Chapter Thirty-Seven: Impending War
Author's Note: Hey readers! I know it's been two years since I last posted a chapter, but life has been crazy! After this new chapter, we will only have three chapters left. I can't believe that I've made it this far. And, I wouldn't have done it without you amazing readers. Thank you for reading this story, and I hope you enjoy the last four chapters.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XII or any FFXII characters. I do, however, own my OC (Celeste von Valen).
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For the first time in my relatively short life, my mind felt entirely blank and devoid of all thoughts. It was like a thick white mist had settled inside of my head, leaving me feeling hazy from head to toe. I found it incredibly difficult to process what I had just witnessed. My vision was blurry, I couldn't focus, and all I could feel was a heavy dread that was rooted deep inside of me. Reddas had just sacrificed himself to destroy the Sun-Cryst, and for what? In order to atone for his unintentional sins against Nabudis? He was leaving an entire city behind him, and they would have to feel the wake of his death. My chest felt like someone had thrown a stack of concrete blocks on top of it. I found it hard to breathe. My lungs struggled beneath the weight of my remorse for Reddas's life. I could hear mumbling in the cockpit, and when I finally shook the haze from my mind, I saw Ashe comforting Vaan. Her arm was draped across his shoulders in an attempt to console the teenager. The Strahl hovered in front of the tower, and I looked up to see that the top had basically been blown to pieces. Several floors had been wiped out. Where we once stood was gone, and nothing but a few bricks remained. If it weren't for Reddas, we wouldn't have made it out alive. We all would have perished before the end of our journey was complete. I guess his death wasn't a waste after all.
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When we arrived back at the port, the seagulls were still circling the beach and the tide was still ebbing away at the sandy shores. Nature had not paused for the death of Reddas, even if his death was intertwined with a good deed. Our walk from the aerodome to the manse was an extremely quiet one, and it felt like it lasted hours. We were all secretly dreading seeing the house that Reddas formerly occupied, especially because he was not returning with us. His hearty laughter would not fill those halls again, and his deep voice would not bounce off the rafters. That manse would feel empty and solemn for a very long time.
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Upon pushing the doors open, I saw a familiar Rozarrian with his feet propped up on the desk. Even if he was a pretty smooth talker and a royal, I wasn't exactly happy with him making himself at home in a dead man's manse. Let alone putting his dirty shoes on the furniture. "Al-Cid?" He tipped his head as a way to greet us, "We let ourselves inside. The situation is one demanding some haste, you understand." As we all filtered in, he removed his feet from the desk. The breath I had been unknowingly holding released itself, and I let out a long sigh. Balthier's hand gently grazed mine, and I turned my head just enough to look at him. "How did you know where we were?" Vaan asked him. Al-Cid let out a cough as he walked around to the other side of the desk and approached Ashe, "My little birds, they tell me many, many things. My Lady, the war begins now."
Ashe gasped, "Then you were unsuccessful in stopping the Rozarrian Fleet?" I felt my heart sink. Any attempts we had made to avoid war were all shot down before they had come to full fruition. "All went according to plan until it came time to request withdrawal of our most devoted generals. In their enthusiasm for war, our great military leaders went behind my back, straight to Marquis Ondore's Resistance." I shook my head. Why were these men so eager to fight each other and shed unnecessary blood? "The Resistance?" Ashe chimed. "During training, a division of the Resistance ignored their orders and disappeared. They were next found exchanging broadsides with the Imperials over Old Nabradia," Al-Cid explained as he picked up a small trinket and toyed with it. "Why would they go there," Basch asked, "They were asking to be found!"
Al-Cid rolled the trinket over and over in his hand, "You misunderstand. Those ships most surely belonged to a Rozarrian division. They may have joined Ondore's Resistance forces as patriots, or even mercenaries, but they are regulars of the Rozarrian Army under direct command of our war-pavilion. This fifth column has invaded Imperial airspace and provoked a response. Unable to abandon them, His Excellency the Marquis was obliged to give his main fleet the order to attack. And the battleground... is Dalmasca." It immediately hit us as we realized the amount of casualties that would occur, thanks to this little scuffle. "Should this fight drag on, Rozarria will enter the fray, the defense of Dalmasca as their excuse…. And we will have a war between empires," Balthier said as he tugged on the hem of my shirt. He pulled me slowly to him, so that our bodies were just barely touching, and he leaned against the pool table behind us.
