"It’s been 5 hours, I’m cold, better get inside," Tarsh thought. He looked at his wound, touched it. The large puncture was 50% closed and constantly healing because of the medicine from the airship. As he entered the tent, hew saw everyone sleeping soundly, Zidane was close to Garnet, Vivi was alone in a corner and Freya was holding her cap. Tarsh sat down and started nibbling some of the food he got from the airship. Eating silently, he was thinking what would be the outcome of the final battle between him and the monster.
"Will I disappear forever?" He was staring at his palms "These hands are not mine, they belong to someone who deserves it. But even though I disappear, my sister would be happy, but I do hope that she won’t be sad if she knew that I’m gone," Tarsh thought. He lay down and kept on thinking. He turned his head to the left and saw Vivi standing up. Vivi yawned and stretched. "Good morning Vivi, I could see the sun on the horizon,"
"Good morning… How’s your wound?" Vivi asked him with a faint voice.
"It’s almost recovered, I’ve used these medicine, speaking of medicine, I think you need some ether, get some on the airship," Tarsh told him.
"Really? Okay I’ll get some," Vivi said with excitement. Tarsh went outside to look after Vivi as he goes inside the ship. He suddenly turned weak again, wondering why. "This is just a relapse, just a relapse, please let it be just a relapse," He begged. He then realized something. Tarsh shouted "VIVI, GET OUT OF THERE!" Vivi heard him shout, he jumped out the ship with some ethers and potions. Tarsh rushed up to Vivi to check on him, relieved, he was fine, just lying on the floor, scared. He grabbed Vivi and ran back to the tent as fast as he could. He looked back and saw a strange figure in front of the ship. "Thank God, he didn’t destroy the ship this time," Tarsh thought. Then a faint voice speaks.
"Because you are the only important, nothing else…"
"Vivi, wake up the others, tell them, that he’s already here!" Tarsh ordered him.
"Ok… OKAY!" Vivi replied. He looked at the figure once more and transformed immediately.
"C’mon, let’s finish this already!" Tarsh shouted. The 4 followed up to him and prepared.
"Sir Fratley, will you be back once this is finished!" Freya thought.
"I wont break my promise, Freya," Garnet said to her. Fratley rushed up to them pointing his spear. Tarsh was stronger than his usual self. He grabbed the spear and shattered it into countless pieces. Freya jumped up high and Zidane dashed and slashed Fratley violently, Vivi used Firaga on him. Though he was badly damaged, the monster once again appeared on his back and cured his wounds. Tarsh was frustrated of what it could do.
"Guys, concentrate on the beast, not Fratley!" He told them. Freya didn’t hear what he just said, but as she was crashing towards him, he saw the beast on his back and changed the destination point of her spear. She penetrated the monster’s outer shell and starts to spray out its blood.
"Nice one Freya!" Garnet Exclaimed. She started to cast Aura and Haste on everyone. Vivi once again used Firaga, but Fratley absorbed it and reflected it back to them. Tarsh tried to reflect it back by powerfully kicking it. Instead, it explodes and the flames engulfed all of them. They fell to the ground and were struggling to stand up. Freya was still on her feet. She was too determined to get him back; death was no concern to her. Tarsh followed and stood up as well, even though the explosion dislocated his leg. Everyone else was too exhausted to move. Tarsh threw all of the remaining elixirs he got from the ship, and saved on for his leg. Everyone else was back on their feet and fully recovered. All of them got closer together and rushed up to the monster to kill it. Garnet was on the back and used Aura and Haste to everyone. After severing the monster, Garnet summoned Odin. Everyone backed up as the sacred beast focused on throwing his spear on the monster on Fratley’s back. Odin ordered his spear not to explode, instead, just to maintain its current form. As the gigantic spear is heading for its target, Freya jumped also got along with it. The spear and Freya’s weapon literally got through the monster’s body. Odin grabbed his spear and vanished and Freya jumped back. Eventually, the monster died, but Fratley was perfectly fine. It departed on his back, and fell to the ground, still and dead. Fratley fell too, but he was breathing hardly. Freya jumped to him and rested the head of his love on her forearm. He face was dirty and his clothes were severely damaged.
"Fratley, do you know who I am!?" She asked worried and nervously.
"What are you….."
"HUH!" Freya exclaimed.
"What are you doing here, darling?.." He asked her with a tired voice.
"OH MY GOD, you’re finally back. I’ve finally found you!" Freya started shedding tears of relief and joy. She embraced him as tight as she could.
"Quick, I’ve got to finish this while there is still time left!" Freya heard his brother saying it. Tarsh run towards Fratley and touched his forehead. Not having any Idea what he was doing, Freya was completely confused. As seconds passes, Tarsh gets weaker and starts to limp. But he didn’t detach his hand from Fratley’s forehead.
"Brother, what in the world are you doing?" Freya asked him.
