Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, concepts, ideas, or scenarios. They are the property of Square-Enix, and its subsidiaries. Any similarities between this story and reality is purely coincidental and unintentional. With that said, enjoy this story.

Final Fantasy X: The Darkness Within

Prologue

The sun was beginning to rise, on that city… what was left of it. As the light touched the tall buildings, it came as something as a shock to the small band of people that stood just on the outskirts. Zanarkand… holy city of Yevon. The final step of a summoner's journey. The Final Aeon. There weren't any words between them, as the light unveiled nothing but ruins. Not far off from the group a marvelous blue sword planted into the ground. A fanciful staff tilting slightly to the right was planted just behind the sword. And a blitzball sat, next to the previous two items. A young man stood up, placing his hand on a young woman. She nods to the man, closing her mismatched eyes. One eye was as sapphire, the other as emerald… it was almost eerie to think about at times, but they seemed to fit her. She then opened them again, as the man walked over to towards the edge of the cliff to look over the ruins of the city. Small circles of abnormal lights floated above the city.

Listen to my story; this may be our last chance.

The nighttime of Zanarkand was a busy time, especially this night, with the Zanarkand Abes playing in the championship game this evening. The lights were everywhere, blinding like the sun, never dimming, never going out. On a night like this… it would seem that everything was perfect. Walking out of his house, a young man was greeted with a throng of supporters. The young man had black hair that came down just below his ears, wore a yellow vest, slightly opened, a white hood draped down his shoulder blades. He also wore black shorts that extended down just slightly down past his knees. Around his neck was a chain with a Zanarkand Abes logo on it, the very same symbol that was shown on his shorts.

"Can you sign this?" a little kid asked.

"No prob." He said. The young man took the ball, and signed it. It was tough to make out, but the signature said 'Ethan' on it. Just as soon as he was done signing the ball, another kid practically shoved his blitzball in the young man's face.

"Please?" asked the second kid. The young man, took this ball and signed it the same way.

"Alrighty." He said, as he handed the ball back to the kid, and a third kid asked for an autograph.

"Me too!" said the third kid, who was even more excited than the first two.

"Take it easy!" the young man said, though he was reveling in the attention that he was given. He would then hand the blitzball to the kid, before walking over to two attractive women; one with a pink top, and the other in a blue outfit, both holding blitzballs.

"Can I have your autograph?" asked the woman in blue. The young man smiled. Evidently, being the star player of the Zanarkand Abes had it's perks. He would then take the blitzball that the woman in blue was holding before signing it, handing it back to her. Then he would take the other blitzball, signing it.

"Good luck tonight." Said the woman in pink. The young man then spun the blitzball on his finger, before handing it back to her.

"Nothing to worry about." He said, "Oh! If I score a goal… I'll do this!" The young man pumped both of his fists into the air, in a self-celebratory fashion. "That'll mean it was for you." The two girls giggled as he did so, before looking at him again with admiration.

"What seat?" he asked.

"East block, in the front row, fifth from the right." Said the woman with the pink top. The young man was now surrounded by his fans as the second kid began to balance his signed blitzball on his forehead. He however had a game to get to.

"Well, gotta go! Cheer for me!" the young man said. The three kids blocked his path.

"…Two, three… Teach us how to blitz!" the three of them said. It was becoming clear that the young man was becoming impatient, but with all of the people surrounding him, his patience would just have to stretch a little more. The young man was a nice, patient and perhaps overall polite, almost to a fault.

"Hey, I have a game to play!" he insisted. But the three kids wouldn't relent.

"Then teach us after." One of the kids said. The young man, didn't seem to enthusiastic. Partly because that patience was wearing thin, partly because he had plans to see the two women after the game.

"Maybe tonight… uhm… well…" he said, looking for any excuse. A short boy, hooded with his face unseen, appeared out of thin air. No one else seemed to notice, to include the young man who had his back turned toward him.

"You can't tonight." The hooded boy said. There seemed to be a sort of finality in those words that the young man didn't seem to pick up on. Those words spoken as if just to the young man.

"I mean… tomorrow." Said the young man. The eyes of the three kids lit up, as if they were shocked and pleased to hear his answer.

