1: Her Story
Shortly after the most unfortunate Death of Lord Rasler Heios Nabradia, his widowed Wife, the Lady Ashe, found he had left her with an unborn Child. Though the Lady weeped for her Lost Love, all the same she felt Obligated to Care for the Child, and so went into Hiding. She gave Birth to a Daughter, remarkably the Second of the Dalmascan Lineage, and Cared for Her more than a year, when She was Called Away on a Fateful Mission with the Resistance.
This eventually led to the Rebellion of the Lady Ashe and five other Certain Individuals: the Returned Captain Basch Fon Ronsenburg; two common Rabanastrans by the names of Vaan and Penelo; and a pair of Sky Pirates, Balthier, otherwise known as Ffamran Bunansa, and his Companion, the Viera Fran. Together they fought against the Empire, the Lady Ashe all the while thinking of her Daughter, and Resolving to Destroy the Empire's Tyranny so that her Dear Child might live in Peace. However, it was to be Her Doom.
As Lord Vayne Carudas Solidor of Archadia attempted to Destroy the fleet of the Resistance, using Rabanastre as a battlefield, Lady Ashe and her Party fought most Valiantly to defend their Cause on the Sky Fortress Bahamut, heart of the Archadian fleet, and were Successful. However, though her dear Subjects, the Citizens of Dalmasca were to be Liberated and have their Honor restored, Lady Ashe's Life was Forfeit in the Battle. The Whereabouts of the Others with Her were Unknown, many of them also presumed Dead.
As a Close Friend of King Raminas during his rule, and having considered the Lady Ashe my Niece, I felt it was my Duty to see to it that her Child was Cared for, and was given the Peaceful Life which the Princess had wanted for Her. Little did I know that in Future Years, the Child Herself was to be led on the Path of Heros, just as Her Mother was.
~Memoirs of Marquis Halim Ondore IV
Ondore's tired eyes focused on the small child in front of him with a kind of morbid curiosity, an affection that tasted of the salt of tears. Just over a year old, she stood awkwardly on her infant legs, balancing by placing her tiny hands in Ondore's upturned palms. She looked directly at him. She had the button nose, rosy cheeks, plump face, and gaping mouth of most toddlers, but the stark blue-gray of her eyes was unmistakably an inheritance from her mother.
"Favfer," she gurgled.
"'Fafver?'" Ondore mused.
She looked inquisitive, as if searching for approval.
"Father," Penelo commented. "She seems to like the idea of having a father."
She and Vaan stood a short distance away, speculating. It was all they could really do; they were still in emotional shock.
Ondore looked again at the little girl. She was still wondering.
"Yes," he said, only a bit grudgingly. "Yes, I am your father."
"Fafver?"
"Yes, father."
The little girl grinned and giggled in the most delightfully innocent, childish way, and scrambled forward and fell on him with little arms outstretched. He embraced her and marveled at her soft baby skin and soft baby hair. How long had it been since he had embraced a tiny, giggling Ashe? She would certainly have been the last child he'd held. He might have found the irony disgusting, troubling – if he didn't owe it to this little girl to be above such obvious grief.
"Ashe said she wanted Adanna to be hidden from any possible enemies, until she was old enough to reclaim the throne and defend the kingdom," Vaan explained. "She told Larsa that since he would be Emperor of Archadia, she would like him to – well – warm her seat for her 'til then."
Vaan shrugged nonchalantly, in a way reminiscent of Balthier. Ondore somehow found this repetition of Ashe's will unnecessary. Rather than answer, he asked the question most prominent in his mind.
"You are said to have been killed yourselves," Ondore said, "yet here you stand. What could you tell me that would convince me my beloved Ashelia is indeed also deceased?"
He paced across the drawing room with his back to the two young Rabanastrans. Out the nearest window was the sky around Bhujerba, and he took comfort in the familiar sight. Curtains of royal purple velvet did his worrying for him, shaking and snapping and fussing under pressure of the wind. The little girl slept in an adjacent room, one of his woman servants in her company and two sainakih standing by the door like the inanimate objects they were taught to be, in the midst of an intimate conversation like this.
"We saw," Vaan said in a sober tone.
"How did she… pass away, then?" Ondore implored after some hesitation.
"Vayne, he… he got her… just before he died, he… got her right… here – " Vaan clasped his abdomen, just below his sternum, and then struggled again to continue.
"Basch was there in a second," Penelo continued for him. "I felt so sad, not just because… I knew Ashe was dying, but because I knew it must have been hard on him. I mean… he couldn't protect her father, he couldn't protect her husband, he couldn't protect their kingdom… And now he's lost her."
"You saw her perish from the wound?" Ondore pressed. "With your own eyes?"
"Yes," Penelo said, and Vaan nodded in agreement. "She died in Basch's arms. He wanted to help her – he tried – we all did, but it was just too much. She couldn't be healed." She paused. "She told Basch… To make sure Adanna was kept safe. And then she just… was still. She just stopped breathing."
Ondore still kept his focus on the skies of his home, though they filled with tears. "I see."
"I'm sorry," Penelo added, her eyes watering too.
"I just wanted to be sure. That is all."
Silence. An entire stupefied, interminable minute of silence.
"Where is Basch Fon Ronsenburg now?" Ondore asked, changing the subject.
"I don't know," Penelo admitted.
"Last time we saw him – well, before leaving on the Strahl, on the Bahamut, just after Ashe died – he said he'd failed too many people. He asked all of us to make sure Adanna was taken to someone trustworthy, instead of him – he said it was the best way to keep his promise to Ashe," Vaan explained. "I'm not sure he meant it like that, y'know... but… It doesn't matter, because we never saw him again after we landed. He took off."
