I don't really know what to think of Jules. I think it's funny how he makes Vaan run around doing his bidding, but that's about it. So you can imagine this chapter being a b*tch to write, and again I had to turn to youtube and the FF wikia for guidance. Some of the dialog is from the game. It's been years since I played FFXII and to be honest, the game was a bit hard to follow, so much politics and difficult English (back then that is). I do get a lot more now that I've had to "study" the storyline, but it's been mostly bits and pieces. Maybe I should set up my PS2 and play it over again? A thousand thanks to DeAmonQuEen! I take everything you write to me into consideration for the upcoming chapters! :)

Disclaimer: SquareEnix owns Ivalice and all its wonderful characters.

Part 6: Jules

No one could claim he was an honest man. Neither that he was relabel, except in the aspect of being willing to earn a gil or two of course.

Ffamran Bunansa had know that when he as a teen first came to see him, probably having heard his name from someone who knew someone who had done business with him in the past.

Back then, Jules had been nothing but a scrawny youth himself, only Ffamran's senior by a few years, but he had fast been gaining a reputation for being the best dealer, or streetear in all of Archades.

The then Judge had come to him, gil at the ready and all, employing him to gain information about certain warehouses spread across the city. As Jules worked the job and gathered information -because Ffamran had not even given him half the money before the job was finished, meaning he actually had to work- he was surprised to say the least when he realized his employer had hired him to gather information about his own father's property. Ffamran never confirmed that Doctor Cid was his father, but for Jules it was enough to have seen both their faces.

As it turned out, Ffamran had used the information Jules had gathered to steal a prototype ship, and run of into the sunset.

If there was one thing Jules could appreciate -gil, fine wine and questionable women not withstanding- it was the romantic notion of running away from everything you were, to become something else entirely. He had never had the guts, and he admired Ffamran, now going by Balthier, for it.

And it just so happened, one day, out of the blue, he saw Balthier come back into the slums of Old Archades. He was not alone, but traveled with a bunch of strange-looking companions. A bearded, tired-looking man, who looked to have a stick up his ass, a pretty, young woman who looked to have an even bigger stick up hers, a nondescript teenage girl, another teen with a blank expression on his face -probably matching the content of his brain- and a beautiful Viera who, like all of their kind, barely wore any clothing.

Jules watched as the group reached the guards who stopped anyone trying to enter the city of Archades, before being told off. There was no way they were entering that way without what the city guards referred to as "credentials". If only they knew who they where calling commoners. Jules grinned to himself; there were gil to be made here.

The strange group gathered, probably to discuss their next move. Taking the moment for a grand entrance, Jules leant agains the wall, his voice casual and drawled out. "Well, well, well... There's a sight for sore eyes. Didn't think I'd be seeing you again. Not here."

"Oh wonderful. Enter the streetear." Balthier grumbeled.

"A pirate would do well to smile. Wouldn't want to sour his reputation."

"You know this guy?" the blonde, stupid-looking one asked.

"An old...friend. He's a streetear – a peddler of rumor and hearsay, by the name of Jules. He'd bite a gil given him by his own mother and shave it by half to pay for her funeral."

Jules' grin widened slightly. "Sometimes an ear with tight purse string's the order of the day. Like when a pirate decides he fancies going up in the world."

"To the city? You know a way?" Maybe the blonde wasn't that stupid after all.

"In Archades, knowledge is power. And power has a way of opening doors, boy. Now, a fool will buy a sack of feathers for his pillow, but a wise man … he'll buy the whole stinking cockatrice and get his fill of meat into the bargain." Jules said, proud of his cryptic words. "So, wise man, how does 1500 gil sound?"

Balthier shook his head, while the blonde quickly grabbed his purse and counted the gil over before handing them to Jules, who now knew for sure that the boy was dumb as a bag of sand.

"Bright boy." This was going to be so easy. "You learn fast. I call this meeting to order. Tell me, boy, heard any rumors in town?"

