I lied. I liked this story too much to write the others… I love At World's End… it is so eerie and awesome. Anyway, thank you ElTangoDeRoxanne! I always look forward to getting your review.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or Final Fantasy XII.
Fran shivered as they sailed on the glassy sea, huge ice shelves towering above them, dwarfing the Hai Peng. Her attire was definitely not suited for cold weather, and, disgusting as it was, she had suffered the indignity to wear a pair of socks borrowed from one of the crewmembers over her ears, lest they freeze and break off like one of the other men's toes. Jack the monkey sat in her lap, rubbing his arms, too frozen to chatter at her like he usually did. Balthier did his best to help the crew, but in the end, it wasn't enough. After a while, even he could feel the deadly cold that bit at his finger tips and toes. He ended up hunkered over the strange charts that they had obtained from Pirate Lord Sao Feng with Will, Fran and Tai Huang, Sao Feng's second in command.
Will had changed over the time that Balthier had been gone. He had matured, was not as naïve as before, and had acquired a certain air of authority and deviousness about him. Balthier wasn't sure if he approved of the new Will, and was willing to bet that it bode ill for the future. He watched him turn the map with numb fingers, and listened as he read various inscriptions formed. None of them made any sense, but that was why the entire map itself was a puzzle. He leaned back, closing his eyes. Fran looked up from where she had been stroking Jack the monkey's fur as Will suddenly said,
"Sunrise sets flash of green." Balthier opened his eyes.
"Any idea what that's supposed to mean?" he asked. Will shook his head, and looked toward the helm, where Barbossa stood steering the ship.
"I know who may, though." Will replied. Fran shook her head, frost, ice, and snow cascading to the ground.
"Barbossa seems knowledgeable, but untrustworthy. Do not make the mistake of entrusting him with too much." she said.
"We've all had experience with that." Will said bitterly as he rose to question their captain. "Sunrise sets flash of green— care for a translation?"
Barbossa stared at the map for a moment, and Balthier wondered if the man was even literate. Apparently he was, for after a time, he turned to Gibbs, who stood on the lookout. Elizabeth was huddled under a blanket nearby.
"Ever gazed upon the green flash?" he asked.
"I've seen it. Reckon most recently 'twas when I was at the Isla de Muerta, a week after..." Gibbs answered, rubbing his rimy beard and glancing at Barbossa. A week after you died.
"Isla de Muerta? Why were you there?" Barbossa frowned.
"You were going home." Will said suddenly, looking at Balthier, understanding dawning on his face. "Balthier went to the Isla de Muerta to harness the power in the coins in order to send himself across worlds and back to Ivalice."
Balthier remembered the moment he had cut the Teleportation Stone, the roar of the power coursing through his veins, and the blinding green light.
"There was a green flash then." he whispered. Barbossa looked disbelieving.
"Across worlds? Have you been at the bottle, boys?" he asked.
"No. That is why I'm still cursed, Barbossa, not because I wanted immortality, but because I had to go back to Ivalice." Balthier explained.
"And back to that bunny girl." Barbossa snorted, and Balthier rolled his eyes as one of Fran's sock covered ears cocked toward them. She looked silly, but anyone who told her that would probably find themselves skewered on the end of her claws, or shot full of arrows.
"I swear she's stealing my monkey." Barbossa continued. "But let's get back to this green flash business. If what you say is true, then the flash may very well appear when a gate between worlds is open, when it is possible to travel into the beyond."
Pintel, with a poor shot at being dramatic, assumed a solemn expression. "It is said that it signifies when a soul returns from the dead." It was ruined by his shadow, Ragetti, who added,
"Or returns to bein' dead."
"You need to learn how to deliver a punch line, mate." Balthier said with a smirk. Fran walked up behind him, her two pronged stilettos clacking on the wooden deck.
"And I suppose you would say that the leading man is a perfect example of that?" she asked. "I agree with Balthier. It will not be getting there that is difficult. If the phenomenon of the green flash is what we are waiting for to return, it will be getting back that is hard."
A great cave loomed ahead of them, and Barbossa steered the ship straight inside. The shadows grew, and the ship was swallowed inside.
The sea was like a mirror, reflecting the stars twinkling in the sky. It was impossible to see where the sky and sea ended. Balthier frowned: they were in an ice cave! How were there stars? It was so much like the void between worlds, a realm of endless darkness and one, starlit path. Perhaps they had passed into another void, this one a sea path.
