Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all names, characters and events related to the afore said are the property of SQUARESOFT and it's affiliates. In other words, I'm giving you credit so please don't sue me!
Chapter 1
"The Otherworld"The sun of Spira was setting amongst the grand city of ruin. Just as a sunset can end more than a day, this sun was setting on certainty, innocence, and a young love. All that was left was for the dark hue of the moon to show itself upon the group as terrible solace for the sun. The weapons of the group were merely a silhouette in the wake of the beautiful yet powerful sun. The group of seven sat around an open fire, sitting on pieces of debris from the once great city. They were all staring into the fire; you could see the emotional whirlwind blowing through their eyes. The young man with blonde hair slowly stood up; he was walking away from the group when he suddenly stopped. He stood next to the girl, barely a woman, whose radiant, soft-spoken beauty out glowed even that of the sun. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. She closed her eyes and painfully, yet lovingly laid her head against his arm. He slowly moved his arm, caressing her cheek as he did so, and walked up a nearby rocky hill. He looked down upon the rest of the group, then into the sunset and the ruins of the city. He looked down at the dozen or so small spheres of glistening light; the luminous pyreflies. While staring at life in death, a solemn smile came to his face; the smile was sad yet reverent with an inextricable wonder to it.
"Listen to my story. This may be our last chance."
* * *
The grand electronic city of Zanarkand illuminated the night even more than that of the pale, full moon. The majestic, machine driven, metropolis of Zanarkand was a huge city of nothing but skyscrapers, machines and various roads and highways that were strung through the city at various heights. There were no suburbs, the people of Zanarkand lived in various housing towers, or so they were called. Some of the richer ones lived by the sea in floating houses. The colorful neon lights flashed below the star strung sky. Waterfalls flowed down one or two sides of the multiple skyscrapers into pools of water at their bottom entrances. Such was the architectural fashion of the age. The lights of the grand city shimmered on the water of the dark sea that lay next to it. Outside one of the floating houses by the sea, twenty or so anxious fans were waiting. Not just waiting for the blitzball game to start, but waiting for a chance to see him.
"Omigod! Stacey, he's like, actually here!"
"Wow Trish, he's really hot in person; he's also my age!" The girl giggled. "C'mon! Let's hurry and meet him!"
Tidus emerged outside his extravagant dwelling, bracing himself for the fans that were surely waiting. People started spreading the news and flocked towards him. He was used to the people gawking and smiling at him, and he loved it too. Tidus was the rising star of the Zanarkand Abes, one of the many professional blitzball teams in the grand, futuristic city of Zanarkand. With his short blonde hair, his good looks, and his kind, playful attitude, he was enough to make any girl's heart melt. What nobody noticed was that behind the two flustered, teenage girls whom Tidus's presence had gotten to; a boy, about the age of eight or so based on his looks, appeared out of nowhere. He was dressed very oddly wearing a purplish black robe with the sleeves cut off. The back of the robe had a strange symbol on it. He had darker skin- that of someone with a tan- yet not too dark of skin. Though most of his face was a dark shadow because of the hood of his robe, what you could see of his face was a solemn and mature expression. It was like that of an old man on an eight year olds face. The boy in the robe seemed to glide by people as he stood near the back of the twenty or so people who surrounded Tidus. Nobody noticed or acknowledged this strange looking boy except one. As Tidus was scanning the crowd around him, he immediately noticed the strange looking boy. He wondered why no one else noticed this peculiar looking boy when he quickly remembered that he was the center of attention. It was a good enough of an explanation for Tidus. He ignored the boy in the back and attended to his aspiring fans. A group of three ten-year-old boys reached him first.
"Can you sign this?" One of them said as he was holding out a blitzball.
"No prob!" Tidus responded.
"Me too please?" Another one of the boys asked.
"Alrighty." Tidus said smiling.
"Me three!" The third impatient boy yelled.
"Take it easy. I'll get to you in a sec." Tidus said.
When the two girls saw that Tidus was done with the small group of boys, they pushed in the front of the crowd yearning for his attention. When Tidus noticed the two scantly clad girls of around his age; his attention was immediately given to them.
"Can I have your autograph?" Said Stacey coyly to him.
Tidus smiled. "Of course!" He said while quickly marking his name on her souvenir blitzball.
"Good luck tonight!" Said Trish blushing from behind Stacey.
"Hey! Nothing to worry about, right?" He smiled daringly. "Oh, and if I score a goal…."
"When you score a goal!" interjected Trish. An embarrassed laughter surfaced from Tidus.
