The wind and rain lashed against Leon's face as he turned away from the nearby cliffside. Waves crashed against the rocks below, but he paid them no mind, instead just beginning his journey back down to the base of the peak. For the moment, he and Baltazar lived in a strange state of peace, not lashing out at one another but instead simply standing together in the center of the storm. Their competitive streak mattered little in favor of just standing there together for a few breaths. At the moment, they were no longer rivals bitterly trying to defeat one another for the sake of their reputations as the strongest on the seas. They were old friends once more, not that either one of them would dare to say it aloud lest it shatter the delicate balance they had made.

Baltazar took a few steps ahead of his friend before he fell still, staring ahead as water continued to soak his dark hair. "Leon, what's more precious to ye than anything in the world?" he questioned, the words coming out heavy in a way Leon would not understand until years later.

"Most precious?" Leon echoed in confusion. "All my treasures are precious." Was that not the point of being a pirate? He wanted to find all he could to stand on top of the world with all the riches a person could ever hope for. He wanted to find fortune and power, and that was what he fought for above all else. Leon would never sacrifice a thing he had gathered over the course of his travels, not if it would yield him any standing in the world. 

Baltazar let out a small laugh, almost humored by Leon's response. "I didn't mean gold or gems, Leon," he corrected his friend. He looked off at the horizon again, his eyes gaining that faraway sheen once again. He always lost himself in thought when he spoke of what was precious in life, though Leon had always blamed it on sentimentality. In many ways, Leon couldn't understand how Baltazar had come to defeat him so many times. After all, Leon was stronger than Baltazar in a fight. He did not stop when trampling over the weak, never hesitating the way Baltazar did when his emotions got the better of him in a rare moment of vulnerability. And yet, through it all, he always came in second, and he never understood anything that traveled through the mind of his rival. 

"Then what did you mean?" Leon challenged as he took another step forward. His voice lacked its regular bite though, the competition fading in favor of a few moments of quiet understanding that really didn't explain anything at all.

"Do ye have somethin' so dear to yer heart that ye'd risk life 'n' limb for it?" Baltazar reiterated. Leon had no answer, and his expression twisted into muted discontent as his friend continued. "When we were lads in that poor town, we thought havin' riches was all there was to life. But I've been wonderin' lately... If that's the life worth livin'. And then I wonder... What life is worth livin'." 

Leon continued to stare at Baltazar in shock, unable to bring his confusion to words, as Baltazar raised his hands and looked down at his palms. His gloves were soaked with rainwater, and small droplets slipped off the fabric onto the weakened grasses beneath his feet. "I used me strength to steal from the weak... Just like ye, Leon." Baltazar took another step forward, forcing his shaking hands to close and fall to his sides. "And it took years of lootin' to realize that none of it meant anythin' to me. No... Not everythin' that glitters is gold." He offered Leon one final glance over his shoulder before he started away, off to begin their final race. 

Leon watched him go for a few long moments before he followed and took off in the opposite direction toward his own ship. Their peace shattered the instant they stepped off that mountain, and they would never find it once again thanks to the curse of death that stained Baltazar's heart and body. At the time, he had tried his best to shove Baltazar's words out of his mind. As far as he was concerned, nothing mattered except glory and gold, and he would pursue it to the bitter end. He could consider the truth at a later time. 

And that later time came the day he found Baltazar's destroyed ships on the banks of that island. Leon stood there and wondered if he would ever understand what his friend had been trying to tell him, and the sensation of hollow emptiness crawled up through his stomach to eat away at every wall he had ever placed around his heart. He realized just how little any of this mattered in comparison to what Baltazar had said. Leon didn't know what he wanted from life. This path had led to the death of his closest friend. It was lonely up at the top of the world, and Leon only saw that too late. He hadn't allowed himself to call Baltazar his friend until the hours after his rival's death, and by that point, all had ended. He never realized just how much he had until it was gone. The ground had withered beneath his feet, and all the pirate had was the open ocean that had swallowed Baltazar alive.

