About me: Whether you're a tourist visiting Fontaine for the first time or an adventurer who's set their heart on finding legendary treasures, you're sure to be captivated by the enchantments of the underwater world. But those who attempt to explore the depths without first undergoing rigorous training or making the necessary preparations are gambling with their lives. Treacherous underwater currents, unexpected bodily reactions, and monsters lurking in the deep... Peril always comes without knocking. Seeking the help of a professional diver is always a wise choice.
If you ask people who's the most talented diver around, you're likely to hear the name of Freminet. Even old veterans, bronzed and toughened by long exposure to the elements, never tire of lauding his skills. They speak not only of his familiarity with Fontaine's complex hydrological systems, but also of his prowess in coping with different underwater environments and seasonal conditions, as well as his expert control over his breathing. He seems to swim wherever he pleases — even through caverns deep down on the ocean floor, where no one else dares to venture...
When many people hear this, they suddenly think of something or other that Freminet could do for them. But no matter how great the promised rewards, the veterans always respond the same way – with a shake of the head and a regretful sigh.
"The boy wouldn't hear of it... He's a nice lad, just a bit too shy."
The conversation usually stops here.
As Freminet sees it, other people's compliments are as capricious as the weather. He finds it hard to fathom their true intentions, and is constantly worried that he'll put his foot in it by saying something wrong.
Perhaps his true friends are the Tidalga and Romaritime Flowers that he spends so much time with. They hold a much dearer place in his heart than do reputation and reward, which float around on the surface. When he dives, he stays silent for long periods of time in the company of his old friends, and lets the silence swallow up his fears and anxieties. In so doing, he lets out all the things weighing on his mind, all the things that he can't say to anyone else.
The reason he chose to dive was that simple — to find some peace and quiet, and escape everything happening in the world above.
Character Story 1
Even before he received his Vision, Freminet used to love wearing his diving helmet and exploring the underwater world like a penguin.
He was never a very talkative child, and whenever something upset him he would plunge into the ocean, leaving his worries on the dry land far above. Over time, the quiet seabed became like a cradle to him, somewhere where he could curl up and feel safe. As the rings of a tree grow outward with each passing year, so too did his curiosity for the underwater world. He listened to the ocean currents with his body, and with each breath grew closer to the water around him. He committed every aspect of Fontaine's hydrology to memory, as if he were memorizing roads around a new home, albeit with far more relish. Eventually, he discovered a place of extraordinary beauty which captured his heart, and built a little secret underwater base nearby. Here, he could let his sunken emotions shine forth with a radiance akin to that of a Lumitoile.
To this day, when faced with a particularly thorny problem, Freminet's first thought is to escape to this deep blue sanctuary — so vast and magnanimous that it could embrace all things.
Free, tranquil, safe, and content... If Freminet were to tell others how the underwater world makes him feel, he would most probably be met with more than a few raised eyebrows.
But Freminet would never do this. In his mind, this is his ocean, and his alone. These feelings, hidden deep in his heart, are like sunken treasures buried in the depths.
Character Story 2
In the eyes of an onlooker, Freminet doesn't have much of a presence, and comes across as cold almost to the point of being pessimistic. He's always silent, alone, and doesn't seem to enjoy the company of his peers. Compared to his older brother — the legendary Great Magician Lyney — Freminet seems as dull as a piece of old, soon-to-be-forgotten jewelry. But he doesn't care what they think.
A long time ago, Freminet began trying to strip away excess emotions to prevent his being affected by external pressures.
As if building an igloo in his heart, he piled up block after block until he had constructed a translucent refuge, and curled up inside. Clutching his knees, the only thing that gave him solace was reading fairytales.
If diving underwater was a way to steal a moment of peace, then sealing himself in a sanctuary of solid ice was actually a way to stay warm.
Freminet would only ever invite his closest "kin" in, and even then, he'd insist on tidying up first, making sure to lock his fairytales away.
By the time Freminet left, he'd already turned into a clockwork toy — exquisitely made, yet silent as ever.
He once found himself floating on his back upon the waters, unconcerned with his own safety, listening to the unknown songs of Violetgold Angler Gulls circling overhead. In hindsight, it was fortunate that they hadn't mistaken him for a fish...
It was in that moment that he discovered how easy it was to just let the currents carry him away.
No matter who was asking, and no matter what they wanted, as long as he followed orders unquestionably without a thought for the consequences — like an angler bringing home their catch — he would no longer have to face the endless cycle of castigation and punishment.
In the years that children from ordinary families ran about laughing, showing off the latest clockwork toys or picking up phrases from The Steambird, Freminet's heart was gradually becoming numb. Orders filled the void and became like a clockwork spring driving him forward.
