I've released two chapters today, just because I could and I wanted to get things moving along. I'm actually happy with this chapter, with is much more than I can say about the last two.
Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen

The Nalbina Dungeons
Year 706 of the Old Valendian Calendar

Balthier's head throbbed as he sat up, taking in his surroundings. The place looked like it could once have been something impressive, but not anymore; it was just a small, circular room with stone walls, a sandy floor, and a few large rocks up against the walls. In the ceiling high above, a large grate let in bars of light, adding to the faint flicker of the lanterns adorning the room's walls.
The guards had taken Balthier, Fran, and Vaan from Rabanastre, then down through the Nalbina Fortress. Balthier vaguely remembered being thrown down into the dungeons through that grate on the ceiling. He remembered thinking he'd probably be able to land on his feet. Evidently, he'd failed.
Holding one hand against his throbbing head, Balthier scanned the room for his companions. Vaan sprawled motionless on the floor but was still breathing. The decaying corpse of some unfortunate Bangaa lay a few paces away; he probably broke his neck in the fall. Balthier decided to consider himself lucky that his only injury was a knock on the head.
"Are you alright?" That was Fran's voice. Balthier heaved himself off the floor, turning to find Fran standing near a doorway leading farther into the dungeon. They said the Nalbina Dungeons were simply the lower parts of the fortress sealed off from the rest, a crypt filled with criminals, surviving on what meager rations were provided, many not surviving at all. Who knew what sights that passage led to?
"I'm fine," Balthier answered Fran's question. Fran swung her head sharply at the startling sound of horrific screaming, probably from some poor soul being tortured. It was an eerie, unnatural sound that made even Balthier's skin crawl. He would never have admitted it, though.
"We should hurry and find an exit," Fran said after a few moments, turning back to Balthier.
"I agree," Balthier replied. "We don't want that to be us. Can you feel the myst, Fran?"
Fran closed her eyes, then nodded. "Yes. There is a way out. Shall I search?"
"You do that," Balthier said. "I'll wait until Vaan here wakes up, then see what I can get out of the local inmates."
Fran nodded then wordlessly turned and walked out the door.
Now alone save the unconscious Vaan and Bangaa corpse, Balthier sat down on one of the rocks and waited. His head was still pounding, but not as badly as before.
There was a smell, a feeling in the air down there, of death, both old and new. It reminded Balthier too much of a battlefield, once all the fighting was over. Yes, he'd only seen one such battleground, and only for a few foggy moments before he passed out, but it was an image forever engrained in his memory. The crows coming down in droves, shattered bodies all around…
Balthier banished the thought as quickly as he could, fighting back the awful sight. He told himself that was all Ffamran's life, that he'd left behind all those horrible memories. He could try and block them out, but he couldn't quite forget…
A moan pulled Balthier back to present as Vaan began to stir. Balthier was almost thankful for it, some other presence to distract him from the past. Vaan slowly opened his eyes, rubbing the back of his head and pulling himself into a sitting position.
"You're awake," Balthier said. Vaan glanced around the room, taking in his surroundings with wide eyes before turning to Balthier.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"Prison, where else?" Balthier replied, feigning nonchalance, mostly to put Vaan at ease. "More a dungeon, but it's really all the same."
Vaan made no replied, pulling himself back to his feet. The sound of more tortured screeching echoed from deeper in, causing Vaan to jump back. He nearly tripped on the Bangaa carcass, spinning around with a gasp.
"It's just a corpse," Balthier said, pretending this place didn't bother him either. "Jump at every little thing down here and you'll wear yourself out."
"Where's Fran?" Vaan asked after a few moments. He didn't look much calmer, but Balthier couldn't blame him. He was just a kid, after all, and he had no business in a place like this.
"She's off trying to find us a way out," Balthier replied. Yet another burst of sickening screams issued out of Nalbina's depths, louder this time. Vaan craned his neck, trying to see farther down the passageway.
