"Hey, you sure this rabbit hole's really the way to Archades?" Vaan asks, spinning around to stare at every odd angle of the cavern we've entered. I stretch my aching arms over my head before crossing them with a shudder. Balthier steps up behind me, resting his hands on his hips.
"Better a hare unseen than a rat in a trap," he muses. He turns to the boy, shrugging. "Then again, if you'd prefer to go knocking on the front gates of the city, be my guest." Green eyes flit toward me. "Though, I wouldn't advise doing such a thing with two Royal Highness's in our midst."
"Aw, I thought you'd like to see me kick some Imperial ass at the gates," I pout, winking at Penelo when she giggles. Her smile falls in mere moments.
"But what about once we're inside? Won't they at least recognize Shae? The city watch'll find us."
"We'll do what we can to blend into the crowd," Ashe reassures her. "Our names may be notorious, but our faces are not far-known. Most of them, anyway."
"I can't help that this is where we're going!" I protest, rolling my eyes.
"True, true," Vaan nods. "Ashe is our princess, and we didn't even recognize her."
"I noticed," Ashe mutters.
Vaan turns to me with hope gleaming in his gray eyes. "How long's it been since you left? Maybe they won't recognize you either."
"Six years," I reply, sighing.
"It's been a long time, then!" he cheers, grinning. Balthier sighs, shaking his head.
"Yes, but..." He sighs, glancing at me. "How to word this? Shae has quite the... unique face, hard to forget."
"Unique?" I retort, raising an eyebrow.
"Distinguished," he shrugs. "You were the idol of Archades, were you not? An upheld standard of beauty, even with your distinct differences to the rest of House Solidor. To me, at least, you look practically the same, if not even more likely to leave a striking impression."
"... Was that a really long, round-about way to call Shae pretty?" Penelo giggles.
"I was merely stating facts," Balthier replies a bit sharply, turning to face the rest of the cavern and scratching at the back of his neck. I laugh, shaking my head. Striking.
I stare up at the looming buildings and speeding buses in the distance, a shudder rippling down my spine and goosebumps coating every inch of my skin. Even being here in the home of the lowest of the low... It brings back a flood of memories I'd rather not remember. Balthier yawns, stretching his arms over his head. Basch and Ashe step out of the elevator chamber, the last to leave the end of the cave we cleared to get here.
A smile plays on Balthier's lips and it makes me uneasy. After all, all I've done since the Phon Coast is wonder why he never answered our cries for help. Why he turned his back on a brother who never truly wronged him. Had he been in such danger, I've no doubt that Dern and I would have dropped all we were doing and pursued him until he was set free and recovering in safety. I shake my head; there's no use in thinking on things I can't change, I suppose. Though, I can't help but wonder... Does he regret it?
"Whoa!" Vaan cries, sitting on the edge of a rundown stone porch rail. "It smells less like a capital and more like a sewer."
"Even empires have need of sewers," Balthier replies, sticking his thumbs through his belt loops. "The runoff from Archades proper pools here: those who lack papers to live in the city itself."
"The mighty who have fallen, and the fallen who would be mighty," I muse, stepping further into the street. "Their eyes never leave Archades."
"I guess it must be a lot nicer than this place."
"Oh, to be sure," Balthier nods. "Archades reeks of a different filth."
"Come on," I tease, nudging my shoulder against his. "It's not too bad if you remove a select group of people at its head."
"Whatever pleases you to believe," he sighs. "Let's be off!" The others start to gather around us, waiting as the pirate's eyes turn up to the city looming in the distance. "We can follow our noses to Draklor."
We start our walk into the slums of Old Archades, earning the bitter glares of the less fortunate and the suspicious stares of hardworking men and mothers. I duck my head down upon Basch's suggestion, hiding behind the shorter strands of my hair that always pull free from my braid. All too soon, I hear whispers and see a group of older women pointing at me. Upon seeing my full face when I move to look at them, their eyes go wide and I cringe, moving closer to Fran's back in an attempt to hide.