He used to fantasize about turning into a cold, cruel machine, driven only by the imperative to execute commands. But as he matured, he became increasingly aware of his essential weakness. He wanted to leave emotions behind, but there were too many feelings that he couldn't just cast aside. They would always come back in the dead of night, suddenly gripping him like seaweed wrapping around his limbs. His habit of avoiding problems, his worry that he would not complete his tasks well, his fear of annoying people with his lack of enthusiasm, and his dread of disappointing others — those who meant something to him, most of all...
He wasn't an outstanding child, but he simply became hypersensitive to everything in the world he grew up in.
He hid himself within a thick shell and yielded to his timidity, until he could only express himself underwater.
Character Story 3
Freminet was born in the Fleuve Cendre region of Fontaine. Each night he would fall asleep to the sound of drunkards belting out off-key shanties, and wake up to the shrill cries of neighbors cursing outside his window.
Freminet never met his own father, but he heard from his mother that the man was knee-deep in debt. He had little idea what all these numbers meant, and they were as hard for the little boy to conceive as a dinner in the Palais Mermonia. What he did know was that they were the reason his mother worked from dawn till dusk, day in day out.
When he was home alone, Freminet would often quietly fiddle about with the few devices there were in the house — a portable lamp that never lit up, a wall clock that never ticked, and so on...
These things had been lying around for as long as he could remember, as if they were guests who had stopped by for a quick rest after a long saunter, but had never woken back up. Freminet found some tools and, one by one, carefully took them apart. To him, the inner structures of these mechanisms were like mysterious labyrinths. Turn this part here, and another would move as a result. Tap that bit there, and something else would spring out...
When he was with these machines, Freminet felt the same way he did when he read fairytales — like he had taken a magic potion that shrunk him down to the same size as the components. He was moving through a world of cogs and clockwork parts where time seemed to pass without his knowledge. These friends of his, silent yet intriguing, kept him company through many a lonely day.
One day, when his mother returned home, she suddenly heard a strange noise that stopped her in her tracks. It was the sound of their clock, which Freminet had unwittingly fixed, ticking away almost as if to celebrate the new lease on life he had given it. She caressed his head and praised him, filling his heart with joy. But when he woke up the following morning, the clock was nowhere to be found. When his mother came home that evening, she brought him two slices of a type of bread he'd never had before. He still remembers the taste to this day.
From that day forth, his mother brought back all kinds of different devices for him — everything from clockwork toys to miniature clocks. Freminet liked his new friends a lot, and would spend a long time "waking" them from their slumber, even though they always vanished the following day.
But one day, when Freminet ran over excitedly to greet his mother at the door, he had something very special with him — an exquisitely-made music box pendant, about the size of a person's thumb. It had been in such a terrible state when she had found it by the roadside that it was to their great surprise to discover that it still worked.
A beautiful melody jingled away between them, and seeing Freminet's innocent face light up with pure joy, a rare smile broke out on his mother's, too.
This pendant would not leave him, for every evening, his mother would carefully take it off her neck, and together they would listen to its sweet lullaby as night fell.
Character Story 4
One day, without uttering a word, Freminet's mother took him by the hand and led him away. As he tried to keep up behind her, little Freminet's palm began to hurt from the strength of her grip.
"Mom, where are we going?" He asked. She didn't reply.
"Mommy, why are you crying?" He asked her again. She suddenly stopped and let out a sob, but only a single one.
Afterwards, as if resolved to plunge into the freezing depths of the ocean, she took several deep breaths and continued onward. Not another tear fell, but in the oppressive silence Freminet had a vague sense that an ominous current was about to crash against the reef of his future.
Finally, they arrived in front of an unfamiliar house. As the thick door opened, it let out a harsh creak. It was the type of door that you intuitively knew that, once closed, could never be opened again.
Still, his mother remained silent. It was as if her expression, weighed down by her heavy heart, had sunk into a bottomless ocean.
"Freminet, correct?" Said a woman as she stepped out. "Come with me."
Confused, Freminet looked up at his mother. He could feel the tide surging beneath him.
Calling herself the "director", the woman took his other wrist and began to pull him in.
All of a sudden his mother's grip tightened, becoming even tighter than when she had led him over. Freminet felt like a boat caught between two waves, completely helpless as they each pulled in opposite directions and showed no sign of letting go.
At last, his mother slowly bent down, half-kneeling before him. This was what she would do each day when she said goodbye to him before leaving the house.
"Be a good boy," she said, kissing Freminet on the forehead in the way she always did.
