The Sky Pirate's Apprentice - Chapter 6
Title - The Sky Pirate's Apprentice - Aieval's Curse and Bittersweet Reunions
Rating - M/NC-17 for sexual content
Characters - Balthier, Ashe and OC character.
Story - Set in post-game two years later between FFXII and Revenant Wings.
Summary - A partner's illness, a vicious foe, a sinister plot and a cursed stone. It's up for the leading man and his new recruit who may not be what it seems.
Disclaimer - This fic is my idea. All Final Fantasy XII characters/plot belong to SquareEnix.
Chapter 6
Aieval's Curse and Bittersweet Reunions
In the darkness, a voice surrounded him as if one of the Occurians were whispering and hissing in his ears. He was awakened as he stood alone at the chamber in the Ancient City of Giruvegan, and then he saw an ancient creature face to face: the Heretic. He chose him to be at his side, claiming him as a sacrifice. Controlling his body. He had to do the same that he did so long ago, finding the strength within himself to take control over history and mankind. Just like his father.
"Please, Balthier...come back..."
Then, a voice came from behind. That voice. The voice of a woman with soft and sobbing whispers. He would never forget that feeling from long before, and it came to save him forever.
"...come back..."
She called his name and urged him to come back again. He would never forget the sound of her voice so desperately like a lover's plea and despair.
"...come back."
He wanted to hear her loving voice again. He wanted to see her again...forever. And then he called her in a whisper, calling her name again and again...
"Balthier."
Then, an echo appeared, but in a different voice. Unrecognized and real. And the sound of water, calm and gentle.
Slowly, he opened his eyes slightly then sharply as he saw the three glowing orbs of a crystal candelabra on the bedside table next to him. He watched one of the flames: Its illuminating soft bright glow awakened him. His eyes lowered as he saw next to the candle a single colorless tear-shaped diamond necklace throwing sparkles of stars across his face as it brought him his sanity.
The Briolette of Aieval was finally safe on the table next to him, and he was surprised. How come it was there? It was supposed to be given to Medr for exchange that night. Because he did not reach him, but he was trapped by Druas' treachery, he was left for dead with a strange object on his stomach. Giving him the pain. He remembered now fully.
Another single sparkle of light against his eyes again, a movable form and alive with bright silver. He saw a figure with a Hume who wore a star on its chest, a figure of a youth who had its skin aglow from the candle's brightness.
"Balthier." A voice called him again. Soft and calm. Balthier suddenly recognized the voice and the face.
"L…Liam." His voice was weak and loose. His eyes blinked quickly.
The boy Liam was sitting on a chair next to him. Liam sighed in relief eagerly. "Balthier," he brightened with a smile and a light chuckle, "Thank Gods. Are you all right?"
Balthier's eyes shut as he reached with his hand to rub against his forehead. He was still lightheaded from a long term of pain. His body was half numb. He breathed the air full of the familiar smell of lavender and jasmine on a potpourri jar and a stem of Galbana lilies in the vase at the other side of the table.
His vest and holster freed from his body were nearby. But he had worn only his leather trousers while in bed after an hour of unconsciousness.
He groaned as his body moved carefully on his bed. Liam helped him lean his back against the pillow after he arranged it clockwise, then Balthier leaned himself on his spine.
"There now." Liam said. "Feeling better?"
He nodded slowly as he coughed. He smiled sadly and weakly to him. "Thanks."
"Still?"
"Worse than what happened-" He placed his hand to his head again unsteadily.
Liam move from his seat again but Balthier waved his hand for the boy to sit. "You need something?"
He shook his head firmly. "No, I'm fine." He groaned and moaned again. "Damn. My bloody head..."
"You should be better than that."
"I'll manage." He looked down to his bare stomach where Druas stabbed him from behind a sealed cloth.
"You looked like hell while you were lying over there on the street."
"Gods...that bastard Druas." He clenched his teeth, still rubbing his forehead. "I can't believe he did this to me on purpose."
Liam raised his brow in mischief. "What a shame for both of them when I came to save you, Balthier."
"What happened?"
He sighed woefully. "I gave them a push, that's all. That poor old fart of a pirate burned alive and almost killed us, so one Hume who saved us both ended him in a slumber spell. He and baldy are on the Empire's hands now."
"What?"
"A judge named 'Gabranth' is the one who sent them into custody, I think."
His face went a light furious color tempered by the pain. "You think? And where the hell is he now?"
"Back to Archades while you were asleep."
He sighed in dismay. He nearly contacted his comrade once where he and Fran, along with Vaan and Penelo, were on a dangerous and tireless final battle. They were at the Feolthanos' fortress, about to challenge its leader. As Feolthanos' sacrifice and Lemurés started to crumble and fall from the sky...
Soon afterwards, Balthier still needed a chance (with or without Fran or even Liam) to search for the Cache of Glabados once more. Yes, it was up to the leading man's quest for adventures of his own account.
"How long did I sleep like this?"
Liam swallowed nervously. "Two days." He paused.
Balthier's hand pressed gently on the bandage. "Then...I was poisoned?"
"It's the same effect that happened to your partner," answered Liam in a dry voice. "I believe Druas came after we left. He took the samples from the dead Wyrms."
Balthier stood in silence as he folded his arms on his chest. He finally knew what it felt like to be poisoned, almost dying. But he was miraculously alive after two eternal days.
"We cured you back," stated Liam.
"What do you mean we?"
The boy smiled firmly. "The same person gave you a special antidote to give your life back in a minute. It's a miracle you're finally alive, Balthier. Can you believe it?"
He cocked his neck and glanced around the room. The interior was idyllic and elegant as Balthier explored, but peculiar. His head turned to the wooden screen doors wide open onto the sea's horizon by moonlight. But this was not the room it was supposed to be, small and cramped in a local inn he booked for Liam next to The Whitecap.
"Wait a minute," questioned Balthier. "This room...are we at Reddas's?"
"Yes, the caretaker knows about you. So she let us in."
This room was so familiar that he had believed that it was his room. It was where he and his companions retired for the night often. They would stay here, vowing to live or die to pray for the Gods tomorrow at dawn for a showdown against the power-hungry Vayne Solidor and his flying death ship approaching Rabanastre.
Some piece was still missing. "The Aieval." He turned quickly to the bedside table where the diamond was still there. He sighed.
"Judge Gabranth found it at Lord Raed's boat, so he returned this to you. You should thank him."
"And Lord Raed? Where is he?"
Liam took his breath. "He's dead, and so is your client."
Balthier's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Bathier, you've been deceived by this man Medr." Liam added, "He's working with Raed."
"What?"
"It all happened like this." The boy cleared his throat and began. "In order to exchange the Aieval as a wedding gift to Queen Ashelia, Raed and his men began to collect taxes from the townspeople. If they wouldn't negotiate, failed, or did not make a deal, he and his men took over or raided the village, even burned or killed people. The townspeople took actions against him and then pointed a finger to blame the Queen herself."
The sky pirate moved slowly from the pillow. It took some time to wrap his mind around how much he hated this man. The Gods punished Raed for this madness.
Without losing his temper, he turned firmly to Liam. Then looked suspiciously at him. "How did you know about this, Liam?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes. "And I believe you're not just an ordinary traveler but possibly an agent of all of these things…I wonder."
Liam sat nervously as his head lowered and he clenched his fist. "I worked as a servant to Her Majesty," he answered as he bowed in an apologetic manner. "Please forgive me that I deceived you, Balthier."
Balthier remained silent, stunned, giving a knowing and startled look. "She knew about this?" he asked.
"Yes," he nodded slowly as his eyes turned to him. "I've seen and heard the truth about those men who plotted against the Queen. Lord Raed le Rivalen is a cunning and powerful man, and he cannot stop at anything to get away with this act of swinishness conspiracy at every single step. He's also the member of the Dalmascan Parliament and plans to use his power to run a Fascist state after the Queen promotes him as Royal Chancellor. From the very beginning, I suspected danger from this man...fear of using her as a puppet and controlling her power to take over her throne. And worse, he's going to take over Ivalice itself."
Balthier sighed and cupped his chin. "I must say, your conversation troubles me. Is Judge Gabranth reporting immediately to the Queen about Raed's death?"
"No. The Queen summoned me instead." He stammered, "I...I don't know how I could explain this."
Then, a hand gave a squeeze between his hand and wrist. Balthier gave a pleasant and confident smile at him as Liam raised his face. "You're going to be fine, Liam. I hope she will understand," he said warmly.
Liam forced a smile and bowed his head again. "I thank you so much, Balthier."
"You're welcome, my dear apprentice." He looked down to the Aieval once more. "So Medr is gone for good. Now, about this diamond-"
"The stone is to be seized by the Order of the Royal Court of Dalmasca."
"What?"
"It has to be confiscated," added Liam.
"Confiscated?" Balthier gave a stern look with a modest chuckle.
He lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Balthier. It's the Court's order."
"Hold on a damn minute, young man," he scoffed. "You're not taking this stone. It belongs to me now."
"Yes, but-"
He shook his head and looked away. "I'm sorry, Liam. I'm a pirate and a criminal just like Druas, you'll see. I cannot deliver it to your Queen or the Court. It's in my hands now and no one steals from me."
Liam looked vexed. "Don't you know that this stone is a curse?" he replied.
"I beg your pardon?"
