Sanctity of Freedom

A/N: First Mana fic, but I've been playing this game since I was at least six. Hope my fic's alright, and if you even so much as click on this, please let me know through a review. XD I like knowing what I'm writing is at least being glanced at. As for the name of the Hero, I used one of the names I usually got when hitting 'auto'. Enjoy :3

The fire was warm. Rarely these days did he get to sit at home and enjoy it, and rarer still did he sit and dine comfortably with the two who watched his home while he was gone. Outside of his home, Fa'Diel was as troubled as ever, but for a moment, he felt there was time to relax. The dragoons were at peace, Daena was dealing with Matilda's death well, and for the moment, Elazul and Pearl were not in any sort of danger. Things weren't peaceful, but nothing was on the verge of destruction.

Bud and Lisa were sitting at the table on either side of him, making faces and eating happily. It was rare for them, too, to share meals with their master. Valcrist was comfortable, and having a full meal was doing wonders for his tired body. His cactus was peeking around, trying to be sneaky, but Valcrist knew that the plant wanted to see him as well. The attention he was receiving was making him wonder why he just didn't stay around more often. Night was falling, and he stood up from the table, leaving his empty plate.

"Lisa," he said softly, and the girl looked up. "Could you wash my plate for me?" The girl nodded feverishly, smiling, eager to obey. Valcrist offered her a vague smile as a silent sign of gratitude, and the young man went to a cupboard he kept behind the beaded-off room. He fetched a bottle of old wine, looking at it curiously, and went to the table to pour himself some.

Valcrist removed his hat, letting his curly hair fall over his shoulders and around his face. He was a slim, powerful young man. His arms were strong under his sleeves and his body was lean with muscle. His diet of little food and lots of fighting had turned him into a hard, calloused being for his age and it showed. Taking his hat and glass with him to a chair closer to the fire, he sat down and sipped quietly, tired and pleased.

"Hey," Bud said, moving to stand next to him, trying to tug his small little body up onto the arm. "Hey, Master, you hardly ever talk to us. I don't ever know where you come from! Me and Lisa, we looked all over to see pictures or maybe a diary, but there was nothing!"

"Bud," Lisa scolded. "Don't tell him we went snooping! Master, I'm sorry for his idiocy, and I'm sorry we snooped around. He is right, though--won't you tell us something about you?"

Valcrist glanced to Bud's curious, wide eyes and raised an eyebrow. With a vague smile to himself, he shook his head. "There is not much I recall about myself that you do not know," he answered in his low, quiet voice. "Before I met you, I woke up in my bed upstairs, and beyond that, I do not know much of anything." He sipped his wine, eyes turning to the fire. "I sometimes wonder if I was just created to serve the will of the Mana Goddess."

Lisa and Bud moved closer, the last statement catching their attention. "How can someone just be 'created'?" Lisa asked, arms hanging over the top of the chair and fingers in Valcrist's hair. Bud was sitting on the arm, his feet resting on Valcrist's thigh. The cactus had moved closer, hiding under the table, listening, trying not to make any noise as he moved.

Valcrist shook his head again. "Perhaps a Sproutling wished a person like me into existence to bring back the tree. That seems to be my purpose." The glass rested against his lips, eyes shutting. "But…I don't suppose that works here in the human world. I wonder where I did come from…"

"Ask Gaeus," Bud blurted out, ears twitching. "Ask Pokiehl, ask Selva, ask Olbohn--the Wisdoms hafta know, they know everything!" Lisa swatted at him, missing.

"Keep your voice down, no need to yell! He's right here. And do the Wisdoms really know everything, Master?"

Their Master didn't reply. The curly-haired young man was lost in thought, eyes distant, lips against the glass. What if the Wisdoms did know about who he was? What if Bud was right, and they knew? He drained his glass in a hearty swig, licking his lips after in wonder. Maybe the Wisdoms did know. Who would be the easiest to approach, though? Gaeus, maybe Tote, perhaps Pokiehl. They were ones who knew of the situations outside of their parts of the world best.

Then there were the dragons and faeries, too. Faeries trusted him, but still didn't like him. The dragons were old, and wise, and perhaps they knew of his past as well. If he had risen as a strong warrior that helped rebuild the world, perhaps he had strong ties to the Mana tree. Perhaps his parents had been sorcerers or fighters of the strongest sort, and he just couldn't recall? The possibilities were almost endless. He blinked, coming to, and looked to Bud and twisted to try and see Lisa. The two sorcerers looked back at him expectantly.

"Pardon me," he murmured. "I did not mean to ignore you. Did you say something?"

