New update. This should provide some answers and again shift the plot on just a wee little bit! Sita, it seems one of your Viera characters has been too much of an influence on me! All those who have reviewed, thanks so much! I just hope I haven't lost it. And please any constructive criticism is also welcomed. There may still be some bits of this chapter I'm not pleased with.

Final Fantasy 12

TRUE FEELINGS

FRIENDS

The Mother had just put her two girls into bed. The story she had read them that night had settled any fears they might have had for their father's safety and so the lights went out and the twins drifted off to sleep.

What time it was, they didn't know. They were woken by a horrible crash and screaming. Arla was already up and out of her bed, frantic and crying, but before she could reach the door, it was flung open and a group of men in dark Archadian armour, came rushing in. One bundled Arla up in thick heavy blankets and another scooped Eri out of her bed. Eri screamed herself hoarse, both of them cried for their mother, but through the small gaps in the blankets, Eri could see more men holding her to the ground. She was helpless, screaming for her children, but that only made the men kick her. Her choking sobs invoked more fear from her daughters. Where was father?

Eri felt the cold as they took her and her sister from the house, her legs were so tightly bound in the blankets that she couldn't kick or punch, but then she recalled nothing further as they smacked a blow to her head that sent her unconscious.

Larsa, watched with uncertainty at the two twin women. They were obviously trying to get some kind of sympathy from him, to see what horror they had been put through and gain his understanding. But Larsa didn't want to understand.

His eyes lingered to the stump left by his severed leg. The brief howls of the Marlboro, of the Wood…the agony of those jaws. It wouldn't leave him. The pain and nightmares were forever imprinted on his mind. He didn't want to understand other people's anguish, why should he when he couldn't comprehend or understand his own? The events of what happened was clear and foggy at the same time, he remembered and he forgot. It was driving him insane.

To his surprise, a glass of water was pressed lightly into his hands. The Emperor broke from his trance and felt the hard surface of the glass. He looked round and saw Vaan urging him on. The older boy had just set a jug back on the table and prompted for Larsa to drink.

"It's okay." said Vaan. "It ain't poisoned."

"You would be so sure in our current company?" sneered Larsa, gripping the glass harder.

"We wouldn't kill you." said Arla.

"Yet."

"Do you want to know what's going on?" Arla snapped angrily.

"You know exactly what all this is do you?" Vaan interjected. "I thought you were just a Queen's lady in waiting. Not one half of a loony sister act!"

"We know." Arla said. Her top lip curled upward in a distasteful twitching motion.

"Arla…" Eri gently cupped a hand on her sister's shoulder and squeezed tenderly. The tension in Arla's body eased some what and she relaxed, but the menacing gaze didn't tear away from Vaan as she took over the story.

"I didn't know these men who took us" said Arla, "But they made sure that we were unable to tell where we were being taken. Mother was not killed…though we both feared it. They kept her alive because they wanted her to tell our father. I heard nothing except my mother's cries and I felt only the beatings we received from these men if we struggled so. It was a long journey and very cold. I had been beaten hard for my cries…I suffered greatly."

"I'm sorry." Larsa said.

"You don't care. No one else's pain matters when yours is so traumatic, does it Lord Larsa? All that anger is so hard to put aside. You always ask yourself why did this happen to me? How can I possibly go on through this torture?"

"I don't see you missing any limbs." Larsa shuddered as her words reflected his feelings.

"Doesn't make our trauma any less painful. But suffer we did. Those men had no qualms about hitting a child, they didn't care of the bruises and cuts they laid upon the both of us. They could have killed us, but that would have been too easy."

Arla woke in a cave. She got up, groggy and aching from the beatings, but as she looked around at the darkness, she could see no sign of their captures. But Eri was still unconscious on the ground. Arla rushed down next to her, her hands shook as she gently touched her twin's body, but she sighed with small relief when she felt Eri's chest rising and falling as she breathed. Thankfully the blankets their kidnappers had used were still with them, so she placed her own over her sister.

Arla then looked round at her surroundings. Though it was black and dark, she could make out shadows creeping across the ice covered walls. The place was teeming with thousands of fiends. She could hear their unearthly howls and screeches and she was so afraid. She trembled and curled down next to Eri.