It was over, and there was nothing he could do about it.

~~~~~

Time did what it did best, and it passed. 

Days bled into weeks and then months and finally years, and Leon never stopped thinking about the final words Baltazar said to him. He had hoped the curse of Baltazar's words would fade with time, but instead, he was only held back by them more as time went by. He could feel blood staining his hands with each step he took as if the ghost of his best friend refused to abandon him.

When Leon thought of what Baltazar had told him, he found himself lacking answers. Baltazar had said that if he lost the race, he would need to hand over his most precious treasure. The more Leon thought about it, the more he realized he didn't know what that meant. He had treasured gold and gemstones from every corner of the known world, but none of them had ever struck the same chord Baltazar's words had on the night of his death. He couldn't stop asking himself the same question again and again, but he never found the answer he was looking for. it was always just out of reach, so close and yet so bitterly far that he would never touch it with his grasping, waiting fingers.

It took a long time for Leon to finally understand what Baltazar had been trying to tell him. After all the time Leon had spent as a pirate, he had obtained nothing. There was no precious treasure for him to grant to Baltazar if he lost the race. Baltazar wasn't happy with what he was doing with his life as a pirate, and he realized there was nothing for him in the trade anymore. Soon enough, that truth came to Leon as well. There was nothing for him to do as a pirate anymore. Had there ever been something for him there to begin with?

Leon lowered his flag when he realized just how right Baltazar had been all along. Baltazar had wanted to be a merchant one day, but he never had the chance to fulfill that dream because of his sudden death that stormy night. Leon couldn't be a pirate as long as Baltazar wasn't there to compete with him, not that there was any purpose for them to remain rivals to begin with.

With his banner dropped to the sands, never to be risen again, Leon found a new purpose in what his rival--his best friend--had always wanted...

~~~~~

"And I dedicated myself to repairing Baltazar's ship," Leon told Tressa. "I decided to pursue the dream of my friend in his stead. And so, I became the captain of a merchant ship." The part left unspoken was that he was the captain of Baltazar's merchant ship. In a better world, the two would have been able to pursue that dream together. Leon likely wouldn't have understood what Baltazar was saying without his death, but perhaps there was a universe out there somewhere that allowed them to stand side by side in a profession they had never known they wanted but desperately needed. 

Tressa went silent and looked down at the eldrite in his hands. The stone gleamed when he tilted it. Leon turned his attention to the gem as well before he reached out and pressed it into her palm. Tressa's gaze shifted up to him in shock, and Leon spoke with something bittersweet in his eyes. "I want you to keep this stone, lass."

Tressa staggered backward, her eyes shooting open with shock. "But it belonged to your friend..." she tried to counter. If she had been in this position, she would have wanted to hold onto that stone forever and never let it go. How could Leon be so okay with just letting her have it when it was one of the only traces of Baltazar left behind after all this time?

Leon let out a laugh and looked down to the letter in his other hand. "This letter is all I need," he assured Tressa. "That stone holds no meaning to me." He had discovered his most precious treasure after all those years spent struggling. He knew what he wanted out of life, and to him, life was worth living because he wanted to uphold the legacy of a friend he had never considered until it was too late. Baltazar had meant everything to him, and Leon was going to make sure his friend understood that even in death. His dream would not die along with him, not as long as Leon had something to say about it. Leon's treasure was his friendship and the dream of a friend born from that connection. That was where his heart would always lie.

Tressa realized this as she looked up to him, and when they locked gazes, she found him watching her with peaceful, content eyes. "Are you sure?" she asked regardless, one final check before she took his word for it. 

Leon looked off to the other side of the tavern with a faraway look, no doubt the same one Baltazar had worn so many times throughout the years of his encounters with Leon. "Everyone has something precious to them. Whether it be land, riches, honor, or what have you... There is an abundance of treasure in this world. But there is only space in one's heart for a single truly precious treasure. And I've found mine." He pressed the letter against his chest at that. The letter was the main manifestation of his love for Baltazar in his life, and he would continue to hold it dear for the rest of his days. "Baltazar's ship. It gave me another chance at life."