Lisa shook her head quickly. "No sir. Are you going to leave tomorrow? I wish you stayed around more often, Master, it's not healthy to be constantly running around like you do. You need to eat more too--dad always told us that being healthy made us strong."

"That's why we always had to eat our veggie-tables," Bud chimed in proudly. "And dad was always right." Valcrist smiled to himself, the company something he was enjoying quite a bit. He was always around people, but rarely did they just want to talk with him. Usually he was to be used as a tool. Not that he truly minded--maybe that was all he really was. A tool to fix the world. A tool to break the world. As he thought, all he could remember was being manipulated. From the episode with Drakonis to the deal with Irwin and the faeries, and even inbetween. He was okay with that. He doubted he had been around before the world fell apart--he had most likely been created by that single Sproutling to fix the world. It made more sense than if he did have a past. Perhaps, if he looked for a past, all he would find is misery that would prevent him from being a tool. He had a purpose, and as long as he had a purpose, he could hold up his fists and fight.

He dismissed himself after another glass of wine, and watched as his cactus made a mad dash to get upstairs before he did. He went to bed, and although he had told himself he was content in thinking he had no past, it began to bother him.

What if he did?

His dreams, usually empty or full of memories of his past few adventures, had twisted into something unfamiliar. Dreams of uncertainty and curiosity, no longer of the Mana tree or the Goddess but of what ifs and questions, plagued him. Uneasily, when he awoke the next morning, the day of Undine, he sat up and leaned back on an elbow, a hand resting on his stomach. The cactus was sleeping peacefully, his flower closed up snugly. Valcrist made a decision--he'd go and speak to a Wisdom, and if he knew anything, than he'd pursue this further. If there was nothing of his existence, he'd abandon this and forget it. It was not worth it to pretend he was anything more than a decisive pawn in this game of chess called Fa'Diel.

As part of his daily routine, he went down to the Orchards and picked the fruit that had ripened overnight. He gave the tree new seeds, but it seemed to notice his distraction.

"What is bothering you, human child?" it asked, moving a few branches as it spoke. Valcrist simply shook his head, making a noncommittal noise. Nothing a tree could help. The tree had grown back after he had awoken; it would know nothing about him. The tree took the silence as an answer and did not speak further. However, it began to use its deep connections with the rest of the world through its roots to seek something that would fit the mood of the young man.

Valcrist left the tree and went to the ranch. He fed and pet the monsters he had there; a Howler named Aer, a Poto named Izzy, and a Punkster named Shinji. He chose Aer to come with him for this adventure, for he never left without a pet. It was a comfort thing, he supposed. What other excuse could there be? The Howler was more than excited to join him, barking and yipping at his heels as the two left the ranch and headed toward the exit. Lisa poked her head out of the door, bleary from just waking up, and bid Valcrist goodbye. He didn't reply, and she didn't expect her Master to.

Valcrist looked out from home, at all of the parts of world spread out around from this place, and shut his eyes. His first stop would be to see the fortuneteller in Domina, so he could see which Wisdom he should turn to. The trip to Domina was short, as always, for it was directly south from his home. Valcrist and Aer went to the fruit-oriented fortuneteller and paid for her services. Within a moment's time, he got his answer.

"That is it! It would seem the place you ought to go is the Highway," she directed, and he thanked her. He left Domina and went east, and although in theory it should've been a straight shot, a complication arose. Daena was wandering at the entrance, looking vaguely lost and anxious, and she nearly lunged at Valcrist when he appeared.

"Valcrist!" she yelped, hurrying to his side, eager to see him. She paused, regaining her cool. "Valcrist. It's so good to see you. I was going to visit Gaeus; is that what you were going to do too? Would you come with me?" Without even thinking, Valcrist answered in the affirmative and they talked to Boink together to start off. The shortcut was so much easier than hacking through handfuls of Rabites and Black Chocobos, and from the fork they appeared at they began to travel to the right. As they were slashing through some anthropods, Daena turned to her silent companion and twitched her feline ears.

Valcrist spoke before she asked, his voice ever low and monotone. "My past. I want to know if he knows anything about my past."

She said no more, and they traveled and fought in silence. His statement must have piqued her interest, for she watched him with burning curiosity. No one knew much of him, and if he knew nothing, she became almost more thoughtful to his predicament than her own. It felt like she was the one doing the accompanying instead of the other way around, as it so often was the case. When Gaeus was in sight, she couldn't help herself.

"You truly know little of yourself? What do you know, then?" she asked, tail flickering, a hand letting her flail go limp. Valcrist kept walking, but his eyes were low, full of thought. It wasn't often he did this much thinking; he tended to just act out of instinct or do as he was instructed. He finally looked back to her, pausing, clenched fists loosening.