"When I score a goal…" Tidus continued. "I'll do this!"
Tidus raised his arms into the air and contorted his fingers in a seemingly unique symbol.
"That'll mean it's for you two lovely ladies, okay?" The two girls started giggling incessantly.
"What seat you in tonight?" Tidus boldly continued.
"East block on the front row!" Stacey chirped.
"Fifth from the right" Trish added.
"All right then! Maybe you could wait outside the locker room after the game and we can go out and hopefully have a victory party!" Tidus waved bye to the girls then addressed the crowd. "Well, I gotta go! Cheer for me!"
The crowd bellowed with excitement as Tidus turned to leave when he felt something tugging at him. Tidus turned around. The crowd became quiet thinking he might have something else to say, when in reality, the three ten year olds were vying for his attention. One of them spoke.
"We heard you say to those girls that you see people behind the locker room after the game. Can we wait too?" One of the boys asked enthusiastically.
"What?" Tidus asked incredulously. The crowd was still quiet and focused on the conversation amusedly.
"Yea!" Another boy chirped in. "You could teach us how to blitz real good like you!"
Tidus did not know how to respond to his young fans request. It was an amusing awkwardness brought about by the face of innocence that knows no taboo.
"Uh…" He looked at the crowd still focused on him. "Maybe tonight…um…well…" Suddenly, the mysterious boy who was somehow now behind Tidus, spoke.
"You can't tonight." It was a strange voice that spoke. It was a voice that commanded attention. It was the voice of a dark, learned old man, but with the pitch of an eight to ten year old. It was a strange and warmly haunting voice.
Tidus immediately turned and stared at the boy for many moments. There was a strange feeling in him, a feeling of connection, yet utter perplexity. It is a feeling that most youths are assuredly familiar with. The crowd stared nervously at Tidus. They looked to where he was apparently looking behind him and saw nothing but the ground. It was as if he was staring into an empty void and listening to words that aren't of reality. Tidus suddenly snapped back and stared at the group of boys.
"I mean, not tonight…tomorrow. Yea. " Tidus said shaking his head as if to clear his mind of thoughts of the unexplained. The crowd did the same and quickly forgot the few moments that Tidus looked away seemingly at some fantasy of the mind.
"Ya promise?" One of the boys asked in an eager tone.
"Promise! Meet me behind the locker room and we'll sort our details!" Tidus said smiling.
"Why shouldn't I? I thought to myself. I always have some free time and I couldn't shoot them down in front of the crowd. Besides, it'll be fun and look good for my public relations. Looking back now, it amuses me how trivial and pointless everything was. It's amazing what happens when your life is literally consumed by a dream, leaving you to die without living and to live without dying."
The three kids stared at him wide eyed with joy. Simultaneously, the three put their palmed hands together forming a circle. Then they bowed. It was the blitzball gesture symbolizing good luck and victory. Tidus then left the cheering fans for the suspended road that led him to the nearby, masterfully gothic crafted blitzball stadium. Tidus enjoyed walking to his games; it gave him the chance to clear his mind and warm up his body. Plus he could augment his self-confidence and renew his charisma by being noticed by the fans of his he would undoubtedly run in to. He looked up at one of the huge televisions on the side of one of the high rises. It was projecting an image of a renowned man who looked very strong and tall. He had long black hair with a bandanna around his head right above a scar across his face. Tidus stared up at the projection of the man with a goatee. He chuckled cynically. He thought of the great irony that everyone in Zanarkand would kill to meet and know that man, but Tidus would kill him and wished he never knew the man… his father, Jecht. He listened to the commentator babble on about him as he walked along the suspended highway.
"…Yea Ted, I still remember where I was too when it happened. I was in a coffee shop, running away from home when I heard the news. Our hero, Jecht, gone, vanished into thin air! My dad must have been his biggest fan. I knew how sad he'd be. Hell, we all were that day. 'Zanar', I says to myself, 'What are you thinking?' I went running straight back home. We sat up talking 'bout Jecht all night. My dad and I never talked so much. Whoa... Didn't mean to reminisce, folks. Anyways... Ten years later, the Jecht Memorial Cup tournament is today! The two teams that have won through to the finals are...of course, the Abes from A-East and the Duggles from C-South. I know there's a lot of people out there today to see the star of the Abes! In just one year, Tidus has become the team's number one player! He's Jecht's blood, and the new hope of blitzball! What kind of super play will he show us today? Will we see his father's legendary shot? I don't think I'm the only one excited here, folks!"