A few tears had started to rise in Leon's eyes once more. Tressa took a step forward, wanting to hug him and make sure he never felt that grief again, but she couldn't bring herself to raise her hand and comfort him. "Mr. Leon..." she murmured instead, hoping her sympathy would be enough to fill the distance between them. 

Leon didn't let it bother him though, instead just looking over to her with a question in his eyes and his words. "What's your most precious treasure?" 

The words hung heavily between them, and it took Tressa a while to realize that he expected an answer. He wasn't merely quoting Baltazar; he was asking her. Unfortunately, she had no answer to that, and no matter how many times she tried to force the words from her lips, she fell short. "It's..." She fumbled once again, forcing her to take another few seconds to think about her answer. "I... I don't know yet." She looked down at the letter in Leon's hands and nodded to herself. "But I know I'll find it someday."

Leon flashed her a bittersweet smile. "Aye. With those keen eyes, I have no doubt you will." His tone sobered at that, and he watched Tressa with wary caution written all over his face. "But be prepared: your life will never be the same after." He rose from his seat at the tavern table and started toward the door, Mikk and Makk following him a few moments later. The two had been silent throughout the conversation, but Tressa didn't even notice them, instead just focusing on Leon as he cast her one final grin. "Until we meet again, lass."

With that, Leon left, Mikk and Makk hot on his heels. Tressa watched him go before she glanced down to her palm where the eldrite was resting gently. "My most precious treasure..." she repeated. She would need to write about this in her journal later. What Leon had told her still hit hard and deep, striking a nerve she hadn't even realized she had. He was right, but she had no idea what to do about it. How could she learn more when there was so much she didn't understand about the world? 

Either way, Tressa knew it was just a matter of time before she found her most precious treasure. It wouldn't be able to escape her forever. In the meantime, she would keep searching. Tressa would not seek it out actively though; after all, one's true treasure was something a person found naturally, not because they were forcing themselves to uncover it. She needed to be patient no matter how agonizingly difficult that was. 

Tressa turned to the rest of the travelers with a smile on her face, trying to hide the tears that had sprung to life when she was listening to Leon's stories. "I guess we found something for the Merchants' Fair after all," she declared. She held up the eldrite to the torchlight once again, watching as the ocean itself unfurled beneath its glow. "I never would have thought this was how it would end up, but... Here we are."

"All that's left now is to go and put your skills to good use in Grandport," Alfyn beamed. He extended his arms to Tressa, and she rushed into his grasp as he pulled her in tightly for an embrace. "I'm proud of you, Tress. I know you're goin' to do great things."

"Thanks, Alfyn," Tressa murmured, her voice muffled against the fabric of his jacket. She pulled away after a few seconds and let out a small huff of air to ground herself once again. "Alright then. I guess that finishes up our business here, huh?"

"Did you forget about our agreement to take a break before we set off for the next destination?" Therion questioned, and Alfyn's shoulders went ever so slightly tighter nearby. "We still haven't eaten an actual meal today. We can focus on where we're going next tomorrow."

Tressa let out a wet laugh at that. "I guess I got a bit ahead of myself for a minute there, huh?" she asked. Before she had the chance to speak once again, her stomach began to grumble, and that only made her laugh harder. "As long as we're here in the tavern, it wouldn't hurt for us to get a little something to eat. Therion's right. We can think about going to Duskbarrow in the morning. For now, we deserve a break."

"Then let's go and get some food," Alfyn declared. He started toward a nearby table and slid into one of the chairs, waiting for the others to follow suit. Tressa gladly sat beside him, and Primrose filed in on her other side. The other travelers sat down around the table as well, and Linde curled around H'aanit's feet once she had settled in. 

