UnShaekable (FFXII)

XXXV) Old Archades

"Hey, you sure this rabbit hole's really the way to Archades?" Vaan asks, spinning around to stare at every odd angle of the cavern we've entered. I stretch my aching arms over my head before crossing them with a shudder. Balthier steps up behind me, resting his hands on his hips.

"Better a hare unseen than a rat in a trap," he muses. He turns to the boy, shrugging. "Then again, if you'd prefer to go knocking on the front gates of the city, be my guest." Green eyes flit toward me. "Though, I wouldn't advise doing such a thing with two Royal Highness's in our midst."

"Aw, I thought you'd like to see me kick some Imperial #$% at the gates," I pout, winking at Penelo when she giggles. Her smile falls in mere moments.

"But what about once we're inside? Won't they at least recognize Shae? The city watch'll find us."

"We'll do what we can to blend into the crowd," Ashe reassures her. "Our names may be notorious, but our faces are not far-known. Most of them, anyway."

"I can't help that this is where we're going!" I protest, rolling my eyes.

"True, true," Vaan nods. "Ashe is our princess, and we didn't even recognize her."

"I noticed," Ashe mutters.

Vaan turns to me with hope gleaming in his gray eyes. "How long's it been since you left? Maybe they won't recognize you either."

"Six years," I reply, sighing.

"It's been a long time, then!" he cheers, grinning. Balthier sighs, shaking his head.

"Yes, but..." He sighs, glancing at me. "How to word this? Shae has quite the... unique face, hard to forget."

"Unique?" I retort, raising an eyebrow.

"Distinguished," he shrugs. "You were the idol of Archades, were you not? An upheld standard of beauty, even with your distinct differences to the rest of House Solidor. To me, at least, you look practically the same, if not even more likely to leave a striking impression."

"... Was that a really long, round-about way to call Shae pretty?" Penelo giggles.

"I was merely stating facts," Balthier replies a bit sharply, turning to face the rest of the cavern and scratching at the back of his neck. I laugh, shaking my head. Striking.

I stare up at the looming buildings and speeding buses in the distance, a shudder rippling down my spine and goosebumps coating every inch of my skin. Even being here in the home of the lowest of the low... It brings back a flood of memories I'd rather not remember. Balthier yawns, stretching his arms over his head. Basch and Ashe step out of the elevator chamber, the last to leave the end of the cave we cleared to get here.

A smile plays on Balthier's lips and it makes me uneasy. After all, all I've done since the Phon Coast is wonder why he never answered our cries for help. Why he turned his back on a brother who never truly wronged him. Had he been in such danger, I've no doubt that Dern and I would have dropped all we were doing and pursued him until he was set free and recovering in safety. I shake my head; there's no use in thinking on things I can't change, I suppose. Though, I can't help but wonder... Does he regret it?

"Whoa!" Vaan cries, sitting on the edge of a rundown stone porch rail. "It smells less like a capital and more like a sewer."

"Even empires have need of sewers," Balthier replies, sticking his thumbs through his belt loops. "The runoff from Archades proper pools here: those who lack papers to live in the city itself."