Tidus hurried and pushed past the rambunctious spectators who had lined up outside of his locker room just to see him. Tidus hurriedly pushed his way through the fans and entered the familiar locker room. He sat down on one of the benches, closed his eyes, and prepared himself for the upcoming tribulation of the game. Blitzball was the most popular, if not the only pastime in the grand city of Zanarkand. All the teams came from one of the many different zones of the city and were very competitive. Blitzball was a game that was played in a gigantic suspended sphere at the heart of the coliseum. The penetrable sphere is then filled with water, which did not leak. They formed this complicated suspended sphere through intricate scientific and mechanical workings that caused a demi implosion forming the penetrable sphere that disappeared in about twenty-four hours. Most people didn't try to understand this complex working and instead enjoyed snacks and ale while watching the game. Each team consisted of seven players and one goalie. The players are in a constant battle to carry the blitzball across the sphere without getting it stolen or knocked away from them. The goalies, naturally, had to defend their suspended goal. When a player with the blitzball was close enough, he performed a blitz. A blitz was a special underwater kick or throw that gave the blitzball enough momentum to get in the goal. In order to breathe underwater, the players placed special filters on their mouths to filter out the hydrogen and take in only the oxygen of the H2O, an ingenious device! Blitzball was a simple and thrilling game, the team with the most points won. The game was about to begin. The metallic doors opened and the teams entered with plenty of fanfare: music and pyrotechnics included. The demi blast went off and the sphere was formed. Water was shot into the sphere and the game began.
Tidus lost the ball in the shoot off, but quickly caught up with the opposing player with the blitzball. Tidus furiously swam in front of the ball carrier. He quickly planted his feet on the thighs of the ball carrier and got a grab on the blitzball his opponent was cradling. Tidus kicked off against his opponent while he had a solid grip on the ball and stole it. He quickly passed it to a team member who threw the blitzball in for a goal. Shortly after this excitement, something disturbing happened. Tidus looked around and suddenly there was no sound, not even the bubbles in the water. Tidus didn't even hear his own breathing. Parts of the crowd became static like and fuzzy to make out while some people and shapes stretched out disfigured. Everything moved in slow motion, all of this in just one moment. Then, as suddenly as it happened, it disappeared. Everything resumed around Tidus normally, the game, the crowd, everything. It was as if the world had had… a glitch. Tidus came to the conclusion that his mind was playing tricks on him. What came next, however, not even he could deny. A strange, yet familiar voice spoke into his mind. To Tidus, it sounded eerily demonic. When he first heard it and no one else reacted, he played like usual to salvage his appearance of sanity.
"Go now if you want it. An otherworld awaits you. Don't you give up on it. You bite the hand that feeds you. All alone, the cold fields you wander. Memories of It cloud your sight. It fills your dreams, disturbs your slumber. You lost your way like a fallen knight. Hold now, your aim is steady. An otherworld awaits you. One thousand years- are you ready? The otherworld it takes you!" The voice whispered slowly.
Suddenly the commentator who usually vividly gives the play-by-play of the game, droningly started to speak.
"Go now into the sand and dust and the sky. Go now! No better plan than to do or die." The commentator said unnaturally. The voice came back to Tidus's head.
"Free me! Pray to the fayth in the face of the light. Feed me! Fill me with sin now get ready to fight! Hope dies and you wander. The otherworld, it makes you! Dreams just rip asunder. The otherworld it hates you! You're finally free now. Ride up on it! Up to the heights it takes you. Go now! You know you want it. An otherworld awaits you! "
The commentator resumed speaking in his strange tone chanting, "You know you will. You know you will. You know you will". The crowd, in the same eerie tone began to chant "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!". Tidus wasn't sure if the crowd was chanting for the game or for something else. None of the other players seemed to notice, so Tidus pretended not to either. In the heat of the game there was no time to meditate on the unexplained. It was Tidus's quick fix therapy, ignore everything else and throw yourself in the game. He would worry about his mental state later.
