Ah, the wonderful taste of desert air... Two chapters again this week.

Chapter Sixteen

The Dalmascan Estersand
Year 706 of the Old Valendian Calendar

Fresh air! Balthier couldn't believe how wonderful it was. After so long underground, the sun was blinding and the heat fierce, but it was all worth it for that taste of dry, hot, yet wonderfully fresh desert air!
The party had journeyed for only a few hours that morning and finally reached the exit. The old man back in the Nalbina Dungeons had said the Barheim Passageway emptied into the Estersand, and it looked like he was correct. Rippling sand and rocky cliffs dotted with cacti spread out as far as the eye could see in every direction. The entrance to the Passageway was carved into one such towering cliff face.
"To think Dalmascan air could taste so sweet." The first of the four to speak after their arrival was Basch, which was surprising.
"Agreed," Balthier said whole-heartedly. "Now, let's hurry back to Rabanastre before we shrivel up."
The others responded with a half-hearted murmur. Balthier shared their sentiment; for more than a day now, they'd walked constantly with no food and little water. The water they had was already gone, and they'd have to find more on their way back to Rabanastre. Everyone of them needed a good rest.
"I know we're all tired," Balthier said, "but it's a long walk back to civilization, and the desert is unforgiving. The sooner we get going, the sooner we can rest."
"Which way to we go?" Basch asked. Balthier was about to speak when he realized he had no idea where they were or how to get back to Rabanastre.
"Ah," he said. "That may be a problem…" Balthier thought a moment, then turned to Vaan. "Vaan, you've lived your whole life in these parts; any idea how to get back to the city?"
"I've never been out this far," Vaan said, "but Rabanastre's built on a high spot, and the desert slopes up towards it. So… that way?" Vaan pointed towards where the cliffs and sands rose gently uphill into the distance.
"Good, Vaan," Balthier said. "Shall we be off, then?"