The haunting sound of Tia Dalma's locket echoed in the gloom. Balthier wandered to the front of the ship, where the obeah witch sat silently with Fran and Elizabeth. Will was already there, trying to speak with the latter Hume girl.
"How long are we not to speak to each other?" he asked. Elizabeth looked at him, biting her lip, and turned away.
"Once we rescue Jack, everything will be fine." she said, her voice cracking. Balthier did not miss the pained expression that crossed Will's face. The former blacksmith was jealous.
"Then we will rescue Jack." he said, trying to win back her favor. Elizabeth merely sighed, walking away from him. Will turned to look at her and caught sight of Balthier.
"Sorry, I didn't see you there." he said quietly. He hadn't heard him coming, either. "She's been avoiding me like this ever since Jack's death."
Balthier stared into the eternal night with enhanced senses. He wondered if this was how Fran felt all the time as he breathed in the scent of the salty sea, the grimy men, and just a hint of her. To his eyes, the stars were brighter, the ocean not so glassy, the cavern not as quiet, broken by the distant growls of moving ice. It was cold, but not as bad as outside. Frost no longer coated everything in sight.
"What happened when Jack died?" he asked.
"They kissed before he died." Will answered, his voice almost inaudible, but Balthier heard him as loud as if he were speaking.
"They did?" Balthier wasn't surprised, Jack had an eye for Elizabeth and lamented the loss of her presence after she had gone.
"And then the Kraken dragged the ship down to the depths." Will said.
"He went down with the ship? I can't see him doing it intentionally."
"Neither can I. Elizabeth had something to do with it." Will looked toward where she'd gone. Balthier understood how he felt; betrayed and lost. Lonely.
After Balthier gotten used to the hunger, and thirst that constantly plagued him, it had been easier to manage being undead. Fran had helped him overcome the loneliness and the darkness, like she helped him with so many things, but now he was changing, transforming into a monster that she one day may not be able to control. Balthier hoped he would be strong enough to stop himself, but at the same time, hoped that he would not have enough humanity left to know when he killed her. His worst fear was that Fran would die at his hand.
Now, when he looked at the men carrying out their duties on the Hai Peng, the hunger reemerged. He gasped at the sudden pain, biting his lip to stifle a groan. Blood welled from the cuts his teeth caused. Will looked at him with concern.
"Balthier?" he put a hand to the sky pirate's shoulder.
"It's fine…" Balthier choked, stumbling to sit next to Fran. Tia Dalma watched them sadly.
"It is as I feared." Fran said as he leaned against her.
"What did you fear?" he asked.
"The Mist in our world was changing you into something more similar to our undead." she replied, referring to the various zombies, skeletons, and lost souls that wandered the ruins and caves of Ivalice. "You have developed the flesh hungering."
Balthier leaned his head back, feeling her warm skin against the back of his neck. It was well known that the reanimated denizens of the darkness had a taste for eating the living. "So this is turning into a fight to retain my bloody humanity now, isn't it?" he asked. "Hang it all."
"Dere is still hope for you yet, Balt'ier." Tia Dalma said from her perch nearby. "Your dreams tell you thus." Balthier sat up to better view her.
"How do you know of my dreams?" he asked.
"I know many, many t'ings, Ffamran Mied Bunansa Archades." she answered, closing her locket with an echoing snap. Balthier's sharp intake of breathe was the only sign of his anger at hearing his old name.
"That boy is dead." he said coldly. "He's dead and buried and whoever he was does not exist."
"And what of you, Balthier?" Fran asked. "Are you being buried by the sickness that spreads through your body?"
He sighed, lying back down on her lap. "I don't want to believe it, though it most likely be true."
Balthier opened his eyes at the dull roar that filled his ears. Fran was already looking toward the direction of the sound, her ears erect. Cold mist drenched her fur and hair, twinkling like diamonds in the half light.
"What's going on?" He mumbled, blinking. The deck was becoming a flurry of activity as people were becoming aware of the rumble that sounded ominously like… a waterfall. Balthier sat bolt upright, straining to see ahead.
This world was apparently not round. The ocean spilled over the edge of the world into a dark abyss, going on forever. And it was toward this abyss that the Hai Peng was being drawn.
"It's the edge of the world!" Will shouted the obvious. "Turn us around!"