The air was jubilant around the travelers. They had succeeded in their purpose, ultimately finding the treasure Tressa needed for the Merchants' Fair. Cecily had been right about there being something precious lurking in Victors Hollow, though Tressa didn't know what she was meant to think of it all. It still didn't feel right for her to take the eldrite and use it for the sake of the fair in Grandport. As long as Leon refused to take the stone though, what else could she do? She had her auction item taken care of just as she had hoped, and now, all that was left was for her to go through the waiting process. She would be at the Merchants' Fair in time, but until then, all she could do was be patient.

While waiting for a waiter to come around to take her order, Tressa held up the eldrite to the light and tilted it, watching the ocean twist inside. No matter how many times she did it, she never got sick of it. To say the stone was beautiful was a grave understatement. Tressa adored the eldrite, and she wanted to learn as much about it as she could before she auctioned it off at the Merchants' Fair. Maybe Cyrus could study it before she turned it over to another person's hands. 

Tressa didn't entirely know how she felt about auctioning off the eldrite though. Realistically, she knew it was the perfect thing to share at the Merchants' Fair. Who wouldn't be infatuated with the glow of the gemstone? At the same time, Tressa couldn't help wondering if perhaps it would be best in her hands for the sake of Leon. He may not have seen the value in it, but after hearing his story, Tressa did. It would be food for thought, she supposed. She had time to think about it. If she found some other treasure before then, perhaps she could use that at the Merchants' Fair instead of the eldrite. Only time would tell. Until then, at least she had the stone in her hands.

Primrose looked down at the gemstone in Tressa's hands with a small hum. "Quite a treasure indeed," she murmured.

"Don't I know it!" Tressa agreed. She let out a small sigh at the sight of the stone. No matter how many times she looked into the jewel, she never got sick of seeing the glory and beauty it contained. 

"May I see it?" Primrose questioned. Tressa nodded and gladly handed the stone over to the dancer. Primrose held up the gemstone and examined it in the gentle light of the torches lining the walls of the tavern. "It's stunning..." She took a few more moments to examine the gem before a nostalgic, bittersweet smile spread across her lips. "When I was younger, I had many occasions to set eyes on many a beautiful stone... But I've never seen one of such profound clarity and color."

"You can say that again!" Tressa beamed. "I can see why Mr. Leon was after it for so many years. It's gorgeous."

Primrose nodded her agreement. She pressed the stone back into Tressa's hand once she was finished looking at it. "You're planning on using it at the Merchants' Fair, aren't you?" she questioned. 

Tressa hesitated before shrugging. "I'm not sure, honestly," she confessed. "I want to keep it with me since it would feel wrong to get rid of something so important to Mr. Leon. At the same time, he doesn't seem to care much about it at all anymore. Is it right for me to use something that once meant so much to him for an auction like this?"

"You said it yourself--it doesn't mean much to him anymore," Primrose pointed out. "Do you trust him when he says he doesn't care about the eldrite as much as he cares about Baltazar's ship? Do you believe in his love for that letter being stronger than his love for that stone?"

Tressa nodded. "Of course I believe him. If that's what he's sure he feels, then I trust his judgement completely." 

"Then you shouldn't hold onto it for the sake of your thoughts on his emotions toward it. If he wanted the eldrite, then he would have accepted it from you earlier. This is your jewel now, and you can make your own decision with it from here," Primrose said. "Do you want to keep the eldrite? Or do you want to give it to someone else at the Merchants' Fair?"

Tressa thought about it for a long time, tilting the stone as she contemplated its beauty. "I... I don't think this is it," she confessed. "This isn't my one true treasure. I don't know what that means, but I think it would be okay if I gave it to someone else who would value it more... After giving Cyrus the chance to study it, of course."

"Make whatever decision you think would be best for you, Tressa," Primrose instructed. "If that means giving it to the highest bidder at the Merchants' Fair, then so be it. If that means keeping it, then that's alright too. Whatever decision you make will be for the best. Of that I am sure."

