I've been thinking about going back and rewriting the last chapter, but I've done that once already, and all you writers know that constantly re-editing a scene is just asking for insanity. But the biggest reason is that I love the part I'm writing right now so much that I don't want to stop and go back. So someday chapter thirteen might look very different, but don't worry about that. Plow ahead! I'm excited about stuff coming up. I haven't been this excited since Act 2!

Enjoy.

Chapter Fourteen

The Imperial City, Archades
Year 707 of the Old Valendian Calendar

The smell of exhaust, the roar of engines, hundreds of light crafts crisscrossing the skies between skyscrapers, dazzling sunlight flashing off windows. The bedrock of the Empire's prosperity, towering high over the plains. The buildings and walkways looked almost like a normal city with roads and alleys, building up vertically, save every now and then where a railing overlooked the grey and green slums a good forty feet below.

"Hey, um, why's everybody staring at us?"

Balthier glanced back at Vaan, who eyed a noble couple laughing together by the railings. Balthier scoffed.

"Probably because they've nothing better to do. I'm sure we make a wonderful amusement for them."

Vaan opened his mouth but got cut off.

"Oh! Over there! You there!"

Balthier turned his head and realized the flustered voice was calling after him. A fellow leaped from a nearby bench and jogged towards the group. In a jerky movement, they all stopped one by one and the man caught up with them, then bent over, hands on his knees.

"Yes?" Balthier said, arching an eyebrow. The man was breathing hard and wore a long white coat that looked like it belonged in a lab, certainly not an average member of the finely dressed nobles parading left and right.

"Ah… You… look like you're from out of town?" the flustered man said, straightening with an attempted at a polite smile.

"Is that a question?" Balthier lifted an eyebrow. He could already tell this would be… interesting.

"Hey, we're busy, old man," Ziafer said.

Fran cocked her head, studying the interruption. The man's smile turned nervous, as if he hadn't expected attention from the people he was bugging.

"Oh, I-I apologize. I'm, um, looking for someone. We'd heard- oh, no, that's not important. Do you happen to know the whereabouts of a pirate by the name of Balthier?"

Balthier's brow rose. Well, now the man had his attention. He didn't look like someone he'd known. He looked like a scientist, but definitely not a Draklor researcher.

"Exactly what do you want with this Balthier?" Balthier asked before anyone else could answer or tell the lab-coated man to leave.

"I'm afraid I have to discuss that with the man himself," Lab Coat said. "It's, um, well… a business matter. I just thought you looked like out-of-towners, too, so… Just tell me if you've heard anything."

It might've been sensible to walk away, but Balthier's curiosity was piqued. The man couldn't be a headhunter.

"I do happen to know where he is," Balthier said, "and so would you, if you'd done your research properly."

Lab Coat's face scrunched in confusion. "What are you saying? This man's whereabouts are… common knowledge?"

Balthier sighed. "I certainly hope not. I'm saying if you'd looked at a few more wanted posters, you'd know he's standing right in front of you."

Lab Coat blinked, then gasped. "Wait… Oh! Then you're-? Oh, this is splendid. He'll be so pleased." He cleared his throat, and held out a hand for a shake. "My name is Dr. Carks, and I'm with the laboratory YPA-"

"Oh." An excuse to stay away from Draklor was one thing, but Balthier wanted no conversation with the people posting a bounty on his head. He decided the best course of action was to walk away, which he started doing. "Sorry, no."

"H-hey-!" That was Vaan, clearly startled by the sudden action.

"But-! But you don't even know what I'm going to say!" Carks called after him.

"I can very well guess," Balthier replied. But he did stop.

"It's a matter of, well," Carks hesitated, glancing between Balthier and his companions like the wrong wording would get him shot. "My, um, superiors believe you are in possession of some stolen property of ours. I'm not sure if you're aware, but that airship you have is-"

"I'm perfectly aware it's stolen; I'm the one whole stole it," Balthier replied. Dr. Carks blinked; clearly, that was not the response he expected. Just as Balthier intended. It also earned him a quirked eyebrow from Ziafer and a cringe from Vaan and Ashe.

Dr. Carks cleared his throat. "YPA is willing not to press charges if you'll return the-"

"No." Balthier turned to leave again.

"You can keep the airship!" Carks called. "We're a laboratory, not a military organization; we just want the skystone back! We'll give you a replacement, and a pirate like you will never know the difference."