Two seven year olds were left abandoned to be devoured by the fiends, weak, alone and barely able to move. It was so chilling, the temperature was way below zero and both of them were getting weaker by the minute. None of them knew how long it was before He came. But when Arla saw his shadow on the wall, when she heard his cries for his daughters, Arla cried with joy. Father had come.

"Cellen." Zargabaath spoke up. He said the name with great respect. "Judge Cellen."

Larsa looked up at Zargabaath. He recognised that name, he had heard of it from Bergan and Ghis, it was a name, a man, they held great contempt for.

"He was a good man." Zargabaath nodded with respect. "I fought by his side in battle…he was a skilled warrior and a true Archadian. A man of honour, which Bergan hated. Those two never got on. He went missing years ago after he fled the palace, which left Bergan to take his position. No one ever knew what happened to him."

"He died whilst defending us!" Arla cried out angrily. "When he found us, he was as weak as we were! He was bleeding from wounds gouged in his skin, for he had used none of his healing potions on himself. He saved them for us! He could have used the last of them on himself, but…there was a creature there. A beast so foul that all others in the vicinity, fled from its presence. Father was a great man…he defeated it. He killed it, but afterwards I saw him collapse and die! His wounds and pain was too great."

"He died bravely." Zargabaath bowed his head and a grieving sigh rattled his armour. "After all these years I knew he must be dead…I am sorry."

"You're sorry?!" Vaan choked in shock. "Yeah, their dad died, that is sad, losing a parent is a horrible experience. I lost both of mine! You don't see me going traitor against my Queen, luring her away and kidnapping…"

"Kidnapping is a harsh….."

"They were the ones who no doubt hired those Bangaa to get to Ashe! They weren't exactly polite in making us come along with them! They kidnapped the Emperor of Archadia and us!" Vaan spat as he jumped to his feet. His face was fuming with such hatred. "They've obviously got some plan for us and I'm just guessing here, but its not going to be good!"

Eri rose from her own and approached the young man. Unlike her twin, there was a look of perfect calm on her beautiful pale face.

"Feeling angry, little boy?" she asked, her voice just as icy as her features. "Its Her. The night, this on going darkness is Her awakening. Her anger is leaking out to all of us. Can you feel the sharp stabbing pins in your brain, fuelling your hatred and driving you closer to insanity?"

Vaan clenched his teeth. As the woman said the words, thousands of pin pricks were beginning to delve into his head. They burned like fire sticks, inciting more of his fury to bubble to the surface.

"The First. The being for whom our world was created, is here." Eri circled round Vaan, whispering in his ear. "The destruction of Ivalice has already begun, in the earth, the sea and the creatures who dwell upon it! She is culling us all. The riots in the cities are the weak and unworthy killing themselves off. It won't be long before all of us are extinct. However…the day our father died, we were given the means to save ourselves on this day."

Vaan couldn't say anything. He gazed back at her, his eyes burning red. Eri smirked and then addressed Larsa once more.

"I awoke, to find my sister asleep next to me." Eri recounted her story. "I was horrified to see my father die at this creature's whim. He lay there, unmoving in the middle of the cavern. There was so much blood it stained the air with its stench! But I had the strength to go to him. I had wanted him back, but in the end I was graced by the presence of Vayakalan. Everything became clear. So crystal clear."

The room suddenly became very cold.

Unknown - Year 707

He hadn't seen right. He couldn't have been right. Basch climbed to his knees and crawled to the glass wall. The little boy watched, almost in awe as Basch pressed his own hands against the transparent cell. He felt his palms sticking to the glass, searing as the cold ebbed through the wall.

As soon as he did so, there was a feeling inside him. Zodiark's angry festering voice was screaming at him and now it was all too clear.

For an entire year, this entity had shared his body, keeping silent and docile. Recently the outbursts had been too powerful for Basch, resulting in blank gaps in his memory whenever Zodiark surfaced. Basch had feared the joining and feared for the power and fury of this Esper. When Ashe was shot…

He jerked hard away from the glass and he fell back onto his rear as the reality once again came back to hurt him. The screams from Zodiark were now also coming from him. Both of their anguish cried.

"Ashe!"