Tressa smiled with a nod. "You're right," she agreed. "I'm going to keep the eldrite for now, and I'll let Cyrus study it until we get to the Merchants' Fair. If Mr. Leon is sure he didn't need the eldrite, then I trust him. I'll keep searching for my own true treasure in the meantime. That's what matters most at the end of the day."

"I'm glad to hear it," Primrose smiled. She nudged Tressa gently with her shoulder. "Look at you, Tressa. It seems like you're growing up right before my eyes."

Tressa couldn't hold back the blush that spread across her cheeks at that. "Shucks, Primrose," she murmured, realizing a bit too late that she was mimicking Alfyn's speech patterns. She let out a small laugh as soon as she noticed it, and Primrose returned the favor. Tressa felt her heart grow lighter than a feather, and she knew deep down that this was where she belonged.

A waiter arrived at the table soon afterward, and each of the travelers went around in a circle to order their food. Tressa found her mouth watering just at the idea of the food the tavern had to offer, and she wrapped her free hand around her stomach to try and ease her hunger pains. Still, she wouldn't have traded the events of the day for the world. It may not have been easy to find the eldrite, but Tressa was happy with how everything had ended. She had given Leon the letter he needed, and she had found a treasure to use at the Merchants' Fair at all. It may not have been the most relaxing day, but it was still a net positive in Tressa's mind.

Once everyone's orders for food had been taken, the waiter retreated into the kitchen, and Tressa watched him go before turning her attention to the table in front of her. Her mind shifted back to what Leon had told her about having one true treasure. She was sure the eldrite couldn't have been that treasure if she was so willing to give it up at the Merchants' Fair or to Leon if he decided he needed it. With the way Leon had spoken of that one true treasure, Tressa knew it to be something sacred. No matter how hard she tried though, she could never quite put a finger on what it could have been for her. 

"Hey there, Tress. What's with the serious look?"

The sound of Alfyn's voice pulled Tressa out of her trance, and she glanced up to him in surprise at being addressed. She regained her composure quickly though and immediately moved to explain herself. "I was just thinking about what my most precious treasure could be," she replied. She paused for a moment before continuing. "Tell me, Alfyn. What do you treasure most?"

The reaction was immediate as Alfyn's face dyed itself bright pink in embarrassment. He moved to scratch at the base of his neck, refusing to meet Tressa's gaze in full. "Me? Shucks, I'd rather not say," he told her. "It's kind of silly, to be honest."

"Oh, come now," Tressa said with a loose wave of her hand. "What are you acting so embarrassed about."

"It's not that," Alfyn cut in quickly. He was trying desperately to explain himself, but he knew he was falling short. "It's just..."

"Besides, I already know the answer," Tressa assured him. "It's that bag." She gestured down to Alfyn's satchel, and his eyes went wide with shock. Somehow, he only blushed more with Tressa's words, something she hadn't even thought possible. "You always keep it in your sight, and you're constantly cleaning and mending it. There's no place you go that your satchel doesn't come with you."

Alfyn hesitated before he let out a sigh. He pulled his bag up onto his lap and rested it against his torso just for the sake of having it close. "You got me," he murmured. "When I've got it slung over my back, it's like I can hear Zeph whispering in my ear. 'You brew those potions of yours with pride, you hear?' he says. And I listen too. That's why I put so much care into my concoctions."

Tressa smiled brightly as she rested a hand on his arm. "I could tell how much Zeph and Nina meant to you when we first arrived in Clearbrook all that time ago. It makes a lot of sense that your most precious treasure would be something from him," she told Alfyn. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. If anything, I think it's sweet that you've got something that means so much to you."

"Thanks, Tress," Alfyn smiled. He was still embarrassed, but his face was starting to fade back to its normal color, and Tressa was willing to call that a victory. "I hope you're able to figure out what your most precious treasure is soon too."

Tressa looked around the rest of the table, a small frown pulling at the corners of her lips. "It's strange... When I look around at everyone here, it feels like there's still so much I don't understand about them," she admitted. "You have your satchel as your most precious treasure. I know what Primrose's is too--it's her dagger from her father. But looking at everyone else... I'm not sure I know what they could treasure. It feels like so much of what they have and hold dear is just... Intangible." 