The boy stood up from his chair abruptly and walked slightly without looking at him. He cleared his throat and explained. "I've heard the Broilette of Aieval's history of 'curse origins' and how it has brought trouble to all who have stolen it. Centuries ago, the original owner, Prince Avishael, had a common-law wife who stole the Aieval after she poisoned the Prince's mistress. The following day, she was found guilty and instead of receiving a death sentence or life in prison, she was drowned in a shipwreck near Gallione during exile. Decades later, her grand-nephew had the stone and sealed it in a hidden temple of Cieloáh. The archives learned that he died of small pox soon after and that his body..." He swallowed in disgust and then continued. "His body was torn by wolves during the famine...and so on."
Balthier suddenly considered the warning. The Briolette of Aieval was a cursed diamond. Sure, he was almost poisoned to death by Druas. Nevertheless, a miracle cured him while the Aieval was still connected to him, so his luck must have turned for the good. Raed's death could have been explained as the curse. Maybe the curse was not broken?
Liam walked slowly and returned to his seat. Worried, his sad eyes met Balthier's. "I don't want you in danger again, Balthier. You've touched the stone already and you've been damned."
Balthier sighed. He gave a sincere smile of his own, then a courteous and playful smirk. "Liam, there's nothing to fear. I did not steal it on purpose. I found it. Curse or no curse. I touched it, and I felt safe and alive: good from a bad thing. And I was thinking that the curse had cured me from death, as I was luckily alive. If I were dead... I may not see her again-"
"The name you said in your sleep?"
"Sorry?"
"You called her 'Ashe.'''
Balthier blushed as Liam smiled in reposed. "How long have you been with Her Majesty?"
He leaned back against the pillow and turned his head to the window to gaze at the evening seas. And he smiled to himself. "It's a long story. She was a snotty but feisty princess who fought to bring her kingdom back. I was a sarcastic and truly sophisticated sky pirate who escaped to freedom and cut ties to the past."
This lens was the whole way Balthier saw his life. For four years during the struggle between nations, life with the princess had entered his life during a long dangerous journey in searching for answers. He remembered that night as they accidentally met at the sewers of the Garamsythe Waterway where he had an unfortunate case of luck to steal the magicite from the Palace's treasures, thanks to a street urchin named Vaan who stole it first. He remembered that day before heading to Raithwall's Tomb because the princess almost stole his airship. She asked him to steal her instead. He remembered the sinking of the Leviathan and borrowing her ring as compensation for the treasure he failed to score in Raithwall's. Then at the Phon Coast before they reached the capital of Archades, he told stories to the princess about his position as a judge, his mad father with his precious Nethecite, and his flight to freedom.
And their relationship grew during their journey despite the rivalry, arguments, and prejudice between them. They wanted to stay with each other getting caught, especially by Basch. They formed a friendship and platonic relationship. He wanted to comfort her from her grief and suffering after the death of her husband, and he gave her something to cheer her up. He wanted to see her smile and laugh when she was with him as he shared his suave and charming grins at her. All of this was for her. For him. For both of them, until their smiles and laughter faded away and they finally reach the heat of the final battle, inside the belly of the sky fortress Bahamut.
He would never forget this whole affair with her. Nothing more or less. And during the coronation, he left her finally because she had her duties for her country and he traveled far away to find more treasure.
Liam wore an odd and simple look on his face. "Are you...are you in love with her?"
Balthier chuckled. "Why are you asking me about this?"
"Forgive me. I'm saying too much...just curious."
He chuckled again, then relaxed. "It's all right..." Then, he stood in silence and laughed dubiously. "I don't know, Liam. I don't know what I'm running away from, and that is the only way I know how to think of what I do. And I haven't such a clue why I'm running for freedom, a freedom of the skies where I belong. But in my heart, as much as I can hear her voice once again, I can't say anything like a pathetic fool of a pirate... I can't help it. That's because I'm deeply in love with her, Liam. I love her with all with my heart and my soul. And all I want is to see a glimpse of her and ask her to take my hand for one more taste of freedom. A freedom of the skies for me and Ashe..."
Balthier's voice broke as he looked at Liam, who was silent, with a single streak of tears in his eyes. He continued. "And so we let us go and do our own plans because we're on different paths-she's a queen and I'm a sky pirate."
"Are you willing to see her?" asked Liam as he wiped his tears on his face.
"Yes, but I-"
"Then go see her."
Balthier scoffed. "Liam, you don't know who I am and you weren't there."
Liam looked pleased. "Her Highness told me everything about you, Balthier. You have a heart in the right place. Without turning away to the past, without throwing up one's hands. You cared about her and she cared about you."
"Don't be absurd." He sneered. "A queen cannot have feelings like that."
He shook his head quickly. "No, no! It's true! I believe in moogle's heart!" said the bewildered Liam. "I believe in her because she's cared about me like an older sister would. Gods I wish I had such a sister. The queen wanted to see you right before the wedding is annulled, and then she'll announce to the court of Raed's death and his scheme against her."
Balthier went silent as he listened to Liam continue with a gentle voice. "I think...I believe in her words she's telling me...because she loves you too." His eyes met his, and he smiled. "And she wants to see you, Balthier. Go see her and I'll have your back if you need me."
"You sound like Fran."
"Huh?"
"She's such a pushover." He sneered again and grinned easily. "She"s treating me too much as to put in the word for bugging me." Liam chuckled lightly as Balthier turned to him. "How about you, Liam?"
"Me?"
"Have you been in love? Or are you having some crush with Your Majesty?"
His face flushed at having trouble with a simple personal conversation with Balthier. Well, he had his own aching love life, and he would confess it. He looked down and clenched his fist again, and his body shivered. But then he became calm and smiled. "There's one, a sky pirate. She's very kind and generous. And very beautiful. And older. We became friends when we fought against the Empire. She talked about the past that she ran away from, all the painful past she left behind." He fell silent. "Then later, I'm beginning to like this girl and I wanted to be with her forever. Before I wanted to say it to her personally, she was gone. She sacrificed herself for saving Dalmasca and me..."
Balthier comforted him with a faint smile. His mind took him back to the Bahamut; he remembered the day he almost was killed there as Ashe called him to come back alive. "I'm truly sorry," he said sadly.
Liam sniffed. "It's all right, Balthier. Anyway, it's all about the past. But still, my heart is for her. And I miss her so."
Balthier looked upward to the ceiling. He took his breath momentarily to think over seeing Ashe again. He dearly missed her after all these months and years, and now it was an opportunity to turn back time. He would make the right decision. "I'm coming with you to Rabanastre. I'll fly you there. And I guess...I want to see her again and how I feel. She'll understand, Liam."
Liam's eyes widened and he beamed. He patted Balthier hard, as the sky pirate jumped with a groan from pain. "Good for you, sir," he said and smirked. "The queen will be delighted to see you back. And I know you can do it. Don't you worry; I'm still right behind you. And if you refuse her or fly away from her, I'll step on you."
"Okay! Fine," he retorted and sighed.
"Now then. I should retire. I haven't slept all day."
Balthier gazed up at him. "And..." He moved back to the bedside table where the Aeval laid. "I'll bring this to her. For confiscation, of course."
"Yes. It has to be done."
"Liam."
"Yes?"
He gave a true smile at him. "Thank you. For saving me."
Liam smiled him back, faintly. "And to you, sir."
"I'm glad you're still on my side."
"Yes, Balthier. Same for me. Get some rest. I'm across the hall if you need anything. And... I would like to say thank you...for the note you send me." He said it gently but in a different voice. "And I hope you'll find again something more valuable out there."
Balthier was confused. Sent you what? he thought suspiciously. What do you mean? I didn't send you a note...
Then Liam walked abruptly back to bed and into Balthier's arms: He kissed him hard on the mouth. "Come back to me, Ffamran," he whimpered softly from the embrace and left.
He was stunned that the boy kissed him. He was tongue-tied. And he could see the boy's emotions, the fond look on his face so solemn and sincere. And his unspoken words shocked him. And now Balthier spilled the beans accidentally.
He almost forgot to tell Liam earlier about the conclusion of his story, about the compensation of the princess' ring retuned to the owner before the coronation.
Liam is a nice lad and loyal to His Highness. But in the deep feelings Balthier felt silent again, considering his feelings over Liam's emotions and joy.
And why did he thank me? And why did he kiss me and call my real name all of a sudden?
And then it bothers him to think further back to Cieloáh: He caught Liam's hand. Then later, a strange firestorm and Mist emerged below, and he believed that Liam summoned none other than Belias the Gigas, and no other ordinary Hume had summoned a single Esper before. All except Balthier and his companions during their journey and defeats every Esper at different temples and lost cities around Ivalice.
Balthier stood there at the hallway and stared disturbingly at the fainted Liam lying exhausted in slumber on a bed, his delicate face and slender nape of his neck, too beautiful and too ethereal...and too feminine. And even the face, the mouth, the soft skin of his delicate hands.
In the beginning at the Whitecap, the description of Liam's height and mustache… Something was not right.
Liam was a practical liar, and Balthier saw through the lie to see that Liam was…a female.
And then he understood now completely. Balthier was not a pathetic fool.
He scrambled off the bed and approached the imposter quickly and blocked the door.
He stood in front of her in silence and stared at her. Her head lowered. Her body shivered and her breath trembled as she realized she was trapped.
He smiled slightly as he moved towards her. "You don't have to run away from me, as long as I can kiss you again," he murmured softly as he cupped her chin gently and saw tears in her brown eyes that met his. He reached his other hand and peeled off the thin mustache slowly to unmasked Liam's true and recognizable face, reunited with Balthier at last. "Princess."
