YES! I FINALLY UPDATED! Thanks to ElTangoDeRoxanne, who I totally agree with (Will made me really made too. And I had just started to like him!). I'm glad you like the way my dialogue goes, Shay Weaver. I always feel kinda bad because it's not original. Oh well, the sequel to this will be original ; ). What the plot is? Not telling. Not yet. And last but not least, I'm glad you like that Balthier is taking care of his little hunger for brains, dongaro. I hoped people were fine with a partially insane, monstrous, Balthier. This chapter was originally half as action packed, but when I read your review, I thought, you know what? You are absolutely right. This is pale as far as action is concerned. So I wrote about an extra page of action.

Thank you all!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or Final Fantasy XII.

Mercer's crewmen untied Balthier, using the ropes around his wrists to lead him away. Balthier was seized with panic, and commenced to do his best to chew through his gag. He was pleasantly surprised when his teeth, sharpened by his "transformation", easily sliced through the cloth. Spitting it out onto the ground, he lunged for his captors, snarling like a feral beast, but stopped short when Mercer grabbed Fran, who was still bound to the beam, pulling her chin up and holding a small silver dagger to her throat.

"I suspected this would happen. Right, make any hostile move and she dies." Mercer said with a smirk. Balthier frantically went through all the possible ways he could save her. His first mistake had been to leave her side and allow Mercer to get in that position. Then, he wondered if he could possibly cast a spell— any spell— that might make his situation better. He could not; the moment he prepared the spell, Mercer would slit her throat. And from this distance, Mercer would be infinitely faster. Fran wriggled her head slightly, the gag loosening enough to slide from her mouth.

"Balthier, do not worry." Fran said in Vieran. "Go. I promise I will find you, and then we will both make them pay for their mistakes."

"Very well." Balthier replied, his shoulders sagging. "Then promise me this: that you will stay alive until that time."

"I promise. Do not lose yourself."

"That will be a hard undertaking, but I shall try." Balthier gave a bow as only he could, though it was made a little awkward because of his bound hands, and gave a smile accompanied with a merry wave as he was led onto the Flying Dutchman.

Fran knew he was trying his hardest to be lighthearted. It pained her to see him taken away onto that ship; the promise he'd made not to lose himself was empty. She knew that without her, Balthier had nothing to keep him to his humanity; though the thought may be enough to make him persevere for a while. However, if the looks of crew on the Dutchman were any indicator, he would be hard pressed to stay sane.

People who were half fish, half human crowded around him, jeering and hooting. As the Dutchman began to move away, a creature who looked to be a crab of some sort grabbed the rope that bound Balthier's hands and dragged him toward a cabin everyone seemed to be staying clear of. Inside, a pipe organ boomed, and the crab-man knocked on the door with a grey-green hand. The organ music stopped abruptly, and a light footstep, accompanied by a resounding thud, sounded from within. The door was wrenched open, and Balthier stared into one of the most horrendous faces he'd ever seen.

This man appeared to have an octopus for his head, with wet eyes deep in an equally wet face. The tentacles formed a living beard, curling and flexing. Balthier had heard of this… man.

Davy Jones.

"What is this living scum doing on my ship, Penrod?" the captain of the Flying Dutchman snarled.

"It's another one of those cursed pirates, like old Bootstrap Bill was." Balthier's escort replied.

"Is it now?" Jones leered at him and grabbed his throat with a horned crab claw, staring into his face. "Wot is your name, pirate, and where be your ship?"

"I'm Captain Balthier of the Strahl. It's… not here." Balthier grunted through his constricted windpipe.

"A pirate Captain without a ship." Jones scoffed. "You remind me of that sniveling sea rat, wot's-his-name… Jack Sparrow. Know him?"

Balthier's breathe hitched as the claw about his neck tightened, the horns on it piercing his skin. Blood stained his white shirt collar red.

"I know him." he rasped. "I was with him until Beckett's goons dumped me here." The name "Beckett" seemed to enrage Davy Jones, and for a moment, Balthier was afraid the seaman would sever his head clean off when his claw tightened even more.

