Final Fantasy X
Prologue
Listen to my story. Mine is one filled with turmoil and heartache. Mine is one to make you laugh, and make you cry. Mine is one of duty, and independence. My name is Tidus. This is my story.
Chapter I "We called it 'Sin'."
It all began on the tenth anniversary of my old man's disappearance. His name was, is, Ject. Ten years ago to the day, which happened the day after blitzball season ended, my old man went out to the sea to train. He said that even though his team, the Zanarkand Abes had one the championship for the third time in a row, and he was inducted into the blitzball hall of fame, he still said. "I can't believe we won 5-3 to Bevelle! Bevelle for the sea's sake, we should have creamed them!" After that incident he went out to the eastern sea to train, much to my mother's dismay. I can remember hearing my mother pleading for Ject to stay when they thought I was asleep. That heartless basterd pulled a fast one by feeding my mother lines like: "I'll came back to Zanarkand someday, I promise. I just need time to find my self." My mother bought it, and I hated him even more.
When he never came back I thought he would never bother me again, and it would just be me and my mother living happily. That didn't happen.
I had sort of made friends with this man named Auron, he said this was his second time in Zanarkand, when I asked about before he would give this little speech on how memory perspective is only true in one's mind. It would be a long time before I truly knew what he meant. The more time passed, the less I saw my mother happy, she never smiled, never cried, she just sat there, emotionless. It seemed when my father was not there; she loses the will to live. The old lady that lived next door told me when a lovebird dies it's mate dies as well. I know she was only trying to help, but all that did was make me hate my old man even more.
When I was sixteen I decided to join my old man's team. Needless to say that I was welcomed with open arms. I joined because my old man would always talk about how great a blitz player he was, and how me and the rest of the world could never do what he could, I used to get so mad. I wanted to be not only better at blitz than him but also I wanted to be a better sport and just play blitz for the fun of it, not the fame or the money. After all, Blitz was my life.
Zanarkand still loved Ject after he left; the Ject ten-year memorial cup was proof enough for that. I was in my home just before the game, I sat on a chair across the room from my mother, thinking about what this game really meant to me, part of myself wanted to just stay home and take the wrath of my team mates the next day. When I looked up my mom was now looking out over the city on the balcony. "Tidus... I think you need to go..." she said. I was surprised to hear that from her, for all she knew I was going to the game as if it was any other. "And why would you say that? Is it because you want me to honor HIM?" I replied. She was silent for a while and just looked out over Zanarkand. I joined her. Zanarkand at night was mesmerizing; nothing but beautiful city that was built around the water channels that once covered this land. If I could, I would tell you in detail about the feeling one gets when they first see Zanarkand, but... I just can't, for I cannot remember. "I'm not talking about the game. I'm talking about Zanarkand it's self, I have a bad feeling that has been growing in my heart, Ject is going to came back to us... But I'm afraid he's changed too much. I think he might do something he never intended to do..." I should have listened to her more seriously; she was in a way right. "Mom I... I have a blitzball game to go to. I'll talk to you after he game okay?" She stayed silent as I began to turn around and leave the room. As I was stepping through the door she said. "Remember my son, It's your life, your story. He never hated you."
* *
*
Most people in Zanarkand didn't drive, cars were just so dangerous to pedestrians and the air that people just stopped using them. As a result, people were much less connected across Zanarkand; so much that Zanarkand had four blitz teams, north, south, east, and west. In the Ject Memorial Cup it was my team the A-East Zanarkand Abes vs. the C-South Zanarkand Duggles. Walking down towards the stadium I could definitely tell people were excited about the game, about Ject, about my old man. People walked down the streets with blitz uniforms on and their faces painted, yelling things like: "Ject will never die!" and "Duggles for the cup!" Even from the military stations loud music and cheering could be heard, despite the high alert and suspicious Bevelle troop movements.