She sighed as she took her breath. "Balthier..."
But she was silenced as his lips replied to hers. There was gentleness in the kiss. It was slow, soft like a feather but intensely longing. Balthier waited for this moment of his lifetime to touch her soft lips as he remembered the touch: She gave a kiss of life for him first while he was in the remaining insensibly of his sleep. The lips of an innocent fairy of herself he had imagined her sincerely. Pure and lily white.
While they kissed deeply, both of his hands were on her face and the faux hair of her short wig. He began to slowly pull down the luxurious silver blonde of her shoulder-length hair underneath. He switched their positions and pressed her against the door. As he rested her hands around his bare shoulders, she attempted to push him away, but he defeated her as her fingers clutched his skin. And then she gave a light moan as his tongue tasted her, tasting the sweetness of innocence and purity.
They paused from their kisses in a minute as Balthier was tangled in Ashe's hair and leaned his forehead against hers. He sighed as he closed his eyes and could feel her breath touching his skin.
"Oh, Ashe," he whispered softly. "Gods, I missed you."
"And I missed you too," replied Ashe with soft sobs.
"I've finally see the light. Let me look at you." There, he finally saw her now. He hadn't seen her for two years after the Bahamut crash. He saw her serene eyes once again and wanted to stare into them for eternity.
"I always thought I'd never see you again...but you came back...for me."
He grinned sadly. "I'm here for you. And I want to see you. Right here, right now."
She chuckled softly as she kissed him again as he followed hers. Passionately and lightly.
After a moment of kisses and more kisses, he held close his cheek to hers as he asked softly, "Can I asked a favor, Your Highness?"
"Yes."
"Shall I take your virginity tonight as a wedding gift for you?"
Her eyes were suddenly wide open as she remembered the terrible vulgar words from Druas' mouth. But from Balthier, the words were tender and inviting.
Her heart bounced a beat as she finally smiled to herself with tears and closed her eyes tightly. "Of course you may," she answered softly.
He kissed her back. He felt her body warm and inviting, awakened, as Balthier wanted to possess her. First, it was the softest and sweetest touch, then it was intensely hot and hungry. As his tongue stroked a sheer tantalizing delight on hers, she made soft unintentional moans. He wanted to control her more than ever. To do so, he moved one knee between her inner thighs, rubbing and brushing slowly the light fabric against her delicate flesh, making her give slight gasps as her eyes closed faintly and she clutched her nails on his bare skin.
His feverish lust of kisses escaped from her swollen lips to her cheeks and then to her collarbone as his hands dropped her vest to the floor and unfastened her white shirt.
"It"s strange to me, Princess," Balthier said in confusion with a sly humorous chuckle. His hands opened her collar and exposed her bare neck. His breath parted as his lips brushed against her skin. "I've never undressed with a man before."
Ashe chuckled easily in a soft whimper with struggled breath as she kissed him.
He finished Ashe's shirt and removed it freely, but Balthier started to find out that she was tightly bandaged around her breasts. He found the loose end and unrolled it, and as he walked backwards, he slowly pulled her. And then he spun her until she giggled and was freed, half-naked, and he clasped her body against his.
They stared at each other in contact as Balthier leaned his forehead on hers. He slowly touched her face and she leaned her cheek into his hand, rubbing the corner of her mouth against his palm as she kissed it. He was still moving down to her chest and caressingly to her breast. With a gentle squeeze, he took one of her nipples between his fingers, and Ashe gasped blissfully from his warm and painful touch. He lowered his face towards her and replied with a kiss on her lips, exploring with a lust of his hot tongue. He tasted her cheeks, her collarbone, her flesh wound on her upper neck as she closed her eyes to catch her breath. Her spine was trembling as she felt the pain from her wound being licked and sucked by his tongue.
He continued to lower himself to her shoulder, and then he worshiped one of her breasts and the taste of her hard nipple: nibbling and teasing, he took it into his mouth with his teeth, then moved to the next. She cried as she caught her breath in surprise and her eyes shut, with all the moaning and whimpering in a plea. Her both hands stole on his short hair where she buries her cheeks against the top of his head.
But he let her nipple free from his mouth and returned to playing with her lips again. "Don't..." She beseeched him to continue with his tongue on her skin. Both hands she placed on his face, staring in a plea.
"Still coming, Princess," he said. Breathing harder. "I'm here with you."
Balthier picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He looked up, her eyes glittered and smiled sadly as their mouths parted with each other's breath. She hugged him close, wrapping her arms around his neck as she embraced him and her legs buckled tightly on his body. He closed his eyes in joy and sighed as he carried her slowly to his bed.
"Balthier..."
"Just pretend this is our wedding night," he whispered hoarsely in silencing against her ear.
"You're still weak...and your wound will hurt you-"
"I'll manage."
He lowered her down across the bed as he took his time exploring her half-naked body, beginning to unfasten her breeches and pulling them slowly to her knees and to the floor. And then he was silent in a moment to take a long glimpse of her whole nakedness: the sensuous curve of her hips, the cream milky smoothness of her skin, the valleys of her breast small and firm with nipples rose-pink and taut and erect, begging to be kissed again.
He ministered to her body slowly and glidingly like a brush of paint smooth around the canvas as she arched her back slightly from his touch. He moved carefully and delicately until he saw her slender thighs: there were bruises black and blue from the previous fight against the Ancient Wyrm and somewhere at night where she fought Druas in a brutal and exhausting duel.
"I'm sorry," she murmured with a tear in her eyes as she looked away from him. "I did all of this for saving you."
"Hush, Princess," he whispered back in an apologetic manner, taking her chin gently to meet him. He lowered with his mouth brushing her temples, her eyelids, and the corners of her mouth. "You did bravely enough. But let's not waste our time..."
He ministered around her body again as he saw a chain around her neck. He pulled on it and smiled. A silver ring on her chain, and he knew what it was. It was the ring that Balthier borrowed from her as compensation. The ring that he had returned to her later when he found something more valuable.
He unclasped the lock of her necklace and took it slowly from her bare neck and placed it on his palm. He set the necklace aside the bedside table and replaced the Aieval, the colorless stone, against her bosom.
Ashe was trembling nervously and didn't know what he was doing as he clasped it around her neck. She felt on her skin the stone as if a single cube of ice touched her. She shivered and whimpered timidly as her skin spread in goose bumps with her nipples drawn harder and ready.
Her warm eyes suddenly met his. "Gods, Balthier..." she cautioned him patiently and stammered. And her heart raced faster.
"Don't be afraid, Princess," he said in a whisper, his fingers lingering on her skin. "I want to look at you with this."
It was flawlessly perfect that she was entirely naked with the Briolette of Aieval around her bare neck, the tiny sparkles from the stone spreading across the curves of her breasts. Balthier was dazzled by the beauty and breadth like at a private exhibition as he gazed, enchanted, at the marble statue of a naked goddess with a sparkling briolette between her breasts. And she was so pure, beguiling, and alive. Exquisite. All he laid eyes on captured his soul. He feverishly wanted to devour her body utterly, to drive away the past. This was the moment to make her as hungry and as greedy for him. And this pure enigma of a mortal ingénue was only for him and nobody else.
She was the Princess of his fantasies, acknowledged by Bathier as every moment he ever dreamed of. He was overwhelmed by the lust as he felt his eyes on her. He needed to be patient and understanding, so he sighed breathlessly as he stared all over the untainted alabaster skin of her naked body.
"Beautiful," he said huskily as he took his breath and smiled calmly with his hand stroking the silky petal-like skin of her nakedness from her neck to her lower stomach and between her inner thighs. Ashe arched slowly against the mattress. Sobbing, she trembled.
"Absolutely beautiful..." he whispered with a seductive tone. "Let me touch you... Let me touch inside you."
"Open the door..." she commanded softly with an innocent plea. She reached one hand lovingly on the nape of his neck and pulled him slowly, speaking before she parted her lips to meet his. "...the virgin door...enter it now...I'm yours forever."
And as she kissed him with a fiery and delicious stroke of her velvet tongue dancing on his with an erotic play, he felt it as he moaned deeply with soft sounds in her ears. His hand moved caressingly and cupped one of her breasts, flicking her nipple gently with his thumb as her body slightly arched.
She wanted to be with him. This would change everything for Ashelia B'Nargin Dalmasca, sole heiress of the late King Raminas and descendant of King Raithwall. Memories took her back three months before the coronation: She was aching for him still when she stood there at the balcony as watched the ruins of the Bahamut, believing he was dead…until Penelo sent her a leather note with a ring inside after she and Vaan had found the Strahl missing at the private hangar. Her heart was lifted in joy and happiness, and she smiled with tears in her eyes because he was alive.
And during the coronation, the unthinkable happened that changed her life forever when she was courted by Raed le Rivalen by her uncle to arrange the marriage.
It was her duty as a queen, but in her heart and soul she was tormented and shattered in pain before she burst into tears and went mad.
She feared that she would never see him again...until now.
During their intense and first lovemaking, the room was filled with the warm breeze of the moonlit sea and the soft brightness of the orbs' glow. Her demure capacity was possessed by lust as she was yearning and welcoming with her alluring body on her lover's lips. And it was the first time she had been touched by a man she truly loved. Four years he had gone without touching her, and she had not even been touched by her late husband who went off to war. The more Ashe wanted Balthier, the Aieval's curse entered her completely. It was the Aieval she wore that gave her spirit and true awakening and took control of her body and soul. The stone possessed her.
