DISCLAIMER: I do not own the names, places or anything associated with Final Fantasy X. © Copyright Squaresoft/SquareEnix. No money is made from this story.
SUMMARY: Imagine FFX was a fantasy novel before it was a game.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know this has been done, or at least attempted, before. However this is not a word for word novelization. Many liberties have been taken and the story has been made more realistic in terms of time and storyline. For example, dialogue from the game is there but extra conversations and events between characters have been added. A few OCs have also been added. I wanted to know what the story itself would be like without the limitations brought on by game play etc. Hope it works! Feedback is welcome.
The Tenth Fantasy'As we sit here we finally realize, despite everything that we may do,
' Despite everything which we have achieved hope is the only saviour, faith is the only healer.
'Through these things only can we hope to obtain what we need to defeat our nemesis.
'Then we may rest, then we may ride the Kalm again for the return.
'But hope dwindles, slipping ever increasingly.
'Our forefathers' Sins will be our undoing.
'And so we sit here and finally realize,
'We are hope, we are faith.
'We are the healers. Our story has made this so,
'Our journey was always going to be.
'Listen to my story;
'This may be our last chance.'
Chapter OneThe setting sun cast a red glow over the coastal city of Zanarkand. Beyond the tall buildings of the city a snow capped mountain loomed. The city was impressive owing its splendour to its technological advancement. Zanarkand epitomised the modern city and its inhabitants lived out their days in convenience inspired luxury. All work was done by machinery and all the people had to worry about was keeping themselves occupied.And that they did, born of a need for stimulation a new sport arose. The underwater sport of Blitzball. Played in a suspended sphere of water the ball game was the main focus of most of the people of Zanarkand. The players became celebrities and the rivalry between teams could be likened to war.
One of these players, an up and coming star of the Zanarkand Abes, was at home getting ready for the game that very night. The Abes would be playing the Duggles, their long-standing rivals and the only team close to the skill of the Abes. He was dressed in his usual outfit of yellow and black, the team's colours. Black shorts, yellow jacket and shoes with a full arm guard and black gloves. The armguard was there on the pretence of protecting an old shoulder injury but in reality it came I handy when tackling some of the larger defence opponents. Tidus peered out of the front window of his waterfront house. As the sun set slowly across the bay he could see a group of fans gathered on the key not far from his front door. The young blitzball star gave a wry smile. At least they weren't coming to the door anymore.
Thinking forward to the game that night Tidus picked up his duffle bag, ran a hand through his blonde spiky hair and heaved a sigh. For some reason he wasn't feeling very positive about the game. He kept feeling as though something was wrong but he couldn't put his finger on it. Shrugging, he headed out the door. He had only taken a few steps when one of the people milling around caught sight of him and in an instant a bunch of fans gathered around him clamouring for attention.
"Can you sign this?" a young boy asked eagerly. Two other boys, who looked equally avid, flanked him.
"No prob," Tidus told him pulling out a pen and signing the ball the kid held out to him. The boy looked awed and his friend immediately jumped up in his stead.
"Please?" he implored holding out his own Blitzball.
Tidus grinned, "Alrighty," he told him before giving the boy his autograph.
The third boy jumped up and down in excitement, "Me too!"
"Take it easy," Tidus laughed. He turned as two young girls came up to him holding blue Blitzballs as well.
The one with brown hair looked at him coyly, "Could I have your autograph?" she asked.
"Of course," Tidus said taking her ball.
"Good luck tonight," her friend said as she waited to receive her autograph. Tidus took her blitzball and signed it then spun it on his finger.
"Nothing to worry about," he told them, "Oh," he added, "If I score a goal, I'll ah..." he paused, "Do this!"
Tidus raised both hands, index fingers extended, "That'll mean it was for you," he grinned, "Ok?"
The two girls giggled.
"What seat?" Tidus wanted to know.
The brown haired girl ducked her head shyly, "East block in the front row," she replied.
"Fifth from the right," the other girl volunteered.
Tidus folded his arms; "Got it!" he turned and looked at the group of fans still clustered around him.
"Well," he said, "Gotta go. Cheer for me."
The three boys he had spoken to first ran up to him.
"Two, three," the first one counted then the other two joined him as they chorused:
"Teach us how to blitz!"
Tidus looked awkward, "Hey, I got a game to play."
"Then teach us after," one of the boys said.
"Er, maybe tonight...um, well," he started.
"You can't tonight," a voice from behind him interrupted.