Like the time when Nalbina was destroyed, black sparks and waves ignited around him. This time, Basch was fully aware and he urged it on. As he closed his eyes, as he remembered the blood on Ashe's body and on his hands, the terror, anger and agony fuelled the beast inside. Both of them had the same thought of mind and Zodiark gave him the means.

But before anything could be ripped to shreds, before the fury could tear existence into nothing, a piercing pain and holy blinding light burned in his eyes. A static shock reverberated back into him, then it felt like a blanket dousing a fire, cutting off the oxygen which fuelled its power. Zodiark was howling with all his might, Basch felt a cracking in his chest. He fell flat on his back, reeling at the pain.

Make it stop! Make it stop!

"Basch! Basch!"

He couldn't see. The white blinding light was still spotting his vision, but eventually it began to clear and he could just make out someone standing over him.

"Are you okay? The holy magics that filled the room sent you absolutely mental. You were actually affected by it. Badly I might add. You're not going to die on me, are you?"

The face came into focus. Basch had to rub his stinging eyes just to make sure, but as he still lay on his back, he gazed up at the man above him. There was a nervous smile on the younger face, but there was something too bloody smug about it. There always was.

Then he felt the rage once more.

It was all his fault.

All it took was to crack his head sharply and hard against the sky pirate's smarmy and sickening face. He felt the impact and pain. He heard the cry and felt the blood.

Basch then staggered to his feet. The assault from the Holy magics still left him weak and disorientated and he spun in a couple of confused circles for a moment until he saw the man on the floor. Balthier was clutching at his bleeding nose.

"What the hell was that for?!" he mumbled and snorted through his hands.

Basch didn't care. He stormed over to him and with both hands, he hoisted Balthier right off the ground. With a deep growl he then shoved Balthier into the wall, it wasn't hard enough, so he pulled him back and shoved him again and again. Harder and with more brute force.

Balthier went limp, his body sagged in Basch's grasp, so Basch then held him up and shook him till Balthier's bloodied face jerked and stayed up. He had to see the anger in Basch's eyes.

"It's your fault!" Basch shouted, spit flying from his lips. "It's your fucking fault!"

"No!"

Balthier's fist lashed up and cracked a hard punch to Basch's jaw. The knight was sent reeling backwards, but his hands still held tightly onto Balthier's shirt. As Basch stumbled, Balthier sent a punch to the older man's stomach. Basch gasped and coughed, but still he wouldn't let go.

"I…" Balthier raised his other hand and smashed it hard on Basch's shoulder. There was a cracking sound.

"Didn't…!" He sent another blow to Basch's other shoulder. The grasp on his shirt was released and Basch fell to his knees, breathing sharply through clenched teeth.

"Mean….!" A hard blow impacted with Basch's face.

"To…kill…her!" With each screaming word came a punch to Basch. He then collapsed to the floor gagging and spitting up blood.

The tears stung in Balthier's eyes as he stood above the knight. Through the aching in his back and pain from his bloodied nose, it didn't compare to the tearing of his heart. Or the worry in his hazed mind.

"I didn't mean to kill her!" he shouted, wiping his crimson seeping nose. "I don't know what the hell happened! I don't know what I did!"

Basch still gagged on the floor. He rolled to his hands and knees and tried to get up, each attempt only sending him back down again.

"You shot her!" Basch growled. "You took her life!"

"It was an accident!" Balthier sank down next to him. "Whatever was wrong with her, she wasn't backing down! She was going to kill you!"

"Better me than her!"

Balthier gazed in horror as Basch's face darkened and his pupils turned black. A chill iced the air in the cell. Around his hands swirled the dark mists, the energies built up with every second, and as it did, Balthier could see the resulting release would be extremely powerful. He scrambled away as Basch got to his feet.

"You will pay, you pathetic fucking hume shit!!"

Balthier shut his eyes, awaiting the pain and death from this magic. His mind was going insane. What was going on here, what had happened to this man? What had happened to…to him? He was going to die.

It never happened. Instead the room was filled once again with the searing and dazzling light of the Holy magics. It was a quick burst, but it was enough to send Basch howling back down to his knees.

Balthier looked to the far wall. He saw the child standing at the glass, watching with an evil smirk on his face. A face so similar to the man who was now writhing on the floor.

"Stop it!" Balthier yelled. "Stop hurting him!"

