Hey there, readers! I felt positively charitable since a week has gone by since my last update, so I thought a two-for-one deal was necessary! In any case, her you go! Now we storm the castle!

Chapter 4: Stones of Dissent

[Music theme: Clan Hall Theme, Hitoshi Sakimoto FF12]

We sat in the Clan Hall, speaking with Montblanc. Since we were going to be facing Marks to make us stronger, I felt we ought to have a Clan supporting us. Montblanc, seeing how we were not altogether weak, gave us the Rank of Rear Guard and some items to help us. Moogles were decidedly weird, but what they don't show in the game is that Montblanc actually wielded a Defender Greatsword and Volcano hand bombs with surprising ease. He would make a formidable foe, if clan duties and obligations as Clan Leader didn't force him to stay out of Harm's way. In any case, it was now time to continue the storyline some more.

"Now we must sneak into the castle, to steal a gem Vaan planned on using to help set himself up as a sky pirate. Two sky pirates named Balthier and Fran will try to stop us, maybe, but will wind up having to help us if things go right." I was explaining the situation to Ace, since he knew nothing of how the story went. To be honest, I hadn't finished the storyline myself, was pulled when I had only just completed Giruvegan, but I would bet that things will go very differently by then. The remaining real heroes would take that quest, and so we would just look out for external threats to them. At least, I hope so...

"Hey, you spaced out, Fox Boy, what's going on?" I blinked, returned to the real world. Well, as real as it could be, considering I'm a kitsune talking to a wolf man in a fantasy world made real.

"Well, uh, how about we just plan to there. I already dealt with the creature that gets us caught, so maybe things will turn out differently..."

"OK..."

[Music theme: Counteroffensive, Masahashi Hamauzu, FF7 Dirge of Cerberus]

The trek through Garamsythe took longer than we expected. I didn't realize the place was so confusing, with its many twists, turns, and detours. Eventually, we got into the castle. The guards were simple to deal with; we simply got two people to start a fight, and then slipped past while the Archadians were dealing with the offending slaves. We easily found the point to use the sunstone, and just as easily reached the hidden entrance to the armory. On the way, just for kicks, as well as to simply make it easier to get through the area, we knocked out a group of the guards before they could even realize they were being attacked or register who was attacking. However, I couldn't resist yelling "Hey Bucket heads!" as we took them out. I couldn't resist reliving that moment I first heard Vaan yell that in the game.

Once inside, the next part of the puzzle was getting the goddess' face to open and reveal the magicite Dusk Shard. In the meantime, I found a few weapons of interest to me; namely a slim black blade reminiscent of a diamond sword, and a black platinum dagger shaped like a military combat knife. I grabbed both of them, and finally the goddess' face opened to reveal our prize. At the same time, a man walked in, followed by a cloaked figure. The man held a gun in his hands, while the figure seemed to hold nothing, although there seemed to be some strange boxes over his wrists. With a jolt, I remembered the man's name.

"Balthier!" The man in question raised an eyebrow.

[End music]

"Oh, I do seem to be more popular than I thought. Unfortunately, I don't know you, and you have my prize. Mr. Steele, would you mind...?" 'Steele' stepped forward, the cloak making him seem to float over the air. The boxes glowed, and suddenly, I couldn't move. Based off his expression of surprise, neither could Ace. If I didn't know any better, I would've sworn we were being held psychically. Wait a minute...

"Well, I'm more than willing to give this to you, just not yet. " thank God, I could still speak. "If you follow me for just a bit longer, we could get you to places seen by few, and plundered by even fewer." Hopefully his sky pirate side would be interested. Luckily, it seemed he would be.

"Oh, really? Well, you seem to know how to intrigue this man-of-the-hour." He considered the offer for a bit. Then he nodded. "Very well, but one slip-up, and this sky pirate's never to be seen again, nor anyone else, for that matter." Then he had Steele drop us. I nodded, the threat understood. "Well? Chop chop, we haven't all day. Lead on!"

[Music theme: Hazardous Highway, Yoko Shimamura KH2]

I raced out onto the bridge where Balthier held his getaway ride. Figuring the magicite was why it crashed in the game, I said, "This won't work. This thing will crash if we try to use it."

Balthier shook his head. "Not with him piloting." He indicated Steele. Hmmm... he really seemed familiar...

I shrugged. "Suit yourself." If we crashed, then the waterways were our getaway, so I didn't care really one way or the other. I had simply tried to warn him, that's all.

We hopped on, all of us, and began our doomed flight. As we flew, I looked back at Ace. He was being rather quiet, and I knew he was scared of roller coasters and such, which this was, except without all the safety features. "You gonna be alright?"

"Don't talk to me; I'm trying to pretend to be anywhere but here!" Figures. He's scared out of his wits.

"Hold on!" Balthier shouted as we took off. We flew around the war torn courtyard. Oh, yeah, I forgot that the Rebels would attack... artillery and magicks clashed and exploded all around us. It seemed we were going to make it free; just then the engine ran down, just as i had predicted.

Steele seemed to have been expecting this. Suddenly, the glow appeared from those boxes again, and we stabilized. We were going to escape! Suddenly, an artillery shell burst in front of us, and the boxes stopped working as well. We fell into the hole in the courtyard the shell made, and crashed. We were back in the Waterways.

"... Totally called it." Everyone glared at me.

"Fox Boy, shut up. Don't talk anymore for a while." Yep. Tim *a-hem* Ace definitely did not enjoy the ride. However, we were all fine. Steele even still had his cloak on him perfectly. How did that work out? Never mind, there's no time to waste. Ashe was just ahead, it was all coming back to me. We needed to MOVE.

Well… that is interesting… Who is this Steele character, and why do I feel like I know him? Find out later, in the next chapter, perhaps. Anywhoo, R&R (Read and Review)! 'Till next time!