It seems to me that everyone has that story. The story of their life. The one they want to scream to the world from the top of a mountain. Whether you know it or not, you have one, too. As do I.
Now, don't start complaining about me being self-centered. It IS my story, after all. When you've seen and done all the things I have THEN you can accuse me all you want. Now, I'm not going to try to fancy this whole thing up. I'm just planning to tell everything as it is. So don't gawk at me saying "Gimme' a break. NO ONE can do that." 'cause I don't wanna' hear it. I assure you I am not making any of this up.
Anyway, I'll just get on with this thing.
Have you ever seen a giant blob of something slimy and gross hanging in the sky swallowing up your home city? No? Really? It's quite common nowadays. Though, I must say, I was a bit panicky when I saw this with my own eyes. While everyone else was sane and tried to escape, there I was being forced by a guy in a large red coat to get closer and closer to this thing.
Before you ask me what's up with this guy, I'll tell you: I'm pretty sure he's insane. Sick. Not right in the head.
Well, I eventually ended up hanging on for dear life on the edge of a road that was floating in midair, magnetically drawn to this slimy creature. I asked this insane guy to help me, but he just looked at the thing and started talking to it.
I'm sorry if I mislead you with my comments about him earlier. The truth is: he is insane. What kind of guy goes around talking to giant blobs of matter?
What happened after that? I'm not really sure. But I knew- somewhere- I felt my old man. My stupid old man. My selfish, stupid, uncaring, ungrateful jerk of an old man.
That's the last thing I can recall, seeing as I blacked out shortly after.
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I awoke what seemed like seconds later in unimaginable heat. When I tried to stand, my feet slipped, which sent my face flying to the ground, resulting in an unpleasant mouthful of sand. I tried again- this time succeeding- and stood where I was, looking out at what must be hundreds of miles of sand. Great. I thought dully. First Zanarkand's destroyed, then I'm stuck in the middle of a desert with no idea where I am or how the heck I got here. Some day I'm having…
I can't exactly remember my thoughts after that… I think I wondered what was going to happen to Zanarkand- my home that I'd seen destroyed only moments ago.
Little did I know it had hardly been moments.
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I'd decided to walk aimlessly at what I randomly guessed was north. Before long, I saw a small shape in the distance. Squinting through the afternoon glare, I identified it as some sort of vehicle. Excited to see life, I began screaming and waving my arms like I'd just caught a glimpse of some superstar- not that that's a good simile for me, seeing as I am, or rather was, a superstar.
I suppose they spotted me, seeing as the vehicle had increased speed and was coming right towards me. I felt a surge of relief as a girl jumped out. She had an orange shirt that was a bit too small for her, plus some short green shorts and two long, blue tassels flowing from her shoulders.
"Fryd yna oui?" She asked suspiciously. What are you? She was probably glaring at me through squinted eyes, though I couldn't tell because she wore thick goggles- appropriate for desert traveling.
"Um… s-sorry?" I stammered. Realization struck her face and she cleared her throat before answering.
"What are you?" She inquired, pulling off her goggles to let them hang from her neck.
"Ah... I'm…" I didn't quite understand her question. "a… human…?"
"I can see that, stupid." She rolled her eyes. "But what are you? You're definitely not Al Bhed."
"Al Bhed?" I echoed. She rolled her eyes again.
"You're hopeless." She sighed. "Where are you from, anyway?"
"Zanarkand." I replied proudly. "Star of the A Block Abes!"
She looked at me like I had five heads. "What?" I asked. She just continued to gawp at me.
"Ra drehgc ra'c vnus Zanarkand? Drec kio'c hidc... Fuhtan ev ra'c paah hayn Sin... Syopa ra'c celg..." She mumbled to herself after a moment. He thinks he's from Zanarkand? This guy's nuts... Wonder if he's been near Sin... Maybe he's sick... ... She looked back at me. "Were you… near Sin recently?" She asked suspiciously.
Sin? I thought, before I remembered what Auron- the insane man- had said.
"We called it Sin…"
I wondered about what he had said. How did he know what that blob was called? And who was "we"?
Standing there then, I realized I was wrong about Auron. He wasn't insane (I had though this for years). He just knew something weird. Something I didn't…
I was so lost in my thoughts that I had forgotten the girl had asked me a question, and was now looking at me impatiently.
"Uh… yeah…" I finally replied. A look of sympathy crossed over her face. "What?"
"Here." She tossed me a pair of the thick goggles. "I'll take you to Home." She announced, replacing her own. "Kipple can help you. You'll be fine!"
"Better?" I said curiously, inspecting the goggles. "What do you mean, 'better'?"
"Well, you were near Sin. It probably warped your memory." I gaped at her. "Don't worry, you'll be better in no time!" She assured me with a grin.
I finally put the goggles on. They turned the tan world brown and gave everything a slight blur.
After a moment's hesitation, I followed her into the vehicle. It was like a snowmobile, only… it was in a desert.
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How she managed to drive that thing I'll never know. There was sand flying in my face so fast it hurt. I blocked out my sight of the desert, too. I figured she must have memorized the route, seeing as there was no way she could see through that.
After a while we slowed and I was able to see my surroundings again, only now there was actually something worth seeing.
Nestled in between two sand dunes was an immense tower. Six hallways branched off of it, each one ending in its own, smaller tower.
"What is that?" I gasped, yanking my goggles off. The girl grinned.
"Home." She replied, jumping out onto the sand. She began to run towards it, but stopped after a few steps and turned to me. Her face- which had been cheerful since our hostile meeting- was grim. "Just one thing," She warned. "You can't tell anyone about this place." She sounded utterly serious. "You know people don't like us Al Bhed." I told her I wouldn't, though I wasn't really sure what an "Al Bhed" was. I figured it was the civilization- or, rather, the people in it.
She brightened again. "By the way, I'm Rikku!"
I was relieved that she trusted me at least enough to tell me that. "Tidus." I replied with a smile.
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Despite the rough appearance from the outside, Home was actually a very pleasant place. It reminded me a bit of Zanarkand, what with all the automatic doors.
One of the first things I learned about Home was discouraging.
There were few people who understood me. I heard some "Rikku, fru'c drec?" where Rikku replied "Y vneaht uv Brother'c." Rikku, who's this?/// A friend of Brother's.
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I stayed at home for a long time. I would just leave it at that, but there were a few interesting things…
First of all, Rikku decided I needed to look like an Al Bhed. She came up to the room I had been given and tried her very hardest to get me to let her cut my spiky blonde hair…
"Come on, Tidus." She whined. "People are getting suspicious! You have to look like an Al Bhed if you want to stay here!"
"Fine." I grumbled. "Give me some new clothes. But no way are you touching my hair!" Not with scissors in your hands, anyway… I said inwardly.
She never did get to cut my hair, though I got some surprisingly comfortable Al Bhed attire.
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The whole time I was at Home I had a dreadful feeling that life wasn't always going to be this easy. Something inside me told me there would be a hero. To tell the truth, I was hoping it would be me. I always liked fame.
But I kept thinking about Rikku. My little Al Bhed friend seemed bold and brave. Maybe she would be the heroine.
But, hey, I might have been wrong. Maybe I just thought life was getting dull. Perhaps I wanted some excitement.
Either way, I had no idea what was in store for me next.