Ivalice Returning: Final Fantasy XII
By Maracae Grizzley
Chapter Three
The city of Rabanastre was festival-bright and ringing with celebration as the citizens prepared to honor the first year of the young Queen's rule, the second of freedom from Archadian control. Almost unnoticed two strangers appeared in a shadowed alleyway and made their way onto the city streets. The boy gaped unashamedly at the city. The girl just sighed and shook her head at the boy.
They were young, perhaps fifteen, perhaps sixteen. He had light brown hair that was almost blond in places. She had black hair marked by bangs of solid white. They were both dressed strangely to Dalmascan eyes. The boy wore pants of a bluish color that were not hose, but which hung straight and slightly stiff. His tunic, for he did to wear the loose vest Dalmascan's preferred, was short of sleeve and, though softer in fabric than the pants, had no tailoring at all. It was white, mostly, with a strange emblem upon the front. The girl wore black. From the strange boots, to the stockings that marked diamonds on her legs, to the pleated skirt that barely reached mid-thigh, to the tunic with billowing sleeves and a ruffled collar, her clothing was completely black relieved only by the silver in her jewelry and studding the twin belts she wore.
There had never been an odder pair to walk Rabanastre's streets.
"I can't believe it! We're actually in Rabanastre!" the boy exclaimed with a laugh.
The girl sighed and rolled her eyes. "Dear god, why am I saddled with this fanboy youngling?" It was a purely rhetorical question. She was saddled with him because otherwise he'd get himself killed, or that was what she always claimed.
He grinned at her, seeming unconcerned about the fact that she called him a fanboy like it was supposed to be an insult. "Don't tell me you aren't enjoying this, Claire. You don't have to be here. You volunteered to come along."
"Only because your control is still lacking. Only you would want to visit the world of a videogame."
"Hey, I offered to let you borrow my copy to play."
"No, thank you, Fanboy. I have no desire to catch your illness."
He laughed again. "Come on, maybe we can find Vaan and Penelo somewhere. Then I want to sneak into the Palace. Maybe Ashe is home. Damn, she was hot."
Clair shook her head. "Fanboy. Fanboy. Fanboy! Geez Louise, will you never learn? They don't know us here. You sneaking into the Palace to spy on the Queen is grounds for arrest, you know."
"So? She's worth it, trust me. Come on, it's not like you couldn't teleport us home again."
"And leave a story behind us like a freaking beacon for Wolf Eyes or one of his pets to follow? This is supposed to be a day trip, not a new lifetime or a bloody last stand."
He sighed then, "Alright, alright. Gosh, you are such a spoilsport, Claire. Life is supposed to be fun, you know."
"It can be, yes, and I intend to stay alive as long as possible, Daniel. As long as I possibly can." The last faded into a melancholy sigh.
He grinned at her and took off exploring and she was forced to run to catch up with him. The last thing she wanted was to lose him in the city. She had been alone too long to want to return to it.
--
Hidden to the side, unnoticed, a sky pirate pair exchanged a speaking look. "Well," Balthier murmured, "that was interesting. Though I must say that I agree with the boy's assessment of Lady Ashe."
"You would," Fran murmured back, "you've been caught how many times trying to sneak into her chambers?"
"A gentleman never kisses and tells, Fran." He looked to make certain that the two strangers were well and truly gone. "Let's get back to Marquis Ondore. It looks like we have quite a bit to report to him."
Balthier and Fran reached the Palace and were escorted in to speak with Ondore and discovered that Ashe was with him. Balthier unashamedly took advantage of the opportunity to flirt with Ashe while Ondore hid a smile behind his hand and Fran sighed and shook her head at them. Then Ondore politely asked that they get down to business.
Balthier briefly explained what they had found, blood burned into the stone atop the Pharos at Ridorana, and Ashe gasped in surprise.
"None of us were cut that badly."
Balthier nodded. "And yet the stain is there. I have seen it, touched it. Someone bled there and it wasn't one of us."
Ondore looked contemplatively at the table. "Someone none of us can remember."
Balthier looked at both of them. "There is something more. Upon arriving in Rabanastre Fran and I were privy to overhearing a most unusual conversation between two sightseers newly arrived in the city. They knew some of our party by name, including the Lady Ashe."
Ashe narrowed her eyes. "Truly?"
"Truly. The young man expressed some admiration for your person. His partner seemed much more cautious. She made mention of something which I believe bears repeating. It concerned fear of being remembered lest it allow them to be tracked."
There was silence as they considered the implications.
"But why erase the memories and leave clues as a mystery begging to be solved?" Ondore asked.
Ashe had another question, though. "If this mystery is as large as you say it can be, Uncle Halim, could it be that the tracker found this person we cannot remember?"
Neither question could be answered with what information they had.
--
Basch walked beside the lift which carried Emperor Larsa in the processional entrance to Rabanastre. The story of how the boy had fought for Dalmasca's independence and restoration had spread and while his brother had been distrusted, he was welcomed as a guest and a friend. It please him; it truly did. He just wished his sister were with him.