Barbossa held the helm steady. "We're done for now!" he whooped, pushing Will away when he tried to turn the ship. "You have to be lost to find places what can't be found, for sure!" Will turned, disgusted.
"To stations! All hands on deck!" he shouted. "Turn her away! All hands to the rudder!"
"BELAY THAT!" Barbossa bellowed. "Let her run straight and true!"
The chasm yawned open below, like some monstrous mouth.
"He's doomed us all!" Elizabeth breathed. "Do something!" she screamed at Balthier, grabbing him by the front of his vest (granted, there wasn't much to grab). Fran slapped her hand away.
"Do what?" she asked calmly. "The waters are too strong. There is only one way to go."
"Down!" Balthier finished. "A most fitting way for the leading man and lady to go, together!"
"Death does not wait beyond the abyss. You should know that better than any." Fran muttered to him.
"Way to ruin my lines." Balthier gripped the ropes in a white knuckled death grip, Fran at his side, and amid the screams of falling men and the creak of breaking timber, he gave her a kiss.
He opened his eyes and found himself lying in the void again, on the star filled path. The shining outline of Fran was next to him, already on her feet. Was it just him, or was she more blinding than usual? The shadow was on the path ahead.
Ffamran Mied Bunansa Archades… the shadow sighed. Balthier recognized the voice now, though the shadow was as generically human shaped as usual.
"If you insist on calling me that name, so be it, Tia Dalma." he said sourly.
Before me, all your pretexts are laid bare.
"What is it you want? We aren't going through that all over again." The void changed, transforming back into the prison, and the shadow was on the other side of the bars, as usual. And this time, so was Fran.
You are close, Ffamran. Closer now than you were before. But I want out soon, for I am in a prison, same as you.
"I am being swallowed. I am closer: closer to becoming a fiend!" Balthier snarled, approaching the bars.
And I am made less than I should be. I will deliver you to him, and you must do the rest from there. The shadow turned away, at least he thought it did.
He didn't know why he did it. Suddenly, with an inhuman snarl that ripped unbidden from his throat, he leaped at the bars, smashing against them and rattling them with strength he did not know he possessed. The hunger drove him into a greater rage. His hand shot through the bars again, grasping at the shadow. As soon as his hand passed through it, he was a skeleton. Balthier snarled again, and the shadow turned back toward him.
You are close Ffamran. Closer now than you were before.
Balthier struggled for control, thrusting himself away from the bars. The shadow of Tia Dalma pushed through them as if they weren't there, putting her hand on his wildly beating heart.
I am less than I should be. I can only lessen the symptoms for now. Free me, and I will free you in turn.
The prison dissolved again, and he found himself back in the void, the water around his feet rippling. The door of light shone in front of him.
Go. He slipped through the door of light, grasping Fran's brilliant hand, though it burned him to do so, and fell back to earth.
"I believe we are here." Fran's voice brought him back to wakefulness, and he opened his eyes in time to see purple light dissipating into the air. "I cast Dark to make you feel better."
"Ah… thank you." Balthier sat up, stretching. "Now, where is here?" he squinted across the desert of white rock. In the distance, there was a black island. But when he focused more, the island resolved itself into a ship.
"It is Davy Jones' Locker." Fran said, helping him to his feet. "The place is rife with strange magic. It would be best for us to collect Jack and leave a soon as possible."
"Right."
Fran was right; the place was very strange indeed! They began walking toward the Pearl, the dark island in the distance, but it never seemed to get closer, though they walked for what seemed like a good hour. It was impossible to tell, for the sun never changed position in the sky, frozen as if in eternal noon. Fran took a small sip from her water skin, but spat it out quickly. Balthier took the water skin from her, overturning it.
White sand poured out onto the ground. They stared at each other for a moment, and back to the ship.
"Strange, indeed." Balthier murmured, handing Fran the empty flask. "What could this be all about?"
"The magic could be distorting time, making one moment stretch on forever." Fran offered one theory. Balthier nodded.
"Yes, or…" he cocked his head, glaring at the Black Pearl. "Could it be just an illusion? Fran, try casting Dispel on yourself." She obliged, and blinked when the Pearl leaped into focus, only a few hundred feet away.
"We are right there," Fran said. "This is a place of torment, indeed. One could feel as if they walked for a lifetime and never reach their destination."
