Set two years after Hide and Seek. The call to free her sister country has finally arrived, but Anastacia no longer wants to hear it. She is about to realize, however, that when it comes to sky piracy, the dead can be very convincing. BaschxOC
Here we cooooome, Tomb of Raithwall!
'Kay, went about beating the Demon Wall and Belias differently here - mostly because I think it's impossible to kill that demon wall unless you throw a pack of dynamites in its mouth, and SERIOUSLY HOW DO YOU BEAT A FLAMING ESPER, EVEN WITH THE SHARP END OF YOUR METAL STICK. I don't think Water spells are strong enough to beat it down in a real fight, either, unless you have a Blastoise Esper and hose it down with Hydro Pump.
Yeah, I'm feeling defensive today. (I have an excuse! Uh...it's that time of the month?)
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 10
"Vaan, watch where you're hurling that thing!"
"Sorry, aiming isn't really my style!"
"I think Balthier just figured that out."
"What? How aboutyou try throwing your sword at that flying monstro up there, Penelo?"
"I would, but I'm wielding a staff. It wouldn't do much, you know, even with my perfect aim."
"Yeah, right!"
"I thought you two had a nice moment earlier today. What's happened?"
The faces of both Vaan and Penelo were doused with distaste when they stopped to gape at Anya.
"Wh-what?" Penelo's ears pinked.
"Shut up, Anya!" Vaan hissed.
Anya shrugged, thinking only of sweet revenge, and returned to chanting the Darkga spell at their flying foe.
They had heard its screech as they crouched through the archway under the wall Anya had seen earlier on. True to their suspicions, the wall blocked the way to the magnificent tomb of the once great Raithwall. As if anticipating their arrival, a colonnade led the path towards his castle of a resting place. Steel buttresses held it up on each end, and right above the running staircase and the circle-rimmed pediment was a façade resembling a fearsome, manlike creature holding twin blades across its chest, with spikes jutting outward serving as a pediment over the thing, like a halo; a fitting simulacrum of the Dynast-King.
As soon as Balthier had taken his first step into the area, a gigantic bird with shimmering gold wings and an elongated beak on its particularly small head swooped down at him with a piercing caw. He was able to leap out of its way, but Vossler was not so lucky. The Garuda – Fran called it, claiming to have read about it years ago – nipped at his shoulder and would have torn his arm off had Basch not cleaved his sword down on the monster's beak, causing it to cry out and send Vossler crashing against one of the columns. Weapons were drawn immediately, though Ashe had gone to tend to the large gash on Vossler's left arm, leaving Basch with the sky pirates and their stowaways.
"I'd have thought," Balthier started, nearing Anya as he shot at the Garuda, "that you would influence these two for the worse. Yet here I find you terribly influenced by them."
"Of course not!" Anya gasped, momentarily glaring at him for cutting her off when she had almost finished the spell, but knew his joking to be good-natured. "To be honest, I believe Vaan is beginning to take after you. At least, he's trying to."
"For some unascertained reason," Fran chuckled, running by with a handful of arrows ready to fire.
Balthier scoffed indignantly, closing an eye as he aimed for the Garuda's wings. "Must the tides of interlocution always fall on me?" He sighed. "Such is the burden of the leading man… Damn, even my Dark Shots can't do a thing!"
Fran paused, her sprint slowing to a march, and, true to her position as a leading lady, held a hand to her forehead. "We have had a touch of heat."
Vaan glanced at her quizzically, lowering the sword he was about to hurl at the monster. "What?"
"Anya," called the Viera, "the Eksir berries."
Although visibly vexed about having her chant interrupted again, Anya reached into her pouch – she had set it beside Vossler and Ashe – and threw three berries at Fran, who deftly caught them and fired them into the Garuda once it opened its mouth to give an ear-piercing shriek. Basch and Vaan glanced at each other, then to the bird, and at once the Garuda began to writhe in the air. It cried out and bent its head downward, trying to peck at the poison that greatly unsettled its stomach, but only managed to lower itself to the ground. Vaan took the opportunity of its weakness to jump and slice its head clean off its feathery neck.
"You did it," Penelo muttered after a few minutes of heavy breathing, approaching the Garuda's head and gingerly poking it with her foot. "You actually did it."
Vaan rubbed under his nose and grinned. "Well, y'know…"
"Nice, Amba," Anya said, walking past Vaan and crouching to examine the corpse.
Vaan pouted. "I dealt the finishing blow, you know."
"Oh, yes," said Balthier, making his way to the Tomb, "Good job taking it down after Fran weakened it."
Vaan squinted with some contempt. Was that sarcasm? He could never tell with Balthier. "Uh…thanks."
Once reassured of Vossler's safety, Basch watched Anya tirelessly pluck golden feathers from the Garuda's wings. Catching his shadow looming over her figure, the girl smiled at him delightfully. As if following an unspoken agreement, she spoke nothing of her midnight dance practices, or how she hadn't actually found his chest all that uncomfortable that morning. "These will sell for a fortune," she told him instead. "Archadian nobles are especially eager clients – their lot has a particular fancy for shiny objects."
Basch's eyebrows furrowed. "Do you always think on profit?"
"Pirates do need to eat," Anya replied resentfully. "And Nono needs a new smithy. Can't work with the Seeq always watching over his shoulders, he says to me."
"So you – do not see gil as the end all and be all of things?" asked Basch, cautiously.
"I never said it was, did I? I don't need to live in a castle. I am happy wherever Amba, Tatah, and Nono are, but…given the opportunity, I would live in a small cottage in a forest glen, somewhere along the banks of a rushing river. I would live in peace."
"…Really?" Basch tried to imagine Anya doing housework. He saw himself in a moderately sized kitchen, instead, while she waited by the dinner table, hungry after a long day of trading stolen goods in the Bazaar. It wasn't a bad life. Once he realized what was occurring in his mind, however, he closed his thoughts and frowned at himself. How had those thoughts arrived there?
Anya hesitated. "I suppose a little adventure every now and then wouldn't hurt," she answered, "but looking over one's shoulder all the time does weary a man eventually."
Basch sighed. So young – and already so tired. If he could shield her from the world and its follies, he would.
"Anya!" Fran waved at them; she and the others had almost reached the top of the stairs. She motioned for them both to follow, quick.
"Oh!" Anya scrambled to her feet. Almost routinely, Basch took her pouch and slung it over his shoulder. They walked together in silence, but the previous night's events still buzzed tenaciously in their thoughts.
"…Raithwall left three relics signifying descent from the Dynast-King," Ashe was saying, acknowledging Anya's and Basch's presence with a nod. "Of these, the Midlight Shard was given to what would become House Nabradia, and the Dusk Shard to my ancestors, the Founders of Dalmasca. The last of these relics was the Dawn Shard."
Ashe took in the entirety of the massive tomb, straining her neck to see the very top of the staircase. "It remained hidden here," she continued after a while, "known only to those of Royal Blood."
Only Vossler saw Balthier and Fran meeting eyes and turning them to Anya before he added, "As though the Dynast-King foresaw the very plight before us now."
"Only his descendants are suffered within," said Ashe. "If we enter without proof of such lineage—"
"There's no guarantee we'll make it out alive," Balthier interrupted. He knew this all too well. "Vicious beasts. Fiendish traps. Something like that?"
Ashe nodded. "But you must consider the prize. The Dawn Shard lies within…and Raithwall's treasure."
Anya stared pointedly at Balthier, a blatant warning that the princess was only inveigling them into helping her travel to the heart of the Tomb, but the man was too busy considering their next vacation spot, where they would be able to forget about dead princesses and all the Nethicite nonsense that had been floating about over the past few days.
The pirate shrugged. "And there was I thinking this was going to be hard!"
"Splendid," Vossler mumbled under his breath, and finally they reached the top of the stairs. There was no door; only what looked to Vaan like a truncated lamppost, but even he knew the light it held possessed a different kind of magic, the kind only people forgotten even by the history books could know. Four inverted cones girded the lamp's circular base with a dull chrome glow that tempted whoever stared into its depths to touch it.
Vossler was the first to yield.
To Penelo, it felt like a million years. They were outside the Tomb for one moment – and then everything was white, but she couldn't move, and now she couldn't remember what she had been thinking of there – and then they were inside, and the place was brightly lit with magicite lamps lining the main paths. She had to think hard for a while before she could remember why they were there in the first place.
Vaan was staring at the odd symbol that illuminated the platform below them. "What was that thing?"
"A contraption you'd find in all but the most rudimentary Ancient Ruin," replied Balthier. "One touch, and off you're whisked to you know not where. The finer points of their operation elude me, but they're handy all the same. What more need a sky pirate know?"
"You have encountered such a device before?" Ashe curiously asked Fran, who nodded.
"We were once hired by Ar-Elius Margrace as researchers to ruins not unlike this tomb."