Alfyn hummed and nodded. "I know what you mean. Take Cyrus for example. He prizes his knowledge above all else, but it's not like there's any one object that would explain just how much all of that meant to him," he said. "Phili's family means a lot to her, but she doesn't have anything physical for that either. The lanthorn is important to her, but I don't think it's quite her true treasure. It's hard to figure out what means the most to everyone here."

"You can say that again," Tressa sighed. "I guess I'll just have to ask them about it at some point... It makes you wonder if a person's one true treasure even has to be something they can hold. It's an interesting question, I suppose, even if I have no idea what the answer could possibly be."

"I'm sure there'll be time for you to figure it out. The same goes for everyone else," Alfyn told her. "For now, you've only just heard about all of this. Try to not be so hard on yourself for not knowin' what it is you're supposed to be lookin' for. It's okay to take your time, Tress."

"You're right," Tressa agreed. "It's so easy to want to just jump right into things like this, but I know it's not that simple. I'll just have to see what it means with time, I suppose." She shrugged loosely before glancing back down to the eldrite. "For now though, we've got the treasure I need for the Merchants' Fair, and I'm looking forward to it."

"It's goin' to be a while before the auction starts though," Alfyn pointed out. "We've got a lot of journeyin' ahead of us. Tomorrow, we're goin' to Duskbarrow, and after that, it'll be back to Stillsnow to look around there for information about the Susanna woman H'aanit heard about from her master. I just hope it gives us some clues about where to go next. I don't want to have to fumble around cluelessly forever, you know?"

"I get it," Tressa nodded. "We've all got time to figure out what it is we want from our lives. Until then, we're just going to keep pressing on, and we'll see where it takes us. Tomorrow, it'll be Duskbarrow. After that, it'll be the rest of Orsterra." 

"That's the spirit!" Alfyn agreed with a firm, bright nod. 

Soon afterward, the waiter returned with everyone's drinks, and the meal picked up in full. The travelers spent the next two hours or so just enjoying being around one another, relishing in the company that came with a family they never could have expected. This was where they belonged, and they would never have a reason to want much of anything else. 

Tressa chose to not say anything, but she noticed Alfyn frown at Therion a few times throughout the night. If Alfyn wanted to talk about it, then he would open up to the others with time. Until then, Tressa was going to leave him be while giving him the space he needed to explain himself when the time was right. Alfyn knew how to take care of himself, and Tressa could trust him to be careful and not push too hard on his emotional state. He would be okay, and so would everyone else. 

Tressa may not have known what her most precious treasure was, but she knew this was something she would hold dear for the rest of her life, and nothing would ever change that.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And there's the end of Tressa's chapter three as far as main story content goes! Woohoo! 

I really love Tressa's chapter three, and I really liked working on this chapter specifically. I feel like Tressa's story is the pinnacle of what Octopath Traveler is all about, and I love it more than words could possibly say. It's incredible. Just... Wow, I love this story. 

Speaking of loving this story, happy two year anniversary to Eight Intertwined! Okay, technically it was on February thirteenth (today is the sixteenth), but this was the closest I could get to uploading a chapter on the actual day. Last year, I said that I hoped we were done with chapter two by the time of the two year anniversary. This year, we're done with Tressa's chapter three! Woohoo!

Well, I say that we're done with Tressa's chapter three, but we still have the post-chapter interactions to get through. I'm suspecting they'll take two to three chapters, and after that, it'll be off to Duskbarrow for the Sorcerer shrine. As for the character interactions you can expect from this post-chapter segment, you can look forward to Cyrus/Tressa, Alfyn/Therion, Primrose/Olberic, and H'aanit/Ophilia. It's going to be tons of fun. Chapter three is a great emotional turning point, and I can't wait for you all to see it. 

With that said, I'll see you next week for the start of those character interactions! Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital