Chapter III:
Preparation

Not much time had passed since they'd given their answer. They all still found themselves standing in the same dark room with the shimmering sky-light overhead basking them with the light of the outdoors. The strange man in the white robes pulled out a small pouch before beginning to walk in a circle that surrounded them on all sides, giving them strict instructions not to move. Whatever it was he was doing, he found himself with an uneasy stomach as he watched the man move about.

They still weren't sure how the hell the man had managed to take the floor out from underneath them all. At least, he didn't think the others knew. He sure as hell didn't. Tidus looked just as confused as he had the moment they'd met him, and Cloud wasn't talking much as he watched the old man wander about. The dark haired brat has inspecting his weapon - he figured it was some kind of sword. The light wasn't bright enough for him to make it out completely, but he somehow got the sense he was watching the old guy as well, he just wasn't being obvious about it.

Tidus had asked a couple of times what he was up to, but the man hadn't answered him. In fact, the first time the blonde with the shield had asked about it, the old guy had started muttering in some language he hadn't heard before. It reminded him of Red's grandfather, Bugenhagen, who used to chant all kinds of silly words before the strange effects took hold.

Cid Highwind suddenly found himself hoping that this guy – whoever he was – didn't decide to turn them all into toads.

From the sounds of it, Tidus had gotten bored of asking questions that weren't getting answered, because he sighed loudly and sank down onto the ground, folding his legs and resting his elbows atop his knees. From the moment he'd seen the kid, Cid had thought that perhaps he was something of an athlete. He was pretty quick on his feet, so nothing too tough like football, though he might have been a running back. But from how quickly he'd navigated that wall, he supposed it could have easily been a water sport, like Water Polo or something. It could've been both. There wasn't any kind of rule that said you couldn't play two different kinds of sports.

Deciding that he didn't much like the silence, minus the strange man's mumbling of course, Cid figured he might as well make with the small talk. God only knew that Cloud was too quiet for his own good and he figured the brat wouldn't go out of his way to start a chat either. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he spoke. "So what kinda sport ya play?"

It took Tidus a moment to realise it, but eventually he figured out that he was the intended target for the conversation. Just to be sure, he pointed at himself, having perked up slightly once he'd connected the dots. Cid snorted. "No, dingus. I'm talking to the princess over there," he said sarcastically, inclining his head to gesture at the brunet. Said brunet scowled in his direction, but that was really the only indication he got that the other boy had heard him. "Ya got athlete written all over ya. So? What sport?"

The youth brightened up some at the question; Cid figured he was relieved to be able to talk about something of interest. "Blitzball."

Cid arched an eyebrow, wondering if the kid just made that up on the spot or something. Tidus' expression shifted to incredulous as he took in the elder man's reaction. "Wait, you guys don't have Blitzball where you're from?" He slapped himself in the forehead when Cid shook his head no. "Oh man. You guys are missing out. It's this underwater sport, and the object of the game is to score as many points as you can before the buzzer sounds."

The pilot snorted again. "I coulda told ya that. I ain't stupid, kid."

Tidus winced, his right hand automatically rising up to rub the back of his head. "Right, sorry. Anyways, there are six players per team. One keeper, two defenders, two forwards and a midfielder."

"Sounds a little like hockey," Cid said, catching onto the player formations, "only it's underwater instead of on an ice ring."

At the comment, Tidus' expression shifted back to confusion. Cid blinked at him incredulously, wondering how anyone could possibly have not heard of hockey before he shook it off. "Never mind, just continue."

And the youth was about to when he caught sight of something behind the pilot. Curious, Cid turned around to see what it was, and found that the strange old guy had walked in the complete circle and allowed whatever it was to drop to the ground at his feet. From the looks of it, it was some strange kind of sand.

How he'd managed to find sand when they were sitting on a stone floor, Cid didn't know.

"That should be just enough," the old man said before dusting his hand off the side of his robes. "Now, I will need you all to rise and do exactly as I tell you."