Tidus looked over his shoulder. Behind him stood a short boy dressed in a strange purple hooded top and tatty brown shorts, no one else seemed to have noticed him. For some reason he listened to the boy's advice.
"How about tomorrow?" he suggested to the boys.
"Promise?" the third boy asked.
Tidus smiled and held up a fist, "Promise!"
As one the three boys raised their hands above their head then brought them down in a sweeping arc to form a circle at their stomachs before bowing slightly. Tidus smiled as he recognized the blitzball sign for victory.
As he made his way to the stadium the excitement was palpable in the air and many people stopped him to say good luck or to ask for an autograph. Around him he could hear the commentator from the stadium being broadcast across the city.
'I was in a coffee shop running away from home when I heard the news. Jecht, our hero gone, vanished into thin air. My dad must have been his biggest fan. I knew how sad he'd be, heck I think we all were that day. Zanar I said to myself what are you thinking? I went running straight back home. We stayed up talking about Jecht all night. My dad and I never talked so much. Whoa, didn't mean to reminisce folks.'
Tidus made a face at the commentator's comments and turned to look back the way he had come. On one of the buildings he had passed, and made a point not to look at, was a banner bearing the face of the legendary Jecht. The best blitzball player the Abes or Zanarkand had ever seen and Tidus' father.
Just as Zanar had said Jecht had gone missing ten years previous. Tidus had been seven at the time, old enough to remember a lot about his father. Unfortunately he didn't particularly like what he remembered. He would even go as far as to say he hated the man.
Tidus recalled his father as an arrogant man who believed himself the best and everyone else inferior including his own son. Nothing Tidus did was ever good enough and before long Tidus had stopped seeking his father's approval and had begun to resent him.
After Jecht's disappearance Tidus had been confused about his feelings toward the distant man that had been his father. His mother had fallen into a deep depression from which she never recovered. Not long after his father's disappearance Tidus' mother had died.
But instead of being left alone a mysterious man named Auron had appeared in the young blitzer's life. Mysterious being the operative word. Not disclosing where he came from or how he knew so much about Tidus and his life Auron had been there, lurking in the background, ever since. Even though he never took a very active role in his life, Tidus always got the impression that he could count on Auron. That the mysterious man was watching over him.
Tidus turned from the banner and his speculative thoughts with a snort of derision. He wondered briefly where Auron was as he continued on to the stadium.
Arriving at the gate he was swamped by another mad rush of fans. Somehow he managed to weave his way through them and enter the locker rooms of the Abes. There he met his fellow teammates warming up for the match, which was scheduled to start within the hour.
"Hey, T," the Abes' goalkeeper, Kienn, called as he spotted the blonde blitzer.
Tidus touched fists with him, "Hey," he returned, "You ready for this?"
"Bring it on," Kienn said. He jumped onto a bench, "Right?" he yelled.
Tidus and the other Abes cheered and hollered in response but fell silent as the door swung open. A short but well built man with jet black hair entered.
"Coach," Tidus greeted.
"You guys sound pretty psyched," their coach told them sitting amongst them on one of the benches, "But before you rip into the Duggles let's discuss tactics."
The team groaned but gathered around him as he began to go over their strategies and the tactics of the opposing team.
Reclining against edge of the sphere pool, which had not been activated yet, Tidus appeared totally relaxed but in reality he was wound tight with excitement and anticipation. With his eyes closed he listened the lapping of the water collected in the run off trough and tried to ease the slight queasiness in his stomach.
It wasn't that he was nervous, he had played countless big games before, the queasiness came from the feeling of unease he had been feeling all day. The feeling he couldn't identify but was interfering with his concentration.
Around him he heard the hum of machinery that signalled the sphere pool was about to be activated. He opened his eyes as the crowd started to cheer and stood holding a blitzball in one hand against his thigh. In the centre of the circular rim, which circumvented the sphere pool and on which he now stood, a ball of blue energy gathered sending sparks of light into the already charged atmosphere.
The air was filled with a tense silence as the energy ball grew before exploded outward in a wave of light to form a sphere of water, which stopped inches from Tidus' face. The crowd roared. Tidus gave a smirk and reached out with his free hand to touch the seemingly solid surface of the sphere. But his gloved fingers broke the surface and even though the sphere was breached no water spilled from the hole.
Taking a deep breath Tidus plunged head first through the wall of the sphere pool and into the water within.