"Close your eyes, Princess," Balthier whispered to her as he nibbled her swollen lips and her collarbone. "Hold still if I say so…"
She followed as her eyes closed, her breathing still trembling and waiting.
His mouth worked her lips once more, then he slithered across her body slowly like a serpent crawling all over against her skin. And he lingered his kisses on the soft skin of her neck, her bosom beside the briolette, one of her nipples, her flat stomach, the bruises of her hips to the juncture of her upper thigh, and closer as he moved between her...
And then she gasped and moaned as she arched her writhing body. Her muscles spasmed in response as both hands gripped to pull the bed sheets like she was lifting and flying on her lissome frame. He gave the pleasure for her tonight as a gift, just as she was willing to have the burning touch inside between her thighs: Both of his hands were on her hips as he held her not to move when his hot tongue stroke the sensitive spot of her flesh, and then he pressed his mouth harder and sucked against her as she cried of more pleasure and pain in a sudden shock. He continued teasing and healing her skin in a smooth and delicious stroke in circles.
She was hot on fire like a mass of Mist spreading throughout her naked body. It welcomed with burns in sensations spontaneously exciting around her. And she could hardly breathe in distress from cries and her head felt dizzy, like she nearly fainted and drowned herself, submerged beneath the inner depths of sensuality. Then she was relaxed with small moans and cries. She released a hand from the bed sheets and tangled his short hair with her fingers. Gently and caressingly. But she suddenly arched her head against the mattress, her hand gripping slightly as she felt his mouth on her sweet flesh again harder with more strokes in flames. She gasped her breath violently for dear life with one leg wrapped around his shoulder to pull her close.
He wanted to show her what more pleasure and more pain felt like, so he wanted to hear her fierce and rapturous cries from her mouth: it was so intense and powerful. He would never forget this whole appetite of a wild passion like this. And he wanted more. Soon, he was ready for the next move.
Yes, he would fully take her virginity tonight as long as the virgin queen herself gladly accepted it with her own will.
He finally ended the pleasure strokes as he moved back to meet her face again. He could see her expression dissolving and disintegrating from shocks of exultation and pure joy. The Aieval was liquefying underneath the dampened sweat of her skin. Her breath loosened slowly and softly with an involuntary moan in bliss, but her flesh was still pulsing in desire. She awakened from longings of ecstasies and her eyes opened with tears. She smiled with a serene look of her face.
"I'm back, Princess," Balthier said calmly and smiled as he kissed her lips gently and passionately as his tongue stroked hers.
"The curse healed me, pirate," said Ashe, peacefully. She could taste his lips-strange and somewhat different during kisses.
They looked at each other in a moment of desire they shared and waited momentarily as Balthier was atop her, caressing her cheeks to her soft lips. She was relaxing from exhaustion of the sweet rapture of her swollen flesh, but she was still throbbing again…until he felt his trousers drop from her touch, unfastened and starting to peel off slowly by Ashe's tense hands. She slid both of her hands under his trousers to touch his bare hip. She pulled down the waistband on her fingers, carefully and slowly as he helped her push it down.
He was entirely naked as felt his length hard and erect. He was ready for her; the weight of his warm body welcomed her. She placed her hands on his bare shoulders as her breath trembled in fear and excitement. She was able to spread her trembling legs, but he moved one knee to open her kindly as he pressed forward, meeting the lean muscle of his abdomen on hers. His pulse throbbed against hers. His hips and groin met hers. Hungry eyes stared at each other in a moment.
"Ashelia..." he murmured finally as he entered her: slowly, deeply, and deliberately.
"Balthier-" she gasped suddenly with feeble moans as her eyes shut in pain.
And they gasped out for each other from the sensational shock inside their bodies completely.
Slowly, deeply, and deliberately with each stroke, he could felt his warm length stimulate against her tightened walls. So ardent, graceful, and irresistible. And oh Gods, it's so hot and soft. So sweet and soaringly slick. It felt so beautiful and remarkable. So...memorable. And it was agonizingly slow, painfully slow as much as he could control himself from the power as she invited him.
"I've been waiting so much for two years to make love to you, Princess." He groaned with mingled elation as his mouth parted closer on hers.
She opened her mouth as she breathed slowly and rejoiced in an state of euphoric and erotic hypnotization. "I kept dreaming of you...you're in my bed...and then you made me...you drugged me all over when you were inside me...night after night...and I've gone half mad as long as I could...as I was begging you to keep going...and…ah…" Then, she choked and whimpered with her eyes closed in bliss. "Gods, please..."
"Hang on to me..." he grunted and clenched his teeth as his eyes shut in agony then bliss.
"There's so much to say between us...you and I...but not now...not this time."
He took her buttocks in one hand and pulled her hip up to meet him as he pushed her down. She wrapped one leg around his while his other hand pulled another leg around between his hip and his lower thigh. Pulling her close to hang on. He moaned and whimpered, as he lifted his body by resting his forearms and his hands gripped the mattress to push her harder. As he stared, he caught the glimpse of her enraptured face: her eyes closed like she was dreaming with the longing of soft sounds of moans, whimpers, and gasps from her mouth. She sighed, relaxed, and she invited the rhythmic ache of her inner flesh rubbing against his: deeper, hotter, and slicker in every stroke as her legs opened. Then, his eyes looked down to the Aieval, which sparkled and shone like a celestial body of stars around her milky and dampened skin. His head lowered down to brush her lips, his tongue slithering against her lower lip as he traveled down to the Aieval on her chest and kissed it delicately.
She gave agonizing cries with sweet shock when he pierced her so slowly and gently, both of her hands sliding down his naked skin from his chest to his buttocks. Caressingly it smoothly, she squeezed him hard. She could feel the muscles tighten to press her.
Slowly, deeply, and deliberately with each stroke, he made his pleasure deeper and deeper because he understood now that he wanted her so badly. He wanted her terribly to yield to him. He wanted to be with her forever.
"You abandoned me," he said hoarsely while pushing her.
"You think that I'm still a snob as a royal, pirate?" she replied in harsh whisper. "I'm not...oh…" She was still gasping and moaning.
He pushed her gently again. Still...
"You almost stole my ship."
"But you kidnapped me..." she corrected him. Concentrating the heat of pleasure and pain between her thighs. "...you stole me instead."
He chuckled lightly with a sly grin and panting. "As much as I will steal your body, Princess."
Gently and slowly.
"You stumped me."
"I couldn't help it, philanderer."
Slowly and then the rhythm changed rapidly. The heat of their naked bodies thrusting between them with soaking sweat melted them like solid glaciers. The sound of moans burned each other's breath.
"You deceived me," he gasped, and his breath shuddered deeply.
"I forgive you..." Her breath shuddered. "You have to believe me...why did you leave me?"
"I have to...I will never forget you..."
"I thought you were dead…how could you-ahh!"
And harder.
"You hate him."
"Yes, I hate him." Her eyes closed with tears. "I cannot love him or marry him..."
"You love me."
Harder and harder.
She said nothing as she whimpered and lost her breath.
Slicker and faster.
"Tell me you love me, Ashe," he moaned, pushing her deeper.
She cried out in pain. "...I..."
Pain and pleasure
.
"I wanted to hear it."
"I...I can't..." Her legs buckled around him. Her arms wrapped around him. Tighter and closer.
"Say it to me," he pleaded as both hands were on her buttocks again.
"Oh, Gods...Balthier!" she had to reply to him, but the ache was rocking against her repeatedly.
Again and again.
"Say it." He warned her. "Or I"ll stop."
"No!" she cried in a whisper. Clinged to him tightly. Her head arched back against the mattress.
He wanted to say it to her as he penetrated her harder and deeper. "You love me."
She wanted to faint but she finally answered. "Yes...I love you...Ffamran."
He gasped for his breath in soaring pain as he moaned louder. He pinned her harder with the full force of ecstasy, shocks, and torture as she cried his real name again.
"Say it to me again" he stammered again with convulsive breaths, groans, and kisses.
"I love you!"
"Gods, say it!"
"I love you...I love you..." she repeated those words again and again with a series of cries and tolerant bliss, as both of her nails dug against the upper back of his bare skin. "...I love you...I...love you...I..."
"Ashelia...I...I'm..."
He hung on tight, giving more pain and more pleasure again. Harder, faster, slicker, and deeper with a series of soaring gasps, screams, and moans in climax from their mouths. A few more steps as they finally reached the highest peak of Gods-forsaking eternity.
And then they made it, it released as they arched their bodies completely with their cries lifting the aching climax of gratification and blissfully overjoyed. A spell of his agonizing groans as his loins stabbed her finally with a single shock. Perfect. It was a memorable game of intimate excitement and agony. Wild, overpowering and uncontrollable. And it was a remarkable experience just as they wanted for the first time in yearning and tormented years.
After their cries merged and mingled, their muscles descended from grace and their bodies glistening with sweat. Balthier laid his head on her exuded chest with the Aieval close to his cheeks as he was panting and kissing gently her skin, his racing heart beat dissolving and he relaxed and sighed with a shuddered breath. Ashe's face recovered permanently from aching desire, panting her soft heaving breaths and giving a shivering sigh in tranquility as one arm fell back to the bed, stroking his short hair with her other lovingly. She was silent, calm, and lenient, giving a little air from her lungs.
"I love you," she whispered in frail voice and repeatedly with her eyes closed. A tear flowed from her eye to her earlobe.
