I was floating.
I remember that much. I was floating in the mist, far above the ground. No, wait, it was'nt the mist. It was just my eyes, blurred by…tears?
And there was no ground. There was ruins.
Ruins of a city, it seemed, the remaints of what must've been glorious and skyscraping buildings, shredded and sprawled across water. Yes, there was no ground anymore, and I remember why now.
It was flooded by the sea.
My eyes would'nt focus. The surroundings remained clouded, as I floated in the air as if it was water.
I tried swimming. I had no place to go, and I had no purpose. But I had to get somewhere, sometime. Out of this place. Somewehere else. Somewehere where I could find myself.
What I was now was nothing. Just a bundle of thoughts, flowing in the wind.
Was I dead?
If so, it could'nt matter. I don't remember why it did'nt matter, but I could'nt remember why it would neither. So it didn't.
I swam and I swam. I did'nt seem to get tired. I just swam.
Who was I? Where was I?
Suddenly, all theese unnescessarry questions started pinching me in the neck. It was as if someone pulled my hair to remind me I was'nt dreaming. It was as if someone kicked my shin, as I was thinking about something unnessesary and irellevant, but blissfull. It was if someone shouted 'hey!' loudly into my ear, while I was having a pleasant dream.
Then I realised; it was.
A figure was standing down there, floating on a great piece of a somehow familiar building. It looked like an arena. Through the mist, I could vaguely see it was a man.
And a muscular one at that.
" Hey!" he shouted again.
I swam closer.
It was a man. He was as tall as me, and he was tanned. He had scars on his body, and a red bandana around his head, not nearly keeping his wild black hair under control.
He seemed familiar. In fact, he seemed really familiar. He looked, actually, a little bit like me.
" My… old man?"
My voice seemed strange to me, but I could tell by the tickeling sensation in my sore throat that it was me who spoke. My mind was foggy, but I knew who this man was. Even though I did'nt remember much, I remembered that this … was my father.
He, who had a ghostly feel to him through my eyes, did'nt stay for long though.
Suddenly, his body seemed smaller. I had to lower my head to see him. He would've reached me to my knees now, if I was'nt floating above him. He smiled at me.
He was blonde now. His hair was short, but as wild as my fathers. He was a little tan, but not nearly as tanned as he who had stood in his place before him. It took me a little while to realise that, through the young boy's blue eyes, he was me.
I thought about a lot of things.
Like where I was, what I've got myself into…
I started to feel light-headed... and then… sleepy.
I could feel my mind slip. I was no longer floating above the ruins of the city.
I was somewhere else. Somewhere cold.
I think I had a dream. A dream of being alone.
chapter one
Cl o u d e d M I n d
Tidus opened his eyes with a start,
and immediately coughed up quite a lot of water.
He gasped for air, and his mind cleared as the oxygen travelled through his blood.
For the first time in ages, it seemed. It felt as if being born anew, breathing for the very first time.
Tidus looked around wildly, trying to find out where he was and what was his state.
He realised his body, from his waist and down, was floating in ice-cold water and had become numb. He started treading the water with them, to start the circulation, and relieve himself of the feeling of being halfway dead.
His arms were holding onto a stone. No, wait, a ruin.
All around him were ruins. Great blocks of torn buildings, floating in the cold water, with thick whisps of fog clouding the horizons beyond.
He shook his head. It was throbbing slightly, indicating that he must've hit something, during whatever he was doing before this. His memory seemed completely gone.
A strange bird was sitting on the ruin he was holding onto.
It was quite odd. With a long red tail and bright red feathers, it looked quite unlike anything he'd ever seen. Noticing his gaze on it, the bird gave a 'sqawck' and fled, disappearing into the fog above.
Tidus sighed.
The first feeling that striked him, was loneliness. Not the feeling of being lost, feeling helpless, confused… just loneliness.
He wanted someone… anyone, to be beside him…
So he didn't have to feel alone anymore.
He swam again.
Though his head was cleared, the surroundings were just as blurred, thanks to the fog.