"I see," Ondore said again, gritting his teeth. The hatred he'd once felt for Basch, when he still believed it was he who killed his dear friend Raminas, had secretly been rekindled in his heart.
"Lord Larsa Ferrinas Solidor!"
He was hailed with the title by the Judge at the podium. Thousands of Rabanstran citizens gathered in the square before him, sweat beading down their faces in the Dalmascan sun, and beneath that their angry grimaces clear on their faces.
Was this what his brother had seen when he was appointed Consul not so long ago?
Certainly not, Larsa thought as he was reminded of the painful truth of Vayne's evil. He would not have worried so over ruling a nation that was not his to rule. No, he would have relished it.
Larse stepped up to the podium and wore a serene and somber smile suited to the audience. All were not impressed.
"All of you, of the fine kingdom of Dalmasca," he began, "I will not try to fool you with diplomacy and words of extravagance and petty little promises. I could not deny that this is a difficult time, especially for all of you, in Ivalice's history. I would only speak what I know to be true to you. Indeed, I did not lie to you in telling you of Princess Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca's true demise, as unfortunate as it is."
The lightning of an entire city's anger crackled in the air.
"Princess Ashelia was my ally, and my brother Vayne… a traitor," Larsa said. "This is the truth. I knew not the extent of my brother's evil. Had I only known… Gods know I would have stopped him from killing such a noble woman, rightfully the heir of your kingdom."
The Rabanastrans attempted to interpret the sincerity or lack thereof in this statement.
"But I cannot change it now," Larsa continued. "Much as I wish my companion and your Princess could have taken back her kingdom, she cannot. Now I have come to rule in her place and lead Dalamasca and Archadia both. I do not do this to complete those evil intentions of continuing to conquer Ivalice. Never would I do such a thing. I do it because I want to fulfill the dream of an extraordinary woman most pure at heart who wanted nothing more than to see her fallen nation flourish again under her rule – the rule of the first Dynast-Queen – and enter a new generation. We can still do this for the Lady Ashe. I ask you believe me once more and accept the hand of the Empire so that we may rebuild Dalmasca in her memory. What say you, people of Dalmasca?"
Larsa realized how painfully fast the beat of his heart was, striking at his chest, while he stood and waited, hoping he had said enough, that they would accept him and welcome him. The crowd stared, mouths hanging open with astonishment. He wasn't sure what they were thinking, and neither were they for that matter.
Damn you, Vayne, Larsa thought, though he was not often privy to such profanity, even in his mind. Damn you and all your lies… They look at me and see you. They think me some wicked mastermind, feeding them more deceit…
His thoughts were deafened by the gradual rise of a roar from the audience. "For Queen Ashelia!" someone shouted from within the crowd, and a couple others repeated it, and it spread like a wave until all the people of the city were chanting the phrase to the sky.
"For Queen Ashelia!" The cry echoed within the walls of the Cathedral, a ghostly cry, one that may have been heard by the unseen ghosts of Ashe and Rasler beside the altar. It reached the Royal Palace, and the palace could perhaps be satisfied again after thirsting more than two years for the presence of its lost dynasty. The rumblings of their cheers stretched into Lowtown, and the woeful lot of lost souls in its alleys might have been saved.
"For Queen Ashelia!" Larsa pictured all this as their triumphant cries pervaded the desert air. He pictured the glory of the kingdom restored. I will be better than Vayne, he thought. I will be better than him because I must - for them.
A sly smile appeared across the wrinkled, brown face of Emperor El-Galo.
"So now the Lord Larsa rises to power over Archadia and Dalmasca both."
His court surrounded him, expectant, apprehensive, in their somber but noticeably fine apparel. They tried to predict what their Emperor could possibly think of this.
"It seems very bold of him, to have claimed the late Princess's kingdom as his responsibility," agreed the heavily decorated woman next to him, who carried herself with the pride of a woman who had spent many years in aristocracy.
"Al-Cid, my nephew, what has Lord Larsa said to you of this?" the Emperor beckoned.
The familiar suave young man stepped forward, his sunglasses removed. "Your Highness, it is truth that he seeks only to fulfill the Lady Ashe's wishes. He feels he is best-suited to the task, as he knew her heart."
"So he spoke to you," another man in the room spat venomously.
"Forgive me," Al-Cid remarked, "I thought we had already established that Lord Larsa is worthy of our trust. It is Vayne who was our enemy."
"He is of Vayne's blood. We must not forget this."
"We cannot forget this," the Emperor said. "But we cannot simply assume Lord Larsa deceives us with his words, either. We will bide our time for now - and in the mean time, keep a very close watch on his activity."
Al-Cid stepped backward, grimacing. A considerably burly, uniformed man approached El-Galo now. His blue military garb was adorned with medals of all kinds. He held his fisted hand firmly over his trophy-covered heart in salute to the monarch. "My Lord," he began, "I shall see to it a team of the nation's best spies is gathered, and are sent to track the young Solidor's every move."
"Very good, Sir Ad-Haneul," the Emperor responded gruffly. "If he is indeed keeping any secrets from Rozarria, we shall know of it, and he shall know of the strength of our own Empire."
The secret that was Adannaya Heios Dalmasca did not go over well.
A/N: The first part with commentary reminiscent of Ondore's memoirs in the game was difficult to write, since I don't *technically* know which words are supposed to be capitalized… In any case, do you guys reading still think it sounded/looked alright?
And of course, any CC on anything other than that specifically is always appreciated. If you know me, you'll know I love getting feedback! Especially when I'm writing a story as technical as this.