"Promise?" one of the kids said. The young man smiled and nodded.

"Promise!" he said. The three kids then made a motion with their hands, cupping their hands and placing their right hand just above their left, making it look something like a sphere, before slightly bowing forward, toward the young man. Finally, he was able to get onto the road.

Zanarkand… it was a highly-busy metropolis filled with high-rise buildings, advanced technology, and the occasional waterfall. The city's lights illuminated the sky, and everything else that it touched. Zanarkand was a city that never seemed to sleep. It was amazing to see all the activities that went on in that city, but right now, all eyes were on the Blitzball stadium. The young man looked up towards a billboard, intent. It depicted a darkly tanned man, black hair, and wearing a red bandanna. With a smirk, he began jogging again. As he jogged coming closer to the stadium, he heard the announcer speaking.

"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. '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 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! I just one year, he's become the team's umber 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 today."

The young man finally made it to the stadium as hundreds of fans approach him. They crowded around him, making it difficult for him to get through. They pawed at him, hoping to have a chance to touch him, or pat him on the shoulder, or otherwise show their support for him.

"Make way, make way! Coming through, sorry! Hey, I'm going to be late! Let me through! Hey! Let go of me!" he said as he tried to make it through the crowds. It wasn't that he was trying to be rude, but with the game just about to start, he had to get to the locker room and get ready for the championship game. When he finally got to the stadium, he went immediately to the sphere pool. He sat inside a pool of water, trickling some of it on his head, letting the cool water trickle down.

A flock of people started to pile into the stadium as the game was about to begin. The two girls he had met earlier went to their spots east block, front row… fifth from the right. The lights of the stadium turned on as the entire sphere pool now started to fill up. The young man stood up, as the crowd's cheers became even more boisterous. It was time to blitz.

Far away on a high rise, overlooking the stadium a man stood. This man was older than the blitzball player, by several years. He was adorned in a red kimono; by his side was an unwieldly katana. On his face was a pair of dark sunglasses, and behind those sunglasses over his right eye was a scar. In his hand was a large white jug, as he faced what was a large tidal wave which was approaching the unsuspecting city of Zanarkand. The man just stared in that direction, his face grim, but knowing. He nodded at the impending doom, before walking off the high rise…

The game was fierce. It seemed that the Abes and the Duggles had no such concept of friendly rivalry. The players were brawling, and passing, but there wasn't much scoring going on. But it didn't seem to matter much as the fans were cheering. The young man rammed into one of the Duggals knocking him out of the sphere pool and into the stands. Save those one or two people that were in the way of the unfortunate blitzball player, everyone else cheered loudly. The young man took a moment to admire his work, before he got back to the game.

Back outside the city, unbeknownst to the people within, the tidal wave had formed into a gigantic ball of water. It was certainly an ill omen. As the man in the red kimono continued to walk through the city, making his way closer to the blitzball stadium, so too did the ball of water. Inside the city, the young man passed a blocker, and threw the ball past the goalie. He scores, as the crowd cheered even louder than before. He then looked towards the East block pumping both of his fists upwards for the two ladies, letting them know he scored for them. The ball was set in place as it shot up, and all the players scrambled for the loose ball. He then jumped out of the water, above the sphere as the ball was sent out of the water as well. Flipping backwards, the young man intended to do a bicycle kick, when he saw the second ball of water that was formed in the air a distance away from the stadium. His eyes went wide at this strange phenomenon, before his mouth hung open at what happened next.

The water mass sent out several dozens of destructive energy which smashed into the city, destroying whatever they touched with relative ease. The entire city becomes engulfed with water, as the young man managed to grab onto a girder high above the stadium. The stadium itself wasn't spared from the destruction and chaos, as it began to shake, which made the man fall.

The survivors from the stadium began to run away in a frenzied panic, trying to get away from whatever it was that had happened. They were running in every direction, trampling over each other in their desperate flight. Opening his eyes, the young man had no idea what was going on, disoriented from the fall. The very same voices from what once were fans, were now the horrid and terrified screams of surviving victims, trying to preserve their lives by running away. The young man stood up and began to run as well. He wasn't sure where he was going to run away to, but he just decided to run as well. As he ran, he noticed a familiar person. It was the man in the red kimono. He ran up to the older man, who seemed relatively calm despite all the chaos and carnage that was running rampant through the city.