"Beckett. Beckett! The nerve of that pile of bilge sludge!" Davy Jones snarled, spittle spraying from his lips. "Well then, welcome aboard the Dutchman, Captain Balthier. Throw him in the brig, with the other one!" Davy Jones turned on his peg leg and slammed his cabin door shut. Penrod, the lobster-like crewman who was holding onto Balthier's rope, chuckled as he dragged the sky pirate away, down into the depths of the ship.

More nightmarish faces loomed in the dark holes of the Flying Dutchman. The oblong head of a hammerhead shark and the puffed up face of a blowfish pushed their way forward.

"New pirate scum." Penrod prodded Balthier forward toward a set of barnacle encrusted cells. "Captain wants him in the brig right away, and in with ole Bootstrap Bill."

Bootstrap Bill? Balthier perked up. Wasn't that Will's father? The one that Will needed the Black Pearl for? He frowned as he was shoved into a seemingly empty cell. Perhaps he could gain some valuable leverage here…

Or not. Balthier stared at the tragic face of a creature that looked like it could have been human that seemed to be fused to the wall. His face, shoulders, and chest were coated with sea flora and fauna, almost completely sealing him against the ship's walls. Balthier cautiously inched forward, his hands clenching into fists in case the meeting turned hostile. There was something morbidly fascinating about this figure sleeping the sleep of the dead, slowly becoming a part of the ship, building it up one body at a time.

"Bootstrap Bill?" Balthier whispered. There was no response. The body didn't even twitch. "William Turner Senior?" he tried again, louder this time. Suddenly, the man fused with the wall jerked awake, focusing watery eyes dancing with strange light on the sky pirate before him.

"You know me?" he asked, leaning forward with a creak as he began to rip himself free of the walls binding him. "You know my name! My real name." Balthier backed up, struggling to keep the revulsion from his face. Bootstrap Bill's face was riddled with barnacles like pockmarks, and mussels, corals, and sponges decked his clothing like exotic ornaments.

"Yes. I flew— I mean, sailed— with your son, William Junior." Balthier said, watching as Bootstrap rose from his seat. He was tall, even taller than Balthier by a few inches.

"You know… William? He's… he's alive? I thought… I thought the kraken done him in…" Bootstrap gasped, grabbing Balthier's shoulders and rubbing sea grime on his shirt in the process.

"Yes, he is alive and quite well." the sky pirate found he didn't quite have the heart to tell William Senior that his son turned out to be a back stabbing thieving cur. "He's coming to get you, and he's got the Pearl." he said instead.

"He got the Black Pearl off Jack? How? Jack wouldn't a-givin' up that ship for nothin'." Bill muttered.

"It is an interesting story, for sure. But that is for another time. Please don't bother me for the details." Balthier cut off any questions with a wave of his bound hands. "Now, how to get these off…"

He cast about for any sharp implements that could be used to sever the thick rope, but ended up resorting to his teeth, alternately gnawing and sawing at the bristly strands. When the rope finally parted, he stretched his jaw, picking out fibers with his fingernail. His mouth tasted as if he'd been licking a salt-encrusted chocobo that had just finished having a mud bath. Needless to say, it was disgusting, and he spat on the floor.

"You ain't gonna last." Bootstrap Bill said, watching him with interest born of loneliness. Obviously the poor man had no kind company onboard the ship. "They don't cater to your kind on this boat. You livin' kind, at any rate."

"Just so you know, I'm in the same boat as you, pardon the pun." Balthier said, sitting down in the least damp place he could find. "I, too, have been cursed by the treasure of Isla de Muerta, and am therefore unable to die."

"Isla de Muerta!" Bill gaped. "You're one o' them! One o' Barbossa's!" he charged, the light in his eyes spilling over into hate. Balthier dodged, sliding behind a pole and trying to think of a way to stop the rampaging pirate.

"I'm not part of that crew!" he cried, as Bootstrap Bill reached around the pole in an attempt to grab him. Quick as a snake, Balthier twisted out of his grip, sliding on the wet floor. "I didn't ask to be cursed the first time!" The other man was beyond comprehension.

"Traitor!" he howled, curling a hand into a fist. For a man who was supposed to be part of a ship, and therefore inanimate, Bootstrap Bill Turner was surprisingly fast. His fist connected solidly and sickeningly in Balthier's gut, and the sky pirate keeled over, vomiting a copious amount of blood onto the deck.

