Pirates of Ivalice - Chapter 21

Epilogue

A Pirate leaves no end loose.

Balthier strode out of his quarters with purpose and poise, fastening the cuff links on a new, clean shirt with swagger that Fran would have testified made him seem a good few years younger. Whatever it was that he'd lacked since the Bahamut – perhaps even before it, considering the fruitlessness of the quest that had brought them there – it was back, and it was ready for business.

"Are you ready for takeoff, dear?" he asked Fran fondly, the teasing humour of his words almost refreshing for once. He rested a hand on the back of her seat while she ran through the engine checks, if only to enjoy the smooth tone as every single one turned back a flawless report; Nono and his team had outdone themselves again – and earned a more than generous salary in reward.

"Aye, captain," she mocked, and then watched with amusement as Balthier curled himself into the newly reupholstered pilot's seat with a blissful grin; they were homeagain.

"Ready the engines," he directed, and then with a slow, delicious purr the glossar engines came alive – not a bird or nest in sight. They raised from the ground so smoothly they could have been on a pulley, revving until the ship was like a cork in the top of a bottle of champagne.

The pilot shot his navigator a knowing look, and then within a split-second they blasted off, tearing away from the Balfonheim aerodrome with enough force to throw tiles from the roofs of nearby houses. No better way to make it known that Balthier Bunansa, and his partner Fran, the only Viera pirate in Ivalice, were back in the skies once more.

Vaan and Penelo were enjoying a couple of Dalmascan Drainpipes in a tavern at Nalbina – the common pitstop for sky pirates making their way from Arcadia down into Rozzaria, when, after slinging an arm back over his chair and casting a bored glance over at the door, Vaan took a swig of his drink only to almost spit it straight back out.

"Buh-urk! Ack!" he choked, slamming his cup down on the table as Penelo stared at him disparagingly. "Mmmf!" he insisted, pointing across the room wildly.

"What are you... Oh!" Penelo gasped as she followed Vaan's gestures. "Is that?"

"Balthier!" Vaan yelped when he was capable of speech at last. "Fran?"

The two noticed Vaan and Penelo – it was quite impossible not to notice them with the fuss the former was kicking up – and casually made their way across the room.

"Fancy seeing you here," announced Balthier coolly, darting a glance over at Vaan and his companion. "Penelo," he murmured warmly, and then winked at her.

"Uh... hi," she replied, a little dazed and slightly flushed. "Oh, and hi Fran," she added upon turning to the Viera, who nodded acknowledgement.

"What are you guys doing here?" Vaan hushed. "Don't you remember what happened last time you stopped round these parts?"

"Quite graphically, Vaan, yet I distinctly remember being your fault," Balther remarked caustically, but his expression soon mellowed. "Anyway, you worry too much," he dismissed, dragging up a chair and patting the boy on the shoulder as he sat down.

"But... what are you doing here?" Penelo reiterated, just as bemused as her partner and unwilling to let the matter slide so easily.

"Is a free man not entitled to stop over in a tavern for a well-needed rest after a hard day's flying?" exclaimed Balthier scathingly. "You young types are so judgemental."

"So you're back in the Strahl?" Vaan surmised, and Fran gave him such a cutting look that a full answer wasn't at all necessary. "But what about all the fuss in Balfonheim? How did you get out?" The last time he and Penelo had been at the port a number of very threatening and powerful individuals were issuing personal warrants for Balthier and Fran's heads – or better yet, the Strahl – on a plate.

"It was settled," Balthier explained without the vaguest hint of caring. "Matters are awfully easy to resolve when you have the appropriate funds. In fact, we're quite the talk of the town in Balfonheim these days, aren't we Fran?" he said with a turn towards his partner.

"For the right reasons," she specified. "For once." Balthier clicked his tongue at her as he unhooked a small leather purse from one of his belts, and started tapping it against the table to hear the wonderful clink of gil inside.

"Friends, I think I shall join you for the next round," he announced to Vaan and Penelo, then reached across the table for her glass and tipped it towards him; he sniffed the concoction delicately, then pulled an elaborately disgusted face and promptly turned the cup upside down, emptying the rest of the contents onto the floor.

"Hey!" Penelo barked. "That was mine, Balthier!"

"No creature delicate as yourself should drink things as rough as that, Penelo," he explained dotingly, half a smile lifting his face and a warm, infective chuckle on his lips. "I shall buy you a new one." He stood up decisively, and strode over to the bar, leaving Fran with them, her head leant boredly on one hand; it was better to wait for her partner's show to end rather than try to interrupt it.

"Uhm, what just happened?" Vaan asked; Fran lazily raised her eyes to him, and then they creased into a unmistakable smirk.

"You will see," she teased, and it wasn't long before Balthier returned with three glasses and a bottle of the most expensive drink in the house.