"I couldn't come along then," Anya remembered. "Nono caught a fever when it rained in Terzo. Did—"
"You were hired by the Emperor of Rozarria? For research?" Vossler looked doubtful. Anya didn't protest to his interruption, and pretended to be busy looking through her pouch behind Basch. Anastacia had been avoiding him since he left her in the den with his words.
"Hard to believe," Balthier shrugged, "but some sky pirates have a hunger for things intellectual…though I can't say the pay wasn't bad, either."
Ashe groaned. Of course; they weren't the type to do a thing without first involving good income.
"How did you meet Rozarria's Emperor?" Penelo asked, the amazement obvious in her voice, while Ashe and Vossler branched into a different topic of conversation. Basch and Vaan listened with interest.
Balthier cleared his throat as they began descending the stairs. "It was sweltering, that day, on our way out of the Mezzol province…"
XIIXIIXII
"Am I to understand that the Emperor of Rozarria travels his lands unattended to; as a civilian?" Ashe asked Penelo, who had fallen to the back of the party after Vaan darted to Fran's side.
"That's what Balthier said," Penelo shrugged. She certainly believed it. The sky pirates had been everywhere, after all. They were almost like tourists, she fancied – at least, when people like Ba'Gamnan weren't hot on their heels. "Fran confirmed it, too."
Ashe tilted her head at that. "Do you believe Fran is above deceit?"
"Well…she looks like it to me." Penelo's eyes met the princess's. "They all do. Although, they do seem like the kind of people who are skillful at twisting their words around. So maybe they don't lie – but they're pretty good at being confusing. Which is just as deceptive, don't you think?"
A ghost of a smile graced Ashe's features. She was glad to be right, for once. This girl was much less naïve than her friend – not that Vaan was a boy to be trifled with. "Oh, yes."
Before the group, Basch and Vossler (and Vaan, or so he liked to think) struggled to push the fifteen-foot doors in their way open. So set in time was the material that the ground rumbled when the former captains finally succeeded.
"Nicely done," said Balthier, striding into the darkness ahead with Fran, Anya, and Vaan as the captains caught their breaths. Basch found himself accustomed to this attitude already and could only find amusement in his old friend's evident ire.
As soon as Vossler stepped inside, the large doors slammed shut, as if it hadn't taken two grown men half their energy to push them a third-way open before. Basch turned back and attempted to pull them back open from under, to no avail.
"Not again," Vaan grumbled. "This is going to be messy."
Penelo groped around in the darkness before bumping her nose into metal. Whoever it was didn't move. "F-Fran?"
"No."
"S-sorry, Vossler." Penelo was glad no one could see her humiliating herself, but still blushed about being the only one making unnecessary noises. In the background, Fran was chanting a Fira spell. There was just something about this week… "Vaan, what did you say?"
"Oh. I was talking about the Barheim Passage. You wouldn't know," Vaan replied. He hadn't meant to scathe, Penelo knew, but it still struck her with a pang of – jealousy.
"The Barheim," Balthier shuddered invisibly. "A nightmarish memory."
"I – I think we can forget about that nightmarish memory for the time being …" Anya frowned, backing into Balthier. He squeezed her arm reassuringly in the dark and looked ahead.
High above in the darkness, two red eyes flashed at them menacingly. On cue, the torches at the far end of the chamber lit up first, revealing another glorious effigy of the Dynast-King – this time mounted on the wall below a terrace overlooking the area. Still, there were very long, very sharp and dangerous twin blades in its grip, and twelve – Balthier counted – claw-like appendages that served as its feet. With a pained rumble – he realized it was groaning to life – it started crawling for them. The torches on the bridge led its stride, illuminating the chamber with startling speed.
"By the gods…" Vossler unsheathed his sword. "What contraption is this?"
"One certainly not meant for our convenience." Balthier shot directly into the monster's eye. It roared fiercely, but shook the bullet off with a flick of its head and started moving its mouth rapidly; its voice was like a thousand whispers trying to overpower each other. "What is it murmuring?"
"It sounds like a spell," said Penelo, "but I – I can't understand it. It's talking too fast—"
"Tatah, what's happening!" Anya reached out for Balthier, whose body was slowly being engulfed in a black fog.
He held his hand out to her but slipped through her arm. "What in the – Fran – Anya—"
He disappeared.
"Balthier!" Vaan and Penelo gasped.
"Keep firing!" Fran ordered, the first Ashe had seen of the fierceness allegedly inherent of the Viera race. "The wall comes; we must be quick! Together we can bring it down!"
Vossler and Basch drove forward, attempting to hack off the wall's appendages as they ducked from its mighty swings. Beside Fran (no one noticed the Viera's fingers shaking), Anya picked up Balthier's gun and shot at the monster – to no avail, and she realized she should have paid better attention to the man during shooting practice; Penelo and Ashe had it in their minds to try all the spells in their arsenal.
"Hey, look, these weren't here a few seconds ago..." Vaan distractedly approached one of the torches on the side of the bridge. Before it, there was what seemed to be a button with a small cup under it. As he pressed it without a thought, two small blades extended from the both sides of the button and cut the sides of his fingers. He pulled back furiously, glaring at the blades that had suddenly retracted, and at his own blood sinking into the cup's depths. "Ow! What…?"
"The – the wall!" Penelo cut her own spell off. "It's—slowed down?"
"Basch–" Vossler pointed to the torch behind him. "Go!"
Basch followed, and as he mimicked Vaan another pair of blades extended to draw his blood. He drew back, wiping the wound on his vest, and looked to the wall. "Well?" Vossler fell back on his posterior and rolled to the side as the wall thrust at him, gaining speed. He shook his head at Basch, who pulled him up and out of the wall's way. "I don't understand—"
"Whoa, what's…" Vaan raised a hand covered in black fog before disappearing completely.
"Vaan!" Penelo cried out as Ashe quit casting a Holy spell to dive for the last of the boy, only to land on her elbows and groan.
"Anya," Fran called from near one of the torches. Her right hand was bleeding slightly, and the wall had picked up its speed another time.
She whipped her head to face her, startled by the weakness in the Viera's tone. The fog had reached Fran as well. "Amba! No!"
"The torches," she managed, though the fog was rising in her throat. "I see now: the blood – it is your only–"
Vossler finally struck down hard enough to cause two of the wall's legs to fall off, but that didn't stop its crawling. "Damn…" His eyes reflected a blinding light as Penelo ran beside him, nearly screaming the finishing incantations to the Holy spell. The wall cried out, shielding its face with its blades, but Penelo was already fading. "No, child—"
"I have to find Vaan," she whispered, glaring straight at the demon wall, and was gone.
"Why did it hasten with Sir Basch and Amba…?" Anya wondered, still frozen in place. "Amba mentioned…our only… what…?"
"Anya – out of the way!" Ashe yelled, dragging her into a sprint as Basch moved to shield them from the demon wall's violent swing.
The impact of the giant sword against Basch's threw him off the bridge, and he would have fallen into the darkness had Vossler not reached out to catch him at the last minute. "Thank you," Basch said when Vossler pulled him back onto the bridge. But there was something different about his old comrade… "Vossler, you're—!"
"And you," he said, disappointedly. "We must return quickly."
Together, they faded into the fog.
Only Ashe and Anya were left to face the demon wall, which still swung at them viciously – though it had stopped murmuring. Panic swirled around the two, a fog thicker than any the monster in the wall could conjure.
"Why does it not attack us with the fog?" Ashe blinked. "Is it because…we never attacked it? But Vaan—"
"The princess–" Anya mumbled to herself, "and the thief. Who'd have thought?"
Still backing away, Ashe glared at her. "Could you possibly take anything seriously?"
"How do we defeat a wall, Asheli–" Anya corrected herself again. "–Ashe? Amba was saying something about…about blood. But that made no sense whatsoever!"
"If I had only proof of my lineage," Ashe said, "the others would be safe…"
"Oh, yes, that." Anya sighed. Why couldn't Anastacia shake it off – this brazen aloofness, this pretend courage? Had she really been playing this game for so long? Still, she gave a mock bow. "A thousand apologies."
Ashe turned to her, calmly at first, but that comment had sparked the little anger she had for Anya. "Come to think of it…had you and Vaan not stolen into the castle that night…Ghis wouldn't have taken the Dusk Shard and we wouldn't be in this situation!"
The demon wall was coming closer, but neither took heed of its roaring.
"I thought I had just apologized…" Anya seethed, still frustrated and thinking of how to proceed without Fran and Balthier, who had always been their trio's main fighters. "In my defense, Vaan would have taken that Stone whether or not Amba, Tatah, or I were there! And really – do you honestly think I knew it was the Dusk Shard?"
"Yes!" Ashe scoffed. "The same way you knew where to find Raithwall's Tomb!"
"Oh, spare me, it's general knowledge—"
"Then why haven't the Archadians tried to take the Dawn Shard!"