"I'm an object to be used," he answered quietly. "All I knew how to do was fight." Then he began to walk again. Daena moved quickly to catch up with him, minding his silence--Valcrist was never much of a talker--and they approached the giant Wisdom with respectful silence. Aer remained on the ground while the two young adults stepped onto Gaeus' large hand. He lifted them up, looking at them carefully, massive jaw moving as he spoke.

"My children, what is it do you wish to ask?"

Daena decided to get her problem out of the way early, and Valcrist let her speak first. "Ever since my friend has passed away, we have been unsure of who would become abbess. The faeries have been attempting to speak with us, but we cannot come to any solid agreements without an abbess. I was sent to ask you who should best become an abbess, do you know of anyone, Gaeus?"

The giant thought for a moment, eyes shutting as he pried at his thoughts. "My child, I cannot make such a choice for you and your people. Perhaps you may not need a human abbess; the greatest barrier between the faeries and humans are a similar leader. You should speak with the faeries, child. Some may agree that a shared role will do both races well. A day should come where man and faerie can live peacefully together." Daena nodded, not sure how such a thing could occur, but accepting the answer and letting it sink it. She stepped back, thanking the Wisdom, and Valcrist stepped forward, a hand holding one large finger to keep his legs steady. Gaeus looked to the young man and his ears perked forward in interest. Speaking with the boy was always interesting, he was such a unique character.

"What is troubling you, child?" he asked, and the young man lowered his gaze, unable to meet the giant's eyes.

"Do I have a past, Gaeus?" Valcrist asked unsurely. "Was I ever anything more than something to be manipulated?"

The question made the Wisdom's ears pin back and his eyes shut for a moment. The action made Valcrist's stomach tighten, but he didn't falter in expression or stance. This was the moment--did he, or didn't he? He'd find out know. The real question was, though, did he want to know? He was content with being an object, he was okay with being the Mana Goddess' tool. Did he really want to be anything else?

Finally, Gaeus opened his eyes and let his ears slide forward, watching the young man carefully. "Young Valcrist," he spoke softly. "You were not created as you think. We have met before, when you were but a young'un. Your mother died during child birth with your sister, a year after you were born, and your father still walks amongst us. Where, I cannot say. He would know more of your past than I do, child." Valcrist was still, eyes vacant, faraway in thought.

A father. A sister. He had a father and a sister. He had been born. He was not created, he had a past. He had something more. He had a father, a sister! In a rushed breath, he thanked Gaeus, but the giant didn't set Daena and he down quite yet. With a note of finality and graveness, he said, "What you do now, child, is up to you. Do not forget that you have been chosen to fix this world, and should you forego your current life in search of your family, the Mana Goddess will not hesitate in taking that away from you again. You have free will, child, and as unfair as it may seem, it is a privilege for you. Now, go."

Daena was outraged, but Valcrist hadn't seemed to have heard. As Gaeus set them down, she fumed, eyes narrow. As they walked away, Aer at Valcrist's heels, Daena waited until the giant had fallen asleep once more before erupting.

"A privilege!?" she demanded. "A privilege! Valcrist, free will is not a privilege--Matilda died to prove that--how dare he say such a thing--are you listening!?" She tugged on his curly hair, drawing his attention. But there was an ecstasy on his face that she had never seen on his perpetually blank face. His eyes were wild with excitement and glee, a grin was across his face.

"Daena," he breathed, hands resting on his stomach. "Daena, I have a past. I have family. I have a sister, I have a father. I always heard Bud and Lisa, they always talked about their dad, but I couldn't understand their sense of loyalty to him. But now I understand. I must find him. I must find them."

Daena's ears slid back, eyes watching him sadly. A privilege. His freedom was a privilege. His right to raise pets, to sit and enjoy the company of his apprentices, to have friends--it was all a privilege. Matilda, the chosen for taking the spot of the seventh Wisdom, had spoken about freedom and the want to do whatever one willed to the last breath in her dying body. Yet, another Wisdom--one Daena admired very much--had told this young man, the same that had helped not only her and the faeries find a sort of even ground, but almost all the rest of the world with its problems, that he had a limited freedom. The Goddess, maybe a Wisdom, must've been the one to have wiped his memory of everything but fighting. She followed after the boy, who felt like he was walking on air. Daena came to a decision--she'd stay near him. She'd help him fight for his freedom. He wasn't an object to be used, he was a human being. She'd help him find his family.

No longer would Valcrist be a tool.