There's a new sun
Risin' up angry in the sky
And there's a new voice
Cryin' "We're not afraid to die!"
Let the old world make believe
It's blind and deaf and dumb
But nothing can change the shape of things to come

-Max Frost and the Troopers, "The Shape of Things to Come"

---

The sky pirate Balthier sighed as a few drops of bat blood stained his crisp white shirt. For someone as fastidious as he was, pillaging ancient and filthy tombs should not have been his first choice of career. At present, he and his Viera partner Fran were joined in the Tomb of Raithwall by Penelo. When he had entered the tomb for the first time a year ago, he had discovered a message carved into the wall. Balthier had gotten the message translated, and he had finally found the time to get back to the grave of the Dynast-King to claim a new treasure.

After discovering a remarkable cache of spoils in Bervenia, he and Fran had more than enough gil to retire, but one simply could not take the pirate out of the man. The pirating pair had only returned to the skies three months prior after their torturous Rozarrian imprisonment. Balthier felt that he had a lot of making up to do in terms of his work, so here they were in search of another bit of loot to add to their growing pile.

His beautiful partner felled another bat with her bow and turned to Balthier with a frown. "He was so excited to come along, and you left him at the door," she remarked.

Balthier shook his head. "Lookout is a very important job," he assured her, keeping his gun at the ready for any other beasts that sought to make their treasure hunting more difficult.

It had been Fran's idea to allow Vaan and Penelo to tag along on this mission, but Balthier didn't have to let Vaan claim all the loot. Though she was just as talkative, Balthier preferred Penelo's company to that of her mischievous friend. They had been trudging slowly through the tomb for nearly an hour in search of a passageway marked with a statue of a lion.

Their fighting became almost mechanical as they continued on their way through the ancient structure. The sky pirate allowed his mind to wander to some of the more pleasant memories he had of the past few months. Although he had been brainwashed to harm her, he had been cured and was presently engaged in a very enticing relationship with Queen Ashelia B'Nargin Dalmasca.

As soon as they nabbed the treasure in old Raithwall's Tomb, the pirate had it in mind to pay her a visit. It had been nearly a week since they had last seen one another, and he longed to feel the softness of her body beneath his fingers. He thought of the curve of her hips, the delicate skin of her stomach, how he couldn't wait to visit those places with his tongue…

He was startled out of his pleasing thoughts by a swooping fiend, and Fran's arrow found its mark before Balthier could even aim his gun. The Viera shook her head in amusement, and he could tell she knew the direction of his current daydreaming.

"I will not do that for you again," she warned him, and they proceeded down a steep stairway to move deeper into the structure. The sky pirate winked at his partner, and added more bullets to his gun.

Penelo sighed and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. "Are you sure there's something here?" she asked, stopping a moment to catch her breath.

Balthier perched his gun on his shoulder and took out the small piece of parchment with its translation. "Head of lion seek you out, beyond the stairs of alabaster white…" he read in irritation, "I hate these blasted riddles. They can't just tell you to go past the white stairs to find the lion's head, can they?"

Fran's eyes narrowed in concentration. "I see some sort of grotesque carving on the wall there," she noted, pointing to a small projecting figure ahead of them.

Balthier looked at the steps they had just come down. He supposed that in the tomb's heyday they had been alabaster white, but now they were a moldy gray. The trio approached the figure and looked around for some sign of a passageway. It had clearly been a lion at some point, but the wall was smooth and the same as any other part around it. Balthier pressed his hands against the wall, looking for a hidden switch.

Penelo knelt down and poked a protruding stone with the tip of her dagger. There was a rumbling sound from deep beyond the wall, and the stone began to crumble. The pirates stepped back as the wall gave way, revealing a hidden path.

Balthier patted Penelo on the shoulder. "You'll make a fine pirate someday. Very observant." The girl smiled at his approval, and they continued forward through the new path.

Luckily no fiends had managed to work their way this deeply into the tomb, and the sky pirates were grateful for the respite. Balthier again read the translated words, a frown beginning to cross his face.

"What are we looking for?" Penelo asked cheerfully, excited to be along for the journey. Balthier knew how jealous Vaan would be, and he couldn't wait to see the look on the young man's face when they emerged triumphant.