"Clearly, they were all sent to Faram knows where, courtesy of our friend here, this demon of a wall!"
"That isn't—" Ashe stopped, almost afraid to see through her peripherals. Anya's face mirrored her fear-filled gaze.
The demon wall was right above them, raising its swords slowly, so, so ready to get their blood splattered all over—Anya grabbed Ashe by the hand this time, and they squeezed hands hard as they ran till their bones felt crushed.
"The torches," Ashe panted once they were far enough, releasing her grip on the girl, "go!"
In a moment, Anya had a finger held before one of the buttons. "But what if it hastens, as it did with Sir Basch and Amba?"
"They're all we have left," said Ashe, standing by the fire across Anya's. "It is a chance we must take."
Even in this panic, from some distance, Anya could see the gentleness that had suddenly overtaken Ashelia's expression. It was the sister Anastacia had known. "All right," Anya muttered, squeezing her eyes shut, and pressed the button. She yelped when the blades drew her blood, but her eyes flew wide open when the torch flared even hotter, even larger, spinning out of proportion—and then its flame became a bright blue. All the flames on that side of the bridge grew, spinning, and switched to the same color.
"You—you did it," Ashe gasped, watching the sword held on Anya's side of the bridge stop, only to realize that the arm on her side was still swinging, still thrusting, and the wall was still advancing.
"Press it!" Anya screamed, trying to ignore the stinging cuts on her hand, and dove with her arms spread open to shield Ashe from the monster's coming blade.
Ashe pressed the button, crying out when her blood was spilled, and the sword on her side stopped swinging right before it reached the stray hair springing above Anya's head. As all the torches in the room spun and held a clear blue flame, the demon on the wall slowed to a screeching stop – and crumbled to dust.
Leaning against the edges, Ashe and Anya watched each other as they caught their breaths. Ashe thought the way the pirate girl panted should have rung a bell somewhere, but shook it off and tried to speak. Had it really been that easy? "How…?"
Anya could only shake her head in relief.
And then Basch reappeared before her, looking dazed. When he broke out of his thoughts, he turned his head and saw Anya. "This place…"
"Sir Basch!" cried the pirate, and was soon embracing him with all her might.
Ashe noticed that the former Captain returned her touch a mite too easily, too quickly for it to simply be relief, and watched them with a frown on her face. This was, of course, before Vossler arrived, though he arrived with a panic-stricken face and was about to run the princess over.
"Vossler," Ashe breathed, holding her arms up to stop him. With a sudden wave of emotion, she embraced him even tighter than Anya had Basch. "You're alive."
Shocked and still confused, Vossler choked out, "Your Majesty…"
From the corner of her eye, Anastacia spied Ashelia's tight grip on Vossler, and watched them with a frown on her face.
In between the two pairs, Penelo appeared.
Startled, Ashe and Anya pulled back and straightened themselves. Leaving Vossler and Basch to regain their senses fully, they approached the youngest girl and fussed over her too noisily to be natural.
"You'll never guess where I went—" Penelo shouted over their questions. When the two stopped to listen, she tilted her head thoughtfully. "Or was it a dream? I – I don't know. But I…met this boy. He was so oddly dressed, and he had silver hair – silver! Can you believe it? And he was born with that color…"
"Did you speak with him?" asked Anya.
"I could barely get a word in," Penelo sighed. "He was saying something—something about the darkness. And how he had to use its power to save his…friend…? I think. He looked really troubled, though he did say he knew someone who could help me find Vaan. We were in this creepy place he called Holl–"
"Penelo!" Everyone turned their heads to see, lying on the ground, none other than Vaan, who soon found his best friend and squeezed her shoulder in relief. "I was in this weird town at—in some alley place! I woke up beside this – this kid with spiky brown hair, who was just as confused as I was, and then this yellow dog with long, black ears came up to us and started licking us and it was really kind of disgusting, but…"
He noticed the pile of debris on the ground, as well as Basch, Vossler, Anya, and Ashe. "What happened to the wall?"
"No. Wait." Ashe turned to Vossler and Basch. "They found themselves in different places. Where did you go?"
"It was a nightmare, I am certain of it," Vossler shook his head, his heart still thumping from the experience. "As soon as you disappeared from my sight, I found myself standing along the road of a great, flashing city. But you see – it was about to be engulfed by waves, and wind, and a great, unfathomable being in the sky…it was fear incarnate. I only returned to my senses when I was pulled along by a boy not older than–" the man glanced at their latest arrival, "–than you, Vaan, and a slightly older man. Before we could reach our destination, I…found myself here again."
Ashe nodded, trying to imagine this being that seemed to strike so much fear in her knight's heart, when Anya spoke. "And you, sir Basch?"
"I was...lost in a crowd," replied Basch. "Far ahead, there was an airship – perhaps a tad smaller than the Dreadnought – and on it there was a young lady, singing, and though I could not give meaning to her words, a great hope filled me to the brim…"
Anya looked away with slight disappointment. A young lady, giving Basch hope in overflowing doses? She started to wish she could sing instead of just foolishly dancing. Or that he and Vossler had switched worlds instead.
"How lucky that you should merely find yourself in a little concert, Captain," came Balthier's voice. Anya nearly tackled him and Fran, walking side to side, both with a vexed countenance. "I had the great displeasure of encountering a man with long, silver hair – a mane longer than even Fran's, if you can find yourself without enough sanity to believe it – who simply wouldn't stop asking me about his mother." He rolled his eyes. "The way he flew off on that one wing of his, you'd think he fancied himself the leading man!"
"A one winged, silver-haired man who cares deeply about his mother? Was he handsome, too?" Anya received a raised eyebrow from Balthier and smiled sheepishly. "'Twas a mere quip…"
"Did you go anywhere interesting, Fran?" Penelo asked.
"Only a forest," she answered, "with glowing trees so thick I could not see the moon. There was a man there – he wore a red cape, his left hand was replaced by a golden claw, and his eyes…" she reached up to touch her cheek thoughtfully. "…were not unlike mine."
Balthier huffed. Anya snickered somewhere in the background. "Did he say a word, this perfect man?"
"He asked me if I knew where to purchase a cellphone," said Fran. "I am unsure what he meant."
"He was probably mental," Anya suggested, noticing Balthier's eyes already narrowing to slits. "Shall we move on?"
"Wait," Vaan waved his hands, catching up with the others stepping over the wall's ruins. "What happened with the wall monster?"
"We pressed on two torches right across each other," said Ashe, thanking Penelo for curing her cuts. "And then…the wall stopped. Crumbled. And the blue fire filled the room."
Balthier wondered if that was all there was to it. The ruins he and Fran had explored in Rozarria, though less preserved than this Tomb, had creatures never so easily put out by simple buttons. Basch echoed his thoughts. "Could it really be so simple? I had thought the wall would halt only when presented with proof of royal lineage."
"I see now: the blood – it is your only–"
"…proof of royal lineage."
It clicked in Anya's mind, but she hid her panic well. "Uh—we sky pirates are known for our impeccable knack for survival – that is to say, luck. Today, we are lucky enough to be spared from a good pulverizing. Why question the fates?"
Balthier rolled his eyes. Anya spoke with Basch about this fate business much too often for his comfort.
Fran observed her little pirate's sweating palms, which she had quickly stuffed in her pockets. So she did know what their actions had proven.
As did another in the party, who frowned, watching the rest of them accept her pathetic excuse and move on. It was anything but luck.
XIIXIIXII
"More walking," Anya sighed, her eyes panning across the area. Clinging to the walls, there were floors and stairs and floors still to trudge through. The depths of the Tomb seemed unfathomable to her, an abyss no more measurable than the ocean.
"And there will be more, judging by the Tomb's size. The Rozarrian ruins were rats in comparison," Balthier chuckled. "In fact, that has me wondering about the lack of undead."
Vaan shuddered at the thought of walking skeletons and allowed Anya to use him as an arm rest for a few seconds. "Weren't you saying something about stamina yesterday morning?"
"I have a plenitude of stamina," Anya replied. "Of course, a little complaining is healthy every now and again."
"How familiar," Fran remarked. Shrugging, Balthier guiltily allowed a little smile to play on his mouth.
Vossler and Ashe stood at the top of the stairs, surveying the Tomb and its ancient splendor. Vossler's eyes inevitably landed on the rest of the party. Seeing Vaan and Penelo racing down the steps, he remembered that Basch had always managed to find himself on favorable terms with most who met him, but he still cringed at the sight of his old friend also freely fraternizing with the pirates, as though they were as innocent as the children who had brought themselves along on this journey.
"It wounds me to look on as they pillage so solemn a place."
