Force

"Oi, wake up," said Andrew, punctuating his statement by sending a current of electricity through the body of Judge Ghis, now bereft of his armor. Underneath was an aging man with curly, steel-grey hair and a small goatee, his countenance a near textbook representation of what someone might think of if they imagined an evil nobleman.

"Hnnngh!"

Though he tensed from the electricity coursing through his body, Judge Ghis demonstrated a fair amount of resiliency as he instinctively lunged forward to strike Andrew's face. His hand would have appeared like a blur to a normal person, but Andrew intercepted it with his tail, causing Ghis's obsidian eyes to widen in confusion.

"Do us both a favor and behave," said Andrew, flinging Ghis with his tail. He needed to anchor himself to the ground, but so long as he did so, he could effortlessly lift several tons with the convenient appendage. As a result, Ghis was sent flying across the bridge, crashing heavily against a metal wall due to his inability to right himself.

Bereft of his armor, Ghis's collision caused pain to emanate through his body as the air was forced from his lungs. Andrew had left him with his peculiar, chainmail-like bodysuit, but it provided little protection against heavy blows and impacts.

Before Ghis could try anything, Andrew, materializing a bluish-white fireball in his right hand, remarked, "I siphoned away most of your Mist, Mana, or whatever you want to call it. I don't mind giving you a beating, but this is a battle you can't hope to win."

Forcing himself to a seated position, Ghis attempted to meet the gaze of his attacker but found himself staring at a pair of ghostly, glowing yellow eyes beneath a hooded veil that cast Andrew's face in shadowy darkness, much like a Black Mage. The most notable difference was, rather than a steepled hat, he wore a sleeveless black hoodie with cat ears, giving the impression he was a cat boy rather than a monkey.

"Who are you...?" asked Ghis, grimacing in pain, hatred exuding from the depths of his eyes.

"I'm not here to answer your questions," said Andrew, increasing the size of his fireball as he appended, "You may find this hard to believe, but I'm not an enemy of the Empire. My enemy is Vayne Carudas Solidor. To that end, you have two options before you. You can land this airship in the sea below or watch, crippled and powerless, as I force it to crash."

"The Leviathan isn't constructed to facilitate sea landings..." grunted Ghis, forcing himself to his feet before adopting a sly smile as he added, "But if it's true what you say, that Lord Vayne is your enemy, I believe we can—"

Increasing the size of his fireball even further, so much so that he had to hold it over his head, Andrew stated, "I listed your options. If I wanted to negotiate, I would have done so."

"..."

Looking down at his armorless body, robbed of all his armaments, Ghis deliberated for a moment before closing his eyes and exhaling a pained sigh. He wasn't particularly impressed by Andrew's fireball, as he could achieve similar feats at full power, but without his weapons and armor, he knew there was little he could do but comply.

Opening his eyes, Ghis raised his gaze to meet Andrew's as he said, "Very well. I will navigate the Leviathan to perform a sea landing. In exchange, I would have your word that you'll inflict no further harm to me, my crew, or my airship..."

"As I said before, I'm not truly an enemy of the Empire," said Andrew. "If I were, your 8th Fleet wouldn't live to see another sunrise."

Though he was at a fairly extreme disadvantage, Ghis snorted in response to Andrew's claim. The latter was powerful, indeed, but the notion that he could take out an entire fleet was ridiculous.

Raising his right brow, not that Ghis could see it, Andrew asked, "Do you 'want' me to destroy your fleet...?"

"I beg your pardon..." responded Ghis, his expression and tone lacking sincerity as he shuffled his way over to the Leviathan's damaged but still operational control panel. He was half-tempted to activate the airship's lockdown protocol but treasured his life too much to discard it out of duty or spite. His title as Judge Magister might be revoked due to this incident, but he was already well-passed the age of retirement and had three sons, a wife, and a vast fortune awaiting his return.

Feeling the ship begin its descent, Andrew said, "Take things nice and slow. And when someone from your escort invariably attempts to contact you, just ignore them. If you need an excuse, destroy the comms and pin the blame on me."

"Ha...!" exclaimed Ghis, a sly smile developing across his weathered face as he noted, "One would think you've done this kind of thing before. Am I correct to assume you're the mysterious intruder that invaded the Ifrit in Rabanastre...?"

"If you believe I'm working with the Resistance, you're mistaken," said Andrew, shrinking the fireball to the size of a marble before dispersing it completely. Ghis noticed this but didn't bother correcting the Leviathan's course. Instead, he used his bare fist to punch what Andrew assumed to be the communications console.

"Really?" asked Ghis, half-turning to face Andrew as he remarked, "You allowed yourself to be captured, freed the late Princess Ashelia from my custody, and are now compelling me to direct my flagship into the fiend-infested waters of the Naldoan Sea. It certainly seems like you're working with the Resistance..."

Shrugging lackadaisically, Andrew stated, "I may be working with them in the future, but thus far, it's entirely coincidence. I just wanted to see what the bridge of a dreadnaught looked like, so I accompanied a group I knew would be arrested and brought before you. Me directing you to land your ship in the sea is compensation for that stone you tried to get your hands on."

"The nethicite..." muttered Ghis, his expression turning grimly severe. In response, Andrew nodded, adopting a cheeky smile as he said, "That's right. I accepted that stone as compensation to buy the Princess and her would-be retinue time to escape."