I walked along the side of the street, trying not to be noticed when I hear the cry "Its Tidus!" Immediately I was surrounded, to my pleasant surprise, by three kids and two girls about my age, 17. "Can I have your Autograph?" one of the girls asked, holding out a blitzball. "Sure thing!" I replied, taking the blitzball and signing it:
Tidus
I spun the ball on my finger and handed it back to her as they backed off giggling. I thought for a moment 'What would Ject not do?' "Say, how about when I score a goal I'll do...." I raised my hands in triumph. "I'll do this. That'll mean it's for you, okay?" The girls laughed some more. "Where ya seated?" I asked. One of the girls piped up. "East block in the front row." "Fifth from the right." The other girl said. I turned to the three boys as they began to shove blitzballs in my face. "Ooh! Ooh! Sign this please!" "Me too!" they pleaded. "Okay, okay. Just hold on." these kids reminded me of myself a few months after Ject disappeared, happy and care free. After I explained I was running a little late the three boys shouted in unison: "Teach us how to blitz!" They sounded like a commercial. I thought about what I would be doing after the game. Blitz games are so short that people usually see them five or six at a time. This was only one game, so I had the whole evening to do celebrate with the team. said a voice in the back of my head. "Um... Not tonight, I'll be busy celebrating the Abes' victory!" The boys cheered and so did a few people in the distance. "So what about tomorrow?" asked one of the boys eagerly. "Yea ok! Tomorrow morning at dawn, right in front of the stadium, my treat!" The boys cheered even louder than before. "So what's our goal?" I asked already knowing what the answer would be. "Victory!" they yelled and then gave the blitzball sign for victory.
* *
* * I arrived at the locker room with a few minutes to spare. I got dressed in my blitz captain attire, the kind blitzball players used to use long ago. To top it all off I was allowed to wear a chrome, and virtually weightless necklace bearing the symbol of the Zanarkand Abes. Zanar, who had been announcing blitz games for seven or so years now was yapping to the cowed about how Ject had brought him and his old man back together after an argument. 'At least he was good for someone.' I thought as joined my team sitting around the huge center recess that would soon be filled with water. "Woah, sorry to remains folks. Anyway it's ten years to the day and it's the match we've been waiting for since... Well I can't remember a more anticipated match by the fans or a stronger rivalry between two teams!" said Zanar. The usual sounds of a blitzball game intensified as people began to scream louder and vendors yell above them. "Now hold it there, right now we need to take a moment of silence and remember a great blitzball player that is in another place right now. Yes I'm talking about Ject. And in his honor, Ject's son Tidus will be serving the ball into the sphere using his father's legendary shot: The Ject Shot Mark Three!" incited Zanar. People stopped talking and the entire stadium was dark. I leaned my head back and looked up at the stars. They were so brilliant that night; they were almost enough to stop me from thinking about how I was going to do the opening shot. The truth be told I never mastered the shot. It was the one thing that I could never do. The lights came on and the roar from the crowed was enough to drown out thunder. From the far corners of the stadium, impulses of water in it's fourth state struck at the center of the great recess like lightning, filling the recess with a huge sphere of water. The blitzball 'field'. "And now ladies and gentlemen, the son of Ject will now serve the ball with his father's legendary shot!" 'That's all I am. Ject's son.' I thought as I made the leap of faith and threw the ball into the air, my feet close behind. I had never jumped so high in my life. With my body in mid air I could see a giant mass surrounded my water. Just as I was about to fall and screw up the shot the stadium began to crumble and the cheers of excitement turned to screams of pure terror. I'm not quite sure what happened immediately after that, but somehow I found a ledge to grab on to. Probably one of the grand stands seats. I held on for what was left of my life with all my strength as the ledge began to splinter into a thousand pieces. I don't remember hitting the ground. I was unconscious in mid air.