Ashe looked at his face and followed his gaze. She remembered their steady focus on income – the Urutan's treasure, the Garuda's feathers – but she did not forget Fran's waking up earlier than her supposed shift the night before so she could have her rest, and Anya's willingness to throw herself before the demon wall in her place (she suspected that she had gone insane for a few moments, because no pirate in their right mind would do such a thing; at least, if what she had been taught about pirates since her youth were accurate). "Yet without help, you and I are as nothing," she answered after a long pause. "Is this not so?"
"…"
"They think ever and always on their own profit," she continued. "Assure them of it, and they shall remain true to our cause."
Vossler turned away in frustration. That Dalmasca should need the aid of pirates to secure its freedom! "I do not share Your Majesty's trust."
"Ashe! Vossler!" Vaan had been jumping for a quarter of a minute already, trying to catch their attention from the bottom of the stairs. "Come on, we found more of those transporting posts!"
"Way stones," Balthier whispered.
"How do you know?"
"I don't. But I've always had a penchant for names." He winked at Anya, who smirked in reply.
"We will continue this later," Ashe muttered, disheartened by Vossler's lack of trust in her discernment, and began descending the stairs. "Now we should concern ourselves with finding the Dawn Shard."
Three more Way Stones formed a triangle on the landing they reached. Nearest them the lamp was blue, and on the two farther ends pulsated red and green. Their glow was dim, however, and their bases didn't spin as the Way Stones by the entrance.
"They're not working," Vaan observed, touching the blue one repeatedly. When the others tried touching the red and the green Stones, he sighed. "Don't you guys trust me? Look at the lamps. It's like they don't have power at all."
"He's right," Balthier conceded. "Which – leaves us to the stairs."
He and Anya cringed at each other. "More walking."
"You were much less sluggish in the Garamsythe," Ashe remarked, eyeing Anya curiously. "Almost agile."
"I am agile." Anya crossed her arms. "But even the sly need a considerable amount of sleep. We had close to none last night, if you can recall."
Basch could state two reasons why that was, in her case, but it was the last thing on his mind. "Shall we follow the green Stone or the red?"
Vossler's eyes followed the endless flights downward and frowned. "This will take too long. As in the Dreadnought, we halve and take one path each."
"All right then," Balthier shrugged. "Let's move – Fran, Anya, and…" Penelo and Vaan looked displaced. "Which one of you will join us?"
"No." Vossler frowned. "On the occasion that you find the Dawn Shard, how are we assured that you will surrender it to us?"
"You aren't." Balthier rolled his eyes at another one of Vossler's glares. "This was your plan."
Ashe sighed and took her place beside Fran. "I will join them."
"Your Majesty!"
"In exchange for one of you," said the princess to the leading pirate. "That way…we are all assured of each other's cooperation."
"Fine," said Balthier.
"In exchange for our princess," said Vossler, "we will take your own."
Balthier's expression soured at the words 'your' and 'princess' in a sentence directed to them. "What did you say?"
"You treat her preciously," Vossler explained with a smile usually found on Balthier's face, "as one treats a princess. That is all I meant."
Basch, Vaan, Ashe, and Penelo watched the exchange ignorantly and wondered if they had missed some secret conversation that had preceded this one.
"I will accompany them," said Anya, taking her place beside Vossler, who smirked at Balthier. "It's only…fair, I suppose."
"You may join us as well, child," Vossler beckoned to Penelo, because he had no time for the noise he knew Vaan and Anya would create.
"You're with us, then," Balthier said to Vaan. The boy eagerly joined them on the red path, though he did give Penelo an encouraging smile before parting with her.
"Soon, Amba," Anya echoed Fran's words in the Dreadnought.
Before following Balthier, who had already started downward, the Viera placed a hand on her shoulder. "Not soon enough."
XIIXIIXII
No sooner had Balthier's party entered the first door they came upon than the living dead attacked them.
Vaan made a face at their foam green color, but expertly knocked a head off one anyway. Its body continued to move. "What–?"
Ashe was too busy trying to take them apart with her sword and her left hand, now covered in dust and cobwebs, to pay attention to him. Fran held an index finger up to silence him first and only let him speak when she had set two more corpses on fire.
"Why aren't they dead?"
"Actually, they are," said Balthier, whacking a head off with his gun and tipping its body over with a swift kick. "These are Lost Souls. The only way to immobilize the bodies completely is to pulverize them – literally, I'm afraid…"
Fran took a deep breath. "Firaga!" The surrounding monsters caught an intense fire. Balthier, Vaan, and Ashe backed away, the flames quickly drawing their sweat. Fran shielded her eyes and lowered her hands when there was only dust left on the floor.
"…Or burn them to a crisp," Balthier finished.
"Wow." Vaan wiped the sweat off his face, clearly relieved. "Fastest scorching I've ever seen."
Supporting Fran, who had lost a considerable amount of energy, Balthier raised an eyebrow at the boy. "You've seen a good scorching?"
"No, but that was pretty fast, right?"
"It was," Ashe nodded, dabbing her face with a handkerchief hidden somewhere on her person to hide her amazement. "Four consecutive high leveled spells… Under normal circumstances, Fran shouldn't be conscious."
"Perhaps trespassing on holy ground has never been commonplace for you," said Balthier, earning a frown from the princess, but he continued, "but those of us who find this routine know…places like these, magick can be your strongest ally and your worst enemy. Let's hope it stays the first, hmm?"
"How is it you know all this?"
"All it takes is a bit of reading in the right places. And know the right people, too – though I'm afraid it's not a thing you can achieve if you narrow your acquaintances down to only insurgents. They're an awful bloody lot – who needs to talk when we can wave our bloody swords around?– they always say."
Ashe frowned. "That is unjust. You have such a hatred of insurgents – why?"
"Hatred?" asked Balthier, wearing a confused face to feign innocence. "Much too taxing on a sky pirate's nerves. All I mean is – you would do to think a little before acting. Otherwise, the fete night – my condolences, of course – might have ended on a less bloody note."
Ashe clenched her fist. "I had been thinking for two years," she hissed. "The dawn for my kingdom could wait no longer."
Fran shook her head against Balthier's – there was no point in trying to convince a vengeful princess of a sky pirate's principles, she told him. Balthier understood and nodded at Ashe. "Whatever makes you happy."
Vaan sighed in relief. He liked Fran and Balthier, but he liked Ashe, too. It was never fun to watch them fight, Anya had shared with him before, and now he agreed. "Okay, so…" He put his hands together behind his head and fell into step with Ashe. The pirates were leading, murmuring between themselves the way he figured they were used to. "I don't get it. How did the Empire get its hands on the Midlight Shard?"
He was almost sorry to have asked when he saw the princess's pained expression, no doubt drawn out by the mention of something so closely related to Nabradia, but his curiosity got the better of him and she was going to answer anyway.
"We were never sure," Ashe replied, a distant look in her eyes. "After Anastacia's sixteenth birthday–" Noting Vaan's confusion, she explained, her chest tight, "Anastacia was Rasler's younger sister. A week after her sixteenth birthday, we received word that the Empire was planning to invade Nabradia. My father-in-law King Perraen was quick to send Rasler and Anastacia to Rabanastre, but he remained in Nabudis. Still, for fear of the Empire finding the Midlight Shard on the occasion that he or his children were captured, he left it in the care of Rasler and Anastacia's governess, Lady Beivinn, a woman with the fiercest loyalty to the royal family. But when the entire kingdom of Nabradia collapsed in a fell swoop, we knew the Shard to be in the Empire's hands."
"But how did they find that governess?"
Ashe could only guess. "The Nabradian royal family sent her far away; almost as far as Nalbina. The Imperials must have scoured the land for that Shard."
"Yeah," Vaan agreed, and Ashe could see a darkness in his eyes she had seen in her own many times before. "Like Balthier said… they stop at nothing for power."
"Balthier said that?"
"Well, yeah…but not about Imperials. I'm not sure who he was talking to then. It's pretty applicable to the Empire though, huh?"
Ashe nodded. "But I have a feeling he said that about an Archadian as well."
"Why?" Vaan watched Balthier, expertly weaving through the dungeon with Fran at his side. Occasionally, Fran would explore ahead and return to inform them of whether they could move on or if it was a dead end. "They never talk about going to Archadia. I think they avoid that place at all costs…'specially since that Ba'Gamnan guy works for a Judge Magister."
Ashe wondered who Ba'Gamnan was, but continued. "Listen to the way he speaks. His accent is different from all of ours. He's Archadian; though that doesn't mean he wants to be."
Vaan snorted in surprise. "What? No way! Basch kind of has the same accent."
"Basch is from the Old Republic of Landis," Ashe explained. "They sound alike, but if you've heard enough Archadians, you know they're different. Larsa – he has the exact same accent. So polished, so – arrogant, though he may not intend to be."
Vaan's old thought in the Lhusu mines – that the two people with the same accents needed to stop talking – resurfaced. He frowned. "…Oh, yeah. So Balthier is an Archadian…"
"He was," Ashe corrected him. "Although he may speak like them, sky pirates choose their profession with the intent of stripping themselves free from the bonds of citizenship. They go wherever they please – but they belong nowhere. As is the case with Fran and Anya."
