Ok, so we are coming to the end of this story, and I hope you've enjoyed it. I; however, am quite tired of it. Warning for rape in this chapter, as well as other M worthy material. Characters will not be perfectly in character, and reviewing brings updates and makes you awesome. Enjoy!

This Is Who I Am

Chapter 10

Balthier curled up into a corner, making himself as small as possible, when Seraph left the room. His plan had backfired beyond what he had ever imagined. He touched a ringed hand to his face, which was swollen and bleeding in a few places. Grabbing at his ruined shirt, he tore a shred off and used to wipe some of the blood from his face and chest; there wasn't much else he could do.

He cringed when he heard the door open again, only to be relieved when Ashe and Basch were shoved inside by some guards, the door locked securely behind them.

"Oh my god," muttered Basch as he caught sight of the pirate, "What the hell did that bastard do to you?"

He and Ashe both rushed forward and fell to the floor in front of him. Balthier shied away from their touch, and didn't say anything.

"Balthier," Basch said sternly, "Are you ok? You were trying to trick him…weren't you?"

Balthier nodded, "It didn't work," his words were slurred by the swelling in his face.

Basch sighed, "Is anything broken?"

Balthier held out his wrists, both of which Seraph had managed to fracture over the course of the last hour. Basch made to examine the pirate's wrists when he caught sight of Balthier's unclasped pants, "Shit," he muttered, "Balthier…"

The pirate didn't look at him; he only stared past him as if he hadn't heard him at all.

"Balthier look at me," he said sternly. Balthier slowly turned to face him.

"Did he…" he paused, not wanting to finish the question, "Were you raped?"

Balthier looked at him blankly before turning away and throwing up.

Basch cursed under his breath, "Ashe, get me that pitcher of water over there. Let's see if we can clean him up a little."

Ashe didn't say anything as she got up to get the water, leaving Basch to rip another strip of fabric from Balthier's shirt. He let them clean his wounds, and Ashe muttered a quick cure spell to take away some of the swelling and bruises.

"We need a plan," he said finally, shocking the others, as he'd stayed silent for so long, "Mine didn't work out too well."

Basch frowned, "There are about 30 guards out there…that we saw. Plus Cid and Garem. I don't see what the three of us can do to get through them."

"If Seraph is killed," sneered Balthier, "The guards will scatter. And Cid will retreat."

Ashe sighed, "Perhaps, but killing him didn't work out so well the last time you tried."

Balthier glared at her, and she wished she had chosen her words more carefully.

"I underestimated him," Balthier said angrily, "I did not think him capable of such. I won't make that mistake again."

"We are weaponless Balthier," said Basch, "How do you propose we kill him? Give him dirty looks until he kills over?"

Balthier chuckled and shook his head, "I've no idea. He'll be back you know. He isn't going to leave us alone to plan for very long."

Ashe nodded, "He is planning on moving us. There is a ship waiting outside apparently, we are to be taken back to Archades. They came here; hoping to appear disorganized and desperate, to draw us in…make us think they were alone."

"And we believed them," said Balthier, "How do you know all this?"

"He gave orders to have the ship prepared for takeoff just before he had us brought in here," said Ashe, "The rest I am assuming."

Balthier nodded, "How much do you want to bet he won't be locking us up together on the ship?"

Basch frowned, "I have a feeling he's going to want you in his cabin for the journey."

Balthier's face paled, "Something tells me you're right, Captain."

Basch was right. He and Ashe were soon separated from Balthier as they were led aboard Seraph's ship…The Blackbird. Balthier's hands were bound in front of him, and he didn't bother to resist as Seraph led him by the arm to his cabin.

"After your earlier reluctance," he said, "I suppose I have no choice but to restrain you. I do hate to do it though."

Balthier only glared at him.

"You look rather angry, Ffamran," he said, fixing himself a tall glass of wine, "I do hope you're not upset about earlier."

Balthier's hands curled into tight fists…he hated being mocked, "Of course not," he drawled sarcastically, "I thoroughly enjoy being raped and beaten. Who doesn't?"

"Raped?" asked Seraph, "That's a bit extreme don't you think?"

"What would you call our last encounter then?"

Seraph's features softened, "Oh, Ffamran. You know I could never hurt you."

He reached out to stroke the pirate's face, trailing his fingers along the bruised and swollen skin of his cheek, bringing his fingers to rest gently on his lips.

He found it hard to control his anger. How dare Seraph touch him so gently after what had just happened? How dare he tell him he'd never hurt him? His anger got the best of him, and he bit down on Seraph's finger until he tasted blood on his tongue.

"Fucking hell!"

Balthier spat Seraph's blood back into his face, "I've already told you not to touch me you son of a bitch!"

"You are only making things worse on yourself Ffamran," sneered Seraph, "I can make things nice for you…or we can continue on as we did earlier."

"I'll kill you," Balthier swore through clenched teeth, "I swear I'm going to rip your fucking head off!"

Seraph laughed, "I doubt that."

"Fuck you!"

Seraph smiled, "I choose my words carefully if I were you. I don't want to have to hurt you too badly. I need you looking presentable for the ceremony."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I told you," said Seraph, "You're going to spend the rest of your life by my side, once I kill my dear sister."

Seraph moved in close, putting his lips to Balthier's neck. He tensed immediately; squeezing his eyes shut…this couldn't happen again…

He couldn't stand it…his mind began to go into panic mode as Seraph's hand moved slowly towards the clasp of his pants. He pulled his head back, and slammed it into Seraph's forehead as hard as he could.

It took him a minute for his mind to clear…and then he ran…

To Be Continued…

I do hope you enjoyed, please review! Will Balthier get away? Where the hell are Vaan and the others? Will Seraph get what he deserves before it's too late? Find out in chapter 11!