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This Is Who I Am

Chapter 11

Balthier almost lost his balance as he ran as fast as his feet would carry him through the corridors of The Blackbird. He had no idea where he was going, he only knew that he had to find the others and get the hell off that ship before Seraph could steal what little dignity he had left. But once again he found himself with a half formed plan. There he was, running through his enemy's ship, shirtless and beaten, with his hands bound in front of him…there wasn't much hope for being inconspicuous. Besides, he might have taken Seraph off guard, but the bastard wasn't likely to just let him go without pursuit. He dodged into a side corridor when he heard voices, and found himself in the ship's kitchen. Perfect. He quickly started to rummage through drawers until he found a large knife, one that was sharp and deadly. He made short work of his bonds, and tucked the knife into the waistband of his pants. He stood there, trying desperately to think of a plan, when he heard voices outside.

"You should never have gotten close enough for him to take advantage like that you fool!"

Balthier cringed inwardly; he'd forgotten that his father was involved in all this mess. He didn't want to think about what the two of them would do to him if they found him, and for the first time in his life Balthier began to think he might be safer off with his father.

"He can't get far," he heard Seraph grumble, "I'm going to go ahead and kill the princess and her dog, Ffamran can't hide forever."

Balthier cursed under his breath, and exited the kitchen as quietly as he could, making sure he stayed far enough behind Seraph and his father that he wouldn't be noticed. He followed them for what seemed like forever before Cid spoke again, "You said he seemed to be having a change of heart earlier…what happened? He obviously has gone back to hating you."

Seraph sighed, "Ffamran was always so delicate. He doesn't respond well to force it seems."

Cid slowed his pace, "What do you mean?"

Seraph laughed, "Don't be naïve Cid; you know what kind of interest I have in Ffamran."

"You forced yourself on my son?" Balthier was surprised at the tone of anger that he thought he could hear in his father's voice.

"Oh, and now you've decided to step in as his father," said Seraph, "Isn't that precious."

Cid grabbed Seraph by the throat and slammed him against the wall with one quick motion, sending Balthier scurrying for cover, "You overstep your bounds Garem," threatened Cid, "You'll not talk to me in such a way, you are not king yet." He loosened his grip from Seraph's neck, "And raping my son was not part of the bargain. If I hear of such again, you will wish you were dead."

Seraph seemed as surprised as Balthier did, but he only nodded as Cid released him, and Balthier didn't have time to think about it now.

"Do you want to watch her die?" asked Seraph as he stopped in front of a door and pulled out a ring of keys.

Cid shook his head, "No, I must be getting back to my own ship. I'll see you in Archades in a few days; I have other business to attend to."

Seraph shrugged as Cid walked away, leaving him alone to unlock the door of the room where Ashe and Basch were obviously being held. Balthier approached the door slowly; he didn't want to make any noise. He put his ear to the door and listened, but he couldn't hear anything, so he slowly turned the knob.

He had no plan, and it was probably the dumbest thing he'd ever done, but he simply opened the door and walked in. There didn't seem to be much else he could do.

"It seems your pirate friend has abandoned you," Seraph jeered, his back to the open door where Balthier stood, "He got you into this mess and then ran the first chance he got."

"I don't abandon the people I care about," said Balthier, causing Seraph to spin around, "Not even to save my own neck."

Seraph glared at him, "Noble for a fucking sky pirate piece of shit."

Balthier shrugged, "You can't make up your mind can you? One minute you love me and the next you're either trying to bash my face in or you're calling me a piece of shit. Which is it?"

He slowly moved closer, hoping Seraph wouldn't notice.

"I really don't want to have to kill you, Ffamran," Seraph grunted, "But you are trying my patience."

A smirk crossed Balthier's lips, "That's too bad."

He pulled the knife from his waistband and took a step forward. Seraph sighed, "Haven't we already been through this?"

"I told you I was going to kill you, Seraph, you should have known that I meant it."

Seraph pulled out a gun that Balthier hadn't noticed was strapped to his hip and aimed it at his chest, "Don't make me do this."

Balthier's patience was growing thin, he wasn't about to let Seraph get away again. He slowly lowered the knife as if he were going to throw it down, but instead flung himself at Seraph with every bit of force he could muster. A shot rang out from Seraph's gun, and Basch and Ashe, tied to their chairs, couldn't tell what happening as the two men rolled on the floor.

There was blood everywhere, covering both Balthier and Seraph.

"Balthier!" yelled Basch, as Seraph struggled to his feet, grabbing the pirate by the neck.

He was sure his friend was done for, when Balthier lunged forward, plunging the knife into Seraph's stomach. The bastard stumbled backwards, letting go of Balthier as his hands grasped desperately at the knife sticking out of him. He stared at Balthier with glazed over eyes, "Ffamran?"