"How about that place – Balf…something. I overheard Anya saying that was where the riffraff and scum of Ivalice lived. I think she was being sarcastic, because Basch was about to say something about it. I think she lived there for a while."
"The Port of Balfonheim," Ashe nodded. "A breeding ground for pirates and headhunters alike. Last I heard of it, at least."
"Oh, so—"
"F-follow swift…"
Balthier leaned lazily against an archway, his body emitting an odd grayish glow. With a creepy smile on his lips, he beckoned to them.
"Balthier?" Vaan stepped toward him cautiously. "You look different."
"Where's Fran?" asked Ashe, holding Vaan back by the shoulder. "I didn't hear her running off…"
"Follow…" Balthier repeated, his voice noticeably hollow.
Vaan shrugged Ashe's hand off and walked up to Balthier. Grabbing the pirate by the sleeve, he asked, "What is wrong with…hey, did you get taller?"
"Vaan…"
"What?" His eyebrows furrowed when he saw Ashe standing frozen in her spot. "Don't you see the height difference?"
"He's—"
"FOLLOW!" Balthier shrieked, and only then did Vaan realize that the man was floating a foot off the floor. As he continued to bellow at the boy, the vision of the pirate received shackles that floated around his wrists and his head. His eyes disappeared, leaving webby sockets, and his mouth stretched wide open, farther than Vaan knew possible. And then Balthier's form faded away completely.
"Y-you're not Balthier…"
XIIXIIXII
The dust and the age were beginning to get to Penelo's throat. She was accustomed to wandering around areas with not-so-sanitary conditions, but they had never been this old or deep. The scary thing was that no matter how deep in the desert structure they were, where there barely seemed to be any air, it wasn't hot. It wasn't cold, either, but chilly, and often she would feel goosebumps rise in her skin for no apparent reason. There were odd, colorful particles in the air touching her, too; if her eyesight served her correctly, they were drawn to her and Anya, but they only drifted by Vossler and Basch. Penelo tried to wave the particles away, but they seemed unaffected and only served to make everyone watch her with confused expressions.
Beside her, Anya wondered out loud, "What are you batting away there, Penelo?"
"Oh, nothing," Penelo laughed nervously, clasping her hands together on her staff behind her. "Sorry. Those Seekers are everywhere; I thought one flew by me just now. You – didn't see it?"
"No…" Anya was busy staring at the walls, watching their highs and lows and markings, trying to discern in her mind if they were familiar or if she was only imagining things. "Didn't see a thing."
"I have a feeling that we may be going in circles," Penelo whispered to Anya. "I'm pretty sure we've already passed this hall."
"So it wasn't just my imagination!" Anya sighed. "I'm not surprised. Tatah tells me never to depend on anything but Amba's nose when it comes to avoiding getting lost. Oh, and a map, of course. But I suppose this place wasn't meant to be mapped out." She threw a sidelong glance at Basch's pocket, squinting as if she could see through its material that way, but turned her gaze ahead upon seeing nothing.
"We are not lost," said Vossler, shooting the two girls a look through the corner of his eye.
"Perhaps we should have left breadcrumbs," Anya mumbled.
Basch shared a secret smile with her, the smile shared between friends who meet again after having been apart for ages and find they still have the same sense of humor as in their days of old – only they weren't old friends, and he felt something different in him stir when she smiled back.
Vossler, unaware of the exchange going on behind him, strode forward indignantly. Only – his foot was stuck to the floor. Grunting, he attempted to pull it back, only to find an odd white thing – shackles? – rooted to the ground, wrapped tightly around his ankle. "What–"
Penelo gagged. Either she was hallucinating, or a pile of bones was crawling out – from the floor – and using Vossler's ankle as leverage. When Basch struck at the monster's head, Penelo realized it was a skeleton wearing some sort of headdress (and that she certainly wasn't seeing things). The bare arm fell limp, and Vossler was able to pry its fingers from his ankle.
He rose to thank Basch, but by then they were already surrounded by three more skeletons adorned with fancy headdresses and two with cloth draped over their heads, reminiscent of the Urutan-Yensa style.
"Déjà vu?" Basch offered to Anya beside him, wearing an exasperated grin.
"Perhaps."
"Do you think it's possible – that I stay conscious till the end of the battle?"
Anya snorted. "It's a good thing you're carrying my pouch, then."
They dove in for the kill – only these undead were a bit harder than they expected, and in the crossfire, Vossler received a large sword gash across the arm that wasn't nearly eaten by the Garuda earlier. Basch made quick work of the rest, though he, too, received a burn from one of the hooded skeleton mages.
"What was that?" Penelo gasped, clutching at the fear in her chest. Vossler turned his gaze to Basch, just as unnerved.
"The undead," said Basch, realizing only he and Anya had ever dealt with them. "They are immobilized upon capacitation."
Vossler frowned. "And you couldn't have shared that before they drove at us madly?"
"I'm sorry."
"Uh – here. I'll heal you." Penelo took Vossler to sit against the wall and uttered a curative spell. She was still afraid of the man, but he wasn't cruel, and he did have a point. Still, Basch looked ashamed enough and she figured Anya – who obviously didn't like Vossler with the way she had been avoiding the man since the sandseas – could cheer him up with some words of her own.
Anya brought Basch to the opposite wall, figuring Vossler would be even more aggravated at seeing his friend fraternizing with a pirate right beside him. Basch was clearly apologetic (as always), and confused – as if he couldn't understand how he had forgotten to inform Vossler and Penelo of their enemies' weaknesses.
"Don't be too hard on yourself," Anya said to him, curing his burns. "I'm sure he doesn't blame you. Most likely he believes it's my bad influence."
"Vossler…isn't that unreasonable," Basch said slowly, as if trying to force himself into believing it, too. "I was simply distracted, that's all. It had nothing to do with you. As soon as we leave this place with the Shard, everything will be set right."
Anya glanced at the hall exit they had been heading for before they were attacked. Did he really think that was true? Now that she wasn't being sidetracked by the allure of sweet ice cream, she thought on Vaan's words on the Strahl and realized the boy was right. If Ghis was setting a trap…
No, no, she told herself. No use worrying about it, her Tatah always said. After all, there was still the task of finding the Shard and escaping the Tomb. Anya frowned. At this rate, they were never going to be able to leave this place, and her fellow sky pirates were going to win the race and finish their side of the Tomb first. Perhaps she should have shoved her Tatah forward when Vossler was asking for a bargaining chip – then she would have Amba's nose and she wouldn't be going around in circles. Of course, there was that secret thought, that she would never mind finding herself completely lost at Sir Basch's side, but this wasn't the time to daydream and there was still Vossler to deal with.
Anya squinted at Basch's pockets again. Leaning closer, she whispered, "Do you still have the pendant I – the Marquis Ondore gave you?"
Having been inspecting his now numb forearm, Basch involuntarily crouched back against the wall at the feeling of Anya's breath in his ear. "Th-the pendant," he said, blinking himself back to reality, "yes, of course. Why do you…?"
"May I borrow it?" Anya asked, staring intently at his pockets. Anastacia secretly wondered if she would ever be able to wear it proudly again. "A close friend once told me…"
Basch reached into his right pocket and held it out for Anya, his eyes very guiltily watching Vossler. He was grateful to see him still busy speaking with Penelo. "What?"
Anya held the pendant gingerly, with only her index finger and thumb, and flipped it over on Basch's palm. "The pendants carrying the royal seals of Houses Dalmasca and Nabradia – those issued for the Royal Families, that is – had maps for two of three great structures from the era of the Galtean Alliance. Raithwall's line should have had the map for the other, but their crest has been lost since…a long time ago. I wonder…" Anya shined the back of the pendant with the edge of her singlet and saw, though the scratches on the metal were light and almost seemingly a random conjunction of lines and shapes, the path they had followed from the first Way Stone until the hall with the three dim Way Stones. From that square, the lines branched out – as their party had branched out, as the Tomb's paths branched out… "This is it. The Nabradian crest carries the map of the Tomb. I had always thought it would be the Stilshrine…"
Basch wondered if she was still aware of his presence – he hadn't been sure if she was speaking with him or to the pendant itself. Still, he saw what she saw: their way in and out of the Tomb. There were deeply engraved dots signifying the Way Stones, and one great square at the end of all the lines – the Shard?
"Anya." Basch closed his fist on the pendant to regain her attention. "How is it you know information only those of royal blood should have been privy to? Not even the greatest spies could know this…" Or could they? He was beginning to wonder how something so crucial could have leaked out of Houses Dalmasca and Nabradia.
Anya and Anastacia thought fast – this was what she had undergone training from Balthier for. To lie, to steal – to live, and fast – she kept her head down as she sighed. "I…had been meaning to keep it a secret, but…"
Basch watched her for her answer intently.