"The creature is out of control. He needs to know discipline."

"You'll kill him!"

"I think he'd like that." The boy shrugged his shoulders. "And we can't let him have what he wants. Not all the time."

The torture stopped. The beast inside was silenced and doused. As if he was released by a breaking chain, Basch jerked and gazed up from his curled position on the floor. He looked a mess, his face was cut and bruised and the blood and spit was drooling from his lips. But his eyes were back to normal, except for the tears swelling up inside, except the bitter anger and despair.

His chest was heaving so hard, his grazed knuckles flexed at his side and Balthier knew that Basch badly wanted to lash out again. The disgraced knight wanted someone other than him to pay for the Queen's death. Who better to take such a beating than the bastard who shot her? This time Balthier would be ready.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Balthier said. Basch slowly got to his feet, like a decaying banshee crawling from the sludge of the Nabudis wastelands. With heavy steps, Basch approached the object of his hate. But the pirate moved away, making the two men circle the cell. "Listen to me you stupid fool! It was an accident!"

"All my life…" Basch growled, "I protected her! I cared not for my own needs or wants, for I wanted nothing! I needed nothing, except to serve her! She was Dalmasca! You have condemned us all!"

His arm swung and it connected with Balthier's jaw. After he endured the shock of the attack, all Balthier could do now was put up a defensive stance against Basch's raging anger. As the taller man pummelled him, in each punch, Balthier could feel the desperation and anguish from his attacker. He got a few lucky hits back and even caught Basch on his shins with some jarring kicks, but it only fuelled Basch on.

"Come on you murdering pirate!" Basch yelled as he clipped him round the head as an adult would do to a child. "Fight back! Hit me!!"

The younger man took a swing. The rings on Balthier's fingers scratched a new searing mark on Basch's neck. The skin peeled back, releasing tiny drops of blood.

Balthier didn't like the laugh that came from his opponent.

"Call that a punch? A Moogle kitten could hit harder than you!"

Balthier swung again, but Basch leaned back, avoiding the punch. With a smooth fluid motion, Basch spun round and embedded his elbow to Balthier's ribs. The pirate cried out but he retaliated with an equal blow to Basch's stomach.

Two men, filled with grief and anger continued sparring, inflicting further pain and injury to their increasingly weakening bodies. The fight became a brutal dance of blood, spit and adrenalin. Words weren't needed, for the physical violence raged out of control from the both of them. The two had to release, they had to feel this pain to cope, but Balthier was weakening more. He became slow in his reactions, taking more hits than he could give, which made Basch angrier. As one man shamed with guilt wanted to endure the beating, the other screamed for him to respond. He desperately wanted more pain than he was giving out.

"HIT ME!" Basch yelled as a punch he landed on Balthier's bruised and bloodied face, sent the pirate crashing back to the wall. "You coward! You weakling! HIT ME DAMMIT!"

"Why?!" Balthier seethed. "She's dead! You can't bring her back!"

A roar, deep, guttural and enraged, screamed from Basch's lips. He lunged and his arms flung round Balthier's waist. Basch dragged him back into the clear glass, his knee rising to snap into the other man's groin.

In agony, Balthier slipped to the floor dragging Basch down with him. Then, there was no skill in the lashes from either of them. It reverted to child's play, boys merely scrapping, pulling and kicking, until neither of them could find the strength to move.

They lay on the floor, panting and gasping for breath, moaning at the horrific injuries that had been dished out to each other. Blood was everywhere, Basch had some broken ribs and it looked as if his arm was too, but he still tried to flay at the other man.

"You bastard….you killed them both!"

"Them both?!" Balthier scowled in puzzlement. "What are you talking about?! It was a bloody accident! The gun…it went off! I…I didn't pull the trigger! I didn't think I did!"

"You didn't think?! You didn't think?! I should kill you now for what you did to them!"

"Them? It was Ashe! It was only her! By the gods I wish I hadn't done it! I wish none of it had happened!"

"Ultima." Basch collapsed finally with exhaustion. "Ultima is gone."

The Esper? The Queen's Esper?

Balthier wondered what the hell he was talking about. Had it been something to do with Basch's unusual and extremely bizarre change earlier? The strange transformation had taken Balthier by surprise, for no Hume held or could control such magics. Not even the Viera could. It was something much stronger than the mist Quickenings.

