Disclaimer: ...hundreds of writers told you this and you still need one?!
Warning: This is MY interpretation of Final Fantasy X. Don't like, sorry! Read some other fic.
BTW: the underlines mean telepathic communications and Capital Italics mean sarcasm.
The six year old boy was caught between five boys of the same age, one of them being his twin brother. "What?! Are you nuts?!" shouted the boy when his brother held out a blood-red stone with uneven sharp spikes sticking out of it. "Swallow it or we'll do much worse than beat you to a pulp." The boy's eyes grew as the biggest of the five took out a long dagger. "Yeah. We'll cut you to pieces and feed you to the fish-fiends!" The boys chuckled at the thought.
The boy's grew wide as he nodded and took the stone from his brother's hand. "Swallow it! NOW!" He put it in his mouth and swallowed it, feeling the spikes puncture the lining of his throat and stomach. Blood started to erupt out of his nose and mouth, spurting it onto the boys' faces when they shoved him to the sidewalk. "Shit! Run!" shouted the twin and the boys ran to various places in Zanarkand.
The boy, left bleeding to death in an alley, was losing consciousness and was thinking he was seeing things when a shadow walked up to him and whispered to be still. 'Stupid command. I'm dying, so why move at all?' thought the boy. Suddenly, the pain of the spikes vanished. 'Wha-?' but the rest of the thought vanished as sleep overtook him. The shadow stood up with him in her arms. "My Keeper. Do you realize that Fate brought me to you? Do you know the fun we'll have?" The shadow laughed lightly. "Well, no sense in dawdling around this dank alley. Back home for you. No need to worry about passing the stone, I got it stuck into the lining on your stomach, but it won't stop you from eating to your heart's content." She laughed lightly and she teleported to his room on the boat house, his twin crying in the next room. "Good night, my Keeper." She whispered into his ear as he slept into the night.
–eleven years later–
"Tidus, you have a game to get to. I don't want you to be late like last time." said a woman in black clothing. "Yeah, yeah. I hear ya, Chaon. Who we against this time? The Trulons of E-Central?" The Gothic woman laughed. "Nah, Duggles of C-South! This game can get you back into the listings for the Jecht Memorial Tournament. I know you want that Platinum Cup as bad as Tranar. Come on!" The seventeen year old sighed and got his things. "Auron! I'm off to kick some Duggle ass!" The older man eyed his charge as Tidus ran out like the devil was after him. "He needs to stop talking to himself..."
The teen was only five feet out of the door before the blond was besieged by adoring fans, all screaming for his autograph. He was sighing as many as he could while trying to get to Tranar's car, hoping that Chaon didn't live up to her threat of eating someone. He practically jumped into his best friend's car and told him to floor it. "And you didn't let Chaon eat anyone? I'd have let Jackal devour them months ago." he said, laughing as Tidus struggled to get himself seated properly.
"I didn't tell Auron about Chaon yet." Chaon looked up from talking to a large jackal and spoke. "He thinks Tito here talks to himself. He'd try to kill me if he knew of my existence." The driver laughed as he pulled up into the player's parking lot in the back The two got out and let the Guardians (That is what Chaon and Jackal are people) run around the stadium to find a decent seat. "You think the old guy would ever find out?" whispered Tranar as the two got their gear on. "Nah, she'd have to bite him in the ass for him to even bother." he whispered back before their coach entered to give them the usual pep-talk. Both boys ignored the guy while the rest either repeated the conversation to find any new words or got the gear settled on them properly.
Guys, the seats are filling in and the Duggles are giving your room door the birdie. Need to hurry up and kick their good-for-absolutely-nothing asses. said Jackal to his Keeper. "Tran, what Jackal say?" asked Tidus. The brown haired eighteen year old told his blond friend what the jackal said and got a growl in return. "Hey guys! Ready to kick some lame Duggle ass! Cuz I am!!" shouted Tidus, interrupting the coach in mid-pep talk. The room shouted consent and they went to the door to go onto the playing field.