* * *
At one of the many skyscrapers of Zanarkand, a man in red garments looked across the grand city perilously on the edge of a building. He stood solemnly in the wind with a huge yet powerful sword by one side and a flask of liquor by his other. He had a rough face with stubby black and gray hair right above a long scar that slashed across one of his eyes forcing it shut most of the time. He always wore dark glasses, so few have ever really peered into his eyes. He also didn't go anywhere without his sword or flask of liquor. He stared with empty eyes upon this city of dreams. He suddenly looked into the black ocean barely lit by the moon. Suddenly, there was a huge turbulence and water started gushing out in the middle of the sea. It gushed out into a huge floating sphere formed without any demi blast. It was the largest floating object that anyone who saw it had ever seen. The people who were outside stared at the sphere both mystified and terrified; an ominous tone fell upon the city. The dark sphere could span at least a quarter of Zanarkand and it easily eclipsed the moon. There was something moving behind the dark mass of water. There was apparently some creature in the sphere that could be born only within the realms of fantasy that seemed to have control of the dark mass of water surrounding it. However, no one could make out exactly what it was or looked like; it was a mere shadow of an image in a dark membrane. The man in red clothes grabbed his white flask and raised it to the black sphere as if saluting it. The man let lose a small, dark smile…dark, yet solemn.
"To the beginning of the end of the beginning. Let the new story begin, old friend." The man said in a dark and gruff voice. It was a voice that seemed to have known no joy. It was a dead, rough voice, but one that commanded attention. The man quickly brought the flask to his lips and drank.
* * *
The game was all tied up. Tidus had managed to knock someone out of the sphere and steal the ball. He had to purge his mind of all thoughts and focus on the game. He ignored the chanting and through himself into the game. He swam fast towards the opposing goal and just barely escaped a defenders swipe clawing for the ball. He was finally in range. It was now time, time to perform his new blitz he had worked on and perfected. He suddenly swam straight up as fast as could, a rarity in the game. Then Tidus through the ball above the blitz-sphere and jumped out of the water and contorted his body to kick the blitzball upside down! He had perfect line of sight. The ball, after being kicked by Tidus's powerful leg, would easily slip past the goalie from this perfect blitz shot. Suddenly, Tidus looked away at the city of Zanarkand in the air for a mere second when he saw something that had him transfixed, even mesmerized. He saw an enormous swirling black sphere of water. A thousand blitz spheres could easily fit in this huge mass of water. Suddenly, bolts of blue energy shot from the center of the sphere and through the city. It was the most devastating weapon mankind had ever seen. Skyscrapers were cut in half like twigs from the impact of the bolts of energy. Aside from that, there was now an opening at the bottom of the sphere that glowed yellow. It had a strange gravity field that was drawing objects to it like a tornado. It even whirled in a funnel, just like a tornado. He saw in a brief second one of the many suspended highways shaking, then break in half and fly in the air directly toward the swirling mess of smoke, fire and debris. Suddenly, right before Tidus was to hit the blitz sphere and reenter the water, the stadium began to shake. Lose architectural pieces and the rim of the stadium began to crumble and fly through the air towards the swirling spiral of death below the black sphere. The blitz sphere was suddenly corrupted and, unable to function, spilled its entire contents in a blink of an eye. Tidus suddenly realized he was falling towards nothing except the hard stadium cement floor, for the water had already drained from the blitz sphere out of the stadium through the locker rooms and other various doors and holes. Suddenly, one of the blue energy beams flew down to the right side of the stadium and Tidus witnessed the instant eradication of thousands of lives and a whole half of the stadium. The instantaneous explosion caused a shockwave, which knocked Tidus's helpless, airborne body, smashing against the left side of the stadium. He slowly pushed himself up, checking to make sure he wasn't seriously injured. He gradually got up and realized he wasn't gravely injured, just bruises, scratches, and a very sore back. He quickly exited the stadium and ran outside with a small mob running past him. He looked out at Zanarkand and was aghast at what he saw. There was no longer much of a skyline; it had been annihilated. Smoke billowed through the city; fire erupted all around him. Zanarkand had turned into a hell with the black sphere commanding as the great Satan of all fears and suffering. The same demonic like, yet familiar voice Tidus had heard in his head now bellowed through the city aloud shaking it and breaking glass. Everyone heard it this time and even stopped to listen. It was singing a bizarre song in an almost chant like fashion. It was coming from the center of the sphere.
"Ieyui. Nobomeno. Renmiri. Yojuyogo. Hasatekanae. Kutamae." The creature in the black sphere of water sang. Suddenly at the last line it let out a violent cry. It had ceased hostilities while it sang the mystifying chant, but as soon as it stopped, the violence continued uncontrollably. Tidus recognized the tune of the chant from somewhere, but did not know from where. He was very puzzled. Tidus wished desperately that he was having a bad dream, but it was real. The dream of his life had turned into a nightmare full of death and destruction. Tidus suddenly turned his head and noticed a man in red clothes who was carrying two large swords was standing next to him. He knew the man.
