Sea Foam

The silver grey sky drizzled and fine water droplets beaded Cosmos' hair, instead of putting her hood up, she let the teardrops fall on her face, slide past the corners of her mouth and drip off her chin. Rain fell on a mound of earth, dampening the soil into a dark brown and gently touching the spider lilies bordering the unmarked grave, the goddess turned around and walked back into the void, her toes stained by earth.

When Garland fell, she gathered his pieces, wreathing them with stems of light. However, the light would not support him. Removing the bulky helmet, the lady briefly ogled the horns at either side and blinked at the person beneath the helm of steel. A lined face, pathologically pale and framed with stubble, remained peaceful in death.

Hoisting his body over her shoulder, Cosmos found a resting place for him in the fields of Cornelia.

Here lays Garland, atoning for his sin.

An honorable warrior.

His face reminded her of another one. A man with white hair holding a sword and shield. A...Warrior of Light? The goddess sighed and returned to the Void. She paid regular visits to the unmarked grave and over time, spider lilies sprung up, every strong breeze of wind sent the fragile petals flying across the grass studded fields in a stream of red.


One Week Later...

Cosmos' slender fingers wrapped around the door leading to the next warrior and ultimately, the next Crystal; she turned the knob, frowning delicately when the door refused to yield. Mystified, she knocked on the door, peeked in the keyhole, much to Hwit's amusement, and straightened. Grasping the ornate knob one more time, the blonde goddess pulled, the tree shed leaves of light and the armlet on her upper arm seemed to bite into her skin. Still the door did not give way.

"..." She pondered over the situation and Hwit perched on her shoulder. "I cannot go to the next world, I know it is not damaged so why?"

"Sleep." The moogle took to his wings and pressed his warm paws over her eyes. "And dream."

This time, Cosmos did not shatter her head on the ground. Instead, she sunk regally to the Void's floor; the malicious voices long smothered their complaints and dared not to approach the blighted realm. Her hair fell messily over her face as Hwit observed the surrounds for hostilities and eventually plopped on her outstretched palm.

A sudden urge to laugh uncontrollably seized him and he opened his tiny mouth and roared.

Inside the Void, a crack expanded, running along the length of the dominion. The creatures of ebony moved away, cowering at the new found terror. High pitched and low gurgling noises clashed but they screamed only one thing:

Planesgorger.


A blonde haired boy sat on the outskirts of Zanarkand, where land met sea. Legs, clad in a pair of asymmetrical pants, dipped in the cooling waves and he kicked, feeling the water swish around him.

Staring at the dark horizon, Tidus looked at the object he clutched protectively to his chest.

A dome of cobalt over a plate of silver. All fragile crystal. Was this one of his trophies? He wondered and held it up to the pink light filtering from a setting sun. Colors swirled on the surface of the ocean and he tilted the Crystal this way and that.

A Crystal from Cosmos. He remembered. But why was he holding it? Why was he here? Strange.

Yawning, Tidus remained on the pier, kicking his legs. He decided to stay there when the first stars came out before returning to his house and planning for the next tournament. When was that now again? Sweeping his head backwards, he squinted when a disturbance rippled the waves. Curious, he got up, still holding the Crystal securely, and shaded his eyes from waning sunlight. A figure waded through waist high water and alarmed, he back tracked, puffing his cheeks when a familiar individual swaggered into view.

Tattoo glistening from the water, Jecht pulled out of the sea and sat heavily near his son's soaked feet. "Whatcha doing?" Jecht asked roughly and laid his massive blade on the pier. Cautiously sitting with some space between his wayward father, Tidus examined the scarred man and looked away when their eyes met. "What you thinking about?" Jecht tried again, scarlet rimmed eyes falling on Cosmos' Crystal.

