Under his hands, she took form and was every inch his ultimate creation
-Memoirs of Cidolfus Demen Bunansa, written while he worked on the Bahamut-
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The first thing that defines a Sky Pirate is, of course, his airship.
Every five year, at a certain date, Pirates from all over Ivalice would gather together to hold an event to show off their airships.
Built to their image, reflecting their strength and knowledge through scraps of metals cleverly pieced together to form the ultimate creation. Some pirates favor strength, thus attaching heavy weapons onto it. Others prefer speed and malleability, making their airship small and equipping them with light engines. Some others are more aesthetic, spending hours with painting to depict the image of the rising sun or some other masterpiece on all sides of their flying beauty.
The event was held for three days and three nights and the vote had to be unanimous.
It was every pirate's dream to let their airship be looked upon with envy and praised by all other comrades, were it to be for only a fleeting moment…
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The first time he saw her, it was like the situation where a damsel in distress was about to get killed until a handsome young man comes and swoop her out of danger. Scheduled for scrapping due to dissatisfaction on the part of a pompous Imperial, the experimental airship, whose previous name he had forgotten due to its absolutely dreadful ringing that could never fit his role as the leading man, was liberated thanks to him while he was still a Judge.
She was naught but pieces of metal and wirings brought together, but the very fact that she was a disappointment hit a chord inside of his own metal shell. His authority was close to absolute and the foolish YPAs had no choice but relent to his request to acquire her. His times spent with her were short, for his duties as Judge consumed most of his schedule, but every visit granted him the chance to forget the horrors of his responsibility and he would engage himself in late night work to modify her to his likings: She will be quiet, as to not remind him the engines of the big warships. Her weaponry will be minimal, so that for the times he was in her, he would know that he held no power over other lives. But most of all, he wanted her to be beautiful and functional. He wanted to convince himself that with his hands, he was able to create… not just destroy.
After his departure from Archades, every gil he earned were spent on buying new parts for her. The mechanics were carefully chosen and he never allowed anyone other than them or himself to repair her.
Through thick and thin, she had followed him in numerous adventure, suffered injuries as much as he did and was everyday his center of attention (until came Elza, but that is another story…)
While his partner in crimes would camp out together to swap stories and lies, he would stay with her, sleeping peacefully in the cockpit for only the humming of her engines could lull him to the land of dreams. Although he had a small bed at the rear of the ship, he preferred to settle on the chair at the front, to let the stars be the last thing he sees before he closed his eyes. He could only sleep onboard because it was the only place where he felt safe.
Numerous times, he dreamt of seeing the disappointment in his father and the YPA's eyes. He would wake up violently and fervently spend the rest of the night to make changes to the airship, repeating to himself that she was flawless and no other can compare to her. He will show her off at the gathering and all eyes will settle upon her.
Some fellows say that his care for his airship surpassed his love for women and perhaps that it was true, but he didn't care. She was to be perfect, impossible to disappoint anyone.
It was like an obsession and Balthier was happily drowning in it.
He never would've thought that every hour spent with her brought him closer to being like his father.
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When he decided to present her to some comrades, someone jokingly compared him to the renowned madman, Doctor Cid. Both men showed an infinite care toward their creation that was comparable to madness. The innocent remark resulted in a huge brawl which sent the poor man to a health institution for numerous months and on the same night, Balthier's airship suffered numerous damage from her own maker.
With his own hands, he ripped her veins and scarred her exterior with the same tools he used to improve her.
By the time he regained his sense, she wasn't presentable for the contest that took place the next day, so he withdrew his name from the list and decided to not go near her for the next several days.
One day at a tavern, thinking that he must separate himself from her to save his soul, he brought her up in a deal.
A fellow pirate expressed his interest in her and asked to go and see her.
A fine ship, she is. Gone through many things too. I see why your escapades were all successful.
The chubby customer walked around her while trailing his hand on her surface fondly in such way that would resemble a caress from a lover. At the sight of it, Balthier felt a pang of… jealousy?
When the man was led inside, he immediately sat down on the pilot's chair to think for a moment while chewing the tip of his thumb. His eyes took in everything and he squealed happily.
Balthier felt disgusted.
Seventy-five hundred gils. That was the offer. Balthier frowned.
The chubby man insisted that he was being far too generous. She was after all, bruised all over.
I'm probably the only one who wants her. You won't get a better deal than that!
Seventy-five hundred gils.
Balthier contemplated around. As his hand hovered over the all too familiar controls, the engine was suddenly brought to life. Was it the wind or was she calling out to him?
Seventy-five hundred gils for all the nights spent aboard her.
Seventy-five hundred gils for all the times she made him feel like they were the same, and that together they would prove that they were something.
Seventy-five hundred gils for all the time he felt the pride of having made a successful escape with her.
What was he thinking?
No amount of gils could take away his memories of her. She has always been faithful to him, never failing him in an adventure and never responding when he took out his anger on her. Unlike Cid's creations, she never took away innocent lives.
She wasn't made by a Bunansa, but by a Sky Pirate.
For every part he had changed anew, he assured himself that she was different from the ones built under his father's hands.
For every weapon he had equipped her with, he told himself that she would never have to use them for ill purpose.
Without further negotiations, he booted the man out of the ship and called upon his mechanics for major repairing.
And as he sat down to check the engine, he thought of a name, a name inspired by his mother.
It was bird who followed the great Warheit to battle and when he was fading on his deathbed, she refused to eat so that she might continue to serve him in the afterlife. Ffamran… someday, you will find a similar bird.
He pronounced it slowly and it rolled off his tongue nicely. Smirking, he murmured her name and promises of many more adventure.
And together, they shall one day face their makers.
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She was a ship that was constructed to the very image of his soul.
She complied with his every order and was adjustable to his ever changing tastes. Only while flying her, could he relive the feeling of detachment for all his worries and feel closer to the freedom he desperately seeks.
The Sky Pirates airship event became a trivial thing to him for he would loathe himself if another pirate was to display the same adoration as him toward his airship. He had become quite possessive and would allow no other to be her partner. (It would also mean fewer thieves to worry about. The event was, after all, held among pirates.)
Every time he settles down on his chair and prepares to lift off, hearing the engine warm up and the cogs turning in perfect synchronism like a slow music, Balthier knows that this one 'woman' would never betray him.
Her name was the Strahl and she was every inch his ultimate creation.
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Chapter III, The Strahl, End