"Basch…" Balthier winced from his own injuries. "I'm sorry. I honestly don't know what happened. But there was no way I killed Ultima. She was bound by Ashe when she was defeated. You know this."

Basch didn't listen. The grief was too much, it was overwhelming, devouring him even now as he thought of Ashe. Her death affected him more than he could ever realised. He had loved her. She was his life, his purpose…but now that no longer existed. He wanted to die.

"Shall we give him another barrage, my lord?"

Basch turned his head, seeing a Judge Magister now standing behind the little boy.

"No." said the boy, his voice very much Hume. "We don't want to kill him. Give them both some healing potions before they bleed out. We'll be seeing my mother soon and she will want to meet with Captain Fon Ronsenberg."

"And the pirate?"

The boy looked and smiled at Balthier.

"Take him to one of the research labs. I'm sure your men would be interested to see what side affects Ultima has placed on him. There are so many possibilities."

"It will be done, Lord."

When the Judge walked out of sight, the little boy knelt down to the floor and then sat himself behind where Basch lay. He gazed closer at the dishevelled and pathetic man before him and he nodded his head.

So this was he. When the man is healed, there would be so many questions that he wanted to ask.

00000000000000000000000

Her children were against her! She could feel their doubts and worries, She heard their plots and schemes. Their betrayal wounded her deeply, for it was they who had dreamed up Ivalice. It was they who brought such beauty as Ultima into existence. Now, as She tore apart their creations, she would give them no mercy. They would be punished, just as the Occuria had been.

The magicite, the foundations of which Ivalice had been created was like oil. A simple flame, a thought would ignite it all and destroy everything in seconds. But it was Ultima who was tempering Her anger, she was down there. Strong and wilful, refusing to be coerced. Ultima was wrapped up tightly in one of those pitiful and disgusting hume forms, but there were those who were still loyal to Her. They would be the ones to bring her love back to her. To Giruvegan. The holy place where it all began.

Now, as the coasts of Valendia crumbled into the sea, as the cities in the sky fell, so too would the mountains of Kerwon. The so called temples of the false gods.

Then, to her sorrow, would be Golomore. The creatures within were no longer holy to Her. Golomore's demise would be an honourable and peaceful one for it's ageless devotion, but it had made one mistake. Never should the once blessed Viera be tainted so horribly. No more of her servants would be allowed to potentially become what was so weak and low.

0000000000000000000000

Babbling Vale - Mosphoran Highwaste Year 707

Fran stepped off the ship, only to be face by more anguish, death and agony. She saw the bodies, the dying and crying, she saw so much chaos in what had once been a sanctuary many thousands of years ago. Though with their arrival, there came hope in this nightmare.

The ship and it's crew had a large supply of potions and healing exlirs and the Bangaa captain immediately began to get her crew to hand them out to those who desperately needed them. The survivors of Bhujerba were only to eager to help, as tending to others would take their mind off their own grief, if only a little.

Fran was dazed, confused by all this, but she was immediately pulled from her state as a small girl who had been running through the crowds on errands, collided straight into her. The little girl apologised and gazed up and up at the towering creature before her.

"Viera!" she gasped. "You are Viera, like Jiiryn!"

Fran cocked her head to one side. She didn't know of this Jiiryn, nor was she completely sure of why the Hume girl stated something so obvious.

"Come with me! You will be looked after, like the others!"

"Others?" Fran's ears twitched with surprise. "There are others like me?"

"In horrible states!" the girl said, almost sobbing with tears. "It's like they've lost their souls! Or they're lost and have no purpose."

"Like me." thought Fran. She held out her still trembling hand.

"Take me to them."

Fran allowed the little girl to take hold of her hand. Then Lanni lead both her and Nono towards the far end of the vale. She took them to a shelter, secluded as much as possible from the others, in a position that overlooked the chaos. Fran thought it was due to those few, who still revered the Viera as angels. In legends their kind had been a mystery, in real life those few seen were sometimes worshipped.

"Fran..do you think you would be able to help them?" asked Nono. Fran didn't know.

How could she possibly help any of them, when she could barely help herself.

