~2 years before~
"Another sweet success," I sigh, sinking back into my seat. The room, once merely a cabin with a rough-cut set of chairs and a wooden table, is decorated with lights, comfortable seating, and yellowed maps framed and hung on the smooth, paneled walls.
"Color me impressed, Sweetheart," Dern laughs, clinking his bottle of madhu to mine. Why use glasses when we'll finish the whole thing anyway? "I honestly couldn't see that deal working out well."
"Yeah," I reply softly, drowning a gulp of my drink. "Well."
~12 hours ago~
I duck behind a crumbled wall, taking a deep breath. All I need is the Dalmascan artifact. I pray the pirate staying here isn't all that aware of his surroundings. I only know he's young, alone, vulnerable. At least, the first two are true. The last… well, we'll see.
Creeping forward, I duck behind a trio of dry, cracked barrels. A fire crackles not too far away. The pirate is nowhere to be seen, which puts me on edge, but I know I'll sense when he's nearby. The golden figurine supposedly worth hundreds of thousands of gil should be in his camp somewhere. According to… sources, buried along the walls of these ruins he's camped in.
All clear. I scramble into the light, watching the sandy ground for inconsistency, kicking at the ground every few feet. I don't have enough time to cover my tracks. This is messy, so, so messy. But we need the money bad. The Castean's falling apart and we can't fly her anywhere but a one-way trip to an aerodrome for fixing. Frustrated, I turn sharply to check the perimeter only to crash into a wall of skin and bones.
"What're you up to?" a voice snarls, dangerously calm. I reach for my sword only for the man to shove me into the wall, bashing my skull against the firm rock and pulling my weapon away in my daze. "You sky pirates are getting sloppy."
"Keep your damn treasure then," I growl, glowering up at him through swimming vision. "I'll leave you alone." My head throbs relentlessly and something warm's trickling down the back of my neck. The young man clicks his tongue, smirking at me through nearly black bangs.
"The treasure was merely a lure, my dear," he replies, flashing a yellowed smile. "Though, I didn't think I'd be lucky enough to get a girl out here." He traces a stinking finger across my face. "Care to stay a bit longer?"
He leans his weight against me, crushing me to the wall. I spit into his face, kneeing his crotch as hard as I can. Grunting, he moves just enough for me to run away in a dizzy frenzy. There's an explosion of pain my back and I suppress a scream, forcing myself to keep running as another burst of heat and pain erupts next to the first bullet he put in my back. I'm choking on blood, listening to him cackle as I drag myself away.
Throwing myself into a rocky alcove, I search desperately for a potion or really anything to staunch the bleeding. That little bastard… I groan, cringing when the bullets buried in my flesh cut deeper with every movement. I can hear the boy calling me in that mocking voice, begging me to come out and play. I shut my eyes, feeling my head loll back and lean against the stone. Gods above…
There's a gunshot nearby and I half expect to feel searing heat tearing me down to the gates of Hades. But there's nothing but pure silence. What the…?
"I'll have you know you both owe me your life and a bullet."
"Who…?" I peel my eyes open to see eyes the color of the deep sea staring back at me, glittering both with rage and excitable energy. Eyes so familiar I find myself choking again. The boy kneels beside me, holding up an x-potion with a teasing smile, still as dazzling and bright as always. Now, though, it almost looks as if he's baring his teeth, holding back the urge to snap his jaws around my throat and tear me to pieces. If I were him, I would've killed the sea pirate just to I peel me apart bit by bit. He has every reason… But I already know what he's doing instead. "Jonan," I breathe, wincing when he presses a hand to a bleeding wound.
"I knew you didn't forget me," he replies, his voice light. Too light, like he's inhaled an entire ship and he's ready to fire the artillery at me any second now. His voice lowers and rage replaces the ship. "I knew you didn't forget my father."
"You know I would change it all if I could," I force out, spitting blood into the sand. Jonan shakes his head, sitting back on his heels. That potion still taunts me, glinting in the moonlight of the Westersand. "I never meant for anything to happen to either of you."
"You were a fool," he muses, cocking his head to the side. His shirt is white, ruffled but pulled tight over a slim form. His pants are just as tight, navy blue fading to the black of his ornate boots. Compared to the scrawny sailor's son he used to be, he's grown quite a bit of muscle. "Unfortunately, the foolish pay for their folly whether they knew the consequences beforehand or not."
"You got that ship, didn't you?" I ask, catching the slightest glint of metal just past his shadowy frame. "How old are you now?"
"Sixteen," he shrugs. Not one to let me change the subject too easily, he sneers. "Do you know what it's like to see Imperial soldiers trample your ramshackle home to blow your father's head off before your very eyes? Do you know what it's like to be tortured for information as a child because a runaway was reckless in her escape?" He presses a hand to the rock, right beside my head as he faces me head-on.
