Notes and Such – I am currently editing all my chapters in hopes of catching any grammar/minor plot holes I might have allowed to slip through. This chapter has now been edited and is ready for your reading pleasure.
Act four –
The ship gave a gentle sway, moving with effortless grace in to the docking area.
Overhead, the starry sky slid away under the massive metallic ceiling of the aerodrome. Below on the deck, the pair of sky goers sat facing each other. For a few terse moments neither spoke. It was Balthier who broke the silence first.
"What crystal?" He asked again. The words were simple enough – the emotions behind them were not and even with Balthier's cool control, he couldn't keep a sharp edge from filling his voice. It was less a question and more of a demand.
Penelo looked away, unable to meet his challenging stare. "Vaan and I were just about to bring the ship around to port, it was about sunset." She started, slowly.
"Then, out of the sky there was a streak of light, like a shooting star. It shot down past the cabin window. Whatever it was, it looked like it might hit the deck so Vaan and I went out and I found this crystal." Penelo took a deep breath, her own mind still frantically trying to piece the events together. "I could tell it was an Esper license but something about it seemed wrong. And then when I touched it, there was this blinding light and you appeared-."
"I've heard enough." Interrupted Balthier, his voice was not pleased. He got to his feet, dusting off his spotless clothing. "Shouldn't you be getting this ship ready to port?"
That was the last thing Penelo had expected to hear and it took her a minute to register the quick topic change and equally quick dismissal. It was true, as the navigator, she should have been up in the control room making sure the engines shut off and cooled correctly but –
"Balthier, I think maybe we should talk about what's happened! The docking can wait-."
"And while you're at it," the man continued as if he hadn't heard her, "I'll need you to patch me through to the Strahl. I must speak with Fran and see about getting my ship here with all due haste. Nothing past that is of great consequence right now." He brushed past her towards the cabin, stopping only long enough to call over his shoulder. "Better get a move on."
A few minutes later, Balthier stood behind the confused navigator as she punched in the call code he had told her. The engines were still running, causing the noise from the ship's engine to reverberate off the metal docking bay. Over the noise, Penelo voiced her objections for a second time. "Balthier, I think, maybe, you should listen to what happened with the Esper crystal-."
"Enough with this 'Esper' nonsense! What you saw was the trickery of an old man with far too much time on his hands and not enough sense to stay dead. Nothing more."
Biting her lower lip and letting the rest of her objections die unsaid, Penelo finished linking to the Strahl. The video screen before them blinked blue as they waited for the other end to pick up the call. They didn't have to wait long. A heartbeat later, a familiar face jumped to life on the screen.
Penelo blinked at the image before her.
A few white wisps' of hair had managed to free themselves from the tight ponytail, framing an angular face in a soft cascade. Her usually flawless skin showed a slight darkening under large scarlet eyes. There was a tightness around her lips that Penelo had never seen before and finally it dawned on Penelo what was wrong with the picture. Fran looked tired. Never, in all their travels, had the Viera ever shown signs of fatigue.
"Yes?" Came the melodious greeting. The loss of sleep had apparently not affected her voice, which rang clear but impatient.
"Fran," Balthier said, coming to stand next to Penelo so as better to command Fran's full attention. The irritation that had been so evident in his voice had been replaced with a commanding authority, "It's good to see that the Strahl is undamaged. What is your curren-."
The Viera spoke over her captain, "If you've a mind to, speak Penelo. I have many errands and not time enough for silent stares."
"M-me?" Penelo blanched, shooting an uneasy glance at the man fuming beside her.
Balthier shot her an annoyed glance. "Fran," he tried again, moving closer to the screen. "Can you hear me?"
"Are you all right?" Fran asked with honest concern, taking Penelo's strange behavior to be a sign of trouble.
"Fran!" Balthier demanded but nothing he said seemed able to draw his partner's eyes to acknowledge him.
Unsure of what to do, Penelo answered Fran, her confusion evident in her rushed tones, "Balthier…"
The Viera's tired gaze flashed with immediate curiosity. "What news have you?"