"Remember what curiosity killed," Balthier said, standing up. "Just a friendly word of advice." He didn't need Vaan getting himself into trouble down there; he did have a promise to keep, after all.
Vaan nodded slowly, his gaze turning back to the doorway. After a few moments, he started off, disappearing into mass of torchlight and shadows. Balthier sighed and shook his head. The kid would probably be alright; Balthier would have to keep an eye on him while he had a chat with his fellow prisoners.

Balthier knew there was an exit somewhere. Fran had said so, and she had yet to be wrong about such things. And if there was an exit, someone surely had some tale about it, and that would be useful information if Fran couldn't find this exit. In large dungeons like these, there was always word about some exit, if only a hopeful fantasy to stave off despair. But not in Nalbina. Every prisoner Balthier talked to told him escape was nothing more than a dream, that he should accept his fate and stop trying.
Just roll over and die? That was one thing Balthier would never do.
As he went from captive to captive gleaning what information he could, Balthier tried to watch Vaan out of the corner of his eye. The kid didn't talk to anyone, just stared with wide, horrified eyes at everything: rough characters in handcuffs shoving each other around, people randomly chained to walls, begging for a scrap of rations, the odd corpse here and there, lying against the wall because nobody bothered to move it. Balthier couldn't help but feel guilty; perhaps if he'd been more careful, he could have kept Vaan out of this place. Someone so young shouldn't have to see such things.
"Hey!" The call came from an old man chained to the wall. "You there, in the fancy clothes! I hear you're lookin' for a way out, right?"
Balthier decided to take the 'fancy clothes' comment as a complement and cautiously approached the old man.
"You know something?" he asked. It seemed unlikely, since no one else had heard anything about an exit, but at this point, Balthier was prepared to take his chances.
"Hold on a moment, lad," the old man said. "This information isn't free."
"What do want?" Balthier asked. He was none too pleased with being called a 'lad' but decided not to comment.
"You see that rock over there?" the old man nodded towards the opposite wall. "The pointy one! Bring it over here, would you? I've almost got these darn shackles sawed through, but the rock I've been using's gone all dull."
Balthier walked over to the opposite wall and picked up the rock. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Vaan exiting the room. There was no way Balthier could follow him at the moment, not when he finally had a chance of learning about a way out. Vaan would just have to stay out of trouble on his own.
"Good, good! Now give it here." The old man eagerly held out his bound hands.
"Not so fast," Balthier said. "You tell me about this fabled exit, and then I'll give you this rock."
The old man let out a sigh. "Fair enough. The Nalbina Dungeons aren't a very pretty place, as I'm sure you've noticed. Anyone who believes there's an exit jumps right on the idea, rather than hanging around in this awful spot. That means there's no one left to spread stories are the ones who can't go anywhere. Now then, the people down here are one of two kinds. Either they've committed some heinous crime, or they've refused to bow to the Empire. What I'm sayin' is, if you're in Nalbina, either you're a murderer or a pirate. I like to know who it is I'm helpin' reach daylight again, so which are you?"
"A pirate," Balthier replied without hesitation. "And not much of one without a sky. Now, to the point, old man. Do you want to stay shackled to that wall forever or not?" Balthier held the rock out just beyond the man's reach.
"Yes, yes." The man sighed again. "Just slow down a moment, lad. Before we go any further, I want you to take a good long listen, hmm?"
At first, Balthier couldn't hear anything above hum of prisoners talking, then an eerie, hair-raising screaming echoed out of the depths of the fortress. It was that same awful sound that had greeted him and others upon their arrival.
"You hear that, lad?" the old man asked, then let out a chuckle. "Oh, I can tell you do. Don't worry, you get used to it after a while. But my point is, most who try and reach this exit of ours end up serenading us like that poor soul."
"Oh, don't worry about me," Balthier said, pretending the sound didn't alarm him. "I'll be fine. Now, this way out?"