Up until this point, excluding the old guy, Cloud had been the only person who had remained on his feet, whereas everyone else had made themselves comfortable until the strange man had finished doing whatever it was he had just done. As Tidus and Cid exchanged glances between one another, Squall sheathed his weapon and did as the old man said.

"Uh, excuse me old man, but what did you just do?" Tidus asked as he did the same.

"Please, call me Elysium," the old man explained, bypassing the question.

Tidus had caught it as well. "Um… Okay, Elysium, what did you just do?"

"Rather than tell you, I believe it would be more than adequate if I simply showed you," Elysium remarked cryptically as he entered the circle. "As I say, it would be beneficial for you to do as I tell you, for the meantime. If you would all be so kind as to grab a hold of my robes..."

He left the sentence hanging. Cid had the feeling Elysium had no intention of explaining why. Once again, there was a hesitant silence that fell upon them all as the four of them eventually did as told and each grabbed a hold of the robes along Elysium's back.

"Now, I must ask that you all remain as still as possible, and to remain as quiet as possible. I must keep my concentration, for I will not be able to try this again for another day should something go awry."

No one said anything. Elysium seemed to take that as a sign of obedience before he turned his attention away from them and began to speak. Again, Cid was reminded of Red's grandfather as the words weren't in any language he'd ever heard. Whatever he was saying was short lived, however, because he stopped abruptly a split second before the cordoned off space they were standing in began to glow a bright white. A wind from out of nowhere picked up, stirring up dust and debris into what Cid could only amount to be a tornado, and he was forced to squint his eyes to keep the dust out of them. Everyone else was in the same position as him except for the old man who, while his eyes were shut, stood straight and tall, as though this kind of thing happened to him every day.

Then, there was a kind of lurching sensation from the pit of his stomach that reminded the pilot of take off, and suddenly it felt like they were revolving in a 360 degree angle. The spinning sensation picked up suddenly, making them go faster and faster until finally it stopped and his stomach rose up into his throat as the feeling of falling overcame him. He accidentally lost his grip on the old man's robes and a panic feeling rose up in him before he made a hard contact with something solid against his back.

Opening his eyes wider, he was surprised to find that the dust was gone, and that he was lying on the floor of a completely different room. Like the place previous, it was dark, but from what he could make out once his eyes had adjusted there was at least a ceiling. He wasn't in complete darkness though. There was a light filtering from the left of him and he turned his head in the direction, suddenly surprised to find that the source was coming from a set of stairs that led further up.

There were groans all around him and when he turned to investigate he found that the others were in much the same condition as he was, sprawled out on their backs as though something was taken out from underneath them. In fact, the only person who was still standing was Elysium. It was like they were making their own circle out of people instead of that strange powder the elder man had sprinkled around the area.

Just thinking about the trip however made him realise something else entirely and he immediately looked over to find Cloud quickly forcing himself up onto both knees and one hand, the other held firmly secure around the ex-Soldier's mouth.

"What's wrong with him?" Tidus asked suddenly. Cid looked over and found the blonde youth sitting crossed legged and the other brat was following suit.

"Motion Sickness," Cid said simply. He wasn't all together sure Cloud would appreciate spreading that information around, but he wouldn't have been surprised if Tidus had started freaking out about it if he hadn't. As long as he'd known him, Cloud had never done very well on most forms of transportations. Chocobo's seemed to be the exception though, but put the man on a car or an airship, and he would end up in the same position he was in now. Fortunately over the last couple of years he seemed to have gotten that problem under control, but damned if Elysium's trick hadn't set him off. "Not something to be worryin' about."

"I must apologise," Elyisum said and he sounded sincere. "I did not realize that any of you would be suffering from a poor constitution."

"Breathe through your nose, Cloud," Cid encouraged and he felt relieved when the blonde mercenary did just that. After a couple of minutes Cloud removed the hand from his mouth and continued the breathing exercise. "Ya better?"

"A little," Cloud managed to force out.