"News?" Penelo's brow furled in bewilderment. Turning to the man next to her, she implored, "About what? Can't you-."
The young man motioned for her silence, watching the screen with a single minded focus.
"Hold a moment." Balthier ordered to Penelo, wanting to see what Fran was about to say.
"He is missing." Fran continued, "Lost in Burjeba when I went to gather much needed supplies for the Strahl." Fran watched Penelo as she spoke, gaging the effect of her words. "When I returned to the ship, it reeked of the Mist and magic's best left forgotten. Looked long I have to no avail for the missing captain. Strange then, that you mention him now."
Before Penelo could answer Fran's suspicion, Balthier moved to try and shut off the screen. He wasn't too surprised when he found he could feel the switch but was unable to affect it. All of his efforts to flip it off simply resulted in his extended fingers passing briefly against and then through the metal extension.
"Damn it." He muttered under his breath. A few things were starting to click in to place with startlingly clarity. One thing was certain, there were too many unanswered questions. It left him feeling off center and out of control of events. That wasn't something he would tolerate.
All right, think clearly now, no time for panic. I need to get this straighten out before carelessly dragging others in to this stratagem of my father's. Time to think and answers are what I need; more bewildered company, he stole a glance at Penelo, I can do without.
Without looking back at Fran's careworn face, he signaled to the screen with a careless wave of his hand.
"Shut it off."
You'll have to forgive me Fran. Had you still been on the ship, I shudder to think what my father might have done to you to get to me. I can't abide the thought of you coming to harm. I need time.
…And a bit of breathing space wouldn't hurt.
Seeing Penelo hesitate, Balthier sighed. "Say nothing more to her Penelo. Shut it off." He ordered again.
"I'm sorry Fran!" Penelo blurted off before switching the screen to a blank blue. The dazed young woman spun her chair to face Balthier. "Why? Fran can help! She knows more about the Mist than I do and you heard her! She's worried about you!"
"Fran's a big girl; she can take care of herself. It will be true madness when that stops being the case. Hmm." Pensively, the pirate gazed out the window to the confining docking bay. "I believe a change in venue is in order. Turn the ship back to the skies, we leave at once." His voice was unyielding - this was a captain use to be obeyed with haste and without question.
"Leave?" Once again, Penelo found herself caught off guard by the pirate's unforeseen actions and words. More and more, old memories and feelings were resurfacing from their time spent together years ago.
In her own nostalgia, Penelo recalled Balthier as strong and uncompromising on the battle field. A brilliant tactician who was slow to venture personal information but quick with invaluable advice when it was needed the most.
Unlike most leaders, stubborn with the pride of leading, Balthier was content to let the others take the charge, even those of the party that lacked the worldly knowledge and fighting skills he was graced with.
He was a self proclaimed leading man, but to Penelo, he was one that needed no lime light to shine. In memory, she had built him up as the model of everything a sky pirate should be. Ruthless without being careless. Courageous without being headstrong. Intelligent without being overbearing to his crew.
The memories of him and Fran had greatly influenced the young woman's actions. She often used lessons she had learned from the pair when Vaan managed to get them in over their heads - which was all too often.
What she had chosen to forget and was now becoming clear to her, was what that same inflexible spirit was like when circumstance demanded that he turn it towards his fellow adventures. Once set on a course of action, he wasn't to be dissuaded. He had often locked horns with Ashe, who felt due to birth rights alone, all leadership decisions should be given to her. The charming pirate, time and again, turned aside Ashe's temper, always seeming to play events in his favor.
The past few years of dealing with Vaan –who always deferred to Penelo's judgment in the end, no matter how much he might complain about it - had made her ill prepared to deal with a man so confident and assured of his actions.
No, Penelo's memories were quickly paling in comparison to the real deal.
"Leave to where?" She finally asked with caution.
Balthier sighed, resting one of his hands on his hips as he spoke. "I have a plan and by unforeseen technicalities, it would seem I have to impose on your company. I appear to be less than visible to anyone else." He dismissed her concerned tone with a smile. "Worry not, I'll see to it that no harm comes to you."