High above the nighttime lights of the city where the roar of the crowds and lights of the stadium had been muted by the distance, a man walked casually across the rooftop of a skyscraper. Compared to the technological environment of Zanarkand the man looked out of place. He was dressed in a red knee length coat, which was cinched at the waist with a thick brown belt. His black pants were tucked into his heavy boots giving him an almost archaic look. The only thing that did fit in with his modern surroundings was his sunglasses.
Behind the dark lenses only one eye looked out over darkened city, the other being marred by a long scar, which ran over his right eye from high on his forehead to low on his cheek. His dark close-cropped hair was tinged with grey.
Without so much as a glance at the stomach lurching drop below him the man known as Auron walked out on a concrete strut, which jutted out over the edge of the building. Looking toward the bay his expression held nothing more than calm anticipation. As he watched the water of the bay welled upward slowly at first then faster to form a sphere of water, which detached itself from the ocean and hovered above the city.
Far below Auron could hear faint screams and shouts as people began to notice the strange disturbance. But the gigantic sphere of water did not disturb the man in red. Below the surface of the water ball there was a hint of movement and a flash of many eyes peering down at him. Removing a white flask that had been attached to his belt he held it out toward the monster encased in water.
At the stadium in the centre of town the match between the Duggles and the Abes was in full swing. The crowd roared as Tidus caught the ball effortlessly behind his back before spinning gracefully in the water and sending it flying to his teammate in the centre of the sphere pool. Tillem, the team's midfielder, caught the ball just seconds before a member of the opposing team tackled him from behind sending the newly acquired blitzball out of his hands in the hands of another Duggle.
Tidus gave a malicious smile before kicking powerfully with his legs and aiming for the Duggle who was now swimming fast in the direction of Kienn. His speed gave him the advantage and before his opponent even realized what was happening the blonde blitzball star drove his guarded shoulder into his opponents stomach causing him to release and the ball and go hurtling through the surface of the blitzball pool and into the crowd. Tidus folded his arms and gave a smirk then retrieved the blitzball, which was floating lazily in front of him.
Within moments a replacement player was in the sphere pool and Tidus could see his coach's expression on the sidelines. He could expect a lecture later. As he returned to his place in formation Tidus again felt a flutter of uneasiness and involuntarily looked behind him. There was nothing there of course but for a moment he could have sworn someone was sneaking up on him. Tidus shook his head abruptly and returned his attention to the match, which had just resumed, by the blow of a whistle.
He hesitated, watching his teammates and immediately recognized the swimming pattern for a Sphere Shot, Tidus' signature shot. The teams right defence and the only girl, Furia, seized the ball and instead of passing it on kicked it upwards with force. The ball shot upwards barely hindered by the waters resistance and broke the surface of the sphere pool. As it rushed upwards through the night air Tidus followed.
The crowd screamed in anticipation as they watched the blonde blitzer breach the sphere pool and form a lazy back flip with his body. Just as the ball reached its zenith he flung out his arms and prepared to volley it towards the opposing team's goal.
Before he could however and for no good reason Tidus did something he had never done before. He took his eyes off the ball. It was thus that he saw the large orb of water suspended above the harbour. The surface of the sphere, much larger than that of the pool which held the game, rippled and beneath the surface hundreds of eye like lights shifted and swivelled.
Tidus forgot all about the ball, he forgot all about the game, in fact he forgot just about everything as he gazed at water-encased creature. As he stared in awe, his body already loosing momentum and beginning to fall, the body of water sent three missiles of energy filled water towards the city centre. Where they exploded waves of water erupted breaking through buildings and bridges as easily as if they were paper.
Below him a wave of water engulfed the crowd and the stadium's mechanisms causing the sphere pool to shut down prematurely. As the water began to break up and obey the laws of gravity Tidus too started to fall. As he plummeted however he had the presence of mind to grab the edge of the sphere pool run off. His fall jerked to a stop wrenching his shoulder and almost breaking his tenuous hold on the stone barrier.
Below him the water of the sphere pool settled into bottom of the stadium like a lake and the surviving spectators and blitzball players ran for the exits which where already falling down around their ears. Still in shock Tidus' only thought was to get himself to safety. Swinging his other arm up he tried to grasp the stone run off but before he could his other hand, the only one anchoring him in mid air, slipped on the wet stone.
Tidus felt his heart beat once with domineering loudness in his ears before the sickening sensation of falling seized him and he plummeted into the ruined stadium's depths.
Let me know what you think, should I continue? Hope you enjoyed it.
R&R would be nice.