"I was a servant in the Nabradian household – no older than Princess Anastacia herself. There were secret passages around Castle Nabudis. She…she found one, once, while playing hide and seek with Prince Rasler, and found me in one of the guest rooms. M-My father had sent me there to clean. We became friends, and when Prince Rasler was out training and Lady Beivinn had her own work to do, she visited me and we played together. I grew up with her…with Princess Anastacia. She was like a sister to me – and when she could no longer take the secrecy her position imposed, she told me…everything. Everything she knew."
Basch reeled. Anya's story did fit. The princess would disappear, most times, when Lady Beivinn and Rasler were out and he had been sent to look after her from afar, and he could never find her. Had he and Anya truly been so close to each other before and never known it? It bothered him, in a way, and... "But – Her Highness was sworn to secrecy. She could never have divulged…"
Anastacia was glad he thought she wouldn't – and she wouldn't, and never did, of course, until the situation called for it – as it did now. "Do not think ill of her, please…" Anya couldn't bear it if he did. "She swore me to secrecy as well. As you can see, I've never told anyone…not even Amba or Tatah. It's only now…"
Basch watched her carefully. To think they had both served the royal families at one point and never met – it widened the world just a little. And yet he couldn't help but think that she was lying, somehow. Her loyalty to Princess Anastacia, he couldn't find himself to question; the way she spoke of the girl reminded him of the fondness in Lady Beivinn's tone from so long ago, but there was definitely something off about what Anya had said. Basch supposed he would find out sooner or later. So far, she knew more of him that anyone had ever discovered – and it seemed he knew more of her than anyone did, too, if not even Balthier and Fran knew of this map. He wondered if it was wrong to – but he trusted her to tell him the truth when she was ready.
"Hey guys, what's that?"
Basch and Anya met widened eyes before the former stashed his hand behind his back. "Ah – Penelo, it's – where is Vossler?"
"Why do you have this?" Vossler's demanded. Walking around from behind Basch, he held the pendant in his hand. Everything was starting to get clearer, but he couldn't let the others know until he was certain. "Basch – you showed it to this pirate before Her Majesty? Where did you even find this?"
"Vossler, I would–" Basch frowned. "The Marquis Ondore gave it to me."
"I'd have thought you'd stolen it by now," Vossler spat at Anya. "Touched it, did you? As always, a pirate tainting that which is sacred…"
"Vossler, you will see reason," said Basch, shoving his old friend back slightly. Both of them were surprised at what he had done, but Basch decided it was too late now. "Anya was a servant at Castle Nabudis before…all this. Lady Anastacia told her about this…" He showed him the map behind the pendant. "Do you see it? The paths we've taken lead to only one great hall. Taking the linear way from there, I believe we will find the Shard."
"Do you believe everything she says?" Vossler wouldn't drop the subject. How could he, when his once sharp friend was beginning to lose good judgment over…over what? What did this liar – this great truant, if he was correct – mean to him? "She is a pirate! Trained to lie, no matter her origins! You cannot trust her."
"Yet I do," said Basch, holding Vossler's gaze. "She may not be entirely truthful, but who are we to judge? It is unjust…"
"Dalmasca's future is at stake here," said Vossler, "And you worry about being…fair? Being just?"
"I was in that cage for two years, Vossler. Yet I did not lose sight of who I was – in aiming to free ourselves from the Empire, we cannot become like them!"
Vossler closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "It is you who will not see reason…give me the pendant, Basch."
"Sir Basch, no—" Anya started. It was hers and she had given it to Basch – Vossler had no right to even look at it.
"Why not?" Vossler dared her. "You have no claim on this pendant. It belongs to Her Majesty now, the Lady Ashe. Do you object?"
Anya and Anastacia thought hard again, weighing the importance of possession compared with her Amba and Tatah, and dropped her head. "All right," she muttered, turning away from the others. "You win this time."
Penelo wondered if it was this chaotic on Vaan's side.
XIIXIIXII
Vaan clutched his chest, slowly falling back against the archway. He had seen zombies before – lots of them in the Lhusu mines, and by this time had already grown so accustomed to them, he wouldn't have been surprised if they popped up as another race in Dalmasca – but he had never encountered a ghost until that moment.
It had let out a scream worse than Penelo's when she was really angry with him, and he was the one – not Ashe, the princess – who had fallen back against his companion in pure, unabashed fear. How could he ever defeat a ghost? There wasn't a head to be cut off, he wasn't as practiced in magick as Penelo was, so he didn't know any good spells (he had trouble mastering anything past Cure, for Migelo's sake!). Luckily, Fran and the real Balthier, who had been walking far ahead without noticing the other two, recognized the Lich's cry and came bounding to their rescue.
Vaan wheezed. "That…that…"
"It is called a Lich," Fran explained, her gaze alternating between Vaan and Ashe, who was just as shaken as the former, but was holding herself together with a little less transparency. "A spirit so old and angry that it has completely lost its former self. It will take on the appearance of a friend to lower your guard…and kill you, so you might live a terrible death, forever, as it has."
"And how do you defeat it?" asked Ashe, attempting to regain her composure.
"A simple Holy spell will do," said Balthier, watching them with little interest. In truth, he understood their situation. When he had encountered his first Lich in Rozarria, his beliefs had been so shaken, Fran had to hide him from Anya and Nono for a week. If this was the fate of the dead, what had happened to his mother? Had her violent death been all for naught – was she roaming the world at this very moment, mindless and filled with timeless fury? And then Fran had explained, as he was about to now, "Don't worry. A Lich is borne of a death by the ancient magicks. These ghosts are thousands of years old – we've lost the magick of the Galtean Alliance. Whoever you have lost, there is no chance that they could have become anything like it."
Vaan and Ashe glanced at each other, different names in their minds – Reks, Rasler, their parents – but the same relief etched on their faces. The fear, the hopelessness in the air dissipated.
Balthier let Fran move ahead. "Shall we move on?"
Perhaps pirates did have hearts, Ashe thought, watching a once again brave Vaan talk animatedly with Balthier. Of course, they needed her to be alive if they wanted to get past Vossler at a later time, but it hadn't been necessary to quell Vaan's – and her – fears. She had been so worried; what if her father's poor soul still wandered about Nalbina, furious and tired? What if Anastacia's mournful spirit was still in her room, where she had hung herself? Looking back, she hadn't felt a thing – not even goosebumps, as she cried there silently after Uncle Halim left her – nor had she heard even a whisper, or a cold breeze, as the stories with ghouls went. But now… they were searching for ancient magick in an ancient relic: the Dawn Shard. Would the ghosts come again, if she followed this path? Could she win without the help of the gods of old?
Ashe shook her head. There was no other recourse.
The way Fran cleared was short; Vaan wondered if it was this easy on Penelo's side of the Tomb, too. In the last hall there was a pillar with a bead of light so small they wouldn't have noticed it if a skeleton hadn't nearly cracked Vaan's own skull against it. He pressed it, causing a side of the dead end to lower itself halfway, and the red Way Stone in the room to start spinning. It also spawned a crowd of undead large enough to suffocate those still living in the room, but with Ashe more knowledgeable in the ways of death made twice, they subdued the horde more easily this time.
"It leads to another room, possibly as large as the hall of the three Way Stones," Fran said as they stared up at the half-lowered wall. "Can you feel the draft coming in?"
"The question is: how do we get past this?" said Balthier, eyeing Vaan, Fran, and Ashe. Had Anya been here, they would have tossed her over eons ago. But these two – technically strangers – he couldn't throw over walls like such. Ashe seemed much lighter than Anya, but she didn't seem the type to let anyone (perhaps with the exception of Vossler?) carry her anywhere.
"Do you think the stairs Penelo and the others took leads to some place like this, too?" Vaan asked, poking around the walls for a nonexistent connecting door. "I mean, if this Way Stone is connected to the one in that great hall, shouldn't the green one be connected to their way, too?"
"Maybe," said Ashe, wondering if they could blow the wall away without having the entire Tomb collapse on them. "Your point?"
Vaan shrugged, and as if this were the last syllable to a magic spell, the wall lowered itself completely.
Ashe glanced at him, shocked. "Did you…?"
"No!" he said quickly, holding his hands up in surrender, and hurriedly followed Balthier into the next hallway.
The pirate captain snorted at him in amusement once they were farther away from the other two. "A perfect opportunity to take credit for an achievement – and you let it pass. I hadn't thought you needed to learn this much…"
Vaan would have retorted – not with something scathing or very intelligent, perhaps, but it was a retort that was in his mind all the same – but Balthier had already opened the tall doors into the next area and strode in.
Torches. Too many to count, in fact, but Vaan tried anyway. Although it didn't seem as endless, it was much wider. The floors still held close to the walls, and Vaan peeked over the railings to find an intricate platform at the very bottom of the place. He saw no Stones, but there was a large door down across his side of the wall. He felt something thump at his heart – he knew where they had to go before anyone else did – ah, pride. It felt good. He liked being right.