"Auron! What are you doing here?!" the young man demanded to know. The man in the red kimono turned to look at him.

"I was waiting for you." He said. This didn't make much sense to the young man. But even though this didn't seem like the best time to get an explanation, the young man asked anyway.

"What are you talking about?" But, the young man wasn't going to get his answer, as Auron began to walk away, further down the street. Wanting answers, and also not wanting to be alone, the young man followed him. The people were running around in complete disarray, not having any idea what to do, just knowing they wanted to get away from the danger. But as they were running away from the watery ball of death, Auron was moving towards it. Without warning, everything just seemed to freeze. The young man looked around frantically, as it seemed that he was the only one able to still move. Thing were becoming even more confusing than before.

"It begins." Said a voice from behind the young man. He turned around to see the short hooded boy once again. The expression on the young man's face was evident. Scared, lost… and seemingly alone. It was understandable, as the boy had a tone of compassion in his voice. "Don't cry." Just like that time unfroze. The young man gasped, surprised at all the events that have unfolded. What should have been possibly the best night of his life, turned into the worst possible thing that could ever happen. But perhaps just as bad as all this chaos and death, was his confusion.

"What the… hey wait!" The young man shouted, as he ran down the street again to meet up with Auron. "Not this way!" Why would Auron walk towards the danger, instead of run in the opposite direction.

"Look." Said Auron. The young man looked up towards the massive ball of water, and gasped once again. Now that he had seen it again, at a closer vintage, the ball of water was truly a marvel to behold. One that was deadly, one that has already claimed many lives, and seemed insatiable for death. "We called it…Sin." Said the older man.

"Sin?" said the young man, as if trying to understand what sort of thing could cause so much devastation. Just as if to answer the young man's question, tentacles protruded from the ball of water and smashed into a nearby building, completely decimating it. As this was happening hundreds of small pod like things ejected from the tentacles, landing on the ground. The two men looked at the pod like things intently before one by one they started to crack open. When they did, they appeared to be huge insect like monsters, poised to attack. They were quick, and in mere seconds they had the young man surrounded in a semi-circle. The young man tried to swat at the things with his bare hands, but each time he swung his fist, it caught nothing but air. Still he kept trying until he lost his balance and fell right onto his ass.

Auron seemed rather amused by this display, that was until the young man fell. He then reached into his sleeve to pull out a strange looking pink like sword. He then offered it to the young man.

"Take it." He said. The young man stared at the blade for a moment or two before looking back at Auron. He then took the sword, holding it high into the air, before fumbling with it, nearly dropping it. "A gift from Jecht."

The young man looked at Auron, not for a moment believing him.

"My old man?" he asked. He then moved forward, swinging the blade wildly at the insect like monsters, which caused them to back up and away. Once again, the young man's momentum caused him to lose his balance as he fell on his ass again. But he stood up recovering himself quickly.

"I hope you know how to use it." Auron said, rather sarcastically. It would take the young man a moment, but he was a quick study, and learned how to wield it well enough to defend himself. The battle started as Auron and the young man began to cut through the bug like creatures. After having sliced through a few of them, they began to see that this was going to be futile, as more pods replaced the creatures that they had cut through.

"These ones don't matter. We cut through!" said Auron with urgency in his voice. Slicing through a wedge of the insects, the two warriors began making leadway in which for them to get through, but their job was far from over. The young man was just swinging his sword wherever he could, but the more experienced warrior, was bidding his energy.

"Don't bother going after all of them, cut the ones that matter, and run!" said Auron, though it was in an almost advisory way. With that, the young man just concentrated on the ones ahead of him, slicing through them, making room to run. As they ran, a loud crash was heard, not far in front of them. The young man looked at Auron who was already running towards where the noise came from. With a hasty sigh, he ran after Auron. As they ran, they could see up in the distance a strange tentacle like monster, and surrounding it were the same insect creatures from before. The young man didn't look so sure about this. With the apparent destruction of the city, a watery ball of death looming over the city, and tentacle monsters coupled with overgrown insects. It wasn't exactly just another day.

