Tarsh told her.
"Well, okay, but be careful, please," She told him. Tarsh watched Freya entered the tent and turned his head slowly to the stars, watching and waiting for him.
"I’ll get some medicine in the ship….."
"Could it be what I think?"