Penelo gave the pirate a searching look. "That isn't what worries me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Instinctively, she trusted that if Balthier said he had a plan, then despite her misgivings, it would be best if she followed it. Besides, she thought, I can't really offer any better suggestions right now.
"Alright." Nodding slowly, Penelo reached back to the com screen and dialed the dock master.
"Could you get Captain Vaan for me please, he should be checking in down there?"
..
"Captain Vaan?"
The boastful blonde turned to the man addressing him, hands tucked behind his head.
The handful of girls, passengers on various ships awaiting their departure in the aerodrome terminal, exchanged giggles and exclamations of excitement. Whatever doubts they had about the cocky young man before them vanished as soon as the docking master had addressed him as 'Captain'. One of the more daring girls, a brunette with her lose hair flowing around a very young face, pushed forward from the others, gushing,
'You are a sky pirate!'
'Of course, I am.' Vaan acknowledged smugly. 'One of the greatest sky pirates to ever sail the skies of Ivalice.'
'Communication for you, sir.'
Vaan thumbed his nose, exhaling an overly dramatic sigh in a show of bravado. "Welp, I better go see what my crew needs. Probably more questions about our audience with Queen Ashe.' The excited murmurs started with renewed energy, just as Vaan knew it would. Smiling inside, but doing his best to keep a cool façade on the outside, Vaan moved to the central com desk.
His smile didn't last long.
..
"You've picked a fine time to stop listening to your elders. Stop struggling!" Balthier ordered as he caught her other hand in his – the hand that seconds ago had delivered a numbing slap to his cheek.
Oh yes, some sense of humor the gods have. Out of all the people to be able to touch me, why, oh why, did it have to be a fighter that –actually- slaps?
With an unexpected show of strength, Balthier forced her hands to begin putting the ship in reverse, backing it slowly but surely out of the docking bay they had just landed in.
"Balthier, you can't! This is Vaan's ship!" Penelo yelled, struggling to free her hands from his hold.
"I am aware. I need to borrow it."
"Borrowing without asking is stealing! You're stealing it!"
"Well, if you want to split hairs, technically you're stealing it." Balthier cocked an eyebrow. In half-hearted amusement, he forced one of her hands to wave to herself before placing it firmly back on the steering wheel. With his hands decisively cupped over hers, he spun the wheel around, turning the ship towards the beckoning sky.
"Balthier! Why can't we take Vaan? It's his ship! He has a right to know what's going on! We can't just leave him here!"
The pirate clicked his tongue. He never imagined to meet this much resistance from Penelo. Three years ago, she would have wisely followed his instructions without protest. He considered her as nearly understanding of his leadership, if not his motivations, as was Fran. Even accounting the fierce motherly protection she seemed to have towards Vaan, he hadn't actually expected for her to put up this much of a fight.
And to think the week had started so promisingly…
"Look!" Not willing to fight the young woman any longer and knowing that a willing passenger was worth more than a king's ransom – or at least a willing passenger he wouldn't be able to fly without – Balthier decided to give her as close to an explanation as his pride would let him
"I'm none to happy about the situation myself, but I need you to trust me, Penelo. That ludicrous father of mine in some way is greatly responsible for this madness. I misjudged his insanity once, or rather, I convinced myself his insanity was none my own to bear and I unwisely turned a blind eye to it. We all know how that business ended. However," He continued, "he seems to have gone through great lengths to make this particular brand of lunacy personal. If Fran can't see or hear me, it would be prudent to assume she probably isn't unique in that aspect. The how and why of it escapes me."
He felt the resistance against his grip lessen. Taking a deep breath, he continued:
"Until I know what it is my father is after, I can't afford to drag anyone else in to this. If you'd like to keep Vaan out of this mess and likely harm, you'd best do as I say. Well," He amended with a nonchalant shrug, 'unless the past three years have ironed out more of his rash, immature, impulsive and all round self serving traits?'
Silence.
'No? I hadn't thought so.' By the time he had finished speaking, he was doing little more than holding her hands in a gentle embrace - one he released as soon as he realized that to be the case.