"Nothing," the boy listlessly answered and held the crystal protectively. "More importantly," he raised his chin, trying to assert some confidence in the face of his father, "where did you come from? There is nothing but sea beyond this," Tidus exclaimed. The sun sunk, casting sinister shadows around his father and the temperature dropped, raising goosebumps along his skin. Behind him, Zanarkand shimmered with a thousand lights and the voices of people milling in the streets, reached his ears. Feeling uncomfortable, Tidus got up, tucked the crystal under his arm and retraced his steps; leaving wet footprints on the weather-beaten pier.

Watching him go, Jecht attempted to stall his son. "The Crystal," he gruffly stated, "give it to me!" The man rose and shivering in the night air, Tidus loped faster. Feet pounding an odd rhythm on the wooden boards. "The Crystal." Jecht grabbed his sword and rushed after the fleeing boy. "I want to see it!"

The teenager, face pale under the glow of lamp lights, stopped in a street full of people and risked a glance back. Oblivious to him, the crowd rushed on, swirling around like a school of fish. Barefoot and inappropriately attired for a chilly night, Jecht stalked him and Tidus ducked into a deserted alley, cursing under his breath. Muttering, he searched for an exit and when his father's dark shadow loomed on the dingy pathway, he scrambled up a pile of boxes and vaulted to another street. People seemed to drain away from the roads and Tidus ran on a narrow strip adjacent to the oily, black sea.

"Just give me the Crystal boy!" Jecht roared behind him and Tidus spun around, shaking his hand and head bewilderedly. He kicked a box and his father cleaved it in half, roaring monstrously.

Why isn't his sword materializing? Tidus panicked and tried again. Nothing. No Brotherhood in his grasp.

"I can't fight!" he eventually gasped aloud and Jecht paused to guffaw in laughter. Holding another box full of, Tidus actually did not want to know, he flung it at the laughing figure in the distance and careered.

"Of course you can't fight!" his father screeched. "Yer in a dream!"

A dream.

Oh.

Suddenly the streets disappeared from beneath Tidus' sneakers, the round buildings and winking lights of Zanarkand churned around him. A vortex of water. The Crystal transformed into a blitzball and he held on to it, sinking underwater and watching the bubbles rise from his mouth and nose. A school of tiny, copper scaled fish darted away and his hair floated like a blonde jellyfish.

"Tidus!" Jecht's words reached him through a buffer of water. Startled, he collided against a lamp post and irritably rubbed the bump on his head. So he wanted the Crystal? The boy contemplated and rotated.

Let him have it!

He threw the two toned crystal like one of his Blitzballs and imagined a crowd's frenzied roar in his ears. It somersaulted, Jecht paused to catch it and instead, the fragile crystal crushed against his outstretched fingers and littered blue and silver glass in his hair and face.

A blinding seam tore open in the fabric of reality and father and son gaped at the goddess stepping out from the Void. She yawned, flicked tears from her eyes and smiled.

Relieved to have a familiar face, Tidus rushed to her and switched strides, pummeling into his father when Jecht's hand morphed into a gigantic whale fin and jerked to Cosmos' throat. Eyeing the ground for a pole, a weapon of sorts, he eventually shielded the lady, jaw clenching whilst he witnessed his father's transformation into Sin.

Jecht's arm bulged, tearing coffee brown skin and evolving into a flat fin. The man staggered backwards, blinking and mirroring the horror in his child's face. He jumped back, legs folding beneath him and landed, cracking the asphalt on a great, white underbelly. "Cosmos," Tidus' mouth became sandpaper dry, "we need to get out of here!" He darted to the pavement, kicked at a chain-link fence repeatedly and uprooted a flimsy piece of metal. "Why are you here?" he asked. "Never mind that, we need to get away from Sin." His voice tightened. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"The Crystal." Sin Jecht bellowed and the sound shattered glass. "Give it to me!"

A moogle appeared right next to Cosmos and glared balefully at Sin. "Kill that thing." He pointed a furry paw and Tidus froze. "My eardrums are rupturing." Hwit shot off to the empty streets of Zanarkand and Cosmos looked at Tidus. He lowered his pole, unsure of what to do. Sensing his turbulent emotions, the goddess laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Must you really kill him?"