"We're looking for a statue of a basilisk next," he announced, his brow furrowing at the archaic wording of the translated text.

They only saw the long passageway ahead of them, trailing away into darkness. Fran smirked unhappily. "We will be walking for hours at this rate."

Balthier turned to her and gave her a playful nudge with his elbow. "Come now, Fran. I paid a great deal of gil for this translation. I'm sure it's up here somewhere."

His partner regarded him cynically. "I think you may have been swindled," she muttered, pushing cobwebs out of her path.

The sky pirate chuckled. "As always, your undying loyalty and devotion make this all worthwhile." They continued walking for several minutes when they finally encountered an archway along the side of the passage. The group emerged into a large room with a vaulted ceiling, and Balthier turned to fix Fran with a triumphant look.

His partner's face fell, and she shook her head in irritation. "A statue of a basilisk was it?" she groaned. To Balthier's annoyance, the walls along either side of the room were lined with at least twenty statues each.

And they were all statues of basilisks.

No matter, the sky pirate thought, encouraging himself. He patted a disappointed Penelo on the shoulder and considered the parchment again. "Well it says there is a false wall behind a basilisk statue, so we test the walls behind each." Fran sighed and began squeezing behind one of the statues to pound on the wall with her fist.

Penelo skipped ahead to tap the panels further down the wall, and Balthier started the search on the wall opposite them. He smacked the stone wall with the butt of his gun and heard only muffled noise. No echo to indicate a hollowed out wall.

The three companions examined the walls for several minutes until there was a loud crashing noise and a victorious squeal from Penelo. "I found it!" she exclaimed and jumped aside quickly to avoid the collapsing stone.

Balthier hurried over to examine the area. A room had been revealed, no bigger than his own cabin on the Strahl. There was an old wooden chest visible against the far wall, and he knelt down to examine the lock.

He heard pounding footsteps behind him, and then Vaan's voice calling out. "Are you guys in here?" he cried, rushing into the basilisk room.

The sky pirate shook his head in disgust. He removed a small metal tool to begin picking the lock as Vaan began yammering about something or other. Balthier fiddled with the lock, chastising the young man's arrival. "Vaan, what did I tell you?"

The boy stood behind him and put his hands on his hips. "But Balthier…"

The lock clicked open, and the pirate tossed it aside. "What did I tell you?" he repeated.

"Not to leave my spot," Vaan muttered, craning over Balthier's shoulder to peer into the treasure chest.

"And you have done exactly that," he scolded, opening the lid of the chest. His eyes widened in excitement at the treasure held within: a glittering crown encrusted with shiny jewels. He could hear Vaan's talking grind to a halt behind him at the sight of the treasure. It would fetch a marvelous price in the Rabanastre markets. He lifted the crown from the chest and placed it atop his own head. "I doubt old Raithwall's coming back for this trinket," he said with a smile.

Balthier slammed the empty chest shut and stood up, seeing Penelo giggle and Fran roll her eyes at the crown settled crookedly on his head. Vaan finally stopped gaping at the uncovered treasure and found words. "There's something going on outside! The sand people are rushing into the temple grounds!"

Penelo gasped. "What? Why?"

Fran approached Vaan. "But the Urutan-Yensa never leave the sandsea. Are you sure?"

Vaan was still trying to catch his breath from his long journey into the inner reaches of the tomb. "I know what I saw. They looked like they had been in a fight and were running here to hide. None of them even tried to attack me. They just came into the courtyard and collapsed."

Balthier hurried Vaan and the others out of the small treasure room, and he straightened the crown on his head. Penelo turned to him, confusion riddling her features. "What should we do?"

He looked to Fran, and she looked equally confused. "We get the hell out of here," he replied, and the four companions hurried out of the ancient tomb. When they emerged, the courtyard was overrun with dozens of sandsea dwellers. Many of them were heavily bloodied, laying on the ground and panting. Still more of their people were pouring into the courtyard, but none of them tried to attack the party as they came out of the tomb.