Balthier said nothing as Seraph fell to the floor. He got to his feet and began to untie Ashe.

"Balthier!" she exclaimed as her ropes fell to the floor, "Shit, he got you!"

Balthier glanced down at his side, where a sudden pain had begun to spread, to find that Seraph's gun had indeed hit its target, "Shit," he muttered.

His head was aching, and he could feel his strength giving out. Unsure if it was due to his illness or just from the events of the past few days, he left Ashe to untie Basch and sank to the ground…exhausted.

"We have to get out of here," said Basch, pulling Balthier to his feet, "Come on, put your weight on me."

Balthier flung his arm around Basch's neck and let the knight support most of his weight. He didn't look at Seraph's staring dead eyes as they left the room. They made their way down the hall quickly, with no idea as to how they would get off the ship. They were still unarmed, as Balthier had not bothered to pull the knife he'd stolen out of Seraph's chest and bring it along.

"How the hell do you get out of here?" grumbled Basch as he twirled around, confused.

"I think we came in that way," whispered Ashe.

They started off in the direction which Ashe had pointed, but soon started to backtrack when they heard voices.

"We can't get out of here unarmed," said Balthier, "They aren't just going to let us walk out."

Basch cursed, "I don't know what to do."

They stood there in the corridor silently, when an idea struck Ashe.

"Garbage!" she exclaimed, "Come on, follow me!"

She started to run off in the direction from which they had come, and Basch dragged Balthier along behind her. They followed her all the way back to the kitchen from which Balthier had stolen the knife, and that they had passed on their way back through once Seraph was dead. Balthier knew they were going the right direction…all they had to do was follow the trail of blood that had leaked from his side.

Ashe rushed into the kitchen, and pried open the trash chute, "They'll dump their trash before they take off, big ships like this always do."

Balthier frowned, "Please tell me you aren't thinking what I think you are thinking."

Ashe smiled, "You first."

Balthier shook his head, "No…there's no way I'm getting in there."

"Basch," she said, "Convince him."

Basch sighed, and picked Balthier up with one fluid motion.

"Hey! Don't you dare…"

He didn't have time to finish his sentence before Basch threw him down the chute. He landed, somewhat ungracefully, on a soft, foul smelling pile of gods only knew what. Scrambling to his feet, he was barely out of the way before Ashe came sliding down to meet him.

"I'll get you for this," he muttered, but she only smiled.

Basch followed a few seconds later, "I hope they don't decide to wait until they get to Archades to dump the trash," he chuckled, "Or we're in for a very unpleasant ride."

Balthier tried to laugh, but he was too tired, and he was losing a lot of blood. He wasn't sure how long they sat there in the filth of the trash before he heard the slow rumbling sound of the trash chute doors opening.

They held on to each other as the trash was emptied, and they were falling from the ship. The trash didn't make for as soft of a landing as they might have hoped, but they were all smiles as The Blackbird flew away, none the wiser that her prisoners were no longer aboard.

Their mission was over, and Seraph was dead, but by the time night fell the three had few reasons to be cheery. They didn't have enough magic to heal Balthier's wound properly, but even if they had, it was obvious that the tumor was about to have its victory. Maybe it was because of all that he had endured over the past few days or maybe his time had just run out, but either way Balthier was dying.

They made him as comfortable as they could; hoping against hope that Vaan and the others had found the wishmonger and would make it back in time. But fate, it seemed, was not that kind. Balthier died on the second night after their escape from The Blackbird. His last words were those of love for Vaan, and both Ashe and Basch were by his side as he drew his last breath.

They covered him and laid him nearby, it didn't seem right to bury him before Vaan and Fran returned. It was the fourth day after their escape that they awoke to see their three companions coming over the horizon.

Vaan took the news better than Basch would have thought, though no force in all Ivalice could have stopped the boy's tears as he sat looking down on the pirate, who looked as though he were sleeping peacefully.

He pulled the bottle containing his wish from his pocket, and gently pried Balthier's lips apart.

"Vaan" warned Fran sympathetically, "It is too late."

"I have to try," he whimpered. He poured the shining liquid down the pirate's throat with trembling hands. They all waited, no one dared to breath…but nothing happened.

Vaan cried himself to sleep, clinging to Balthier's corpse. The others tried to pull him away, but he would have no part of it. He woke extremely early the next morning to find Balthier's body gone, "What did you do with him!" he screamed at the others, "You didn't bury him without me…you couldn't have!"

"No, Vaan…they didn't."

Vaan nearly fainted at the sound of Balthier's voice…everything was going to be fine…his wish had worked after all.

The End.

Hope you enjoyed! Please let me know if you liked it, it was really hard to end, I hope it was not disappointing.