28 Cylus 722
He had to ask himself which part of his life felt more fulfilling- traveling the world and stopping disasters all over, or sitting in Scalvoris and defending it from it's own disasters. He enjoyed both. He felt like he was doing some good with both. However he couldn't deny that when he'd more or less been a mercenary, things were easier. He had more control over what he did and how he did it. He never had problems in Rharne like the ones that he had in Scalvoris. Nor did he have them in Yaralon, Melrath, Viden, or- well... no he did have a similar problem in Quacia. They took him in rather quickly because he was obviously a mage. Still, the difference between those places and Scalvoris was that in Scalvoris he took a job that required him to follow orders and rules he didn't agree with.
He was not made to follow orders and he could not work under men who sat behind desks while he risked his life. He had not seen that the Elements would turn him into one of those men. The Elements seemed more concerned with protecting the law than they did with protecting people and the firing had only cemented that thought in Balthazar's mind, true or not. Was the law always right? No. No, most certainly not. If Balthazar stopped a fleet of pirates from amassing but it cost him a badge and a cloak, he was content.
He looked better in black anyways.
"Are you upset?" Robin asked Balthazar after a prolonged silence between them. They were still just standing outside the building. It was a brothel the last time Balthazar had been inside but he had virtually no idea how it had gotten along in the time since he had the owner arrested for beating her own girls. He had come to remember the past and what he had been before the Elements. Nellies was the first case he felt he really started on in Scalvoris. He didn't think that they would be closed when he came by to visit. He'd been hoping to see some familiar faces.
"No, it's alright. I'm not sure they'd have wanted to see me anyways." Balthazar replied after some thought. He took a deep breath and turned from the building to go to the next place on his walk with Robin. He had his black bag over his shoulder and a dark cloak covering his head.
"I meant about being let go from the Elements." Robin said a little nervously. He wasn't sure it was the right time to probe Balthazar about it.
Balthazar smirked, "If they hadn't locked me up for thirty trials, then sentenced me to an island without magic for so long, maybe." He shrugged trying to convey some humor so Robin would relax, "As it stands, I don't agree with the way the Element's operate and they don't agree with how I do. They want to react to crime. I want to stop it before it happens. There are better ways to get what I want than the Elements. Arcs ago that wasn't true. That's why I joined them. But even when I was breaking into the ship, I couldn't stop thinking about how difficult it was to do things the way the Elements want them done."
"What do you mean?" Robin asked. Having come from Rynmere, Robin was not all that attached to the way things were done in Scalvoris. If he had differing opinions of what had happened, he certainly didn't show them. He didn't seem all that concerned with anything about the Elements other than how Balthazar wanted to proceed.
"Alone, I could have gone onto the ship, learned everything I wanted, and escaped without being noticed. With the Elements you can't do that. Either because you are forced to work in numbers or because you have to report every single thing you do. I always thought the idea was that I should learn to work better in a team but I don't have to. If I can do something myself, I should, and moving forward I will." Balthazar realized what he had said and gave Robin a small pat on the back, "Well, not entirely myself. I'm not kicking you aside, my friend. I'll just handle the delicate situations myself. If I want to avoid capture or recognition, I can. I just can't do it with others around me. It is safer this way."
"I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about. Aren't you going to go back to Haven now?" Robin was confused but it was because he thought Balthazar would leap at the chance to get back to Elisabeth. He wasn't wrong. One of the things that made the firing the most bearable was the knowledge that he was free to go and do what he wanted. He wanted to be with her, but he had islands to secure first. Every case he had worked and was working up until the moment the job was taken was still burned into his memory. He had all the leads and all the information he needed to keep working them. The largest problem was that now he would have to resolve the cases under the nose of the Elements. Then he could move on to new troubles.
"My work is not done in Almund." He said with a small breath. "As an Element I needed proof I could record and report but not now. Now I just need to find out the truth. As an Element I would have had to arrest these criminals... now I just need to break them. The Elements can clean up the rest."
"Break them? That's a little dark. You sound like a vigilante. Aren't you worried the Elements will arrest you?" Robin asked.
"Rand threatened to hang me." Balthazar said, his voice and face turning cold. "I will never allow them to arrest me again."
"Balthazar," Robin said, trying to match the stern tone, "think carefully about what you do next. You may not be one of them but you don't need to make them your enemy. You both want the island to be safer. You both want to help Scalvoris. Maybe you should just go back to Haven and spent time with the settlement. It might be good for you? Just to clear your head a little?"
"I'll be fine, Robin. I have to stop Vane and Mallory before I go. The other cases can wait. The Tower won't move and the threats have't turned into actions yet." Balthazar said as his pace began to slow down.
"Why? Why does it still matter?" Robin asked as the two of them came to a stop outside of another tavern. It was still open based on the sounds of bards singing coming from inside.
Balthazar took a deep breath, "Because Mallory betrayed me and I know it."
"Mallory? The one you saw on the pirate ship?" Robin asked. Balthazar nodded. "How do you know?"
"I took him on an expedition into the jungle. I brought others with me. One of them got sick and Mallory was so quick to explain how it had happened. Mallory stayed with him. Mallory kept him alive and shortly after we got out of the jungle the man passed due to the snake bite. I didn't think anything of it until I heard him threaten to poison the men on the ship. It's not a coincidence. He lied about who he was the entire time we were in the Scaloth." Balthazar was growing irritated at the thought he'd been taken for a fool that whole journey.
"That doesn't prove anything." Robin pointed out.
"I'm not an Element anymore," Balthazar said, "I don't need proof."
"Baltha-"
"Robin, I am not going to go on some psychopathic spree through the criminal underworld." Balthazar cut to the point, sensing that his friend was concerned. "You'll see. I don't have it all worked out, I didn't expect this to happen, but I think I have a plan."
"Are you going to share the details of that plan?" Robin asked.
"Come in, have a drink with me, and we will talk about what we should do next." Balthazar said, giving Robin a small pat on the back before walking into the tavern they were standing outside of.