*
* *
The first thing I thought when I opened my eyes was 'what is this place?' Nothing looked familiar, water was all over the street, buildings just a shamble of twisted metal and broken glass, this wasn't my Zanarkand. Then I remembered where I was, the blitzball game. 'I had been holding on to the ledge and then..' "That thing!" I shouted. Spinning around my eyes found a man who stood out amongst the fleeing people, he didn't seem to be the least bit affected by the disaster, his name was Auron. He was about 48 with only one good eye left, indicated by the long scar running down his eyelid. Auron always preferred not to talk about the scar or of his past at all. Whenever I did ask him it was like trying to split stones with your fingernails. He wore an impressive red coat with one arm resting limply in a built-in sling; it looked nothing like the clothes people in Zanarkand wore. But what struck me most about him was his amazingly thick sword strapped to his back. Nearly matching him in height, it probably exceeded him in weight, it was rightfully called the Masumane. He walked over to me as if this was any other day. "Auron! Auron what happened here? Why are you just standing there like this is no big deal?!" I shrieked. Auron sighed and said: "I was waiting for you." He looked to the sky. "You're late." At that moment I was already freaked out of my mind, and Aaron's babbling didn't help. "What are you talking about! Do you not see-" Auron unhooked his sword and pulled out another sword from his back. He shoved it in my face and said. "Here. Take this. A gift from Ject." The sword was a style I'd never seen before, its blade was thick and it curved down from the top almost halfway. Despite its appearance, the red blade was Very light, while the handle remained sturdy. "Come on, we're expected." When I looked up he was already walking away. "Hey Auron! Wait up." The news that my old man had sent me a 'gift', and that fact that Auron knew him was troubling me almost as much as Zanarkand falling apart before my eyes. I raced over to him; he was taking very wide strides for a man his age. "Auron what's going on? How do you know my old man? And-" "We were comrades. Ject made me promise him that I'd give his sword to you when the time came." Auron interrupted sharply. 'Comrades?' I thought, 'what could he mean by that?' I took a long look at the sword after he said that. For a moment I could have sworn I saw Ject's face in the blade. 'This was Ject's.' I thought. No. I refused to believe it. Not my Ject anyway. Perhaps some other Ject from wherever Auron was from. 'But from Zanarkand. That would mean..' Suddenly I remembered my mother, how she said I needed to leave Zanarkand. "No way!" I yelled. But my cry fell on deaf ears with all the chaos and destruction around me. Auron was already at the end of the road. "Tidus! Come on. We're expected." he yelled. It was then I noticed Auron was walking, not away from the thing and the destruction around it, but towards the very heart of the chaos. I ran as fast as I could to stop Auron. Sure he was a little eccentric, but he was still my friend. "Auron wait! You're-" And then everything went still. There was no noise. There was no movement. Everything just froze right where it was. The world seemed to wave, like looking out at the world from the inside of a sphere pool. Said a voice from behind me. I turned around to see a small boy with tan skin wearing a purple cloak that covered his eyes. The boy gave me a strange sense of deja-vu when I saw him. Like something out of a dream.
As soon as it began, it ended, and the world returned to normal. But the little boy was gone. After looking around for a second to see if he was hiding, I left to go warn Auron. When I finally caught up with him I said: "Auron!" I gasped for breath. "You're going the wrong way!" I pointed back towards the way we came. "That's the way out." Auron acted like he couldn't hear me. "Look." he said, pointing to the horizon with his massive sword. That was the first time I really got a good look it. The huge mass hidden by a sphere of water that made the sphere pools we used for blitzball look like nothing. Just looking at it made my knees weak. "We called it 'Sin'." said Auron. Immediately after that a huge thing that resembled a squid was ejected from Sin. It soared through the air like a missile and hit the building next to us with a loud crash and a shower of glass. "The first Sinspawn." whispered Auron. The Sinspawn squirmed and opened its back like a pinecone, releasing dozens of pods that fell and hit the ground in front of us, making cracks in the road. My mind couldn't handle it. All the things that had just happened, Ject's sword, Sin, the little boy. It was all too much. Tears formed in the corners of my eyes. 'No! I won't cry now! Not now!' My mind just began to shut out everything that didn't matter as of right now. The only thing I thought about was the pods right in front of me. At this point the pods were no longer pods, they had never been pods to begin with, they were vicious over sized insects with a wingspan of three feet or more. Auron turned to me. "I hope you know how to use that sword." he said. Their wings began to glow green and their eyes wider. The things were beginning to become aware of Auron and I. Auron ran straight foreword with more speed than I thought the old guy had left in him. Pulling his sword to his side like a wing he slashed five of those things with one sweep. The fiends lingered for a moment before disintegrating into the air as a colorful display of fire flies. "Don't wast your time getting all of them, there are far too many for the both of us handle together. Just cut the ones in your way and run. " instructed Auron. If I was in my right mind at the time I probably would have thought more about how I was going to do some thing like that, after all, I had never killed anything bigger than a mosquito in my life.