"Fine, fine, I'll tell you, if that's what you want," the old man said. "They call it the Barheim Passageway. The Passage is a relic from ancient times, now just a dank, dark labyrinth full of all sorts wretched creatures. It empties out somewhere in the Estersand. They say there's a way into the Passage from the dungeon, but I'll warn you, even if you do make it into Barheim, there's no guarantee you'll make it to the end alive. By all means, try, but-"
The man was cut off by the sound of snorting and slamming, coming from the next room, the same room Vaan had disappeared into, Balthier couldn't help but notice.
"They're at it again, are they?" the old man said with a huff.
"Who?" Balthier asked.
"Those darn Seeqs!" the old man replied. "Somehow they got ahold of some clubs, and now they've taken to beating up whoever stumbles into their path. I can't fathom why they haven't used those things on the guards yet, but you know how the Seeq are. Their muscles are bigger than their brains. I suppose they like beating up people in here just as well as out in the daylight."
Balthier wasn't really listening to the old man prattle on. He was worried about Vaan.
"I think I'll take my leave now," he said. "My thanks for your knowledge."
"Wait!" The old man held out his bound hands. "What about my payment, eh? You wouldn't leave an old man to rot, would you?"
Balthier absently tossed the rock to the old man then started off towards the doorway. In the next room, sunlight poured in through the open roof, and the floor fell away to reveal a gladiatorial pit. Inside the pit, a trio of Seeqs dragged some unfortunate soul into the pit's center. One of them closed the gates on both the pit's entrances, making escape impossible. Balthier moved closer to the pit's edge to get a better look at the Seeqs' captive. That confirmed his fears. Vaan.
Balthier let out a sigh and shook his head. It was up to him to rescue Vaan from peril, was it? Oh, well…
The largest of the three Seeqs threw Vaan, and he landed against the pit's wall. After a few moments, Vaan pulled himself shakily back to his feet, staring with terror at his three assailants. Balthier figured this was a good time to make his entrance.
"Something stinks in here, alright," Balthier called down, walked along the edge of the pit. "I've changed my mind; this is no dungeon, it's a sty."
Now all three of the Seeqs were staring up at Balthier. The largest of them shouted something unintelligible up at him, but he didn't take the time to decipher it.
"I said you're the one who stinks, Hamshanks!" Balthier continued. "Hear me now?"
That got the Seeq angry. He swung his club over his head, shouting in the same unintelligible language. Balthier leaped down into the pit, landing beside Vaan.
"You alright, Vaan?" he asked, not turning away from the three Seeqs, who were quickly closing in.
"Yeah," Vaan answered. "But… how are we going to fight those guys?" Vaan took a step back towards the wall. "We don't even have any weapons!"
"We use our greatest weapon," Balthier replied. "Our brains."
The Seeqs were on them now. They were huge brutes with clubs, and anyone would think they could easily squash two humans. The battle was hopeless, or so it seemed. Yes, this would be hard, dangerous, life-threatening, a desperate battle against impossible odds…
Balthier couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face at that thought. What would be more fulfilling than winning such a battle? Yes, these sorts of circumstances brought out his reckless side.
The largest of the Seeqs advanced quickly on Balthier, and he dived to the side. He grabbed a handful of sand from the pit floor and threw it right into the Seeq's eyes. The pig-like creature let out a grunt and clawed at its face with both hands, letting its club fall to the ground. Balthier didn't waste a moment, diving for the weapon. He grabbed it with both hands, his bad arm screaming in pain as he hoisted the heavy thing. He'd feel that for days, but he'd live with it if it meant he survived this fight. Balthier swung the club around, hitting the Seeq square in the head, knocking him out cold.
"Alright!" Vaan called.
"Quite cheering and look out!" Balthier shouted back to him. Vaan regained his focus just in time to dodge the advance of another Seeq. Balthier made a quick motion then threw the club over towards Vaan. That sent a fresh wave of pain through his arm, but he ignored it. Vaan caught the club and managed to dodge the Seeq's attacks, dealing him a finishing blow. Balthier hurried over and grabbed the second Seeq's club, and he and Vaan, now both armed, managed to beat their last remaining attacker. Somehow, they'd both made it out alive against three Seeqs. A victory against impossible odds. Very fulfilling, as Balthier had imagined.
