Categories > Games > Final Fantasy XII > Claret Sky
That which ends
0 reviews"Fine," Balthier says dryly. His voice is level, he notes. "We only fight an enraged esper with the power of gods in her hands."
0Unrated
19. That which ends
Balthier/Vaan - post-canon
Disclaimer still applies.
You know how I said I can't cut down on action sequences? Yeah...
This is pretty cliché, huh? But have you ever had the sense that a story is present in its fully complete form somewhere out there, in potentia, and you're really just the medium it is passing through?
--
Eleven crests vanish in blinding light, and Balthier's breath begins to burn in his throat. He leans back against a wall, looking up at a tangled cobweb in the corner next to him, and he tries to swallow past the raw edges he feels.
"Balthier."
He takes the water skin offered. The water is icy and sends pain shooting into his palate, but he holds it in his mouth and lets trickles seep down his throat. "Thanks," he says, and he hears the rasp to his voice.
Vaan nods, glancing around the barren corridor. The twists of the maze are silent. Penelo sinks to the ground, breathing heavily, and she leans her weapon against her knees. Fran looks about, bow ready and eyes alert, but Balthier can see the tightness to her jaw.
"Vaan..."
Penelo's voice is hesitant, and Balthier looks up.
He sees Vaan, half-shut eyes fixed on the palm of his hand, where Balthier remembers calluses roughen the skin. Vaan inhales, and his eyes flick up.
"I'm okay," he says, and he laces his hands behind his head when he smiles. It is small, but it crinkles his eyes.
Balthier looks down at his own fingers, and they are crusted and scraped, but they feel light.
"Who's left?" Vaan says.
Balthier heaves himself up and away from the wall, ignoring the protest in his knees. The sound of the clicks as he checks his gun is loud. "Ultima," he says.
He sees Vaan's shoulders tense, and his lips tighten. "We've searched everywhere, though. Could we have missed her somewhere along the way?"
"The hidden room," Penelo says suddenly. "We haven't checked the place where we fought Zeromus for the first time."
"Ah," Balthier says, a smile on his face that he does not feel for the chill in his gut. "Of course. Lead the way."
--
Holy magick scathes past Balthier's raised arms, and he thinks his skin is scraped raw. His vision swims and he feels twisted inside out, but he shuts his eyes. He is vicious as he suppresses the panic. In the dark behind his eyelids, the ground steadies under his feet as he prepares Esunaga.
The spell lifts the status effect, and the curative magick that follows and fills Balthier, pushing itself to the tips of his fingers as if they were hollow, is immediate. The glow of Curaja sifts still over Fran's hand when he glances to her, and she nods, her eyes tense.
Balthier looks up at Ultima's serene face and he dodges the sharp snap of the blades at her feet.
He sees Penelo whirl the battle pole above her head, crushing strikes slamming into Ultima's delicately raised arm. She gasps, falling back, and golden wings flutter to catch her balance.
Ultima dashes forward, tilting to spit Penelo upon her rotating blades, and Vaan is in front of her, his sword catching the attack and straining to push her back.
She spins, a ragged slash appearing in Vaan's side as he swings his sword up, slicing through her shoulder and sending glimmering blood into the air.
Balthier sees the glow of healing magick in Penelo's hand out of the corner of his eye as he sends dark shot ripping through Ultima's wings. She jerks, tilting to a side, and he steps forward, shooting even as she weaves to avoid the attacks.
She swings about, her ponderous skirt billowing out, and Balthier sees her face.
Ultima smiles, and she lifts a flat gold disc set with a glittering red shard.
The Mist boils, spirals and vortexes twisting the light and blocking his vision. It is the roar of holy magick that causes Balthier to throw himself to a side, and he feels the seething of its passage over his head.
Balthier blinks rapidly, and he thinks he sees distorted shapes, a figure hunched over as if in pain.
"Fran!" He reaches out to her.
"I am fine," she says, her voice strained. "I will behave myself."
Balthier loops her arm over his head, and he tugs them both out of the way of another flash of Redemption. "Never doubted it for a moment, partner."
There is a fallen pillar, and he manipulates them into the narrow hollow behind it.
He hears footsteps, and he looks up into Vaan's pale eyes.
"Are you two okay?"
Magick thuds into the stone of their shelter, and Vaan flinches, pushing Penelo down further to safety as he crouches.
"Fine," Balthier says dryly. His voice is level, he notes. "We only fight an enraged esper with the power of gods in her hands."
Vaan makes a face. "Is that—?"
