Chapter 6: Deep Water Horizon

The altercation Tidus had with his wife that morning impaired his judgement for the remainder of the day, turning Blitz practice into a complete disaster. He struggled to focus on the plays he'd crafted for the team and lost his temper several times when they weren't executed in the way he had envisioned—unable to offer a solution as to why they were failing. His erratic behavior hadn't gone unnoticed by his team with them growing frustrated to the point of walking out and some even threatening to quit if he continued along these lines in the future. Unfortunately, there may not be a future if he didn't figure something out soon, which led him to contemplate resigning from his position.

Seeking some much needed solace, he exited the stadium and wandered out back onto an abandoned pier he frequented when he sought to reflect on things, only this time he wasn't alone. The wooden dock veiled in shade from the stadium was occupied by a familiar blond haired girl wearing denim shorts and a black tank-top.

Upon recognizing his own daughter, he joined her at the edge of the pier, curious as to why she was there after class, instead of the café she'd normally be visiting with her friends at this hour. "I thought I was the only one who came here."

Trista greeted him with a warm smile as a gentle breeze ruffled through her golden hair. "I guess I'm drawn to the sea just as much as you."

There was something very special about a bond between a father and his daughter. Tidus realized this early on. As much as he loved his son—and he did with every fiber of his being—he didn't feel this overwhelming urge to protect him quite the same way as his daughter. It was as though she were a fragile porcelain doll he had to keep safe from everyone and everything. From her first word being 'daddy' to the countless times she relied on him to fix a problem or a scuffed knee, he knew no matter how much time passed, he would always see her as his little girl.

"I know what's been bothering you."

He offered her a weak smile before turning his attention to the glistening waters of the sea, hoping she hadn't sensed his sudden discomfort. "I doubt that very much, sweetheart."

"You're worried about my new powers, aren't you? It's why you freaked out at dinner, right?"

Ashamed of his behavior from the previous night, he avoided her eyes and kept his gaze steady on the horizon. "I'm concerned, yes."

"If I show you something, will you promise not to flip out?"

Whenever one of his children posed such a question it usually meant trouble. He wasn't sure if he would be able to honor her request, but she had piqued his curiosity and he sensed whatever she wanted to share would be of great significance. "Alright, I promise."

Trista grinned in reply and motioned with a hand out to the sea. "Now…watch."

The calm waters began to churn, sloshing around and sending ripples out to as far as the dock where they stood.

Tidus held his breath with anticipation, but mostly out of shock at what he was witnessing. Could his daughter control the sea? No one had that kind of power. Anxiety set in as the ripples slowly grew into tiny waves, prompting him to grab his daughter's arm. "Enough, Tris!"

"You promised you wouldn't freak out!" she cried, yanking her arm out of his grasp.

Before he even had a chance to defend his actions, an old familiar voice interrupted from behind, "Ah yes, the Lord of the Whorl."

The voice was very distinct. It could only belong to one old fossil he hadn't seen in what felt like ages—and quite honestly, thought was long dead. "Maechen?"

Sure enough, the elderly scholar slowly approached him and his daughter on the dock, using a crooked ashen staff as a cane. The old man looked the same as he did when Tidus first met him on Yuna's pilgrimage, which led him to believe the ancient scholar may be an unsent. "How the hell are you still alive?"

"That is irrelevant. Do you wanna know more about the Lord of the Whorl?"

"I do," Trista said, eagerly. "What is it?"

The elderly man looked surprised, his eyes slightly widening at her question. "You don't know what it is your summoning, my dear?"

"Summoning?" Tidus' blood chilled. His daughter wasn't a summoner. No one practiced summoning anymore. One of Spira's keepers would have had to embody her with its powers. His stomach twisted with dread. This couldn't be happening.

"Don't you need to pray to the fayth or something to be able to summon?" Trista asked.

Maechen slowly shook his head. "No, my dear, this is not a typical summon. Leviathan is an ancient primal. Only an elite few have been successful at summoning its power throughout the realms. You, my dear, are beckoning it without the use of aether or any other means by just simply using your will."

"But I didn't even know I was summoning anything. How could I beckon this thing if I didn't know it existed until now?"

"The answer lies in your lineage. Yours and your father's."

Not only was Tidus confused by Maechen's claim, but terrified where it would lead. The old man may have been a walking encyclopedia on all things Spria, but not once had he ever hinted at the knowledge of other realms, let alone, presuming to know his bloodline as though it were some sort of significance. Something was definitely amiss. "Are you really Maechen?"

A crooked grin etched across the elderly man's wrinkly face. "I am indeed the Maechen you remember. However, I am known as Thaliak throughout the universe."

The ancient scholar raised his ashen staff high above his head as a rumbling sound came from behind. Before Tidus had a chance to react, a blast of water crashed onto the pier and swept him off the dock into the murky waters below.

Recovering from the initial shock of being knocked into the sea, he quickly searched the depths where he landed with only one thing on his mind—his daughter. With no sign of her in any direction, he swam upward and broke to the surface with a gasp and his heart racing at what felt like a mile a minute. "Tris!" he hollered.

"Over here!"

His sense of panic eased when he spotted his daughter treading water underneath the dock with the ancient scholar nowhere to be seen. Eager to confirm she was unharmed, he swam over and searched her eyes for an honest answer. "Are you, alright?"

Trista nodded in reply, her eyebrows knitting together with worry. "Something bad is happening, isn't it?"

As much as he wanted to assure her otherwise, he could no longer deny her some semblance of truth. "Yeah."

"I'm so sorry, Daddy." Her arms sprang from the water and wrapped around his neck in a tight embrace. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he insisted, curling a protective arm around her waist. "None of this is your fault."

"What about the summon? The old man said—"

"I dunno about all that, but I do know you're not responsible for... Look, let's get outta the water first. There's some things you need to know." And he wasn't looking forward to revealing any of it to his daughter—afraid she may have a similar reaction to Yuna's.

"I'm scared."

So was he. The last thing he wanted was his family to become fragmented due to his misguided motives. It would only be counterproductive and ultimately result in all of their deaths along with a whole civilization.