The group rushed to where the Strahl was moored just beside the temple, and they boarded quickly. The sky pirate tossed the crown onto his bunk and joined the others in the cockpit. He and Fran readied the airship for take-off as their friends stared out into the courtyard. "There must be over a hundred Urutan in here. What is going on?" Penelo wondered, clutching the back of Fran's seat.

"We can fly over the sandsea and find out," Balthier answered, flipping a few switches on the console in front of him. This was troubling indeed, he thought. The sandsea people were very territorial and kept to their lands. Something incredible must have been happening to send them fleeing beyond their borders.

The Strahl ascended into the air, and Balthier piloted the ship east towards the Nam-Yensa sandsea. If the devastation visible in the courtyard had been surprising, the sights the party now witnessed in the Urutan's home were beyond belief. Dead bodies were strewn everywhere, the sand dunes drenched with crimson blood. Balthier winced at the number of bodies floating along in the sea of shimmering sand crystals as the Strahl flew over the area. Several of the long abandoned oil drilling towers were ablaze, the smoke climbing high into the skies.

The party saw nothing but corpses for nearly an hour, and they remained silent at the devastation. Who would attack the Urutan? The extent of the destruction was clearly a calculated plan, not a simple skirmish. As they reached the bordering area between the Nam-Yensa and Ogir-Yensa, Vaan suddenly gasped, pointing ahead of them.

Balthier slowed the airship, and the party witnessed a massive battle in progress. A group of Urutan huddled together, their weapons at the ready. Across from them was a swarming mob of the Baknamy people, the inhabitants of the Nabreus Deadlands. The guns and hand bombs of the Baknamy were making short work of the Urutan's arrows, the smaller sand people falling down in droves at the attack. The Baknamy were merciless, slaughtering the Urutan and slashing at the fallen with daggers.

Penelo stepped to the back of the cockpit, horrified and unable to watch. A loud boom was heard, and Fran's eyes widened. "They have spotted us!" she cried, and Balthier saw a large ball of fire hurtling upwards towards the Strahl.

Balthier reached behind him to shove Vaan down into a seat. "Hold on tight, this could get a bit bumpy!" he ordered and steered the airship hard right to avoid the launched attack from the ground. The bomb exploded, missing the ship but sending out a shockwave that rattled the entire vessel. As soon as they were in the clear, he gunned the engines, and the Strahl rocketed away, heading back for Rabanastre.

"The Baknamy have never been organized like this," Fran said, deep in thought. "What could have possessed them to leave the ruins of Nabudis to attack the Urutan?"

Balthier shook his head. "Not a clue. But the Urutan are getting massacred. We're going straight to the palace to tell Ashe," he replied. The sky pirate could see it now: hurrying into the Queen's chambers to relate word of the horrific battle, the Queen fainting in shock at the news, her valiant lover awakening her with a kiss…

"How selfless and heroic. Your concern for the sand people is to be admired," his partner replied with a smirk. Fran would always see right through him. The ship continued on its eastern course as they flew away from the sandsea.

---

The Queen of Dalmasca sat to breakfast, but could not bring herself to eat. There was far too much to worry about, and she really had no time to dally at the dining table. Her chief minister, Tylo Echarna, nudged a plate of eggs towards the young woman.

"Your Highness will not make it through the day without eating something. Please, we have everything taken care of," the older man noted with a grin. Ashe solemnly accepted the food and began poking at it with her fork as Minister Echarna departed the breakfast room.

After months in the works, her dream of a peace council was complete. The long weeks of chartering the council had finally ended, and the first formal meeting of the group was to begin the following day. Representatives from nearly every corner of Ivalice were arriving in Rabanastre, and Ashe had been volunteered to open the meeting and suggest an agenda for the very first summit. Dalmasca would be the host for the first year of council meetings, and she had spent every waking hour over the past week analyzing the political situation in Ivalice.

The Queen's first order of business was a rather personal one, but something she felt was long overdue. Her friend and confidante, Basch fon Ronsenburg, was to finally be recognized for his contributions to lasting peace in Ivalice, and he would be formally parted from his assumed role in Archadia. For the past several months, he had posed as his brother, Judge Gabranth, but now that Archadia had fully embraced Larsa Solidor's rule, he could once again claim his own name. Ashe knew that many in Dalmasca still were uneasy with the idea of an honor ceremony for the man still considered a traitor in some quarters. She hoped that a formal recognition would soften some hearts. Basch was to continue in his role at Larsa's court, but on his own terms.

The judge magister was currently enjoying breakfast with the Queen, and since his arrival, Ashe had noticed an uneasiness settling over her friend. She gave him a small grin and watched him munch on his breakfast. "I see that you are nervous about tomorrow's recognition," she said sympathetically.

Basch shook his head and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Though I am grateful for both your Majesty and Lord Larsa's encouragement of this ceremony, I would rather not be the object of such adoration. I fulfilled my oath to my brother, and I would continue that aim in his stead. I do not require any honors."

Ashe smiled at the man's constant humility. She sipped some water and looked over a long sheet of notes she had prepared. Aside from the well-deserved recognition for Basch, the Queen's main goal at this summit was the consideration of what was quickly being referred to as "The Nabradia Question".

Since the destruction of Nabudis nearly three years prior, the Nabradian people had been scattered to the corners of Ivalice. Ashe wanted to discuss the creation of a new homeland within unused Archadian territory. Although Ashe knew she would have Larsa's full support, Basch did not see it as an acceptable solution to the rest of the Empire.

The knight watched her peruse her notes, and he sighed. "You will press on with the Nabradia issue?" he inquired, cutting into a piece of meat with his knife.

"Archades, Rabanastre and Nalbina still overflow with people three years later. These people need a home to return to. I cannot give them Nabudis, but surely there is plenty of land in Archadia that would be a fine home for them," she explained for what felt like the thousandth time. Her council had also discouraged her, but Ashe would not be deterred.

"And I would agree wholeheartedly. I would see both Nabradia and Landis restored if I could make it so, but the Archadian nobility would never cede their land, no matter the reason," he replied sadly.

"But no one lives there!" Ashe complained, "The nobles own the land, but they do not use it! It merely keeps them at the top of society when it could be converted to farms for starving families!"

Basch could offer no further argument, and he returned to his meal in silence. Ashe shoved her plate away angrily and rose from her seat. She would proudly share Dalmascan land if she had any to give, but a country made mostly of sand would not be a welcoming home to the wandering thousands.

She stared out the window at her capital city. Rabanastre was buzzing with the beginning of another scorching day, the people bustling through the bazaar. She could see workers in the courtyards below hanging up banners of all the peoples of Ivalice, and it warmed her heart to see the activity. Ashe was determined to make her case tomorrow if she had to argue until she collapsed. It was up to the Archadians from there. She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder, and Basch looked into her eyes sympathetically.

"Your Majesty could make a river change its course with a glance, but I still suspect this argument cannot be settled so easily," he uttered. The knight removed his hand from her shoulder and cleared his throat. "I know you have another motive for this restoration. It is written as clear as day across your face."

She frowned and returned her gaze to the courtyards beneath her window. "When Nabudis fell, Rasler could not be there. He instead fought for Dalmasca and died for her. I only wish to bring some semblance of Nabradia back. Doing so would give me peace." Though years had gone by, the loss of her husband, Rasler Heios Nabradia, still affected her. She felt that she owed it to the brave man's memory to try and restore the homeland he had lost.

Basch nodded. "It would ease my burdens as well. It would be a fitting tribute to Lord Rasler and his kin as it would be to all those who called Nabudis home." They stood in silence, both remembering the lost heir of Nabradia.

Minister Echarna reentered as the breakfast plates were being cleared away. "Your Majesty, Minister Rabon will be unable to represent Mount Bur-Omisace at the summit. He has fallen ill, I'm afraid."

Ashe turned to the older man and shook her head sadly. "Minister Rabon will surely be the next Gran Kiltias. With his assistance we could have pushed through the Nabradian issue. Well, has another representative for the kiltias and refugees been sent in his place?"

Tylo nodded and stepped aside, signaling to someone in the hallway. A tall man clothed in the simple garb of a penitent acolyte entered, a hood covering his head. He approached her and Basch and knelt down humbly.

The man pulled back the hood to reveal a head of messy brown hair. He looked up into her eyes and gave her a small smile. "It is good to see you after all these years, Ashelia."

Ashe's hand flew to her mouth in surprise at her visitor. She could hear Basch inhale sharply at the new representative as well. It was like looking into the eyes of a ghost.

The Queen bade the man to stand up, and she embraced him. "My Gods, Erran. Is it really you?" she asked.

The man nodded, and it was as if she were a young girl again. Basch shook hands with the new visitor as Ashe struggled to regain her composure. But it was almost as if she had in fact seen a ghost. The man standing before her was Erran Heios Nabradia, cousin to her late husband and a member of the Nabradian royal house. Though of a darker complexion than Rasler, his noble features clearly identified him as a member of that clan. He was a few years older than her, but he had always treated her with kindness during her visits to Nabudis before and after her betrothal to his cousin. Ashe had thought him dead along with the rest of Rasler's family. What miracle had kept him alive?

Ashe had so many questions to ask him, she didn't know where to start. "I cannot believe you are still alive! I thought you had perished at Nabudis with the rest…" she began, ushering him to a seat at her table.

Erran appeared uncomfortable at the inquiry, but he answered solemnly. "I fled Nabudis at the request of my uncle, your husband's father. I was to go on to Rabanastre to tell of the Archadian invasion, but my party was attacked, and I was knocked out. A traveling caravan found me and brought me to Mount Bur-Omisace. That is where I have resided since the fall of my home."

Basch could sense the sadness in the man's voice, but Ashe had the same question lingering in her mind. He broached the topic gently. "Why did you not try to reclaim Nabradia in all this time? Surely you knew of her Majesty's own attempts to overthrow Archadia?"

The man nodded in agreement. "I saw you both when you visited the Gran Kiltias several months ago. But you cannot know the shame I felt. I fled Nabudis in her time of greatest need when I should have been there to defend her. And then by the time I awakened in Kerwon, Dalmasca had fallen and for all I knew, your entire line had perished as well, my lady. A coward such as I could lay no claim to my homeland."

Ashe patted his hand in support. "Well that is all past now. I am so glad to see you alive. When did we last speak?"

A smile emerged on the man's face, making him look much younger. "At your wedding. All of our hopes went with you that day, and if Rasler was alive today, he would be proud of your many accomplishments," he said, causing Ashe to look down in humility.

Seeing her embarrassment, Erran shifted the topic. "I am honored to be here to represent the Kiltias. They have been a second family to me."

An idea dawned on the Queen at that moment as the last surviving member of the Nabradian royal line sat right in front of her. How did she not think of this immediately? "Lord Erran, I would like you to attend dinner with me tonight. I have a proposal regarding Nabradia that I think you might like to hear."

Basch shook his head and laughed at her refusal to back down on the Nabradia question, and Erran appeared puzzled. "I am here for the interests of Mount Bur-Omisace, your Highness, but I would be honored to join you this evening. Perhaps we can discuss more than politics. I would like to hear about how my cousin misbehaved when he was here in Rabanastre." Erran and Rasler had been a pair of tricksters, Ashe remembered. Noble and brave to a fault, but very inclined to tease young visiting princesses from other lands.

Ashe grinned at the memory. It would be a pleasant distraction to reminisce about better days with someone who actually could understand her. And what's more, what better way to propose a restoration of Nabradia than to present a man who was the sole remaining heir to it? Surely the fates had smiled upon her that day.

She turned to make further plans for the evening when she heard the unexpected noise of an airship landing in her courtyard. Ashe hurried to the window and smiled inwardly at the sight of the Strahl settling down outside. He always has to make some lavish entrance, she mused as the newly hung banners flew off of their poles.

Several servants began racing about the courtyard to try and snatch back the banners. Ashe saw her head gardener running to curse at the airship that had just destroyed his meticulously arranged flower beds as the Strahl's hatch opened and her friends raced out. The ship's captain, on the other hand, walked with his usual swagger, paying no mind to the chaos he was creating in her palace gardens.

The Queen folded her arms across her chest and gave Basch a grin. "It would appear that the pirates have returned."