"Ugh…" he groaned, rolling over and out of the way of a kick from William Senior. Balthier managed to drag himself to his feet, coughing. He could almost feel his insides knitting themselves back together after their beating, and he wiped the blood from his chin with a handkerchief, backing out of the way of Bootstrap Bill's wild swings.

"Let me alone," Balthier grit out, flinging a Sleep spell at the pirate in an attempt to calm the other man's rage. To his horror, the spell simply rolled off of him, Bill's anger too great for the spell to override. Balthier gave a pained grunt as Bootstrap Bill crashed against him, pinning him against the cell wall.

"I don' care that you're dead." Bootstrap Bill growled, squeezing a hand around Balthier's neck. "I'll kill you, and when you come back, I'll kill you again, over and over until you curse the day you went under Barbossa's wing."

"I… didn't… ask for this!" Balthier wheezed, choking. The pirate pressed him against the cell wall even harder, rocking back then slamming his head against the wall.

"Liar!" Balthier heard him roar as his vision swam sickeningly. His fingers scrabbled for purchase on Bootstrap Bill's slick skin, and suddenly, he found himself possessed of a strength he didn't know he had. He dragged Bill's hand away from his neck, shoving the other man away and to the ground. Something in him was singing for violence now, whereas he had tried to avoid it before. In a flash, he pinned the bigger man to the ground, reversing their positions.

"You fool." he hissed through razor edged teeth, a horrible smile dancing at the corner of his lips. Then he plunged forward, seeking the pirate's jugular.

A spray of red blinded him momentarily, burning hot against his cold, dead skin. He heard Bootstrap Bill's anguished scream of pain, and reveled in the sound. He felt alive as he pulled his glut of blood from the other man, though it tasted fishy and salty like the sea. He snarled as he was dragged off the merman by two other crewmen, struggling madly.

"We've got a wild one here." One of Bootstrap Bill's rescuers laughed as he chained both of Balthier's wrists to the wall with metal shackles. Balthier's chest heaved as he strained against his new bonds, glaring at them hatefully with yellow, monstrous eyes. The pirates were unperturbed, picking up Bootstrap Bill and tossing him back into his place in the wall, which accepted him with open fronds. "As soon as Bootstrap heals, they'll be back to killin' each other in no time." The sea man said, slamming the cage door shut behind him. Balthier howled with frustration.

The shadow was waiting on the bridge of stars and water, as usual. He was on his knees in front of her, his head in his hands.

"Ffamran Mied Bunansa Archades…" Tia Dalma's voice sighed as she knelt, putting a finger under his chin and lifting his eyes to meet hers. "I am sorry. There is nothing I can do for you now." The shadow vanished.

Balthier put his head back into his arms and cried.

He awoke sometime later feeling absolutely miserable and very restless. Some part of him that was still sane noted that Bootstrap Bill was in the corner, glaring at him vehemently and massaging a lacerated neck. The part of him that was insane noted the wound with pride, knowing he was the cause of it.

"Hey, looky here! He's awake." A rough voice broke into his musings. Balthier heard the grinding shriek as the door was unlocked and someone entered. He cracked open an eye coming face to face with the hideous coral covered face of Jimmy Legs, the sadistic boatswain. The merman began unlocking Balthier's wrists, dragging him out of the cell. "We're raiding a ship, and captain wants all hands for it. Even yours. Technically, yer part o' the crew now." he continued. Balthier heard the boom of cannons directly over his head, followed by the rip of wood on a ship nearby. Excitement rippled through his veins.

The noise on deck was deafening, a cacophony of snapping wood, crashing cannons, cracking guns, and clanging swords. Jimmy Legs shoved him onto the gang plank, forcing him across to board the other ship. Balthier stumbled over the yawning gap, water churning below as shrapnel and bodies fell into the drink. Chinese men ran across the deck of Sao Feng's ship, the Empress, screaming battle cries that were silenced as, with their own savage yells, Davy Jones's crew dispatched them with brutal efficiency.

