Reunion

The staircase leading beneath Naboo's old coronation temple was short but covered with all sorts of insects that Marina didn't even know existed. Of course Balthier just crunched his way down the stairs. Marina was surprised he wasn't as worried about keeping his shoes clean as he was his shirt. She tip toed her way down the stairs wincing every time she heard a crunch under her foot.

At the bottom of the staircase, the insect population began to scatter and decrease. They were in an empty room barely large enough to fit the Strahl inside without scratching her. There was nothing but torches lining the bare, cold stone walls.

Marina spoke to Balthier as she eyed the torches warily. "How do you suppose those torches stay lit?"

Balthier shrugged. "We're in the presence of powers we could probably never understand."

Marina nodded in understanding and they continued towards the only decoration and color in the room. It was a large statue of Naboo's first queen made purely of gold with rubies for eyes and a crown adorned with sparkling saphires and emeralds. In the present time, those stones were worth hardly anything. But in the days when the statue had been made, those jewels had been treasures that only royalty could afford. Her hands were brought together onto her lap holding a plain silver box with a key hole.

Marina took the silver key out and placed it in the keyhole. She turned it cautiously until a click echoed off the stone walls. Suddenly a bright blue laser-like light shot out from the keyhole and stretched across the room until it hit the opposite wall. Then it split into two. One rose up to the ceiling and the other lowered to the floor. A three dimensional map appeared between the laser lines. It was a map of the entire galaxy.

Balthier reached out to touch a planet but found his hand went right through it. Marina looked around trying to get her bearings. "Balthier." He turned to look at her. She pointed to a planet near her. "Stand there."

He walked over to the specific planet. "What for?" he asked.

"You're my marker for where we are. That's Naboo." Balthier looked at the planet then back at Marina with a bored expression. "Well I'm glad to be such a use to you dear" he said sarcastically.

Marina ignored him and walked through the map looking for a planet she didn't recognize. She found it near the entrance of the room. It was isolated beyond the Outer Rim much like Kamino. In fact, Kamino was the closest planet to it. She looked back at Balthier. "That's a long trip" she sighed. Balthier nodded. "Come this way and count your feet" she instructed. "Sixty-five feet" he told her when he reached her. She nodded and quickly did the calculations in her head for their coordinates.

When she was done she went back over to the box and took the key out. The moment the key was out the map disappeared. She tucked it away in her coin purse and they headed back up the insect covered staircase.

"Hold it right there Ffamran."

Balthier rolled his eyes and Marina made an irritated sigh. There were about thirty Endorian soldiers surrounding the opening to the underground chamber. Mattis was the one who had spoken. "Did you really think you could elude us forever? We've had tabs on you for years", the general boasted.

"It's too bad you couldn't wait a few more months. I would have come to you" Balthier said, keeping his cool.

Mattis frowned. "You would have come to us with the weapon from the invisible planet."

"Clever. How ever did you guess?" Sarcasm dripped in Balthier's voice.

A slight rage flickered in the general's eyes. "Alright that's enough of this nonsense. Take them." The soldiers moved in and cuffed the pirates.

Marina glanced at Balthier. His usual neutral expression was present but she wondered what he was thinking. 'It's been ten years since he's had any contact with his father and now they're not meeting under the best circumstances. Cid will probably try to get Balthier to join him again in exchange for something. But Balthier is clever so I'll just have to trust him.'

--

General Mattis bowed before Cidolfus. "My king, I have brought your son and the girl. We searched the hidden room they discovered but found nothing but an old statue."

"Whatever there was to discover in that chamber my son can tell me. Send them in."

The general bowed. "Yes, my lord." Mattis opened the doors to the office and Balthier and Marina were led inside surrounded by guards.

Cid stood to greet his newly arrived 'guests'. "Ffamran my son! It has been too long." Cid looked over at Marina and eyed her curiously. He walked a full circle around her like some sort of vulture and stopped in front of her. "You seem familiar, have we met before? Or perhaps I've met a relative?"

Marina raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps."

Cidolfus frowned a little but knew that she was set on being vague. He moved to the side and stood in front of his son. 'They look so much alike. They even sound the same when they speak. It's like having two Balthiers in the room at once. It's making my head spin.'

"So tell me son. How have you been these last ten years?" There was no bitterness in Cid's voice when he spoke.

Balthier shifted his weight. "Can we skip the diplomatics and get straight to the negotiating?" He sounded only the slightest bit annoyed but Marina was surprised even by that. He was hard to annoy. Maybe he was just faking it.

Cid smirked.

Marina had to refrain from rolling her eyes. 'So that's where he gets it.'

"Straight to the point as usual. You and your mother were always like that."

Balthier's glare would have stilled a blood thirsty grizzly bear. "You don't know anything about my mother." His tone held nothing but venomous hatred for his father.

Marina had never seen him like that and for the first time since they had met, he scared her. She wouldn't have thought it possible but Cid met his glare with one just as frightening. Marina had to check herself so she didn't cringe.

A moment of silence ensued that seemed to last forever. Cid's tone was barely controlled when he ordered the guards to take Marina away and to leave him alone with his son.

Marina was led out a back door of the palace to a smaller one story building. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was in there. Cells. Surprisingly enough, they were all empty and clean. Then again Cid seemed less like the type to torture someone for information and more like the type to just kill them right away. She wondered as she sat down in the corner of the cell, what kind of negotiations were going on back in Cid's office.

--

As the door of the office closed behind Marina and the guards, Cid sighed. "Well now that she's gone, lets get these cuffs off of you." He reached over to his desk and picked up a key. He unlocked Balthier's cuffs and walked over behind his desk. A map covered the top of the desk. "So where is it?"

Balthier looked down at the map and rolled his eyes. "If you didn't want something to ever be found...", he searched the shelves set against the wall quickly. Scrolls were stacked on top of each other with name tags attached to the end of them. He took one down and spread it over top of the other map. It was a map of the Outer Rim. "..you'd put it in a place where no one ever travels." Balthier pointed to an empty spot on the map just outside the Outer Rim. The location of the lost planet.

Cid looked down at the map and smiled. "Good job, my son. You've made me proud."

Dun Dun Dun Dunnnnn. Er however you would type that dramatic music. Lol.