"I don't like this," Vaan mutters uneasily. "They're staring at us like they know something we don't."
"Our appearances?" Ashe suggests, though she notices a young woman whose eyes are locked on me with her face as pale as a freshly pressed linen sheet.
"Far from us," Balthier grumbles, stopping and glancing toward a beggar to his right. Sighing, he plucks three gold coins from his pocket and drops them in the blind man's tin cup. "I apologize, but I'll be needing these." With that, he plucks a pair of dark glasses similar to Al-Cid's off the man's face and hands them to me.
"What's this?!" the man demands, scowling.
"Hm?" Balthier replies boredly. "I suggest you keep your mouth closed or I'll let the entire populace know you can see. You know, miracles and all that riff-raff."
"What...?!" the man sputters. Defeated, he falls back into his old seat, staring into nothing once more to play the part of a blind beggar. Sighing, I swipe a smudge of some dark oily substance off the shades and slide them on over my eyes.
"I know it's not the best disguise, but it's better than nothing," Balthier murmurs, turning to face forward once more. "Just remember—you're blind now. Someone needs to guide you."
"Vaan?" I huff, screwing my eyes shut and clutching the boy's hand. He stifles a laugh as I stumble along, refusing to open my eyes for fear of breaking character. In order to play the blind man's part, you first must become as close to the real thing as possible.
"Excuse us!"
"Pardon her!
"We're terribly sorry, it's just my friend here..."
They must be trying to push my every button. I clutch Vaan's hand tightly, a warning to my irritation. He only mocks me further, knocking me into people and apologizing for my impediment. Let's hope no one asks for our names. I stumble again and Balthier makes a comment about how I play my role far too well. I scoff. Why are there so many stairs?
"The entrance should be up this way..." our Leading Man starts, his voice trailing off as quickly as it came.
"Entering the capital?" someone asks in a gruff voice. I peel an eye open to see a pair of Imperial officers standing at the top of a set of stairs. "Have credentials?"
"N-not exactly—" Vaan starts.
"Then away with you!" the guard cries. "Get back, lowlife. You can't come in without the right information."
Sighing, the boy tugs on my arm and pulls me after him. We move to regroup behind a building nearby, out of the Imperials' sights. I open my eyes, lifting the shades onto my forehead upon seeing no one else around us. Sighing I cross my arms and turn to speak to Ashe when a voice breaks through our silence.
"Well, well, well... there's a sight for sore eyes. Didn't think I'd be seeing you again. Not here."
"Oh wonderful," Balthier scoffs, turning to the shadows beneath the building beside us. "Enter the streetear." A man in ragged green and yellow clothing steps into the light, chuckling and twisting the bangle on his wrist. My eyes narrow on his oddly familiar face.
"A pirate would do well to smile. Wouldn't want to sour his reputation." He walks toward us, Balthier crossing his arms with a scowl. Why do I recognize him...?
"You know this guy?" Vaan asks, frowning.
"An old... friend. He's a streetear—a peddler of rumor and hearsay, by the name of—"
"Jules!" I blurt the word the same time Balthier says it, earning a curious look. Basch sighs, scratching at his thick blonde hair.
"It seems as though you both have far more connections than you originally thought."
"Unfortunately," I huff, resting my hands on my hips. "He'd bite a gil given to him by his mother, and shave it in half to pay for her funeral."
"Sometimes an ear with tight purse string's the order of the day," Jules shrugs, turning back to flash an unsightly smile. "Like when a pirate decides he fancies going up in the world."
"To the city?" Vaan asks, cocking his head to the side. "You know a way?" Jules swivels around.
"In Archades, knowledge is power. And power has a way of opening doors, boy. Now, a fool will buy a sack of feathers for his pillow, but a wise man..." He cackles, shaking his greasy black hair out of his dark eyes. "He'll buy the whole stinking cockatrice and get his fill of meat into the bargain." Jules holds out a hand winking at Vaan. "So, wise man, how does fifteen hundred gil sound?"