Balthier nodded. "This truly is a terrible place. Now, let's give a call and see if he's home, shall we?" He did not let his eyes decieve him as he reached forward, and suddenly, with a bump, he realized he was right in front of the Pearl. A rope hung down from the side of the ship. Balthier gave it an experimental tug, turning to Fran and raising an eyebrow when it dropped to the ground, apparently unattached from above. She flicked her ears in response, shrugging and squinting up at the ship.
"Give it to me." she said, tying the rope around an arrow and shooting it up onto the Black Pearl. The arrow imbedded itself in the wood, and this time, the rope stayed when Balthier pulled.
"Thank you." he said, climbing aboard, Fran clambering up behind him. A faint voice met their ears as the clambered over the rail.
"Step lively with a will!" Jack's voice shouted, and he paced the deck, barking orders to… no one. Balthier was even more disturbed when Jack suddenly sprinted down the deck, shouting, "Aye aye! I'm on it!" and began to tie ropes and put away buckets. He came to a sudden halt, shouting into the rigging, "Man the yards, you filthy toads!"
"You said he seemed mad, but you never mentioned this." Fran said.
"I assure you, I have no idea what is going on." Balthier said. At the sound of his voice, Jack froze.
"Well, well, well." Jack strode toward them, squinting against the glare of the sun. "It does look like ole' Balthy now, don't it, men?" he said, looking at them. "Hum, and he's got a lady with rabbity ears with 'im." Balthier opened his mouth.
"Wait, don't say it. I know how to deal with you. 'It's Balthier.'" Balthier blinked when Jack kept talking. "I know him, don't I, men? Ah, but don't you see? It can't really be Balthy. He blew himself up years an' years an' years ago. He's not really here!" Jack spun, aiming a pistol at him. Balthier dodged the bullet.
"Jack, it's only been a few months!" he shouted, but Jack reloaded his pistol, firing again.
"Fran, why is it that all the people I am being reunited with have a tendency to want shoot me straight off?" he asked. Fran gave him the ghost of a smile.
"At least you cannot die from it." she replied. Balthier tackled Jack to the ground, wrenching the pistol from his grasp. The man fought like a wild animal, shouting.
"Help! I'm being attacked by a figment of me own imagination!"
"Fran, I could use some help here!" Balthier gritted, trying to hold the struggling pirate down. Fran attempted to cast Esuna, to calm Jack's mind and remove the possible confusion he had from staying in the strange magic encompassing Davy Jones' Locker, but Jack flipped over, and Balthier was thrust in the way of the White Magick. He gave an animalistic squall of pain as the spell contacted with him, arching his back against the burn that made his skin smoke. He collapsed back to the deck, shuddering. Fran was at his side in an instant, forcing a potion bottle between his teeth and tilting his head back. When Balthier refused to drink, she pinched his nose shut, even though she knew he didn't need to breath, but he swallowed reflexively. Balthier calmed as the pain went away and lay against her, too weak to move.
"Jack, it's me." he rasped hoarsely. Jack stood, staring at him.
"Prove it!" the pirate yelled, panic in his eyes.
"What do you want me to do?" Balthier asked, still breathing hard.
"Do something only Balthier can do! Prove that you're not part of my imagination! You told me that you were the only person I'd meet who could do Magick, and yet this woman does it too!" Jack shouted.
Balthier closed his eyes. "Oh, shoot me!" he groaned. Jack cocked his pistol.
"I'm only too happy to oblige, mate."
The gunshot echoed in the sands. Balthier glared at him, smoke rising from the bullet hole in his throat.
"It's a figure of speech, you idiot!" Balthier sneered, his voice strange and wheezy because of the hole in his windpipe. "Does that prove anything to you?"
"Actually, it doesn't." Jack said apologetically. "I shot Mr. Sparrow here yesterday, but he's still as right as rain." he pated an invisible crewman on the back. Balthier buried his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes vigorously.
"You are hopeless. Hopeless!" he growled, climbing to his feet. "Fran, come on. Let's get this ship ready to make way."
Fran knew enough about ships to know that she had to help Balthier open the sails. She climbed sure footed through the rigging, even as Jack ran below shouting.
"What are you doing? It's the doldrums! What good will opening the sails do?" he cried.
"What is the plan, Balthier?" she asked, ignoring the pirate. Balthier rubbed his chin.
"I was thinking that if we cast Aeroga at the same time, we might generate enough wind to move the ship." he mumbled.