"Trust me. We've been through far too much for you to act the distressed damsel now."
"I want to trust you, I mean, I do trust you, of course I do! But…but…" Like the sweetest of honey laced through bitter Dalmascan mead, her voice held a sudden reflective sadness that the pirate never would have thought possible from her.
"But you have to trust me too. I'm not a kid anymore, you know? If you didn't want Vaan involved, than you could have just explained it to me. I…I understand a lot more than you might think."
For a few tense heartbeats, neither person moved.
To his surprise, Penelo's fingers began a slow dance of well practice movements over the control panel, finishing the preparations for the take off.
In the heavy silence that followed, Balthier found it oddly hard to ignore the hurt that was practically radiating off the young girl. His understanding of her emotions went a step beyond the pirate's impressive observational skills.
It's almost as if I can feel what she's feeling. What an uncomfortable thought.
"I'll help you." She said finally. The words shattered the silence, demanding his attention for all their soft tones. Something in her voice forced Balthier to cast a sideways glance towards her. Where there had been sadness moments ago, there was now the unyielding beginnings of resolve.
"Though, as soon as we're air born, you have to tell me what's going on. Or as much as you can guess about what's going on." Eyes like the promise of a storm met his, unblinking. "If I don't like what I hear, I'm turning Vaan's ship back to port and we're asking for help - even if I have to fight you for every inch of sky."
Balthier nodded his consent with an easy smile, never doubting that if push came to shove, he'd need naught break a sweat against her to see his will carried through. "But of course. I'd not have it any other way." He answered in silky tones.
As if remembering herself now that the adrenaline was subsiding, Penelo looked away from his pleasantly accommodating stare, quickly busying herself as the ship launched out of the docking bay.
In the hush that followed, Balthier looked at Penelo, really looked at her, for the first time seeing past the memories of the girl from three years ago to see the young woman that now sat before him.
She handled the ship with unquestioned confidence, never faltering as it soared ever higher. Calculating eyes watched the dials and occasionally, delicate fingers would make a hairline adjustment to one of the knobs controlling vertical thrust.
Had he been anyone else, Balthier wouldn't have felt the tiny adjustments she made to aid the ships ascent – adjustments that were reducing the drag for a smoothness he couldn't help but admire. This wasn't something that could be taught. The way she handled the ship spoke of hard won experience. And the way she had stood up to him…
Vaan might have been the captain of this ship, but Balthier didn't doubt in the least that the boy would have been lost in more ways than one without his "navigator".
What have you been up to these past three years, my dear lady?
..
They flew through what little remained of the fading daylight, chasing the dying sun towards the hidden city of – Balthier's chosen destination.
"Why not Daklor laboratories? If you're father is behind this, he'd need resources, right? Wouldn't that be the best place to start looking for answers?"
The man regarded her with a look of passing interest. "I thought you kept correspondence with Larsa?"
"I do." She confirmed. "I write him as often as we make port."
"Odd. Perhaps he felt it not worth mentioning." Crossing his arms over his chest, Balthier stared at the distance horizon. "Were Cid to go there now, he'd not have a foot to stand on. Not a scrape remains of his personal research - freak accident involving a fire. Curious thing, the detectors didn't go off until after every last page had been committed to ash. Though, oddly, his personal effects were absent from the blaze." He hadn't meant to add that part, it came slipping from lose lips.
"You've been busy." She commented thoughtfully, correctly crediting the sky pirate's influence towards the measures taken. "You couldn't comprehend his actions, but you didn't hate him. I know what it's like. No matter how much you might want to, you can't truly forgive actions that you don't understand."
"You'd be wrong to think 'my actions' had anything to do with an ill founded nostalgia."
Still though -Perhaps she had imagined it, but for a brief moment, she thought she saw him smile, pleased with himself or with her for guessing correctly that he had taken his father's belongings, Penelo couldn't be sure. Like the misty clouds that burn away under the gaze of the sun, his smile was gone the second she noticed it.