"Freya, I didn’t want to tell you this before, because, I didn’t want you to worry, but this time, what choice do I have but to tell you what I’ve known." Tarsh told her in a weak manner.
"NO you, couldn’t, you just couldn’t!!" Freya harshly shouted at him. Tarsh looked at Zidane, Garnet and Vivi.
"All of you, thank’s very much, I could’ve been struggling harder for the answer without you, now this doesn’t concern you anymore," He told them all. "Freya, the truth is, I’m just a useless person but with only one purpose, to save your beloved one. I think don’t even exist; I’m just a shadow," Tarsh told her. Freya looked down at the ground, and became sad again, and rolled her eyes on Fratley. "My dear, I must introduce you to a very important person to me and you, he is my brother, his name is Tarsh Burrow, his the one who really saved you from the curse," Freya told him.
"You. I don’t know you well, yet, but thank you, for saving me.." Fratley grabbed Tarsh’ free hand, showing his great gratitude. Tarsh started to fade out.
"It’s time… Good bye everyone, it’s a pleasure to see all of you, and it’s been a nice short life, and I’ve enjoyed every bit of it." Freya looked at him, continuously shedding tears, but she didn’t care if she was crying. As her brother starting to disappear, she saw him quickly glanced at her.
"NO, I won’t break a promise, I will return, I won’t make you sad, I will return to you no matter what. I won’t break it, I promise, just at least remember me while I’m gone, so I could feel your presence," Tarsh loudly said to her, with a raging tone.
"TARSH!!" Freya tried to grab him, but it was too late. "No, I didn’t even get a chance to hold him for the last time…" She paused and stood up. Zidane started to open his mouth.
"Freya, you heard him, he said that he won’t break his promise," Zidane told her.
"Right, just wish for it, and it will come back," Garnet followed up.
"Do it like I did, I didn’t stop just to know the truth of my existence," Vivi told her.
"Everyone, thank you" Freya told everyone. Fratley struggled to stand up, and grabbed Freya.
"They’re right, don’t lose hope dear, I didn’t even get a chance to know him well, but I feel like I wanted him to come back, let’s not lose hope okay," Fratley whispered to her. Freya was resting her head on his shoulders and crying softly. They departed after 20 seconds of tender moments. Fratley looked at the others and approached them.
"I believe you’re close friends of Freya, call me Fratley, and everyone, thank you for taking care of her," He shook hands with all of them. They introduced themselves to the legendary knight.
"I’m going home right now to my kingdom, Alexandria, we’ll drop you off at Burmecia, I have an airship to go back," Garnet inquired.
"Oh, are you the beautiful princess Garnet? I’m sorry if I didn’t show enough respect." Fratley kneeled in front of her.
"That’s okay, it’s not like someone else is watching, besides, we’re far away from my kingdom, oh, actually, I’m the queen now, and Zidane’s my fiancé, we’re getting married after 3 months " She told him with a cheerful voice.
"I wish you two great luck on your relationship," Fratley said formally. Freya approached them.
"Come on everyone, I suppose all of you are homesick and tired." They entered the airship and flew away from the outer continent. Zidane and Garnet was at the balcony watching the great view with Vivi beside them, and Fratley and Freya was inside resting, close to each other. But she was still thinking of him, her brother and hoping that he would return early.
*
~^*^~*
Darkness…… He opened his eyes slowly. "I didn’t disappear like I thought?" He saw a mirror image of himself in front of him. "You, I know you could tell me everything. I really have to know, to fully understand," The mirror image starts to speak.
"Are you really sure of this, this might change your way of thinking even as I speak,"
"I must" Tarsh told him humbly.
"Okay then. I suppose you don’t fully know who you are do you. Well, you are just a spiritual fragment," He said.
"What do you mean?" Tarsh asked him
"Well, for one thing, you’re right about what you said, you don’t exist"
"I don’t exist?"
"Yes, you are just the memories of Fratley,"
"Then why was I a human body?"
Another Tarsh Burrow appeared behind him, it was the young, long hair one.
"Because you were struggling to find the answer,"
"…. Spiritual Fragment, of whom?"
The image sighed.
Fratley appeared on his right.
"Do I even have to tell you? It’s perfectly obvious"
"I understand…."
"… Okay, Ill tell you everything, Fratley’s past is why you became a fact"
"After he left Burmecia, his promise to Freya was unimaginably strong. In the middle of his journey, he thought he was strong enough to battle Alexandrian knight Beatrix,"
"Then.."
"He reached Alexandria, he saw a tall man with beautiful silver long hair. That unkown man looked at him, and said "You vermin disgust me" He spawned many of those monsters that ou saw on Fratley’s back. One grabbed him and penetrated his back area with its tube like organ, and it was attached to him since,"
"A tall man with silver hair?"
"His name is Kuja, the brother of your friend Zidane,"
"Oh.."