Fran stared. "That is your plan? It sounds foolish!" she exclaimed. She would have shouted, but Fran never shouts.
"I know, but unless you have another idea, that seems to be the only way."
"Very well, we can try your plan." Fran sighed. Balthier could be such a dreamer sometimes, but sometimes those plans of his really worked.
They stood behind the ship together, readying their spell. Jack stared back at them, peeking over the poop deck railings.
"Now!" Balthier said, casting the spell with a will. The sails billowed, and the Black Pearl creaked, but nothing happened.
"It's not working." Fran deadpanned. Balthier cringed.
"One more time? Please?" he gave her his most charming smile. His sharp teeth somewhat ruined the effect.
"Very well, one more time. This is a waste of Mist." Fran said, readying the spell again. This time was different. It was as if something had descended upon them, bolstering the spell far beyond what it should have done.
A howling blast of wind filled the sails, pushing them until they strained against their tethers. With a groan, the ship began to move across the desert, leaving deep ruts behind.
"It worked!" Balthier shouted over the roar, sprinting after the ship.
"Now let us catch the ship before we are left behind!" Fran said, dashing ahead of him. Jack threw down a rope, and Fran caught a hold of it, throwing it behind her to Balthier. He pulled himself up the side of the ship, almost being blown away until Fran grabbed his hand.
"Look! It's the sea!" Fran called. The wreckage of the Hai Peng lay strewn across the beach. Here and there, people dotted the sand, salvaging what they could. They all stopped and stared as the Black Pearl sailed across the land. Balthier gave them a jaunty wave, and Ragetti, the man with the wooden eye, waved back uncertainly as the ship crashed into the water.
"Boat." he said simply to Pintel, who shrugged.
Jack, Balthier, and Fran stepped ashore out of a rowboat, and the enthusiastic crew raced forward to meet them. A few hung back: Will, Elizabeth, and Barbossa.
"Captain!" Gibbs shouted ecstatically, but frowned when Jack regarded him darkly.
"Mr. Gibbs, there's been a terrible lack of discipline on my ship! Why is that?" the captain barked. Gibbs's frown deepened.
"Captain, I've not set foot on the ship since the Kraken dragged it down to the depths." he said seriously. Jack looked at the rest of the crew, confusion wrinkling his brow.
"Is that so?" he asked.
"He thinks that you are all a hallucination." Fran explained.
"Jack? We're all real. We're here to rescue you." Elizabeth said, stepping forward.
"Are you, now? That's real nice of you. Considering that, of the four of you who tried to kill me, one of you succeeded, Elizabeth Swann." Jack said with a smirk. She opened her mouth to say something, and looked at the men surrounding her. Will eyed her with something akin to hurt, Fran was inscrutable, and Balthier simply regarded her coldly, something akin to disgust in the way his lips were twisted. The rest of the crew stared at her with abject horror.
"I…" she licked her lips. Will turned away from her, and she closed her mouth, swallowing. A tear rolled down her cheek.
"Tia Dalma!" Jack said, distracting them all. "I am so glad to see you." she let him trail a hand across her jaw, giving a seductive giggle.
"What is your plan now, witty Jack?" she said. "The brethren are going to hold court. And you must attend."
"Must I, now?" Jack asked. "Well then, I'd hate to disappoint them, but I will not be going. Who are you?" he spotted Tai Huang. "Who are you with?"
"I am Tai Huang, the first mate of Captain Sao Feng, the Howling Wind." Tai Huang answered. Jack rubbed a hand in his braided beard.
"Sao Feng, huh? And where are your allegiances now?" Jack retorted.
"With the highest bidder."
"I've got a boat."
Tai Huang smiled. "That makes you the highest bidder."
"Good man. Let's be off! Look lively! Step to it!" Jack roared, but was stopped by Barbossa.
"Jack, where be you goin' with that lot of rabble?" he asked, stroking the charts in his hand. Jack the monkey screeched on his shoulder.
Fran called out to him in Vieran, gesturing with a finger. The capuchin grabbed the charts from the pirate, bounding over the sand and up her arm.
"Thank you, Jack." Balthier grinned as he took the charts from the monkey. Barbossa's face turned red.
"You have stolen my monkey!" he shouted. Fran shrugged.
"You now have but one choice. Stay, or sail with us. Do not fuss, Barbossa. It is out of your hands." she said. The pirate's shoulders slumped.
Yays.