"Correct. They will bide their time, waiting to strike until the empire has spent itself against the Marquis, but Vayne-he will crush them and the Marquis both between his hands." Al-Cid clasped his hands together to further his point. My hand roamed around until it found Balthier's, and I gently grasped it. I could feel his warmth radiating through his palm, and he surprised me by interlacing our fingers. I avoided eye contact with him, and I kept my gaze focused on the Rozarrian in front of us. "Vayne holds the Dusk Shard no longer," Basch reminded us, "His advantage is lost." Al-Cid shook his head, "Vayne has advantages enough. He stands on higher grounds, and my birds tell me he has awoken something quite large." He lowered his glasses, "Bahamut. Lord of the Sky. There was a stirring in the Mist in the direction of Ridorana, I am told. Bahamut awoke soon after this." I resisted the urge to slap my forehead with the palm of my hand. That was partially our doing.
"It is the Mist that came before the Cryst was undone. It breathed life into this Bahamut. If Reddas had not stopped it when he did, how much more Mist might it have drunk?" Fran turned to us, "All went according to Doctor Cid's designs." Balthier sighed, "Yes, the man's last great accomplishment, I fear. And so it falls to me to put an end to the thing." I grasped his hand tighter. "You cannot do it alone, Balthier! You would surely die at the hands of Vayne. You may be the leading man, but I will not allow you to just throw away your life! We must think of a way to stop Vayne," I pleaded with him. His thumb caressed the back of my hand gently. "Celeste, it is my duty as the son of that mad man." Tears welled up in my eyes, and he placed a finger under my chin. Balthier lifted my face until our eyes met, and he reassured me that he wouldn't perish at the hands of the Empire.
"Vayne commands Bahamut himself?" Ashe asked. Al-Cid nodded, "He comes to Rabanastre." War was fastly approaching, and it seemed that we would have no way of stopping the two sides from clashing. "Then I will defend Dalmasca, and stop this Bahamut. That is my charge-" Vaan cut the princess off mid-sentence, "That's our charge, actually." Penelo quickly followed, "It's our home. It belongs to us all." I turned to the princess, "Ashe, we are all ready to defend Dalmasca. Although some of us have not called Rabanastre our home before, we feel as though it is our home now. And I would hate to see such a beautiful city destroyed. We won't let the kingdom of Dalmasca be destroyed, especially not by the likes of Vayne and his evil empire." Al-Cid sauntered over towards the deck, "And my charge is to hinder and delay this Rozarrian invasion for as long as is possible." He and his assistant started walking towards the doors.
"I will do what I can. Ah, yes," Al-Cid stopped in his tracks and grabbed Ashe's hand, "When this unpleasantness is done, you must come to Rozarria. I will take you to the Ambervale of Clan Margrace. Such things I will show you! Until then, I will be waiting." And with that, Al-Cid whisked himself out the door before any of us could say a word. My breath was caught in my throat, and Ashe's face betrayed her emotional secrecy. She looked like she was on cloud nine. On the other hand, Balthier had a disgusted look on his face, and he scoffed at the Rozarrian as the door shut. "Jealous, much?" I asked the sky pirate as I retracted my hand from his. He raised an eyebrow at me, but I countered with my own raised eyebrow and a smirk.
I took a good look around the room as we readied for departure. "You think we'll see this place again?" I asked Balthier. He shrugged, "Maybe. Maybe not. Who is to say? If we survive our battle against Vayne, there may be a good chance for us to return here. You might even see if you can take this manse over and let Reddas's memory live on for the sake of the city." I thought about it for a minute, and I imagined Balthier and myself lounging on the deck in the sun. I saw a vision of us staying up late gazing at the stars as we dipped our feet in the ocean. The possibilities were endless. I felt my face being to heat up, and I attempted to dismiss the idea of Balthier committing to me. I was certainly foolish to think he would ever to do that, especially when he could bed with any lady in Ivalice. I sighed a heavy disappointed sigh, and I trudged out the door. Thinking about my shitty luck made me so depressed, and it didn't help that the final showdown with Vayne was not too far away. I still didn't understand what the Occuria meant when they told me that I would know when the time was right. They didn't tell me exactly when they would give me the power to defeat Vayne, nor did they mention how I would know. I sighed once again. This world was certainly interesting compared to my own world.
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We left the manse and walked back towards the aerodome. Rikken and his friends were waiting for us just down the path. "Lo, Vaan! Word from the Resistance! The Imperial sky fortress Bahamut is on the attack! This… This could be bad! We have no choice of fighting it from the ground. No, the only way to fight the Bahamut is to go to it by airship!" I nudged Balthier, "I guess we fly the Strahl to Bahamut, then?" He nodded, "We make for the aerodome, and we depart for Rabanastre immediately. I imagine the fighting has already begun, but we won't be too late to the party."