"The nethicite? Oh, yes. It makes her faster and much stronger in her attacks."
There is another thump and roar of holy magick, and the pillar begins to crumble around the edges.
"I'll draw her attacks," Vaan says urgently. "Get it off her somehow. Break it, steal it, I don't know."
"Are you suicidal?" Balthier says sharply.
"Are you giving up?" Vaan's eyes are bright, challenging, in the gloom. He lays a hand on Penelo's shoulder and squeezes, and he jumps up and dashes away.
"Vaan!" Balthier curses, raising his gun against Ultima.
He can see Vaan, darting and weaving, leaping over spikes of magick, as he and Penelo circle the other way.
The nethicite glints, blood red, and Balthier sights down the Fomalhaut.
Ultima spins and looks down upon them, white of Holy magick gathering about her head, and Balthier's eyes widen.
There is shouting, and he sees Vaan, hanging in the air and sword raised above his head, before Ultima twists around again, and Redemption rips through the air and engulfs Vaan.
Healing magick chafes in Balthier's hands, and he rolls as he dodges Ultima's blades.
Vaan lies still, and Balthier sees splashes of red and the white of bone under his chest, where the muscle has been flayed from his body. Balthier looks at the wide eyes and the rivulets of blood that etch macabre tears, and he pushes the Arise into Vaan's body.
He watches the skin knit together, leaving red stains, and he wishes fervently.
"Come on, Vaan," he murmurs, "wake up." He runs his fingers over the grime on the man's face, down to the silent pulse at his throat.
There is a thump, and he glances up to see Penelo dance back, her battle pole a flurry of movement.
Balthier grits his teeth, and he cannot concentrate on the staring eyes under him.
"Who's giving up now?" he says, his hands pressing over the still chest. "I'd much rather you didn't leave me to do everything by myself, you know. Vaan."
Penelo jerks as she hits the wall to the side. Her moan is quiet as she slides down to her knees, and the pole clangs as it drops.
"Vaan," Balthier says, his voice tight over the thudding in his ears. "Wake up."
He can see glowing white from the corner of his eye, and his shoulders tense at the sense of power, carried through the Mist. His fists ball.
"Wake up." Balthier raises his hand and drives the side of his fist into Vaan's sternum. He does not feel the impact he sees shake Vaan's body. "Wake up."
Vaan jolts, and he hacks and retches.
His eyes are unfocussed, but he looks up at Balthier.
--
TBC
Balthier/Vaan - post-canon
Disclaimer still applies.
You know how I said I can't cut down on action sequences? Yeah...
This is pretty cliché, huh? But have you ever had the sense that a story is present in its fully complete form somewhere out there, in potentia, and you're really just the medium it is passing through?
--
Eleven crests vanish in blinding light, and Balthier's breath begins to burn in his throat. He leans back against a wall, looking up at a tangled cobweb in the corner next to him, and he tries to swallow past the raw edges he feels.
"Balthier."
He takes the water skin offered. The water is icy and sends pain shooting into his palate, but he holds it in his mouth and lets trickles seep down his throat. "Thanks," he says, and he hears the rasp to his voice.
Vaan nods, glancing around the barren corridor. The twists of the maze are silent. Penelo sinks to the ground, breathing heavily, and she leans her weapon against her knees. Fran looks about, bow ready and eyes alert, but Balthier can see the tightness to her jaw.
"Vaan..."
Penelo's voice is hesitant, and Balthier looks up.
He sees Vaan, half-shut eyes fixed on the palm of his hand, where Balthier remembers calluses roughen the skin. Vaan inhales, and his eyes flick up.
"I'm okay," he says, and he laces his hands behind his head when he smiles. It is small, but it crinkles his eyes.
Balthier looks down at his own fingers, and they are crusted and scraped, but they feel light.
"Who's left?" Vaan says.
Balthier heaves himself up and away from the wall, ignoring the protest in his knees. The sound of the clicks as he checks his gun is loud. "Ultima," he says.
He sees Vaan's shoulders tense, and his lips tighten. "We've searched everywhere, though. Could we have missed her somewhere along the way?"
"The hidden room," Penelo says suddenly. "We haven't checked the place where we fought Zeromus for the first time."
"Ah," Balthier says, a smile on his face that he does not feel for the chill in his gut. "Of course. Lead the way."
--
Holy magick scathes past Balthier's raised arms, and he thinks his skin is scraped raw. His vision swims and he feels twisted inside out, but he shuts his eyes. He is vicious as he suppresses the panic. In the dark behind his eyelids, the ground steadies under his feet as he prepares Esunaga.