"I'm afraid to say I've no idea what it is," he announced as he set the objects down on the table. "It cost enough, though, so perhaps it won't be as likely to strip the lining of my throat off as your usual desert engine-polish." He poured a small amount into one of the glasses and held it up to the light, noticing a distinctly purplish tint to the dark translucent liquid before he tipped it back. Then no more than two seconds passed before he doubled over, slamming a fist against the table and heaving in a half-cough, half-gasp for air motion. Covering his mouth, he hacked for at least half a minute before he straightened up again and slumped into a chair.

"...Perhaps not," he croaked, his face paling as Vaan and Penelo both poured generous glasses and took a swig.

"You're such a drama queen, Balthier," Penelo taunted as she sipped uninterestedly from her cup.

"It just tastes like fruit juice," Vaan proclaimed boisterously. "I can't taste the alcohol in it at all." He then leant back and drained his glass completely, while Balthier watched with nothing less than horror.

"Suddenly, so much of your personality makes sense to me, Vaan," he muttered.

"This is a nice gesture and all," Penelo interjected, waving her hand around the costly alcohol, "but, uh, well..." she faltered trying to grasp the right words.

"Where'd you get the money?" Vaan supplied with all the subtly of a drunk Seeq. Penelo flinched, half-expecting Balthier to lean over the table and smash the bottle over his head, but instead he just laughed.

"Ohh, that's for me to know and you to wonder, Vaan," he taunted. "A sky pirate never reveals his secrets."

"Heey," whined the younger, former apprentice-of-sorts. "But you used to tell me all your tricks."

"Ah, but that was before you set off into Ivalice and became an important, independent, backstabbing sky pirate all of your own," he cooed, attempting to reach up and ruffle Vaan's hair, had he not backed away out of Balthier's reach. "Besides, it's more fun to watch you try and guess."

"Baal-thieeeere," Vaan kicked up in a distinctive whine. "Come on, where's the stash?"

"My lips are sealed, Vaan," he retorted, making an appropriate gesture to match.

"Gods forbid," Fran was heard to murmur under her breath, but if anyone heard, they didn't acknowledge it.

"Okay, so the gil's one thing," said Penelo compromisingly, "but what about the rest of it?"

"Can't say I follow you," Balthier replied airily, attempting another sip of the liquor and finding it almost as painful as the last.

"Well... Ashe? Larsa? Half of Ivalice wanting you and Fran alive or preferably dead?"

"Ohh," he laughed richly, drumming the fingers of one hand on the table. "All those matters have been settled, though it is nice of you to ask," he elaborated with an unashamedly flirtatious look her way.

"What do you mean settled?" Vaan pressed. "You don't just settle several million gil in bounties between here and Arcadia."

"You don't," Balthier rephrased, and then glanced over at Fran with a crafty smile. "We do."

"That's not an answer, Balthier!" Vaan snapped.

"Temper, temper," Balthier retorted condescendingly. "If you are so keen to know, I suppose we can enlighten you a little," he conceded at last, basking in the attentive rays emanating from Vaan as he leaned over to listen."You see, all good pirates know that after a particularly upsetting series of jobs, it always does to clean house a little. You never want the authorities to be troubled enough by you to set actual forces on your tail."

"Okay," Vaan agreed, slipping back into the role of awestruck apprentice too naturally to even notice, "but how did you do it?"

"How did we do it," Balthier corrected. "It was Fran's idea to – how should I say – motivate certain individuals with access to notable documents to lose the records on myself and Fran."

Naturally, Basch hadn't been all that pleased with the request, made only after he and Fran had escaped Arcades; in exchange for burning all of Vayne's official documents – which could have a devastating effect on the Arcadian political machine were they to go public – he would similarly destroy every record of Fran and himself. Though unhappy with the belated randome, he couldn't deny that he'd brought it upon himself, having literally put the valuable papers in his and Fran's hands in the first place.

"Furthermore," Fran contributed to the narrative at last; her pride in the affair no less than her partner's, but at least a little more understated, "Things of little value to us, but much more to a young man of great power, were exchanged in return for the dropping of our names from the bounties list in Arcadia."

It would also suffice to say that Basch would be even less pleased to discover that not only had he destroyed their records, but his master had erased their names from national most-wanted lists in exchange for the diaries that he'd tried so hard to keep from Larsa's hands all this time.

In fact it was Balthier who'd made the final decision about sending Vayne's diaries – along with the now-useless will – to Larsa he'd concluded that the boy should be free to make up his own mind about his brother, and that he was a strong enough individual to deal with what he discovered in the right way.

"As far as the Arcadian state knows, Fran and I do not exist," Balthier concluded grandiosely, enjoying every second of Vaan's stunned expression. Whatever misguided thoughts the boy might have had about supplanting him as the dominant pirating force in the skies, they were all now quite assuredly shelved.

"Wow..." was all Balthier's former protégée had to say.

"I rather think you've still a lot to learn, eh, Vaan?" Balthier gloated. "Now, as for the radiant Lady Ashe, whose passion for getting her hands around my throat knows no bounds." Fran looked at Penelo and rolled her eyes, the two sharing an understanding moment.

"Yeah, Ashe was pissed," Vaan eloquently stated; he ought know, as she had hired him to bring Balthier to her for imprisonment, and he still remembered exactly how colourful her language had been. "How'd you manage that?"