Sword raised, one of the men tried to attack him. Balthier caught the man's sword hand, disarmed him, and simultaneously kneed him in the groin. With a muted squeal, the man collapsed to the deck, clutching his manhood. Balthier swiftly put him out of his misery, his mouth twitching into a savage smile of pure delight as blood splashed across his shoes, and moved onto the next victim. His world was bathed in blood and flashing light, water and cool darkness. He was drunk on death and hated the living with a vengeance. The tiny part of him as he truly was had been shoved to the back of his mind, locked in a prison made of jealousy and rage against all others who walked under sun and moon alike. Another man made to attack, and this time, Balthier blocked it with his filched sword, before lunging forward and ripping a strip out of the man's arm with his teeth. The man screamed before he was beheaded, his woven straw hat rolling across the deck.

Balthier laughed wildly, chasing down another pirate like a Couerl bringing down its prey, lunging forward to skewer him on the blade. When the pirate suddenly turned and blocked, he was surprised by the sudden show of bravado, and even more surprised when the pirate stuck out a booted foot and tripped him, using her sword to pin him to the deck by shoving it between his ribs and into his chest. He snarled at her, the moonlight blinding him to the face of his assailant. The figure whispered something he couldn't comprehend.

"Oh my God… Balthier?" the voice asked, but he was beyond words to answer with. He couldn't even begin to think of what words were, anyway. He slid his fingers up the blade, listening to the hollow ring his bones made as it ran over the curved steel. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be bathed in the light of the moon, his true form laid bare for all the world to see. And what did he care of it? Those who saw this shape would be dead soon, anyway. He jerked the sword from his chest, wrenching it out of the wood, and attacked, the figure retreating just out of his reach.

"It is you, isn't it, Balthier." Elizabeth Swann whispered as the monster came closer, yellow eyes flashing, bones clicking, a feral scream rising and falling in a brutal war song from its throat. She jumped out of the way of a lightning quick sword strike, and Balthier, or the creature that had been Balthier, hissed in annoyance. "I'm sorry," she murmured, as she drew a pistol from within the folds of her dress. "It's the only way I know how to stop you." She allowed him to get close, the two blades he now wielded whistling dangerously near to her body, pressed the pistol to the smooth bone of his forehead, and pulled the trigger.

Balthier's head jerked back, his eyes dimming and losing their killer focus as he collapsed to the deck limply, the bones of his skull shattered. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, he fell into the shade of the Junk's mast, and she stared into the now familiar face of the sky pirate she knew. His eyes were still yellow, a beast staring out of them instead of a human mind, and his mouth was slightly agape as he stared vacantly to the moonlit sky. Elizabeth choked on a sob, tears dripping down her chin.

The battle was over all too soon when James Norrington stepped onto the deck. Without thinking, Elizabeth ran to him. "James!" she cried, then paused looking back at the figure of Balthier, who seemed to be reviving slowly, the skin on his forehead knitting it self back together. She watched as another merman dragged him back onto the Flying Dutchman, tying his hands together and pushing him below deck.

"Elizabeth? Thank goodness! Your father will be so glad to hear you are safe." Admiral Norrington began, but Elizabeth turned cold eyes on him.

"My father is dead." she said flatly.

"No… no! He- he returned to England, he can't—!"

"Who told you that? Beckett?" Elizabeth's lip curled with disdain. "Now you know what side you chose." she was interrupted by Davy Jones's angry yell calling for the captain, a job entrusted to her by the late Sao Feng, the Howling Wind. "And I know mine. The Captain stays with the crew." she said, moving to stand with Tai Huang. Davy Jones's eyes gleamed fiendishly.

"Captain, aye?" the merman leered, but snarled with disgust when Norrington said,

"But the prisoners in the brig and tow the ship. That's an order!"

"Bah!" Davy Jones spat, marching away.

Balthier drifted in a place halfway between dreaming and awakening, completely alone in his mind. The beast within him slept; contented with the flesh he had consumed and the havoc he'd wrecked, and now his human side walked free, outside the cage the beast shoved him in when it was awake. He felt almost back to normal, if not for the revulsion he felt at himself for his heinous acts on the Empress. He wanted to vomit until his stomach was empty, but feared that the beast would awaken with fury and bring him to new acts of cannibalism.

"Bootstrap?" A feminine voice suddenly brought him back. Her voice was familiar. He opened one eye languidly, observing his new company like a lazy cat would a mouse wandering across the kitchen floor. The monster within him stirred, also watching.