The spell lifts the status effect, and the curative magick that follows and fills Balthier, pushing itself to the tips of his fingers as if they were hollow, is immediate. The glow of Curaja sifts still over Fran's hand when he glances to her, and she nods, her eyes tense.
Balthier looks up at Ultima's serene face and he dodges the sharp snap of the blades at her feet.
He sees Penelo whirl the battle pole above her head, crushing strikes slamming into Ultima's delicately raised arm. She gasps, falling back, and golden wings flutter to catch her balance.
Ultima dashes forward, tilting to spit Penelo upon her rotating blades, and Vaan is in front of her, his sword catching the attack and straining to push her back.
She spins, a ragged slash appearing in Vaan's side as he swings his sword up, slicing through her shoulder and sending glimmering blood into the air.
Balthier sees the glow of healing magick in Penelo's hand out of the corner of his eye as he sends dark shot ripping through Ultima's wings. She jerks, tilting to a side, and he steps forward, shooting even as she weaves to avoid the attacks.
She swings about, her ponderous skirt billowing out, and Balthier sees her face.
Ultima smiles, and she lifts a flat gold disc set with a glittering red shard.
The Mist boils, spirals and vortexes twisting the light and blocking his vision. It is the roar of holy magick that causes Balthier to throw himself to a side, and he feels the seething of its passage over his head.
Balthier blinks rapidly, and he thinks he sees distorted shapes, a figure hunched over as if in pain.
"Fran!" He reaches out to her.
"I am fine," she says, her voice strained. "I will behave myself."
Balthier loops her arm over his head, and he tugs them both out of the way of another flash of Redemption. "Never doubted it for a moment, partner."
There is a fallen pillar, and he manipulates them into the narrow hollow behind it.
He hears footsteps, and he looks up into Vaan's pale eyes.
"Are you two okay?"
Magick thuds into the stone of their shelter, and Vaan flinches, pushing Penelo down further to safety as he crouches.
"Fine," Balthier says dryly. His voice is level, he notes. "We only fight an enraged esper with the power of gods in her hands."
Vaan makes a face. "Is that—?"
"The nethicite? Oh, yes. It makes her faster and much stronger in her attacks."
There is another thump and roar of holy magick, and the pillar begins to crumble around the edges.
"I'll draw her attacks," Vaan says urgently. "Get it off her somehow. Break it, steal it, I don't know."
"Are you suicidal?" Balthier says sharply.
"Are you giving up?" Vaan's eyes are bright, challenging, in the gloom. He lays a hand on Penelo's shoulder and squeezes, and he jumps up and dashes away.
"Vaan!" Balthier curses, raising his gun against Ultima.
He can see Vaan, darting and weaving, leaping over spikes of magick, as he and Penelo circle the other way.
The nethicite glints, blood red, and Balthier sights down the Fomalhaut.
Ultima spins and looks down upon them, white of Holy magick gathering about her head, and Balthier's eyes widen.
There is shouting, and he sees Vaan, hanging in the air and sword raised above his head, before Ultima twists around again, and Redemption rips through the air and engulfs Vaan.
Healing magick chafes in Balthier's hands, and he rolls as he dodges Ultima's blades.
Vaan lies still, and Balthier sees splashes of red and the white of bone under his chest, where the muscle has been flayed from his body. Balthier looks at the wide eyes and the rivulets of blood that etch macabre tears, and he pushes the Arise into Vaan's body.
He watches the skin knit together, leaving red stains, and he wishes fervently.
"Come on, Vaan," he murmurs, "wake up." He runs his fingers over the grime on the man's face, down to the silent pulse at his throat.
There is a thump, and he glances up to see Penelo dance back, her battle pole a flurry of movement.
Balthier grits his teeth, and he cannot concentrate on the staring eyes under him.
"Who's giving up now?" he says, his hands pressing over the still chest. "I'd much rather you didn't leave me to do everything by myself, you know. Vaan."
Penelo jerks as she hits the wall to the side. Her moan is quiet as she slides down to her knees, and the pole clangs as it drops.
"Vaan," Balthier says, his voice tight over the thudding in his ears. "Wake up."
He can see glowing white from the corner of his eye, and his shoulders tense at the sense of power, carried through the Mist. His fists ball.
"Wake up." Balthier raises his hand and drives the side of his fist into Vaan's sternum. He does not feel the impact he sees shake Vaan's body. "Wake up."
Vaan jolts, and he hacks and retches.
His eyes are unfocussed, but he looks up at Balthier.
--
TBC
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