"They might not know of what is going on with the change." she uttered, mainly to herself. "Not all Viera had the misfortune…or fortune to be…friends or acquaintances to Humes."

"Fran?" Lanni stopped suddenly when she heard the name. The girl's reaction caused Fran great concern. "Is that your name?"

"It is."

"Then come quickly! Josed is tending to one Viera inside, her screams have been awful and she only speaks that name! Do you know her?"

There was no hesitation. No second to even think, it was instinct.

"Mrjn!!"

Her hand tore from the little girl and Fran sprinted into the shelter. She ripped back the drapes that hung from over the tree roots and she gazed inside at her kin. There were many Viera in different states, but all were affected by the change their wood had brought about them. Some were worse than others, but Fran immediately spotted one at the back, a few humes trying to keep her crackling sobs to a minimum.

There was no doubting the cries of her sister. Fran shoved her way through and she viciously pushed one man aside as she fell down to Mrjn's side.

The tears streamed down her cheeks to see her in such a state. As Fran took hold of Mrjn's hand, she nervously reached out with her other, to the twitching bloody stumps of where her sister's ears had once been. She didn't dare touch them, her claws hovered just over the top, knowing how sensitive they would be…how much hurt Mrjn was suffering.

"Sister…!" Fran felt the anguish building up in her. Though she was older than Mrjn, Fran had never stayed in the Wood as long as she. She had never loved the music as much as Mrjn, and the absence of its call and it's voice, surely would be more terrible for her. "My sister…I'm here! It's Fran!"

There was a faint recollection in those younger eyes. They flicked and blinked before finally fixing a stare back at Fran. The loss of one way of life, was replaced by something alien and frightening and it was far more evident in Mrjn. Her hand squeezed Fran's so hard, that she almost felt the bones crack, but she didn't care.

Mrjn had left the wood, even though Fran had told her not to. She had forsaken the lull of Golomore and risked to take on the emptiness. Now, she had to endure this, the alteration of their very core, becoming mortal. She had had to do it alone. Mrjn had no idea what was happening to her, neither did the others around her. Fran was lucky. She had Penelo to explain….and Balthier.

Balthier. Where was he? Where had those Bangaa taken him? Fran could not lightly abandon her search for her partner. It had been he, who had saved her, he who had done so much for her. He could do the same for Mrjn. Could he?

"Mrjn. Sister…listen to me." Fran wasn't sure if she was really aware, she was surprised that Mrjn still responded to sound. Mrjn shook, her skin was so pale and clammy to touch. "I am going to help you through this. You are strong…we both can be. Together."

"No." Mrjn shook her head. "No! I can't be strong! I'm not like you…or Jote."

Jote. Neither of them were like her now.

"Yes. You are strong."

She would have to be, hoped Fran, because then Mrjn would be like the other's who had been unable to cope with the silence of the Wood. She would ensure that wouldn't happen.

So as her little sibling, trembled and convulsed in her grip, shocked by the silence and sent in insane by the Hume feelings pummelling her, Fran tried to derive strength from her as well. She felt the pumping of her heart, so erratic and strange, yet normal for Humes. Her senses had dulled somewhat, but the mist of the air and earth tingled lightly against her skin. It was fading all the time.

"Excuse me….do you know what is happening to all the Viera?" asked the girl, Lanni.

Fran looked down. Through the clothes Nono had acquired for her, she saw the blood seeping from her once again. Lanni gasped at the sight of it, but the man Josed came and handed her some blankets.

"Do you know?" he asked.

Fran nodded. Though she couldn't explain. How could she to these people? How could she even begin to explain how becoming Hume has affected her kind? The Viera were ageless and immortal in time, death only brought by battle or injury, but Fran could feel the life dwindling. The years were already cut short.

"Do you know why some are affected more than others?" asked Josed.

Her head shook.

"You seem to be handling it well."

That was a very large understatement. Fran was barely able to keep her sanity.

"Jiiryn is just like you." Josed continued. "She is so calm…centred. She seems to know what she's doing."

"Does she?" Fran heard another Hume snarl with anger, from just behind her.

"Yes. She does!" Josed snapped back. "She's never failed us before."

"Then how do you explain her wondering off with that King slayer…with that Basch?"

Basch.