They entered the massive floating ball of water and got into positions. The crowds were going mad as the two Guardians cheered from the sidelines. Suddenly, a ref swam out with a blitz ball and looked at the two team captains. They nodded to him and he put the ball in the middle of the 'floor'. The ref swam out and the scoreboard cleared of numbers and the appropriate team emblems were emblazoned onto the board. The five team members on the field took their positions on the 'level' playing field and waited for the ball to be launched into the open space above the ten players.
"THREE, TWO, ONE, GO!" The fans screamed the numbers to the game initiation as the ball went up. The players jumped off the lightpads to get the ball as fast as they could swim. Tidus was five inches from getting the ball when the Duggle captain snatched it. But he didn't have the ball for long. The teen tackled for the ball and knocked it loose. The Duggle second was about to get it when Stasa swam up and retrieved it. As fast as she could, she threw the ball to Tranar and Tidus let go of the captain to assist Tranar in making a score. The team swam into position as Tranar threw the ball to Tidus. SHOOT! HE'S BEHIND YOU! shrieked Chaon as Tidus made the shot.
Can you be any LOUDER?! retorted the Abes captain as the ball sunk into the goal. The scoreboard placed a one underneath Zanarkand Abes emblem. Tranar and Stasa gave a high five as they swam by each other to take their places again. Want me to try? asked Chaon and Tidus shook his head. The ball went up again and this time Tidus caught the ball, only to be tackled for it. Stupid irony.
Chaon was cheering when she noticed that the now human Jackal was looking behind her. "What you looking at?" she asked in her human form. She turned and saw what he was seeing. "What the hell?" A giant ball of floating, opaque water was sucking the buildings of Zanarkand into itself and making itself bigger. Then the two noticed six to seven reverse ripples that turned into projectiles of light. TITO! LOOK OUT! The boy was in the air when he saw the lights heading his way. "SHIT!" As he fell, he reached out and grabbed one of the overhead ceiling beams to prevent his falling onto painful looking debris.
The projectiles hit the stadium and blew large chunks out of it, but the debris that wasn't next or on the ground went...up? This confused him, but he wasn't able to keep his grip on the beam due to his wet hands, so it was inevitable that he fell. However, Chaon cast a float spell onto him before he hit the ground, preventing the broken ribs he would have gotten otherwise. Tranar ran up to Tidus and panted out, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. How are you guys?" The three smiled in fear. "Fine as can be, but Jackal and I got to vanish. Auron is at the gateway." said the Guardian and the two entities vanished. "Come on. We gotta go." said Tidus and the two ran to Auron.
The red-clad man walked out of the boathouse after Tidus left thirty minutes before and went to a light spire on one of the tall buildings. He stood on it, watching the ocean swell to become the massive water-clad fiend. Auron took the jug at his side and held it up to the monstrosity as one would a toast. Went the thing started to absorb the materials that were being sucked up in its powerful gravity spell, Auron walked down and headed to the stadium. The old warrior walked as people screamed and ran in terror of the thing. Ripples formed in reverse, like the bolts of light that flew out of it were the things that were supposed to have hit it, but not. The giant city exploded in the hits four shots. The thing, then, shot seven more bolts and two or three hit the stadium.
'I hope he is okay.' thought the elder warrior as he slowly picked his way around the debris of the city. 'Why did he choose now to retrieve him? Was the boy right when he said that his father played favorites? I should not care about their family politics, only in helping Tidus stand and fight like a man. He will need the skills soon.'
The thoughts were silenced when a floating Tidus caught his attention. The boy floated down behind a couple of giant chunks of wall, obscuring his view. 'When did he learn that spell?' wondered the warrior as he waited for Tidus to show himself. He did and with Tranar, his best friend. 'Maybe Tranar cast the spell. The boy did show talent in being a summoner, but chose to become a blitzball star. I wonder if Tidus had a hand in that..'
"Auron! What are you doing here?" demanded the blond, the other teen panting behind him. "We have to go. It's dangerous here." said Auron as he turned and walked away, leaving Tidus and Tranar confused. "Wha? Wait up!" The two ran to catch up to the walking man and making sure that they didn't fall down from people running into them in their blind terror. They jogged onto the bridge connecting the stadium to the rest of the city when, suddenly, time seemed to stop. "Wha-what the?" Tranar and Tidus looked at each other then at a boy walking towards them. -Hello. Tidus, Tranar. I hope you and your invisible friends are ready for the journey. It will be long and difficult.-
The small group looked at each other and shrugged. "Do you know what that thing is?" The boy laughed lightly. -That is for me to know and you to find out.- and he vanished as time started moving again. The sudden vanishing and restart of time left them disoriented. What the hell was that? asked Jackal. "I don't know, and I don't care. Auron!" The others followed Tidus as he ran to catch up with the man again. Auron stopped on top of a hill and the two ran up to meet him, only to see the thing devour a giant of a tower. "Where I come from, we called it Sin. Are you ready?"
Suddenly, a huge thorn-creature flew from the sphere-monster and landed in a tall building not far from the elevated road they were on. As the thing flung its massive tentacle around, hundreds of scales were flung off and landed on other buildings, on the road in front of them, and even into the light poles that were practically everywhere, most being either eaten or strewn about. The ones in front of them started to glow and Tidus realized that they were monsters, not scales. They unfurled their wings and hissed, ready to attack the group. The blond swatted at them in a feeble attempt at defending himself. Tranar wasn't doing any better. As the fiends pushed Tidus onto the ground, Auron stepped forward and handed the blond a sword. "From Jecht." he said.
"My old man?" Auron nodded and tossed Tranar a dagger. "I wasn't expecting you to follow." The six foot tall brunette snorted. "Should have. Where Tito goes, I follow. We're brothers that way." The salt-and-peppered haired man nodded, smiling lightly as the two started to defend each other. "Don't worry about taking all of them, just the ones that matter. Once we cut through, we run!" The two teens nodded and slain the ones in front of them. A few from behind threw some spines and grazed them, but Tranar took care of them.
Once the path ahead of them was clear, Tidus shouted at Tranar. "Yes sir!" And the three ran from the small horde of fiends behind them. Chaon and Jackal, still invisible, chose that time to aid in their escape and attack the fiends in their true, bestial forms. Chaon shot acidic blood from her undead mouth as Jackal tore into the creatures with his talons and fangs. Auron caught a glimpse of a fiend melting rapidly as another was torn asunder by invisible attackers.
'Maybe he wasn't talking to himself after all.' thought Auron as he faced forward again. They ran a distance when the bridge shook violently. "Tito!" The teen fell onto his hands and knees as Tranar tried his best to run to help him. Auron even had difficulty standing with the violent shaking. A moment later, the shudderings stopped and the three collected themselves. "Another fiend wishes for a quick demise." said the warrior and they ran to the top of another hill. What greeted them was another of the thorn-beasts and its mini-army of scale fiends. This time, though, it was in the middle of the bridge. Auron smirked and ran to the beast, Tidus and Tranar left behind, hands extended to stop him. "We gotta fight again?" asked the brunette.
"You gotta be kidding me!" retorted Tidus as he and his friend followed suit. The three got their weapons out and assumed their attack positions. "Some fiends are eager to die!" shouted Auron as he readied an OverDrive attack. Tranar and Tidus watched as Auron used Dragonfang, wiping out the scale-fiends and three of the smaller tentacles. The two younger men slashed at the armor of the beast and got pelted with a Demi spell. Though, the pressure felt by the three caused them harm, it wasn't painful enough to kill them. "Keep attacking!" shouted Auron and the two attacked again.
Tidus used an OverDrive attack, Spiral Cut just as Tranar used a thunder spell, making four more small tentacles vanish into pyreflies. Auron slashed the armor and made another tentacle vanish and Tidus noticed only three tentacles left. The three males looked at each other and smiled. "One." said the blond. "Two." said the brunette. "Three!" shouted Auron and the trio attacked at the same time. Once the tentacles vanished, the thing sort of imploded into itself and wilted, fading into nothing but a flurry of pyreflies. The two teens panted in exhaustion.
