And we finally deviate from the plot a little bit!
Disclaimer: I don't own FFXII
Go to Storehouse Five. Go through the left door and into the Garamsythe Waterway. Navigate the maze-like waterway to a stairwell. Go up the stairs to the palace cellars.
Okay, that part was done. He found a basic map of the palace in a fancy green urn. Being who he was, Vaan shrugged and pocketed it. No doubt that it would come in handy tonight. The blue crystal in the corner healed all the weariness and the pain he'd accumulated in the Waterway.
"The signet yearns for sunstone's strength, to light the clouded way." In the Palace proper was the signet tile, using the powered Crescent Stone would guide him to the hidden door of the treasury.
Well a sympathetic and naive seeq had helped him get upstairs from the cellar. At least he was in the Palace. He'd ended up in a room full of Imperials. It was a simple thing for a thief of his his calibre to out-maneuver some lazy Imperials.
Although, getting lost was not part of his plan.
He stepped into a room that wasn't on his limited map. It looked like somebody's private chambers. He paused at the foot of the room's large bed. The coverlet looked very extravagant and comfortable, if dusty. There was a large, heavy, intricately carved wooden headboard, no footboard. The bed was not in the style of Rabanastre. Maybe a foreign dignitary had stayed here. Either way, this was not the treasury.
"I must have made a wrong turn somewhere. Where am I?"
A voice spoke from the shadows of the room. "You are in my bed chamber. I must admit that I am curious as to your reason. Nobody has stepped foot in here since the day of my entombment."
Vaan spun to face the direction that the voice had come from. He knew there hadn't been anyone in the room. No sounds of breathing or rustling of clothes or anyone adjusting their balance. Vaan knew those signs. They could mean his life if he missed them. So who was talking?
"Who's there?"
"I am." There was a sort of shimmer in the shadows before a foot stepped out of them. A bluish, slightly transparent foot. Followed by a body. A bluish, slightly transparent body.
... Okay, slightly creepy. Was this guy a ghost? Why was he here? By the look of his clothes and what he could make out of his colouring, he wasn't a Rabanastre native. On the other hand, he was wearing armour that was a mixture of Rabanastre's old order and some other country. Maybe he had been from an allied country and died fighting for King Raminas. Maybe not.
Maybe he'd been a spy. Or a deserter. What if this ghost was an enemy? What would this ghost do to him? Could ghosts even do anything? Either way, he'd prefer if the ghost was not an Imperial. A phrase he'd heard among secret groups came to mind. He'd managed to hear it running errands when he was younger. A good test. He watched the ghost's face. "To conquer or defend the kingdom is my ken."
The ghostly man's eyes lit up with mirth. "To the conqueror I deal death, I'll defend my kingdom to my last breath."
Vaan smiled at the correct response. "Okay, you're not an Imperial. Good."
He seemed confused. "Why would you suspect me of being an Imperial?"
"I'm not sure how long you've been dead, but the Empire is in control. The Lady Ashe killed herself after the death of her husband and the assassination of her father. There is the Resistance, but there's hardly a war anymore. No treaties have been signed but the battles have stopped. There is nothing to fight for. The Empire has taken everything. That's why I'm here; to give back to Rabanastre." He took a breath and looked at the ghost curiously. "Would you happen to know the way to the treasury?"
The ghost floated through the door with a grin.
The look on Vaan's face must have been priceless. He quickly but quietly followed the ghost. The corridor beyond the room was deserted but for the ghost and now Vaan. They headed back toward the main part of the Palace. In the well lit corridor, Vaan could tell the ghost was a young man - perhaps only a few years older than Vaan - when he'd died.
The ghost interrupted the companionable silence. "Aren't you a bit young to know the code of the old Order?"
Vaan wasn't offended. He knew that he didn't look old enough to have fought in the war. "I'm seventeen. My older brother was a soldier before he died. After that, I took to the streets. I was back in my place. We hadn't lived in that apartment for three seasons by the time Reks died. I'd grown up in Lowtown so I knew the streets. A kid can hear things if he knows where to listen."
"I see." He was quiet as they passed a corridor with a guard at the end. "In order to open the treasury, we'll have to activate the signet with a sunstone or something. I assume you brought one."
Vaan nodded. "Hey, ghost? Why are you helping me when you know so little about my motivations. I mean, I'm stealing from the Royal Treasury."
The ghost smirked at him. "I've been in the Palace since my death. I've heard the racket those Imperials make as they invade this, a fortress which should not have fallen. I agree with your statement that the Empire has taken everything. I am not a supporter of Archadian brutality. Anything that I can do in order to oppose the Empire will be done."
Vaan smiled. "Now I know what it's like to listen to me when I'm ranting about the Imperials." No more needed to be said.
The ghost showed Vaan the signet and watched at it was activated. It was extremely easy to get lost in the corridors of the Royal Palace. Vaan had proved that. Contrary to Vaan, the ghost apparently knew the floor plan very well. He expertly led Vaan through the halls, past soldiers, toward the elusive treasury.
When the duo arrived at the treasury, Vaan found himself disappointed. There was very little in the way of money or priceless jewelry that he could simply take with him.
The ghost grinned at the disheartened thief. "There is a large gold vase in the corner with a switch inside. The treasury is designed so that those few people not of noble blood that are trusted with the family's money can gain access to it with the aid of a switch."
Vaan looked inside each vase before he found the correct one. He reached inside the unnecessary display of wealth to flick the switch.
A wall slid back, revealing the gold and treasures that Vaan had expected. He filled a bag he had brought with some of the Gil surrounding him before he was distracted. He'd accidentally flicked another switch. His eyes were drawn to a statue of a beautiful woman on a raised dais. His eyes were not drawn to the beauty of the woman, but the beauty of the precious stone that the parting of her face had just revealed to him.
The ghost spoke again. Vaan was beginning to think of him as the voice of wisdom itself. "If you could take only one thing, make sure it's that stone. Of all the priceless artifacts and finery in this room, that stone is the one thing we truly cannot afford to lose to the Empire."
Vaan darted out to grab it. "So what's so special about this thing?"
"Well it-" The ghost abruptly went silent.
A man in fancy, expensive clothes strolled confidently into the room. "Quite a performance."