The cold water had allready drenched his clothes but now, as he swam through it, it seemed to be able to reach his very bones as well. It was starting to rain.
Perfect.
Tidus knee hit something solid underwater, and he winced in pain. Trying to continue swimming, he realised that that something under the water was steps. He placed his feet on them, and buckled up and out of the water.
Finding the balance to walk straight proved to be difficult, but Tidus' strong legs helped.
An image of his foot kicking an odd-looking ball flashed through his mind, but didn't linger long enough for him to understand.
He found himself walking on a bridge of some sort. Underneath him, the cold water rushed against and around the floating ruins. In front of him was thick and endless fog, and behind him was the same. The sensation of rain against his skin awoke Tidus' senses a little more, and he could finally think straight.
His feet hurt. His chest hurt as well. In fact, his entire body hurt, and he could tell by a ripping-sensation that some were from wounds. He would have to take care of them soon.
But how did they get there?
Where was he before this?
Tidus suddenly remembered noises. Screams, voices, explosions, crashes, the flapping of desperate wings above him, and his voice. His voice shouting 'Auron!'.
He clutched his head as it throbbed worse than ever.
What was Auron? It sounded like a name. It sounded desperate or confused. He could'nt tell.
He felt lonely again, and in pain.
A strange song echoed in Tidus' mind. A low humming. It was calm, and low-pitched. It calmed him instantly.
He remembered sitting on a doch, watching the sea at night. He was humming that song, while waiting. He did'nt remember what he was waiting for, but he remembered feeling calm all the same.
He remembered swimming through a great sphere of water, with that song in his head. A strange sadness filled him, as he watched his team-mates matching expressions. They were playing blitzball. The greatest game there was.
Two teams, inside a sphere of water, playing with a blue and white ball about the size of two heads, with a strange knobbled surface. You could play with your feet and your hands, and there were goals on the opposite sides of the sphere, in which you were to place the ball. A keeper would watch it and try to repel your shots, but Tidus had never missed. Not once. He was good at blitzball.
No, the best. He could do all kinds of attacks, and his tackles were brutal and ruthless. He was perhaps only a teenager, but he was still a blitzball-champion, and the son of the best player in centuries.
He died though. He disappeared at sea. And his mother died after that, seemingly loosing her will to live.
Tidus hated his father.
He drank, and he laughed at him when he could'nt play blitzball as well as him. He felt happy he disappeared when he was still a small child. In fact, he hoped he never came back.
Like this, pieces of Tidus' memory fell slowly into place as he walked down the bridge, carrying him across the icy depths below.
Tidus remembered many blitzball-games, and all his fans. He remembered who he was, his name and his team.
His name was Tidus. Star-player of the Zanarkand Abes, and seventeen summers old.
He could tell the rest by his body. He was tall and tan, and perhaps a little slim, but had muscular arms and shins. He had blonde hair, wild and about shoulder-length, and blue eyes.
He was still dressed in his blitzball-costume, consisting of black shorts with matching suspenders, yellow waterproof shoes with a rather thick sole, and an open chest-long yellow jacket with sleeves covering his upper-arms only. Last of all, it made him feel a little safer that he was wearing his blitzball-protectors, which were small but tough plates and strappings on his upper arms, and a thick glove on the left hand which make it look like it was made of metal.
The other hand was just gloved with a waterproof, tight and black one.
In a way, Tidus felt like he was in good condition to survive, if he was in a fatal situation here.
He had problems remembering what exactly happened before this and how he got here, as his head throbbed in resistance every time he tried. His only plan for now though, was to find shelter from the rain.
Somewhere he could dry.
Tidus heard strange chirping inside his head. Perhaps the noise from whatever he was doing before this, finally had an effect.
But the chirping wasn't from inside Tidus' skull. It was around him.
Suddenly, two strange eel-like creatures jumped out of the water below and flew over him and the bridge, only to dive perfectly down into the depths below. They continued, chirping from their fanged mouths, their green scales glimting in the sunlight or moonlight, Tidus couldn't tell.
They were playing with him.
The bridge creaked as one crashed into it from below.