"What?! No way!" Vaan cries, stepping back defensively and shaking his head.
"You would do well to learn the ways of the world, boy, lest the world have its way with you."
"No one's having their way with anyone," I snap, nudging my way around the boy. "Where's Jonan?"
"I'd deny knowing the name, dearest, but I've the inclination that we've met before," Jules replies with a sneer, crossing his arms. "Tell me: who are you again? Shae the sky pirate? No, that's merely a façade." He paces past me, turning back on his heels to flash a disgusting grin. "Ah, that's it. Lady Shera Castean Solidor—I give you my deepest apologies." He bows clumsily and I grit my teeth, fighting the urge to push him face-first into the mud.
"Quit the antics," I demand, crossing my arms. "I'll only ask once more: where is Jonan?"
"Need I remind you that Imperial guards, issued by Vayne himself, are just around the corner?" Jules shrugs, though a sickening smile twists up onto his dry lips. "Pay the fee and get your answers or I cry wolf."
"Now you've done it," Balthier sighs, turning his irritated glare to me. I huff, sulking. How was I supposed to know he'd do that?
"Fine," Vaan mutters, turning to Basch and gathering the coin necessary. He jerks his hand away from the sleazy man's touch after handing over the payment, cringing.
"Bright boy," Jules murmurs, counting the coin in his hands before tucking it away. "You learn fast. I call this meeting to order. Heard any rumors in town?"
"Actually, I did hear about a man who picked a bag of coins out of a barrel," Vaan replies.
"Bags in barrels, eh...? A boy would do well to bring that morsel to a man named Beasley near here. Tell him what you've heard."
"I'll go with you," Penelo offers, rushing up to Vaan's side and taking hold of his elbow. Vaan nods and they take off in search of the man named Beasley. They're street urchins—they should have no difficulties in soaking up some information from the rest of the beggars and lowlifes.
"Jules," I say sharply, catching the man's attention. He rolls his dark eyes with a slight smile. "Jonan. Where is he?"
"Somewhere inside the city," Jules shrugs. "Boy's probably at a bar surrounded by empty bottles." That crooked grin crosses his face once more and his dark eyebrow arches. "What's the problem, Princess? Lookin' to pay up?"
"I've already paid my dues," I scoff, crossing my arms uncomfortably. "You just tend to know what he's up to."
"Ah, so you're starting to care then? You know, the foolish boy's quite fond of you."
"He's fond when I haven't paid," I snap, ending the conversation. Surrounded by empty bottles... That does seem to be where he finds himself these days. Always near a tavern... I shake my head, pressing my back to the stone wall and shuddering.
"I ruined his life early on. He's both vengeful and a bit screwed in the head."
"You say you ruined his life. What exactly does that entail?"
"... Getting his father killed by the imperial army and then letting him be tortured for information he didn't have for a year. He was twelve and I was reckless."
"I see."
But has it really come to this, Jonan? I sigh, turning away from Balthier's gaze and waiting impatiently for the orphans' return. Ashe and Basch look the most uncomfortable, caught by this unknown acquaintance of mine and Balthier's. Jules merely sits on the stone steps to my left, legs crossed and a bored look on his dirt-smudged face. The very man who caught sight of a vengeful boy and fed him lies to keep his pirating dream a fantasy on the horizon for so long...
The very same man who tricked Jonan over and over again until the boy had no choice but to wreak havoc on people's lives until he was a wanted criminal all across Ivalice at only eighteen. The same boy who hides in the bottom of a bottle and runs from his fate because he fears the bitter hatred and black death that hung as a cloud over my head for so long. Because he fears losing what he's so cheaply bought. I frown, closing my eyes and hitting my head against the stone wall behind me. Because, ironically enough, he's afraid of losing me.
"I see your mind's hard at work." I glance up to see Basch leaning against the wall beside me. "Is there something we should be worried about ahead?"