"Vaan!"
On the same level, Penelo and Anya were waving at him from all the way across the area.
"I knew it!" he said to himself, turning around to tell his companions that he was right; there was some sort of connection! Only there was no one behind him.
"Coming, Vaan?" Ashe asked, her voice coming from somewhere northwest of him…he blinked. When did everyone get down there without him? Their two groups had joined together again; Ashe was in line with Vossler, Fran was speaking with Balthier, and Anya walked in between Basch and Penelo. They were on their way down the stairs, and why was he always the last to follow? It just wasn't fair…
Penelo giggled at him when he finally caught up with them. "You know, we were beginning to think you were trapped under some sort of spell."
"I'm starting to think you're all on Haste and someone's forgetting to cast it on me…" Vaan mumbled, but allowed his friend to change the subject as they descended the area.
Vossler clenched the pendant in his left hand. As soon as his eyes met Ashe's, he held it out to her. "Your Majesty – forgive me. I had almost forgotten…"
For a moment, Anya could have likened Ashelia's eyes to saucers. The Dalmascan princess backed away. "Vossler…where...?"
"The Marquis Ondore bid me return it to you, its now rightful owner," replied Vossler, taking Ashe's hand and making her accept the pendant's passing on to her.
Unlike Anya before her, Ashelia felt the seal sting as it touched her flesh. Taking this meant accepting Anastacia's death for what it was – a reality. Vossler had known that somewhere, in the nearly microscopic part of her that still dreamed, she had hoped that her sister was still alive. Knowing her Uncle wanted her to have it, too, meant…
Ashe covered her mouth with her free hand, her eyes closing instinctively. Anastacia knew what she was doing – her quickened breathing, the shine in her eyes before they had shut; she was crying. At least, she was about to. And Vossler had given her her pendant, saying Uncle Halim had given it to him to give to her… Didn't Ashelia know their uncle better? He would have wanted her to hope, the way he had hoped, and discovered her within Anya, who turned away from the scene quickly. She didn't want Anastacia to feel for the princess more than she already had and risk doing something completely idiotic like expose herself.
Vossler knew that she would react this way, but she herself had forced his hand. The Lady Ashe had hoped against hope that her sister-in-law was still alive – it was useless, just as fruitless as this venture… He shook his head. Perhaps the fallen princess was still alive, but she was a ghost of the lively child he once knew. It pained him to see one with so much promise as Lord Rasler's sister lose all hope and turn to sky piracy, but that was her choice – it wasn't his place to force her to reveal herself if she chose to betray the kingdom that had taken care of her, that had mothered her like its own daughter, even for just a political match. Just as it wasn't her place to hinder Her Majesty from freeing the country she had deserted.
Ashe wasn't really crying. She did, for a second, until Penelo turned to her in curiosity and she was forced to swallow reality down. The pendant was still in near perfect condition – no doubt Uncle Halim kept it that way – to the point that it mocked her. Here it was, meaningless proof that Nabradia truly existed once, when the gods knew she would have given up that kingdom if only to see her sister alive and happy again.
"Ashe, are you all right?" Penelo asked, approaching her quietly.
The rest stopped and turned their heads. Gifted with an eye for detail, truly born to be pirates, Balthier and Fran spotted the crest in Ashe's hand. They glanced over to Anya (who was busy feigning nonchalance and total innocence) and at each other. Could it be? The pendant – the same one that had earned them all the Strahl's improvements and safe passage out of Bhujerba without suspicion – was in their presence again. Only this time, it was in the hands of another princess.
"I'm fine," said Ashe, smiling slightly at Penelo, who nodded and unsurely returned to Vaan. "Don't worry about me."
Vossler whispered the secret to her – the map – which prompted the princess to ask how he had known such a thing, when it was a fact known only to the royals. Her knight claimed to realize it on his own, and she accepted it without so much as a smidgeon of doubt.
"He lied to her," said Anya, falling to the back of the party with Basch. "It wasn't bestowed upon him, he just took it!"
Wondering when he had become comfortable with Anya enough to hold her shoulder without feeling awkward, Basch remembered that night under the moon, in the Sandsea, but focused on calming her down. "There isn't a thing Vossler does without reason," he whispered to her. "The Lady Ashe wouldn't have taken to the knowledge of Anastacia sharing something so grave to you very kindly. In a way, he has protected you."
Anya sighed. He always had a way of making everything sound positive. "Doesn't it irritate you, Sir Basch – always being right?"
Basch chuckled. "Anya, you—"
Someone cleared his throat before them. Basch removed his hand from her shoulder as if burnt and took his leave of her upon receiving a sharp glare.
"Anya, I must ask you something."
Refraining from looking back to Basch nervously, Anya replied, "Anything."
When he was sure no one was eavesdropping on them, Balthier spoke. "That pendant – would you happen to know how it got here?"
Anya secretly thanked Vossler for taking all the credit for himself. "Vossler says the Marquis Ondore gave it to him – to give to her."
"Simple as that, hmm?"
"Simple as that."
Balthier thought about it for a moment, and after deciding it wasn't worth the trouble, shared the events on their side of the Tomb much like she told him theirs, only he didn't lie at all.
"I hope Ashe is okay," Penelo said to Fran, watching the princess guide them down the stairs, the pendant still enclosed in her fist. "I mean, she looked pretty unstable there for a moment."
"The pendant reminded her of her family," said Fran, catching Balthier and Anya speaking. "Clearly, it does not occur all too often. But she will be all right."
Penelo nodded. "I hope so." She clicked her tongue. "Is it just me, or are there weird particles floating around in the air here? They cling to you, me, Ashe, Anya, and a little to Balthier, but hardly to the rest. Is this some sort of fog underground?"
Fran looked around, unsurprised. "Not fog – Mist."
"You can see the Mist? With your eyes?"
"Where it is thick enough, you may. The Nether runs deep in this place."
Penelo frowned at the colored air coming towards her and tried not to bat it away again. "So is the Mist dangerous?"
It looked almost as though Fran could catch the particles with her fingernails. "Yes, but it is also an aid. A dense Mist allows the working of powerful magicks."
"Hmm…I'll keep that in mind." She looked back to Vaan, who had left Basch to join Balthier and Anya in conversation. "Can't expect him to keep track of these things, that's for sure."
Fran could only smile. It always began this way.
The bottom, when they finally reached it, was not as grand as Vaan imagined. At least he thought that way, until Ashe attempted to enter the door leading to the Dawn Shard – and a Gigas materialized, drawing its sword from the depths of hell and wielding it furiously against those who dared pass without its permission.
It spoke little – "TRESSPASSERS. DIE,"seemed to be its idea of a well-thought conversation, and then it plunged in and nearly stepped on Vaan.
"I stand corrected," said Balthier, watching Basch tug Vaan up so hurriedly the boy nearly flew off the ground. "They always do come after you."
"Right?" Vaan groaned. "What've I ever done…?"
Ducking out of the way of another violent swing, Anya suggested, "Maybe they all think you look good to eat?"
Penelo stopped casting a Water spell and shuddered. "This…this thing eats people!"
"Be quiet!" Vossler yelled at all of them. "Concentrate on the fight!"
What fight, Fran wondered. It seemed nearly impossible to win against this four-armed, curl-horned monster. She gazed into its fiery mane and saw only death, listened to its hooves pounding on the floor for a weakness in the limbs and heard only the loss of her partners' life – or it could be that Balthier's dramatics were beginning to rub off on her.
They tried roping it down, but only succeeded in bringing it to its knees before the rope caught fire on its mane and burned to a crisp. Only the female half of the party knew the Water spell, and they were too busy running from the monster to cast consecutively and do any real damage. Their swords did nothing but heat up and sear their fingers once they touched the Gigas' skin, and Balthier's shots and Fran's arrows did nothing but infuriate the guardian Esper even more.
"This is pointless," said Penelo, backing into a corner and casting a healing spell to the party from there. "He's…unbeatable."
"It seems as if only another monster like it can defeat it," Anya agreed.
"It guards the Dynast-King's tomb, ever faithful," Fran replied, staring pointedly at Ashe. "If one could find a way to have it obey her own wishes…"
"How?" Ashe asked. Her fingers trembled at the thought of even having to face that giant again. "It is ruthless, blind to reason!"
Fran watched the Gigas stomp around the platform, hacking at the men as they served as decoys while the women rested. "It seems to think well enough to speak."
"You would have me reason with it?"
"We have tried everything else."
Ashe turned her gaze back to the Gigas. Had Fran finally gone insane? Up until that point, she had thought the Viera wise beyond her years, knowing in most of the world's ways, but what she was saying now was – Vossler tried to face it head on, and the monster raised its sword, ready to cleave it down – completely nonsensical in the least, but her only choice.
