UnShaekable (FFXII)

XLVI) Finding Direction

HELLO. I FOUND A WEBSITE FOR CREATING CHARACTERS, SO HERE'S A LOVELY DEPICTION OF SHAE ALL THE WAY NEAR THE END OF THE BOOK :D 

"Ships in the water! Sending fishing dories if need be, I care not. Glossair engines are as good to us as sky to a fish. Leave what boats have foundered. I need souls saved, not driftwood!" I step to the side to allow Reddas's rushing pirates pass by as he barks commands. Upon seeing our group approach, he sighs, straightening. "Our armada ran afoul of bad water near the Ridorana Cataract. All engines stopped asudden, becalmed. Trouble with a Mist thick as death, it seems." Reddas shakes his head, retreating to his desk as we near him. "Those seas are jagd. I expected airship trouble, not a fleet foundering midst the waves." Rubbing his bald head, he kicks his feet up on the table before him. "Tell me what happened at Giruvegan. From the lay of your eyes and the desperation in your tone last night, Highness, I measure all did not go well."

Ashe steps forth, shoulders slumped with the weight of a thousand worlds. However, she's stubborn as ever, chin lifted high and steps long and confident.

"Cid was false—as you feared," Ashe replies firmly. "But we may have caught a glimpse of his true intent. We may now know what it is that Cid searches for." Carefully, she pieces the story of the Occuria and their words together for him, with the occasional remark from Vaan. The pirate hums, putting his feet on the ground and slouching his seat.

"So the deifacted nethicite was only a fragment? And these Occuria—I know not, and care to know even less."

"If we strike the Sun-cryst with the Sword of Kings, no new Stone may be born," Fran suggests, cocking her head to the side. "We say the Sun-cryst is the source of all nethicite's power. If we break that, the Dusk Shard may find its power drained." She rests a hand on her hip, sighing. "As for the manufacted nethicite, who can say?"

"There is another way," Balthier adds, staring defiantly at Reddas. "We use the Treaty-Blade to cut a new Stone from the Cryst, use that to fight the Dusk Shard and the manufacted stones."

"Would you like the know the best use of nethicite?" Reddas retorts, straightening in his seat and narrowing his eyes on the sky pirate.

"Do enlighten us," I scoff half-heartedly, arms crossed.

"Will or nill, I'll tell you," he replies, waving his hand dramatically. "You pick it up, and throw it away." Vaan sighs, turning to a rather unamused Balthier.

"Either way, we have to find this Sun-cryst first, right? Don't we?" The boy faces me sharply, excited as he recalls our directions. "Across the sea... In a tower on a distant shore... Reddas?"

"Familiar words, Vaan," Reddas muses. "I saw something of the sort written in some documents I chanced upon during my visit to Draklor. The Naldoan Sea, the Ridorana Cataract, and the Pharos lighthouse. I sent my fleet to fish out the truth behind those words... and caught trouble."

"Then the proof is ours," Basch replies. "This lighthouse on the Naldoan Sea is the tower on the distant shore. The strong Mist the becalmed your ships is a grimmer—yet clearer—sign than any we might hope for. The Sun-cryst is there."

"All well and good," Balthier huffs, pushing off the edge of the cabin he's been slumped against. "But how do we get there? Those seas are in jagd, as I recall."

"Try putting this one in your ship. 'Tis a skystone made to resist jagd." Reddas stands, tossing a small stone to Balthier, who catches it easily, frowning. My stomach twists and Balthier scowls.

"More spoils from the Draklor labs, is it? This has Adamar written all over it."

"Yeah, Shae did say her partner invented something like that a long time ago, didn't she?" Vaan recalls.