Listen to my story. Mine is one filled with turmoil and heartache. Mine is one to make you laugh, and make you cry. Mine is one of duty, and independence. My name is Tidus. This is my story.
Chapter I "We called it 'Sin'."
It all began on the tenth anniversary of my old man's disappearance. His name was, is, Ject. Ten years ago to the day, which happened the day after blitzball season ended, my old man went out to the sea to train. He said that even though his team, the Zanarkand Abes had one the championship for the third time in a row, and he was inducted into the blitzball hall of fame, he still said. "I can't believe we won 5-3 to Bevelle! Bevelle for the sea's sake, we should have creamed them!" After that incident he went out to the eastern sea to train, much to my mother's dismay. I can remember hearing my mother pleading for Ject to stay when they thought I was asleep. That heartless basterd pulled a fast one by feeding my mother lines like: "I'll came back to Zanarkand someday, I promise. I just need time to find my self." My mother bought it, and I hated him even more.
When he never came back I thought he would never bother me again, and it would just be me and my mother living happily. That didn't happen.
I had sort of made friends with this man named Auron, he said this was his second time in Zanarkand, when I asked about before he would give this little speech on how memory perspective is only true in one's mind. It would be a long time before I truly knew what he meant. The more time passed, the less I saw my mother happy, she never smiled, never cried, she just sat there, emotionless. It seemed when my father was not there; she loses the will to live. The old lady that lived next door told me when a lovebird dies it's mate dies as well. I know she was only trying to help, but all that did was make me hate my old man even more.
When I was sixteen I decided to join my old man's team. Needless to say that I was welcomed with open arms. I joined because my old man would always talk about how great a blitz player he was, and how me and the rest of the world could never do what he could, I used to get so mad. I wanted to be not only better at blitz than him but also I wanted to be a better sport and just play blitz for the fun of it, not the fame or the money. After all, Blitz was my life.
Zanarkand still loved Ject after he left; the Ject ten-year memorial cup was proof enough for that. I was in my home just before the game, I sat on a chair across the room from my mother, thinking about what this game really meant to me, part of myself wanted to just stay home and take the wrath of my team mates the next day. When I looked up my mom was now looking out over the city on the balcony. "Tidus... I think you need to go..." she said. I was surprised to hear that from her, for all she knew I was going to the game as if it was any other. "And why would you say that? Is it because you want me to honor HIM?" I replied. She was silent for a while and just looked out over Zanarkand. I joined her. Zanarkand at night was mesmerizing; nothing but beautiful city that was built around the water channels that once covered this land. If I could, I would tell you in detail about the feeling one gets when they first see Zanarkand, but... I just can't, for I cannot remember. "I'm not talking about the game. I'm talking about Zanarkand it's self, I have a bad feeling that has been growing in my heart, Ject is going to came back to us... But I'm afraid he's changed too much. I think he might do something he never intended to do..." I should have listened to her more seriously; she was in a way right. "Mom I... I have a blitzball game to go to. I'll talk to you after he game okay?" She stayed silent as I began to turn around and leave the room. As I was stepping through the door she said. "Remember my son, It's your life, your story. He never hated you."
* *
*
Most people in Zanarkand didn't drive, cars were just so dangerous to pedestrians and the air that people just stopped using them. As a result, people were much less connected across Zanarkand; so much that Zanarkand had four blitz teams, north, south, east, and west. In the Ject Memorial Cup it was my team the A-East Zanarkand Abes vs. the C-South Zanarkand Duggles. Walking down towards the stadium I could definitely tell people were excited about the game, about Ject, about my old man. People walked down the streets with blitz uniforms on and their faces painted, yelling things like: "Ject will never die!" and "Duggles for the cup!" Even from the military stations loud music and cheering could be heard, despite the high alert and suspicious Bevelle troop movements.
I walked along the side of the street, trying not to be noticed when I hear the cry "Its Tidus!" Immediately I was surrounded, to my pleasant surprise, by three kids and two girls about my age, 17. "Can I have your Autograph?" one of the girls asked, holding out a blitzball. "Sure thing!" I replied, taking the blitzball and signing it:
Tidus
I spun the ball on my finger and handed it back to her as they backed off giggling. I thought for a moment 'What would Ject not do?' "Say, how about when I score a goal I'll do...." I raised my hands in triumph. "I'll do this. That'll mean it's for you, okay?" The girls laughed some more. "Where ya seated?" I asked. One of the girls piped up. "East block in the front row." "Fifth from the right." The other girl said. I turned to the three boys as they began to shove blitzballs in my face. "Ooh! Ooh! Sign this please!" "Me too!" they pleaded. "Okay, okay. Just hold on." these kids reminded me of myself a few months after Ject disappeared, happy and care free. After I explained I was running a little late the three boys shouted in unison: "Teach us how to blitz!" They sounded like a commercial. I thought about what I would be doing after the game. Blitz games are so short that people usually see them five or six at a time. This was only one game, so I had the whole evening to do celebrate with the team. said a voice in the back of my head. "Um... Not tonight, I'll be busy celebrating the Abes' victory!" The boys cheered and so did a few people in the distance. "So what about tomorrow?" asked one of the boys eagerly. "Yea ok! Tomorrow morning at dawn, right in front of the stadium, my treat!" The boys cheered even louder than before. "So what's our goal?" I asked already knowing what the answer would be. "Victory!" they yelled and then gave the blitzball sign for victory.
* *
* * I arrived at the locker room with a few minutes to spare. I got dressed in my blitz captain attire, the kind blitzball players used to use long ago. To top it all off I was allowed to wear a chrome, and virtually weightless necklace bearing the symbol of the Zanarkand Abes. Zanar, who had been announcing blitz games for seven or so years now was yapping to the cowed about how Ject had brought him and his old man back together after an argument. 'At least he was good for someone.' I thought as joined my team sitting around the huge center recess that would soon be filled with water. "Woah, sorry to remains folks. Anyway it's ten years to the day and it's the match we've been waiting for since... Well I can't remember a more anticipated match by the fans or a stronger rivalry between two teams!" said Zanar. The usual sounds of a blitzball game intensified as people began to scream louder and vendors yell above them. "Now hold it there, right now we need to take a moment of silence and remember a great blitzball player that is in another place right now. Yes I'm talking about Ject. And in his honor, Ject's son Tidus will be serving the ball into the sphere using his father's legendary shot: The Ject Shot Mark Three!" incited Zanar. People stopped talking and the entire stadium was dark. I leaned my head back and looked up at the stars. They were so brilliant that night; they were almost enough to stop me from thinking about how I was going to do the opening shot. The truth be told I never mastered the shot. It was the one thing that I could never do. The lights came on and the roar from the crowed was enough to drown out thunder. From the far corners of the stadium, impulses of water in it's fourth state struck at the center of the great recess like lightning, filling the recess with a huge sphere of water. The blitzball 'field'. "And now ladies and gentlemen, the son of Ject will now serve the ball with his father's legendary shot!" 'That's all I am. Ject's son.' I thought as I made the leap of faith and threw the ball into the air, my feet close behind. I had never jumped so high in my life. With my body in mid air I could see a giant mass surrounded my water. Just as I was about to fall and screw up the shot the stadium began to crumble and the cheers of excitement turned to screams of pure terror. I'm not quite sure what happened immediately after that, but somehow I found a ledge to grab on to. Probably one of the grand stands seats. I held on for what was left of my life with all my strength as the ledge began to splinter into a thousand pieces. I don't remember hitting the ground. I was unconscious in mid air.