"The monster is classified as a dark monster, it is a painful torture for the host, it erases the mind of the host causing a permanent amnesia. But for Fratley, his promise was too powerful, that he even face the gods just to fulfill it. In the state of suffering, he could probably do anything, he parted half of his spirit from him, which was you, Tarsh Burrow. He wanted you to save him, for Freya. But that happened many years ago, before you opened you eyes for the first time,"
"You are saying?"
"I’m saying that that time, you were merely a generic form of a spirit, with no body, mind and personality. Fratley, so determined to make Freya happy, made you struggle to be A living Tarsh Burrow,"
"How did I know my name?"
Another Tarsh Burrow appeared again, this time; it was the present one, sitting down feeling lonely.
"Tarsh means, "answer" in Ancient language, and burrow simply means going under, you yourself, means, "searching deep for the answer." You got that name because in the first place you didn’t know why you are alive, that’s why you are searching deep,"
"Anything else?"
"That time, Fratley wasn’t conscious until a while ago, everything from himself to his beloved. Freya heard about the rumor that he was dead, actually it wasn’t a rumor, it was indeed a fact. Fratley did die; he lost half of his spirit. The reason he went to Cleyra to save his people, is because when he heard that that place was in crisis, you were affected by the sayings about it because you have a great connection to it, and somehow, that thought went to Fratley and restored him a bit to his former self,"
"I thought he had a permanent amnesia, how could he know his hometown?"
"The powers of the monster isn’t as fast as you think, it eats the spirit of the host slowly. That time in Cleyra, his half soul was 90% eaten, that’s why he had 90% red tint on his eyes."
"How was I able to feel the events that was like very close to me but actually far away?"
"Like I said, you are a living spirit, you have the ability to know anything around you?"
"How did I have the ability to fight that good?"
"The way you were struggling to be alive gave you that ability, plus the skills of Fratley helped also,"
"And just why was I saying such good things and comforting my sister like that,"
He sighed again.
"Come on! Again do I really have to tell you everything that’s obvious? You are the memories of Fratley; you got his mind, his heart and his personality, that’s why you were like that. Your sister felt him in you."
"OH, I forgot to ask you this. Technically, I was alive right?"
"Yes…"
"Did I die? And why was I here in the first place?"
"Well, in reality, you didn’t, you are simply inside yourself, but your body is dead,"
"But I felt like I died,"
"Do I have the chance to live again?"
"That depends on the outcome of this discussion"
"Oh? Then I will be patient with you."
"Also, you are here, because you were still desperate to know who you really are,"
"The reason why Fratley was changing his personality is because he was merely struggling to look for him,"
"You were following Puck in Alexandria because you knew who he was, because it was already in Fratley’s mind,"
"Oh, and this Kuja guy you mentioned, go in detail, I want to know who he really is,"
Images of kingdoms being destroyed started to appear behind his mirror image.
"He is the one responsible for everything, the one who destroyed the significant places in the mist continent, those are Alexandria, Lindblum, Burmecia and Cleyra."
"Why was he going to Alexandria?"
"He was going to use the former queen to take over Gaia,"
"Is that everything?"
"Yes.."
"Isn’t it too short?"
"Your life was short,"
Everyone around him disappeared, the whole place turned into darkness.
"So what happens now, what am I going to do?"
"You know your answer, just tell me. Just to conclude this discussion, the main reason you were alive is you to learn to accept yourself AS Fratley,"
The room of memories turned red, and he was like underwater. His mirror image appeared again, in front of him, but close, face to face.
"Goodbye then, it was a pleasure knowing you…."
It disappeared again.
"BUT WHAT!?" "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO NOW?"
"I DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER"
"I DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE THIS FOR THE REST OF TIME FLOW!"
"I STILL HAVE TO ENJOY LIFE,"
"I DON’T GIVE A DAMN IF I AM ONLY MEMORIES OR NON EXISTENT"
"I CAN’T BREAK MY PROMISE TO FREYA!"
"I CAN’T"
"I TOLD HER THAT I’LL MAKE HER HAPPY,"
"THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR ME TO HANDLE,"
He got enraged and went into a trance, he shouted as hard as he could.
"I WANT TO LIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!!!"
Again he heard the same voice.
"I thought you didn’t know the answer? Well, if that’s what you want, then so be it, be prepared to experience long life as you don’t expect it,"
He reverted to his normal form. He found himself lying on the same place he first opened his eyes.
"But let me just remind you, you are now a living person, with your own mind body and soul, but your memories will still be there to guide you, you are not Fratley anymore, you are Tarsh Burrow, the true Tarsh Burrow. You still have some spiritual power left inside you, use it as you wish, but wisely,"
Tarsh looked up. And said "THANK YOU!" He looked forward, but felt something touching his lower back; it was ticklish.
"My hair is long again.. I’m not surprised, because I was just officially born. I’m wearing the same clothes, like the ones I wore before I died. There’s no mist, it’s so beautiful"
He followed his previous trails, to go to Burmecia. It was his only objective.