The group carried on over the Estersand. The sun was getting low in the sky and Balthier guessed it was afternoon rather than morning. He also guessed they wouldn't make it back to Rabanastre by sundown, which meant they'd have to spend the night in the desert. Hopefully, it wouldn't be any more dangerous than the Barheim Passageway. Shortly after exiting the Passage, the party filled their waterskins from a cactus and drank their fill. After a few more hours of slow journeying, Fran spoke up.
"Wait," she said. "I hear something. Something's coming."
"What is it?" Balthier asked, motioning for the group to stop.
"Wolves, I think," Fran replied. She pointed to a nearby lump of rocky outcropping. "Over that ridge. They're headed this way."
A lone shape, barely distinguishable from the sand around it, appeared briefly above the rock, then vanished. Two more popped up and back down again, clearly glancing at the band of four weary travelers.
"That doesn't look good," Balthier said, reaching back to pull out his rifle. "We'll keep going, but keep your weapons out and your guards up."
Vaan and Basch drew their swords, and Fran produced her bow, keeping an arrow nocked and ready to fire. As the party slowly passed the rocky outcropping, Balthier caught a better view of the wolves. There were eight of them, with thick sandy-colored fur and white bellies. They stood in various places over the rocks, their bushy tails swishing slowly and their intelligent eyes fixed on the travelers. Ivalice's wildlife was far from friendly, no matter where you went. Predators of any sort liked human meat as much as anything else, and they weren't afraid to push through danger to get it. These wolves certainly looked like that was what they had in mind, patiently waiting for their prey to come close enough. Balthier would have preferred the wretched, skittery creatures of the Barheim Passageway to these intelligent, malicious predators. He was just about to suggest the group move a little farther away when the largest of the wolves stood and bared its teeth, a low growl rippled over the sands. The rest of the wolves rose as well, and then they charged.
Balthier managed to shoot down the lead wolf before any of the predators could attack. One wolf stopped and nosed the body of the fallen one, but the rest kept coming. One jumped at Vaan, but his sword found its side and it jumped back with a yelp. Basch's assailant received quite a few nasty sword wounds for its trouble, and it stumbled away, leaving a trail of bright blood across the hot sand. Fran's magic seared three wolves in a single blast of fire, sending them flying back. One wolf leaped at Balthier, but he deflected it and dealt it a shot. The wound wasn't fatal, but it was enough to send the wolf scurrying away. After a brief skirmish, the wolves retreated to lick their wounds, leaving only the one large one lying dead on the desert sand.
"Everyone alright?" Balthier asked. Basch let out an affirmative grunt, Fran nodded, and Vaan scowled at a bite on his arm.
"Yeah, I think I'll be fine," Vaan said. Nonetheless, Fran moved over to him and set to healing the wound. Balthier glanced over at the wolf carcass lying just a few yards away.
"Why don't we set up camp here for the night?" Balthier said. "We can make good use of that wolf and treat ourselves to some dinner. I doubt it'll be a delicacy, but it is something."
"I'd be fine with that!" Vaan said, sounding like he'd be very fine with it indeed.
"A good plan," Fran said, not looking up from her work on Vaan's wound. Basch nodded in his signature stony way.
So it was settled. They camped out in the same cluster of rocks the wolves had found so convenient and ate a luxurious dinner of roasted Estersand wolf. The meat was tough and gamey, but far better than the nothing they'd been subsisting on for the past forty-eight hours. Balthier had had the pleasure of cleaning the carcass, which really wasn't that different from the dissecting work in the biology labs back at Draklor. Balthier had watched scientists do work like that since he was a toddler. It was sort of nostalgic, almost therapeutic.
After a fulfilling meal, the group settled down to sleep around a fire under the night sky. The desert air was so clear that thousands of stars could be seen, shimmering diamonds in the great black ocean overhead. Maybe they only looked so bright because Balthier hadn't seen them in so long.
Like the previous night, they set a watch, and Balthier took first shift this time. Despite the long day of traveling, Balthier didn't feel like sleeping. He had too much on his mind. What Basch had said about Vayne's conspiracy… Vayne was the Archadian emperor's son, yet not even his father knew about Vayne's plots. And through these secret schemes, Vayne controlled the magicite mines of Bhujerba. Balthier had grown up in Archadia's most prestigious weapons lab, and he knew full well the power of magicite. What could Vayne want with so much of it? What exactly was he planning?
And something told Balthier this was all connected to his father and the nethicite. No evidence pointed there, but something… A hunch, an instinct, a gut feeling, call it what you like, but something told Balthier that this all had to do with Dr. Cid's schemes from two years ago. And if something so big was going on, something that could have detrimental consequences for all of Ivalice, surely Balthier couldn't just ignore it.
But what could he do? All Balthier knew was part of what Vayne was doing, but he didn't yet know how to stop it or even if he should. He knew he couldn't just ignore it all, but what exactly could he do otherwise? What Balthier needed was a goal, an objective, and he'd only find that if he could learn more about Vayne and his schemes. And he needed to know what his father had been up to the past two years. Only when he knew those two things would Balthier knew what to do next.
"Balthier." Balthier nearly jumped at the sound of Fran's voice. She had sat up and was looking up at him. What did she want now? To spout more confusing nonsense like last night? All the time Balthier had known her, Fran had always been logical and straightforward. Why was she suddenly acting so strange?
"What is it?" Balthier asked.
"What will we do when we reach Rabanastre?" Fran asked. Balthier let out a sigh. That was one more question he didn't have an answer to. He wanted to root out Vayne's conspiracy, finally figure out what his father was up to. But how was he to tell Fran that without spilling out his whole story to her?
"Do you still want the stone from Vaan?" Fran asked, casting a glance over at Vaan. That was something Balthier hadn't even considered in a while. The Dusk Shard was nethicite. It had to be. Balthier didn't make a habit of trusting his powers, but this time, it seemed like they were right. There was no other explanation for the weird way the stone affected him. But did he want it…?
"No," Balthier said, shaking his head. Of course not! He didn't want to spend another moment around that stuff. But yet, if he had the nethicite, perhaps he could figure out what it was, and that would put him one step closer to uncovering his father's plans. That would be useful indeed. But he'd already said no.
Fran nodded slowly at Balthier's response. "You'll leave it with Vaan?"
"What other choice do we have?" Balthier said. "I'm not going to take it from the kid. As for what we'll do next… We'll figure that out once we're back in Rabanastre."
Fran nodded again. "Alright," she said, before laying back down. The image returned to Balthier's memory of Fran's face the night before, painted with gravity and more emotion than he'd ever seen from her. What was it she wanted to say? Balthier considered waking her and asking her about it, but he decided not to. This was Fran. She'd tell him when she was good and ready. Balthier just hoped that wouldn't be far in the future.