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a noise from above and everyone tensed. Squall placed his hand over the handle to his own weapon while Cid did the same with the spear strapped to his back. Cloud and Tidus simply looked up at the noise, waiting for any indication that they had been heard.

Again, Elysium was out of funk with the group because he was the only one who remained calm. "You are all among friends here," Elysium explained. "They merely know of my return. This building is our defacto headquarters as it were, and we are currently residing in the basement."

There were light foot falls moving about on the ceiling overhead, the sounds drifting about as the mobile person was moving around, but then the sound became closer and more distinct. As time progressed, the footfalls came quicker and closer still as whoever it was approached the stairs and descended them. A moment later, a woman with a lantern appeared at the very bottom of the stairs, looking almost frantic, but the look eased itself from her features as she took in Elysium's form. "Oh thank heavens you're back," she said, putting the lantern down on a nearby shelf and gathering up the rest of her dress – brown and white, though the white looked more yellow from the light of the lamp – as she moved closer. "You've got luck on your side, Elysium. The guards have just left the building. Surely they would have realized your presence if the alarm had gone off a moment sooner."

"You guys have an alarm?" Tidus asked.

The girl took in his appearance with a surprised gasp before doing the same upon spotting the others. "Are these the travellers you were recruiting?" She continued to stare at them in awe as she took their presence in.

"Yes Matilda, these would be the warriors I have gathered," Elysium answered. His voice was calm, but there was a wrinkle at the edge of his eye that betrayed his amusement. "Though I must confess, they do look a tad strange."

"I'll get right on it," Matilda chirped as though she had been given some kind of task. Cid hadn't heard any kind of request come from Elysium, but he guessed there might have been a hidden meaning to his words. Before he could say anything, Matilda climbed back up the stairs the way she had come, no doubt to do whatever it was Elysium had charged her to do.

"To answer your question, Tidus, yes we do have an alarm," Elysium spoke candidly. "Before I get into much more detail, I suppose the lantern is doing very little to shed some light to our surroundings."

He said a couple of words (again spoken in a different language) before he waved his walking stick and then suddenly there was a ball of light floating above the wooden object. It hovered a little higher and suddenly Cid could see everything about the room. Directly in front of the stairs, it looked like it was some kind of storage room. There were cabinets with drawers and dressers and all kinds of places someone could stash something inside of; if someone were to just be looking from the top of the stairs, they wouldn't find anything of interest. It was almost like it had been conditioned that way.

The rest of the room, however, revealed the room's real intent. There was a long table in the very centre, close to where Cloud was sitting hunched over, with chairs along the sides and one at the very end. Cid assumed this was some kind of discussion table, or a place where everyone ate. Further down, there were more rooms, but the doors were closed so there was no telling what was in them.

It definitely looked like a secret headquarters and Cid whistled as he took in the place. Tidus also looked impressed as he took in everything around him and, when he'd recovered enough, Cloud took in the place as well as though he were looking at another room. His features were neutral, but Cid knew that Cloud's true reaction was in his eyes, and they reflected that he too was impressed by the set up. The only one who didn't seem to care about their surroundings at all seemed to be Squall, but Cid wasn't surprised by that. He got the feeling that it took a lot to make the brat care about anything.

"What would happen if someone came down those stairs to search the whole basement," Squall asked suddenly. "You've got the storage units propped against the stairs as a decoy, but that's only assuming the guards wouldn't think to do a thorough inspection."

"Quite true," Elysium conceded and Cid realised, grudgingly, that the brat had a point. "However, were they to descend the stairs for a better look, all they would be allowed to see would be the remnants of a disorganised closet."

"What do you mean by that?" Cloud asked.

"It's quite simple, actually," Elysium said. "There have been enchantments placed all about the room to ensure that the guards, should they find reason to suspect that this is our hiding ground, would not find what they are looking for. In fact, only those who are in our resistance would know of how it appears. As for being able to bypass these enchantments, well, it would take a very skilled magic user, I should think."

"So you're a Sorcerer," Squall asked, and Cid couldn't help but notice that the brunet's eyes narrowed slightly, almost like he was accusing him of something.