"Do you know what that's like, Shae? No, of course you don't. You didn't so much as apologize when I sent you that letter. You never lifted a finger to help me or my father other than throwing incriminating cash our way." He traces the edge of the glass bottle across my lips with narrowed eyes. "I should watch you bleed to death here. Instead, I've already stopped your matey and lent several hundred thousand gil for repairs and improvements. I might as well carry through, hm?"
"Jonan, take it back," I snap. "We don't need your money."
"Oh?" He raises an eyebrow, flicking long, sandy blonde hair out of his blue eyes. "I'm fully aware you don't. What I need is for you to owe me something so I can fairly make you pay for your crimes." He glares into my eyes, refusing to back down. "I suppose that much gil… you'd have to make monthly payments, hm? Big ones." He smiles that bright, boyish, innocent smile. "Unfortunately, I cannot put you through so much pain merely because Papa was brutally murdered in the case of your sloppiness." He opens the bottle, hooking a finger under my chin and forcing my head to tilt back. "Now, drink up, darling. You'll need your strength to earn enough money to pay me back."
Unable to disobey with my head swimming and my muscles useless, I swallow every drop of the shimmering blue liquid. I can feel my body closing its wounds almost immediately, boosted with a rush of liquid magick energy. Blinking the fog out of my eyes, I dare to ask Jonan my next question.
"What happens if I don't have the money for a monthly payment?"
"Oh," he laughs, throwing his head back to give out a loud, boyish giggle. He turns his attention back toward me, a curiously devilish look overtaking his eyes as he smirks. A cool finger traces along the curve of my jaw before he ducks his mouth down close to my ear, hot breath washing down my shoulder. "I always considered you a pretty one. I suppose you'll have to find ways to… hold me over until you have the money."
The Strahl looms overhead, anchored to the rocks below and floating where we left it. With a single press of a button, Balthier turns his ship purely invisible, earning shock and whispered wonder from Vaan and Penelo. Ashe huffs, turning to face Balthier.
"This 'come in handy' often?"
"It's tough being popular," Balthier replies, ignoring her tone. "Wouldn't want admirers dropping in while we're away." Fran nods, sighing as her partner relentlessly adjusts the cuffs on his shirt. "Well now, that's as far as she goes. We'll be in jagd from here onwards."
"Across the sandsea, to the Valley of the Dead. And to King Raithwall's tomb below," Ashe muses.
"So, when you're in jagd, skystones don't work at all." I turn to see Vaan explaining our reasons for walking to Penelo. "That's why we gotta hoof it the rest of the way, ya see?"
"Happy you get to teach me something for a change?" Penelo teases.
"Well, if you wanna be a sky pirate, you gotta know your—" His eyes flash as he suddenly processes her words. "Hey! What do you mean 'for a change'?!"
"C'mon, accept it!"
"At least we thought to bring entertainment," Balthier mutters.
"A whole circus, just for us," I scoff, brushing past Basch to stare out into the sandsea. "Just hope they stay outta my way." Ashe sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. I smile, turning back to shut the two kids up. "Y'know, Vaan, my ship had an installment that let it fly in jagd."
"What?!" the blonde races toward me, Balthier raising his eyebrows sharply.
"Do tell," he encourages. And the march across the desert starts.
"We had a space on our ship just for my partner and his knack for building things," I explain, scanning over the endless waves of golden sand as we walk. "Mostly, his inventions were unfeasible concoctions that did no good. The ideas were always there though." I can't help but smile, remembering Dern's face as he held out the big pile of augmented stones for the first time. "He developed a skystone that ignored the pressures and balances and rules of being in jagd. We went everywhere we wanted." I sigh, shaking my head and erasing his face from my mind before I'm overcome with anger.
"Wow," Vaan gushes, bouncing around me. "Did ya hear that, Pen? Someday, we could have a ship that flies in jagd!" He turns to me. "Hey, your partner. It's gotta be a sensitive subject, I know, but is he still, uh, around? May we could get some from him later on."
"No," I shake my head, fighting the feelings of suffocation at the entire party's stares. Of being studied by six people at once. "He's buried outside the Castean."
That shuts the orphans up—for a little while, at least. We come up over a ridge in the sand, emerging from a short, contained corridor of rocky cliffs. The view steals my breath away just as it did the first time I saw this. Past the dried, hardened ground crashes golden waves of liquid sand, glittering and rolling in the beating sunlight.
Awed, Vaan kneels at the edge of the sand sea, scooping up a palm full of warm, golden sand. The grains flow off his hand like liquid and the boy takes a deep breath, staring out across the water. It's like he's seeing the world for the very first time. I soak in the grin that spreads across his youthful face. Perhaps he is.