A crowd of prisoners had gathered around the pit by now, all chatting eagerly about the new champions of the ring. Balthier could care less what those criminals thought. He just wanted to get out of there.
The gathered prisoners suddenly quieted, dispersing quickly around the room. The sound of clinking armor came from above the pit, and Balthier could only guess there were guards approaching. Surely such squabbles among inmates wouldn't be to their liking. Who knew what sort of punishment they would dish out?
"Vaan. Over here." Balthier moved quickly over to the wall closest to where he'd heard the guards, motioning for Vaan to join him. So tight against the wall, they were out of view from the guards when they peered in. However, Balthier could see them. It was a very familiar sight: dark armor, sculpted helmets; your average Archadian knights. And to think Balthier had once commanded such troops. No, Ffamran had. That was all in the past now.
Finding nothing, the guards pulled back from the pit, muttering amongst themselves. From the same doorway they entered by came a now-familiar face to Balthier: a large green-skinned Bangaa. The bounty hunter, Ba'Gamnan.
"Great," Balthier sighed. "They just don't give up, do they?"
A creaking sound came from one of the gates leading out of the pit, and it raised slightly. On the other side of the gate stood another familiar face: Fran.
"Ah!" Balthier said. "Just in time. Come on, Vaan." Balthier set off towards the half-open gate, Vaan following behind.
"Did you find our exit?" Balthier asked Fran through the gate's bars while Vaan slipped underneath.
"Yes…" Fran replied, a little too much hesitance in her voice. "There is a solitary confinement chamber farther in. In that place, the myst flows free. Only… it seethes. I do not believe this will be a safe route."
Balthier nodded, taking in the information. It agreed with what the old man had told him. "We'll make sure to pick up some weapons, then."
Seeing Vaan had passed under the half-raised gate, Balthier crouched and slipped through as well.
"Also…" Fran began as Balthier stood.
"There's more?" Balthier asked with a sigh. Of course, things were never easy.
"The doors to the cell are bound with powerful magics," Fran explained. "I… I don't know how to untangle them."
"Ah." Balthier nodded. "So we can't get in? And you're sure there's no other way out?"
Fran shook her head. "No, of that, I am sure. If we wish to escape, we must find a way through that door."
"What did you call me? Say that again!" A shout interrupted their debate. The voice came down from up above, from one of the gathered prison guards. Balthier could just see him, standing above the pit. The knight's voice echoed from within his armor as he shot back at Ba'Gamnan, the lizard-like Bangaa bounty hunter.
"What, you couldn't hear?" Ba'Gamnan sheered back. "I merely said the lot of you are incompetent fools! If you've the sky pirate in your hands, where is he?"
Balthier let out a sigh. That headhunter was still dead set on dragging in Balthier's head, was he? His presence wouldn't make this harrowing escape any easier.
"And you'd have done better, Ba'Gamnan?" the knight shot back. "By your own words, it was the imperial army that caught this sky pirate of yours. We don't require the assistance of filthy headhunters! The Empire will restore order here!"
"What's that you say?" Ba'Gamnan said, narrowing his eyes. "Maybe I'll whet my blade on you… before I kill Balthier!" Ba'Gamnan reached for his sword, apparently ready to make good on his threat.
"That's enough, Ba'Gamnan!" a new voice entered the conversation. From the doorway the guards had emerged from, a Judge entered in full formal armor, complete with a flowing black cape, a sign of high rank Ffamran had never had the pleasure of wearing. His voice sounded familiar, cold and callous, a sword well-sharpened but without a trace of luster. His armor, too, looked familiar. Was that… General Gabranth? Of course, war time was over; he was Judge Gabranth, now.
"Who's that guy?" Vaan asked, wide-eyed. Of course, he wasn't an Archadian. He hadn't grown up living in awe of the great Archadian Judges, the heroes of every child, the guardians of everything the people held dear. The image returned to Balthier's mind of Lemahl, of Gabranth proclaiming the end of those people's freedom. What a lie all those heroic tales seemed after that.
"A Judge," Balthier replied to Vaan's question, the word bitter in his mouth after all this time. "The self-proclaimed guardians of law and order in the Empire. They're the elite guard of house Solidor and the commanders of the imperial army. If you ask me, they're more executioners than judges."
But what would any Judge, much less a high-ranking, prestigious one like Gabranth, be doing in a dungeon of all places? The timing of his arrival was quite coincidental, as well. He wasn't here because Balthier had just arrived, surely. Yes, Balthier had once been part of the Judges, and he had quite the bounty on his head for the crimes of desertion and grand theft airship, but surely he didn't warrant the attention of someone like Gabranth? No, that couldn't be it.
Gabranth and his entourage of knights stepped out into the open, and he turned to continue reprimanding Ba'Gamnan.
"The emperor is willing to overlook race for his more talented servants," Gabranth said. "However, those who give no respect will receive none in kind. You travel freely through our lands because the emperor wills it, do you not?"
Ba'Gamnan floundered for a response, finally falling silent. He lizard-like face was filled with simmering anger, but he managed not to vent it. Gabranth turned to the knight who had been squabbling with the headhunter.
"Where is the captain?" Gabranth asked.
"We have him in solitary, Your Honor," the knight replied, saluting. "We're ready to begin our interrogation."
Ba'Gamnan opened his mouth to say something, but Gabranth cut him off.
"This does not concern you, bounty hunter," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Gabranth made a motion to the knight, and the two of them started off towards another doorway, along with Gabranth's knights.
An interrogation? Yes, that was a valid reason for a Judge to be present in a place like this. Someone kept in solitary…?
A plan was starting to take shape in Balthier's mind. He didn't know who this 'captain' was, but the knight had said he was kept in solitary confinement. Fran had said their escape route was through a solitary confinement cell. So…
"I believe we have our way out," Balthier said.
"How?" Vaan asked.
"Fran can't break the magic lock on that door," Balthier explained. "But if they're headed for this solitary cell, then they'll have to open the door. If we're quick enough and stealthy enough, I'll bet we can follow them in."
Fran nodded. "Yes, but we should hurry. We don't want to lose them."
"You heard her," Balthier said. "Let's move."

Balthier, Fran, and Vaan moved quickly along, following Judge Gabranth and his knights from a safe distance. They slipped through many locked doors, managing to avoid the guards and go undetected. They were just dashing over an open stretch when Fran stopped abruptly.
"Look," she said, pointing through an open doorway. Inside were many weapons and other odds and ends, pushed up in piles against the walls.
"Ah," Balthier said. "The prison's repository of wrested relics and ramets." He was very pleased with his alliteration. Vaan, however, stared at him like he'd spoken another language.
"You mean… this is where all our stuff is?" Vaan asked at last.
Balthier let out a sigh. "That's what I said. Now, let's hurry and grab our weapons before we lose Gabranth."
"Gabranth?" Vaan asked, looking confused. Balthier felt a jolt of panic. Did he really use his name?
"The Judge," Balthier corrected, maintaining a perfectly calm exterior. He strode into the room before anyone could ask any more questions. The last thing he wanted was to delve into his connection to the Judges and the Empire. He had to remember he'd left all that. He wasn't Ffamran anymore.

…

"Hurry up, Vaan," Balthier said. "We need to get moving."
Balthier and Fran had already found all their weapons, and Vaan had grabbed a sword better than his old one, but now he was searching for his loot from the palace: the Dusk Shard. Balthier certainly didn't want to leave that thing there, but he also didn't want to be trapped there with it forever.
"Found it!" Vaan said, yanking his fist out of the pile. In his hand he held the small orange-red crystal. The stone ebbed out a soft glow for no apparent reason, and that awful feeling returned, thrumming through the air and setting Balthier's head throbbing. It was so familiar…
But that thing wasn't nethicite, Balthier reminded himself. It couldn't be.
Could it?
"Good, now let's get moving," Balthier said, shoving his concerns about the Dusk Shard away for now. The task of most importance at the moment was catching up to Gabranth and finding a way out of the Nalbina Dungeons. Balthier, Fran, and Vaan gathered up their things and continued back down the tortuous trails of the dungeon, following Judge Gabranth to what was hopefully freedom.
Eventually, they came to a door covered in a shimmering golden sheen, a magic net sealing the door. One of the knights in Gabranth's entourage, a mage, evidently, worked quickly to undo to seal. The door opened, and the Judge and his knights passed through it. Balthier, Fran, and Vaan also managed to slip through the opening just as it closed.
Inside, the solitary confinement cell was dark, with just enough light to see by. In the center of the room was a shadowy chasm with a cage dangling over it. Inside the cage was gaunt man, suspended within the small enclosure by thick, heavy chains. It looked like a most unpleasant experience.
Balthier quickly motioned towards the wall, pressing against it with his two companions to avoid being seen. Gabranth moved up to the cage, removing his helmet to observe the man inside. Balthier couldn't help but notice that the caged man was Gabranth's spitting image, the similarities evident even though Gabranth was hale and whole, while the prisoner looked like he'd hung there for years.
"You have grown very thin, Basch," Gabranth said, his voice maintaining its characteristic cold, indifferent edge. "Years past, condemned to death, and yet you live. Why?"
At the word Basch, Vaan let out a sharp gasp. Balthier couldn't blame him. Captain Basch, the Dalmascan knight who killed King Raminas?
"To silence Ondore," Basch replied, his voice strained. "How many times must I say it?"
"Is that all?" Gabranth continued, narrowing his eyes.
"Why not ask Vayne yourself?" Basch rasped. "Is he not one of your masters?"
Gabranth ignored this question. "We have caught a leader of the resistance," he said. "The woman Amalia." An almost smug look crossed Gabranth's face. "Who could that be, I wonder?"
Basch raised his head at the mention of Amalia, only to slump again in his chains. Gabranth placed his helmet back over his head.
"A faithful hound to cling so to a fallen kingdom," he said.
"Better than throwing it away!" Basch shot back, his words still pained.
"As you threw away our homeland?" Gabranth asked, anger spicing his words. Without further questioning, Gabranth motioned to his knights and exited the room.
Balthier took a moment to take in everything he'd just heard. Basch, the supposedly executed traitor who assassinated Dalmasca's king, alive in the Nalbina Dungeons? And his reply to Gabranth's question… Kept alive to silence Ondore? Marquis Ondore was the ruler of Bhujerba, the home of a very productive magicite mine. The man held great influence and power, a good friend of the late King Raminas. Rumor said he was working secretly with the Dalmascan Resistance. The Marquis was also the one who announced the execution of Captain Basch, an act that had won him great favor. And yet, Basch lived. The threat of revealing such a lie could very well keep the Marquis under the Empire's control.
But Gabranth was an Archadian Judge, and quite a powerful one, at that. Surely he knew all this, and if he didn't, could find out very easily. As the captain had said, why not just ask Vayne himself? But why mention Vayne? Gabranth was a member of the Judges' high council and had connections to the emperor and several other officials of higher rank than Vayne. Why would Rabanastre's new consul be the one who held this information? And why wouldn't he tell it to a Judge like Gabranth?
And what about Amalia? Gabranth had called her a resistance 'leader,' though Balthier thought that girl seemed incapable of leading anything. And why had her name sparked such a reaction in the captive captain? And the way Gabranth had asked that last question… 'who could that be?' It was like he already knew, and was just saying that to taunt Basch. But why was Amalia so important? She certainly hadn't acted like anything impressive, and yet the Empire was so thrilled over her capture…
A mysterious resistance leader? A traitorous captain still alive? Secrets within the Empire? There was more going on here than meets the eye. Perhaps Balthier had spent too much time around Strahl, but he knew exactly what she'd say if she were here. She'd say this was history in the making, and Balthier would be both an idiot and a coward if just flew off into the horizon and forgot about it.