Balthier stopped and glared back at Carks. Oh, but a pirate like me would. That wasn't an explanation he could give Carks, though, and even some of his own current traveling companions didn't know. He settled on, "If there wasn't a difference, then you wouldn't want it so badly."

"Look, we'll even pay you!" Carks spread out his hands in a final plea. "We'll buy it back! You can earn a pretty penny, lose the price on your head, and you won't have to do a thing. That's reasonable, isn't it?"

"I find it distasteful to be bribed with my own bounty money," Balthier replied. "And don't call her an it." He flicked a hand and turned to leave. Enough YPA. "Good day."

"I-I could call the authorities on you!" Carks shouted. "You have multiple crimes on your-"

Balthier turned back to face him with narrowed eyes. "You really want to do that?"

Carks blinked; as Balthier had predicted, he scared easily. "Well… Ah…" He chuckled nervously. "Maybe not…" He backed up a few steps. "Um, the… offer's always open, if you change your mind!"

"I won't," Balthier replied. He nodded down the road spreading behind. "Go on."

Carks backed up, then turned and walked briskly away. Balthier, too, turned his back and started walking.

"Balthier! Wait!"

That was Ashe. With a sigh, Balthier stopped so the others could catch up.

"Oh, so you're that sort of pirate, huh?" Ziafer said, narrowing his eyes.

"And you're a nosy sort of mercenary," Balthier replied, breaking contact with Ziafer's sneer. His eyes caught Vaan, looking uneasy.

"You know, I'd… kinda forgotten how you got the Strahl," Vaan said.

Balthier sighed. "There was more to it than that," Balthier tried to keep his voice lower. "I'm certain you remember certain things you know."

Vaan frowned, and Balthier waited for the connections to meet in the kid's brain.

"Oh." Vaan's eyes popped open. "Oh, so you mean…? Oh."

"What the hay are you taking about?" Ziafer said.

"That's on a need-to-know basis, and you don't," Balthier replied. He glanced away from Ziafer's scowl down the pathway, where Carks had disappeared.

"Speaking of the Strahl," Balthier said, "I don't trust YPA won't try anything I'd feel better if at least someone was keeping watch. Fran." Balthier turned to his partner; she stood expressionless and attentive. "You don't mind waiting in the aerodrome, do you?"

Fran gave her head a single shake. "No."

Balthier considered for a moment, then turned to Ashe.

"Ashe." Balthier turned to her. "We don't need everybody at Draklor. Why don't you go with her? She might need backup if things go awry."

Ashe blinked, her eyes going wider. "But… Balthier, don't make me hide!"

Balthier sighed. He knew Ashe was going to insist on being where the action was. "You're not hiding, you're helping. Alright?" Ashe opened her mouth, but Balthier kept going. He addressed Fran so he didn't have to face Ashe's eyes.

"You two sit in the cockpit, and if so much as a maintenance Moogle comes into that hanger, just take off. Fran, I know you can get her in the air."

Fran nodded.

"Balthier-!" Ashe started.

"Princess, please?" Balthier gave her a look. Ashe's brow fell in a frown, and at last she sighed.

"Fine." For once, she agreed. Fran started walking away, and with a final glance back, Ashe followed her.

"I think… I recognized that man." Cara's low volume stopped Balthier from calling for forward march.

A scoff escaped Balthier's lips. "That Doctor Carks? That wouldn't surprise me."

"I said he was from… YPA?" Cara continued. From her turned away face, Balthier got the idea she wasn't particularly addressing him.

"What, clients of yours?" Ziafer said, lips twitching in a scowl.

"Yes, we've sold them many-" Cara glanced at Ziafer, then broke off. Ziafer let out a growl.

"Enough." Balthier said. "Draklor's on the next level, and there's an entrance to the palace there, too, so we can get our imperial approval." Balthier nodded to a waiting cab on the edge of the road. "Come on."

"Sir." The cabbie, leaning patiently against his light transport craft, straightened and glanced over his newest customers. "I assume you'll be paying gil?" He seemed hopeful. A shame to crush his hopes.

"I have chops." Balthier hadn't realized how strange the words would feel until he spoke them. It felt even stranger to produce the ring of wooden blocks set with patterns of silver and gold; a mark of dignity in the imperial city, proof of statis, and a rite of passage for government services. Balthier had held onto a few, though he normally kept them tucked away in the Strahl.

The cabbie traced the swinging motion of the blocks with his eyes for a few moments, then gestured to the cab door with a practiced grace.