The two warriors began to attack the tentacle creature. Auron jumped into the air, his large katana crashing down to the ground cause a shockwave of energy to crash forward hitting all the creatures ahead of them. It was enough to kill all the insect creatures, and it seemed to disorient the larger tentacle monster. The young man then charged at the tentacle creature, before he jumped into the air as well, twisting into an aerial then a flip, before slicing into the monster. The creature then fell to the ground and for some inexplicable reason, it exploded. Though the young man was tired, and somewhat confused about why the monster exploded, Auron ran on. With no other choice, the young man followed, running up the road, the young man stopped to take a look at a building that didn't seem to be affected by the devastation. It was a wonder that anything could have survived the onslaught, but he realized he had passed this building before. There on the side of the building was the very same billboard that had the man with the red bandanna on his head.

"What are you laughing at, old man?" the young man demanded, as if he had something to do with this. He then looked at Auron who was still running. "Auron! Let's get out of here!" It was then that Auron slowed his stride to a walk, before stopping completely. He then turned to look at the young man.

"We're expected." He said, as he glanced upwards. They young man clearly didn't understand what Auron meant by that.

"Huh?" The young man uttered. But once again, his questions would not go answered. The older man, turn once again to run. Exasperated, the young man began to express his frustrations. "Gimme a break, man!" He took off after Auron, and as he began to catch up, more of the pod like creatures fell surrounding them. The insects hatched, and crept closer to the two. Auron glanced around at the grim situation they found themselves in.

"Hmph. This could be bad." Auron said, as he still took in all of his surroundings. Suddenly he saw a piece of machinery, crackling with electricity and energy. Auron pointed it out to the young man. "That! Knock it down!" The young man wasn't sure what that would accomplish.

"What?" asked the young man.

"Trust me. You'll see." Said Auron. That was probably the closest thing to an answer the young man would ever get from Auron. The two of them began to attack the machine, and the more they attacked it, the more it crackled with energy. With a final strike, it began to fall, exploding on its way down. The explosion destroyed all the insect creatures, but unfortunately, the bridge became unstable, and it was starting to explode as well.

"Go!" he shouted as he began to run up the bridge. They both did, avoiding the best they could the explosions that occurred. The young man made a huge leap and grabs onto the edge of a broken piece of the road, which was facing diagonally upwards. Auron walks up calmly, standing just above his hands.

"Auron! Auron!!!" shouted the young man. Wasn't Auron going to help? The large ball of water was now practically right above them now. Debris was being sucked into the water, the wind picked up, and it was threatening to suck the young man as well. Auron looked up at the ball of water, as if he and the water ball were reaching an agreement.

"Are you sure?" asked Auron up to the ball of water. There was a strange sort of silence. Auron then closed his eyes, just briefly before opening his eyes again and looking at the young man. "This is it." Auron then leaned down and grabbed the young man by his collar. "This is your story. It all begins here."

There was a bright light which blinded the young man. He wasn't sure what happened next, and all of his questions, his confusion… but no answers. He couldn't even see his hand in front of his face.

"Hey! HEY!" He shouted. Slowly the light subsided, as he saw Zanarkand. It appeared to look completely peaceful, no destruction or screaming people running here or there like a chicken with their heads cut off. The only thing that was out of place was a pillar of fire, off in the distance. This did nothing more than to compound the confusion the young man.

"My old man?" said the young man, to himself. He was floating in what was a surreal version of the city he knew well. Weightless, for a moment, the young man felt that he didn't even exist, as he descended down towards the platform where the pillar of fire was. On that platform… he saw a small kid. As he neared, a white light shined blinding him, just as before.

"I thought about a lot of things… like where I was, what I got myself into. I started to feel light-headed… and then sleepy. I think I had a dream. A dream of being alone. I wanted someone—anyone, beside me…so I wouldn't have to feel alone anymore."

(A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know that save for like one or two things, this is pretty much a rewrite of the first like fifteen minutes of Final Fantasy X, but as the chapters progress you will see changes and differences in this story. Anyway, tell me what you think thus far!)