Rather than be put off by the look, however, Elysium chuckled. "No, I am no Sorcerer; otherwise I should think that I would have been able to summon you all to the proper location without having to depend on the King who, on the other hand, is. I am but a humble Wizard, whose spells depend wholly on the components I prepare for the day. Once I run out of components, I cannot utilise my powers until I have prepared the next set of components. It is, I should think, a far different method of magic than the methods you are all accustomed to."

Cid agreed. He had never heard of someone having to prepare a spell before it was cast before. It was unheard of in his world. The spell they could use depended on their own energies and the kind of materia they had equipped at the time. Judging from the looks on Tidus and Squall's features, preparing spells was different from what they were used to as well. The former seemed to have a similar method of magic using that Cid and Cloud possessed, but he wasn't so sure about Tidus. The blonde youth had yet to demonstrate any magical capabilities whatsoever.

"Now then, to business," Elysium said, disrupting the pilot's thoughts and drawing his attention back to the discussion at hand. "First off, in answer to your question, Tidus, the alarm works one of two ways. The first and, far most obvious way, is that it alerts us to the presence of an unwanted intruder, and thus it would allow for our forces to act accordingly. Another service it provides is to alert our own people of the presence of our alliance members, in this case myself. Unfortunately, the drawback to any alarm is that it is quite good at doing its job. Should any of the guards have been present for our arrival, it would have alerted them to our presence, and thus would have made the situation all the more problematic."

Tidus nodded slowly; from the looks of it the youth was taking in the information as best he could. Cid didn't think it was far off to say he understood. The notion was simple enough.

"The next order of business," Elysium continued when there were no objections to his explanation, "is your present attire. While it befits each of you, who have come from your own worlds, it tends to draw unwanted attention to yourselves here, as it did with the guards outdoors. That is why I have sent Matilda in order to draw up appropriate wears to prevent such an instance from re-occurring. Squall had the right idea of providing a temporary solution to the problem as he did," Cid caught sight of Squall looking down at the black cloak he was currently wearing, almost as though he'd forgotten he had it on, "though I must insist that you do refrain from simply taking what you need. The man of whom you stole that cloak from is a very dear friend of mine. It is fortunate that he understands our plight enough to not press charges without conferring with me first."

In response to this request, Squall arched an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest. "I can't promise anything."

"But you will try, I am sure," Elysium said, though Cid got the feeling it was more like an order than an actual request. Squall turned away from the gaze, a sign that the pilot was not the only one who had caught it. "Having done that, we shall commence with the meeting and proceed upon reviewing the information we have retrieved henceforth."

Since their arrival in the strange basement, Tidus had learned quite a bit.

For starters, the base that the resistance was residing in was actually the basement of a modest looking barber and tailershop. He'd heard of instances where people would gather in bars and pubs and had thought it was strange that Elysium's group hadn't thought to follow suit, but it turned out a lot of people talked when they were shopping around for clothes or getting their hair trimmed or cut. He chalked it up to having learned something new.

The family who owned the two-part shop were each members of the resistance themselves, but from the sounds of it they kept that information to themselves. It didn't surprise him in the least, especially with Matilda having announced the presence of guards, who from the sounds of it frequented the place often. Coupled with the information regarding the resistance's location and it was a small wonder they were keeping up with the King.

Another thing he'd learned about the resistance was its name. While the meaning of 'The Sons of Dala' had originally been lost on him, it was made clear when he learned that the city's name was, in fact, Dala. The name was homage to the original rule of the city and meant as a total disregard to the current king. From what he had heard from simply overhearing the other members of the resistance, this Sorcerer-King guy wasn't well liked.

It reminded him more and more of Seymour. Like the king, Seymour had used his power over Spira to power his own devices, eventually wanting to kill everyone in order to save them, claiming that Spira was a world that revolved around death. The only difference was Seymour was well received by the people of Spira and no one really suspected the layer beneath the priest until Yuna learned how the Guado's father had died.