Granted, it could have all been a flight of fantasy. It seemed Balthier had two smiles to share with anyone but Fran. One was mocking and the other self-depreciating. Penelo was so tired, she could easily be seeing things. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if she suddenly woke to find the events of last night were a fatigue induced dream.
Her aching behind told her otherwise.
The original plan, which now seemed a lifetime ago, had been to dock in Rabanastre and sleep at Migel's until the Queen was ready to see them the following morning.
She should have been asleep right now, warm and comfortable in the first real bed she'd slept in for far too long. The hanging cot in the crew quarters couldn't hold much weight against the soft chocobo mattresses and Dalamascan cotton sheets of her bed back home.
The stars that twinkled across the fresh blue-black night sky as the day seeped away would mark the second night she'd gone without sleep. Her limbs ached for sleep and her eyes felt thick with the need to rest.
Balthier had gone up on deck a while ago. Penelo guessed to look for traces of the crystal. In the weak hours of dawn, after leaving port far enough behind as not to worry about pursuit, they had exchanged stories.
Balthier had recalled the run in with his estranged father and Penelo, in as much detail as she could, explained again finding the crystal and all that had happened afterwards.
It's a good idea to go to Mt Bur-Omisace. I was afraid Balthier would have us trying to track down Cid. Her tired body shivered at the thought. Killing him once had been bad enough…
Her head jerked forward and she awoke with a start, unaware that'd she'd dozed off at the controls. Each time she fought off sleep, the worse its intoxicating pull was. Almost immediately, she felt her eyes closing again.
Well, Penelo, if you're going to take a quick nap, do it the right way. I know Balthier wants us to make good time but we'll never get there if I crash us in to the ocean. Sluggishly, her fingers flicked on the auto pilot. It wouldn't truly 'fly' the ship - rather, it would stay it in a low powered hover, keeping a constant check on their elevation.
The young blonde crossed her arms on top of the control panel and gratefully nestled her head against her folds of her elbows.
.
The troubled man watched the horizon, trying to take what little comfort he could in the feel of the cool sea breeze against his skin. However, it was no use.
His body was betraying him.
Every inch felt like as if he had been swaddled in thin leather, each touch against him was distant and muted. Pressure enough to know he had gripped the dock railing, but there was no answering cold in the metal against his palm.
Even the air he breathed, air that should have been alive with the taste of salt and sea, was empty of flavor and feel. Had he not witnessed the rise and fall of his own chest, he would have questioned if he was drawing breath at all.
"Thank goodness," he whispered out loud, "my hearing and vision are untouched. A fine way to ensure a slow decent in to madness, had those been muddled too."
..
"You seem troubled." He said, resting his hand lightly on the back of the Viera's navigation chair.
"Troubled? No."
"Not upset, surely? We've no need for the Espers any longer."
A long silence.
"In legend and in tale, always were we taught of the Espers as creatures of Mist and magick. What I felt was no shadow, it was an echo of flesh and blood mirroring my own, as if I was but an anchor, sharing lungs to draw it breath and giving it skin for which to feel – real, if only for the length of the summon. Now again, trapped in cryst with only eternity to embrace it."
"…"
"Forgive me. Such melancholy does not suit the start of a new venture. Glad we should be to be free of the Espers."
"It's all right. Theirs isn't a fate I'd wish on even the most deserving of it."
..
Balthier flexed his hand, willing feeling back in to it. For the first time in years, he felt fear. Fear of a situation he couldn't see his way out of.
/
Inside the cabin, Penelo's brow furled in troubled sleep. A sudden shiver caused goose bumps to rise along her flesh.
/
A thousand miles away, buried in darkness and cavernous echoes, something massive shifted under the floor of rock and sand.
Pushing from beneath the surface, in fury and mindless intent, the ground shock with its efforts. It had no words, no reason, and no thoughts. Animal instinct cut down to nothing more than a starvation. It had been cast aside, forgotten. It was hunger. It was eternal emptiness. It screamed in a voice that needed no ears to be heard nor tongue to speak.
…BALTHIER…
Act Five: In which an Captain looks for his missing ship, a young woman gains wisdom from a dream and a Captain remembers true loneliness.