These tender words rose up like a barrier before the jagged reef, instantly turning the raging current into a soft, warm flow.
So that's all this is, Freminet thought to himself. Perhaps, like ever and always, this was just to be a brief parting after all.
He nodded to set her at ease.
The director continued to pull him inside, and this time, his mother didn't try to stop her. Just like that, she let go...
For a long time after, Freminet truly believed that as long as he behaved and performed well enough, his mother would come to bring him back home. That her kind face, disappearing behind that thick door, would someday reappear. And parting his fringe, she would kiss him on the forehead once again to tell him how well he'd done.
But that day never came.
"Still haven't figured it out? You were sold to settle a debt."
As he grew up, Freminet started to have doubts about where his mother had gone and his own fate. After he finally plucked up the courage to ask the director, this was the heartless response she gave him.
"You were abandoned, child. This is the only home you have." "If you don't follow orders, your mother's safety can't be guaranteed..." Such were the words of the previous director, callous as spiked shackles, locking his wildest hopes inside that door forever. These invisible fetters left a mark of utter abjection on Freminet. In those days, the ocean depths were his sole escape.
Engulfed by icy-cold seawater, he always felt that little bit closer to her. After all, when those events had transpired all those years ago, had she not sunk to the bottom of the ocean herself? Yet those waters must have been far colder than any he had ever dived in.
Character Story 5
After "Father" replaced the previous director, Freminet's thoughts began to turn to finding his mother once again.
At first, Freminet assumed that she would rile up a still greater storm of brutality, for he knew that her methods were brutal, and he expected new orders to be given just as pitilessly as they had been in the past. But he soon discovered that "Father"'s way of doing things was utterly different.
With "Father," the home was a place of refuge for all the family's children, and as such required a collective effort to maintain. It was up to each of them to complete their tasks in the way that best suited them. Even if they failed, they wouldn't be subjected to the searingly painful punishments they had been previously.
This taste of freedom finally gave Freminet the chance to breathe deeply, and he started searching for his mother's whereabouts in his free time.
But a long time passed and he still wasn't any closer to finding her.
Perhaps I really was abandoned, Freminet thought, trying to convince himself to accept reality as he strained to summon the already vague memory of his mother's face.
But just as he was thinking of giving up, Father threw him a pendant.
"I found this at the base of operations of those scum. Keep it." said "Father."
Freminet looked back at her, perplexed, which in turn seemed to confuse her.
"What it is? I'm talking about those usurious scoundrels. It belonged to your mother..." She frowned, suddenly seeming to realize something. "What were you told about her?"
Freminet told her what the previous director had said to him, about how he had been abandoned. As he did so, she said nothing, but her eyes began to burn with wrath.
After Freminet was finished, Father fell silent for a rare moment. "Do you want to know what really happened?" She asked, fixing him with a piercing stare.
Freminet nodded almost unconsciously. But once he had heard what she had to say, he wasn't sure which story he'd rather believe.
"Father" told Freminet that his mother hadn't abandoned him, but on the contrary, had acted to protect him...
That year, the debt that his family owed finally reached the point where they would no longer be able to repay it. Those greedy moneylenders had not only forced Freminet's mother to hand over the house that they lived in, but had also demanded that she hand over Freminet as well. But she was his mother — how could she let this happen? In the end, she had no choice but to entrust Freminet to "that orphanage" — somewhere they could never get at him — and then face them alone.
"This was all I found. As for your mother..." As she looked at the young boy in front of her, still gripping the pendant tightly in his hands, "Father" trailed off and left the ensuing silence to speak for her.
Freminet's head hung low, but knowing his personality, Father slipped out of the room without another word. The boy was left standing there, shaking as he gazed down at the pendant in his hands. It had long since rusted and could no longer produce sounds, and the clockwork components seemed to have been stained dark brown by dried blood. She must have been holding it at the very end, he thought. In his despair, Freminet continued to stare at the pendant, desperately looking for even a thread of his mother's warmth.
That evening, Freminet dived down to the bottom of the ocean and let it all out. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried like this. Other than the Romaritime Flowers that wept alongside him, not a soul heard the sound of his sobbing, for the ocean smothered it utterly.
From that day on, his grip on his greatsword tightened. He made an oath to himself that he would never again let another member of his family meet with misfortune.
Tales of a Snow-Winged Goose
Freminet has been captivated by fairytales since he was a child.
In contrast with the real world, the little world inside a picture book is always full of color. Castles can be made from candy, rivers from the juice of Bulle Fruits, there can be talking Hydro Crystalflies, and Redcrown Finches and ragdolls can become the best of friends...