Fran finally realised what had happened. This had been Zodiark's doing. The destruction of Nalbina…Basch had finally lost control as Zodiark surfaced. That meant the end was nearer than she expected.

Her mind reeled with confusion. She wanted to do so much…to curl up and allow the pain to take over her. Fran wanted to remain with her sister, but she needed to find Balthier, for that support, for that strength he was always able to give her. But now there was Basch. It had been obvious to her what had happened to him, and to the Queen…and now if the Espers had indeed surfaced, then it wouldn't matter about anyone else.

"Basch." Fran looked to the man who had spoken. "He came here…with the Queen."

The man growled in disgust and refused to answer, but Josed replied instead.

"The man came here a while ago. Like a demon, or some fiend! He had the Queen unconscious in his arms. Jiiryn seemed to know him…and she allowed both of them to stay. Much to the disapproval of others. He was the one who killed Raminas was he not? He was the one who destroyed Nalbina. But…he then left with the Queen and Jiiryn to look for survivors of a downed ship."

A ship? Crashed? Was it possible that it could have been the Strahl? Fran turned to Nono.

"It could be, kupo." he replied. "But what condition is it in? I may not be able to repair it."

"Balthier."

Nono rested a little paw on Fran's arm. He smiled and purred.

"If there is anyone who could get themselves out of a mess like that, it would be master Balthier, kupo! He's not dead."

Though Fran felt the words confusing. As the Moogle spoke , she sensed a truth and falsehood. Her fear increased. She didn't know what to do. She was torn between the need to find the one man who seemed to make any kind of sense to her (in a strange Hume twisted way), or to find the two who held the entire fate of Ivalice in their hands.

"Sister…."

Fran was stirred by Mrjn's words. She gazed down at her younger sibling and saw, for a brief moment, a look of sanity, she appeared to be normal. There was a small smile at the corner of her thin pale lips, a strong familiar strength in her grasp. She appeared to be her.

"Fran…you came. You found me."

Fran nodded.

"I did."

"You have come to take me back to Golomore. We have to offer our apologies to Her."

No. There was no apologising. Fran had already tried to go back and get answers from her wood, but the result had been the near death of her friends and herself.

There was only one other thing she could do. She would go to The Great Crystal, the heart of Ivalice and the nexus to the gods. If there was any hope for her and her kind, it would be in the depths of Giruvegan and beyond this reality. After all, the Viera weren't corporeal to begin with.

Unknown - Year - 707

"Can you hear me?"

"Hello?" Basch came to, but there was still darkness. There was nothing except for one single light beaming down on him. His wounds were gone, his half naked flesh was dripping with the fluids of the healing potion, but Basch didn't know where he was. Where was the boy?

"Don't give up." came an echoing voice. He was startled, but could see nothing.

"Why?! Why can't I give up?!"

Basch gazed up, the single light hurt his eyes, but he couldn't look away.

"Dalmasca still needs you. Ivalice needs you. So does she."

Ashe.

No, there wasn't anything more he could do. She was gone, his purpose and reason for living was gone. He had nothing left. His hands rubbed his wet face and a deep moan emitted from his mouth. He shook his head.

"No. I can't do anything any more."

"That is not true. Ashelia…she can still be saved. Your feelings for her will save you both. You have to tell her."

The voice was so sad. It was so full of ache, but it was also familiar. He had heard it before.

"I cannot do what you ask." he said. "She's dead."

"Not at all. She is still alive, but she is in danger. She is falling from her path."

Nalbina. His cell. Those endless days and nights suffering, had been calmed by thoughts of the woman he loved, but this voice had whispered to him many times. It had constantly spoke of Ashe, of him and Dalmasca. Though he dismissed it as madness. Was it the same? Was he really losing any sense of reality?

"I saw her die." He murmured. "There is no hope left. I cannot do as you ask."

"You have to! You have to be strong!"

"I am so tired of being strong!" he retorted. "I'm tired of doing the right thing, I'm tired of hurting and I'm tired of life!"

"But I gave you the means to be strong! I offered you Him! You need to temper His rage and your own, and only then can you save both Ashelia and Ultima! Teach Him, tell Him and the two of you can stop all this madness."

"I must already be mad. Talking to you…are you real?"