The survivors of the attack on Sao Feng's ship had all been bundled into the same cell with him, and Elizabeth Swann herself now pressed herself against barnacled bars, trying to find out which of the pirates she looked at was Bootstrap Bill Turner. "Bootstrap!" she shouted again, this time directing her attention at the blowfish faced man.

"Bootstrap." the voice resonated deeply. Elizabeth froze, slowly turning toward the sound. The old pirate had raised himself from his sleep in the ship's wall at his name, looking at her with his over-bright eyes. Balthier felt hatred rush through his veins like poison at the sight of the piece of sea scum. Their brawl was still fresh in the more primal side of his mind. "You know my name?" the conversation was eerily like the one he had with Balthier, before he had attacked him.

"I know your son," Elizabeth was saying, and Bootstrap looked confused.

"William! He's alive! But I knew that already… but here you are, come to tell me he's gonna rescue me!" Bootstrap said suddenly, laughing. "I heard he has the Pearl! God's wounds, he's gonna do it!" Elizabeth had a look of horror on her face at the sight of the haggard pirate coming toward her. Balthier closed his eye again, letting their conversation fade into a buzz. He was interrupted again when he heard Elizabeth's light, timid footsteps approaching.

"Balthier?" she asked, pity lacing her tone. Balthier responded to the noise, opening both eyes to glare at her, hating her for intruding on his solitude. It was only then he could feel human. When others were around, the part of him that was turning into a monster became dominant. "Is that you, Balthier?" Elizabeth asked again, stretching a hand toward his face. Was his name Balthier? He couldn't remember. He growled at her, lifting his lip in a snarl. When her hand was close enough, he snapped at it, drawing blood. Elizabeth gasped, drawing her hand back quickly. Bootstrap Bill heaved himself from his place on the wall.

"Hey you, stop that! She's my son's friend! You ain't gonna hurt her, you hear me?" he shouted, interposing himself between Balthier and Elizabeth.

"He bit me!" Elizabeth managed to say in shock as Tai Huang, Sao Feng's first mate, wrapped her hand in a grimy cloth.

"Can't trust these undead pirate types." the pirate said, shooting a dirty look toward Balthier and Bootstrap both. Elizabeth stood up, her hand slipping out of Tai Huang's grubby fingers.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked Bootstrap Bill, who stood like a guard at Balthier's side. The sky pirate was still looking at her fiercely, his yellow eyes luminous in the gloom.

"He's loosing himself, piece by piece, just like everyone else is on this cursed ship. Just like me." Bill said quietly. Elizabeth stretched her hand out toward Balthier's face again, moving it just beyond the reach of his teeth, until she managed to lay a hand on his cheek. He stilled instantly, watching her warily.

"That's terrible, that you've lost yourself so much." Elizabeth whispered, stroking his face with the back of her hand. "Balthier is not your real name, is it? Fran said it was something else." Something clicked in Balthier's head. Fran?

Elizabeth leaned in closer to whisper in his ear. "Fran said that your name was Ffamran, once." Ffamran. That was it, that was who he was, years and years ago. But Ffamran was dead, buried in a tomb of metal armor with a bloody sword as his headstone. A different man walked in his place, free as the birds he soared across the sky with. Or at least the birds he was caged with.

"Yes, that was my name, a long time ago." Balthier croaked, his voice rough from disuse. "I'm Balthier now. Ffamran does not exist."

"Are you Balthier?" Elizabeth asked. "Or are you something else? Have you forgotten me? Fran? The people in your home of Ivalice?"

"Ivalice…" Balthier muttered, clenching and unclenching his fists meditatively.

"Do you remember Ivalice, Ffamran?" he flinched at the name, but Elizabeth cupped his face with her palms, forcing him to look into her eyes. "If calling you by your true name calls to your true nature, I shall use that name as I please. Tell me! Have you forgotten Fran?" she whispered fiercely. Something seemed to click in his mind, and he viewed Elizabeth with new eyes.

"Fran! Is she okay? What has happened since Will betrayed us?" he asked, the words tumbling out of his mouth in a panicked stream. He couldn't believe he had forgotten about Fran.

"She was still on the Black Pearl with Will, the last time I saw her." she replied. "I don't know what happened after Will took control of the ship. I was taken by Sao Feng when he mistook me for the sea goddess, Calypso."