The boy stared at the roaring whale, carving a path of destruction towards the sea. Static cars flew out of its way, striking building faces and shattering lamps. Glass rained like glitter over Sin's back and Tidus swallowed nervously. Although Jecht was a monster, both literally and in a figurative sense, deep down Tidus knew his father loved him.

At least, once upon a time.

"Do you want to fight him?" Cosmos asked and taken aback, he stared at his sneakers. "You cannot fight, and thus, I shall help you." The blonde boy hopped impatiently from one foot to the other, face a jigsaw of flitting, conflicted feelings. "Somethings are never easy," the goddess bent to his level, "but if it makes you a better person, you must do it." She clasped his clammy, dirt streaked hands in her own and suddenly self-conscious, Tidus let the pole drop and grimaced at the stains beneath his fingernails. "What will it be warrior Tidus?" she asked, casting a golden, warm glow on the chilly night.

He cocked his head to the side. "Can't you tell me...what I should do?" Tidus wondered out loud.

Throughout his entire life, he marched forward, thinking what he did was right. He believed what he did was the best course of action. Now...

Now he did not know what to do.

Cosmos shook her head, her mess of light blonde hair spilling out of her hood. "You are no mere puppet, why must I tell you what to do?" She straightened and gazed out to sea.

"But...you know what's going to happen," the boy argued. "So of course I should ask you for advice. He's my dad," he pointed to the inky sheet of water, "do you think I WANT to get rid of him?" The lady turned, eyes boring through his head, his heart and seeing the struggle laid bare. "...Sometimes I do," he confessed, "think of rising past him, getting rid of him...but not like this!" Tidus cried. "I don't want to kill him permanently."

"Jecht is dead," Cosmos responded and he stepped back like she punched him. "And there is nothing you may do," she continued and slowly walked towards him, her hand outstretched. "The dead tell no tales, but he is alive, here." She lightly pressed her warm fingertips over his chest and he inhaled a lungful of air. Flicking a small pearl of water gathering at the edges of Tidus' eye, she waited for him to regain his composure.

Tidus scrubbed his eyes. "I'm not crying," he sniffed and looked at the black horizon, where ebony sky met charcoal water.

"No you are not," the goddess agreed and fell in step as he aggressively marched down the empty streets of the Dreamworld. She looked at her palms and felt strength humming in her veins. Closing her eyes, she attempted to locate the instigator of such a futile war but a backlash of static caused her to tumble over a discarded, rolling soda can. "I am alright," Cosmos assured when Tidus looked back. She smiled and her mouth turned into a grim slash as she inspected the sky.


His head hurt.

And what was she doing? Cajoling with that sun kissed brat in huts thatched with palm fronds?

Why was it so muggy and hot? How is Cosmos enduring this weather, wearing that jacket?

Her laughter rang like bells in the balmy air, but it did little to mitigate the splitting pain currently waging war in Hwit's head. The moogle tossed, glared deplorably at the bevy of scantily clad girls cooing at him from the beach and head bauble vibrating furiously, he dematerialized before giving Cosmos a piece of his mind.


Striding through one of the unfrequented trails on the Island of Besaid, the goddess carefully pushed large leaves away from her face and stepped over a tumble of roots jutting out of the earth. She bent to pick a flower and behind her, Tidus panted, shirt stuck to his body.

Smiling at the obviously exhausted teenager, she wreathed a bright red hibiscus in his blonde hair and strode off, effortlessly gliding across the wild pathway barely visible under a carpet of green foliage. Another potentially poisonous flower joined the crown in Tidus' hair and a leaf smacked his face. Apologizing, Cosmos folded the frond away and he trudged through, physically drained. Leaving Tidus to rest on a tree stump, the goddess stately marched deeper into the uninhabited parts of the island. She brushed her slender fingers across a Venus flytrap and laughed when it snapped shut on her.