And then he was dreaming in a slumber of passion against her bare chest to hear the slow beats of her heart and the soft sounds of her dying voice again.
Rating - M/NC-17 for sexual content
Characters - Balthier, Ashe and OC character.
Story - Set in post-game two years later between FFXII and Revenant Wings.
Summary - A partner's illness, a vicious foe, a sinister plot and a cursed stone. It's up for the leading man and his new recruit who may not be what it seems.
Disclaimer - This fic is my idea. All Final Fantasy XII characters/plot belong to SquareEnix.
Chapter 6
Aieval's Curse and Bittersweet Reunions
In the darkness, a voice surrounded him as if one of the Occurians were whispering and hissing in his ears. He was awakened as he stood alone at the chamber in the Ancient City of Giruvegan, and then he saw an ancient creature face to face: the Heretic. He chose him to be at his side, claiming him as a sacrifice. Controlling his body. He had to do the same that he did so long ago, finding the strength within himself to take control over history and mankind. Just like his father.
"Please, Balthier...come back..."
Then, a voice came from behind. That voice. The voice of a woman with soft and sobbing whispers. He would never forget that feeling from long before, and it came to save him forever.
"...come back..."
She called his name and urged him to come back again. He would never forget the sound of her voice so desperately like a lover's plea and despair.
"...come back."
He wanted to hear her loving voice again. He wanted to see her again...forever. And then he called her in a whisper, calling her name again and again...
"Balthier."
Then, an echo appeared, but in a different voice. Unrecognized and real. And the sound of water, calm and gentle.
Slowly, he opened his eyes slightly then sharply as he saw the three glowing orbs of a crystal candelabra on the bedside table next to him. He watched one of the flames: Its illuminating soft bright glow awakened him. His eyes lowered as he saw next to the candle a single colorless tear-shaped diamond necklace throwing sparkles of stars across his face as it brought him his sanity.
The Briolette of Aieval was finally safe on the table next to him, and he was surprised. How come it was there? It was supposed to be given to Medr for exchange that night. Because he did not reach him, but he was trapped by Druas' treachery, he was left for dead with a strange object on his stomach. Giving him the pain. He remembered now fully.
Another single sparkle of light against his eyes again, a movable form and alive with bright silver. He saw a figure with a Hume who wore a star on its chest, a figure of a youth who had its skin aglow from the candle's brightness.
"Balthier." A voice called him again. Soft and calm. Balthier suddenly recognized the voice and the face.
"L…Liam." His voice was weak and loose. His eyes blinked quickly.
The boy Liam was sitting on a chair next to him. Liam sighed in relief eagerly. "Balthier," he brightened with a smile and a light chuckle, "Thank Gods. Are you all right?"
Balthier's eyes shut as he reached with his hand to rub against his forehead. He was still lightheaded from a long term of pain. His body was half numb. He breathed the air full of the familiar smell of lavender and jasmine on a potpourri jar and a stem of Galbana lilies in the vase at the other side of the table.
His vest and holster freed from his body were nearby. But he had worn only his leather trousers while in bed after an hour of unconsciousness.
He groaned as his body moved carefully on his bed. Liam helped him lean his back against the pillow after he arranged it clockwise, then Balthier leaned himself on his spine.
"There now." Liam said. "Feeling better?"
He nodded slowly as he coughed. He smiled sadly and weakly to him. "Thanks."
"Still?"
"Worse than what happened-" He placed his hand to his head again unsteadily.
Liam move from his seat again but Balthier waved his hand for the boy to sit. "You need something?"
He shook his head firmly. "No, I'm fine." He groaned and moaned again. "Damn. My bloody head..."
"You should be better than that."
"I'll manage." He looked down to his bare stomach where Druas stabbed him from behind a sealed cloth.
"You looked like hell while you were lying over there on the street."
"Gods...that bastard Druas." He clenched his teeth, still rubbing his forehead. "I can't believe he did this to me on purpose."
Liam raised his brow in mischief. "What a shame for both of them when I came to save you, Balthier."
"What happened?"
He sighed woefully. "I gave them a push, that's all. That poor old fart of a pirate burned alive and almost killed us, so one Hume who saved us both ended him in a slumber spell. He and baldy are on the Empire's hands now."
"What?"
"A judge named 'Gabranth' is the one who sent them into custody, I think."
His face went a light furious color tempered by the pain. "You think? And where the hell is he now?"
"Back to Archades while you were asleep."
He sighed in dismay. He nearly contacted his comrade once where he and Fran, along with Vaan and Penelo, were on a dangerous and tireless final battle. They were at the Feolthanos' fortress, about to challenge its leader. As Feolthanos' sacrifice and Lemurés started to crumble and fall from the sky...
Soon afterwards, Balthier still needed a chance (with or without Fran or even Liam) to search for the Cache of Glabados once more. Yes, it was up to the leading man's quest for adventures of his own account.
"How long did I sleep like this?"
Liam swallowed nervously. "Two days." He paused.
Balthier's hand pressed gently on the bandage. "Then...I was poisoned?"
"It's the same effect that happened to your partner," answered Liam in a dry voice. "I believe Druas came after we left. He took the samples from the dead Wyrms."
Balthier stood in silence as he folded his arms on his chest. He finally knew what it felt like to be poisoned, almost dying. But he was miraculously alive after two eternal days.
"We cured you back," stated Liam.
"What do you mean we?"
The boy smiled firmly. "The same person gave you a special antidote to give your life back in a minute. It's a miracle you're finally alive, Balthier. Can you believe it?"
He cocked his neck and glanced around the room. The interior was idyllic and elegant as Balthier explored, but peculiar. His head turned to the wooden screen doors wide open onto the sea's horizon by moonlight. But this was not the room it was supposed to be, small and cramped in a local inn he booked for Liam next to The Whitecap.
"Wait a minute," questioned Balthier. "This room...are we at Reddas's?"
"Yes, the caretaker knows about you. So she let us in."
This room was so familiar that he had believed that it was his room. It was where he and his companions retired for the night often. They would stay here, vowing to live or die to pray for the Gods tomorrow at dawn for a showdown against the power-hungry Vayne Solidor and his flying death ship approaching Rabanastre.
Some piece was still missing. "The Aieval." He turned quickly to the bedside table where the diamond was still there. He sighed.
"Judge Gabranth found it at Lord Raed's boat, so he returned this to you. You should thank him."
"And Lord Raed? Where is he?"
Liam took his breath. "He's dead, and so is your client."
Balthier's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Bathier, you've been deceived by this man Medr." Liam added, "He's working with Raed."
"What?"
"It all happened like this." The boy cleared his throat and began. "In order to exchange the Aieval as a wedding gift to Queen Ashelia, Raed and his men began to collect taxes from the townspeople. If they wouldn't negotiate, failed, or did not make a deal, he and his men took over or raided the village, even burned or killed people. The townspeople took actions against him and then pointed a finger to blame the Queen herself."
The sky pirate moved slowly from the pillow. It took some time to wrap his mind around how much he hated this man. The Gods punished Raed for this madness.
Without losing his temper, he turned firmly to Liam. Then looked suspiciously at him. "How did you know about this, Liam?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes. "And I believe you're not just an ordinary traveler but possibly an agent of all of these things…I wonder."
Liam sat nervously as his head lowered and he clenched his fist. "I worked as a servant to Her Majesty," he answered as he bowed in an apologetic manner. "Please forgive me that I deceived you, Balthier."
Balthier remained silent, stunned, giving a knowing and startled look. "She knew about this?" he asked.
"Yes," he nodded slowly as his eyes turned to him. "I've seen and heard the truth about those men who plotted against the Queen. Lord Raed le Rivalen is a cunning and powerful man, and he cannot stop at anything to get away with this act of swinishness conspiracy at every single step. He's also the member of the Dalmascan Parliament and plans to use his power to run a Fascist state after the Queen promotes him as Royal Chancellor. From the very beginning, I suspected danger from this man...fear of using her as a puppet and controlling her power to take over her throne. And worse, he's going to take over Ivalice itself."
Balthier sighed and cupped his chin. "I must say, your conversation troubles me. Is Judge Gabranth reporting immediately to the Queen about Raed's death?"
"No. The Queen summoned me instead." He stammered, "I...I don't know how I could explain this."
Then, a hand gave a squeeze between his hand and wrist. Balthier gave a pleasant and confident smile at him as Liam raised his face. "You're going to be fine, Liam. I hope she will understand," he said warmly.
Liam forced a smile and bowed his head again. "I thank you so much, Balthier."
"You're welcome, my dear apprentice." He looked down to the Aieval once more. "So Medr is gone for good. Now, about this diamond-"
"The stone is to be seized by the Order of the Royal Court of Dalmasca."
"What?"
"It has to be confiscated," added Liam.
"Confiscated?" Balthier gave a stern look with a modest chuckle.
He lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Balthier. It's the Court's order."
"Hold on a damn minute, young man," he scoffed. "You're not taking this stone. It belongs to me now."
"Yes, but-"
He shook his head and looked away. "I'm sorry, Liam. I'm a pirate and a criminal just like Druas, you'll see. I cannot deliver it to your Queen or the Court. It's in my hands now and no one steals from me."
Liam looked vexed. "Don't you know that this stone is a curse?" he replied.
"I beg your pardon?"