"Auron! What are you doing here?" Tidus asked surprised.
"I had known Auron since I was a boy. He appeared after my father's disappearance. He hardly became a father figure though, but my old man never wanted him too. Instead he always seemed to be watching from afar and he visited me every now and then. Auron was always very complicated and hard to figure out, but I didn't mind. At least he wasn't blunt or in any way like my old man.
"I was waiting for you." Auron said simply.
"What are you talking about?" Tidus said incredulously. He could not believe how easily Auron accepted what was going on around them. He did not seem shocked or worried. He merely flashed a quick smile at Tidus and started to walk off. Tidus paused for a moment and ran after him. Tidus looked around franticly, but Auron was lost in the throng of people around him. Suddenly, there was silence. Tidus only heard his own breathing. He looked around at the destruction and horrified looks on peoples faces frozen in time. He was the only thing moving, time had completely stopped for everything else. Tidus started to panic.
"HELLO! Not again… What the hell is happening to me?" Tidus was searching around looking for something… anything. He looked behind him, and then forward, then behind him again; this time when he looked back he saw the mysterious boy in the dark robe staring at Tidus. All you could see of his face was a pleasant and mature expression.
"It begins." The boy said in his dark voice.
"Wha…?" Tidus was too bewildered to form a real question.
"Don't cry." The boy commanded while strangely looking at Tidus.
A flash of blinding light struck Tidus from his right. A building near him exploded in a flash of light. His attention was taken to the spectacle for only the briefest of seconds, but when he turned his head back around, the boy was gone and time had resumed in full force. The mob around him was running without the slightest clue that they were frozen in time for the slightest of moments. After A few minutes, the members of the panicky mob were either dead or had found shelter and were hiding. Only one man defied fear and stood in the middle of the suspended road. Auron turned around as if waiting for and expecting Tidus. Tidus rushed over to his side. They both, alone, stared at the whirling sphere of dark water.
"Look." Auron pointed at the massive sphere. "We called it 'Sin'."
"'Sin?'" Tidus confirmed.
Unexpectedly, something shot out of Sin. It wasn't a beam of energy, but rather a tentacle that went through the middle of one of the few standing high rises and got stuck half way. Attached to the tentacle were about a hundred blue, neon glowing, pods. The tentacle suddenly thrashed about violently severing the building in two and releasing the many pods. Twenty or so of the pods crashed and pummeled the cement road surrounding Tidus and Auron. The pods opened and bug like creatures with a couple of sharp, piercing feelers emerged.
"Take it." Auron commanded as he threw Tidus the smaller of the two, thick swords he had. Tidus tried catching the hilt with both his hands, but still almost doubled over by the weight of the immense blade. He made things worse by then immediately overcorrecting his balance. Auron smiled while holding the larger blade in one hand.
"A gift from Jecht." Auron elaborated.
"What? My old man?" Tidus exclaimed.
"I hope you're a fast learner." Auron said grimly.
"Why are we using these big swords, why don't we just use guns?" Tidus asked.
"You will find soon enough that the use of a gun is futile against Sin or it's Sinspawns." Auron replied.
The battle began. Tidus ran out and started hacking the creatures from behind while Auron focused on the ones in the front. Though somewhat clumsy, Tidus's style of fighting worked with him moving his blade light and fast; he was able to do this thanks in part to his blitzball skills. It did take a couple hits for him to kill some of the creatures though. Auron, on the other hand, slashed in giant strides slicing anything that got in his way like a hot knife through butter. He was a skilled fighter.
"Those behind us don't matter. Help me cut through the front!" Auron commanded.
Auron and Tidus hacked and slashed making their way through the road. A creature from out of nowhere suddenly attacked Tidus. He tried to attack it, but it evaded the attack and Tidus keeled over using too much energy in the thrust. The creature crawled on top of Tidus's belly and aimed for Tidus's neck with one of its two, piercing feelers. Like lightning, Auron skillfully ran with the heavy blade and sliced the creature in two above Tidus.
"You owe me one." Auron said coolly. "Remember, don't go after all of them. Cut the ones that matter and run!" He added.
The two made their way towards the end of the road when Tidus noticed the giant screen television he saw earlier on the side of the road now sideways leaning against a piece of a destroyed building near the side of the road. It still displayed the picture of Jecht. There were no creatures in their present area, so Auron stopped and stared at the image while catching his breath. He began laughing while staring at the image.
"What are you laughing at, old man?" Tidus asked. Auron remained still.