"That thing is gonna digest your skin." The boy frowned and attempted to uproot the plant.

"No, do not do that," she chided. "Everything has a right to live." Prying the plant apart, Cosmos shook her hand free from the plant slime and the flytrap shrunk. She picked a white, star-shaped flower from one of the stems and showed it to him. "This is beautiful, you agree?" He nodded reluctantly and sighed when she pushed it into his hair. "A plant such as this," she pointed to the Venus flytrap, "births wonderful blossoms." Twittering, she waltzed to a thick coconut tree and stood on her tip toes, peeking into a crevice and sighing delightedly. Fearing for her fingers, Tidus marched to her just as she removed a grey feathered macaw chick and cradled the rather ugly bird in her palm. "Look!" Her eyes glittered.

'It's half naked chick.'

Tidus swallowed his words, feeling very sorry for her moogle companion. Cosmos' energy was unparalleled.

She stayed by the tree till the parents returned, bringing food for the chirping baby bird. By now, the sun travelled past the treetops and began its descent downwards. The noises in the tropical forest throbbed against Cosmos' ears and she winded through the ancient undergrowth, listening to the trees speak and occasionally stopping to peer at an obscure flower hidden by brambles. Trees receded and a clearing opened, she giggled daintily when Tidus exhaled in relief and flopped on a broad and uneven tree stump. He vigorously fanned himself and a flower dislodged from his hair, falling to the silver toned earth below.

"Come, we shall spar," the goddess announced and face hardening, Tidus jumped up. "Here, your weapon." She handed him a broad sword and he gaped.

"This isn't Brotherhood." Tidus experimentally twirled the sword and staggered. "Heavy!" The silver blade gouged into the ground and stayed there, refusing to move. "I think its Cloud's sword," he clarified, admiring the intricate fusion of several blades into one. "Mine is blue with a hook and a tassel at the end?" Tidus prompted when the lady's face blanked.

Cloud? Her eyebrows narrowed in concentration.

Another warrior?

Another Crystal...

Smiling blithely, she held out Brotherhood. "I apologize for the mistake. My memory is not clear." Cosmos explained and yet, when Tidus practiced with the weapon, he toppled over, swinging wildly and tripping over grass. "Is this sword not yours?" she asked confusedly but the boy nodded.

"It is," he grunted and lifted the blue blade. "I just need some practice with it," he said and staggered some more.

By dawn the next day, the goddess emerged from the forest, carrying an individual on her back. Opaque white mist choked the trees; dewdrops glimmered like diamonds on the grass and leaves. Careful not to snap a single branch or leaf, she appeared on the beachfront, bare feet stepping off cold, damp earth and pressing against sand. The outline of a nearby mountain pierced the frosty sky and predawn light illuminated solitary clouds. Gently depositing a sleeping Tidus on a deck chair, she strode to the sea, letting the waves tumble over her feet and soak her jacket hem. Her eyes skimmed past a canopy of palm trees and came to a rest on a spot on top of the mountain.

Deep in the dream sea of Zanarkand, a creature wrestled with itself. Tugging, pulling and screaming desperately for salvation. Blue irises combed down the distant mountain slopes, past the decorative huts of wood and mud and straw and to a child sleeping with his head crooked to one side. A couple of withered petals nestled in his hair. He too, struggled, wrestled and screeched for an understanding.

She clapped her palms over her ears.

Their cries were deafening.

Sin edged to the boulevard running near the sea, the road offered stunning views of the sun rising on top of the ocean. A giant fin soared out, trailing a curtain of water and smashed into the safety railing, denting it, breaking it. The road caved. Buildings shook.

And time trickled faster than sand through the hourglass.


A/N: The OST of Zanarkand is so soothing and sad, I listen to it often, it has a calming effect. The heat here is absolutely sizzling, whatever the Lord is frying out there, I hope its done because my brain is leaking through my ears. Anyway, enjoy the chapter people