Once the family was sure that the coast was clear, they ushered the four strangers upstairs in order for a fitting, taking measurements and making adjustments to the assortment of cloths before hurrying off to make the appropriate actions. Once that was done, they were ushered back downstairs, most likely to prevent any unwanted visitors from seeing them through the windows or as they entered the building.

So now they were sitting, waiting for the meeting to commence and to change into their new clothes. Tidus was glad to be able to blend into his surroundings for once, but he really did feel that he was going to miss his Blitzball uniform. It was his only real connection to the Zanarkand that he grew up in and not even the knowledge that none of it was real could possibly do anything to change that.

Just thinking about it was making him homesick and he looked around the room in an attempt to distract himself. Elysium wasn't around. He had said something about making preparations and had disappeared before the family had even started with them. Cid and Cloud were nearby but they looked like they were engrossed in some kind of deep conversation that Tidus was more than just a little hesitant to interrupt and Squall was quietly inspecting his weapon on the opposite end of the room, looking like he was more than comfortable being left to his own devices.

He didn't really know anyone else. Some other resistance members came and went along as they pleased, going about their business as if strange people under their roof wasn't so out of the ordinary. And as much of a social butterfly as Tidus was, he didn't exactly feel comfortable going up to these guys and starting a conversation.

The other three were at least in the same situation as him. It gave him the feeling that it would be at least a little easier to talk to them than it would be to talk to anyone else.

So, with that reasoning behind him, Tidus found himself awkwardly making his way to the opposite end of the room, where the other teenager sat. There was a little light that was awarded to the brunet, though the Blitzer got the feeling that he wouldn't need it to do what he was doing. He moved quietly, so as not to startle or disturb him, but he was about a good couple metres away when Squall disturbed the quiet. "Can I help you with something?"

The tone was flat, but there was a sense of irritation behind it that caused Tidus to pause mid-step. Squall hadn't looked up from what he was doing, and amidst the people moving about them Tidus was surprised he had even been heard. Deciding that he might as well answer, he shrugged before realizing the other teenager wasn't exactly looking at him. "Uh, well..." He started awkwardly, bringing his right hand back to rub the back of his head awkwardly. "I just wanted to apologize. You know, for what happened back there."

He received no answer at first and Tidus guessed it was encouragement to continue. "Before Elysium made the ground fall out from under us I mean. It could have been handled better. I shouldn't have just run out in front of you like that, especially since you weren't exactly thrilled with us at the moment."

"Forget it," Squall said abruptly. Tidus caught a gesture from him that could have loosely been translated as a shrug. "I already have."

"O-kay then..." Tidus said before he realized he was bringing his hand back up to rub at his head. He stopped himself before he could finish the gesture and brought the arm back down. "So... what're you doing?"

He winced slightly, realizing that he already knew that but trying to bring this guy into a conversation was harder than pulling teeth. Squall shot him a look through dark bangs before turning his attention back to the object in his lap. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Well it looks like you're cleaning your weap—" Tidus paused as a glint of metal where the hilt of the sword should have started, and upon closer inspection he realized it looked more like a handle to a machina. He gasped in shock and leaned in a little closer, his earlier reservations going forgotten in place of noticing something that was somewhat recognizable.

The hilt of the sword Squall used was definitely a machina, if a little older than what he was used to seeing. The handle itself was black and had some kind of leather covering over it (probably for comfort). It also looked sturdy enough to be swung around with both hands and had a chain hanging from the base. Right after where the fingers were supposed to curve into the grooves was a curved piece of metal bent into a u-shape. It started at the base of where the metal of the weapon began and ended a couple of inches before the blade started. Another piece of metal, albeit shorter, was placed inside the small space of the curved metal piece. Tidus knew enough about machina to know that it was the trigger that set it off. Above the trigger was a chamber that looked like it could hold thick needle-like objects inside of it and, just judging from the side that was facing him, Tidus thought it was safe to assume that since it looked as though there were three visible slots that there should be three more slots on the opposite side.