…

Amalia sat in the corner of her cell, trying not to lose her cool. Really, she'd lost her cool long ago and was just trying to hold a brave facade together for when her captors returned. She had to stay strong, for Dalmasca, for everything she held dear…
Amalia. Her name was Amalia. At least at the moment. She had to remember that. It was harder than ever to remember now, as she sat in the shadowy cell, all alone. Amalia wanted nothing more than to be her again, as she was back at the resistance base, around Vossler, Hasta, and the others.
But she couldn't. She had to stay Amalia now. She'd been in the cell two days, and she was certain they'd interrogate her soon. Surely Vayne had some suspicions about her true identity, so she had to be prepared for when she was questioned. They'd use her real name, try to get a reaction out of her, but she couldn't fold. Amalia had to stay strong. She had to.
The door to the dark prison cell creaked open slowly, and a figure stood silhouetted in the doorway. Amalia couldn't see his face through the cell's dark shadows. The man walked closer, and two imperial knights stood in the doorway, blocking the exit. As he approached, Amalia saw his face at last. Long black hair covered one side of his face, almost charming in a terrifying sort of way. It was Vayne, the Empire's appointed ruler over Rabanastre. But he had no right to rule that city.
"You…" Amalia hissed under her breath. She managed to mask the whimper of fear in of her voice with loathing. The moment Vayne knew she was afraid, he would have the advantage over her, and she couldn't let that happen.
"Amalia…" Vayne stared down at her where she sat on the cell floor, a sickly-sweet smile on his face. "That is the name you gave us. Is that your real name?"
Amalia didn't say anything, didn't move, just stared up at Vayne with contempt in her eyes, trying not to look scared. Why would Vayne himself be here to question her? Was the Empire that sure of who they had caught?
Vayne knelt down on the cell floor to get eye level with Amalia.
"Let's be reasonable," Vayne said, his voice taking on almost a friendly tone. "Just tell us the truth, and we'll be able to let you out. Who are you, really, Amalia?"
Amalia shut her eyes against the sight of Vayne's feigned friendliness. She couldn't let him get to her, and most of all, she could never tell them.
"Hm? I'm waiting," Vayne said.
"I'll never tell you!" Amalia fired back. Vayne let out a sigh.
"But I think you will, won't you?" That smile crossed Vayne's face again. "Princess Ashe?"
Amalia shut her eyes again, fearing something there would give the truth away. She was Amalia. She had to be, now. The Empire couldn't know who she really was, that she was still alive. As long as she didn't give them any proof, then they couldn't use her. Right?
Vayne let out a disturbing chuckle. "My request is very simple. Once your survival is made known, I only ask that you… aid me in the ruling of Dalmasca. The people will listen if their beloved Princess Ashe tells them to keep the peace."
Ashe's eyes snapped open again. The Empire's puppet? Those who killed her father, her husband, who laid waste to her kingdom… The very thought was revolting.
"I'll never help the Empire!" Ashe shouted back at Vayne. There was no use denying her identity now. Clearly, Vayne already knew.
"If you should choose not to lend us your aid, and bring peace to your kingdom," Vayne said, "then we have no further use for you. Those who refuse Archadia what is her due meet a very unpleasant end, I will warn."
"I'll never help the Empire…" Ashe's voice crumbled to a whimper at the end, trailing off on what were supposed to be strong and defiant words. Her brave front had finally collapsed, leaving her weak and vulnerable. She just wished that Vayne would leave her alone, all alone in the shadows once more.
Vayne stood, turning back to his two knights.
"Make preparations to send her with Judge Ghis," Vayne said. "Perhaps he will make her see sense."
Then they all exited the dark, lonely cell, leaving Ashe alone. They knew who she was. She had failed.

