Even two years after the devastation inflicted by Queen Brahne, Burmecia was still rebuilding. However, some things were back to normal, and new normals were in place for other things. For Freya Crescent and Sir "Iron-Tail" Fratley, that was how things were as well. Though his memories had not fully returned, Fratley remembered a few things - and had never forgotten his fighting skills. They were still rebuilding, getting back to normal or adjusting to a new normal.
One new normal was being in high demand for virtually any task. As the two most skilled Dragoons of Burmecia, they usually had multiple petitions to the king seeking their aid. For the moment, they were assisting some Mages to harvest herbs and plants for use in rarer potions and salves - a task sometimes made dangerous by where they grew. It could be made safer by sending someone in to kill off as many monsters as they could.
For Freya and Fratley, that was them and a Red Mage called Dyrfinna, as they patrolled the forested area where numerous Lamias roamed. They had encountered a small river blocking progress to the last known nest.
"Alright, Fratley and I will jump over and knock down a tree for you..." Freya said.
"No need!" Dyrfinna grinned.
She raised her hand, and the tell-tale glow of an ice spell emerged. But rather than shooting frost from her hands, the river's surface began to glow blue, and then froze over.
"An instant bridge - my precision with spells is unmatched!"
"We got that the first four or five hundred times," Freya muttered.
"She is getting somewhat repetitive," Fratley agreed.
Fortunately, her hearing was not unmatched. Unfortunately, neither was her situational awareness as the Red Mage blundered ahead to cross her ice bridge, ignorant of a Lamia that had moved to poorly hide behind a tree.
"Oh for Reis's sake, can't you even see that Lamia?!" Freya groaned.
"What Lamia?" Dyrfinna asked, turning away from the threat.
The Lamia noticed the other two, and made to flee. But first, it confused the Red Mage. It received a spear to the face for the delay.
"That one!" Fratley yelled, and then noticed the problem.
"Freya, she's confused."
"Oh good, I get to hit her..."
Freya moved to try and 'gently' break the confusion, only for the red mage to slip and fall whilst casting a spell. The tumble did not break her confusion, nor her concentration on the spell.
"Break!"
"Uh oh, Fratley, get a gold need...le?!" Freya tried to say as the spell cast around her, but found she had not turned to stone.
Her clothes, however, had.
"Er... how is that even possible?"
"Well, she said she was precise! Get the needle before she..."
Dyrfinna then pushed Freya accidentally as she tried to regain her footing. Freya fell. Her petrified clothes shattered into fragments.
"Gha!"
"At least she didn't manage to petrify your underwear..." Fratley noted, as she scrabbled to try and stand up.
"Hit her before she does something dangerous!"
Fratley tried.
"Break!"
"What the..."
The trio were heading back.
"I'd just like to say I'm sorry again..." Dyrfinna said sheepishly.
"You were confused," Freya said through gritted teeth.
"I really don't know why I targeted your clothes..."
"You were not in control of yourself," Fratley said.
"I wish there was some way I could make this up to you both..."
"When we get back to camp, you explain why me and Fratley are half-naked while we get more clothes!" Freya huffed.
"...We really are lucky she didn't target our underwear."
They kept moving in silence.
"...Stop staring at him, he's been in his boxers for nearly an hour, surely you're used to it by now," Freya told Dyrfinna.
"M-my apologies!"