"You are not mad, Basch. I am very real. I beg you, implore you…don't fight against Zodiark. He is the strongest being I have ever known, and I need the two of you to do this, or my world is gone forever. Please…Ashe is not dead, but she will be if you don't tell her your true feelings."

"What are you talking about?!" Basch shouted up to the light. "None of this makes any sense! Who are you?! Who the hell are you?!"

There was no reply. Basch scrambled to his feet and cried up to the light, he called for some more answers, but there was none from this voice.

"She's not here any more."

Basch spun round sharply, his back colliding straight into a cold stone wall. Someone else was in here with him. He could make out a faint outline of a man in the darkness, but he couldn't tell who it was.

"Who are you?"

There was a bitter laugh.

"Don't you know? Damn…you are so stupid!! Can't you feel anything at all?"

Cold. He was bloody cold.

Then the man walked into the spotlight.

This was no man. It was a boy. A mere boy of sixteen years old. He was the same height as Basch had been, with wisping blonde hair. The face was uncanny, but the anger and black eyes staring back at him was all too familiar.

"She said I had to listen to you." sneered the boy. "But I don't see why. You're pathetic. You're weak. You can't teach me anything I don't already know, Hume! I don't need to save anything!"

Basch couldn't believe it. It was him. It was Basch, the angry and raged teen he was all those years ago. Yet inside, it was someone else entirely.

"I don't need to do what anyone tells me!" the boy shouted. "She can go and fucking rot in her hell for all I care! I will finish this! Everything will suffer! Everything will die! Starting with HER!"

The light went out.

Rabanastre - Year….

"I'm sorry. There is no other way."

He called out. He cried and at his command the doors flew open and the guards came rushing in. They saw the state of the Queen, of the blood that doused her and the bed, and they saw the sleeping form of the man who had betrayed them all. They were confused, shocked and horrified beyond belief at the sight before them, but upon the other man's command, they pulled and dragged Basch from the bed.

He was woken but he was still weak, he could not struggle in their hold.

"Ashelia…." His head groggily looked up at her. "Why didn't you let me die?"

"No!" The Queen grabbed for the bloody sheets and wrapped them around her. "I do not sanctify this arrest at all! He's innocent!"

"The queen is not herself! She has been assaulted and raped and clearly she is in shock! This man is to be offered no leniency! Captain Basch Fon Ronsenberg, you are hereby arrested for high treason against the Crown of Dalmasca, for the murder of King Raminas and for the assault and rape of Queen Ashelia! You will be sentenced to death…there will be no doubt about it this time. Take him away!"

"NO!"

Basch was shoved through the door and into the corridor, where the rest of the palace had already been alerted to the commotion. The staff and other residents were mortified at such a sight before them, that most were rooted to the spot.

"Someone call for the doctor! The Queen needs help!"

Basch could barely stand as he was dragged further down the corridor and past many on looking eyes. He could only remember Ashe's cries for him, but he was so proud of her. The restraint she truly showed, especially when they saw the boys, was amazing. None of these people knew what could really be unleashed if they allowed it. She became hysterical and who wouldn't when such sights would disturb the children, but she still kept Her in control.

"Don't let them see this!" she said. "Take the boys to their rooms!"

"Mummy? What's going on?"

Biran was clearly afraid and he clung onto his brother's hand.

Ashe turned to the man who had ruined everything, to the man who she detested with all her heart.

"Don't let them see this! They can't see their fa…."

"Mention that to them, and it will be over, Ashelia." he replied. "They can't know."

Basch gazed into the eyes of the two twin boys. They already knew. There wasn't any more hiding the truth from them. Besides, it was obvious….it was hard to miss.

So as Basch was taken away by the soldiers and Ashe was tended to by the healers, the chaos that ensued were caused by two very confused little boys.

"You can't take him away!" yelled Biran. "He's a hero! He wouldn't hurt our mother!"

"You don't know everything, son…" replied the bitter twisted man. "Nurse! Take the boys away from here! They shouldn't be up."

Just like their mother, both Biran and Ronnah refused to move or be ordered at all, as a woman's hand rested on each of their shoulders. They watched as their "father" stormed away with more of his personal guards around him, and the anger was seething from them both.

They couldn't allow this to happen any more.