"Auron! C'mon! Let's get out of here!" Tidus exclaimed while looking behind him at a few creatures starting to catch up. Auron simply stared at him for a second when he stated.
"We're expected."
"Huh?" Tidus asked confused. He quickly looked up and saw the funnel of fire and debris cease below Sin. Tidus suddenly realized they were not heading for a shelter from this Sin, but rather were heading strait towards it. It had expected them.
"Gimme a break! We're heading straight for Sin?" Tidus exclaimed. Auron silently walked forward almost at the end of the road and directly beneath Sin.
Without warning, several pods landed all around and very close to Tidus and Auron. It would be very difficult to escape.
"Hmph. This could be bad" Stated Auron dourly as he surveyed the situation. He quickly noticed a car with many gas canisters teetering off the edge of the road on the car's hitched trailer. It was hitched with a new electrical pulsar system that was the standard in Zanarkand. He turned to Tidus and quickly snapped at him.
"Get down now!"
At that moment, Auron ran towards the hitch, sliced at it in a heavy stride with his immense saber, and created a huge electrical meltdown by slicing through the heart of the pulsar. Auron ran until he was safely on the other side of the suspended road and directly under Sin. Tidus had no time to react. Three seconds later, there was a colossal chain explosion that obliterated all the creatures in front of him but knocked him back from the shockwave. It was the second time in one day that that had happened to Tidus. The few creatures that were behind Tidus immediately cowered away in fear following the blast.
"Run Tidus! Now!" Auron yelled.
The whole right side of the bridge had been vaporized and the left side was crumbling. Tidus ran with all his might across the left side of the suspended road. He could feel the cracked concrete quaking beneath his legs. It started breaking apart and falling beneath his legs. He wasn't going to make it running, he was too far away. He made one final, desperate leap. He barely grabbed the other side with one hand right at the feet of Auron. The weak, one-armed grip instantaneously started failing. He flailed both his arms franticly rubbing his hands against the concrete forcing a friction hold. He finally established a descent grip and started begging Auron for help.
"Auron! Help! Auron!" Tidus yelled as pleading for help. Auron did not move. He merely stared at Tidus for a few moments and then looked above at the bottom of the sphere that surrounded Sin. A yellow glow came from the under-belly of the sphere, a wormhole opened; it could easily transport Tidus and Auron through time and space like a black hole. Auron stared at the sphere and nodded at it as if talking to someone.
"This is what you want, isn't it? Yes. You are sure?." Auron said seemingly having a dialogue exchange with the black swirling sphere or perhaps Sin itself. Tidus was getting very tired of these bizarre happenings occurring in his once normal life. Auron stared back at Tidus and picked him up with both hands by his collar and held him in the air as if to restrain Tidus.
"This is it, your fate is sealed. This is your story and yours alone. It all begins here." Auron said ominously to Tidus looking into his eyes.
Auron was then instantly sucked into the wormhole. His body elongated hundreds of feet as it was sucked in particle by particle. It then happened to Tidus; he was sucked in so fast, he didn't even have time to register what was happening. All he could do was scream. Everything was happening too fast it seemed. He blacked out. When he regained conciseness, he was floating hundreds of feet above a city. He was quietly floating in mid air. Tidus heard nothing but his own breathing and a strange humming. He looked around him. He was floating above a perfectly healthy Zanarkand, the one he had known his whole life and even just a few short hours ago, but there was something wrong. It was covered in a sea of fire. Everything was burning, but nothing was melting or was singed. It was a surreal and haunting vision. Tidus looked a few feet away from him and saw a pillar of earth about as long as a house floating about his same height that he was floating. He saw a small boy standing in the center of the platform, he knew the boy. It was himself at the age of eleven. Tidus was captivated by the image and yearned to know the meaning of this and all that has happened to him that day. He was drawn towards the image. When he almost reached it however, the image of himself faded and changed into his father, Jecht.
"My old man?" Tidus said aloud quietly to himself.
Jecht had a look of strength yet sorrow in his eyes. It seemed he was pleading or trying to compel Tidus to do something. Jecht looked Tidus directly in the eyes and held out his hand. Tidus returned a look full of nothing but contempt. The Zanarkand he was floating above, as well as everything, began to fade to white.
"I thought about a lot of things then…like where I was and what I'd got myself into. I started to feel light headed…and then, sleepy. Everything faded to white. I think I had a dream, a dream of being alone filled with horrible feelings of pain and loneliness; you know, those kinds of feelings. I wanted someone, anyone beside me…so I didn't have to feel alone anymore."