"I haven't heard much of anything." the boy shrugged, looking almost apologetic.

"I need to hear before I talk. A boy would do well to see what his ears can pick up off the street."

And with that, the boy ran off.

"Do you think Vaan realizes he just paid gil to run around gathering rumors?" Balthier asked one of his companions, arms crossed and an amused look on his face. It didn't seem to bother him at all that their group had just lost a large sum of gil, making Jules wonder how much else the stupid one was willing to pay for without the rest stopping him.

The serious looking girl, with a belt for a skirt, gave Balthier a look which shut him up.

"So, Balthier." Jules slightly cocked his head with a crooked grin on his face. "What have you been up to all these years since last we saw each other, friend?"

"I thought you dealt in information. So if you want to know what I've been up to, I suggest you pay me back those 1500 gil, and maybe an extra 1000. what do you say, Jules? Does that not sound like a good deal?"

Jules only grinned in return, Ffamran had truly changed over the last few years. "I guess I have to find out another way, eh?"

The rest of the wait was spent in silence, the group talking quietly amongst themselves, Jules unable to overhear anything besides the names of the members of the rag-tag party.

The boy, Vaan, suddenly came running back around the corner. "I heard something!" He shouted before stopping, nearly crashing into Jules while doing so. "There's this really old man, and he said that if you smack your head hard enough against a certain stone along the wall, you can get your wish come true!"

No one said a word for a little while.

"Is that why you have huge bump forming on your forehead?" Balthier finally asked, an amused grin crossing his face.

"Yeah, and I wished for us to get into the city, so now it will happened for sure!"

"Emm..." Jules cleared his throat, maybe this would not be as easy as he had first believed. "Any other rumors, boy?"

Vaan thought long and hard, not surprising as he had probably killed the last few braincells when banging his head against a stone wall. "Oh yeah, I heard about a man who picked a bag of coins out of a barrel. I don't think it matters really, but that's all I remember."

"Bags in barrels, eh...? A boy would do well to bring that morsel to a man named Beasley near here. Tell him what you've heard."

And just like that, Vaan was off again.

"Wait!" Penelo shouted after him. "He didn't even let me heal him..."

This time they didn't need to wait so long for Vaan to return.

"You told him just as I told you?" Jules asked and Vaan nodded eagerly. "Good boy!"

"I'm not sure what any of this has to do with going up in the world. After all, I made the wish, so we shouldn't need to do all this other stuff."

"Maybe the two of them are connected." Jules said, finding it best not to argue the logic of an imbecile. "Now, witness the power of knowledge, m'boy. See?" He pointed over to his left. "It begins."

And so it did. One of the slum's inhabitants came running up to a small group sitting on the ground. "Ey, 'tis a fight! Beasley's gone wild!" and with that he, and the small group, ran off again, shortly followed by the two guards, who just seconds ago had blocked the group's way up and into the city of Archades.

Vaan smiled broadly. "I knew it would work! Now's our chance. Thanks, Jules."

He quickly made his way towards the stairs, the rest of the group doing the same, and Balthier made to follow his friends.

"The prodigal Bunansa son's come back to the imperial roost." Jules' words stopped him in his tracks. "See? Words of much value, these."

Turning a sharp eye towards the streetear, Balthier didn't bother giving a proper response before finally heading for the glorious city which had once been his home.

...

Balthier had later separated from the group, having to settle some "personal matters". Fran went with him, and the rest of the group were left behind to waste a bit of time. He had of course made arrangements so they would be able to meet up later, giving chops to Jules to give to Vaan, once he had gotten some himself.

He should've of course taken into account that Jules would be likely to take the chops himself and make the rest work for their own. And of course Vaan would actually pay to run around like some errant boy, again!

Another 2500 gil gone it seemed, and it would be another night spent in a run-down inn with the cheapest stew for dinner...

Balthier had better learn fast that Vaan and gil never were a good combination, or it would all be gone come morning.