Seems like they're tired with the games, and ready for a meal.
Tidus did'nt have time to jump away or run. The next second, the bridge went crashing down beneath him, and he was thrown into the water below.
It was sheer luck that he didn't hit any of the ruins.
Tidus found the underwater world much clearer than the above, as he opened his eyes. He could now tell that the ruins were not actual ruins, but just a building of some sort, with half of it underwater. The ruins he thought were 'floating', must've just been a hallusination, because they were just the peaks of towers and such, piercing the surface.
The eel-like creatures were immediately at Tidus again, and one was heading right towards his face.
A weapon, a weapon! I need a weapon! Tidus thought, andrenaline allready pumping through him.
Suddenly, his hands were gripping something solid that wasn't there seconds before.
It was the handle of a sword. Long and large by size though, strangely enough, feather-light underwater. He would've gasped if it was'nt for the fact thatthen he wouldprobably drown.
Without hesitation, he slashed at the eel coming right at him, and watched its head fall off. The blood spread like mist in the water.
Tidus did'nt need air. He would'nt for a long time, neither. Having played blitzball had made his lungs as strong as a whale's. He could hold his breath for far longer than nescesarry, and that boosted his confidence as he was reminded of it.
The other one fell for Tidus' sword as quickly, the water around him now murky with blood.
He headed for the surface, when he saw more of the stange creatures approach him, from the ancient ruins.
Tidus did'nt remember having fought with a weapon ever before, but found himself remembering moves and the feel of his blade. He still felt like an amateur, but it was definitly not the first time he'd used one of theese things. Since when did I start practicing swordfighting? Swords were from ancient times. They did'nt fight with those anymore. Tidus' head kept throbbing as he asked himself questions like this, not managing to keep his head clear in battle.
Several eels fell, but this time they managed to attack him as well, so that Tidus' blood mixed with theirs in the cold water.
He was beginning to feel tired, when there was only one eel left alive.
It stared hungrily at him, with empty black eyes.
Tidus felt helpless.
It charged to attack, and he lifted his sword exhaustedly. But he did'nt have to kill the beast.
There's always bigger fish.
A humongous beast soared through the water. It was the strangest thing Tidus' had ever seen.
It's entire stomach-region was a cage, bulging out. It had arms longer than its impossible body, and its head was only a mouth. What was more; it was two hundred times bigger than him.
It crushed the eel, and left its bodyparts behind. It was obvious it was'nt capable of actually being hungry.
It made a gigantic swing, and came right at Tidus. The only thing he could do, was to swim for his life.
He made a sharp turn, and kicked off, the sword strangely dispersing in the water behind him. The oddness of the sword did'nt grip him though. There wasn't time for that.
He immediately located a hole in a wall in front of him. His only way out.
Without caring about where it lead or if it was just an endless underwater tunnel, Tidus just swam for his life towards the darkness of it.
He didn't have to look back to know what it was doing.
He could hear a deafening moan-like sound as it opened its mouth.
Immeditaly, Tidus had to swim against a current. It was sucking him in.
He swam as hard as he'd ever done before, everything around him but the door blurring. His entire body ached and his wounds widened a little more, as he pushed his muscles into a whole new dimension of pain. This was a matter of life and death,
and Tidus was going to make it.
The andrenaline triggered memories, and Tidus saw images he'd forgotten all about flash in front of his eyes. It was night, and Tidus was getting on his feet from a cracked asphalt, his whole body aching.
Dozens of people screaming were running by, but he only noticed one. And he was standing perfectly still. 'Auron!' He called.
The current just became stronger, and he was barely moving at all, when suddenly his head echoed with another memory.
The cheers from the fans in the arena around the blitzball-sphere bellowed once again in his mind. He was almost there. Almost there . . .
Darkness surrounded his lower body, and he felt the warmth of the beasts troat. He was inside its mouth, still fighting. It had'nt closed it's mouth yet.
The sand beneath and the ruins around shook, as the beast crashed into the walls around the hole.
The current ceased and the darkness of the hole welcomed him.