Though it was probably pointless, Ghis felt compelled to state, "If you were to relinquish the nethicite to our custody, the Empire would reward you beyond measure. This incident and the Princess's escape. All could be forgiven..."

Shaking his head, Andrew falsely revealed, "You're too late. I accepted that stone specifically to prevent it from falling into the hands of another, not just Vayne. As such, it no longer exists in this world."

Blinking in surprise, Ghis, disbelievingly, asked, "You destroyed it...?" while 'secretly' activating Libra.

"Destroyed?" parroted Andrew, shaking his head a second time before clarifying, "I didn't 'destroy' it. I completely removed it from this plane of existence. It still exists somewhere, but the Empire won't be able to get their hands on it through conventional methods."

As Andrew's words were 100% true, Ghis failed to detect any falsehoods in his statement. As a result, the middle-aged Judge Magister felt a little lightheaded as he resolved to get rid of all the soldiers that had set their eyes on the stone. Getting their hands on 'deifacted nethicite' was the catalyst behind Archadia's conquest of Nabradia and Dalmasca. If it were discovered that he allowed one of only three stones to be 'removed' from the plane of existence, he would be fortunate to be tried and executed. It was far more likely that his family would have its status and titles stripped away, their land and fortunes seized on charges of 'treason.'

Interrupting Ghis's thoughts, alarms began to sound throughout the bridge as the Leviathan's altitude decreased to critical levels, prompting an automated voice to repeat, "Warning. Collision with water is imminent. All crew brace for impact."

Looking at Andrew, Ghis wanted to make an agreement that neither of them would speak of what happened to nethicite but discovered he was the only person left conscious on the bridge. Confusion marred his face at the realization that he may have been speaking to an illusion, but it didn't matter. Fortunately, unlike what he had told Andrew, the Leviathan was, in fact, engineered to be able to conduct a water landing. Getting out would be difficult, but so long as their glossair rings didn't sustain any significant damage, they could be lifted out of the water with the combined effort of the rest of the fleet. The hardest part would be setting up the cables and coordinating everything with destroyed comms...

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"Boo," said Andrew, appearing next to Penelo in the back of a cramped Atomos. The pigtailed girl was both surprised and relieved to see him, but before she could say anything, a weary-looking Ashe seemed to gain her second wind as she rose to her feet and exclaimed, "You've returned. Tell me, what came of the Leviathan and its crew? What of the Dusk Shard...?"

Causing Penelo to sweat slightly, Andrew shrugged and responded, "The Leviathan is currently washing the dirt from its hull in the Naldoan Sea. As for the Dusk Shard, I don't have it. But, even if I did, you lack the power to use or keep it safe."

"You have no right...!" exclaimed Ashe, attempting to slap Andrew across the face, but his figure disappeared, reappearing behind her as he asked, "And who decides that? The person with the power to defeat a Judge and compel a dreadnaught to perform a sea-landing, or a disthroned Princess with no palace, army, or the means to prove her heritage...?"

Spinning around, Ashe attempted to face Andrew, but he moved in timing with her movements, remaining behind her. She flared up and tried to spin around even faster, but this time he captured her hand, bereft of his usual smile as he stated, "Sovereignty is not a birthright. It is a burden you bear at the behest of your people. Without the ability to carry that burden, you have no ground to speak of rights or talk down to others..."

Tearing her hand from Andrew's, Ashe began to tear up as she shouted, "What do you know!? The people of Dalmasca are depending on me to restore our nation and free them from the Empire's tyranny! If you aren't willing to help, that's fine! But don't denigrate those of us who have shed blood, sweat, and tears for Dalmasca...!"

Furrowing his brows slightly, Andrew pointed out, "The 'people' you speak of depending on you don't even know you're alive. And without the means to liberate them, you're stuck relying on others to die and do all the heavy lifting for you."

"Hey! No need to be—"

Before Vaan could interrupt him, Andrew cast a Silence spell on the sand-haired youth, directing a warning look his way before returning his gaze to Ashe and stating, "As it stands, even if you were to reveal that were alive, it would only damage your cause. I won't tell you to sit on your hands and wait for others to reclaim your throne, but the incident at the palace a few days back should have taught you the futility of opposing Vayne without a plan."

"I have a plan!" claimed Ashe, preempting Andrew's response by stating, "I will petition my uncle, Halim, for his assistance. If Bhujerba stands with us, Dalmasca—"

Causing nearly everyone to wince, including the nearby Basch, Andrew slapped Ashe across the face, his expression lacking its usual vibrancy as he expressed, "There is a limit to selfishness. You hid yourself from the world for two years, and now you would have the man who thought you dead mobilize his forces at your behest? His forces are far inferior to the Empire's, so you would have no choice but to rely on Rozarria for support. You would just be trading Archadian rule for Rozarrian!"

Holding her cheek, Ashe wore an aggrieved expression as she stared up at Andrew with tears cascading from her eyes. She knew in her heart that what he said was true, but she didn't know what else to do. Archadia had taken everything from her, so even if she became a puppet to Rozarria and had to marry one of its many Princes to ensure their support, she felt it was infinitely better than capitulating to Vayne...

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