For his part, Basch felt tired and, yes, lonely. He did not resent his duty; he was just sick of pretending to be someone he wasn't.
It didn't help that the stone he carried above his heart was humming.
--
Claire and Daniel watched the procession. She frowned slightly as she looked at Emperor Larsa and his guardian Judge. "Daniel, who is that Knight?"
"Who?" He looked and followed her line of sight. "Oh, that one. That's Gabranth's armor so that'd be his brother, Basch. He's cool. Uber cool, in fact. Why?"
"We're sneaking into the Palace."
"Sweet! You still haven't told me why."
"He's carrying a Traveler's stone in his left front breast pocket and I want to know why and just where he got it."
Daniel turned very still at Claire's words. "Now where in the world would Basch have gotten a Traveler's stone? There aren't any Travelers in Final Fantasy XII. At least, there shouldn't be. Did we end up in an alternaverse by accident?"
Claire glared at her brother. "My control is better than that." She sighed and looked back at the procession as it trailed past them. "No, if we're here and this isn't the exact variation I aimed for, then we're here for a reason, and we aren't leaving until I find out where that stone came from."
--
It was quite a reunion when everyone was able to be in the same room, two years after the dramatic events which changed the face of Ivalice. Vaan and Penelo ran laughing up to Larsa to hug him without any regard for rank and position – and Larsa actually smiled in genuine happiness to see them. Basch was able to remove his helmet and shed his brother's name, with a sigh of relief.
Cid stood looking at Fran and Balthier for a moment in awkwardness and then quietly made long overdue apologies and began attempting to repair the relationships he had damaged. The two pirates were distrustful, but it was no less than he deserved. He would earn their trust again, that much he promised himself, and them.
Ondore called the meeting to order with an apologetic clearing of his throat. "As much as it pains me to interrupt, I have asked her Majesty to call all of you here for a matter of some importance."
That got everyone's attention. Reddas scowled slightly. "What would that be?"
Ondore sighed. "It is somewhat complicated." He turned to Larsa. "I am certain that we are all familiar with the rumors about you, your Excellency."
Larsa flushed. "I am not going mad," he exclaimed, needing, somehow, to defend himself to these people who meant the most to him.
Everyone watched them, intent on the exchange. They had all heard the rumors, had their own concerns. Ondore shook his head. "I have not said that you are, your Excellency. That is merely the tale which is told abroad."
Larsa sighed. "I am not mad."
Ondore bowed his head to the young Emperor. "I do not believe that you are, your Excellency." That brought a stunned look from the group and Ondore took the time to explain. "I am writing my memoirs and as a gift to her Majesty I am casting aside the polite fictions that have dogged the accounts thus far." Basch straightened in sudden understanding as Ondore smiled at him softly. "Yes, Captain, it is my intention to fully exonerate you of the shame you have had to bear." He sighed. "However, in my search for accuracy I have encountered . . . inconsistencies and omissions which have raised several questions I cannot answer. So I come to all of you, who walked the journey of two years past, to ask again what you remember, and what you do not."
Balthier stepped forward slightly. "Fran and I journeyed to the ruins at Ridorana. There is a stain burned into the stone there." He paused. "A blood stain."
Larsa gasped and looked over at Basch, who had paled. "My sister, in my dreams," the boy-Emperor said, "she bled there, from a wound in her side when Gabranth struck her."
Ondore continued then. "There is more. Doctor Cid lives when by all reports he should have died. None of you can recall who, precisely, struck the Sun-Cryst with the sword which destroyed it." He began looking through papers. "No one can recall just how the Order learned of the plot against the life of King Raminas. I could excuse faulty memories, but then I found this in the papers of your father, Emperor Gramis." He held a set of pages in his hands and offered them to Larsa.
Larsa held the pages in his hands, taking them from Ondore, for a long stunned moment before he started to read, his voice cracking with emotion.
As my Nii-chan has reminded me, I have been remiss in correspondence. I wished to write to you, to let you know how I was doing, that I was well, but circumstances conspired against me. Marquis Ondore has assured me that any letters I write to you will be delivered quietly and so I find myself without excuse any longer.
I do not know how much of what Vayne plots that you are aware of, or have approved.
King Raminas of Dalmasca was not slain by one of his knights, but by one of the Judges of the Empire at the command of Vayne. The knight, a man whose loyalty is unbroken, was then held prisoner below Nalbina until a group of sky pirates, myself included, made our escape from there and took him with us.
Larsa fell silent, his voice unable to speak the words that Ivalice Solidor had written on fragile paper. Father, I love him and wish your blessing should we have opportunity to wed. The words were just too private for him to reveal so publicly. Tears fell down his face unchecked. "How can we have her letters, the events she touched, the lives she saved, and yet not remember her except for dreams?"
"I do not know, your Excellency. It is a question I am hoping to have answered this day. You still carry the stone you found?"
Larsa shook his head. "I gave it into Captain Basch's keeping."
Well, what do my readers think so far? Next chapter picks up where this one leaves off and after that I think I'll go back to Mara in Smallville for a little bit. I'm looking forward to comments.
Mrs. Grizzley