"No, it's nothing," I sigh, shaking my head. "Just thinking."
"About Jonan?"
"... How'd you know?"
"You seemed troubled upon receiving Jules's news," he replies simply, his blue eyes soft and amicable. "Is this young man a close friend of yours?"
"I... don't know," I huff. "I suppose we have a lot to despise each other for, but even in our worst moments, we've always come back to each other like old friends." I kick at the dirt uneasily. "Sometimes... I worry about him. He's holding the weight of the world on his shoulders—he never realized what he was getting himself into, and so now he's finding his own way to hide." I give a gentle, bitter laugh and nod toward Jules. "That scum bag's the very man who dragged him into this mess. It's bad enough that I ruined his life at it's very start, but still..."
My voice trails off and I shrug as if my words carried no weight. I want to crawl into the dilapidated house behind me and hide from my shame, from my anxious thoughts and jitters. But that would be a return to my oldest habit—running. Basch sighs, facing the princess across the patchy grass.
"It seems to me that you're the one with all the weight upon your shoulders."
"I'd like to think others have it worse."
"You've been on the run for far too long," he replies dryly, turning to look down at me. Balthier's been watching for a while now, listening, but now he speaks.
"I know you know that tale of my escape," he muses, finally looking at me. "Dern must have told you that much. But," he continues with a shrug, "would you care to share just how you did it?"
And so I do. I start from the very beginning, when Gramis brushed off the Senate and all tradition and had me upheld as any "pure-blooded" Solidor, despite my beginnings as the result of a hasty affair between a beautiful traveling merchant and an enchanted emperor. I explain how Vayne tricked me into murdering my two elder brothers, an execution meant for traitorous bastards. I smile as I speak of my first taste of freedom and meeting Dern for the first time and frown when I struggle through my rash actions at Bur Omisace. And I stop at Jonan's generous donation of gil that leaves me indebted today. Purposely, I don't tell much of Dern, and I don't go nearly far enough to explain what happened to him. Just enough tale-telling to lift my past from my back the slightest bit.
"I don't think I'll ever complain again," Vaan laughs nervously. He and Penelo returned about halfway through, standing back and listening with innocent ears. I shake my head, pulling my shades back down and forcing a smile.
"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm still doing just fine, so whine all you want to. I'll listen, at least."
"Should you ever find yourself in need of the throne's power, I'll be sure to spread this story in a bit more... precise manner," Jules chuckles, standing. He turns to face Vaan. "You told him just as I told you? Good boy!"
"I'm not sure what any of this has to do with going up in the world," Vaan admits flatly.
"Oh? Then you were too enraptured by Lady Solidor's tale to notice that the guards ran past mere minutes ago, hm?"
"What?!" he peers around the corner. "No way! They're gone!" He turns back to Jules, grinning. "Now's our chance! Thanks, Jules." He grabs Penelo's hand and drags her around the corner to the stairs, hurriedly, Ashe stands, brushes the dried grass from her legs, and hurries away with Basch.
"Never thought you'd go for such a meager price," Balthier comments, raising an eyebrow at Jules and fixing one of the cuffs on his shirt.
"A pirate should know that words are worth gil uncountable," the dirty man replies easily. "Here's some words for you: the prodigal Bunansa son's come back to the Imperial roost with the nation's betrayed princess at his side. See? Words of much value, these."
"Bah."
With that, Balthier turns on his heels and charges away, gripping my wrist and dragging me after him, likely in hopes that I don't stick around to discuss Jonan further. We head toward the steps leading up into Archades, catching up to the others. Balthier releases my arm at the last second, leaving me stumbling on the steps and catching myself with a wince.
"I'm blind, Balthier," I remind him, looking up with a teasing smile on my lips. The sky pirate scoffs, stepping back down to drag me to my feet and link my arm through his.
"Getting a little too into the part, aren't we?"
"That's all I'm good for, it seems," I laugh, forcing my worried thoughts far, far away. Jonan... Are you alright?