Chapter One: The Mysterious Sphere

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I felt like my throat was about to rip. As I opened my eyes, I realized that I had been dreaming...this was the fifth time in two days that I woke up screaming. My eyes stung; my throat hurt; my heart was pounding against my chest like a percussion drummer during a rock concert. Sweat ran down the sides of my face. I needed to relax; I had to get a grip...

"It was just a dream Alex," I told myself, panting. "Only a dream..."

That's all it ever was; just a dream. For the past two days, whenever I closed my eyes for a long period of time, I kept seeing the same horrible image. A large creature called Sin, which I had seen in the video game Final Fantasy X was attacking a beach in which a massive operation was underway...creatures called Sinspawn chased after me...it was always the same...

I rolled out of bed, trying to get myself back to normal. As I walked towards my bedroom door, I passed the mirror; I paused in front of it, looking at the person staring back at me. A tall, skinny boy, with tan skin, untidy jet black hair and hazel eyes stared at me...nothing too exciting to look at.

Knock! Knock!

"Alex, are you okay?" came a soft, concerned voice. It was my mom. She twisted the doorknob and opened the door slowly. Her dark brown eyes locked onto me. It must've been after seven a.m, because she was already dressed in her work clothes.

I sighed. "I'm fine mom,"

"Are you sure? You don't look well...Why do you look so pale? Are you coming down with something? Honey, you're sweating; I'd better check your temperature. Stay right there. Don't move," she said in a frantic voice as she scurried away. I could hear her footsteps going in all sorts of directions. The one thing about my mom is when she's concerned; she basically declares a state of emergency.

I turned around and walked toward my window, turning on the AC as I sat down on my bed. It felt like a boiler room in here.

My mom came running back into the room, armed with a digital thermometer, water, and what looked to be aspirin.

"Here, put this under your tongue," she said quickly, her hands shaking.

"Ma, I'm fine...trust me--"

"PUT IT UNDER YOUR TOUNGE!" she roared.

I sighed, as I grabbed the thermometer and thrust it under my tongue. What the hell was wrong with her, I thought. I told her I was fine...geez...

About thirty seconds later, she reached forward and yanked the thermometer out of my mouth. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"98.7 degrees! T-That cant be right! Honey! You have a fever! lay down!"

I couldnt help but start laughing. "Ma, 98.7 degrees is normal body temperature,"

She stared at me for a moment. "Well, I still don't trust it. You're staying home from school," and for the first time, I did not argue back. Hey, if having a normal body temperature could keep me home from school, I should try and cough more often, I thought.

"I'm going to have to call out--"

"No," I said quickly. "Its fine...No, I'll be fine mom. You need to go to work; besides I'm 18; I can take care of a small fever," I said, trying to sound a little weaker than before. Convincing her to go to work when I was sick was as hard...but to me utter disbelief, she agreed.

"Alright, fine. BUT, the moment you feel like you can't handle it, call me,"

I nodded as she kissed me on the forehead. Fifteen minutes later, she was out the door.

I didn't even know what to do first. I was home, alone...and the good part about it was, it was the middle of June; summer was right around the corner, which meant I could go outside and take a dip in the pool. I threw on some swimming trunks, and grabbed a towel, as I headed down stairs, and out the kitchen door into the backyard.

As I headed outside, the summer air engulfed me; it was very warm and humid. I looked down at the swimming pool as I approached it. The swimming pool was calling for me; I had the entire pool to myself for the entire day. I set my towel down, and dove into the pool, as the cool water surrounded my body. It felt good. I opened my eyes for a split second, and noticed something on the pool floor. It was a orange sphere, a little bigger than a baseball. What was it? I swam down and grabbed it, and swam back to the surface. I climbed out of the pool, dripping wet, and set the sphere down on the floor.

"How'd this get in my pool?" I asked myself.

I stared down at the sphere for a moment, trying to figure out where it came from...or even, what it was used for...when suddenly a blinding flash of orange light came out of no where. I closed my eyes and then opened them again; everything was black. It was like I was standing on nothing. Everywhere I looked was pitch black...

"W-what the hell is going on?" I asked myself, my voice shaking slightly. Where was I?

"Dont be afraid," came a voice.

I felt like someone had knocked all the wind out of me as I spun around to see the source of the voice. I was staring at a child, no older than twelve or thirteen. He was smaller than me; his face was covered by the hooded jacket her wore; his purple shorts were torn at the bottom. I'd seen this boy before...in Final Fantasy X...What was he doing here?

"A Fayth?" I asked.

The boy nodded.

"But...thats impossible; You're...you're not real. You only exist in a video game...video games arent real," I said, as my heart sped up. What the hell was going on?

"Ah, but I am real...as real as you are," said the Fayth calmly. " I was hoping you would remember me,"

I let out a small laugh. "How could I forget you? I play that game almost every day,"

"Hmm...so it seems. Well, I haven't much time, so I will make this short," said the Fayth. "Spira needs you,"

"S-Spira...needs m-me?" I stammered. How the hell could Spira need me?

"Yes. You are familiar with Lady Yuna's pilgrimage, are you not?"

"Yeah. She defeated Sin, and brought about the Eternal Calm," I answered.

"That is correct...but now...Spira is in trouble again...and maybe you can be the key to saving Spira,"

I stared at the Fayth. Spira isn't in trouble anymore, I thought. Yuna defeated Sin. Spira was safe...

"How? Didn't Yuna destroy Sin?"

"It's not Sin...its something else...something that is much worse than Sin ever was,"

What could be more worse than a creature being reborn every ten years and halting the advancement of civilization?

"What is it?" I asked.

"It is difficult to explain. Come to Spira, and see for yourself..."

"C-Come? To Spira?" I asked, shocked. "I cant just up and leave you know! What will my mom think if she came home and found me gone?"

"Do not worry. Just leave that to me. Please...come to Spira...help us...we Fayth have been summoned again...our dream finally ended with the destruction of Sin, but now...something brought us back; a force more powerful than Sin,"

I didn't even know what to say. However, everything just seemed to fall into place. Maybe the dream I was having was kind of a warning. Maybe it was supposed to lead to this. I stared at the Fayth, and then nodded.

"Sure, I'll go to Spira,"

"Thank you," said the Fayth.

"Just...er...gimme a minute. Let me go and change,"

"No need," said the Fayth, and he snapped his fingers. Instantly, I was clothed. I was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt, and a pair of blue jeans. I looked down at my feet and saw my white K-Swiss. This was comfortable, I thought.

"Thanks,"

"I am not sure where you'll end up, but I am sure you can work out how to find Lady Yuna. You must stay with her at all times...also, I bestow this upon you," said the Fayth, raising his hand. A shimmering red light engulfed my body, and I could feel myself gaining some sort of power...it was a wonderful feeling. The light disappeared.

"What was that?"

"The power of Black Magic...It is up to you to advance," said the Fayth. "I'm sure Miss Lulu can teach you how to use it...but I'm afraid things have changed in Spira," he continued.

"Changed? How?" I asked curiously.

"See for yourself..."

Suddenly, my mind felt empty...everything seemed to slide away...my eyes grew heavier, and I could no longer see the Fayth. I couldn't think...I didn't know who I was...What was happening to me? Where was I going?

"Good luck...Spira's fate rests within your hands,"