…

That morning Balthier, Fran, Vaan, and Basch set off early with renewed strength. They had to fight off a few more wolves, but nothing deadly. They had to stop briefly at noontime when the sun got too high, and they took that opportunity to raid the nearby cacti for more water. The trek over the desert was hard, but well worth it when Rabanastre came into view. Sometime in the afternoon, the four travelers finally arrived at Rabanastre's east gate.
"We're here!" Vaan said, relief plain on his face. "We really made it!"
"Of course we did," Balthier said. "Was there ever any doubt?"
"I'm afraid we part ways here," Basch said, taking a few paces towards the gate. "I've many things that need my attention. I hope to find the resistance based in this city and offer them my aid."
"They may still think you're a traitor, you know," Balthier said. "The people of this city certainly do. I'd avoid crowds if I were you."
Basch nodded, then turned to the whole group. "Thank you all for your assistance. I am in your debt."
With that, Basch turned and walked away towards the gate, back into the grand city of Rabanastre. Balthier turned to Vaan.
"Remember, you're a fugitive now, too, Vaan," he said. "It'd be wise to lay low for a while."
"Yeah." Vaan nodded. "I'll do that."
"Well then," Balthier said, turning towards the gate. "Farewell, Thief."
"Wait! You're leaving?" Vaan asked, eyes widening in alarm.
"Yes," Balthier replied. He really hoped the kid wasn't going to make a big deal out of this.
"But… But…" Vaan floundered a moment. "What about the stone?" He pulled the Dusk Shard from his pocket and held it out. Its glow was faint in the afternoon light. "Don't you still want it?"
"Are you offering it?" Balthier asked.
"No." Vaan pulled the stone back against his chest.
Balthier rolled his eyes. "Then why even ask? Come on," he said to Fran, then started off towards the gate. Fran nodded. She turned to Vaan.
"We stay in Rabanastre a while," she said, then followed.
"Um, thanks!" Vaan shouted after them. "For everything!"
And then Balthier and Fran were through the gate, back into the city. Balthier felt a little guilty about leaving Vaan like that, but what else was he going to do?
The streets of Rabanastre were the same as ever, people bustling to and fro, the sun glaring down in its harsh, desert heat, that fountain ringed with red flowers Strahl had spotted from the air all those days ago sitting at the top of a flight of stairs.
Strahl. She wouldn't be too pleased if Balthier didn't come and tell her he was back safe and sound. Besides, he wanted to make sure she was still there and YPA hadn't shipped her back off to the labs. More than once he'd arrived back in a town to learn she'd been identified and a couple of people from YPA were already on their way to confirm. Since Balthier had been caught in that city, it was more than likely the authorities had started searching for Strahl at that aerodrome.
"What will we do now?" Fran asked, pulling Balthier out of his thoughts.
"I'm going to swing by the aerodrome," he replied. "Why don't you book us some rooms at the inn? We'll discuss plans in the morning." That would give Balthier plenty of time to work out how to tell Fran his plans.
"Alright." Fran nodded, then started off down the street towards the inn. Balthier took a different road headed for the aerodrome. Hopefully, Strahl would still be there.

The attendance at the aerodrome let Balthier into the hanger who no hassle, so it was likely they had no doubts that the airship in question belonged to him. That was a good sign. Inside the hanger, a massive airship, white and gold and navy blue, lay at anchor. Balthier had barely stepped through the door when Strahl's voice greeted him.
"Balthier!" Strahl's voice was filled with relief. "You're okay! Oh, thank goodness. You've been gone for days! Where's Fran? Not to mention your new friend."
"Fran's at the inn," Balthier replied, deciding not to mention Vaan. The kid wasn't his responsibility anymore. "What about you? No one from YPA's shown up, right?"
"No," Strahl replied. "That's only ever happened twice, you know. In two years. You really don't need to worry about me so much."
"I could say the same to you," Balthier replied.
"Fair enough," Strahl said. "So, where are we off to now?"
Balthier let out a sigh. That was one difficult to answer question.
"I think something's going on, Strahl," Balthier said. "Something in the Empire. Well…"
It was a long story, when he sat down and told it out. Meeting Vaan in the palace, that woman Amalia in the sewers, escaping from Nalbina and rescuing Basch in the process, Balthier's baffling conversation with Fran in the Passage, the trek across the Estersand, the conspiracy within the Empire. All the while, Strahl was mostly silent. Just listening was something she did well, a lot better than Balthier himself. A lot better than she did back when he first met her.
"So… you're ready to go back?" Strahl said when the story was over.
"Well, I don't think this will lead us to Archades," Balthier said. "At least, not now. But… I've ignored this for too long. Ignoring is why I failed two years ago. It's time I actually did something."
Strahl was trying and failing to hide the smile growing in her mind.
"What is it?" Balthier asked. He didn't think there was anything grin-worthy about all this.
"I'm proud of you!" Strahl said simply. "You're not closing your eyes to the truth anymore."
Balthier scoffed. "I'm not so blind as to miss that glaring lesson."
"Well, I'm glad," Strahl said. "And I think diving back in to finish what you started is an excellent idea! I support you one hundred percent! I'd help, but…"
"You are a help," Balthier said. "How else am I going to get around?"
Strahl let out a chuckle, giving a mental shake of the head. "Yeah, yeah, I'm a fine mode of transportation. I won't argue there. So, when do we leave?"
"Tomorrow," Balthier said without hesitation. "We leave tomorrow."
"Any idea where we're headed?" Strahl asked. "And have you told Fran all this yet?"
"I'll work on that tonight and tomorrow morning," Balthier replied. "But we'll leave tomorrow. I'm not waiting any longer. I'll do something. Hopefully, whatever that is will make itself clearer as time goes on."