"Is this all? I hope so.." huffed out Tranar. "I thought blitzball players had more endurance than that." spoke Auron, letting the two rest a tad. "Swinging a sword is a lot more different than throwing a blitz ball!" retorted Tidus. "Humph. Come. More is coming." Both moaned and got up, chasing after Auron to a glowing ball with a silver ring around it. "Use it and go." The two listened to the elder warrior and touched the ball, becoming rejuvenated from the healing light of the orb.
"Okay, let's go!" said Tidus and his friend nodded. The two Guardians ran up, keeping the blasted fiends from ambushing their Keepers from behind, cursing Sin and its spawn. Thanks Chaon, Jackal. We appreciate your help. said Tranar and Tidus in unison. The giant undead dragon, Chaon, and the huge jackal, Jackal, nodded and ran ahead of the two. Come on! Auron is leaving you behind. said the dragon and the two teens ran after them.
They ran at least a good half-mile when thousands upon thousands of scale-things flew up and into the road. "Um..this isn't good." said Tidus as he looked at the fiends in front of them. "Try looking behind us." said Tranar as he looked at the fiends behind them. "Heh, this could be bad." said Auron as he took his blade out. "YOU THINK?!" shouted Tidus as he slashed a fiend, only to see two to three more take their fallen brethren's place. "Tidus, Tranar! Attack that tanker!"
Auron could swear he heard four voices, instead of two, say "WHAT?!" in unison. "Trust me, you'll see!" and he slashed at the connector of the gas tankers. The two shrugged and did as told, leaving Chaon and Jackal to deal out their pent-up stress on some fiends alittle farther from the trio. It took close to six to seven hits to get the thing to drop, one end on fire. The resulting explosion blew out the base of the giant building with Jecht's face painted on it, making it fall towards Tidus and them. The group ran back the way they came, barely getting out of the way.
As the building slowly sank, Auron looked at the two teens. "Go." Tidus looked unsure about the way things were turning out, but followed Tranar in running across a sinking building. Auron was only a step behind as they raced to the other side, hoping against hope that they would make it. Soon they reached the end and the three jumped at the same time.
Tidus swore that he was about to land on the road when gravity kicked in. Tranar reached his gloved hand out in an attempt to grab him. Thank God for timely interventions. Both hands grabbed onto the other and the two Guardians had a hold on Tranar to prevent him from falling and taking Tidus with him. "Auron!." The warrior looked up and said, "Are you sure?"
They were underneath the ball of water, the bottom of it glowed a pale bright light, revealing a giant hole and an intense gravitational pull, lifting everything in its path. "Auron!" shouted Tidus again as Tranar had him partly up. Auron pushed the brunette aside, grabbed Tidus' collar and lifted him up, one-handed. That stunned the four. "This is the beginning of your story. It begins here." he said cryptically.
Suddenly, Tranar screamed as he was pulled up, looking like he was being stretched impossibly thin and vanishing, Jackal vanished with him. Tidus freaked out as Auron did the same, just not scream. Tidus felt intense pain as the fabric of his being was being pulled into the hole, screaming for it to stop. First, it was the hair and skin being ripped up, then his muscles, after that, his organs. Finally, the rest followed into the light and away from the Zanarkand the group knew most of their lives. Behind them, the ruins of the city lay irreparably below them, never to see life in them again.
Okay. This is only the first chapter. The original story I typed up was 46 pages long, and that wasn't really detailed like this one is. That I do remember. As for the Guardian bit, this idea was in my head for at least six years. Chaon is mine and so are the Guardians that you never heard of. The ones you DO know are Shiva and Ifrit and such. Chaon is a insanely big undead dragon with weapons sticking out of her and I know you know what a jackal is. If you don't, look up Anubis, he has a jackal head. Well, drop me a word or five and tell me how you like it
Till then, see ya!!!