*
* *
The first thing I thought when I opened my eyes was 'what is this place?' Nothing looked familiar, water was all over the street, buildings just a shamble of twisted metal and broken glass, this wasn't my Zanarkand. Then I remembered where I was, the blitzball game. 'I had been holding on to the ledge and then..' "That thing!" I shouted. Spinning around my eyes found a man who stood out amongst the fleeing people, he didn't seem to be the least bit affected by the disaster, his name was Auron. He was about 48 with only one good eye left, indicated by the long scar running down his eyelid. Auron always preferred not to talk about the scar or of his past at all. Whenever I did ask him it was like trying to split stones with your fingernails. He wore an impressive red coat with one arm resting limply in a built-in sling; it looked nothing like the clothes people in Zanarkand wore. But what struck me most about him was his amazingly thick sword strapped to his back. Nearly matching him in height, it probably exceeded him in weight, it was rightfully called the Masumane. He walked over to me as if this was any other day. "Auron! Auron what happened here? Why are you just standing there like this is no big deal?!" I shrieked. Auron sighed and said: "I was waiting for you." He looked to the sky. "You're late." At that moment I was already freaked out of my mind, and Aaron's babbling didn't help. "What are you talking about! Do you not see-" Auron unhooked his sword and pulled out another sword from his back. He shoved it in my face and said. "Here. Take this. A gift from Ject." The sword was a style I'd never seen before, its blade was thick and it curved down from the top almost halfway. Despite its appearance, the red blade was Very light, while the handle remained sturdy. "Come on, we're expected." When I looked up he was already walking away. "Hey Auron! Wait up." The news that my old man had sent me a 'gift', and that fact that Auron knew him was troubling me almost as much as Zanarkand falling apart before my eyes. I raced over to him; he was taking very wide strides for a man his age. "Auron what's going on? How do you know my old man? And-" "We were comrades. Ject made me promise him that I'd give his sword to you when the time came." Auron interrupted sharply. 'Comrades?' I thought, 'what could he mean by that?' I took a long look at the sword after he said that. For a moment I could have sworn I saw Ject's face in the blade. 'This was Ject's.' I thought. No. I refused to believe it. Not my Ject anyway. Perhaps some other Ject from wherever Auron was from. 'But from Zanarkand. That would mean..' Suddenly I remembered my mother, how she said I needed to leave Zanarkand. "No way!" I yelled. But my cry fell on deaf ears with all the chaos and destruction around me. Auron was already at the end of the road. "Tidus! Come on. We're expected." he yelled. It was then I noticed Auron was walking, not away from the thing and the destruction around it, but towards the very heart of the chaos. I ran as fast as I could to stop Auron. Sure he was a little eccentric, but he was still my friend. "Auron wait! You're-" And then everything went still. There was no noise. There was no movement. Everything just froze right where it was. The world seemed to wave, like looking out at the world from the inside of a sphere pool. Said a voice from behind me. I turned around to see a small boy with tan skin wearing a purple cloak that covered his eyes. The boy gave me a strange sense of deja-vu when I saw him. Like something out of a dream.
As soon as it began, it ended, and the world returned to normal. But the little boy was gone. After looking around for a second to see if he was hiding, I left to go warn Auron. When I finally caught up with him I said: "Auron!" I gasped for breath. "You're going the wrong way!" I pointed back towards the way we came. "That's the way out." Auron acted like he couldn't hear me. "Look." he said, pointing to the horizon with his massive sword. That was the first time I really got a good look it. The huge mass hidden by a sphere of water that made the sphere pools we used for blitzball look like nothing. Just looking at it made my knees weak. "We called it 'Sin'." said Auron. Immediately after that a huge thing that resembled a squid was ejected from Sin. It soared through the air like a missile and hit the building next to us with a loud crash and a shower of glass. "The first Sinspawn." whispered Auron. The Sinspawn squirmed and opened its back like a pinecone, releasing dozens of pods that fell and hit the ground in front of us, making cracks in the road. My mind couldn't handle it. All the things that had just happened, Ject's sword, Sin, the little boy. It was all too much. Tears formed in the corners of my eyes. 'No! I won't cry now! Not now!' My mind just began to shut out everything that didn't matter as of right now. The only thing I thought about was the pods right in front of me. At this point the pods were no longer pods, they had never been pods to begin with, they were vicious over sized insects with a wingspan of three feet or more. Auron turned to me. "I hope you know how to use that sword." he said. Their wings began to glow green and their eyes wider. The things were beginning to become aware of Auron and I. Auron ran straight foreword with more speed than I thought the old guy had left in him. Pulling his sword to his side like a wing he slashed five of those things with one sweep. The fiends lingered for a moment before disintegrating into the air as a colorful display of fire flies. "Don't wast your time getting all of them, there are far too many for the both of us handle together. Just cut the ones in your way and run. " instructed Auron. If I was in my right mind at the time I probably would have thought more about how I was going to do some thing like that, after all, I had never killed anything bigger than a mosquito in my life.