"Always remember your audience, Vaan," Balthier tutored. "While a powerful head of state, tough negotiator, and proud leader, milady is still quite assuredly a woman, and in our case, a woman scorned on personal matters – not political. Amends can be made on the same level."

"Whaddya mean, you were stealing from Ashe left right and centre," Vaan pointed out, but Balthier held up a finger to stop him.

"Only because she'd insist on insulting me at every turn she could. See, the Lady and I's spats always come back to one thing, and that is a singularly ugly wedding ring that I may or may not have desecrated before retuning it her," he explained with a remarkably inappropriate air of guiltlessness, all things considered.

"Ohh, I remember," Vaan followed.

"So, for a ring ruined," he began elegantly, and then reached for a hand to draw a solid ring from one of his fingers, cast from a beautiful silvery metal tinged with just a hint of gold. "A ring gifted," he concluded, rolling the jewellery between his fingers with an incredibly satisfied look. "Though," he added, "hers is of a far more beautiful and ladylike design. I chose it myself, of course."

While Vaan's eye was usually sharper than his partner's when pirating was concerned, Penelo's was much quicker to the point when jewels or jewellery were concerned; hers widened slightly as she fixed upon the ring.

"Isn't that-" she attempted to say.

"Dalmascan white gold?" he finished for her. "Why, yes it is. I must confess, I could not have one cast for Her Majesty without having another for myself. If it is good enough for royalty, tis surely good enough for me." He slipped the item back onto his hand – notably not his wedding finger, at least – and grinned even wider at the two of them.

"You gave her a ring?" Vaan exclaimed disparagingly. "That can't have worked. It couldn't be that easy." It had taken Vaan months to get back into his monarch's good books after offending her pride, and he had still never even come close to angering her the way Balthier had.

"Oh?" hummed Balthier, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "Do you see any Dalmascan guards attempting to haul us away? Hmm? We walked past a good few on our way in – even docked at the aerodrome, you can go look for yourself," he said with a gesture.

"I don't believe it..." Penelo muttered into her arms, which were folded over her face as she sunk her head onto the table. "I really don't believe it."

"You shall have to get used to it, I'm afraid," Balthier said without any true feelings of apology. "Fran and I are very much back in business, so you're to expect much more of the same in the future. Right, Fran?" he asked with a dazzling grin flashed over at his partner.

"Of course," she agreed confidently.

"So lemme get this straight," Vaan announced boldly. "You found some huge jackpot of treasure, paid off all your enemies in Balfonheim, blackmailed or bribed the Arcadians into deleting you from their records and then sent Ashe a fancy ring to say sorry for making her life hell?"

"In a nutshell," confirmed Balthier. "Yes, I think that pretty much covers it, don't you Fran?"

"We also blew a hole in the Arcadian Imperial Palace walls," she added, thinking it an achievement worthy of some regard.

"Oh jeesh," Vaan gaped. "What didn't you do?"

"Well, we didn't sit around taverns in Nalbina all day poisoning our minds with glossar fuel," Balthier piped up sternly, rapping his finger on the side of the liquor bottle. "Treasure doesn't just fall into your lap, Vaan, you have to go out and seize it, whatever the costs. Fran and I are on our way to Rozzaria now, seeing as we've quite clearly exhausted Arcadia for some time."

"But..." Vaan mumbled bemusedly, "you've got it all. What do you even do next?"

"Pardon?" said Balthier sharply, as if he'd misheard him.

"If you're loaded with gil, beat up your biggest enemy and paid off all the authorities, what else is there to do?" Vaan reiterated, at which Balthier stared at him completely blankly. He then looked at Fran, who shrugged with an equally clueless expression.

"Are you... are you honestly asking," he began cautiously, "what a pair of sky pirates are to do following the acquisition of a vast cache of treasure?"

"Well... yeah," he confessed; Balthier and Fran shared the same bemused look.

"Really?" Balthier asked.

"Yeah," Vaan repeated a little more irately.

"You... do not jest?" Fran added to the interrogation, leaning across the table in disbelief.

"No, I'm not joking!" Vaan snapped. "I'm just saying, if you've already got a huge load of treasure, what do you do next?"

Balthier and Fran stared at Vaan, then over at each other, as if they were only just realizing he was serious; at which point, they both burst out laughing.

"Much of a pirate still needs to be made of you," Fran told him between soft rolls of mirth, her chest fluttering as she chuckled along with her partner, whose rich laugh rung across the tavern in bouncy, almost melodic notes.

"Why, Vaan – didn't you know?" Balthier sighed as his hysterics subsided, propping up his chin on his hand as he looked levelly across the table. "They look for more."

The End

Wow, so this is actually the end. I'm serious. Over! It took me bloody long enough. I got a few reviews in my inbox thismorning and it spurred me onto finally getting this last chapter up.

Now just to revise and format it for an ebook, eh? ;P

Keep on flying, guys. I hope you enjoyed the read.