When he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then opens a storybook, Freminet is able to dive into a magical fairytale world – a world where he can push the boundaries of what exists through a combination of reading and his own imagination.
As he goes, he picks up on scattered phrases or illustrations tucked into the corner of the page and turns these over in his mind. He learns something new every time he reads, and loves the variety of dazzling colors and textures that different subject matters seem to evoke for him.
...
When Freminet starts to feel lonely, "Pers the Penguin" waves to him with his black and white wings and slides around on his round little belly as if it were a skateboard. He skids along the surface of the ice until he plops into the sea, challenging Freminet to a fish-catching competition.
When he's feeling timid, "Princess Marcotte" with the long, pink hair stares out at him through the window. He knows that when the princess was but a seed, she rode across the ocean on the claws of a crab, abandoning her birthplace for the promise of a better life...
When he's feeling troubled, the inimitable adventurers "Mr Fox and the Clockwork Guardsman" appear there in front of him, standing side-by-side. Mr. Fox's great big bottle-brush of a tail raises a cloud of dust as it sweeps the floor, causing the Clockwork Guardsman's nose to become all itchy, but he keeps standing there, as straight and tall as ever. "Everyone faces challenges," they say to him. "Don't let them win. You're a brave, brave kid."
...
Even as he matured and grew older, Freminet still stubbornly held on to the fairytale world of his childhood.
He truly believes in these beautiful stories and the friends he met in his books.
In Freminet's heart, they really do exist in that poetic dreamland of his. There is a place where sadness and worry cease to exist, and all that remains is the unending sound of joyful laughter. It's a place where dreams come true, and justice always triumphs.
But of course, he can't actually reach out and touch the things in this imaginary world. Perhaps he'll find a way someday though...
Vision
That day, Freminet and some other children were out on an underwater mission. At first, everything went perfectly smoothly, just like it had done on countless other occasions.
All of a sudden, however, Freminet noticed that something was off.
Creatures that know their own weakness always seem able to stay focused in places of great peril, and Freminet is no exception. He has always been skilled at self-reflection, even to the point of picking up on minute changes in his breathing. Without them even being aware of it, his unique powers of perception have helped them evade all kinds of danger.
Freminet made an emergency gesture to his friends telling them to surface. He still didn't know what the actual peril was, but his nerves had taken hold and his heart began to beat faster and faster.
His friends didn't object and, with Freminet at their center, the group began to ascend.
For these children, who had yet to receive the gods' favor, ascending was something that had to be done slowly. But at the same time, the feeling of unease in Freminet's heart was becoming unbearable. His vision grew hazy, and he couldn't tell whether it was the reflection of some monstrous leviathan or a sign that he was on the verge of fainting.
No. Wait. The diving equipment was malfunctioning! Was it just him? If not, how many of the others were affected?
He tried hard to open his eyes, but he was gradually and uncontrollably slipping out of consciousness.
No, I have to lead them back, he said to himself. As long as my arms and legs keep working...
He began to feel sleepy.
His thoughts were becoming sluggish... If this carries on, he thought, I'm never going to make it to the surface.
Even if I make it, what good would it do? That thought suddenly flashed through Freminet's mind. I'd just go back to living day after day after day, eternally devoid of hope.
He felt tired. Tired of forcing himself to keep going.
He was unsuited to having so many "family members." There was no real warmth or feelings between them. They were simply a motley crew of clockwork meka, each of a slightly different model and outward appearance.
Perhaps the seawater was where he belonged after all. To drift off into blissful sleep... Was it really so bad? He gradually let his eyes fall shut.
A sound suddenly jerked him back awake. Freminet... Freminet. The voice was slow, solemn, and seemed to be coming from the other end of the earth. It also carried a slight stutter.
Pers?
Freminet stretched out his arms to a blank landscape in front of him, opening his eyes in puzzlement.
There was no Pers the penguin in this underwater realm. The children had all slipped into a dreadful torpor.
I must save them all! Freminet screamed without making a sound. So what if we're not all of the same mind? I won't abandon anyone in my family! No matter what hazards lie ahead, only with the courage to put life itself on the line will I live to see the blue sky that comes after the storm.
In that moment, his body seemed to be imbued with power, and even his breathing became grew easy once more. He quickly swam over to his companions, who were each of them drowning...
In the midst of a tempest, he saved all of his friends — a miracle of heroism worthy of the legendary Pers from the stories he so loved...
It was only then that he realized that a Vision as clear as crystal now hung from his divesuit.
He never told a soul what really happened that day. After all, true heroes aren't in it for the recognition.
