Once graduation had been over Tidus had been on the road for what seemed like ages. He had walked all the way from Zanarkand in no particular direction, just hoping to get somewhere. Memories flooded his head like a bad case of the flu and he had been trying to sort his life out over the past couple months. Yuna had gone on a summoner journey to some new place called Reos, Wakka was traveling around for blitzball tournaments, Auron was nowhere to be found and he had disappeared after sin was defeated, Lulu was back in Besaid taking care of the black mage school she ran, kimahri was hunting in some distant jungle, and so Tidus was alone for a time.
Life felt so infinite to him and the valley he walked in seemed like it could go for miles, huge bone statues jutted out of the ground like ancient testaments to the land there. Azure pools lined the side of the road, "hmm…. Maybe it rained here" Tidus could only contemplate what could have happened, could only venture a guess. Going up the hill was a tough climb for Tidus, and because graduation ended that was the end of the blitzball season and his training so he was feeling sort of out of shape. After a while he finally came to the top of the hill and relief ran through him like madness. He looked out over the valley and witnessed something amazing, huge quartz and marble castle jutting out of the hill above a massive azure lake that spanned for miles "whoa! What's this! What have you stumbled upon?" Tidus couldn't believe that he would ever find something that elusive. Deciding to get there as soon as possible he broke into a brisk run off down the hill, and he tripped frequent times trying to get there. As he ran a flock of strange multi colored birds flew over head and made him run slower, but he still continued on for the memory of his friends kept him going.
Finally reaching the castle he looked up to a huge staircase leading up to two massive doors inlaid with quartz and stone, the look of the castle was that of a Victorian chateau and huge roman statues lined the staircase almost as if he were back in the coliseum. He bolted up the stairs and made it to the door, next to one of the doors was a sign.
ETERNIA CASTLE
EST. 3000 A.D
"MAY THOSE WHO ENTER HERE UNDERSTAND THEIR MEMORIES
AND WHAT IT MEANS TO JOURNEY THROUGH THE CAVE OF TIME"
"THOSE WHO ARE WANTING TO KNOW MIGHT FIND IT SOMEWHERE IN THESE HALLS"
-GRAND SUMMONER XI
Tidus tried to contemplate what this place could be "Grand Summoner…. I never knew there would be summoners out this far, I don't even know where I am…" deciding that his thoughts were getting him no where he grabbed the huge circular handles and pushed them forward.
The doors opened and he beheld a grand ballroom spanning for almost the whole castle, the architecture was beautiful, the pillars were rose quartz and the floor was marble like he had never seen before, paintings of ancient people lined the walls and a huge grand crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. Down at the end of the ballroom was a huge spiral staircase leading somewhere. Walking in he noticed a man at a piano some ways down the ballroom "Hello? Sir? Are you the only one here? I've been walking and I noticed your castle" the man just continued to play as If possessed by something, possibly by sin if Tidus could guess. The song the man played was beautiful, it was a well known song called "Eternity the Memory of Lightwaves" and it evoked the mood that Tidus felt of wonder and amazement. Along the walls huge stained glass windows shone light onto the floor and it was almost as if the ballroom sparkled in twilight. Finally the man stopped playing "some might understand why you're here, others probably wouldn't, your memories and your sense of wandering are a powerful thing, you value your friends and that's enough, you needed time alone to journey, hopefully I can help with that, your journey inwards will be amazing, my name is Marcellus you're welcome here as long as you like" getting up from the piano he walked to Tidus and welcomed him "Thank you Marcellus, I'm not sure where I am, I've been on a walk and I needed to get away for a while, to clear my head" Tidus noticed that Marcellus was dressed very gallantly and reformed, he wore an age old Victorian suit with a frilly collar, almost as if he was from a different age. Marcellus had a strange scar on one of his eyes, veins surrounded it and a piece of stone was embedded in his face. Marcellus continued "So your name is Tidus, I believe I knew you once in another life, but im not sure" Tidus almost fell over at his comment "how did you know my name? Who are you?" "I'll explain in due time my friend, this place is full of memories and voices of those who have passed on, I'm merely the caretaker, one to understand what lies inside these walls, eons and ages of time lie in these halls, people have passed through here numerous times, come, we will have dinner and then we shall retire.
I don't own Final Fantasy X or any of the affiliated characters or places, they're all property of Square Enix, but I do own Marcellus and Eternia Castle. Good story so far don't you think? This story will be about deep discovery and memories and life, Marcellus will show Tidus things that you wouldn't imagine possible, life will mean more to Tidus then he ever could have dreamed. Please R and R! im up for suggestions on how to continue the story, but I'll also get my creative juices flowing, but anything you want to suggest or comment on that you feel would be interesting, ill find some way to put it in. More to come on this story, its going to be a long one, 30-50 chapters or lower than that, I want to delve deep into the world of Final Fantasy X and my imagination, and maybe some of your own.