"Sea goddess?"

"Yes, bound in human form, giving control of the seas to men." Elizabeth confirmed. He suddenly remembered the shadow's words: Set me free, let me go home… he knew what he had to do.

"We have to get out of here." Balthier said, craning his head to see his shackles better.

"How? You're all tied up." Elizabeth said, crossing her arms.

"What if I let you go?" A new voice interrupted them. Elizabeth's head snapped around.

"James!" she cried, running toward the bars. With a jangle of keys, Norrington opened the cell door. "What are you doing?"

"Picking a side." he said as the pirates trapped inside ran to freedom. "Come on, Elizabeth! We have to go, quickly."

"Not until you free Balthier as well." Elizabeth stood her ground. With a sigh, Norrington entered the cell, unlocking Balthier from the wall. They eyed each other with visible tension, and Elizabeth wondered if she would have to break up a fight (which would probably be short lived), but luckily, Balthier stalked past the admiral without even raising a finger. When he came into the night air, the moonlight changed him into a skeleton with a creak, but thankfully, it was too his advantage now.

Elizabeth supervised as the pirates crawled across the tow ropes connecting the Flying Dutchmen and Sao Feng's ship. "Hurry, hurry!" she whispered fiercely as Balthier lithely swung onto a rope, as sure footed as a spider on its web, his bony fingers curling about the ropes like hooks.

"You hurry!" he growled. He was so light that the rope was not even rocking as he inched his way down the line. Elizabeth had begun to follow him when Bootstrap Billappeared on the deck, armed with a sharpened wooden stake. He took in sight of Balthier and Elizabeth hanging on the tow rope, and both of them froze, Elizabeth wide eyed, Balthier giving the man a heated glare.

"Stand down, Ffamran." Elizabeth said sternly, and Balthier shook his head.

"Really, must you call me by that name? That name belongs to a sixteen year old boy I abandoned nine years ago, for heaven's sake." he complained.

"It is your name!" Elizabeth answered back, just as Bootstrap Bill said,

"No one leaves the ship. All hands, prisoner escape!" he shouted shrilly, and Elizabeth screamed at the same time,

"No! James, hurry, come with us!" she began to crawl back toward the Flying Dutchman, but Balthier grabbed her ankle with a strong grip.

"Can't you see? He's sacrificing himself for us to escape!" he told her. Elizabeth kicked him off, and Balthier winced at the sound of his knuckles cracking.

"Do something! Cast a spell, something, anything!" she screeched.

"He has chosen his own path, no doubt something disgustingly chivalrous running through his mind. He'll be at peace. If nothing else, grant him that." Balthier said severely. Norrington turned to face them, his face tight with stress and desperation.

"Balthier!" he called, pointing his pistol at the rope they clung to. "Take care of Elizabeth for me!"

"I will." Balthier promised, just as Norrington used his pistol to shoot the rope, and the entire line of pirates crawling down the rope plunged into the sea, screaming. They watched with horror as the admiral collapsed sideways, the makeshift wooden spear protruding from his back.

"James!" Elizabeth bawled, trying to swim back toward the Dutchman, but Balthier grabbed her firmly, swimming away toward the Empress. "Let go of me!" she beat at his arm with her fists, the blunt blows glancing off the hard bone harmlessly.

"Stop it." Balthier snapped, pushing her against the side of the late Sao Feng's ship. "There is nothing you can do. He died to protect you, so you could be here and find Will. Are you going to let that be in vain?" he asked. Elizabeth bit her lip, tears coursing down her face, but she shook her head no. "Good. Now climb up that ladder Tai Huang has let down for us, there's a good girl." he helped boost her out of the water, before climbing up himself. Once on board, he turned toward her, a lopsided smirk on his face. As horrific as it looked, worm eaten and rotting away, Elizabeth felt reassured that the Balthier with her was Balthier, at least for the moment, because of that smile. "Where to, Captain?" he said mockingly. Elizabeth took it in stride.

"We make for Shipwreck Cove! We have a Pirate Court to be held, and a battle to fight!" she said authoritatively. Balthier bowed sarcastically, a hand over his still heart.

"And I have a Sea Goddess to free." he muttered when she was out of earshot.

Thank you for reading!