A drink they called loneliness

Ravens high was starting to fade.  She sat up and spun her legs over the edge of the bed. Balthiers hand traced a line on her back as she pulled some moon sugar from the side table.  It felt good to be touched, she could pretend it was love.
"Well doll, you seem more messed up than usual. Almost like you are losing your edge."
Maybe it was the sugar, maybe it was the fiction of affection he had showed her, maybe it was Lumerias words about letting go but she found herself talking before she new what he was saying. "I'm just sharing my loneliness with you because its better than being alone." After a long exhale, "I've been alone so long. No one wants me, and its just as well i don't know how to have a normal relationships."

"Nothing to complain about love, you are with the leading man. What more could you ask for?"

"A direction?"

"Well, I'm the worlds greatest sky pirate. Don't get that way with out a bit of navigating."

Like a repressed flood avalanches of emotion escaped her lips, "The angle offered to forgive me then disappears.  I even tried to surrender to Gerzon but he won't accept it.  So I'm forsaken again, hunted by Malekite with nowhere to go.  Shogun prying into my head, no escaping it. And I just think over and over, isn't there anyone trying to save me?"

Balthier stood up and pulled his arms through his shirt so is cascaded over his body, "Come now, you don't really want to resolve your issues do you?  Won't be half as fun in bed."

Ice and liquid death sprang from her eyes, "Wow lass, I just mean this pain and your issues makes you who you are, the best in the biz.  The kinda girl the Leading man needs for his next job."

Deciding to ignore the mistake of opening up to him she asked, "Now a job is something.  Whats the mark and pay?"

"Pay is the luck of the goddess Nocturn, or a key that can open any lock, whichever we want. And the mark...the Fox."

A pause hung in the room.  Maybe she was higher than she thought because she heard him say he was marking the Fox for a job. She downplayed it hoping it was one of his jokes, "The Fox is not a mark.  He given marks.  Besides he's dead, Remus runs things now."

"Fox had Ghost still the skeleton key from Nocturn's temple. Which means he ain't dead lass, in fact he's very much alive and must be planning something very valuable to bring old ghost out of retirement.  So that means he's actually in with the Forsaken."

"The skeleton key of Nocturn opens any lock.  The forsaken and chaos magic could possibly use that to get onto the Isle, or the manifestation of the Dark One out of Ravenloft."

"So profit, and world saving, gods can't ignore you after that."

"No Filtch is not one to bet on a losing horse, it is not what it seems. And if it is what it seems, the Dark One is going to win and the world will be toast."

"The Isle will deal with that little bit, in the meantime, the luck or the key could be ours.  We could drink from the fountain of luck together.  Oh we would be unstoppable then, fortune fame power and glory. I'd want to share that with someone. Preferably someone I could pretend to care for. "

She stood up and pulled her boots on up over her knees, "Not interested.  I don't want treasure, or to be pretended to be cared for."

Heading for the door she heard Balthier call after her, "Not all treasure is gold love. I hope you find the treasure you are looking for."

She returned the favor, "Aginor is north of Assyria in the mountains hiding from the Isle.  Any lead to Filtch will most likely start there.  I'm headed that direction myself. Good you really are the Leading Man."

She faked a genuine smile and with an audible pop disappeared