"You'll all be going?" he said, glancing over the group. "It'll be a tight fit."

"That's fine," Balthier said, tucking away the chops and striding onto the cab. He just wanted to get this over with. "Tsenoble. Quickly, if you don't mind."

They were short a chair, so Balthier leaned against the wall. The X made by his rifle and sword pressed into his back. He caught a glimpse of the view, then tried not to look over the city of his birth as they took off. Vaan made no such attempt.

"Whoa. It looks even bigger from up here," Vaan said, leaning up to the window. "Hey, look!"

Penelo abandoned her seat and crowded up to the window with her brother. She gasped. "Look at the palace! You think Larsa's there?"

"He'd better be," Balthier said. "Or else we'll have a hard time getting into Draklor."

Ziafer stood and glanced out the window from afar, forgetting to hold his scowl. "Man. Must've taken a while to build all those buildings."

Balthier smirked; he'd forgotten Ziafer was barely older than Vaan. The scars and innate violent tendencies made him seem older.

Balthier watched Cara stand and get beside Penelo, getting on her tiptoes to see out the window. "It is beautiful," she said.

Balthier sighed. "I wouldn't have stood for you ladies if I'd known you had such an aversion to sitting."

Cara just glanced at him, and Penelo flushed. "S-sorry!"

For a moment, Balthier forgot to avert his eyes from the brick and sandstone buildings spreading to the horizon, climbing steeply upward towards the palace in the center. Somewhere in there was a red tower that had been Ffamran's home sweet home.

"Can you hurry up in there?" Balthier shouted up at the cockpit. He just wanted this over with.

…

The crushing force of momentum made Balthier's stomach lurch as the elevator slowed to a halt. Vaan and Penelo each grabbed and end of the curved handlebar on the back half of circular space. A red light next to the elevator door switched to green with a jovial ding, like an oven finishing cook cycle.

"You're free to go." The imperial knight accompanying them pushed the button. The busy Lord Larsa had sent nothing but a reluctant 'go ahead,' by means of a courier, but a guard from the entrance had accompanied the travelers into Draklor.

"I'll bring your other companions up," the knight continued as the door slid open.

Vaan glared at the knight, apparently, getting bossed about by an Archadian knight brough back bad memories.

"Good. Come on, let's get started." Balthier signaled with one finger to Vaan and Penelo, then steeled himself as he marched out the door. He knew exactly why he was here; to figure out why the lunatics his father had worked with needed Ashe and nethicite.

The elevator opened onto a patch of linoleum, which joined at a diagonal seam into the grey carpet. A mini kitchen/cupboard area took up one side of the room, and the other, a single seat by a picture window gazing over all Archades. A door sat on each side wall.

Balthier shook his head. Oh, no. What was he doing back here? He didn't want to be in this place. He tried to focus on the smell of dust and cleaning agents. A layer of dust covered everything, a lot to have accumulated in only six months. Boxes covered the kitchen table and crowded the empty corners. Yes, the boxes. Balthier focused on the unfamiliar objects, the reason they'd come.

"Oh, look." Balthier was happy with the light-hearted tone he produced. "Someone's organized everything for us."

Balthier walked up to the table where he'd eaten a thousand breakfasts and dinners and yanked the lid from the nearest box; dust clouded the air. Oh, Ashe and Fran and Strahl had better be there when we get back.

"Wait, we have to read all of these?" Vaan said, scanning over the loads of boxes with wide eyes.

"Only until we find what we're looking for," Balthier replied. He set the lid on an adjacent box and pulled out a manila folder. It was stuffed to bursting with loose pages. The walls rumbled, like they always did when the elevator got this high.

"Oh… come on, Vaan!" Penelo said, heaving up a stack and looking, honestly, terrified. "This is nothing to monsters!"

"I'd fight a monster any day of the week." Vaan picked up a smaller stack and weakly sat down at the table. The elevator oven-dinged again, and the door slid open. Ziafer walked out, then Cara, keeping a constant distance like they were magnets of the same pole.

"So…!" Ziafer's bright tone changed. He wrinkled his nose. "Ugh. This is gonna suck, isn't it?"

"Careful, you're about to agree with Vaan on something," Balthier said with a sigh, at which Ziafer sneered deeper and Vaan lifted his head. Balthier waved a hand over the boxes. "Start reading, won't you?"

Cara marched forward with no complaint. She had to tip the box to reach inside and pull out her stack. Ziafer sighed and walked over to join her.