But Balthier had no desire to get tangled up in such affairs. Whatever internal strife Archadia was dealing with, it didn't concern him. But the Archadian Empire covered half the world. Anything major would surely have far-reaching effects. And the Empire still had the nethicite, or, more accurately, Balthier's father still had the nethicite. It had been apparent that Dr. Cid was planning something, both with the event at Nabudis and with how badly he had wanted Ffamran to join the Judges. It was not lost on Balthier that having even distant connections to them would put his father in a position of influence.
Could the intrigue of today be connected to the turmoil of two years ago? That thought was almost terrifying. Balthier had considered all that closed and finished; he'd failed to set things right, and that was that. But the nethicite was still in his father's possession, and there was a chance more of it existed, like the Dusk Shard. Whether or not these secrets about Basch and Amalia had anything to do with Draklor and Dr. Cid, a time of such turmoil would be perfect to hatch a master plan.
"Down there." Fran voice yanked Balthier from his deep contemplation back to the present. "Through the chasm. Our exit is down there."
"But, that's…" Vaan stared at the captain hanging in the cruel cage, his face painted with both shock and rage. This was the man who killed his king, who doomed Dalmasca to an unconditional surrender.
"I know," Balthier replied, "but right now, we need to focus on getting out of this dungeon. You think you can stay calm and collected until then and not get us caught, Vaan?"
"But he's…" Vaan let out a sigh, shaking his head. "Yeah, don't worry. I'll be quiet." The flames didn't leave his eyes, though.
"You said down the chasm, Fran?" Balthier asked, turning to his partner. "How are we going to get down there?"
"And what about him?" Fran nodded towards Basch.
"Mm." Balthier nodded slowly. "There is that. Why don't we have a look around and see if the answers to both those questions don't present themselves?" Really, Balthier wanted to have a word with the captain. Obviously, he knew something, else why would Gabranth be interrogating him? And what better way to get an inside scoop on this whole great conspiracy?
Balthier, Fran, and Vaan walked out into the open, leaving the cover of the shadows. The moment he saw them, Basch struggled to straighten in his chains and called out.
"You!" he said, his pain and discomfort evident in his voice. "You're no imperials! You must get me out!"
"Get you out?" Vaan didn't fly into a rage, but it was clear he was on the very edge. "You're the one who killed our king! You're supposed to be dead!"
Basch shook his head weakly. "It wasn't… me."
"Really?" Balthier raised an eyebrow. Of course, the condemned traitor would plead innocent; Balthier had expected as much. But there was a certain desperation about Basch's strained voice that made Balthier think he might be telling the truth.
"Of course you'd say that!" Vaan shouted, his new-found self-control waning fast. "You expect me to believe you? My brother saw it with his own eyes! It's all your fault! Everything! Everyone who's died! All of them! It's all-"
"Vaan!" Balthier sharply cut off Vaan's rant. "Save it for later."
Vaan glanced over at Balthier, then let his gaze fall to the ground. He clenched his fists but said nothing.
"Wait," Fran said suddenly. One of her tall white ears swiveled towards the doorway, then twitched. "Guards are coming. We need to hurry."
"Right." Balthier nodded. "Fran, do you think we can drop his cage? That would get us down there."
Fran nodded, then pointed to a lever near the chasm's edge.
"Good," Balthier said. "Everyone, hop on. You have the lever, Fran?"
Fran nodded, then reached to pull the lever. Balthier and Vaan jumped on to Basch's cage just as Fran released it. Fran caught the cage's bars as it fell by, and all four of them descended into the shadows below. The Barheim Passageway, the old man had said. Not a very friendly place from the sound of it.
But it was their only way out, and there was no going back now.