Disclaimer: Characters all belong to Square-enix.
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The Boy Who Would Be Pirate
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He's not just a common thief.
It's hard to explain exactly, but my feelings towards him have changed over the time I've traveled with him. The first time I actually saw him, I was grateful. I didn't quite stop to consider why a boy about my age would be wandering the sewers if he wasn't an Archadian or a part of the Resistance. Upon finding him to be the thief who had broken into the treasury and stolen something of great importance to my lineage, I was put off, to say the least. It took me a bit of control to keep myself from revealing everything about myself to him. It would have been the only way to claim back the stone. I'm glad I at least have my emotions more under control.
He was completely opposite me in that respect. He made no effort to hide who he was or what he was feeling. I remember his excited declaration that yes; it was he who had broken into the palace to steal back what belonged to the people of Dalmasca. He was unabashedly curious and excited when something new crossed our path. When he did not like something, he made no false pretenses to hide it. He had very little tact about anything, and simply let slip anything that came to his mind.
The more I think of it, the more I realize that it is for this reason that I respect him the most.
He and I are so alike in many respects, despite the difference in status and birth. We've both lost so much to the war- He a brother, and I my husband. He had been forced to live a life in the street without any sort of guidance, and I was exiled from my own kingdom, declared dead. I suppose that was why he too was able to see Rasler.
But he wasn't secretive or slow to give others his trust or loyalty. He knew what he had to do, and was straightforward about it. He wasn't nervous or overly respectful around me. Something I disliked, but eventually became thankful for. Even though he had a penchant for interrupting me. He made clear exactly what he wanted me to do- and I think some of the time he was speaking for my own heart.
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The first moment I saw the boy, I must admit I was quite intrigued. A seventeen year-old had managed to beat an exemplary pirate such as myself into a well guarded- or, rather, a should-have-been well guarded- royal treasury. I even recall having a fleeting memory of being his age and beginning my career.
Any feeling resembling respect I had for him fled as he did. The little pusillanimous thief bolted after a few words from my partner and myself. He went from interesting youth to yellow coward.
I recall a particular animosity building for him during our unpleasant journey through the sewers. I believe I was blaming him for all our recent misfortune. He had taken what I supposed at the time to be rightfully mine. He had weighed down our craft and helped attract attention of the guards. And of course, he invited that Amalia (as she was calling herself then), into our group. Needless to say, he was one of the more uncooperative, annoying street wretches I've encountered.
I did, however, reconsider my assessment of the boy upon meeting his girl. I admit, I was stunned that a rat would have one like her worrying over him. Being the good-hearted man that I am, I felt that I should ensure his safe return to her.
It was precarious- I had to save his neck a few times in Nalbina and he almost signed our death certificates with his behavior with the Captain. But I managed to return him safe and sound to Rabanastre.
Perhaps I'm not being entirely fair to him. His sword was an enormous help in the passage to the Estersand. He learned quickly after the mishap with Basch, and I'm surprised that such a boy could mature in so short of a time.
I've been accused of taking the boy as an apprentice or protégé, an idea to which at first I was highly opposed. I suppose I have been a mentorof sorts to him, though. I taught him how to fly the Strahl, and oddly enough he has a knack for it. He has become quite a proficient fighter, which surprises me as well, considering he started as a rat-slayer of the sewers. I daresay now he is easily as skilled a fighter than anyone in our group. I enjoy his company more so than I did upon our meeting.
If he hadn't been so set on keeping that god-forsaken stone with him, I doubt I would have been sucked into this long and precarious journey. I suppose I must thank him for that. It's been a good story to be a part of.
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He was young. Even younger than the Hume I found as my companion.
And he seemed to invite trouble.
Everywhere he came with us, we encountered far more hardships than we usually do. It still surprises me that one small boy could attract more unwanted attention than two sky pirates combined.
But he is good. He has a pure heart and open mind. It has been a pleasure to me to see him grow in the small amount of time I have spent with him.
He has an unusually high talent for magicks, stronger even than the boy I would call partner. I would never tell him that, though.
He still amazes me. In Eruyt, he stood his ground against Jote, a feat I would not have imagined a Hume youth capable of.
Be this as it may, he can be at times a rude, inconsiderate, and immature, thoughtless boy. However, I have grown used to far worse in the time I have spent with Humes.
I have missed him since we parted company.
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He looks just like his brother.
That is what I thought when I first realized his relationship to me.
I feel indebted to him still. If not for me, he might not need to be mixed in the affairs of pirates and royalty. He could have a home- and a brother. He is another on my list of those that I have betrayed. But somehow, by traveling with him and teaching him what I know, it is as if I pay back a debt to brother and brother at once. Perhaps a debt to a third brother as well, though this one is not connected to him through blood.
As we move through plains, under and over mountains, I have come to understand him. Or tried to. His character seems sometimes to escape my judgments. Sometimes he is nothing more than an inexperienced youth, and others he seems to be something more.
He is different from his brother.
Reks was not so careless as he. But he has strength of a different kind. His is in his stubbornness and straightforward attitude. The world he fights for is so much more than the one in which he lives. I have seen him grow as we have traveled Ivalice. He has become stronger in battle, more adept in many types of magicks, and wiser as a man. Perhaps even a youth no longer. By now I suspect he has seen and experienced more than any man in his old age.
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I've known him longer than the others. We grew up together. He lived with my family, and we looked out for each other. We ran together, roamed the streets together, and every once in a while, I stole something along with him. He's my best friend, and he's my brother.
Sometimes I think of myself as his mother. I have to follow him around to keep him out of trouble. I've kept him from getting beaten by Arcadians a few times. And since I've learned magicks, I've protected him plenty of times on the battlefield. He probably wouldn't admit it though. He's too proud. But I almost like that about him.
He's grown, too. Before we left, he didn't know who he was or even what he wanted to do. He would talk about being a sky pirate, getting his own airship, and getting away from Rabanastre. But he didn't know why. He wasn't quite sure of himself. And I couldn't really help him figure it out. Because I didn't know either.
Traveling Ivalice has changed him, definitely. He's become so much more powerful, and so much surer of himself, who he is, and what he wants. He's so strong now. I kind of feel trivial when I stand next to him while we fight the fiends we run into. He still messes up now and then and acts like a little kid. He'll be the excited little boy I know. And sometimes, I wish he was still like that. I love that he's grown up in so many ways, like I've been begging him to. But now, it almost feels like he doesn't need me any more.
But then he'll smile at me and talk to me, like nothing has changed. Like he didn't get thrown in prison, like I wasn't kidnapped by headhunters, like we had never met Fran and the others. Then I see this sort of maturity in him, and that he's so much more than he used to be. And I'm home.
We've forged something over the years I can't quite explain. It's more than a bond of trust or friendship. It's the sort of thing that only can come around when you're both faced with the same sort of hardships and trials. I know I can trust him. I guess that's why I love him so much.