[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/3iywwTz.png[/img]

[h2][color=black]Balthier D. Sydney[/color][/h2]

[b]Alabasta Bar by the Docks[/b][/center]

So it was as he expected. They were doomed, and yet they were going anyway. Was it courage or foolhardiness? 

[i][color=black]That depends on whether they survive or not.[/color][/i] Balthier thought.

[color=black]"Hey, wait!"[/color] He called, but they were already gone. He growled. Those idiot kids were going to get themselves killed. 50 million? Ha. If they wanted to compare bounties, his own bounty was double that, and both Captain and the Shigeuchi fellow had greater bounties than him.

Though, that said, he didn't put too much stock in bounties. He was fairly sure he could take them both and win. Bounties only reflected how the World Government saw you, and he had been hiding his strength for some time. Still, Caitlyn and Lexi were clearly not like him. 

He almost left them. He really did. This pirate era was not one for the naïve or weak. Pick a fight with the wrong person, and you die. That is how it was. Dog-eat-dog.

But he knew their names. He couldn't turn away.

[color=black]"Fine."[/color] He turned to the barkeep. [color=black]"Hey, bartender! I'll be back in a bit. Keep a stein out for me, eh?"[/color] He left the bar and ran in a slightly different, but essentially parallel, direction from where the two girls had gone.