The boy stood up from his chair abruptly and walked slightly without looking at him. He cleared his throat and explained. "I've heard the Broilette of Aieval's history of 'curse origins' and how it has brought trouble to all who have stolen it. Centuries ago, the original owner, Prince Avishael, had a common-law wife who stole the Aieval after she poisoned the Prince's mistress. The following day, she was found guilty and instead of receiving a death sentence or life in prison, she was drowned in a shipwreck near Gallione during exile. Decades later, her grand-nephew had the stone and sealed it in a hidden temple of Cieloáh. The archives learned that he died of small pox soon after and that his body..." He swallowed in disgust and then continued. "His body was torn by wolves during the famine...and so on."
Balthier suddenly considered the warning. The Briolette of Aieval was a cursed diamond. Sure, he was almost poisoned to death by Druas. Nevertheless, a miracle cured him while the Aieval was still connected to him, so his luck must have turned for the good. Raed's death could have been explained as the curse. Maybe the curse was not broken?
Liam walked slowly and returned to his seat. Worried, his sad eyes met Balthier's. "I don't want you in danger again, Balthier. You've touched the stone already and you've been damned."
Balthier sighed. He gave a sincere smile of his own, then a courteous and playful smirk. "Liam, there's nothing to fear. I did not steal it on purpose. I found it. Curse or no curse. I touched it, and I felt safe and alive: good from a bad thing. And I was thinking that the curse had cured me from death, as I was luckily alive. If I were dead... I may not see her again-"
"The name you said in your sleep?"
"Sorry?"
"You called her 'Ashe.'''
Balthier blushed as Liam smiled in reposed. "How long have you been with Her Majesty?"
He leaned back against the pillow and turned his head to the window to gaze at the evening seas. And he smiled to himself. "It's a long story. She was a snotty but feisty princess who fought to bring her kingdom back. I was a sarcastic and truly sophisticated sky pirate who escaped to freedom and cut ties to the past."
This lens was the whole way Balthier saw his life. For four years during the struggle between nations, life with the princess had entered his life during a long dangerous journey in searching for answers. He remembered that night as they accidentally met at the sewers of the Garamsythe Waterway where he had an unfortunate case of luck to steal the magicite from the Palace's treasures, thanks to a street urchin named Vaan who stole it first. He remembered that day before heading to Raithwall's Tomb because the princess almost stole his airship. She asked him to steal her instead. He remembered the sinking of the Leviathan and borrowing her ring as compensation for the treasure he failed to score in Raithwall's. Then at the Phon Coast before they reached the capital of Archades, he told stories to the princess about his position as a judge, his mad father with his precious Nethecite, and his flight to freedom.
And their relationship grew during their journey despite the rivalry, arguments, and prejudice between them. They wanted to stay with each other getting caught, especially by Basch. They formed a friendship and platonic relationship. He wanted to comfort her from her grief and suffering after the death of her husband, and he gave her something to cheer her up. He wanted to see her smile and laugh when she was with him as he shared his suave and charming grins at her. All of this was for her. For him. For both of them, until their smiles and laughter faded away and they finally reach the heat of the final battle, inside the belly of the sky fortress Bahamut.
He would never forget this whole affair with her. Nothing more or less. And during the coronation, he left her finally because she had her duties for her country and he traveled far away to find more treasure.
Liam wore an odd and simple look on his face. "Are you...are you in love with her?"
Balthier chuckled. "Why are you asking me about this?"
"Forgive me. I'm saying too much...just curious."
He chuckled again, then relaxed. "It's all right..." Then, he stood in silence and laughed dubiously. "I don't know, Liam. I don't know what I'm running away from, and that is the only way I know how to think of what I do. And I haven't such a clue why I'm running for freedom, a freedom of the skies where I belong. But in my heart, as much as I can hear her voice once again, I can't say anything like a pathetic fool of a pirate... I can't help it. That's because I'm deeply in love with her, Liam. I love her with all with my heart and my soul. And all I want is to see a glimpse of her and ask her to take my hand for one more taste of freedom. A freedom of the skies for me and Ashe..."
Balthier's voice broke as he looked at Liam, who was silent, with a single streak of tears in his eyes. He continued. "And so we let us go and do our own plans because we're on different paths-she's a queen and I'm a sky pirate."
"Are you willing to see her?" asked Liam as he wiped his tears on his face.
"Yes, but I-"
"Then go see her."
Balthier scoffed. "Liam, you don't know who I am and you weren't there."
Liam looked pleased. "Her Highness told me everything about you, Balthier. You have a heart in the right place. Without turning away to the past, without throwing up one's hands. You cared about her and she cared about you."
"Don't be absurd." He sneered. "A queen cannot have feelings like that."
He shook his head quickly. "No, no! It's true! I believe in moogle's heart!" said the bewildered Liam. "I believe in her because she's cared about me like an older sister would. Gods I wish I had such a sister. The queen wanted to see you right before the wedding is annulled, and then she'll announce to the court of Raed's death and his scheme against her."
Balthier went silent as he listened to Liam continue with a gentle voice. "I think...I believe in her words she's telling me...because she loves you too." His eyes met his, and he smiled. "And she wants to see you, Balthier. Go see her and I'll have your back if you need me."
"You sound like Fran."
"Huh?"
"She's such a pushover." He sneered again and grinned easily. "She"s treating me too much as to put in the word for bugging me." Liam chuckled lightly as Balthier turned to him. "How about you, Liam?"
"Me?"
"Have you been in love? Or are you having some crush with Your Majesty?"
His face flushed at having trouble with a simple personal conversation with Balthier. Well, he had his own aching love life, and he would confess it. He looked down and clenched his fist again, and his body shivered. But then he became calm and smiled. "There's one, a sky pirate. She's very kind and generous. And very beautiful. And older. We became friends when we fought against the Empire. She talked about the past that she ran away from, all the painful past she left behind." He fell silent. "Then later, I'm beginning to like this girl and I wanted to be with her forever. Before I wanted to say it to her personally, she was gone. She sacrificed herself for saving Dalmasca and me..."
Balthier comforted him with a faint smile. His mind took him back to the Bahamut; he remembered the day he almost was killed there as Ashe called him to come back alive. "I'm truly sorry," he said sadly.
Liam sniffed. "It's all right, Balthier. Anyway, it's all about the past. But still, my heart is for her. And I miss her so."
Balthier looked upward to the ceiling. He took his breath momentarily to think over seeing Ashe again. He dearly missed her after all these months and years, and now it was an opportunity to turn back time. He would make the right decision. "I'm coming with you to Rabanastre. I'll fly you there. And I guess...I want to see her again and how I feel. She'll understand, Liam."
Liam's eyes widened and he beamed. He patted Balthier hard, as the sky pirate jumped with a groan from pain. "Good for you, sir," he said and smirked. "The queen will be delighted to see you back. And I know you can do it. Don't you worry; I'm still right behind you. And if you refuse her or fly away from her, I'll step on you."
"Okay! Fine," he retorted and sighed.
"Now then. I should retire. I haven't slept all day."
Balthier gazed up at him. "And..." He moved back to the bedside table where the Aeval laid. "I'll bring this to her. For confiscation, of course."
"Yes. It has to be done."
"Liam."
"Yes?"
He gave a true smile at him. "Thank you. For saving me."
Liam smiled him back, faintly. "And to you, sir."
"I'm glad you're still on my side."
"Yes, Balthier. Same for me. Get some rest. I'm across the hall if you need anything. And... I would like to say thank you...for the note you send me." He said it gently but in a different voice. "And I hope you'll find again something more valuable out there."
Balthier was confused. Sent you what? he thought suspiciously. What do you mean? I didn't send you a note...
Then Liam walked abruptly back to bed and into Balthier's arms: He kissed him hard on the mouth. "Come back to me, Ffamran," he whimpered softly from the embrace and left.
He was stunned that the boy kissed him. He was tongue-tied. And he could see the boy's emotions, the fond look on his face so solemn and sincere. And his unspoken words shocked him. And now Balthier spilled the beans accidentally.
He almost forgot to tell Liam earlier about the conclusion of his story, about the compensation of the princess' ring retuned to the owner before the coronation.
Liam is a nice lad and loyal to His Highness. But in the deep feelings Balthier felt silent again, considering his feelings over Liam's emotions and joy.
And why did he thank me? And why did he kiss me and call my real name all of a sudden?
And then it bothers him to think further back to Cieloáh: He caught Liam's hand. Then later, a strange firestorm and Mist emerged below, and he believed that Liam summoned none other than Belias the Gigas, and no other ordinary Hume had summoned a single Esper before. All except Balthier and his companions during their journey and defeats every Esper at different temples and lost cities around Ivalice.
Balthier stood there at the hallway and stared disturbingly at the fainted Liam lying exhausted in slumber on a bed, his delicate face and slender nape of his neck, too beautiful and too ethereal...and too feminine. And even the face, the mouth, the soft skin of his delicate hands.
In the beginning at the Whitecap, the description of Liam's height and mustache… Something was not right.
Liam was a practical liar, and Balthier saw through the lie to see that Liam was…a female.
And then he understood now completely. Balthier was not a pathetic fool.
He scrambled off the bed and approached the imposter quickly and blocked the door.
He stood in front of her in silence and stared at her. Her head lowered. Her body shivered and her breath trembled as she realized she was trapped.
He smiled slightly as he moved towards her. "You don't have to run away from me, as long as I can kiss you again," he murmured softly as he cupped her chin gently and saw tears in her brown eyes that met his. He reached his other hand and peeled off the thin mustache slowly to unmasked Liam's true and recognizable face, reunited with Balthier at last. "Princess."
She sighed as she took her breath. "Balthier..."
