"Wait," Vaan said. "We need to go back to Rabanastre."
Everybody looked at him.
"Absolutely not," Balthier said.
"We have to. Please, Balthier." Vaan imploringly leaned over his shoulder as the pirate piloted the Strahl into the Westersand. "We have to tell Migelo that Penelo's all right."
Seeing her opportunity, Daina spoke up. "I have an errand there as well."
"I haven't said I'm landing," Balthier started, but Fran gave him a sidelong look and he sighed. The airship banked. "Twenty minutes."
Daina left Ashe in Basch's care and tailed the other teenagers.
"So when you're in jagd," Vaan told Penelo as they hiked toward Rabanastre's Westgate, pronouncing the word the way all Dalmascans did, YAHkt, "skystones don't work at all." He was referring to their upcoming trip to the Jagd Yensa, which lay between the Westersand and the Rozarrian Empire, one of the many uninhabitable regions across Ivalice whose Mist-laden winds and magicite-rich soil interfered with glossair engine operation. "That's why we gotta hoof it the rest of the way, ya see?"
Penelo grinned. "Happy you get to teach me something for a change?"
"Well, if you want to be a sky pirate, you have to know your – Hey! What do you mean 'for a change'?"
They dissolved into playful bickering. Daina didn't join in. She was busy scanning the face of every person they came across in the bazaar, which included the helmed, faceless Imperials. Her likeness, and Vaan's as well, would be known here, for Vayne Solidor had seen them both the night of the fete. Luckily, no one paid them the slightest attention. They reached Migelo's Sundries without incident.
The reunion between the bangaa merchant and the two orphans was predictably violent. Migelo smothered Penelo in a hug from which she laughingly detached herself. He thanked Vaan and Daina repeatedly in his querulous, booming voice, wringing their hands until their wrists felt like wet noodles. Informing him that they were all going to leave again didn't go over as well, but he eventually relented and allowed them to restock their supply of potions, antidotes, eye drops, and other restoratives for half price.
"Vaan," Daina said as they exited the store for the crowds on the street, "I need a weapon shop."
"That'd be Amal's. It's right over this way," he said, and then ran off.
Daina had never bought anything from Amal; her original katana had been of Nabradian make. She sorted through the katanas set out for sale and settled on a kogarasumaru, which was as close to the kotetsu's design as she could find. She also selected an ashura, a shorter, straighter ninja sword, the blade of which was infused with dark magicite. She stuck it in her sword belt alongside the kogarasumaru. She was not going to be caught weaponless again.
Then she called Penelo over. "How good are you with that dagger?" she asked.
"It's served me well so far," Penelo said shyly. She was a very pretty girl who always seemed on the brink of a laugh. In spite of everything that had happened to her, she exuded optimism. She was a bit of sunshine, a flower made flesh. No wonder Vaan cared for her so much.
"How about magick?"
Penelo brightened. "I'm better at that. Vaan doesn't really understand magick spells," she whispered, giggled, and then finished in a normal tone of voice, "so I've been learning them instead."
"Good." Daina smiled. "I want you to take this. It will help with your spellcasting."
The other girl accepted the gilt measure and turned it over in her hands curiously. "This will cast a protective shield if I hit one of us with it, won't it?"
"Yes. Your first focus should be defense and healing, but if a beastie closes with you, go ahead and use your dagger. The better you take care of yourself, the longer the rest of us will last. We'll be relying on you."
Penelo beamed, probably pleased that someone, at last, was taking her seriously.
After a quick stop at Yugri's Magicks for new scrolls, the three teens used one of the free moogling stations to return to the Westgate by teleportation. Then they ran back to the waiting airship. As if Balthier's impatience translated to his piloting, the Strahl lifted from the sands before they cleared the gangplank, causing Daina and Penelo to tumble into the loading bay. They laughingly helped each other stand, and then Penelo kicked Vaan's legs out from under him, just because she could. They were still arguing when they rejoined the others in the cockpit.
Feeling much better with a sword at her hip, Daina leaned back in her seat and sang to herself as the Westersand rolled by, the Strahl's shadow a tiny patch of darkness flitting along beneath them. Balthier brought the Strahl to a hover when they reached a small, blossom-filled clearing between high cliffs, and Nono dropped anchor. Hot desert air blasted in when Fran opened the door.
"That was nice," Vaan said to Daina on his way by her, his eagerness to debark overcoming his appreciation.
Daina laughed. "Thanks," she said to the empty air.
"It was nice," Penelo said, clasping her hands behind her back. "I've never heard that song before."
"It's Nabradian," Basch said from behind them.
Daina bit her lip. He was right, of course – but the fact that it had been a love song didn't make her feel at ease. He just didn't turn away like other people! Or even look at who he was speaking to if he wished to be looking at someone else. Namely, her. The moment did pass, however.
Basch escorted Ashe down the gangplank. As a group, they wandered to the edge of the sandsea, a massive, ocher-hued ocean of granulated liquid that faded to blue in the distance, tricking the mind into seeing true water. Rising from the torpid waves, an extensive array of rusting rigs and a series of platforms and bridges marched into the haze. Vaan knelt at the edge of the sandsea, scooping up a palmful of the strange waters. Dry granules rolled off his palm.
Balthier spoke to Nono, who pressed a button. With a fizzing sound, the Strahl vanished, her shield camouflage blending perfectly with her surroundings. The last they saw of Nono was his paw, waving goodbye, before the shield blocked him from sight, too.
"Whoa!" Penelo gasped.
Ashe raised delicate eyebrows. "This 'come in handy' often?" she asked.
"It's tough being popular," Balthier answered with a wicked grin. "Wouldn't want admirers dropping in while we're away." He studied the empty patch of sky where his precious ship hung. "Well now, that's as far as she goes. We'll be in the jagd from here onwards."
"So, where exactly is Raithwall's tomb?" Penelo asked.
Ashe combed her bangs to the side, her eyes fixed on the horizon. "Across the sandsea, to the Valley of the Dead."
The Valley of the Dead. It was so named for the many adventurers who had succumbed to the jagd and died there, never to be seen again.
"Far to the west." Basch pointed. "We must first cross the Ogir-Yensa, and beyond that the Nam-Yensa, before we reach the tomb. An expanse of desert larger still than all of Dalmasca. We must pace ourselves. If we grow tired, we stop and take rest."
"You don't have to worry about me. I'm tougher than I look," Penelo announced.
Basch laughed – the first time Daina had heard him do so, and she immediately wished he would laugh again. It was a wonderful sound, warm and genuine.
"You are at that," he said easily.
All too soon, the laughter died. The mismatched band of travelers exchanged grim looks. There was no time to lose. With the Empire at their backs and the Valley of the Dead beckoning them forward, Ashe and her entourage ascended the first ramp.