Then the blade started. In comparison to the rest of the weapon, the sword part looked simple in contrast. It was long, probably as long as the length of Tidus' leg from his kneecap to his foot, and the tip was curved, not so much like the brotherhood, but enough that it would probably hook and catch if the weapon was handled the right way. It looked like a regular sword if you ignored the machina part of it, but near where the blade started, it looked as if someone took a small rectangular shaped chunk of metal out from the middle and instead added a rounder rectangular piece of metal that attached to the machine that reminded Tidus of the barrel to the fire-arm. Crafted along the flat side of the blade was a strange creature that reminded Tidus of a Chimera, only instead of having the snake like tail or the face of a bird, it just had the mammal part with wings. It looked cool, but it also looked a little creepy.

"How the hell did you combine your machina with your sword?" Tidus exclaimed, unable to hide his shock. There was always a chance that Squall's world had people like the Al Bhed who could make such an odd combination, but he wasn't willing to make that assumption.

Squall finally stopped cleaning the strange weapon and raised his head, looking at Tidus with an expression that clearly asked 'you're kidding, right?' Tidus wondered if everyone from the other teenager's world carried around strange and inconceivable weapons, couldn't help thinking that it'd be a strange and yet interesting place to visit if they did. After all, he'd thought the very same thing when he'd first found himself in Spira. That it had been an interesting place, if a little simplified in comparison to his Zanarkand anyway.

A moment passed where Tidus' question hung in the air without so much as a response but eventually Squall got the hint that Tidus was not kidding after all. The other youth sighed in response and returned his attention towards his weapon. "I didn't," was all he said in response.

Tidus blinked in confusion. That wasn't exactly what he'd meant when he'd asked the question but somehow he doubted he'd get a real answer if he tried to elaborate so instead he crouched down so he could get a better look at the strange object. It looked like it had been well taken care of. This didn't surprise Tidus, what with the obsessive way Squall had been inspecting it since they'd first met Elysium. "How... does it work?" Tidus asked curiously, trying to imagine what would happen if you pulled the trigger.

Another sigh. Squall sounded more than just a little irritated by the interruption and glared at him once again. "You're not going to leave me alone until I answer, are you?"

Tidus grinned good-naturedly in response. With another sigh, the brunet put aside the cloth he had been using to clean the weapon and held it up for the blitzer to see. "You swing and hit something, it hurts them. You swing and hit something while pulling the trigger, it hurts them more."

"I kinda got that," Tidus said awkwardly. "But where does the bullet go when you pull the trigger?"

"It doesn't go anywhere."

"You mean there's a ton of bullets stuck in that blade?" Tidus asked, feeling his eyebrows shoot up near the top of his head. "No wonder you've been cleaning that thing insanely. Doesn't it get heavy after a while?"

Squall rolled his eyes in response. "The bullet passes through the chamber and then enters the blade, but it detonates inside, causing a kind of shockwave that caused the blade to vibrate forcefully."

"Oh..." Tidus said, drawing out the word as he understood the concept. "So then, when the blade vibrates, it aggravates the wound that was caused originally, right?"

"That's the idea," Squall said through a sigh before returning his attention towards the strange weapon.

"So this machina sword..." Tidus said after a moment of silence passed them by. Squall stopped what he was doing and hung his head in response, but this didn't deter the blitzballer. "It's probably difficult to wield, huh?"

But before the other youth could answer him (that's if he were about to anyway), there was a noise that sounded like a door slamming shut and when he turned around he saw Elysium heading towards them. Nearby, Cid and Cloud had both heard the sound as well because they looked up from whatever conversation they were having. "Everyone, to the meeting hall at once. There has been a predicament, and the operation must commence immediately."

"What operation?" Tidus asked, causing Elysium to pause in midstride.

The elder man turned his look onto him before answering, "All will be made clear."

The tone clearly instructed them to follow him, and seemingly unanimously they did just that.

Okay, so this chapter was heavy on conversation and build up. Hope no one was too bored with it.