But she was silenced as his lips replied to hers. There was gentleness in the kiss. It was slow, soft like a feather but intensely longing. Balthier waited for this moment of his lifetime to touch her soft lips as he remembered the touch: She gave a kiss of life for him first while he was in the remaining insensibly of his sleep. The lips of an innocent fairy of herself he had imagined her sincerely. Pure and lily white.
While they kissed deeply, both of his hands were on her face and the faux hair of her short wig. He began to slowly pull down the luxurious silver blonde of her shoulder-length hair underneath. He switched their positions and pressed her against the door. As he rested her hands around his bare shoulders, she attempted to push him away, but he defeated her as her fingers clutched his skin. And then she gave a light moan as his tongue tasted her, tasting the sweetness of innocence and purity.
They paused from their kisses in a minute as Balthier was tangled in Ashe's hair and leaned his forehead against hers. He sighed as he closed his eyes and could feel her breath touching his skin.
"Oh, Ashe," he whispered softly. "Gods, I missed you."
"And I missed you too," replied Ashe with soft sobs.
"I've finally see the light. Let me look at you." There, he finally saw her now. He hadn't seen her for two years after the Bahamut crash. He saw her serene eyes once again and wanted to stare into them for eternity.
"I always thought I'd never see you again...but you came back...for me."
He grinned sadly. "I'm here for you. And I want to see you. Right here, right now."
She chuckled softly as she kissed him again as he followed hers. Passionately and lightly.
After a moment of kisses and more kisses, he held close his cheek to hers as he asked softly, "Can I asked a favor, Your Highness?"
"Yes."
"Shall I take your virginity tonight as a wedding gift for you?"
Her eyes were suddenly wide open as she remembered the terrible vulgar words from Druas' mouth. But from Balthier, the words were tender and inviting.
Her heart bounced a beat as she finally smiled to herself with tears and closed her eyes tightly. "Of course you may," she answered softly.
He kissed her back. He felt her body warm and inviting, awakened, as Balthier wanted to possess her. First, it was the softest and sweetest touch, then it was intensely hot and hungry. As his tongue stroked a sheer tantalizing delight on hers, she made soft unintentional moans. He wanted to control her more than ever. To do so, he moved one knee between her inner thighs, rubbing and brushing slowly the light fabric against her delicate flesh, making her give slight gasps as her eyes closed faintly and she clutched her nails on his bare skin.
His feverish lust of kisses escaped from her swollen lips to her cheeks and then to her collarbone as his hands dropped her vest to the floor and unfastened her white shirt.
"It"s strange to me, Princess," Balthier said in confusion with a sly humorous chuckle. His hands opened her collar and exposed her bare neck. His breath parted as his lips brushed against her skin. "I've never undressed with a man before."
Ashe chuckled easily in a soft whimper with struggled breath as she kissed him.
He finished Ashe's shirt and removed it freely, but Balthier started to find out that she was tightly bandaged around her breasts. He found the loose end and unrolled it, and as he walked backwards, he slowly pulled her. And then he spun her until she giggled and was freed, half-naked, and he clasped her body against his.
They stared at each other in contact as Balthier leaned his forehead on hers. He slowly touched her face and she leaned her cheek into his hand, rubbing the corner of her mouth against his palm as she kissed it. He was still moving down to her chest and caressingly to her breast. With a gentle squeeze, he took one of her nipples between his fingers, and Ashe gasped blissfully from his warm and painful touch. He lowered his face towards her and replied with a kiss on her lips, exploring with a lust of his hot tongue. He tasted her cheeks, her collarbone, her flesh wound on her upper neck as she closed her eyes to catch her breath. Her spine was trembling as she felt the pain from her wound being licked and sucked by his tongue.
He continued to lower himself to her shoulder, and then he worshiped one of her breasts and the taste of her hard nipple: nibbling and teasing, he took it into his mouth with his teeth, then moved to the next. She cried as she caught her breath in surprise and her eyes shut, with all the moaning and whimpering in a plea. Her both hands stole on his short hair where she buries her cheeks against the top of his head.
But he let her nipple free from his mouth and returned to playing with her lips again. "Don't..." She beseeched him to continue with his tongue on her skin. Both hands she placed on his face, staring in a plea.
"Still coming, Princess," he said. Breathing harder. "I'm here with you."
Balthier picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He looked up, her eyes glittered and smiled sadly as their mouths parted with each other's breath. She hugged him close, wrapping her arms around his neck as she embraced him and her legs buckled tightly on his body. He closed his eyes in joy and sighed as he carried her slowly to his bed.
"Balthier..."
"Just pretend this is our wedding night," he whispered hoarsely in silencing against her ear.
"You're still weak...and your wound will hurt you-"
"I'll manage."
He lowered her down across the bed as he took his time exploring her half-naked body, beginning to unfasten her breeches and pulling them slowly to her knees and to the floor. And then he was silent in a moment to take a long glimpse of her whole nakedness: the sensuous curve of her hips, the cream milky smoothness of her skin, the valleys of her breast small and firm with nipples rose-pink and taut and erect, begging to be kissed again.
He ministered to her body slowly and glidingly like a brush of paint smooth around the canvas as she arched her back slightly from his touch. He moved carefully and delicately until he saw her slender thighs: there were bruises black and blue from the previous fight against the Ancient Wyrm and somewhere at night where she fought Druas in a brutal and exhausting duel.
"I'm sorry," she murmured with a tear in her eyes as she looked away from him. "I did all of this for saving you."
"Hush, Princess," he whispered back in an apologetic manner, taking her chin gently to meet him. He lowered with his mouth brushing her temples, her eyelids, and the corners of her mouth. "You did bravely enough. But let's not waste our time..."
He ministered around her body again as he saw a chain around her neck. He pulled on it and smiled. A silver ring on her chain, and he knew what it was. It was the ring that Balthier borrowed from her as compensation. The ring that he had returned to her later when he found something more valuable.
He unclasped the lock of her necklace and took it slowly from her bare neck and placed it on his palm. He set the necklace aside the bedside table and replaced the Aieval, the colorless stone, against her bosom.
Ashe was trembling nervously and didn't know what he was doing as he clasped it around her neck. She felt on her skin the stone as if a single cube of ice touched her. She shivered and whimpered timidly as her skin spread in goose bumps with her nipples drawn harder and ready.
Her warm eyes suddenly met his. "Gods, Balthier..." she cautioned him patiently and stammered. And her heart raced faster.
"Don't be afraid, Princess," he said in a whisper, his fingers lingering on her skin. "I want to look at you with this."
It was flawlessly perfect that she was entirely naked with the Briolette of Aieval around her bare neck, the tiny sparkles from the stone spreading across the curves of her breasts. Balthier was dazzled by the beauty and breadth like at a private exhibition as he gazed, enchanted, at the marble statue of a naked goddess with a sparkling briolette between her breasts. And she was so pure, beguiling, and alive. Exquisite. All he laid eyes on captured his soul. He feverishly wanted to devour her body utterly, to drive away the past. This was the moment to make her as hungry and as greedy for him. And this pure enigma of a mortal ingénue was only for him and nobody else.
She was the Princess of his fantasies, acknowledged by Bathier as every moment he ever dreamed of. He was overwhelmed by the lust as he felt his eyes on her. He needed to be patient and understanding, so he sighed breathlessly as he stared all over the untainted alabaster skin of her naked body.
"Beautiful," he said huskily as he took his breath and smiled calmly with his hand stroking the silky petal-like skin of her nakedness from her neck to her lower stomach and between her inner thighs. Ashe arched slowly against the mattress. Sobbing, she trembled.
"Absolutely beautiful..." he whispered with a seductive tone. "Let me touch you... Let me touch inside you."
"Open the door..." she commanded softly with an innocent plea. She reached one hand lovingly on the nape of his neck and pulled him slowly, speaking before she parted her lips to meet his. "...the virgin door...enter it now...I'm yours forever."
And as she kissed him with a fiery and delicious stroke of her velvet tongue dancing on his with an erotic play, he felt it as he moaned deeply with soft sounds in her ears. His hand moved caressingly and cupped one of her breasts, flicking her nipple gently with his thumb as her body slightly arched.
She wanted to be with him. This would change everything for Ashelia B'Nargin Dalmasca, sole heiress of the late King Raminas and descendant of King Raithwall. Memories took her back three months before the coronation: She was aching for him still when she stood there at the balcony as watched the ruins of the Bahamut, believing he was dead…until Penelo sent her a leather note with a ring inside after she and Vaan had found the Strahl missing at the private hangar. Her heart was lifted in joy and happiness, and she smiled with tears in her eyes because he was alive.
And during the coronation, the unthinkable happened that changed her life forever when she was courted by Raed le Rivalen by her uncle to arrange the marriage.
It was her duty as a queen, but in her heart and soul she was tormented and shattered in pain before she burst into tears and went mad.
She feared that she would never see him again...until now.
During their intense and first lovemaking, the room was filled with the warm breeze of the moonlit sea and the soft brightness of the orbs' glow. Her demure capacity was possessed by lust as she was yearning and welcoming with her alluring body on her lover's lips. And it was the first time she had been touched by a man she truly loved. Four years he had gone without touching her, and she had not even been touched by her late husband who went off to war. The more Ashe wanted Balthier, the Aieval's curse entered her completely. It was the Aieval she wore that gave her spirit and true awakening and took control of her body and soul. The stone possessed her.