"Stop!" she cried, running out to shield Vossler as Anya had shielded her before the demon wall. "Don't hurt him!"
"Ashel—Ashe!" Anya ran out after her, grabbing her arm and attempting to pull her back, but froze when she realized they were defenseless before the mighty Gigas.
"Your Majesty…!" Vossler gasped.
"Anya, what are you doing!" Balthier groaned, after exchanging identical expressions of shock with Basch and Vaan.
"Fret not," said Fran to Penelo (who was about to run out and join the other two), "I believe this will be resolved soon."
The Gigas stopped, miraculously, and peered down at the two small figures before him. "YOU ARE BRAVE, HUMANS," it said, its voice rumbling, "BUT STILL…INTRUDERS. IT IS A SHAME YOU MUST PERISH TODAY."
"Wait!" Anya shouted, attempting to catch its attention again before it went through with slicing her and Ashelia in half. "Don't…"
Ashe nodded, holding her ground and attempting to make eye contact with the Gigas, only to realize that she could not find its eyes. "We are not intruders. I am a descendant of the Dynast-King Raithwall – in need of the Stone you guard behind that door."
"IF WHAT YOU SAY IS TRUE, HUMAN, WHY DO YOU NEED SUCH POWER?"
Vaan couldn't believe it. They were actually having a conversation with that hulking beast.
"My country – Dalmasca – has been enslaved by the Archadian Empire for far too long. Too long have they oppressed my people, once free to work towards their own goals, now forced to do their bidding. I need the Dawn Shard to restore peace and freedom to my country!"
The Gigas was thoughtful, though it hardly looked it. "I REMEMBER LITTLE ARCHADIA – THEY HAVE GROWN POWERFUL?"
"Enough to destroy kingdoms," Anya muttered.
"VERY WELL." The Gigas lowered its sword and knelt down before the two. It looked closer, bringing its horns right above their faces. It seemed to be reading their minds, if Espers could do such a thing."I SEE THE TRUTH IN YOUR HEARTS, AND KNOW THE ANCIENT BLOOD COURSING THROUGH YOUR VEINS. I WILL LEND YOU MY POWER – USE IT WISELY."
Holding two right arms over its chest reverently, the Gigas began to lose its form. Soon it became a flurry of twinkling red and brown, circling the two like a whirlwind until it formed a glyph in the air, encased in glass, spinning as if to imprint itself in their minds always, and disappeared into them with a flash of light.
When she could see again, Ashe raised her right hand to eye level, inspecting the foreign feeling of a tattoo on the back of her hand. She blinked. There was only the vertical half of the glyph they had seen earlier. "Half a glyph?"
Anya did the same, only with her left hand. "Half a glyph." She glanced at Balthier, who had an eyebrow raised in bewilderment. "It didn't even give us a name…"
"I AM BELIAS," said a voice in their minds. "I TRUST YOU WILL TREAD INTO THE NEXT CHAMBER WITH THE SOLEMNITY IT REQUIRES."
"We will," Ashe whispered, smoothing her fingers over the glyph. "Thank you, Belias."
It no longer spoke, and Fran and Penelo joined the rest of the party out into the platform. "In vainglory they arose," the Viera started, "shouting challenges at the gods. But prevail they did not. Their doom it was to walk the Mist until time's end. A legend of the Nu Mou."
Ashe faced the others. "My family tells a story of the Dynast-King and an Esper. The story goes that in his youth, the Dynast-King defeated a mighty Gigas…for which the gods took heed of him. Thereafter, it was bound to him in Thralldom."
Vaan breathed, "Wow." He wondered how powerful the magick was back then, that it would help a human defeat such a monster. Or maybe that was why Raithwall was the Dynast-King.
Balthier smoothed a potion over the small burns he had received from the Gigas. "So all this time it's been here guarding the Dynast-King's treasure." What a sad existence, he thought, being bound to one place forever, deep in the ground and far away from the freedom of the air.
"Not so," said Ashe, failing to meet his gaze. She had lied to the pirates up until this point – should she feel guilty, or brush it off because they were liars themselves? "The Esper is the Dynast-King's treasure."
Balthier scoffed. "That's your treasure?"
Ashe nodded. "In this Esper we now command rests a power whose worth is beyond any measure."
"Is that so?" Fran and Balthier exchanged disappointed glances. "Call me old-fashioned, but I was hoping for a treasure whose worth we could measure. Well," Balthier sighed, taking Anya's hand and appraising the glyph, "at least we've divided the treasure evenly, hmm?"
Ashe pretended not to hear him as she and Vossler led the way into the final chamber. It was unfair; perhaps she did promise them treasure, but not something as important as this. The Esper – unimaginable power – and half of it was in the hands of the pirates. She needed Anya's approval (and in turn, Balthier's and Fran's) and energy to summon it, and it was that thought which irritated her like no other. She wasn't even meant to have half the glyph – if Anya hadn't run after her or had kept her mouth shut when she was speaking with Belias, the glyph would be hers alone, and she wouldn't have to depend on their kindness any longer!
Vossler was just as displeased. A traitor, yet she was granted the power that should have been Her Majesty's because of her blood, roots she barely even treasured. No matter. Once they had the Dawn Shard, there would no longer be a need for negotiation …
Vaan, on the other hand, didn't agree that they had divided the treasure all that evenly. Ashe and Vossler's side had a half, and the pirates' side had another, but what about him and Penelo? (And Basch, but he seemed content with being able to get past the Esper.) He wasn't mad at the others for having a part of the power; he just wished he could do something… But first, he thought of escaping. He hoped what he said on the Strahl was only a thought, that Ghis wasn't waiting for them at the end of all this.
The next chamber was deeper than they had thought. They descended a flight of stairs so long Vaan had forgotten about the Esper fight by the time they reached the end of it. On the landing there was a blue Way Stone, spinning to life as soon as it felt their presence, and then they went up another length of stairs until they finally reached the heart of the Tomb.
The Shard, a perfect sphere of soft magenta, floated before Raithwall's coffin.
The moment's magnificence – no one had been here for thousands of years – caused even Vaan to admire it for a few silent moments, until Basch snapped out of his reverie and noticed Vossler's agitation.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Vossler shook his head and grunted, as if exasperated with the question. Basch figured he was only tired and left it alone.
"Your Majesty," said Vossler, "we must go."
Ashe nodded and walked up the last few steps to reach the Shard. Freedom seemed so close now. The emptiness of the last two years – was it to be filled, finally, with the overjoyed cheers of her people as they learned Archadia would no longer force them to toil for its own profit?
The Shard shone less magenta and more towards blue as she neared it, reaching out to take it, until a vision caused her to drop her arms abruptly. The others couldn't understand – perhaps Anya could have, once, but she was long past that now – except Vaan, who saw it too: the small particles of periwinkle twinkling about an armored figure.
To Ashe, it was the love she had lost to war and the greed of a power-hungry man. She didn't know what to feel. Anger, bewilderment, hope, love – they thrashed about within, fighting to become her initial reaction. Surprise won out. "Rasler…?"
Vaan breathed in amazement. The man before Ashe smiled, placing the Shard in her hands before walking past her – she reached out to touch him and failed – and past the party, then disappeared into the darkness below. To the others, Ashe had taken the Shard for herself without a single distraction. Watching her expectantly, they turned to leave as soon as she returned to them with the Shard.
Rasler's retreating spirit was finally lost behind the others. Clenching the sphere in her fists, Ashe nodded. "You will be avenged."
The way out was easy, with all the Way Stones spinning with life, and soon Balthier could revel in the air and the sunshine outside once more. Vaan joined him, running out with his arms spread open – freedom! Almost – until the sky darkened. Clouds? No, he realized, airships – over Jagd stones. Archadian airships.
A pack of Remora landed before them, trapping them in an uneven hexagon.
Penelo took Vaan's hand as they were cuffed together. Well, he was right. So how come he didn't feel so good?
I KNOW SUCKY ENDER. But I missed Vaan and wanted to write lots of him in this chapter.
Anyway, there must be lots of misunderstandings with this chapter. Feel free to PM me about any if you want, as always.
Nameless-Sinner: (SPOILERS) YES. Bwahaha I love spoiling things for people! But those weren't actually spoilers. Because you already read this chapter and knew the answer! XD
SongwriterPatries: Thankkks! I'm so happy you don't find Anya vapid. I'm afraid of that the most when it comes to OCs. (BASCH = 3) Oh, and YES. Or maybe he doesn't. But he's got a pret-tyyy good idea...
Thanks for reviewing! :D And for those who put the story on alert and favorite and whatever but are too lazy to review, thanks too (but more thanks to the ones who reviewed bwahaha).
SO...REVIEW. Till next time!
P.S. Guess which worlds Basch, Vossler, Fran, Balthier, Vaan, and Penelo were sent to by the crazy Demon Wall!