"Vaan!" Penelo calls, waving an arm over her head and drawing him back toward the main group.
"We should rest," Balthier says, turning to Ashe. She frowns but she doesn't object, instead watching Basch climb up to higher ground.
Vaan laughs and I turn to see him perched in a tree. He shakes a branch and three coconuts topple down one at a time. Proud, he jumps down and tosses one toward me. I catch the dark fruit with a wince and raise an eyebrow at the boy.
"Take half of that to Pen, will you?" he grins, cocking his head to the side.
"And how do you suppose I open it?"
Wordlessly, Fran snatches the coconut from my grasp and drops it onto the sandy ground. Before I can react, she raises her bow and strikes the pointed end into the side of the waiting fruit. She picks it up and digs her nails into the hole, ripping the nut apart with her bare hands and handing it back. I stare back at her silently.
"Most impressive, Fran," Balthier chuckles with a slow clap, gauging my reaction.
"Thanks," I mutter, taking the two halves and finding my way up to Basch and Penelo. Taking a sip from the rough edge of one side, I hand the other to the blonde girl as she speaks to the knight.
"So, where exactly is Raithwall's tomb?" She eyes Basch curiously as she nibbles on the fleshy white coconut waiting in her tanned hands.
"Far to the west. 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."
"Dalmasca isn't all that large," I point out, taking another sip of the watery substance inside my half of the coconut. I honestly can't decide whether I like it or not.
"That may be so, but we must pace ourselves," he continues, turning to face us. "If you grow tired, we stop and take rest."
"You don't have to worry about me," Penelo smiles, chewing another bite of coconut. "I'm tougher than I look."
"You are," Basch laughs, looking at me. "And how should a sky pirate fare on her own two legs?"
"You seem to forget that I have my own two legs whether I'm in the sky or on the ground," I tease, grinning. "I should be fine. I've been without a ship enough times to know the basics of survival."
"Good," he nods. I offer my half of the coconut, raising an eyebrow.
"You've got to stay hydrated, old man."
"Old man," he repeats under his breath. "I've my own water, but thank you. Keep your own strength up."
"You say that as if my strength has failed you," I scoff, dumping the rest of the coconut water onto the sand and taking a bite of the inside. Basch shakes his head, walking past me.
"Is it so unreasonable to suspect that it might, sky pirate?"
"You certainly had no problem with my occupation when we escaped Nalbina," I point, grinning like a fool and following like an irritating child.
"I had no idea the Fates would press us together again," he replies dryly, approaching Ashe. Balthier and Fran watch the scene with amusement carved into their faces as they rest under the shade of a sun-toasted palm tree.
"Yes, the exact same Fates that drew us together to begin with. Am I wrong?" I cock my head to the side, earning an arched eyebrow from the princess.
"Are you finished bickering?"
"Bossy one, aren't you?" I fire back, waltzing around her dramatically, coconut shell balanced on two fingers over her head. "What say I let you take a quick nap, hm? Might refresh that attitude of yours."
"Enough," Basch sighs, shaking his head and staring dead ahead at Balthier. "I was under the impression we brought only two children."
"I suppose I was wrong," Balthier shrugs, getting to his feet and staring up into the sky wistfully. A small, mischievous smile tugs at the corner of his lips. "A rare occurrence for the leading man, mind you. Relish in it while you can."
"Relish in it once we've arrived," Ashe snaps, drawing her sword.
"You're my hostage, are you not?" Balthier raises an eyebrow, languidly crossing the sandy ground to stand by her. "I believe that means you follow my direction—in most cases, anyway."
"Let's just twist the story a bit and say this princess turned the roles around. You follow her orders now, hm?" I rest an elbow on Ashe's shoulder, earning a look of disgust from said princess. "You can't stop a princess from doing what she has to do, Sir Leading Man."
"That's Lord Leading Man to you," Balthier retorts, standing uncomfortably close to tower over me, smirking. "You know something of princesses?"
"I know something of this one," I reply, motioning toward Ashe and stubbornly refusing to lose the deadly battle of eye contact between the two of us. Green irises stab into my vision, swimming with all sorts of traps and secret passages to explore. A river to the floodgates of mystery.
"I do believe this princess is the most difficult hostage we've ever held, Fran," Balthier says lazily, looking past me toward the viera. I roll my eyes, backing away.
"I do not recall any hostages," comes his slightly confused and annoyed reply.
"Of course not," I reply sweetly, giving an extra swing to my hips as I walk away. "You were probably too busy nibbling on baby carrots to notice Balthier's new playthings."
Vaan rolls on the bank and clutches his sides, howling with laughter as I yelp and leap away from a sharp spray of sand. The glint of a silver-tipped arrow grins back at me from the ground.