"Close your eyes, Princess," Balthier whispered to her as he nibbled her swollen lips and her collarbone. "Hold still if I say so…"
She followed as her eyes closed, her breathing still trembling and waiting.
His mouth worked her lips once more, then he slithered across her body slowly like a serpent crawling all over against her skin. And he lingered his kisses on the soft skin of her neck, her bosom beside the briolette, one of her nipples, her flat stomach, the bruises of her hips to the juncture of her upper thigh, and closer as he moved between her...
And then she gasped and moaned as she arched her writhing body. Her muscles spasmed in response as both hands gripped to pull the bed sheets like she was lifting and flying on her lissome frame. He gave the pleasure for her tonight as a gift, just as she was willing to have the burning touch inside between her thighs: Both of his hands were on her hips as he held her not to move when his hot tongue stroke the sensitive spot of her flesh, and then he pressed his mouth harder and sucked against her as she cried of more pleasure and pain in a sudden shock. He continued teasing and healing her skin in a smooth and delicious stroke in circles.
She was hot on fire like a mass of Mist spreading throughout her naked body. It welcomed with burns in sensations spontaneously exciting around her. And she could hardly breathe in distress from cries and her head felt dizzy, like she nearly fainted and drowned herself, submerged beneath the inner depths of sensuality. Then she was relaxed with small moans and cries. She released a hand from the bed sheets and tangled his short hair with her fingers. Gently and caressingly. But she suddenly arched her head against the mattress, her hand gripping slightly as she felt his mouth on her sweet flesh again harder with more strokes in flames. She gasped her breath violently for dear life with one leg wrapped around his shoulder to pull her close.
He wanted to show her what more pleasure and more pain felt like, so he wanted to hear her fierce and rapturous cries from her mouth: it was so intense and powerful. He would never forget this whole appetite of a wild passion like this. And he wanted more. Soon, he was ready for the next move.
Yes, he would fully take her virginity tonight as long as the virgin queen herself gladly accepted it with her own will.
He finally ended the pleasure strokes as he moved back to meet her face again. He could see her expression dissolving and disintegrating from shocks of exultation and pure joy. The Aieval was liquefying underneath the dampened sweat of her skin. Her breath loosened slowly and softly with an involuntary moan in bliss, but her flesh was still pulsing in desire. She awakened from longings of ecstasies and her eyes opened with tears. She smiled with a serene look of her face.
"I'm back, Princess," Balthier said calmly and smiled as he kissed her lips gently and passionately as his tongue stroked hers.
"The curse healed me, pirate," said Ashe, peacefully. She could taste his lips-strange and somewhat different during kisses.
They looked at each other in a moment of desire they shared and waited momentarily as Balthier was atop her, caressing her cheeks to her soft lips. She was relaxing from exhaustion of the sweet rapture of her swollen flesh, but she was still throbbing again…until he felt his trousers drop from her touch, unfastened and starting to peel off slowly by Ashe's tense hands. She slid both of her hands under his trousers to touch his bare hip. She pulled down the waistband on her fingers, carefully and slowly as he helped her push it down.
He was entirely naked as felt his length hard and erect. He was ready for her; the weight of his warm body welcomed her. She placed her hands on his bare shoulders as her breath trembled in fear and excitement. She was able to spread her trembling legs, but he moved one knee to open her kindly as he pressed forward, meeting the lean muscle of his abdomen on hers. His pulse throbbed against hers. His hips and groin met hers. Hungry eyes stared at each other in a moment.
"Ashelia..." he murmured finally as he entered her: slowly, deeply, and deliberately.
"Balthier-" she gasped suddenly with feeble moans as her eyes shut in pain.
And they gasped out for each other from the sensational shock inside their bodies completely.
Slowly, deeply, and deliberately with each stroke, he could felt his warm length stimulate against her tightened walls. So ardent, graceful, and irresistible. And oh Gods, it's so hot and soft. So sweet and soaringly slick. It felt so beautiful and remarkable. So...memorable. And it was agonizingly slow, painfully slow as much as he could control himself from the power as she invited him.
"I've been waiting so much for two years to make love to you, Princess." He groaned with mingled elation as his mouth parted closer on hers.
She opened her mouth as she breathed slowly and rejoiced in an state of euphoric and erotic hypnotization. "I kept dreaming of you...you're in my bed...and then you made me...you drugged me all over when you were inside me...night after night...and I've gone half mad as long as I could...as I was begging you to keep going...and…ah…" Then, she choked and whimpered with her eyes closed in bliss. "Gods, please..."
"Hang on to me..." he grunted and clenched his teeth as his eyes shut in agony then bliss.
"There's so much to say between us...you and I...but not now...not this time."
He took her buttocks in one hand and pulled her hip up to meet him as he pushed her down. She wrapped one leg around his while his other hand pulled another leg around between his hip and his lower thigh. Pulling her close to hang on. He moaned and whimpered, as he lifted his body by resting his forearms and his hands gripped the mattress to push her harder. As he stared, he caught the glimpse of her enraptured face: her eyes closed like she was dreaming with the longing of soft sounds of moans, whimpers, and gasps from her mouth. She sighed, relaxed, and she invited the rhythmic ache of her inner flesh rubbing against his: deeper, hotter, and slicker in every stroke as her legs opened. Then, his eyes looked down to the Aieval, which sparkled and shone like a celestial body of stars around her milky and dampened skin. His head lowered down to brush her lips, his tongue slithering against her lower lip as he traveled down to the Aieval on her chest and kissed it delicately.
She gave agonizing cries with sweet shock when he pierced her so slowly and gently, both of her hands sliding down his naked skin from his chest to his buttocks. Caressingly it smoothly, she squeezed him hard. She could feel the muscles tighten to press her.
Slowly, deeply, and deliberately with each stroke, he made his pleasure deeper and deeper because he understood now that he wanted her so badly. He wanted her terribly to yield to him. He wanted to be with her forever.
"You abandoned me," he said hoarsely while pushing her.
"You think that I'm still a snob as a royal, pirate?" she replied in harsh whisper. "I'm not...oh…" She was still gasping and moaning.
He pushed her gently again. Still...
"You almost stole my ship."
"But you kidnapped me..." she corrected him. Concentrating the heat of pleasure and pain between her thighs. "...you stole me instead."
He chuckled lightly with a sly grin and panting. "As much as I will steal your body, Princess."
Gently and slowly.
"You stumped me."
"I couldn't help it, philanderer."
Slowly and then the rhythm changed rapidly. The heat of their naked bodies thrusting between them with soaking sweat melted them like solid glaciers. The sound of moans burned each other's breath.
"You deceived me," he gasped, and his breath shuddered deeply.
"I forgive you..." Her breath shuddered. "You have to believe me...why did you leave me?"
"I have to...I will never forget you..."
"I thought you were dead…how could you-ahh!"
And harder.
"You hate him."
"Yes, I hate him." Her eyes closed with tears. "I cannot love him or marry him..."
"You love me."
Harder and harder.
She said nothing as she whimpered and lost her breath.
Slicker and faster.
"Tell me you love me, Ashe," he moaned, pushing her deeper.
She cried out in pain. "...I..."
Pain and pleasure
.
"I wanted to hear it."
"I...I can't..." Her legs buckled around him. Her arms wrapped around him. Tighter and closer.
"Say it to me," he pleaded as both hands were on her buttocks again.
"Oh, Gods...Balthier!" she had to reply to him, but the ache was rocking against her repeatedly.
Again and again.
"Say it." He warned her. "Or I"ll stop."
"No!" she cried in a whisper. Clinged to him tightly. Her head arched back against the mattress.
He wanted to say it to her as he penetrated her harder and deeper. "You love me."
She wanted to faint but she finally answered. "Yes...I love you...Ffamran."
He gasped for his breath in soaring pain as he moaned louder. He pinned her harder with the full force of ecstasy, shocks, and torture as she cried his real name again.
"Say it to me again" he stammered again with convulsive breaths, groans, and kisses.
"I love you!"
"Gods, say it!"
"I love you...I love you..." she repeated those words again and again with a series of cries and tolerant bliss, as both of her nails dug against the upper back of his bare skin. "...I love you...I...love you...I..."
"Ashelia...I...I'm..."
He hung on tight, giving more pain and more pleasure again. Harder, faster, slicker, and deeper with a series of soaring gasps, screams, and moans in climax from their mouths. A few more steps as they finally reached the highest peak of Gods-forsaking eternity.
And then they made it, it released as they arched their bodies completely with their cries lifting the aching climax of gratification and blissfully overjoyed. A spell of his agonizing groans as his loins stabbed her finally with a single shock. Perfect. It was a memorable game of intimate excitement and agony. Wild, overpowering and uncontrollable. And it was a remarkable experience just as they wanted for the first time in yearning and tormented years.
After their cries merged and mingled, their muscles descended from grace and their bodies glistening with sweat. Balthier laid his head on her exuded chest with the Aieval close to his cheeks as he was panting and kissing gently her skin, his racing heart beat dissolving and he relaxed and sighed with a shuddered breath. Ashe's face recovered permanently from aching desire, panting her soft heaving breaths and giving a shivering sigh in tranquility as one arm fell back to the bed, stroking his short hair with her other lovingly. She was silent, calm, and lenient, giving a little air from her lungs.
"I love you," she whispered in frail voice and repeatedly with her eyes closed. A tear flowed from her eye to her earlobe.
And then he was dreaming in a slumber of passion against her bare chest to hear the slow beats of her heart and the soft sounds of her dying voice again.